Notes: All I can say is, enjoy! And PLEASE comment!

Disclaimer: All LOTR stuff belongs to J R R Tolkien, not me!

Sam

The bright orange fire I had been tending to, for some time now, was crackling away. Quick flashes of vibrant yellow sparks hopped in and out of sight, while the burning logs began to turn grey with ash. The smaller flames flickered around the edges of the larger ones, sort of like a dance.

I lazily tossed more kindling to the flame, feeding it in hoped that it would grow larger. Though if things continued to keep up the way they were going, it would take yet another hour, which I certainly did not have enough patience for.

A gust of wind blew lightly, bringing a chill with it as it came. I pulled the lovely cloak the Lady Galadriel gave to me, tighter around my shoulders.

It had been at least a week since we had left Lothlorien. I was positively sure that we were somewhere in between there and Gondor, but exactly where... well I didn't have the slightest idea. It wasn't like any one said, "Look here, Samwise Gamgee, here's Middle Earth, and there's where we are." Nope. I just had to guess on my own. But I really didn't mind.

Cling! Clash! Cling!

I felt my body tense at the sound. But then immediately loosened, chuckling silently to myself. They've been doing that since we set up camp, Sam! Though every time I still managed to scare myself.

"Good. Very good…you're learning fast. Next time remember to look up from your footing a bit more. Now…again! " Crash, Clang! "Like this?" Swoosh! Cling! "Up a bit more…Stop! Good."

That's enough fire-tending for me, thank you! Besides, what's the point of it if everyone is sitting on the other side of the hill! I set down the long stick I used to poke at the embers, and got off of my knees. Quickly I made my way to the over the small green hill where Mr. Frodo, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, and Boromir sat on its side, slowly finishing the remains of the night's dinner (that I cooked by myself).

Calathiel stood at the foot of the hill, her back turned to her audience. She held the beautiful sword that the Lady Galadriel had given to her. Its blade was a pearly white color, at the top near the hilt, fine ridges were cut along its side. Little intricate black lines and triangles went down the middle. Its hilt was soft, maple brown, with silver engravings of vines creeping up its sides. All in all, I thought it was a very good match for our new member, unlike me and my gift elven rope.

Throughout the last couple days of traveling, Calathiel had easily found her way into our fellowship. She had a very unique personality; quite pleasant, yet realistic. But if you rubbed her the wrong way, she would snap right back at you like an angry tigress. And mind you, you shouldn't rub her the wrong way, for she could shoot with a bow and arrow almost as well as Legolas. Yes, unlike most women I knew, (which were almost none) she was able to hold her own very well.

I remember quite well when Gimli made a quite offensive remark about women during the afternoon march. Well by the time she was done talking to him (in front of the whole fellowship, which was fairly amusing) he immediately apologized and didn't speak for the rest of the day.

During many of the previous marches, (we really just walk) she would play the pretty little tin whistle that was also given to her by the Lady of Lothlorien. It certainly lightened the mood, and that's without saying too much. Almost every time when she'd play it, Legolas would join her, singing. Then Gandalf would join, then Strider. And if it was a song I knew, which rarely happened, since they were all in elvish, I'd sing too along with everyone else. And in those four minutes, I might be lucky enough to forget about the ring.

Just the other day, Strider offered her lessons on how to use her new sword. She accepted them, the she slightly hesitating, saying, "Thank you. I'd enjoy that, though you must know, I do not intend on killing anything; Orc, goblin, troll, anything."

Her lesson had been going on since we set up camp, which was just about as the sun began to set. By the time the moon begun to climb into the sky, everyone disappeared to the other side of the hill—well except me, and Gimli, who had fallen asleep while I was working on the fire.

I took my place next to Mr. Frodo, who looked up at me and smiled, "Did you finally get that fire to work?" I nodded. "Yeah, and it was about time…what did I miss?" He turned his head back towards the foot of the hill. "Not too much. Legolas is assisting now."

Calathiel threw her sword between her wrapped hands. Bouncing in her position, readying to strike. Her white skirt (which had been repaired by the magic of the elves, along with the rest of the clothing we found her with, though the elves gave her a white blouse to put under her bodice, which she slit the sleeves on.) swayed gently in the breeze, synchronized with her raven mane.

Facing us was Aragorn and Legolas, who each held swords. They were about two yards away from Calathiel.

"Actually try this time," she said, I could hear the smile in her voice. Aragorn gave her a stern look, "We don't want to hurt you…" "If you do we can stop for the night." She reasoned. He sighed in surrender, taking up his sword, and getting into his stance. Legolas did the same. "Ready?" he called, "We are going to try this time." I noticed her tighten her grip on her sword.

"Now!"

Aragorn

I pulled my sword backwards towards my left, giving it momentum. Then in a split second, I hurled it to the right, aiming the blow for Calathiel's side. Skillfully she held her blade in a slant, blocking my sword from hitting its mark. Before I could blink, Legolas swung his blade towards her, causing Calathiel to fall to her knees, barely avoiding the blade which would've landed on her neck. She hopped up lightly, and made a try for Legolas's arm, receiving a slight cheer from our audience. He sidestepped it easily, and then looked over at me, allowing me to make my next move.

I waited, slowly taking large steps to the side. Calathiel did the same, eyes narrowed in concentration. We, along with Legolas, began to form somewhat of a circle. "Whenever you're ready…" Calathiel smirked jokingly. Thrusting her sword forwards towards my stomach. I blocked it, my blade making a loud clash of metal meeting metal. Without missing a beat, I did the same. She took a step back, the point only inches away from her.

She paused, looking down at the sword. Then suddenly a smile came over her face. She took her free hand, grabbed the hilt of my sword, and pulled it with a surprising amount of force. I stumbled over my own feet, hearing Legolas's light laughter in the back mingled with cheers and clapping from behind me. She pretended to drive her sword into my chest. Then her head turned sharply. She dodged a sudden blow from Legolas, accidently dropping her sword. Legolas picked it up, and began to move towards her. I attempted to go after her too, when Legolas whispered to me, "Your dead remember?" Then continued to move on. Pippin laughed loudly.

I watched as Calathiel edged backwards, facing Legolas who approached her with two swords. Her eyes darted in all directions, looking for any possible escape. "Look over there!" she exclaimed, extending her arm and pointing her finger in the direction of above his head. Without any second thoughts, she dropped to her hands and knees, and then somersaulted through Legolas's legs. She ran up to me and took my sword out of my hands. "Sorry," she said, "But you are dead." I chuckled quietly as she turned on her heels to face Legolas.

"What a pity…" Gandalf grinned, puffing a ring of smoke from his lit pipe. He received quiet laughs from the rest of the fellowship who were watching.

I cleared my throat. "Well…?" I ventured with a half smile, causing both Legolas and Calathiel to freeze. "Can I still instruct?" Legolas stared at me, "You're—""Yes I know that. But for learning purposes?" I crossed my arms. He looked down, considering. He turned his face upwards again; though the rest of his body was frozen in the stance I stopped him in. "Fine."

Calathiel began to quickly approach him, raising my sword above her head. "You have to be extra alert with an enemy with two swords," I reminded her, "Stay light on your feet." She picked up her pace as she neared him.

Suddenly a loud roll of thunder echoed across the sky. Everyone turned their heads towards the sky. Suddenly my ears will filled with the sound of a rush of air. Then a flash of paled light, followed by lots and lots of water. The tiny droplets fell like arrows, stinging any exposed skin, and drenching my clothing. I shuddered as the loud crash of thunder came again.

Calathiel lowered my sword, and stepped backwards rocking on the balls of her feet. She squinted slightly, to keep the rain drops from hitting her eyes, peering up at the sky. She lowered her head back to its normal position, and then staggered backwards. She let go of my sword clumsily in the process, making an echoing clatter.

Gandalf stood up, eyes on her. Everyone else began realize it too, though they all were a minute too late. They seemed to unsure about the situation to do anything about it, though even if they did, I'm sure nothing would've helped.

Calathiel's breath began to shorten, her face began to pale. Her bottom lip quivered as she spastically put her hand upon her chest that heaved up and down. Without looking down, she fumbled with the ties of her bodice, but eventually got the top half open. She dug her hand into her layers of clothing, when suddenly she broke the trance.

With a small thud, she collapsed onto the ground, limbs tangled within each other.

I walked over to her in long strides, pulling up my hood. Everyone followed suit; all but the hobbits, which were now standing on the side of the hill. I could hear Frodo mutter, "It's happening again," From behind me somewhere.

I bent down on her left, and gently rolled her onto her back. "Can you do anything this time?" I asked quickly to Gandalf, who stood behind me, deep in thought. "Saruman has done something to the stone that makes in almost indestructible. I cannot stop it, even if I tried. I might be able to slow it… but it could take hours, and we need to get out of this storm."

Legolas and Boromir came around the other side, and squatted down on her right. Putting a hand above his forehead to block out the rain, Boromir said, "There's no place to hide! And the storm is getting closer!" He turned his head from side to side, checking his statement. "The trees could work," Legolas mentioned, "But they probably will get struck by the lightning… I'm guessing that would be worse."

Gandalf turned around and yelled to the group of sopping wet hobbits, "Get the swords into their sheaths! We don' want them to rust, now do we?" "Is she alright?" Frodo called back as the others scrambled and slid down the now muddy hill. Gandalf paused, and then turned back to me, not wanting to reply to his question. "So shall we get dry and get burnt, or stay wet in the middle of a storm?" I asked with a sarcastic, but urgent tone.

"Who said we were to get burnt?" Boromir asked, "We might not—""But we still might!" Gandalf boomed. "We can't take the risk!"

"Two ravens…one fish…" Calathiel murmured, her eyes wide open, staring far into the distance.

Lightning flashed. All of us shut up, and stared at her in shock. The hobbits ran up behind us. "What's going—""Shut up!" I hissed, causing them to look closer.

"Both need the fish…only one can have it…one shall live, the other shall…die…Sacrifice, pain, and a path now diverged with a choice…" She clamped her eyes shut, and started to shake. "If you are t-to make the…wrong choice…not only shall they die…but an entire race…" Thunder rolled twice as loud as the last time, bringing extremely strong winds. She froze between breaths, lips poised as if to speak. Then with a loud exhale, her face went from pale, to very red. She lowered closer to the ground.

I pulled my right glove off, feeling the water that gathered inside of it drip onto the ground. I felt her forehead, my face growing grim, "She's burning." I turned my face upwards to look at a confused Gandalf. "Never have I seen something as this…never." He spoke with his brow furrowed.

Suddenly I was aware of another nearby presence. A horse whinnied not but a couple yards away. I blinked as if to awaken my senses before springing back onto my feet.

A silhouette of two riders on a horse came into view. I began to step closer and in the process, took my sword from a completely shocked Merry. I could hear Boromir and Gandalf behind me. "Excuse me," I shouted, only feet away. "Who are you?"

"Please," one of them said with exhaustion and pain weighing down on his deep voice. "We have been traveling for a week's…" "We don't have anything to offer you!" Boromir exclaimed. Calathiel screamed in the distance. The rider that was speaking looked around. "What was that?" "Never mind it," Gandalf said sternly. "We ourselves are going through troubles—"

"Do you have…food?" He asked quickly, "We have been starving for the last two days!" "Who are you?" I repeated, my grip tightening on my sword.

"I am Eomer, of Rohan. And with me is my sister, Eowyn."

GASP! Jk! Please comment! PLEASE, PLEASE! I cannot emphasis how happy it makes me, and how much it improves my writing! I really would appreciate some plot suggestions too! Thanks!