This is my second fan fic. I hope you like it!

Chapter 1: Warriors in the Dark

"Why does that rock look strangely familiar?" Samwise Gamgee asked.

His friend, Frodo Baggins groaned, because he knew the awful answer. "That's because we've been here before Sam! We are going in circles! Again! We'll never get to Mount Doom to destroy The Ring at this rate!"

"Yes we will, all we have to do is figure out which way we haven't gone yet and try it! We're bound to find the right way eventually."

The two hobbits sat down. They each tried to look for a way they hadn't tried yet. They had been traveling for hours, so sitting down felt good. No matter where they looked, it seemed as if they had tried that way already.

Sam lay down and looked at the sky. He knew The Ring was taking over his master, but he couldn't stop it. The sooner they got back on the right path, found Mount Doom, and destroyed It, the better. He heard Frodo get up and watched him as he walked to a bush. The hobbit parted the bush, and looked back at Sam, a look of hope on his face.

"Sam! There's a hidden path here! This might be it!"

Sam sighed and rose. "I hope it is," he said.

The hobbits walked for hours. After a while, they had a lunch of Lembas bread. They were both quickly growing sick of the elven way-bread, but when it's the only food you have, one can't be too picky. They continued walking, and their spirits started to fall again when the path met up with a river and started going parallel to it. They continued, following the path and river until nightfall, when the forest opened up and they met the sea.

Sam was the first to realize their mistake.

"Of course," he exclaimed as he stomped his foot, "How dumb are we? This river must start up in the mountains of Mordor and empties out here, wherever here is. We should have followed the river the other way!"

"Well it's too dark to do anything about that now," said Frodo, "We'll just have to sleep here tonight, and go back tomorrow."

That's just what they did. The two had supper, and went to sleep, not knowing they were being watched by more than one pair of eyes.

The full moon was high in the sky and all was quiet when the water in one part of the sea started to bubble. Out of it rose a dark figure, clad in strange armor. The armor dripped with water as the figure waded toward the land. As the figure's feet touched dry ground, its body began to glow with a soft light, and the armor was dry when the glow faded. The mysterious stranger slowly crept up to the sleeping hobbits, as if it was looking for something. The figure's eye, partially hidden by a helmet, rested on the hobbit's bags. It slowly made its way to them, opened the bags, and, still not making any noise, proceeded to go through the few belongings of the travelers.

Seeming somewhat satisfied, the figure walked to Sam, stopped for a moment, then moved toward Frodo. The figure stared at Frodo, then cautiously walked closer to the Ring bearer. When it reached Frodo's side, it knelt down and looked closely at the sleeping hobbit. The figure's hand moved toward his face and was almost going to touch it, when it spotted the Ring. It immediately pulled back the armored hand as it stared in horror, looking from the Ring to Frodo's calm face.

Just the, the sound of a twig breaking was heard. The figure's senses heightened even more as it stood up and hid behind a nearby rock and waited, as if knowing something was coming.

The armor-clad figure did not have to wait long, for a few moments later, the small figure of Gollum was seen emerging from the forest.

"They stole It from us, they did. They took It, my Preciousssss," the creature hissed.

He made his way toward the hobbits, and a few yards away from them; the strange figure leapt out from behind the rock, brandishing its aqua-colored sword.

"Leave these two travelers alone," the figure whispered, " Do not bother them, nor cause them to wake!"

Gollum stepped back. "Who are you, my Precious? What are you," it hissed back.

"That may be revealed in time, but not to you. Now, do as I say, and leave this place!"

But Gollum wanted the Ring, and would stop at nothing to get It back, so he leapt at the figure. Caught by surprise, the figure accidentally dropped its sword. The two were fighting for a while, and surprisingly, the two hobbits slept through the whole thing. Eventually the figure was able to throw Gollum off and retrieved its sword. It pinned Gollum to the ground, and pointed its sword at the creature's throat.

"Leave! If I EVER catch you bothering these two again, I will not spare your life!"

With this, Gollum looked in fear at the figure and did run off, muttering under his breath, "You will never catch Gollum again, my Precious, for Gollum will not come when you are around!"

The figure watched Gollum go off and, panting sheathed its sword. It looked over at Frodo and sighed a breath of relief. Then it staggered over to Frodo and collapsed on the ground, exhausted from the fight.