[Regin Hardhammer]

Huan sat by the fire and watched the parade of people going in and out of the Inn, his tail thumping against the hard wood floor. There were a great number of folk getting ready for some festivity. Some of them were working on moving tables outside or beginning to string garlands around the Common Room. Others had set vases with flowers on the table. Still others had taken seats around the tables inside and were eating their supper. The women and girls serving the meal scurried back and forth from the kitchen to the tables. The spectacle of so many people was very interesting, but Huan was beginning to think about getting some supper of his own.

Huan had not had anything to drink since his arrival earlier that day and greatly desired some nice cool water. His parched pink tongue hung lazily out of his mouth. Hawthorne, his charming mistress, was sadly ignoring him since she was busy serving guests and told him that he would have to wait. Huan found a mug of ale spilled on the floor that someone had been too lazy to pick up or was unaware of its fall. Although it was neither cool nor water, it was wet and that was good enough for this dog. With several great laps of his tongue Huan cleaned out all of the ale from the flask and the surrounding floor.

After allaying his thirst, Huan realized that he was beginning to be quite hungry. Suddenly he spied a prize snatch that looked wonderful through his big brown eyes. A roasted turkey leg lay half eaten in front of a human man who was talking to a stout dwarf. The man appeared to be telling some sort of joke to the dwarf, who in turn was laughing loudly. Quickly Huan rushed over toward the preoccupied victim, slinking down as he padded silently and swiftly along the wooden floor that was exactly the same color as his shaggy coat. After snatching up the leg and firmly clenching the treat between his teeth, he fled before the man was aware of its absence. Retreating to an empty closet inside the kitchen he began gnawing his dinner with gusto, with muttered growls under his breath when one of the kitchen maids tried to step forward and deprive him of his prize. From the inside of the closet, he could hear the man across the room howling at the serving maids about his missing dinner.

Finishing his supper and peering out around the closet door, he noticed a large white fur-ball who was roaring like a lion to get others to notice it, although no one seemed to be paying any mind. Huan sprang to attention and felt a loud growl begin to well up in his chest. How he despised cats! They were always purring at people and trying to win attention, always thinking about themselves without the slightest regard for their master or mistress. Huan found their attitude deplorable.

He began to accost the feline with barks and snarls. The cat puffed up even more and began hissing back. Then suddenly the merry race was on. Under tables, over benches, behind the bar, around chairs, they raced snapping and clawing all the way. Like a tornado they left two broken vases, crushed flowers, and toppled chairs in their wake plus one Hobbit sprawling on the ground who had been misfortunate enough to be climbing a ladder to try and string a garland. As the chase continued, Huan’s hatred toward the cat mounted until nothing, not even the army of king Elessar himself, could stop him from catching that fatuous feline.