Sword and Arrow

Chapter 2

A Ranger pushed four hobbits into a bush, then jumped after them. One of them was riding a baggage pony. "What is it, Strider?" a brown-haired one whispered.

"Shhh," Strider hissed. He pressed his ear against the ground, the drew the dark-haired hobbit further into the bushes. "A rider," he said. The hobbits' eyes went wide, and they fell silent.

A few seconds later, they heard hoofbeats on the road above, then the sound of the person dismounting. The Ranger risked a glance. The rider was swathed in a dark cloak and his face was hooded. His horse was as black as the night. Strider kept looking through a gap in the bushes and tried not to breathe too loudly.

The figure bent to the ground, seemingly inspecting something, the stood up and looked straight at where the five were hiding. Damn. Have I really grown that bad at hiding? Strider's breath caught and his hand went to his sword-hilt, ready to draw it at moment's notice and face down the Nazgul if need be.

"You can come out now, Aragorn," the figure said teasingly. "I see you." Strider let out a relieved breath. Thank the Valar, it's her. He crawled out of the bushes and helped the four hobbits out. The dark-haired hobbit's face was strained with pain as Strider placed him back on the baggage pony.

The figure pushed back her hood. "I've been searching for you for the past nine days," Wildcat said breathlessly. "Lord Glorfindel is as well. Have you met him?"

"No," Strider replied. "Nine days?"

"Aye, Elrond sent word to Fornost that he needs you. I rode to Rivendell to take your place, telling him that you were off on an errand of Gandalf's. He gave me The Eyebrow and asked me to search for you."

"He needs me?"

"He did not tell me why, he said it is an important business concerning the War."

Strider snorted. "Sounds like him."

"He also said something about a Ring," Wildcat continued, dropping her voice. She stole a glance at the dark-haired hobbit. "Is it true?" Strider nodded. Wildcat looked over at the two sandy-haired hobbits, who, in her opinion, looked exactly alike. Both looked dead on their feet. "The hobbits can have my horse," she said. "Though I warn you, he's as tired as you lot look."

Strider lifted the two youngest-looking hobbits onto the huge horse as they both muttered a word of thanks. The Ranger apologetically looked down at the last hobbit remaining. "I'm sorry, Sam, perhaps you can ride with Frodo?" he asked.

"I can walk more yet," Sam bravely said. Strider narrowed his eyes but nodded. Suddenly, he froze, hearing hoofbeats. Wildcat shook her head.

"That would be Glorfindel," she said. Indeed, the sound of hooves was accompanied by the jangling of bells. The elven rider drew his great white horse to a stop, calling out a greeting.

"Ai, na vedui Dunedain! Mae Govannen!" He nodded towards Wildcat, then dismounted and approached Strider. "Is he..." He nodded towards Frodo.

"Still alive, aye," Strider said. "But fading quickly."

"Get him onto Asfaloth," Glorfindel said. Strider nodded and lifted the hobbit off the baggage pony and onto the white horse.

"My lord," Wildcat said. "I just barely got away from the Naz- Ulairi." Glorfindel sharply looked at her. "They will be pursuing me now, they know my intention." The elf-lord cursed under his breath, much to Wildcat's amusement. I didn't know elf-lords were supposed to do that.

"I will take him to Rivendell," Glorfindel said, swinging up into the saddle behind the hobbit. "The Riders will be pursuing him, and we will be faster on Asfaloth than on foot." Strider nodded, and Glorfindel wheeled his horse around and rode off.

"Who is she?" one of the sandy-haired hobbits whispered to the other.

"She's an elf, isn't she?" he responded.

"No, the one that just left was an elf! She doesn't have pointed ears. And besides, she isn't pretty enough to be an elf." Wildcat exchanged an exasperated look with Strider, who was barely suppressing his laughter.

"I think she's his wife," the second one declared. Wildcat burst out laughing.

"You are his wife, aren't you?" the first one asked her.

"Nope," she responded. "I'm his deputy."

"She's his wife," the first one whispered to the other. Wildcat raised an eyebrow at Strider.

"I'm not married," he said. "And not planning to be soon, either."

"You do realize that most of the men in Fornost want you to marry their daughters?" Wildcat asked him.

"Wait, what?" Wildcat shook her head. Strider sighed. "Merry, Pippin, this is Wildcat. She's a Ranger, and she's my second-in-command."

"He's an important person?" one of the hobbits, presumably Pippin, whispered to the other. "I thought he was just a vagabond who managed to wander by."

Wildcat looked at Strider. "You realize that I'm going to mercilessly tease you about that," she said. Strider sighed again.

"This is going to be a long trip."

A/N: Hey, finally remembered that I haven't updated this in a while! I'm probably not going to update for a while since my mom has her eye on me and I usually update between homework (which I'm not supposed to do) but more regular updates in December, maybe.