The Inn of the Prancing Pony was as quiet as ever on this particular weekday night where the first chills of winter were evidently creeping on the land; the streets looking almost covered in crystal as specks of ice settled in the puddles that dipped into the cobbles, and the steamy breath of the slow-coach hobbit Bob as he fed the small ponies a few apples that his colleague, Nob, just brought out from the fiery kitchen.
There wasn’t much of a wind, apart from the occasional chill blast of icy air that crept up the sleeves and down the collars to gnaw at the skin unaccustomed to such a biting, though it was not enough to swing the large signboard with the reared fat pony braying silently against the painted fields. The door was closed tightly, only opened when the odd regular would come or go for some quiet merriment despite it not being too long until they had to wake for work.
Despite the cold frost settling in outside, on the north wing’s second floor a warm light flickered gently through the dirty glass panes; from both the crackling of a well-lit hearth, as well as the candle that rested in its holder on the windows ledge.
Besides the warmth bellowing hearth, a foreigner sat in a chair with a blanket covering his legs. On one of the arm rests sat a wooden tankard, now half empty from the occasional sip that the man took, and on the other rested a tanned arm. On his lap was a crumpled map, once brand new though now it had seen its journey since the man’s seventh birthday back home in Gondor. Blue green eyes scanned the crinkled service of the paper, following the dark scratches of ink that made roads and rivers.
A fingertip brushed over the coast of Gondor, and stopped on the land of Lossarnach, and he spoke to himself. “Home.” He rose the tankard up to his lips for another sip, as his eyes traveled upwards to Bree-town, before scanning each and every path in between. He glanced out the steamy window, and back towards the map. He had decisions to make, and soon before the land was covered in winter's blanket and traveling became harder.
