Happy1Knob1: A mutual understanding…hopefully I get all the stories I want out this week. So…this is the one thing most, if not all of my readers will like.

ENJOY!

Chapter

Throwing my backpack onto my bed, I doubled-checked that I had everything, since we were soon leaving on a quest to save the world I wanted to make sure I had what I needed.

I had a set of extra clothes, composing of my normal Earth clothes (I was wearing comfy leather boots, the crimson tunic and black pants), in case I got wet, and I had Meghan's journal wrapped up in the center.

…

…

That was all I had.

I sighed, then was there really a point in having a bag? Maybe I when I got back home I should buy a small messenger bag…or a satchel.

After the council yesterday, there wasn't much else for me to do; so I just went back to my room and slept. We were leaving in about half an hour so there wasn't much else to do but pack what little I had.

I then heard a knock at the door, turning I see that Arwen, Elrohir and Elladan were standing at the doorway.

"May we come in?" Arwen asked.

I gestured to the room around, "Make yourselves at home."

I guess they understood that reference because they all walked in; Arwen strode in and sat down on my bed while Elladan took the chair and Elrohir just leaned against the wall.

Before I could speak, I heard Arwen say, "Is this all you have?"

I shrugged, "Most of the stuff I had was only supplies when I appeared Mirkwood, the only things I had then of importance was my sister's journal and my cane."

"Now you only have clothes," Arwen stated.

I nodded.

"Well, the reason we're here is to wish you off," Elrohir stated. "Even though I don't know as well as these two, I still view you as family and my brother."

With that he clasped my forearm, "Good luck."

I nodded, "Thanks."

Elladan strode forward with his hands behind his back, "I enjoyed our spars together Calder."

I grinned, "Even if you enjoyed showing off when you fired your bow."

Elladan grinned as well, "Just making sure you didn't get too overconfident, anyway, this is my gift to you."

He brought his hands forward and revealed a brown, leather belt that had a pair of knives, on both sides of the belt.

I carefully took the belt and nodded at Elladan, "Thank you."

The elf smiled, "I figured that you might need something to fight with, considering you accurately hit the bulls-eye about as long as you stayed here."

I sighed, "Let's hope I get better at it then."

Elladan nodded.

Taking the belt, I placed it around my waist before picking up my cane and hanging it on the belt as well.

Arwen then stood up and strode up to me, "I am…aware of your situation with your own ring," she stated. "So I resolved to bring you this."

Arwen that brought out a small pouch attached to a leather chord, "Make it easier to carry, and more difficult to be tempted."

I smiled gratefully at her as I tilted my head and allowed her to place the chord over my head, "Thank you Arwen."

The elf curtsied, "Please be careful."

Grabbing my bag, I slung it over my shoulders and decided to make my way to the kitchens and stuff my bag full of food; I figured that it would make it easier for whoever would be cooking.

I was very surprised to see that Sam was doing exactly what I had planned on doing.

Striding up I waited until he noticed before nodding my head at him.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"Getting food," I replied, "Make it easier on the cook."

"Yeah?" Sam asked.

I nodded, "With a group of ten people, whoever is cooking is going to be hard pressed to feed three men, an elf, a dwarf, and four Hobbits. So I figured that if I ate by myself then it would ensure that the cook had one less person to worry about."

Sam was quite for a few moments before saying, "That's really…considerate of you."

I shook my head before beginning to wrap up some bread, "Not considerate. I'm used to being alone for the past several years in my life so it isn't much of a big deal."

"What makes you think you're going to be alone?" Sam asked.

I shrugged before snagging a green apple and biting into it, as the sour taste sank into my tongue, I continued, "Well, I sort of…don't fit in this place."

Looking up, I see that Sam is frowning at me, "Now don't go and say that," he said as he grabbed some cheese from a wooden pan, "just because you're you, doesn't mean that none of us will like you."

I sighed, "That's…not what I meant."

Sam shrugged, "And I don't care. We all will accept you; we have to if we're going to accomplish this quest."

I snagged a few more apples and tucked them into my bag, "Thanks Sam."

"Don't assume this is making us friends," Sam warned, "I still don't like you."

I chuckled slightly, as Sam reached for some meats, (I am shocked that elf's even had meat) I hoisted up my bag and walked back out to the training ground.

Once I got there, I had snagged up the quiver and slung it onto my back before taking my bow and sliding it into the quiver as well, as it was big enough.

"So the little one has teeth."

I look to see Boromir standing there with his arms crossed.

"Are you sure that you can handle this?" he asked.

I gave him a serious look, "Yes."

The man raised an eyebrow, "We will see then."

With that, he left rather calmly, I wasn't so worried that he underestimated me; I knew that there were going to be people like that wherever I went in this world, I would just have to let my actions shine through whatever image they had of me.

Adjusting my bag so that it was over the quiver itself, I then made my way to the gates of Rivendell; the dwarf Gimli was already there along with Sam, Merry, and Pippin, as well as brown pony.

I am assuming that it was holding the bulk of our supplies.

"Calder!" Merry greeted.

"Hello Cal," Pippin said.

I blinked, "Cal?"

Pippin frowned, "Yeah…not exactly a good nickname."

I heard Gimli chuckle, "At least it will pass the time for him," he stated.

I looked back at the dwarf with a smile, "I doubt it."

Soon, Gandalf was striding forward with his staff in hand and a gray pointed hat.

He looked at me with critically, "Quite an unusual choice for fashion," he said.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

Gandalf gestured to my hip, where my cane was hanging, "Hardly looks very dignified for one such as yourself."

I placed a hand on my hip, part of me wanted to snap it out to its staff form and say with an old man's voice, 'How about now hm?'

I think I've been hanging out too long with Merry and Pippin.

"Appearances can be deceiving," I state.

Gandalf cocked an eyebrow, "Nothing could be truer."

With that, the people here went into an awkward silence; however Pippin was muttering something to Merry. Soon, Boromir arrived, with a sword on his hip and a shield on his back.

"All that is left is the Ring Bearer?" he asked.

I nodded.

Boromir sighed.

It wasn't ten minutes before Frodo then came down, Legolas had already joined us by then, as well as Aragon, so all of the Fellowship had arrived.

Elrond, Arwen, Elrohir, Elladan, and several other elves had formed a crowd where we were standing.

"The Ring-Bearer is setting out on the Quest for Mount Doom." Elrond stated, "On you who travel with him, no oath nor bond is laid to go further than you will."

Elrond then held up a hand, "Farewell. Hold to your purpose and may the blessings of Elves and Men and Free Folk, go with you."

Myself along with Legolas and Aragon bowed our head as we brought our hand over our heart before holding it in front of us.

"The Fellowship awaits the Ring-Bearer," Gandalf said.

Frodo turned before slowly walking between the rest of us, I gave him a reassuring look before allowing Sam and the pony to walk in front; as I was about to follow, I noticed that Aragon was staring wistfully at Arwen.

Nudging him slightly, I tilted my head at the leaving Fellowship; Aragon nodded before we both walked out.

"So…Arwen?" I asked.

Aragon shot me a look, "Calder, as you once said, 'Shut up' please."

I laughed as we departed Rivendell and walked onwards across a bridge.

"Aragon, can I ask you something?"

"As long as it doesn't refer to myself or your sister."

"Not at all, but why don't elves have railings on their bridges, or walkway's?"

Over the course of several days, all we did was travel.

We climbed up large hills and went across large grassy plains, as we walked there was chattering from the Hobbits which Boromir, Aragon, or Legolas joined in on. Gandalf remained near the front and leading us onwards to Mordor while I stayed in the back and just observed.

As I did, I began to wonder how long this whole quest would take? While I had no idea how much time had passed in my world, how much more would pass while I stayed here?

I sighed as I ran my fingers underneath the straps that held up my quiver; situations began to pelt my mind as I thought of an older Jason.

"Stop!"

Looking up, I saw that it was beginning to get dark again.

Gandalf looked around before nodding his head, "This should do."

Soon we had a fire going and Sam was cooking up food, it was surprising to find that the Hobbit I didn't get that much along with was the cook.

I had set my stuff down onto a rock before taking out a piece of cheese and some bread, but before I could eat I saw someone walk in front of me.

Looking up, I see that it was Merry and Pippin.

"Yes?"

"You need to come sit with us or else we cannot eat," Pippin said.

I blinked, "Pippin, you eat whenever you can and you won't let me stop you."

Merry sighed, "I told you I should have done this."

"But I wanted to."

"Yeah, but that's not how you do it."

They turned back to me, "What we mean is that Sam is asking that you sit with us so he can make sure you eat."

I blinked, "Guys, I'm fine. Tell Sam that he has nothing to worry about."

As I lifted the bread to take a bite, Merry and Pippin looked at each other; next thing I knew, I had fallen off of the rock and was being dragged towards the fire.

"Hey!"

"No excuses!" Pippin shouted.

I managed to tug my legs free from their grasp, but before I could get up both Hobbits tackled me to the ground.

"No escaping!"

As I tried to push them off, I couldn't help but start to laugh about how utterly ridiculous this was.

Between laughs I said, "Alright fine! I'll come!"

They both hopped off of me before grinning at each other.

Getting up to my feet, I held onto my food as I walked to where the campfire was.

"Nice of you to join us," Sam said.

I shrugged, "Well you sent the best negotiators."

The Hobbit smiled slightly before holding out a wooden plate with sausages on it, placing the bread and cheese on the plate I dug in; I was careful to make sure to blow on the meat before picking it up with the fork supplied by Samwise.

"So…" Boromir began, "What exactly is the purpose of that?"

I noticed he was pointing at my cane.

I got a grin before curving a finger under the curve and looping it into my hand, "Well…"

Taking the cane in hand, I raised it up before pressing the button and snapping it out; with several clicks the cane was in its full form.

Gasps of astonishment were heard around the fire.

"That's not all."

Holding the cane parallel with the ground, I extended it into its full staff form.

Silence came from the group.

Then Aragon sighed, "Damn."

He then took out a small bag of coin before tossing it to Gimli, Boromir did the same with Legolas.

I blinked, "You all took bets on what this was?" I asked.

Sam nodded, "We all did."

He looked rather down as he passed some coin to Frodo, but what was surprising was that Merry was giving Pippin money.

"We believed that it was something small and trivial," Boromir stated, "nothing of importance."

"Why else would he wear it?" Legolas asked. "It had to have some importance."

I turned my gaze to Gandalf, "And you?"

Gandalf stared at me before tossing me a bag as well, which had several gold coins upon examining the bag.

While it was just a bag with a few coins, it didn't stop the grin from my face.

This may not be so bad after all.

"Two. One. Four. Four."

I watched as Boromir swung his sword at Pippin while the younger Hobbit deflected with his own sword; several days ago, Boromir had begun the process of teaching the Hobbits how to fight with their swords.

It was actually very interesting to see it up close; I only read it from a manual and practiced until I could defeat my trainer…well back in the other world.

The process was actually much simpler, Boromir taught the Hobbits different positions before listing them off as a number; then as he would strike he would randomly call a number and slowly attack, allowing Merry and Pippin to adjust to each attack.

Then it was simply a matter of picking up speed.

"Move your feet!" Aragon called.

"Keep your sword up Pippin," I say to the Hobbit, who had lowered his sword, "Stay on guard."

He nodded before lifting up the blade again.

Aragon puffed on his pipe again, "Are you sure you do not want one?" he asked.

I shook my head, "While I have to get used to alcohol, I do not want to mess up my lungs thanks."

Aragon nodded before turning his attention back to the fighters while I got up and began to walk up to where I had placed my stuff, currently where Gandalf was sitting and listening to Gimli.

"-Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin, will give us a royal welcome."

Gimli sounded as if he was offering something that would make things…easier?

Gandalf shook his head, "No Gimli, I will not take that path unless I had no other choice."

As I reach my things, I notice that Legolas was staring at something in the sky. Legolas normally did stuff like this, but this time was more serious and critical.

Leaping up to where he was perched I said, "What's wrong?"

"There's something approaching," he said calmly.

I turned and looked at what he was looking at; it appeared to be some kind of cloud, once I managed to make it out, but I couldn't see what the problem was exactly.

However, my instincts were kicking in and I looked at it much more intently.

Then the differences began to become glaringly more obvious, the cloud itself was a darker shade than the rest of the sky; add that to the fact there was a breeze blowing in the opposite of where we were standing right now.

"It's a…flight of birds?" I say and turn to Legolas.

"It is merely a wisp of clouds," Gimli stated.

It was then that I had noticed the stop of clashing swords.

The elf's eyes widened, "Crebain from Dunland!"

"Hide!"

I look around in bewilderment as everyone began to dart around, grabbing their things and dousing the fire.

Looking around, I snatched up my bag before throwing it over my shoulder before sliding/rolling into a hiding spot beneath a rock that was covered slightly in plant life.

Not a moment later, big, black crows came flying low along the ground and cawing loudly as they flew up, down, and around the area.

I didn't move for several minutes, until after they ascended back into the air; I waited a bit longer before crawling out of my hiding spot and watching them fly off into the distance.

"What were those things, exactly?" I ask aloud.

Aragon answered, "Crows that live in the land of Dunland and in Fangorn Forest. I have seen them in my travels with the Dúnedain."

Gandalf made a sound of agreements, "Spies of Saruman. The road to the West is being watched."

Everyone had gotten extremely serious, I got a little bit nervous; having one of our paths watched was not very reassuring, especially since it was by a wizard.

"We must take the Pass of Caradhras," Gandalf exclaimed.

As he looked up, I followed his gaze to…a mountain.

"What?"

As Gandalf looks at me, I continue, "You want us to take a mountain path to our next location?"

Gandalf gives me a firm look, "We must."

I shook my head, "No. I've heard about people traveling by the mountain, most don't make it off. Besides, look at us."

I gesture at myself and the Hobbits, "We aren't dressed properly for the cold, while all of us are fully grown, the Hobbits have the bodies of children…and they will die."

I had read a book about a teenager climbing Mt. Everest…but the kid was a professional climber, and had climbed skyscrapers for fun.

Gandalf opened his mouth but then closed it just as fast.

"If we cannot go over the mountain, let us go under it," Gimli exclaimed. "Let us go through the Mines of Moria."

As I look back at Gandalf in relief, I freeze as I see his face.

It was frozen in a mix of shock and dread, as if the very idea had chilled him to the core.

"Let the Ring Bearer decide," Gandalf said.

It wasn't that long before the answer.

"We will take the Mines."

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