Chapter.

Is it Boromir? It's very possible. He is my favorite, after all.

And for you Boromir fans, you won't be disappointed. :) He's gonna be a big part of my story regardless. I stop reading fanfics, typically, after he dies. Terrible of me, I know, but hey. I love Boromir. So, you can already safely assume that I'm not gonna kill him off. That'd ruin the story for me!

Anyhoo, don't worry about it. You'll all figure out soon enough, and you'll all be happy. :) I pink promise. So, Boromir fans, just hang in there.

Oh yeah, and I totally butchered the order of events in this story, which is very unlike me. Honestly, I do so much research before writing stories so I can be sure to do Tolkien's work justice, but I guess I got too excited about this story, and went ahead and went crazy. Oh well. I'm doing my best to clean it up the best I can. Soooo. Yepp! Hang in there all of you people who crave perfection.

This is a short, rather uneventful chapter. Kind of a filler.

I don't own Lord of the Rings.


(Sophie)

*snoooooreee*

Collin and I looked over to a sleeping Gandalf. We'd been traveling for three weeks, through Rohan, and back to the location of the Shire.

"Dang. Gandalf needs to clear out his sinuses." Collin turned away from the wizard and looked back to the fire. "I wonder when we'll be getting back to Rohan. It's been almost two months. D'you think they're all alright?"

One thing that we had to deal with was the loss of people. Although there was no epic war in this world, there were orcs. Rohan had a bit of a problem with orcs, and we'd been unfortunate to lose a friend of ours during our stay in Edoras. This might be a world full of magic and mythical creatures, but there's still some evil to be had.

Evil, such as Grima Wormtongue. "I'm sure Theodred and Eomer are alright. Eowyn's the one I'm worried about." If Grima touches her while I'm gone, I'll probably go find Romeo and have him beat that worm up.

"Sophie, what do you think's going on here?"

I looked to Collin, confused. "What do you mean?"

Collin leaned back and looked at the stars. "When we were in Rohan, Theodred and Eomer told me stories of this world. Of Sauron, the dark lord in Mordor. They told me how a past king of Gondor, Isildur, got the one ring of power when he defeated Sauron, and it corrupted him. Evidently, a little gold ring is the heart of all evil in this world. Cheesey, huh?"

"It is a little silly sounding, I guess." My thoughts turned to our time in the Shire, and the ring that we found upon Bilbo's disappearance. "A little gold ring, like the one that Frodo has, now?"

Collin nodded. "That's what I'm thinking. We find a ring, Gandalf has a cow and drags us all the way to Gondor in order to find some information. We find that information, we run all the way back towards the Shire. If you ask me, something's about to happen. We'd be smart to find a permanent place to stay, unless we want to be pulled into something big."

Dang. I've never thought about it, really. "What are we gonna go? Gandalf's been kind enough to take care of us for so long, there's nothing else for us. We're not supposed to be here, there's no we can support ourselves. We wouldn't last a month on the streets."

My friend sat up to look at me. "You know that I wouldn't let that happen. We have friends, Soph. We've got ties with the King of Rohan, we could go live there."

I thought about this for a short moment. "I thought that you didn't want to live on the charity of others for the rest of your life?"

He shrugged. "I don't, but I've got a feeling that things are about to get crazy, here."

A small smile formed on my mouth. "I thought that you liked adventure, Ollie?"

"I do. It's not me I'm worried about."

Ah. I get it. He's worried about Kristy and I.

"Well, I like adventure, too. So good luck getting rid of me."

Collin let out a sigh and fell back to the wagon floor beside me. "And that's why I love you."

.

.

"Rise and shine!" Kristy pulled the blankets off of me, making me vulnerable to the cold November air.

"You really don't have to do that, you know. A simple 'good morning' would work." I rolled over groggily and squinted my eyes. We were already on the move, Gandalf was at the head of the wagon, no surprise there. Kristy was munching on some berries, covered in MY blanket. Collin's faux-hawk had grown a bit longer over the past few weeks, and he hadn't spiked it up today, so it fell across his face in a cute little way. His facial stubble was growing a bit, too. He was doodling in a journal that he'd gotten in Rohan months back, looking focused, like a ruggish poet.

I moved over to him to ttry to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that Collin was drawing, but he pulled away.

"Don't look!" Goodness, he sounded like a child.

"I just want to see it!" Wow, I sounded like a child.

Collin shook his head and held the journal out of my reach. "It's a journal, Sophie! Personal junk, yo!"

Not fair! I hate it when people hold things out of my reach! "Collin, what could you possibly write about that I don't already know? You're just doodling right now, anyways!" Honestly, we'd been best friends for our entire lives; I knew things about Collin that even his parents didn't know about.

He smiled and shut the book. "I tell you absolutely everything. Maybe one day you'll be able to look at this, but not yet."

I sighed in frustration, and wrapped myself in his blanket. "Whatever, terd."

"I love you too, Soph."

Kristy was humming happily, knitting herself a scarf, a skill that she picked up while in the Shire. We'd grown used to the long, uneventful trips, and Gandalf had relaxed a little bit, making our time with him a little less boring. He was a cool guy, but evidently wizards had the responsibility of the world on their shoulders. Definately not worth the pointy hat.

I didn't know where we were going, but it had better be pretty darn awesome, since it took me away from Romeo. Am I crazy for liking a guy whose name I never got? You bet. Still, I wasn't going to sit around and cry over the loss; there's more to life than men, and I had some pretty awesome friends and a super cool wizard. I'd be a fool to sulk around.

Another week passed, and we finally reached our destination. A poop town called Bree.

It's a poop town, because it was gross. No one seemed to happy, and some grody old men were giving Kristy looks that made me want to knock their teeth out. Gandalf led us to this inn, something about ponies, and the smell of strong alcohol made me want to gag. Our wizard walked up to the bartender.

"Is Strider in?"

The hairy old man nodded towards the back of the room, where a cloaked man sat smoking a pipe. We moseyed on over there, avoiding the drunks that littered the room on our way. It's two in the afternoon. What kind of people get wasted so early? What is this, a fraternity?

"Strider." Gandalf addressed the man.

He looked up, revealing light blue eyes and some scruffy facial hair. An attractive man, but not my type. Maybe I could hook him up with Kristy... No, no. That'd never work. She's not into smokers.

The man smiled at the wizard. "It's good to see you again, Gandalf." His gaze moved to us cool modern kids. "Are these the people you told me about a few months back?" The wizard nodded, and the man gave us a warm smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." An odd expression crossed his face when he looked at Collin's hair. "That's an interesting hairstyle you've got there... It suits you."

Collin smiled proudly. "Thanks! Cool name, you've got there."

Strider chuckled. "Thank you. To what do I owe this visit?"

Gandalf stepped in. "I need to ask a favor of you..." He looked back to us Earthlings. "Would you mind giving us a moment?"

I rolled my eyes. "Why's everything so secretive with you, Gandalf? You've dragged us around all Middle-earth for the past eight months, and you still don't trust us?"

"It's about the ring, isn't it?" Collin whispered.

Gandalf and Strider's eyes shot to Collin.

"What did you say?" Strider seemed shocked.

Collin simply shrugged. "It's not very hard to put the pieces together. You people are terrible at hiding things."

Gandalf and Strider sent each other worried looks.

"Perhaps we should speak in a more private area..." Strider led us upstairs, to a small little room with dusty furniture. "What is this news of the ring?"

If Collin's predictions were correct, I'd have to give him the biggest hug ever.

"The ring has been found..." Gandalf spoke in a dreary tone of voice. "It lies in the Shire. We must find Gollum, he is the only other who knows its location."

"This ring is pretty bad news, right?" I asked hesitantly, not really wanting to get into this conversation if everyone was so stressed about it.

Strider nodded in a very depressing way. "Yes, it corrupts all who come into contact with it."

I'm so proud!

I nearly tackled Collin, startling everyone in the room. "You're so smart!" Finding out this crazy ring stuff all by himself!

Kristy just shook her head. "I've heard enough. Evil rings are complete buzz kills."

But Collin was just now getting started. "But I didn't feel any negative vibes from the ring."

"Yes, Collin, but you're weird." Gandalf was getting frustrated. He wanted to get to the point; he really was interested in the fact that Collin called the ring ugly and threw it into the fire without a second thought. "Strider, I need you to help me find Gollum. Can you help?"

"Of course..."

This coversation was getting boring. I was tired, hungry, and I really didn't want to concern myself with a corrupt ring. This world was working out pretty well for me, I wasn't about to ruin that.

So, I did the most logical thing you could do and spaced out. All I heard from their conversation were the words Gollum and Mirkwood. My mind was stuck on the conversation that Collin and I had a few days back. Did he really believe that something bad was going to happen to us? I mean, I know that we're not invincible, but still... We've got Gandalf with us, and nothing bad has ever happened to us before. I haven't seen enough of this world, yet. There are still elves and dwarves to see!

Despite the fact that he never stays in one place for long, I like living with Gandalf. He's kind of the father figure, now that we've lost our real families. I can understand why Collin wants to settle down, in a way. He'd be perfectly content traveling the world, but he's also made some close friends in both Minas Tirith and Edoras. Everywhere we go is an adventure for him; he doesn't need to see elves and dwarves to have fun. I, on the other hand, only have my few friends in Rohan, and Romeo... MAYBE Romeo.

Kristy's the only one who might actually need to settle down, soon. Who knows? Maybe she's perfectly fine out in the world. I haven't really talked to her about it; she's just the more shy one.

As long as we don't "settle down" in Bree, I'm cool.

"Ready to go?" Kristy tugged on my hand, bringing me out of my short pondering.

I smiled. "It worked!"

Strider gave me a humored look and turned to Gandalf. "She's an interesting one, isn't she?"

Gandalf shook his head. "Sophie? Not usually. The odd one's usually Collin."

"Hey, call me weird all you want." I shrugged as we all left the room. "I just want to get out of here. Where to next, Gandalf?"

"We are off to find Gollum."

Kristy gave me that motherly look. "Were you not listening at all?"

Uhhhhh... "Yes?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "You're ridiculous."

Gandalf stopped us once we reached his wagon. Strider had gone to get his own horse, and we were now climbing into the wagon, making ourselves comfortable.

"You know, I can not ask you to come. The wilderness is no place for women. I can take you back to Rohan, if you'd like. Though, I do not think that Rohan is the best place for you at the moment; Theoden is not what he once was. "

"What about Minas Tirith?" Collin suggested.

"No." Gandalf shook his head sadly. "Three young ones such as yourself could not survive in that city, no matter how many friends you have. The expectations and costs of living there are far out of your range..." A sudden idea seemed to come to his mind. "How would you like to see the elves?"

Elves? LIFE-SIZED BARBIES? HELL YEAH!