Long days passed and still all that lay ahead of Sam and Frodo were mazes of sharp rocks. The small dripping creatures with pink eyes followed them by night, as if foreseeing their death. Frodo often found himself listening to their chirps and growls as he walked along the giant cliffs, the sound was no source of fear but still seemed to be foreboding. They never came too close to Sam or Frodo, not within a yard at least, simply watching from the rocks, their head tilted.

"Frodo, let us stop. I cannot travel one more day without rest" Sam moaned, his back hunched over with weariness. Frodo sighed. They had traveled two days and a night without rest. He couldn't push Sam any further, it wouldn't be fair.

Frodo nodded and scanned the area for flat rocks. Finding only jagged cliffs, they tried to make themselves comfortable against the sharp rocks. Sam fell asleep quickly but Frodo was wakeful. He listened to the chirping of the dripping creatures until they too slept. Frodo gazed up at the stars. Slowly, he began to hum. The song he recognized as once Shrell had played on her flute. It was a slow, sad song. The lingering tune hung in Frodo's mind like an eerie dream. He slowly lost track of his thoughts, wakefully dreaming. He closed his eyes listening to his voice......Shrell's voice.......the winded sound of a now broken flute.....Shrell's flute. A pair of crystal blue eyes, caught silver in starlight, reflected in his mind.

Frodo sat up. He glanced back and forth, expecting to see something but all that lay in front of him was darkness.

"I wonder if you know I miss you" Frodo sighed, his eyes raising back up to the stars. He bit his lip, trying not to think about her.

Suddenly there was the sound of a loose rock bouncing down the cliffs. Frodo jumped to his feet and whirled around. Nothing. Knitting his brow, he approached the sound.

"Who's there?" he whispered. Nothing.

Frodo continued towards the sound, hand wrapped tightly around his sword. The sound of the echoing rock, bouncing over the jagged cliffs faded and Frodo was left standing in darkness. He released his sword, his head hung.Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps behind him. He could hear a soft breathing. It grew closer.

Frodo felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. The breathing became more of a hiss as it grew closer. Frodo's hand silently grasped his sword. He could now feel the breaths on the back of his neck. His grip tightened on his sword. He heard the hissing grow louder.

Frodo quickly swung around, his sword pointed at the noise.

"Aah! Don't hurtss us, precious, no!" came a hiss from a slimy creature on the ground. Frodo sheathed his sword.

"Smeagol, what are you doing here!?" demanded Frodo, very much surprised.

"We didn't means anythings by it, precious, we wanted to follow the master" hissed Smeagol.

"How did you find me?" asked Frodo.

"We follows the master's smell, we did!" cried a proud Smeagol. Frodo was left wishing he didn't ask. "Now, what happened to that weird little hobbit with the dark capessss?" He hissed, his eyes glowing.

"She's....." Frodo paused, unable to finish.

"What-s-ssss?" asked Smeagol.

"She's....gone..." Frodo turned away, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Well, it did leaves-s us all behind-" started Smeagol.

"No, you don't understand! She's dead!" Frodo yelled as he turned around, his eyes filled with tears. "She tried to battle off a whole army of Orcs..." Frodo paused, his brow furrowed, a horrified look on his face "but you were right......I did leave her behind...It's my fault she's dead..."

Smeagol was speechless. He stood staring at Frodo, his pale yellow eyes glowing.

"We didn't get much rest-s-s-s-sss. We.....wants to sleep..." he stuttered, then turned and left.

Frodo hung his head. 'Why did I let you fight them....' he thought.

"It's impossible to return to me if you are dead! You were wrong!" Frodo shouted up at the stars. He slowly fell to his knees, his head in his hands. 'Why did I let you fight them...'

To be continued.....

~~

A/N: Yup, Gollum did have pale yellow eyes in the book. Oh and I would very much like reviews :)