Author's Note: Hey guys, here's Chapter 2, hope you like it! Also, I don't own anything except Shadow and his stuff.
Pages flipped as Gandalf searches ancient scrolls and books placed high on a wooden table. His eyes settle on one old parchment. He murmurs hurriedly to himself, reading, "The year 3434 of the Second Age...here follows the account of Isildur, High King of Gondor, and the finding of the ring of power."
There's a small sketch on the document of Isildur, triumphant, reaching for the one ring, his eyes fixated on it, "It has come to me...the ring of power! It shall be an heirloom of my Kingdom...all those who follow in my bloodline shall be bound to its fate, for I will risk no hurt to the ring...it is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain..."
There is elvish lettering and marks on the faded old document in Gandalf's hand, "The marking upon the band begin to fade...the writing which at first was as clear as red flame, has all but disappeared...a secret now that only fire can tell..."
Farmer Maggot chopped wood in his garden as the shadow of a black rider looms over his Hobbit House. Terrified, Farmer Maggot cowers in his doorway. Fang, his dog, whimpered and backs away.
"Shire? Baggins?" the Black Rider hissed.
"There's no Bagginses around here! They are all up in Hobbiton...that way," he said, pointing in a different direction.
The Black Rider galloped away in the direction he pointed quickly.
Rosie Cotton bid the last of the Patron's "Goodnight". Sam met her eyes for a moment as he, Frodo, and the wolf, that Frodo came to call Shadow, left the inn.
Frodo and Shadow bid Sam farewell outside Bag End, and head towards the front door. Frodo entered Bag End, he immediately paused, sensing that something is amiss as Shadow growled and bristled slightly. All is quiet, Frodo peers uneasily into the darkened living room. Suddenly, a large figure looms out of the shadows, reaching for Frodo. Frodo let out a startled cry, pulling himself free and spinning around to face his assailant. Shadow stopped growling as Gandalf stepped into a shaft of moonlight. Paranoia blazes in his eyes. His clothes are dirty and ragged from much traveling and his hair and beard are much longer an unkempt.
"Is it secret? Is it safe?" Gandalf whispered urgently.
Frodo pulled the envelope out of an old chest. Without a word, Gandalf takes the envelope and tosses it into the fireplace!
"What are you doing?" Frodo asked bewildered.
Flames instantly consume the envelope, revealing the ring, as it sunk into the red hot embers. Gandalf reached into the fire with a pair of tongs and lifted the ring out as Shadow growled loudly, the whispers of the ring enticing him.
"Hold out your hand, Frodo...it is quite cool," Gandalf dropped the ring into Frodo's hand.
It's quite heavy for a ring, "What can you see? Can you see anything?"
"Nothing...there's nothing. Wait..." fiery letters begin to appear the Gold Band of the ring as a tiny inscription glowed red as if burning from within.
"...these are markings," Gandalf tensed.
"It's some form of Elvish...I can't read it," Frodo said curiously.
"There are few who can...the language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here," Gandalf replied ominously.
"Mordor?"
"In the common tongue it says, 'One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."
The ring lay on Frodo's simple kitchen table as Gandalf continued, "This is the one ring forged by the dark lord, Sauron, in the fires of Mt. Doom...taken by Isildur from the hand of Sauron himself."
"Bilbo found it...in Gollom's cave," Frodo whispered quietly.
For sixty years the ring lay quiet in Bilbo's keeping, prolonging his life, delaying old age...but no longer, Frodo. Evil is stirring in Mordor. The ring has awoken. It has heard its master's call.
At the moment, a fleeting low whisper of black speech emananted from the Ring. Frodo looks at Gandalf, each knowing the other has heard it as Shadow whined and gently scratched his head on the floor.
"But he was destroyed...Sauron was destroyed..." Frodo trailed off.
The Ring lay between them on the table as Gandalf sighed, "No, Frodo. The spirit of Sauron has endured. His life force is bound to the ring and the ring survived. Sauron has returned. His Orcs have multiplied...his fortress of Barad- dur is rebuilt in the land of Mordor. Sauron needs only this ring to cover all the lands in the second darkness. He is seeking it, seeking it, all his thought is bent on it. For the ring yearns, above all else, to return to the hand of its master: they are one, the ring and the dark lord. Frodo, he must never find out."
Suddenly Frodo scooped up the Ring, startling Shadow and Gandalf, "Alright!"
Frodo hurriedly entered the living room, "We put it away, we keep it hidden! We never speak of it again. No one know it's here, do they?"
Gandalf shifted uncomfortably as Frodo stared at him, "Do they, Gandalf?"
Gandalf looks at Frodo, sadly, "There is one other who knew that Bilbo had the Ring. I looked everywhere for the creature Gollum, but the enemy found him first."
-Start Flashback-
Gollum was being tortured by the Orcs, the wretched creature screamed in pain.
"I don't know how long they tortured him...but amidst the endless screams and inane babble, they discerned two words," Gandalf said heavily.
Gollum screamed, "S...Shire! Baggins!"
-End Flashback-
"Shire! Baggins! That will lead them here!" Frodo shouted hysterically.
On a dark country lane, a Hobbit bounder lifts his watch lantern in alarm.
"Halt! Who goes there?" the hobbit bounder asked.
Out of the darkness thunder two Black Riders, a lethal sword swung down at the small Hobbit bounder.
Frodo thrusts the ring at Gandalf shouting, Shadow watched on horrified, "Take it! Take it!"
"No, Frodo..." Gandalf sighed.
"You must take it."
"You cannot offer me this ring."
"I'm giving it to you!"
"Don't tempt me, Frodo. I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe. Understand, Frodo...I would use this Ring from a desire to do good...but through me, it would wield a power too great and terrible to imagine," Gandalf replied.
"But it cannot stay in the Shire!" Frodo exclaimed.
"No, no it can't."
Frodo looked down at his clenched hand with the ring in it, "What must I do?"
Frodo threw clothes into a knapsack; Gandalf watched him, making plans, "You must leave, and leave quickly. Get out of the Shire."
"Where? Where shall I go?" he asked.
"Make for the village of Bree."
"Bree? What about you?"
"I will, be waiting for you at the Inn of the Prancing Pony."
Frodo packed his and Shadow's food into his knapsack.
"And the ring will be safe there?" Frodo asked.
"I don't know, Frodo. I don't have any answers. I must see the Head of my Order. He is both wise and powerful. Trust me, Frodo, he'll know what to do," Gandalf replied.
The three went to the Living Room as Gandalf spoke, "You'll have to leave the name of Baggins behind you...for that name is not safe outside the Shire."
Gandalf helped Frodo into his coat and Shadow into his riding harness, "Travel only by day and stay off the road."
"I can cut across country easily enough," Frodo said determined.
Gandalf looked at the young Hobbit, moved by his courage, "My dear Frodo, Hobbits really are amazing creatures. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet, after a hundred years, they can still surprise you."
Suddenly, something moved from outside, Gandalf hushed, "Get down!"
Gandalf moved quietly towards the window, eyes wide with tension. He raised his staff above the window, and slams it down on the intruder. There was a yelp of pain.
Gandalf hauled a small figure into the room, Sam Gamgee sprawled across the floor, and looked up in terror as Gandalf looms over him, angry, "Confound it all! Samwise Gamgee, have you been eavesdropping?"
"I ain't been dropping no eaves, sir! Honest. I was just cutting the grass under the window there, if you follow me..." Sam whimpered.
"It's a little late for trimming the hedges, don't you think?" Gandalf asked suspiciously.
"I heard raised voices..." Sam muttered.
"What did you hear? Speak!" Gandalf demanded.
"Nothing important...that is, I heard a good deal about a ring...and a Dark Lord. And something about the end of the world, but...Please, Mr. Gandalf, sir, don't hurt me! Don't turn me into anything unnatural!" Sam replied, panicked.
"No?" Gandalf asked flatly as Frodo smiled at them with Shadow.
"Perhaps not. I've thought of a better use for you," Gandalf continued with a scary smile.
Gandalf, Frodo and Sam are hurrying across a ploughed field, away from Hobbiton. Gandalf leads his Horse while Frodo and Sam are carrying knapsacks with Shadow a little ways away, careful not to spook the horse.
"Come along, Samwise...keep up..." Gandalf cried back to Sam.
Gandalf lead Frodo and Sam under the cover of Woods, "Be careful, both of you. The Enemy has many spies in his service, many ways of hearing...birds, beasts..."
Gandalf took Frodo to one side as Shadow and Sam played a weird game of tag, "Is it safe?"
Frodo nodded as he patted his pocket, Gandalf nodded, "Never put it on, for then the agents of the Dark Lord will be drawn to its power...Always remember, Frodo, the ring is trying to get back to its master...it wants to be found...trust Shadow, he may be a wolf, but he will protect you."
Gandalf wheeled his horse and galloped away.
Start Montage
Frodo, Shadow, and Sam hiking over the gentle Shire Countryside...wading through a shallow stream...heating a kettle over a small fire...clambering over stone walls.
End Montage
Sam stopped short, taking stock of his surroundings, he looked back from where they came, "This is it."
"This is what?" Frodo asked, stopping and turning to look back at Sam.
"If I take one more step it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been," he replied.
Frodo gave Sam a pat on the shoulder as Shadow gently nudged him forward, "Come on, Sam."
Sam took a deep breath and stepped forward, his brown, furry foot hits the ground.
Frodo smiled, "Remember what Bilbo used to say...it's a dangerous business..."
Frodo, Shadow, and Sam continue their journey.
Bilbo's faint voice echoed on the wind,
"... it's a dangerous business, Frodo,
going out your door...you step onto the
road, and if you don't keep your feet,
there's not knowing where you might be
swept off to."
Gandalf galloped along the outskirts of the ancient forest of Fangorn. Nestled in a basin at the foot of the distant Misty Mountains, the tall black tower of Orthanc is clearly visible. Gandalf galloped through the gate, into the fortress of Isengard. A great ring-wall of stone, a mile from rim to rim, enclosed beautiful trees and gardens, watered by streams that flow down from the mountains.
"Smoke rises once more from the mountain of doom...the shadow takes shape in the darkness of Mordor; the hour grows late...and Gandalf the Grey rides to Isengard seeking my counsel..." Saruman said as he watched Gandalf approach.
The strange tower of Orthanc, hewn from a solid pillar of black obsidian, rose up in the center of the Isengard Circle. Gandalf arrived at the foot of the Orthanc Stairs.
Saruman, the white wizard, swept down the Orthanc stairs, "For that is why you have come, is it not, my old friend?"
Gandalf moved quickly towards him, grimy and weary from his long ride, "Saruman!"
Gandalf and Saruman walk slowly between the beautiful trees of Isengard, Saruman's clean, white robe contrasts with Gandalf's dusty grey robes.
"Are you sure of this?" Saruman asked.
"Beyond any doubt," Gandalf replied grimly.
"So the ring of power has been found?"
"All these long years it was in the Shire, under my very nose," Gandalf sighed.
"And yet you did not have the wit to see it! Your love of the Halfling's leaf has clearly slowed your mind," Saruman scolded sharply.
GANDALF
"We still have time...time enough to counter Sauron...if we act quickly."
SARUMAN
"Time? What time do you think we have?"
Saruman and Gandalf were seated in a small, cluttered room to the side of the cavernous central chamber.
"Sauron has regained much of his former strength. He cannot yet take physical form...but his spirit has lost none of its potency. Concealed within his fortress, the lord of Mordor sees all. His gaze pierces cloud, shadow, earth, and flesh. You know of what I speak, Gandalf...a great Eye, lidless, wreathed in flame," Saruman sighed.
"The eye of Sauron," Gandalf replied softly.
"He is gathering all evil to him. Very soon he will have summoned an army great enough to launch an assault upon Middle earth," Saruman replied gravely.
"You know this? How?" Gandalf asked, urgently.
"I have seen it," Saruman stated.
Gandalf and Saruman stride through Orthanc toward a stone plinth on which a sphere like shape is draped with a cloth, Gandalf spoke, "A palantir is a dangerous tool, Saruman."
Saruman lifted the cloth to reveal the Palantir, "Why? Why should we fear to use it?"
"They are not all accounted for, the lost seeing-stones...we do not know who else may be watching," Gandalf threw the cloth back over the Palantir.
Saruman sits upon his throne, "The hour is later than you think. Sauron's forces are already moving...the Nine have left Minas Morgul."
"The nine!" Gandalf replied, shocked.
"They crossed the river Isen in Midsummer's eve, disguised as riders in black," Saruman replied in a bored tone.
"They have reached the Shire?" Gandalf replied, alarmed.
Saruman shrugged, "They will find the ring...and kill the one who carries it.
Gandalf backed away and turned to run to the door but was horrified as the doors suddenly slam shut.
Author's Note: Hey, hope you liked the chapter, sorry for the cliffy but come on, ya gotta wait for the next chapter! and no more disclaimers! cause they are really annoying, ok bye!