Black Breath

Disclaimer:I don't own anything related to LOTR and I'm not making money off of this. It's just for fun.

This is an AU story of Merry's run-in with the Black Riders in Bree. Will include more hobbit angst in later chapters. Please R&R if you wish but I really would appreciate it if you didn't flame me. However, constructive criticism is always welcome.

The young hobbit sat comfortably in a chair near the fire place, warming his hands over the flames. His mind was running through the events of the last few days and was trying to fathom what he might be able to expect in the next few weeks. Normally, this wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the fact that these thoughts contained shadowy black figures that pursued them and a certain gold ring that his cousin carried.

Meriadoc Brandybuck pulled his hands away, stretched, and then settled them to rest behind his head. He glanced over at the door of the small room that he was sharing with his cousins and their friends Sam for the night, as if expecting someone to come through it. The other three had gone down to the common room to partake in the merrymaking happening there. As much as Merry liked a good drink and lively companionship he had been content to stay where he was for the time being. He brought his gaze from the door. As the rest of the group hadn't come back yet, and from the sounds reverberating from the common room it didn't seem likely that they would anytime soon, Merry decided to go for a walk. He got up, stretched, donned his cloak, and made his way out of the room.

Merry stepped outside the Prancing Pony, smiling as a cool breeze blew on his face, blowing his curls back soothingly. He put his hands in his pockets and wandered down the street. It was very peaceful. Almost no one was on the streets this time of day, either they were at one of the inns or had turned in for the night. He wandered around aimlessly for some time and eventually he found himself beyond the glow of the lamp lights, silently gazing up at the stars.

Suddenly, he felt a powerful feeling of coldness, coldness that he new for certain did not come from the wind. Along with the cold he felt an awful sense of foreboding. Both these feelings convinced that it was time to head back to the inn. But as he started to leave he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. Something about the shadows didn't seem right. He then saw why. A darker area of the shadows suddenly moved and shifted around a corner. If Merry hadn't known any better he would have disregarded it for an illusion by the flickering lamplight. But since he recognized what that thing was, it held his gaze and he followed it silently. At first it was partly due to curiosity, if he could find out what the riders were planning, maybe he could tell the others and they could plan around it. But as he followed it more, he realized that he couldn't keep himself from following it if he wanted to. After a while he had followed the form down the road quite a bit, this area of Bree was unfamiliar and less friendly than the street near the inn had. Merry followed the shape toward a hedge where he heard two people speaking in hushed tones, one sounded more as if it was hissing than whispering. Merry didn't dare go any further toward the sounds, though he still couldn't tear his gaze away from where it was coming from. Once again he felt the same sense of cold and foreboding that he had earlier on the road. He also sensed something coming up behind him. Every bone, muscle, and thought in Merry's body screamed at him to move, run, get away from that area. But he couldn't, he was rooted to the spot. His last thought was a sense of fear and helplessness before everything went black.

TBC