Hellooo! 'Nother chapter all done! Thanks to the TWO people who reviewed it. What a great response, ha ha. Oh well, going to continue anyway, because I like it. To the people who reviewed:

Eregriel Gloswen: Thank you thank you, I'm glad you think it's IC 'cause that's what I was trying for. Here's more for ya!

Gollum Fingers: Thanks! I like to have good grammar and sentence structure and all that. And there's more conversation in this chappie, I think.

OK, seems kind of silly to reply to each person...er, personally when there's only two, but I want to do it that way anyway because I love people who reivew. Thank you so much! And here's another chapter, more stuff, blah blah blah, yay!

Warning: Slash, but there's not really any yet. Well there kind of is. For what slash is, refer to chapter 1.

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter Two: Falling

As Frodo walked, he thought. Thinking was really his main activity these days, that and talking to Sam. But the two almost never talked as they walked, instead trying to focus their energy on reaching their formidable goal. So Frodo thought, mainly about the Ring. It was ever present in his mind, especially in this dark land. He thought about its weight around his neck. It was very heavy.

He walked. He thought more about the Ring. He felt it around his neck, its weight. He reached up and felt it under his shirt. It pulled on the chain around his neck. It was so heavy. His head started to nod with its weight. It was so heavy, and it was pulling him down. He tried to keep his head up.

So small, so powerful. He could feel it. Suddenly he was alone, all alone. He was in the dark. It was only he, and the Ring. The Ring was heavy, too heavy for him to hold up. His head and shoulders slouched, but he kept walking, slowly.

It was pulling him closer, closer to the Dark Power. He could feel it. Into the darkness, down, down to the ground... Frodo could feel himself slipping... he closed his eyes. He fell.

He fell down, but didn't feel himself hit the ground. Instead, he fell into something warm, and soft. He didn't open his eyes. What was this? It felt comfortable and secure, not cold and dark. He leaned into it, welcoming its embrace and shield against the darkness. Frodo kept his eyes closed. He didn't care what it was, it was there, and it would protect him. He fell asleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Frodo awoke, and didn't know where he was. It felt like he was wrapped in a warm blanket, but all around him he could see dead trees and rock. He squirmed a bit, and then stopped suddenly. His blanket was...breathing? No, it couldn't be...but Frodo could feel the soft surface behind him rise and fall, as if it was taking deep breaths.

Frodo looked up, and waited a few seconds for his eyes to focus. A familiar face came into view, brown curls, soft eyes. It was smiling. It was Sam, Frodo realized and for a second his heart leaped and for some reason he felt like he was floating in the sky. He came back to Earth, awoken by the adrenaline rush.

"Mr. Frodo?" the face said. Sam's face. Sam was holding him, cradling him in his arms, and Frodo had no idea why. He had to say something, however.

"Um?" said Frodo drowsily. "I mean, what's happened?"

"I don't rightly know," Sam replied. "I mean, you fell down."

"What? Now?" Frodo was still acting stupidly, confused and disconcerted.

"Last night, or day, or whenever it was. I can't tell days from nights in this place, where there's no sun or moon."

"Sam, what is it?" Frodo asked.

"Well, you fell." Sam replied matter-of-factly.

"How? How, and why did I fall?"

"I don't know," Sam said again. "But you fell, at least you started falling, and I caught you."

Frodo realized that he was still lying in Sam's lap, but he didn't get up. "You caught me? How on Earth...?"

"We were walking and I saw you start to fall, Mr. Frodo, to the side of me, and I leaned over and caught you, sure enough. And I sat, right on the side of the road, and let you lie. And you dropped off, somewhere along the line, but now you've woken up."

"I slept...here?" asked Frodo.

"You did, Mr. Frodo. You were tired, surely, after getting no sleep for a long while. You've hardly slept at all lately, and I know why."

"Oh, Sam. Didn't you get any sleep at all?" asked Frodo, ignoring the last part of Sam's statement.

"I might've. I don't know," Sam said for the third time. "I just sat here for a long time. And watched out for anything that might come by and see us. Two orcs came by, but we were covered with these cloaks, you see. And they just passed us by; they didn't see us at all. They really are wonders, the elves."

"Sam, Sam. You should've woken me. It was dangerous." Frodo resisted, although he was sure he liked it better where he was, as opposed to if he had been still walking through the gloom towards Mt. Doom.

"I couldn't wake you, Mr. Frodo, you needed sleep. And not after you had fallen, and I didn't even know why you had," Sam reasoned.

"It was the Ring, Sam. I almost put it on. It was pulling me, it pulled me down," Frodo said quietly, remembering.

"That blasted ring!" Sam cried. "What's it done to you?"

"It's taking me, Sam." Frodo whispered shakily, his eyes wide. "It's going to...we have to..."

"I know it is," Sam said, holding Frodo closer.

"It's going to take me, Sam. I'm slipping," Frodo was more afraid than ever before. "We have to go. It's heavy..."

Sam knew it was meaningless to say the words he was about to, but he couldn't help himself. He could not bear to see Frodo like this, falling into shadow.

"Mr. Frodo, it's too much. Look at you! You're tired, and cold. You can't carry it all the way. Why don't you let me--"

"Sam, no! No, don't you understand?" cried Frodo, and he finally lifted his upper body out of Sam's lap and stood. "You must stop! I can't give it to you, I can't. I have to finish this. You must understand."

Sam looked away, towards their destination. "I do understand. And I don't know where it's going to lead, Mr. Frodo."

"Sam, what do you mean?" Frodo looked at Sam questioningly.

Sam looked back at Frodo. His eyes filled with tears as he saw his master's face, sunken and sad. His body defeated and weak, and his eyes almost dead. But Sam could see life in them yet, if only a tiny flicker, and on this he concentrated.

"Meant nothing by it, Mr. Frodo. Only that I don't know what's to happen next," said Sam.

"Well, I do," replied Frodo. "We have to keep on. We must keep going." Frodo was becoming anxious. He reached out his hand to Sam, and again was surprised as he felt a tingling shock go up his arm when Sam grabbed it. Sam's touch seemed to give him a lift, a push. Again, Frodo could see no evidence that Sam felt the same thing, or anything at all. Again, he started thinking about Sam, wondering if he would ever figure out what was going on between them.

Frodo helped Sam up and both picked up their packs and began to walk, again in silence. They were getting closer to Orodruin, whether they wanted to or not, despite the fact that it seemed to them to never get any closer. They walked side by side, Sam watching Frodo for any signs of falling again, and Frodo keeping his eyes on his feet and his mind anywhere besides Sam. And all the time, Mt. Doom loomed up in front of them, black and fiery, and filled with shadow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And there you have it. If you got this far, it's time for you to go press that pretty button! Leave me a review, or two! Or more! See, reviews get me review alert mail, and review alert mail makes me excited, and being excited gives me an adrenaline rush, and having an adrenaline rush gives me energy, and having energy lets me go to the store, and going to the store lets me buy ice cream, and buying ice cream leads to eating ice cream, and eating ice cream makes me hyper, and being hyper helps me write more...and faster! Got it? So you see, reviews=chapters.

So review! Thanks! Bye now!