Hey everyone! I finally got this chapter done. I'm not entirely happy with this, the description just isn't right. I seem to have trouble writing stuff I don't have to imagine. Sorry its not as great as the first chapter. The next one will hopefully be better, and if not...

This is directed at karen, and its just a little rant, please feel free to skip this. It doesn't matter how many times a story line has been done, or even how many times an OC is added to something, every time it is going to be different. Everyone has different thoughts and opinions and ways of writing. So it is always going to be different, or else someone is doing something seriously wrong. And when I get a boyfriend is my own business.

Anywhoo, I hope you enjoy this. And thank you for all the kind reviews. You guys make my day over and over again. Please keep reviewing, it makes me feel guilty when stuff is this late. Oh, and flames are welcome because I'm a pyromaniac.


Sam was an extremely selfless, strong, kind man. Or at least that is what I've learned of him, in almost… sixteen hours of knowing him? God, I was never going to get any rest in this world. Whenever it seemed like we were at a place where I was going to be able to sleep, we were moving again, on to some place new. Soon I was going to have seen the whole of Middle Earth, but I wasn't going to be able to remember any of it, because of lack of sleep! It was only going to get worse, because I was in charge now, even though Sam and Frodo were probably both older than me. I was the one who had to protect us, because though Hobbits were undoubtedly hardy creatures, they were peaceful and rather on the small side.

But never let one of them hear you say that, because they would make you pay.

I stopped a moment after Sam and Frodo did, and glanced around the clearing we were in to see if they noticed something I hadn't. I stopped when Sam said "This is it."

"This is what?"

"If I take one more step it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been." Sam explains with a somewhat lost look on his face. I found myself briefly wondering if he'd counted or something before the general meaning of the statement caught up with me.

He was going someplace new and foreign and didn't know when he'd be back.

"Just think about how wonderful home will seem when you get back, even better than before." I felt a surge of homesickness so strong that I felt like lying down right then and there and not moving ever again. Right at that moment I'd even welcome the noise of NYC, something I absolutely hated. I just wanted to be some place familiar…. "At least you'll always know where to go to get back home."

"It'll be okay, Sam."

Sam started walking and so did I.

"Remember what Bilbo used to say…" Frodo began, walking between Sam and I. "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 no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Later on in the day, almost sundown, we were walking through a field of corn taller than me. It had been a quiet day, which was good and bad. I preferred quiet, but some conversation would have been nice to keep me focused. I was getting bored, and was being tempted with setting things on fire.

To practice my magic, of course.

That's why I didn't notice that Sam had lagged behind until he started shouting worriedly "Mr. Frodo. Mr. Frodo!" It doesn't take him long to find us. "I thought I'd lost you."

Frodo smiles slightly. "What are you talking about?"

Sam gets slightly embarrassed. "It's just something Gandalf said…."

"What did he say?"

"He said don't you lose him Samwise Gamgee." He does a very funny impression of Gandalf, I notice. "And I don't mean too."

Then, of course, Frodo seems to speak words that curse us. "Sam, we're still in the Shire… what could possibly happen?"

First Merry than Pippin come flying out of the bushes, running into the two. Sam shoved Pippin off him, and helped Frodo to his feet while I laughed. On the inside I was mentally berating myself to pay attention.

"Frodo!" Pippin exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet. "Merry, it's Frodo Baggins."

"Hello Frodo." Merry and Pippin start picking up vegetables that had scattered all over the ground.

I laughed. "Did you steal all of those or something? The way you were running…." I trail off as Pippin looks at me with a cheeky grin.

Merry hands Sam a cabbage. Sam exclaims "You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!"

A voice exclaims angrily some where from where Merry and Pippin had come. We all take off running. I stay towards the back of the group, wanting to keep the hobbits a head of me. "I don't know why he's so upset, it's only a couple of carrots."

Pippin adds on "And some cabbages… and those three bags of potatoes that we lifted last week. And then the mushrooms the week before."

Merry looks at him. "Yes, Pippin, my point is he's clearly over reacting."

We continues running for several more minutes until I noticed that the hobbits had suddenly disappeared. Oh, shit. They had been right in front-

I stopped jogging just before the hill at the very edge of the field. I looked down to see the hobbits in a pile on the road, moaning. I heard Merry's voice complaining about maybe having broken something.

I made my way carefully down the steep hill and then started helping the hobbits onto their feet. Sam grumbles "Trust a Brandybuck and a Took."

Merry starts defending that it was a short cut, which is when Pippin cuts in with a cry of "Mushrooms!" and the three hobbits started to pick them with abandon. It was strange seeing someone so excited about mushrooms.

"Come on, we don't have time. Besides, its just mushrooms." I said, trying to get the hobbits off the road. Gandalf had been very clear about staying off roads.

Pippin looks at me. "Just mushrooms? Just mushrooms! How can you say that?"

"Get off the road!" Frodo cuts in, doing a much better job getting Merry, Pippin, and Sam off the road then I had. It was hard not to do what he wanted when he had that much urgency – almost panic – in his voice.

Frodo pulls the rest of the hobbits into a cavern created by a huge old tree. By this time we can all hear the faint sound of hoof beats. I quickly notice that I won't fit, there is barely enough room for the hobbits.

Oh, shit.

Instead of panicking I move backwards, until there is enough room to quickly draw a circle with my staff in the dirt around me. I quickly muttered some words in Latin, willing what I wanted to happen. Which was to not be seen. Going on the quickly muffled gasps from the hobbits it worked. This was probably a miracle, considering all the things that I should have and usually did do. Usually I'd have drawn symbols or had some sort of physical representation of what I wanted done included in the circle. Turning invisible was very complex, so I always used a ritual….

There are two differences between doing magic with a ritual and staff and doing them just with my magic ring. The first one is how complex the magic is. The second is how practiced I am at whatever I am trying to do. Because I'd done this ritual in particular many times must be why it was working.

I stopped thinking about why it was working and focussed on being invisible when someone on a black horse came into sight. I couldn't tell anything about the figure; it was completely covered in a long black cloak. It pauses, as if listening to something. Or maybe smelling? The figure quickly dismounted and spared barely a glance in my direction. It moves slowly towards the root of the tree the hobbits were under. It leaned over the root. I was filled with panic. It looked like at any second the figure would discover the hobbits. I prepared myself to break the circle and run and hopefully draw the creature away to where I could fight it.

Thankfully I didn't have to because at that moment Merry throws a bag of vegetables causing a loud crash that draws the figure away from the hobbits and out of sight. Everyone sighs in relief and I wondered when I had started holding my breath. I released the circle and become visible again.

The hobbits jumped and then relaxed. Well, not really relaxed. Frodo was panting like he'd just run a marathon, and Merry and Pippin were looking at us suspiciously. "What was that?" Merry questions.

I walk over to the hobbits and pull Frodo out from the hollow. I pause, noticing the ring in his hand. He quickly puts it in his pocket. "Come on, we have to move!" I command. The hobbits start off, moving in the opposite direction that the figure in black went.

Sam stays by Frodo's side, keeping a constant look out for anything. Merry and Pippin follow behind them. I'm at the back of the group again. Frodo stops, looking around. "Anything?" Sam asks.

"Nothing."

"Good, then keep moving." I hiss from the back of the group.

"What's going on?" Pippin asked, his voice edged with nervousness.

Merry moves forward, staring intensely at Frodo. "The black rider was looking for something… or someone… Frodo?"

"Down!" Sam commands as the horse and rider appear again. We all flatten to do ground, and the figure moves on, thankfully not noticing anything.

Frodo locks eyes with Merry. "I have to leave the Shire…. Lilith, Sam, and I must get to Bree."

"Right. Buckleberry Ferry… follow me!" Merry darts away, leading the way. He changes course however when the figure in black appears again. Using my ring I throw a ball of fire at the figure. It backs off momentarily, allowing the hobbits to fly past, and I run to catch up.

We stumble through the fog and dense forest, and more figures dressed the same as the first appear. I throw more fire at them, and they shy away. We somehow all manage to stay together and even find the crossing. We all jump on the small raft and Sam starts to untie the ropes. I glance at the hobbits and realize there are only three of them. Oh, shit. "Where's Frodo?" My question is answered by him appearing at the end of the dock.

"Frodo!" By now we had already started to drift away from the dock, but he'd be able to make it. Of course, this is when another figure in black appears, its horse galloping straight for Frodo.

He wasn't going to make it.

I stood up and raised my right hand, concentrating. Besides the ritual from earlier, I hadn't put any real power into my spells today. Mainly because I only wanted to scare the black riders off, not burn down the entire forest. With this spell, however, I put in as much energy and focus as I could in only a few seconds. I sent a ball of force straight at the hooded face of the rider following Frodo. The result was the figure nearly falling off its horse, which shied away rearing from the energy I had sent its way. Frodo safely ran the last few feet and jumped into the boat.

We all watched as the black rider regained its seat, turned its horse, and galloped away. Several more followed after it. We all sighed in relief when they were out of sight.

Merry and Sam used the long paddles to push us out farther and farther into the lake. Or was it a river? I wasn't sure. Whatever it was it was deep and wide, without much of a current. I sat down slowly on the raft. We all looked at each other. I choked out a shaky laugh. "Well, I don't do that every day."

"How far to the nearest crossing?" Frodo asked.

Merry responded, seeming to know the most about where we were. "The Brandwine bridge… twenty miles."

"What's going on?" Pippin asked.

Frodo and Sam exchanged glances. "Do you remember Uncle Bilbo's invisibility ring?" Frodo began. I drop of rain hit my head and I looked up. The sky was completely dark, it was obvious that rain was starting. From the looks of it, it was going to be a down pour.