Hey, thanks for reading. Please review, it means a lot. It makes me so sad when it's been two days and not ones of my many stories has a single review! Review! It takes two seconds! DO IT! Enjoy! :D

Aragorn:

He shook his head angrily at Boromir; the Gondorian still did not understand that the Ring could not be used against Sauron. The Ring was Sauron... It would serve no other master. Around the Ranger, arguments raged like wildfires, and he heard Gimli cry out, "I would die before I saw the Ring in the hands of an elf! Never trust an elf!"

Aragorn huffed, and was about to say something back, because he had grown up with elves, when he heard the tiniest of sounds from several feet behind him. "I will take it!"

He turned around in horror as Frodo called even louder, "I will take the Ring to Mordor...though...I do not know the way..."

His heart plummeted. The little halfling had no idea what he was signing himself up for. Aragorn knew very well that they had very little chance of success, and even if they did manage to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mt. Doom, they were not going to be making a return trip. The Ring's undoing would most certainly cause the volcano to erupt, and the land of Mordor would be smothered in fire and ash. Whoever cast the Ring into the fire would be destroyed, his companions along with him.

But Aragorn was not afraid of death. He could not let the hobbit bear this burden alone. So he stood, and called out, "If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword!"

Then, to his surprise, his friend Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood, stood as well, and announced, "And my bow."

Not to be left out, the dwarf Gimli, son of Gloin, stood and cried hurriedly, "And my axe!"

Aragorn was not expecting Boromir to want to help destroy the Ring, but the man surprised him by standing as well. "If it is the will of the council, Gondor will see it done."

Suddenly, a hobbit came running in shouting, "But surely you won't send him alone, Master?!" It was Sam. Elrond did not seem surprised that the hobbit had been spying on them. Aragorn wouldn't put it beyond him to have known the halfling was there the entire time.

"No, indeed, it is hardly possible to separate you. Even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not!"

Sam blushed to the tips of his little ears, and stood beside Frodo, muttering something that Aragorn couldn't make out.

Obviously, not even Lord Elrond was expecting what came next. Out from behind columns came Pippin and Merry, rushing up to stand in front of the group, screaming, "You're not leaving without us! You'd have to tie us up and put us in a sack to stop us!"

Elrond shook his head and let out a slight chuckle when Pippin said, "Besides you need people of intelligence on this...mission...quest...thing...

Even Aragorn couldn't help but smile a little when Merry said, "Well, that rules you out, Pip!"

Elrond looked at the group of volunteers, and nodded slowly, "Nine companions...You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring.

Suddenly, a voice spoke from above their heads, "You sure about that? Cause if I were you, I'd accept a bit more help..."

There appeared to be nothing there...But... A slight shimmering from where the voice was coming from.

The elves could apparently see right through the elf woman's magic, because they pointed, gasping and crying out. This caused the fairy elf to gasp as well. Aragorn guessed she wasn't used to people being able to see through her magic.

"You...You can see me?!" she blurted.

"Clear as day, Fairy maiden," said Legolas with a slight smile.

Then the fairy...elf... materialized, hovering in mid air above the courtyard. She had all her clothing an weapons back, and Aragorn only just managed to hold in a curse.

And then three others appeared from behind columns. The young boy, Artemis, his large friend, Butler, and strange Dwarf.

Artemis stood by his guard, who had a large 'gun' out, and the dwarf had another one of their strange weapons.

The fairy-elf herself had the same black weapon that caused you to fall unconscious, but it was still in its sheath.

"Who are you?" he whispered, shocked that she had gotten through all of the elves guarding the weapons.

"Oh, are you wondering how I got my weapons back? Simple, if you have a dwarf, that is,"

The strange dwarf with large teeth grinned, pulled a live beetle out of his beard, and ate it.

Gimli stared in horror at the dwarf, and then grunted, and said, "Well, at least tell us your names!"

"Holly Short," supplied the fairy. "LEP-Recon officer, and yes, I am an elf, but most generally call me a fairy."

"Mulch Diggums, and yes, I am a dwarf. But I'm also a fairy. Just gave up my magic,"

"Magic?" asked Legolas, curiosity showing clearly on his face. "What kinds of Magic?"

"Yes, magic, sadly, I'm running out. I have to do the Ritual, shielding for that little bit of time sucked me dry.

"Ritual? How do you do this...Ritual? And why did the dwarf give up his magic?"

"Well, there are certain rules a fairy has to follow, or they lose their magic. One of those is that a fairy cannot enter a household without permission. Since you brought me here, that was essentially giving me permission. Mulch, on the other hand, hated doing magic, didn't really have much magic, being a dwarf and all, and he had a tendency to steal things. So he gave up his magic, and robs people."

"He is a thief?" said Aragorn with a suspicious frown.

"Yep!" said Mulch, and pulled three little rubies out one of his many pockets.

Aragorn frowned, and then the dwarf pulled an entire silver candleholder out of a pocket. Aragorn realized it was the candleholder in Elrond's study. Elrond was looking angrily at the dwarf, and with a huff, the elf swiped the things from the thieving dwarves hand.

"Course, I used to be a criminal...I actually got to know Holly because I kidnapped her,"

Holly snorted, "It was a lot more complicated than that."

"You kidnapped her? Why?" asked Gandalf.

"I wanted the hostage ransom... A metric ton of fairy gold, to be precise,"

"Yeah, and that's how I got to know the three of them as well...I was in prison at the time, and they fetched me out to break into Fowl Manor...And then the whole goblin uprising thing, with Opal Koboi, yeah, that was a disaster..." muttered Mulch.

Aragorn's mind was reeling. This group clearly had many stories to tell, but he realized now that they couldn't possibly be spies of Sauron. This was too complicated of a story for someone to make up, and Legolas would know if they were lying...

"So, are you offering us your help in our quest?" he asked.

"Yes...What did you think we were doing, trying to sell you something?" grumbled Mulch.

Elrond sighed, rubbing his temples, and said, "Alright, I suppose I must...Thirteen companions...You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

"Where are we going again?" asked Pippin, and everyone groaned.