A/N: All of the late J.R.R. Tolkien's works are not mine as aren't any characters that appear in The Lord the Rings trilogy. I only own the characters that are not previously mentioned.
Thank you.
"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old. You have been summoned to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-earth stands on the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. This fate, whether it be Man, Elves, Dwarves, or even Hobbits bind each race; we are all united by this one doom…"
"But Elrond," Gandalf interrupted, "Surely you forgot the faeries, the have every part in this, after all they too have a fate that is corrupted by this."
"Faeries!" Spat a man. He was none other than Boromir, the Steward of Gondor's son. "|What have faeries to do with any of this, no one has seen one for over three thousand years; even the elves!" At this comment Gandalf smirked slightly. "If they have not seen the need to intervene in any of our affairs before now, why should we include them at all?"
While he was speaking there were murmurs of agreement from some of the others present at the Council. Gandalf looked across the semi-circle that the Council made, and caught the eye of a grungy looking man. Although no one else saw it a message passed between the two. The man spoke up.
"Why should we not include the faeries in this matter, are they not also occupants of this earth?"
Boromir scoffs at the man, "Wait don't tell me. You have seen a faerie?" When all the man did was glare at Boromir, he continued, "I thought not, besides what would a mere ranger know of this matter?"
At this an elf, Legolas, flew to his feet in a rage, "This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."
Just as the dwarves were going to start in, Elrond interceded, "That is enough, the faeries are not present so we will just have to continue without them, seeing as it would take too long to send a messenger. Now, Frodo, bring forth the ring."
As Frodo walked up to the table set in the middle of the Council, his steps visibly slowed; as if it was painful to let the ring go after only possessing it for such a short time. As soon as he set it down everyone began arguing amongst him or herself about what to do with it.
But Gandalf was the only one heard above the clamor, "The ring must be destroyed before Sauron can come to posses it. If that should happen then all will be lost."
"Then what are we waiting for?" a dwarf called Gimili asked. He jumped up from his seat and went running at the ring with his axe. When his axe connected with the ring it exploded and Gimli was thrown back toward his seat. The ring was unscathed.
"The ring cannot be destroyed by any means we have here, Gimil son of Gloin. It must be thrown into the deadly fires, from which it came from the depths of Mount Doom," Elrond stated.
"But that is impossible!" said a shocked Boromir, "One doesn't simply walk into Mordor, there is a evil that never sleeps. There is no chance of even survival, let alone a slim shot at completing the task at hand!"
"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond just said?" shouted Legolas; "The ring MUST be destroyed."
"And I suppose you think you are the one to do it!?" snapped Gimili, "I will be dead before I see the fate of Middle-earth resting in the hands of an elf!"
At this the entire Council leapt to their feet, except Frodo. All he could do was stare at the ring with all of his concentration; even amidst the deafening arguing. Suddenly it came to him, what he must do.
"I will take the ring," shouted Frodo. When no one listened, he tried again. "I will take it," He finally captured everyone's attention so he lowered his voice. "I will take the ring to Mordor. Though I do not know the way."
Gandalf sighed, "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear," And walked to stand by his side.
"If by my life or death, if I can protect you I will. You have my sword," offered Aragorn. At this Gandalf turned to Elrond and winked, Elrond smiled back.
Legolas approached Frodo; "You have my bow."
Gimli, just to spite Legolas, added, "And my axe."
Boromir walked up to Frodo and said, "Little one, you carry the fate of all of Middle-earth in your hands. Since it is indeed the will of the Council, Gondor will see it done."
"Wait!" yelled Sam as he scrambled out of the bushes he was crouched behind, "Mister Frodo isn't going anywhere without me!"
"Us either!" added Merry as he and Pippin ran out from behind the pillar they were hiding behind.
"Then you nine shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!" announced Elrond.
"Besides you need people of intelligence on this mission, quest, thing," Pippin said, confusing even himself.
"Then I guess that rules you out Pip," said a chuckling Merry.
"So, where are we going?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Gandalf," whined Pippin, "Aren't we there yet? I'm tired and we haven't had a decent rest in hours and we left Rivendell five days ago, and I'm hungry…"
"Peregrin Took, will you stop your whining and give me a minute to collect whatever thoughts I still have left in my head?" Gandalf asked. As he said that he stopped to take a look at his surroundings at the top of a large hill. He looked down at the rest of the Fellowship positioned on the side of the hill, catching whatever rest they could in this little break. Taking a long look, he then turned back to the Fellowship and shouted. "Alright, up on your feet. We need to continue on."
Although there was a little grumbling from the hobbits, mainly Pippin, they all got to their feet.
"We will spend the night in that forest over there. I need to find someone that I believe is living in there."
"Who is it, I mean aren't they a long way from anyone else?" asked Merry.
"Oh, You'll see my boy, you'll see."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Finally, after a long monotonous three-hour walk the Fellowship reached the forest. As they reached the forest everyone grew silent, whether it was from the lack of something to say or from the foreboding way the forest looked none of them knew. Overhead the branches of the giant trees wove together to form a natural roof over their heads, blocking out almost all of the light in places. Even Legolas, an elf, whom is normally at home in forests was feeling uneasy. After a while Boromir spoke up. "Where will we meet this person? It is so dark, I hope we will be able to see him."
"Oh, what made you think that we were meeting anyone Boromir?" Gandalf asked. "I am merely hoping we will be found by them."
"What!?" Boromir exclaimed, "So we are traveling quite a ways out of our way to find someone, and all we can hope is that they find us?"
"Exactly"
"This is my land and I would very much like to know why you are trespassing on it." A very startled Fellowship all whirled to face the speaker.
A/N: And like every other author on this site, I do like to hear about what my readers think. So feel free to review, if I come across an exceptionally good suggestion I just might work it into the story. Who knows?