Chapter Five: Familiar Faces

Days after the murder, the Hobbits were still on the trail of the creature. Frodo was still hesitant to call the creature the killer, but it seemed like there were no other suspects. "I'll bet my Old Gaffer's going wild with this one," Sam mumbled as they trekked into Eregion. "Probably saying it's one of the Big Folk gone mad, or some wild crock like that." Pippin seemed to think about that for a moment.

"Do you suppose it could be a human?" He asked. "Perhaps it was, and they left hoof-prints so it wouldn't look too suspicious." Merry rolled his eyes.

"If he didn't want it to look too suspicious, then he could have just left no prints at all." He said. Frodo's expression darkened.

"Unless they wanted to be followed," He said. This comment effectively knocked everyone into a dread-filled silence. It was entirely possible that the person who murdered Blossom Proudfoot knew that the local heroes might try to track them down if they left a substantial amount of clues. Frodo grew increasingly uneasy, and wondered with dread if they might be walking into a, now obvious, trap.

At about evening of the same day, Frodo got the uncomfortable feeling that someone was watching them. He looked around at the slightly familiar foliage, half-expecting to see a frightening pair of eyes staring back at him. There were none. "I'm getting jumpier than a stalked rabbit," He murmured. They kept walking, and for the sake of his friends, Frodo tried to make himself look calm.

But still, he wasn't quite able to shake the feeling he had that someone was watching or following them. He kept his eyes and ears sharp and alert for anything out of the usual, though Frodo did pray that it was just nerves that were making him so jumpy. But it wasn't just his own mind that was making him nervous; it was the atmosphere as well. The air was misty and humid, like it had been when Frodo and his friends had first encountered the Ring Wraiths.

It was also deadly silent. No bird sang its song. No frogs or bugs chirped their greetings to one another. It was as though the creatures of Eregion sensed the tension in the air, and didn't dare make the slightest of peeps while it existed. The suspense was almost too much to handle, and part of Frodo wished that something would jump out at them, if only to break the terrible feeling in his heart and stomach.

Who ever said you didn't always get what you wish for?

Just when Frodo thought he would go insane, he heard something. A single noise that echoed through the dense forest and rocky hills; the proverbial snapping of a twig or branch. From the loudness of the crack, it must have been a fallen branch. All the Hobbits froze. They all exchanged tense looks, before letting their eyes dart around nervously, looking for the source of the noise.

"Who's there?" Sam called in, what he hoped, was a strong voice. "Show yourself, coward!"

There was a pause.

"Hear that, Hadhod? Samwise thinks you're a coward." Came a wry, familiar voice. Shortly afterwards, two people stepped out from the foliage. One was a Dwarf, Hadhod. The other was a human ranger, Elegost. The four hobbits instantly relaxed. It took Frodo and Sam a moment to recognize the two, since they hadn't known Elegost and Hadhod as long as Pippin and Merry had.

"Elegost… Hadhod… You have no idea how good it is to see you." Merry said, visibly relieved.

"From the looks of you four, it's not hard to guess." Hadhod said wryly. "What are you four doing out in the wastes?" Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin exchanged weary looks.

"It's a long story," Pippin said. The ranger and the dwarf exchanged looks, and then shrugged.

"Our current mission isn't terribly pressing," Elegost said, removing the pack from his back and setting it on the ground. "We have the time."

I know, I know, this was short, but I'll try to make the chapters longer. I'm slowly moving from a three month Kingdom Hearts/Manga/Anime frame of mind into a LOTR/Eragon/fantasy mind frame.