One Geek to Rule Them All

An Unexpected Journey

"What I wouldn't give for some warm clothes and a fire..." Devin muttered through chattering teeth.

"You mean like that?" asked Kitty, pointing to a campfire someone had set up just inside the treeline a few yards away from the river bank.

"Yeah, that'll do," Devin said, smiling wryly.

The two girls stood up, and tried to  brush off as much mud as possible while they made their way towards the inviting warmth of the fire. "This reminds me of a story my parents used to read to me called 'Fortunately, Unfortunately'," Devin remarked as they sat down and tried to warm themselves. "Fortunately, it was a beautiful day for a hike in the woods. Unfortunately, we fell into a cold river. Fortunately, we found a fire as soon as we climbed out..."

"Unfortunately, that fire already belonged to someone else," a deep voice finished for her from behind.

"Wha—!?" the two girls exclaimed in surprise and alarm, jumping and whirling around to face its owner, who had caught them completely off guard. They found themselves staring up at an extremely tall man dressed from head to toe in dark clothes that  made it appear as though he were cosplaying as some kind of rogue for a renaissance festival. His face remained hidden in the shadow of his hood. Where did this guy come from? He hadn't made a sound!

"Who are you? Are you some kind of ninja?" Kitty demanded suspiciously while clinging to Devin.

"Ninja? What is that?" asked the man, who they could see had a puzzled look when he removed his hood, revealing a somewhat worn but ruggedly handsome face. He had keen grey eyes, and his dark hair was peppered slightly with a couple grey strands here and there. It was clear he was sizing them up, assessing whether they might be a threat or not. Devin did not think he needed to be so wary of two sopping wet college girls, though she did have a taser in her backpack, if the fall in the river hadn't screwed it up.

Kitty stared at the man with an incredulous expression on her face. At first she had thought he might be joking but the genuine look of confusion on his own face while he took in their appearance proved him to be perfectly serious. Did this guy live under a rock?

"Um, hi... I'm Devin, and this is Kitty. I hope you don't mind if we share your fire for a few minutes, Mister...?" Devin ventured a little awkwardly when she remembered her manners, subtly hinting for him to fill in his own name.

"They call me 'Strider' around these parts," he answered somewhat cryptically, setting down the firewood he had just returned from collecting. The two girls appeared to be unarmed and seemed harmless enough, but their clothing and manner of speech were highly unusual and felt foreign to him; and one could never be too careful these days.

"Oh! I get it!" said Devin, lighting up when all of it seemed to click into place for her. "'Strider', as in Aragorn. You're dressed as a ranger. Are y'all doing some kind of LARP nearby or something? What are you doing, looking for hobbits?" Her smile faltered slightly when she saw the somewhat disturbed expression on his face before he fixed her with a steely glare.

"Who sent you?" he demanded evenly and placed a hand on the handle of his sword. How did they know his real name? How did they know he was looking Frodo Baggins? Did they know Gandalf or were they enemy spies? He knew Sauron's agents came in many forms.

"What?" asked Kitty, furrowing her brow a little while she stared up at him dubiously, wondering what Strider's problem was. Did this dude sustain a head injury recently or something?

"Whoa, wait. Just calm down. Nobody sent us," said Devin warily holding up her empty hands to show they meant no harm. "We don't want any trouble. I'm a Tolkien fan, too," she added with a hope to find some common ground to keep him from attacking. She really hoped this guy wasn't a—