Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings Tolkien does. This story has no slash in it. None of my stories do. Slightly religious.

Hope for Frodo

The sun was sinking behind the forest and what little light that was able to peak through the trees that were growing so close together that their branches filled with leaves touched each other was snuffed out. The forest became completely dark only for a few minutes until the moon added a little light to the forest area. Many raccoons and other nocturnal woodland forest animals crawled out of the holes and burrows in the trees and on the ground began to hunt and forage for food.

The trees of course were standing proud and tall; making their branches reach the sky. Near one of the trees were the four hobbits were huddled together wrapped in blankets and as close to the fire as possible to ward off the chill. Frodo was between Sam and Merry while Pippin was on the other side of Merry. They were all trying to keep Frodo warm because four days ago, Frodo was stabbed by the Witch King, and the stab wound to his shoulder was flaring up causing him sharp pain; not to mention the fact that his face was devoid of color, and his arm was frozen like ice. The other hobbits were trying to comfort and warm him up because they cared about him.

Strider, who was sitting underneath the tree and stretched out his long legs, was watching the other hobbits trying to comfort and warm Frodo. He got up and checked on Frodo. When he saw Frodo's face grimaced in pain and drained of color he bent down towards him and pulled his blankets and shirt down a little and examined his shoulder which looked grey and felt like ice. The wound itself though small, looked red and angry. Frodo was moaning in pain while fight off the shadows that threatened to overwelm him.

Strider heard Sam murmuring words of comfort to Frodo before he got up again. He walked to a nearby lake and filled the pot with water and carried it back again and placed the pot of water on top of the fire and took some athelas leaves out of the pouch, and dropped them into the water. He watched the water until it began to bubble up and steam began to float in the sky. The steam from the athelas made water made everyone feel more comfortable. When he saw that the athelas leaves was boiled enough he used a strainer and lifted them from the water. Then he walked back towards Frodo and crushed the boiled leaves before dropping them on Frodo's shoulder. The second the leaves hit his wound it calmed down, his arm was thawing, and some color was refilling his face again. Strider drew the sleeve and the blankets over his shoulder again. Merry said thank you to Strider in his barely audible voice.

He walked back to the tree and sat down underneath it again; then he pulled out his pipe, lit, and began to puff on it.

After a while he said to the hobbits, "We will rest for a little while longer and then we will move on. We must get Frodo to Rivendell and to my foster father very soon, before he turns into a ringwraith."

"But Rivendell is so far away, "Merry said with a frown on his face and fear in his voice.

"We will never get there on time," Sam said hopelessly.

"It is far, about three days travel, but we will not give up," Strider said with determination in his tone of voice. "As long as we don't Frodo has a chance to survive."

Strider was trying to give himself and the hobbits some help for he knew that the chances of getting frodo to Rivendell on time and saving him from becoming a wraith was very small. He saw that the shadow and the ring were fervently trying to pull him into their world. Frodo, weak as he was, was struggling with all his might for he was determined not to become a wraith. Strider knew that he and the hobbits could not help Frodo by themselves so he prayed to Elbereth to give them courage and strength which she granted them for she made Frodo a little stronger, and filled the other hobbits with renewed determination.

"We won't give up. We will make sure that Frodo gets there," Sam said with a stern look on his face and determination in his tone of voice.

The others nodded their heads in agreement.

He saw the great love the other hobbits had for him. They would not let him travel through danger alone, and they often made sure that he ate well, comforted him as much as they were able, and kept him warm. Strider was thankful to Eru that Frodo had such kind and caring friends. For friends such as Sam, Merry, and Pippin, were needed at this time because Frodo could not carry his burden alone.

Strider was glad that they were treating him like a brother. He also felt a brotherly love for Frodo who was like a little brother to him. Frodo was entrusted to his care by Gandalf who never showed up at the Prancing Pony, and wondered what happened to him. He was a little worried about Gandalf because he knew that it was difficult to keep an Istari from his journey.

I hope he is alright, Strider thought fearfully. He said nothing though about Gandalf to the hobbits because the hobbits were already worried enough about Frodo and the task of getting him into Rivendell on time. He put Gandalf out of his mind and placed it back on Frodo. He was determined to get him to Rivendell and to his foster father as fast as possible because he knew that Elrond could heal his morgul wound and save him from becoming a wraith.

Strider and the hobbits stayed near the fire a few minutes more, before Strider said, "It's time for us to continue our flight, and I suggest that you carry as much of the packs as you can so that Bill won't be overloaded, and because I need to carry Frodo."

Sam went over to the camp fire and threw water on it to douse the flames. Then he began to stomp on the ashes to make sure the fire was out while the rest of the group was packing up the equipment.

"Let me carry him," Sam said with worry in his eyes while he was stomping on the ashes.

Strider shook his head. "I don't think you will be able to carry him that far," he said while was folding the second blanket.

"I will if I have to," Sam said with fierce determination in his voice. He was now helping Pippin pack provisions into the packs.

"Sam, it would be best if I carried him; I am the strongest in this group," said Strider who was packing the blanket into one of the packs.

Sam looked like he wanted to say something more but Merry tapped him on the shoulder to distract him. "Maybe you should keep Bill Company, he's lonely."

Sam walked over to the pony who had packs tied on his back and patted his side. Merry came by and tied another pack on Bill while Pippin finished packing the equipment into another pack and tied it up before he lifted it onto his shoulders. Merry ran to the lake and replenished the sack that was emptied by sam with water. Frodo was watching his friends pack up the equipment, wishing that he could help, but knowing that he felt too weak to move. Strider bent down to pick up Frodo carefully in his arms and murmuring comforting words in his ear while the group resumed their flight.

Strider said a silent prayer to Elbereth while he was carrying Frodo. He was ahead of the other hobbits because he was walking at a very fast pace through the woods. The other hobbits could not keep up with Strider and Frodo because they were carrying heavy packs that made it hard for them to move fast and their legs were shorter. Strider saw that they were falling way behind, and he wanted to go back and help them, but he sensed an urgency to move even faster for the athelas was wearing off, and Frodo was beginning to moan again.

"Hang on, Frodo; we'll be there soon," Strider said to him.

"I hope so," Frodo said. "I don't know how much longer I can fight off the shadows."

"Don't give up," Strider said. Then he began to ask Frodo questions about the shire to help him keep his mind off the shadow that was getting stronger. He knew that Frodo was putting up a very good fight, better than anyone else who was stabbed by a morgul blade for they succumbed to it long before this. He wondered if any of the valar was helping him. And indeed Elbereth was for she was giving Frodo strength to resist the shadows.

Frodo continued to struggle against the shadow from pulling him into its world, and from putting the ring on his finger but he felt weaker. He realised that he was already beginning to enter the shadowed world for everything around him including the trees that were now growing far apart from each other and the hobbits, who were struggling to catch up to Strider and him, looked like shadows. He could hardly feel Strider who was carrying him, and the pain in his wound magnified. When Strider saw that Frodo was slowly putting on the ring he held his hand to his chest and prvented him from doing that.

"We're so far away from them," Pippin complained. "I can't keep up, and this pack is so heavy."

"We have to continue trying," Merry said. "We need to get to Rivendell very soon, it is only a matter of time before Frodo becomes too weak to resist the shadows and turn into a wraith."

Sam pictured Frodo in his mind looking as grey as the shadow while wearing a black cloak and hood and shrieking like the other ringwraiths. Tears began to form in his eyes, but he angrily blinked them away.

"He won't turn into a ringwraith. I'll see to it that he doesn't."

Three hours had passed and everybody was tiring out, but they continued on for they were determined to get Frodo to Rivendell on time.

"I'm glad that Strider is and Frodo are way ahead of us because Frodo needs to get to Rivendell very soon," Merry said to Sam and Pippin.

"I know, but I don't want to be so far away from them," said Pippin.

"Me neither," said Sam who was stroking Bill's face. He saw that Strider was also carrying a heavy pack and wondered how could get that far with a heavy pack on his back and Frodo in his arms.

Merry and Sam saw that Pippin was staggering so much from carrying the heavy pack that he was about to fall face down on the grass. Merry quickly grabbed Pippin to prevent him from falling and Sam untied the pack from his arm and began to carry it.

They continued on for another ten minutes when Strider stopped moving. The hobbits wondered why he stopped, when they saw the answer. Far away they saw Glorfindel riding on a white horse towards them. It made their hope rise for help was coming to them at last.

The End