I am on a roll, really.

The beginning banter between Legolas and Gimli does NOT BELONG TO ME. It's been stolen from While the Ring went south byThunderaTiger an excellent fic, absolutely hilarious, a must read. I claim no ownership on the lines.

Hope you like the chapter.

Review?

Contrary to what the series portrayed, the party did not just suddenly appear at the base of Caradhras It took a week of additional walking from where they'd encountered the Crebain, the pace lengthened by the tricky terrain in their path. If Lucy had thought she'd been sick of unending grass and trees, then she was entirely done with dry rocks and dead weeds. At least where there was grass, walking had been easier, but now she'd lost count of how many times she'd tripped over an unseen crack in the ground and just narrowly avoided twisting an ankle. Boromir in these cases, was a Godsend, often catching her before she truly hurt herself but really, the whole thing was just ridiculous.

Gimli and Legolas, didn't help matter much either, with their constant bickering. The Elf had taken to walking with their party since there really was no point in scouting ahead when, unlike in the forest, there were no trees blocking their vision. It was just dry rock for as far as the eye could see.

Sometimes, their quarrels were hella amusing, she had to admit, like in one such instance of which Gimli had abruptly stopped mid stride, and Legolas accidentally bumped into him which led to a whole new round of fighting.

"How can you seek to place the blame on me?" Gimli loudly demanded, face puffed up with rage, "With those supposedly 'keen' elven eyes, I thought you would have seen me halt. I saw no reason to warn you, and it is your fault for running into me. I believe you owe me an apology."

Legolas, cool, calm, and collected -as he always tended to be when faced with Gimli- had simply, in his most reasonable voice, replied "Keen my eyes may be, but you live so close to the ground that I mistook you for another rock in the path, Master Dwarf. And how can one apologize to something that can barely be seen, much less acknowledged?" Coupled with Gimli's accurate reenactment of a gaping fish, and Legolas's completely innocent demeanor, Lucy had laughed so hard she'd stumbled, Boromir just managing to steady her, and had proceeded to spend the next few minutes leaning on him for support.

Everyone had been surprised, the Hobbit turning to stare at her with wide eyes, and yet she couldn't blame them. It was the most emotion that any of them had ever seen from her, aside from a few small smiles here and there.

The closer they got to the Misty Mountain however, the darker her mood got, to the point that Boromir was even starting to shoot her concerned looks whenever he thought she wasn't paying attention.

He was wrong because she was paying attention - to everything. The way the wind felt on her cheeks, the sound of birds in the air and the feel of the hard ground under her boots. She figured, if she was going to die soon, she may as well start enjoying the little things.

Like how it felt to be alive.

Of course, she just wasn't going to up and let herself be killed, she'd do as best as she could to survive until the end. Hell, she'd already dressed up in the evening before they'd arrived at the base, in preparation of the cold. If there was one thing she was grateful for, was the fact that she'd been dressed in heavy winter clothing when she'd arrived.

It was a good thing too, because the base of Caradhras was already hit with snow by the time they arrived. As she stared up and up and up and up until her view was hidden by the clouds, Lucianna took a moment to pray. God knew she'd need help during the climb.

Boromir, always a silent fixture beside her, gave her a small nod, and somehow she understood it as, just as he'd always helped her when she stumbled, he'd help her in the climb too, and after giving him a small smile of gratitude, they continued on with the rest of the group.

At first -the climb really wasn't that difficult. The snow was soft and easy to move through, and even the Hobbits had little trouble, chatting amicably amongst themselves in wonder about the snow. Apparently, the Shire never received snow, so they were excited about their first encounter with it. Gandalf and Aragorn chatted quietly in the front of the group, and Gimli occasionally giving a gruff opinion every once in a while, and Legolas, of course, was a little ways away from the rest of them, acting as their scout. She and Boromir brought up the rear, along with an ever-faithful Bill the Pony who trotted behind to Sam.

All in all, Lucy was honestly surprised, she'd expected gruesome torture from the beginning till the end.

Obviously she was wrong. The gruesome torture only started sometime in the middle, on their second day up the mountain.

The weather had worsened sometime during the night, and they woke to find the snow had risen something like two and a half feet, and the cold had turned positively frigid.

As trekked through the now knee-deep snow (thigh-deep for the Hobbits), Lucianna was starting to feel the effects of the weather, her hands going numb (why oh why hadn't she been wearing gloves?), and her lips drying. She blew on her fingers periodically, in vain hope that some life would be breathed into them, but alas, it was no use. She was bloody frozen. She opted instead to tuck them under her armpits.

She wanted to voice her complaints outloud, but didn't for fear she would come off a bothersome, and anyway Gimli was doing it for her. Every time he'd make a frustrated comment, she'd give a mental nod of agreement.

"Snow, bah!" He scoffed, "This is why we dwarves stay underground!" He muttered shooting a glare at Legolas who didn't leave as much as a footprint behind him. He sauntered past Gimli, shooting him a smug look which made the dwarf curse in a harsh sounding language. Lucy understood his frustration. Legolas was literally unaffected by the change in weather, and while they were all suffering and dragging themselves through like half-frozen iced-lollies, he still looked like a model.

Boromir must have sensed her growing desire to shove the Elf off the mountainside, because he spoke.

"Are you well?" He asked from beside her, grey eyes concerned.

She made a vague sound of affirmation in the back of her throat, "Oh, definitely." Lucy used her most pleasant voice, "And how are you doing?"

Boromir frowned, and immediately started taking off his gloves, handing them to her, much to her horror. "Here-" he started, but Lucy cut him off quickly.

"You've already given your cloak away," she said gesturing to a semi-buried Pippin, "Keep them." Lucy stated, gently pushing his hands away. As much as she would have loved to say yes, the guilt of accepting would be too much.

The Man of Gondor looked ready to protest, and she glared pointedly at him.

Reluctantly, he reapplied his gloves.

They continued on for a little while but as the snow got deeper and the mountain steeper, the Hobbits started struggling and stumbling more and more.

Suddenly, Frodo cried out and fell from in front of them, tumbling down the mountain and landing at her feet.

Quickly, she knelt down to help him up, dusting off the snow he'd gathered and hoping that the ring had somehow managed to stay on his neck, but when Boromir bent towards where Frodo had fallen, and retrieved something from within the snow upon the ground she knew it hadn't. He held it up, almost loosely, the sunlight glinting off the gold metal, and every member stopped walking, giving the Man of Gondor wary looks.

As she absentmindedly helped Frodo steady himself, she found herself entranced by the simply beauty of the ring. It wasn't very extravagant, she'd seen better, but it almost called to her, its seductive aura sensually winding itself into her mind. It was powerful beyond her imagination, that she knew for sure.

Powerful enough to get her home.

"Boromir." Aragorn's voice was soft but held clear warning, and like magic, the enchantment was broken and she was blinking herself back into consciousness.

"It is a strange fate we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing. Such a little thing." Boromir mused, his eyes fixated on the ring before him, dangling by a silver chain. She could see that he wasn't in his right mind, possessed by the allure of it.

Lucianna swallowed nervously, because she knew just how convincing it could be. She'd just experienced it first hand. Aragorn's hand was subtly inching its way to his scabbard, and as much as she was avoiding interfering, she couldn't help but act. Boromir was kind and thoughtful, and the only reason why he was so affected by the ring was because of his desperation to save his home. He didn't deserve their hostility -especially not Aragorn's.

Standing quickly, she placed a hand on Boromir's forearm, pleading with him through her eyes. "Give the ring back to Frodo, please." Her voice was soft but earnest, and he blinked down at her a few times in confusion. The tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife, but Lucy didn't let go.

And then he shrugged and handed the chain back.

"No matter." The fair haired man said, back to normal, and she could see it in his eyes when the ring lost its influence on him. "It matters little to me."

Frodo secured it around his neck once more, thanking her softly as he tucked in into his shirt, but all she could give back was a shaky smile.

She was still reeling at the effects it had had on her. Of course, Lucianna never thought herself to be above the influence of the One Ring, but to be a target of it was something else entirely. It had been so convincing that she had no doubt if Aragorn hadn't spoken, she probably would have stolen the ring for herself, and that was unsettling.

They found a cave to camp in around sunset, and after a brave Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas went inside to inspect it and make sure it was free of danger, Gandalf decided they'd make camp there for the evening. No one complained, they were far too grateful to finally rest, fatigue dragging everyone down.

The old wizard reluctantly allowed a fire to be lit with the last of the wood they'd carried up with Bill the Pony, only because the Hobbits were like to freeze to death otherwise, and Lucy was entirely grateful for it. Everyone immediately huddled around the fire, putting their hands out to absorb the warmth, and after dumping her things at the back of the cave, claiming her sleeping spot, she took a seat next to Boromir to join them. At first, her fingers were so numb that the heat against them was painful, but after a while the warmth turned pleasant and she sighed in contentment. She would have liked to take off her boots as well, but she was afraid her toes would be even more exposed to the warmth.

A little away from her, Merry also gave a pleased sigh, his cheeks flushed from the heat and she smiled slightly at him. As much as she wouldn't admit it out loud for fear of insulting them, the Hobbits were so adorable it was ridiculous.

She felt eyes on her, and turned to find Gimli frowning at her speculatively. Lucy blinked, and he cleared his throat roughly, "What's your name, lassie?" He asked.

And suddenly all attention was on her, even Gandalf who'd been quietly smoking his pipe in a corner.

For a second, she could only dumbly repeat his words, "...My name?" She asked.

Aragorn made a thoughtful sound. "Gimli has a point. You have been our companion for near a fortnight, and yet we still do not know your name."

She shrugged, "Well, its not like anybody bothered to ask," she pointed out. "My name is Lucianna." She told them. The prospect of lying had crossed her mind before, but she found no point in it. Its not like they could track her down or anything.

"That's a very pretty name," Sam venturer shyly, and she gave him a smile.

"Thank you."

Gandalf chuckled, "A pretty name indeed," he agreed and Sam blushed. "You said you were a Bard, yes? Why not tell us a tale then?" He 'proposed' genially.

Lucy knew it wasn't a proposition, he was testing her cover story.

"Oh, please do!" Pippin cried hopefully.

"I, myself, wouldn't be opposed to hearing one. Perhaps it shall even serve to lift our spirits." Said Aragorn, catching onto Gandalf's plan, his grey eyes boring into her.

The rest of the party made various sounds of agreement until Lucianna found nine pairs of eyes staring at her expectantly.

She floundered, "I know plenty of stories...Of love and adventure, of betrayal and friendship. Which sort would you like to hear?" She asked, trying to buy some time.

"Give us some action!" Gimli immediately demanded.

"A tale of friendship!" Requested Pippin.

Even Boromir wanted something, quietly asking for one of adventure.

It was true, that she did know plenty of stories, how couldn't she when she was a nerd that came from the 21st century? It was the whole reason why she'd picked the whole 'traveling' bard cover story, after all, but the problem was, she'd have to choose one which they could relate to, that didn't have anything to do with modern day technology or concepts they couldn't understand.

She smiled and pretended to think for a moment, giving a playful him, and Frodo smiled a little.

After a moment Lucianna decided to fall back on her default, the one story she'd be able to tell even if she was 98 years old with Alzheimer's and had forgotten everything else in life.

"I think, for the sake of keeping the peace, I'll tell one with all three, and a little bit of magic as well." Lucy said, looking at Gandalf, who's blue eyes twinkled. "Well, there was once a young boy named Harry Potter..."

They took very well to it, to say the least. They hated the Dursely's, horrified that family could be so cruel, and often interrupted with questions and thoughtful remarks, about one thing or the other. She had to twist some things around of course, like the train or Hagrid's motorcycle, but otherwise, it was very easy to get through and she made it all the way to the Troll's attack before Gandalf gently interrupted because it was getting late and they needed rest. After being bullied by the Hobbits to continue the story the next evening, much to Lucy's amusement, everyone retired to their respective spots for bed.

But no matter how hard she tried to fall asleep, Lucianna could not. Now that she had no more distraction, she found her mind drifting back to her 'introduction' to the ring earlier on, how it so easily gripped her mind and whispered promises into her heart. She gave a shiver, and it wasn't from the cold.

She wanted a cigarette very badly, but she avoided smoking in confined places when everyone was so close together, it wouldn't be fair on them.

With a quiet huff, she stood, careful not to disturb the others who had easily fallen victim to their exhaustion, Gimli snoring loudly, and went to join Legolas who sat at the entrance of the cave, on guard duty. Even through the heavy snow that fell, his eyes were still alert and she had no doubt he could see quite clearly.

"Do you ever sleep?" She asked, genuinely interested in knowing. To her, he was always up and ready for everything, no matter what time of day.

He seemed a little startled that she took a seat next to him, and was let alone talking to him directly. She hadn't done so since that very first day when Sam had led him to the river.

"Lady Lucianna," he spoke, tone revealing his surprise. Lucy grimaced.

"Just Lucianna, please." She corrected, because she couldn't imagine any of these high-born men saying something as common as Lucy. And wasn't that something, Lucy thought wryly, that even as grimy and haggard as everyone was, she was the only of low-social standing among them.

Legolas stared at her for a moment, before giving a single nod. "Lucianna then," he acquiesced. "And yes, to answer your question, I do sleep, just not as often as you mortals."

"Ah." She breathed, because really, she didn't know what else to say.

He tilted his head at her, "Could you not find rest?" He asked, concerned. Lucianna took a moment to marvel at just how handsome he was, because bloody hell, it was amazing, and sure she didn't like him in that way, she could appreciate a good looking person when she saw one.

"Unfortunately not," she answered casually as if she hadn't just been checking him out, "My mind is far too restless for me to find any."

The blond elf made a sound of agreement, "I find I can understand your plight." He stated simply.

Lucy didn't ask what was bothering him, it wouldn't be her place. Instead she remained quiet, joining him in staring out into the dark night and wondered if she'd ever get home.