Hey guys! Thanks for checking this story out! I must admit that I am not really ... oh how should I say this ... I don't really know much about Lord of the Rings aside with what goes on in the movie, so if I get something wrong please by all means, call me up on it. I'm working on reading the book right now, and I will say that after the first fourty-eight pages I can tell some of my buddies minor trivia about LotR that they didn't know. Yay me! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this fic that I've created. My plan of attack will be to add a new chapter every Sunday (the day was going to be Saturday, but due to the fact that I have some rather important things to do on the next upcoming Saturdays, I was forced to postpone it to Sunday. Sorry!) So, that's all for my rediculously long author's note that nobody reads anyway. Hope you enjoy! Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, never could I become such an amazing writer.

The cold air and cloudy sky promised the coming of a snowstorm.

Sophia Jenkins sat at her desk finishing up her last bit of paperwork, occasionally glancing outside the window to see if it had began to snow yet. So far it had not, but it would soon. With one last glance, she returned to her paperwork and began reading through the form, tapping her pen on her large oak desk as she did so. Once she finished reading through it, she signed her name at the bottom, relieved that it was finally done and that she could go home at last. Sighing, Sophie stood paperwork in hand and walked out of her small office into the lobby which housed the front desk.

The log walls of the lobby were decorated with antlers from all sorts of different animals that roamed the forest. In the center of the room were two chairs and a couch, all circled around a fireplace which was currently blazing. In front of the couch was a coffee table which, Sophie noted, had the day's newspaper and the park's magazine. Making a mental note to read both later if she had the time, she walked up to the front desk where sat the secretary Marsha Gram.

Marsha looked up as she approached, "For the boss?" she asked, smiling.

"For the boss." Sophie confirmed, handing her the paperwork for a new cabin that was to be built before tourist season was to start.

Marsha took it, "I'll let him know to check his mailbox when he comes home from scouting." she said, wheeling her chair over towards the wall that was occupied by all of the employees' mailboxes, "Thank you very much for getting that done, all of the boys would rather go out scouting than finish the paperwork for all the little things."

Sophie smiled, "I would rather have gone out scouting as well, but it needed to be done." she said, "Besides, tomorrow while they're all stuck in the office working on their reports which they haven't done for the past week, I'll get to go out and scout out what's been happening."

Marsha smiled and nodded, then looked over Sophie's shoulder and suddenly frowned, "No one might be going out tomorrow, it looks as if tonight is going to provide us a snowstorm."

Sophie looked out the large glass windows behind her and frowned as well, it had started to snow, lightly, but it would get worse, "It appears that will be so." she said, then turned back to Marsha, "I think I'm going to clock out and head home."

"Are you sure?" Marsha asked, a worried wrinkle forming in her forehead, "You may not make it home in time. Perhaps you should stay here for the night …" she mused.

Sophie shook her head, "Thank you, but I really should get going." she said, though she was partly tempted to partake in Marsha's offer.

Marsha was married to Sophie's boss and the owner of the building, Parcel. They were a kind older couple who Sophie jokingly called her parents because they sometimes acted as though that was what they were. Sophie didn't mind this though, and actually had come to like it, as had many of the other employees.

"Are you sure honey?" she asked worriedly, "I will worry."

Sophie frowned, "How about I call you when I get home?" she asked.

Marsha smiled, only a small smile, but a smile nonetheless, "You had better honey, or you'll give me even more grey hairs."

Sophie laughed. Marsha was getting older, but she had yet to have grey hair. Her hair was chocolate brown and when the light hit it properly, it shined like a halo. Sophie always joked that she would probably get grey hair before Marsha would, making the lady laugh and shake her head while saying, 'Don't worry dear, Parcel's working on it.'

"Be safe then hun." Marsha said, watching as Sophie made her way over to the coat closet to fetch her coat.

"I will." Sophie replied as she slid her coat on over her shoulders.

After saying a quick farewell to Marsha, out into the elements Sophie went. Instantly, the cold kissed her cheeks, turning them a pinkish-reddish color. She walked swiftly to her old pick up truck, trying to be careful not to slip on the ice that had formed during their last snow storm. Pulling out her keys she quickly unlocked the door and hopped into the truck, which was cold, but definitely warmer than the outside. She started it up and turned up the heater, quickly warming the interior of the truck up.

While she waited for her truck to warm up, she turned on the radio to see if she could get an exact time on when the storm was to hit at full power. Unfortunately for her, all her radio would do is spout static. So, with another sigh, she put her truck into drive and began the long drive home though the mountains.

The snow seemed to be getting heavier as Sophie closed the distance between her and her log cabin up in the mountains. She was now fighting to keep her truck on the road, in the dark, and she could only see a few feet in front of her. Now regretting her decision of not staying at the main office with Marsha and Parcel, she slowed down her vehicle to where it was going at a crawl, incase she had to stop fast. Moose were known to just walk across a road anytime they wanted and if Sophie hit one, she was a goner.

Sophie sighed irritably, impatience to get home beginning to overcome instinct to drive safely. That is, until fortune decided to favor her and the green sign signaling that she had a few miles to the next town. This meant that Sophie was about five and a half miles away from home. She sighed once more, this time out of relief. She thought of the warm bath she would take upon her arrival, then cuddling up in her nice warm bed, and-

"Oh my God!" Sophie screeched, slamming on the brakes.

Luckily, since she had been at a crawl, and her tires decided to have enough of a grip, she was able to bring her truck to a stop before she hit the thing that was in the middle of the road. She threw her vehicle in park right in the middle of the road. 'No one besides me would be stupid enough to drive on this road in this storm anyway.'

She jumped out of her truck and shuffled her way over to the thing that was in the middle of the road, once more having to be careful of the ice. The thing was a person, Sophie discovered when she knelt down. He was dressed in strange clothing, and armed with a bow and a couple of short swords. Sophie gasped, wondering if he was a poacher that ended up getting caught in the storm. She scratched out that idea. 'What kind of idiot would be so lightly dressed in the wintertime, especially if he were going hunting?' Reaching up to gently touch his neck with two fingers, she checked for a pulse. It was faint, but it was there. 'How and why in the hell is he out here all alone in the forest?'

"Sir?" she asked, "Sir, are you conscious?" he didn't respond. 'Apparently not.'

Mustering all her strength, she grabbed him under the arms and began to drag him to her car, discovering that he was sort of light for a male. Because of this, she accomplished her task about five minutes later. Now was the hard part of getting him into the truck without causing him unnecessary harm. Her eyes blazed with determination, and with a combination of luck and once again the fact that the man wasn't too unbearably heavy, she had him in the passenger seat and buckled in. Hurrying to the driver's side she hopped in, quickly throwing her car into drive.

Time was of the essence now. They weren't just fighting a battle against a snowstorm now, they were fighting a battle against hypothermia as well. 'A battle of life and death.' she thought grimly.

Again, thanks for reading! See you next Sunday if you wish to continue reading! Much love! :)