DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their other respective owners.
A/N ABOUT THIS STORY: As you can tell, I've taken several scenes directly from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lord of the Rings, word-for-word in the dialogue. This is not to rip off any of the real writers because I respect their work and I am not a plagiarist. This is an artistic ploy to put the reader in the mindset of where they are and is essential to the story. The Buffy episodes used were episodes (5.5) "No Place Like Home," written by Doug Petrie and (5.22) "The Gift," written by Joss Whedon. The movies used are, of course, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, written by Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien (if you didn't know that, shame, shame).
Officially, the time span of the Fellowship of the Ring (don't know how long that is, but I'm guessing months) is equal to less than a day in Sunnydale time.
The thirteen members of the Fellowship struggled as they marched through the thick snow of the Pass of Cadharas. All of them were more of less strung out in a line, Legolas at the front and Boromir at the back. In front of Boromir by several feet was Aragorn and Buffy, as they plodded together in the thick snow.
"This is so hard," Willow breathed, moving slowly in front of Buffy and Aragorn.
Xander stumbled along beside her, "You can definitely get a witness here..."
"Your world is pretty and all," Buffy breathed. "But it pretty much blows." Ahead of Buffy, Willow and Xander, Spike let out a small scoffing laugh as he agreed with her. "I mean," Buffy sighed, "no phones."
Willow added, "No lights."
Spike shook his head, "No cars."
Xander sang out heartily with a giddy tone, "Not a single lux-u-ry..." The Fellowship stopped and turned around to face him.
Long moments passed as Spike declared, glaring at him from beneath a twisted brow, "Don't ever do that again."
Xander stared back at them, embarrassment settling in, as he cleared his throat, "Let's just forget it happened."
They continued on, Willow and Xander, moving ahead in the line. "So Willow really is a sorceress," Aragorn said to Buffy as the two leaders began a conversation.
"She's our Glenda," Buffy nodded breathing hard as she marched through the snow as sunlight beamed through the clear sky.
"Does this mean you are inhuman?" he asked.
Buffy turned to him quickly, "No." She let out a small laugh, "God, no, in fact, I'm so human, I'm superhuman. A slayer, to be technical."
"Slayer?" he repeated, turning to her in confusion.
"She who slays nasty things with bad teeth," Buffy answered. "There's a whole big epic tale filled with apocalyptic battles between good and evil, immortal love that was never meant to be, being the only one, ancient prophecies, destiny..." She looked over at Aragorn who mused to himself with knowing eyes. "I'm guessin' you know the drill," Buffy declared with a sympathetic smile.
Aragorn did not respond for a while, but then asked another question, "Does the evil the people in your dimension fight have a name?"
"Well," Buffy thought to herself, "'the man' is a popular term. But the thing is, most people in my world don't know true evil exists. They think vampires and demons are all a bunch of ghost stories to tell in the night." Buffy reflected on this for a few moments, then shrugged her shoulders, "Can't really blame them, I guess. I mean, if I could go back to that day when I was in high school and my first watcher came up to me..." She let the words fade away, choosing to not hold on to what could have been.
"Your watcher?" Aragorn looked over to her again.
"Old watcher... he kind of died. But my second watcher and I are really close. He's like Mr. Miyagi and Morpheus rolled into one," Buffy answered, then took note of Aragorn's confused expression. "Right," Buffy sighed. "He's like my trainer."
"Is he your father?" Aragorn asked.
Buffy answered with a slightly smaller voice, "More so than my own."
He nodded, and gazed up at the line as Xander stumbled, falling face first into the snow and Willow helped him back onto his feet. "And that one," Aragorn began with an amused smile, "he possesses no power, does he?"
"Nope," Buffy grinned, staring up at her friend, "he's just Xander. But I'd be lost without him."
"And the other one?" Aragorn asked as he gazed up at Spike who walked alone in front of Merry and Pippin. "What is he?"
"A pain in the ass," Buffy answered. "And a vampire."
"Vampire," he repeated. "I thought you said they were enemies."
"They are," she replied. "Most of them, at least. In fact, I only know of one real exception. But as far as Spike goes... this evil organization put a thing in his head that prevents him from chowing down on humans. That's kind of a complicated story, see it as how it won't let him kill without a migraine, but the organization is – or was – still evil."
"But it is not by his own accord that he doesn't kill?" he asked.
"A big negative on that," Buffy sighed as she stared at Spike warily. "He's a good fighter, though. As long as he's on our side we've got a pretty good ally." A few moments later, Buffy added, "I can't believe I just said that..."
They continued on as Buffy shivered and crossed her bare arms, trying to cover them to the best of her advantage. "You look cold," Boromir declared from behind her.
Buffy stared down at her white tank top and jeans that she wore when she had arrived in this dimension and had returned to at the start of their journey. "You know in my world, I'm always dressed right," Buffy answered. "Always."
"Take this," Boromir declared, and quickly handed Buffy his black cloak. "It'll keep you warm." Without making eye contact and without giving her a chance to refuse, he continued on, walking past them and moving up the line towards the front.
Buffy stared down at the heavy cloak in her hands and looked up Boromir's back as he continued to walk away. She replied in confusion, "Thanks...?"
Ahead of her, Buffy heard the snow shift as saw Frodo lose his footing. He fell back into the snow and tumbled several feet, rolling down the incline.
"Frodo!" Aragorn called as he and Buffy moved up towards him. Willow and Boromir stopped and turned around towards the fallen hobbit as he rolled to a stop at Aragorn's feet. Buffy helped him come to a stand as Frodo brushed the snow off of his clothes. Then, with panic in his eyes, he reached for the One Ring on a silver chain around his neck, realizing that it was gone.
"The Ring," he whispered.
"Oh, no," Buffy declared, suddenly worried. "Tell me you didn't lose the One Ring—"
He words were cut off as she, Aragorn and Frodo looked ahead of them up the incline and watched Boromir pick the chain out of the snow. Willow slowly stepped away from Boromir, her eyes dead on him, as he stared deeply into the golden Ring. He dangled it before his eyes as it slowly tempted him.
"Boromir," Aragorn declared, watching him intently. Gandalf slowly turned around, his staff in hand, and he also noticed that Boromir had the Ring.
"It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt..." Boromir softly spoke, entranced by the Ring, "...over so small a thing." Willow's eyes narrowed as a look of worry came across her face. Her breaths became small pants as she shot her eyes towards Buffy. Buffy caught her glance and looked back at Boromir as he added, "Such a little thing..."
"Boromir!" Aragorn's voice declared warningly as Boromir reached for the Ring. He instantly snapped out of his trance and looked up the Ranger.
Buffy slowly responded, "Step away from the Ring, buddy."
"Give the Ring to Frodo," Aragorn told him calmly.
Boromir glanced down at Frodo's fearfully timid expression and stepped towards him. "As you wish," he answered and handed the Ring back to the hobbit. Frodo snatched it quickly as Boromir grinned lightheartedly, "I care not." Buffy stared at him carefully as the whistling wind blew her blonde curls across her face. Aragorn held the same gaze as Boromir playfully rubbed Frodo's hair, shaking out pieces of snow. He turned away and continued up the path as Frodo watched him leave nervously.
Boromir walked past Willow eventually as she turned around and followed him with her determined eyes. In the palm of her hand was a small tongue of flame, and she released the magic as he passed her by.
"That's it!" Xander declared with a 'eureka' tone. Buffy, Frodo, Willow and Aragorn looked up ahead at Xander as he turned around, facing Buffy and the others. "The Elrond guy – I swear he looked like that dude from The Matrix!"
At the very top of the tower of Isengard, Sarumon stood facing towards the Pass of Cadharas while his minions of evil slaved away beneath him. Behind the tower of Isengard, the Eye of Sauron watched intently from Mordor, facing the same pass.
"Warriors from another dimension," Sarumon declared. "Is that how you plan to stop me, Gandalf?" A smile stretched across the wizard's face, "Very well. If you angle the scales, then so shall I..."
The fiery Eye of Sauron faced towards the mountains, burning through the dark night sky. The voice of Sauron hissed and rang in the ears of all in Isengard, "Slayer..."
"I'm sorry," Madam Rousseau announced as she stood up from the reference table, "I cannot help you any longer."
"Madam Rousseau," Giles jumped to his feet, "please, you must—"
"I apologize, Mr. Giles," she declared, cutting him off. "But you do not understand what you have gotten yourself in to." She turned to the others sitting at the table, "The Dark Lord knows you are trying to contact your friends and he will do everything in his power to try and stop you."
"Why?" Dawn whined. "What did we ever do to him?"
"You are intruding on his apocalypse," she answered.
Riley added, "I guess the bad guys don't really appreciate it when that happens."
"How do you know these things, Madam Rousseau?" Giles asked.
"It is what Cloutier told me," she answered. "He told me that the Dark Lord is incorporeal in that world. The presence of the Slayer is pushing the scales in the favor of good."
"Well," Tara turned to the others, "th-that's a good thing, right?"
Giles looked up with alarm in his eyes and declared fearfully, "He will try to make himself corporeal again."
Wind and snow blew fiercely as the Fellowship desperately battled against the powerful gusts, rounding the sharp, jagged face of a mountain. The wind violently whipped past them as if trying to push them down, but they knew one slip meant certain death.
"Hey, Buffy!" Xander called, shouting over the howling of the wind. "From now on, remind me not to let you plan any future Scooby vacations." He continued to push on against the force of the air stream and snow.
Spike, in his black shirt, black jeans and duster jacket, was up to his waist in snow, as was most of the Fellowship, save for one. "I can't take much more of this!" Spike shouted out.
"Do not slow your pace," Aragorn ordered, shouting over the wind as he followed Buffy at the back of the line. Buffy held tightly to Frodo as they rounded the mountain. "We cannot stop," the Ranger declared.
"Oh, shove off!" Spike barked back. "I've got snow in places where snow shouldn't be and I can't feel the lower half of my body!" He turned back to him and added, "And I'm from bloody England!" He continued his rant as he looked over at Legolas, stepping effortlessly around on top of the snow. "Meanwhile, the Keebler Elf is prancing around the snow like some magnificent poof!" Legolas turned towards Spike and glared at him with his sharp, blue eyes.
"We haven't time for your grievances," Boromir said to Spike, irritated. "Keep moving!"
"Well – listen to the Ponce who would be Queen," Spike challenged and then hollered at him. "Tell me, mate – could you be any more annoying?"
"You cannot address him in that manner," Aragorn declared to Spike, eyeing him angrily.
Spike turned around and faced Aragorn, "Could he be any more annoying?"
"Spike!" Buffy snapped, fed up. She shouted over the wind, "Move or I'll move you!" Spike turned away, shaking his head and continued up the trail in silence.
Frodo looked up at Buffy with something of a smile, "Do you always frighten men like that?"
"It happens," Buffy shrugged. "Watch your step."
"I'm telling you, Buff," Xander said to her as he approached her, "we shouldn't have brought Nosferatu with us."
Buffy shook her head, "If he complains again, I'll just hit him with something—"
"That's not what I mean," Xander replied seriously. "You saw the way he clocked those elves back when we first got here. His chip only works on humans."
"I don't think Legos-less is going to have a problem," Buffy responded.
"Legolas," Xander corrected. "And it's not him I'm worried about. I just don't want Spike to get the hankerin' for a hobbit happy meal anytime soon."
"Don't worry," Buffy declared. "We've got plenty of good elf and non-elf eyes keeping watch on them. And I've practically got Frodo on a leash..."
"Where is he now?" Xander asked.
Buffy paused and glared around to see the Ring-bearing hobbit nowhere in sight. "Damn," Buffy kicked herself. "We really should put a bell on him."
"Frodo!" Gandalf called out.
"Mr. Frodo!" Sam shouted. Frodo was walking beside them when the ice beneath his hairy bare feet gave way. He hollered as he fell backwards off of the edge of the mountain and began a fatal freefall. He only fell a couple of feet, however, when he froze in midair and dangled there with his back straight.
Willow suddenly reached out for the hobbit, leaning over the edge of the cliff herself and she used her powers to float him towards her. "That usually only works with a pencil," Buffy declared and watched Willow grasp Frodo's shirt at his chest, pulling him back on the ground.
Willow stopped and stared down at her closed palm, gripping his shirt. Inside of her hand enclosed in the shirt, she could hear the Ring of Power softly whisper.
"A fell voice is in the air," Legolas announced as he stood atop a rock facing Isengard.
The wind whistled louder as Willow continued to hold onto Frodo's shirt. "It's Sarumon!" Gandalf shouted as several boulders from above came crashing down around them.
"What?" Xander hollered back. "How? I thought he was only a big Eye!"
"That's Sauron!" Boromir answered loudly.
"Then who's Sarumon?" he asked. "The other wizard?"
"Yes!" the twelve other members of the Fellowship declared in unison.
"Those two names are way too similar!" Xander declared. "It's like they're trying to confuse me! How 'bout we rename somebody? I'm all for 'the Eye of Felix'!"
"Willow?" Merry called, as the four hobbits watched the witch continue to grasp onto Frodo's shirt. "What's wrong?" Frodo glared up at her to see her eyes widen and go black with Dark Magic. Willow suddenly pulled Frodo over the edge and pushed him back into his friends, releasing her grip.
The mountain they were on began to tremble as they struggled to keep their footing. "He's trying to bring down the mountain!" Aragorn called out. Gandalf was facing towards Isengard, still waist deep in snow, and shouted a spell back in his deep, booming voice.
Willow seemed to be in a determined trance as she stepped out of her hole and walked on top of the snow, striding to the edge of the mountain. She stepped slowly as if she were completely unaware of the happenings around her.
"Will!" Xander called out to her, noticing her while the others tried to hold on to the mountain. "What are you doing?"
Willow did not acknowledge him as she walked to the edge of a rock facing Isengard. A few feet away, Gandalf stopped speaking and turned to the witch beside him, watching as her chin-length, curly hair suddenly turned from red to black.
Willow opened her mouth and an unholy scream rang out from it. The others suddenly covered their ears in pain, her high-pitched, inhuman howl tearing at their minds. The mountain continued to tremble as she screamed her horrifying cry.
The sound traveled swiftly through the mountains, echoing all the way back to Isengard, where Sarumon was still on top of his tower shouting his spells to the wind. The screech hit him like a ton of bricks as he dropped his staff on the ground and fell backwards, holding his ears in pain. The orcs below him began to shriek and howl, adding to the horrendous noise of unknown origin.
The snow of the mountain above them suddenly gave way and a massive slab of it crashed down upon them. The scream faded off and the Fellowship could hear no more as they were buried in snow. The only sound left was the fierce howl of the wind.
Slowly, the snow in a certain patch started to melt. Willow stuck her hand through the snow, her arm glowing crimson like the embers in a fire, and her red-haired head popped out of the snow. When she pulled her whole body out, she glared around at the blanket of snow and her arm stopped glowing. "Tabesco," she whispered and held out her right hand. The top layer of snow glowed crimson for a second, then melted away.
Heads and hands began to emerge as the rest of the Fellowship pulled themselves out of the snow. "What was that, Red?" Spike asked, shocked as he spat snow out of his mouth.
"Sorry," she answered, "I really wanted him to shut up."
"We must get off the mountain!" Boromir called out to Gandalf. "Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the west road to my city!"
"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn argued.
"We cannot pass over a mountain," Gimli shouted back. "Let us go under it. Let us go through the Mines of Moria." The Fellowship turned to Gandalf and saw the fear set deeply into his eyes.
After a while, Gandalf declared, "Let the Ring-bearer decide."
Frodo gazed around, his eyes wide, as Spike nodded, "That'd be you, prawn."
Frodo breathed nervously and declared, "We will go through the mines."