A War To Remember
Chapter 3
By: Hotaru170

Disclaimer: I absolutely do NOT own Sailor Moon or Lord of the Rings. Nor do I own any of its awesome characters (much to my disappointment). I have no money, so suing me would be pointless. I must warn you, my grammar is awful so if you see any mistakes please don't flame me for them. I am not good at describing battles, so bare with me as I work through the future chapters that will contain battle scenes. Please leave me a review if you enjoy my story. It inspires me to continue and update as quickly as possible.

RECAP: After she was gone, Aragorn looked at Legolas and said, "If you enjoyed staring at her so Legolas, why didn't you ask her to stay." He laughed at the face Legolas made. Gandalf laughed and said, "Perhaps Aragorn is right. Though I am sure she wouldn't have thought kindly of such a rude request." Legolas was slightly embarrassed at their notice of his actions. He tried recovering from his embarrassment and said, "I was not staring. I was simply bidding her a good night." Gandalf smiled and said, "Very well, my friend. Perhaps we should get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow and many more to come."

The Next Morning.
Hotaru was the first one to rise that morning. She was still debating on whether or not she should bring her glaive. 'It has been my most trusted weapon for thousands of years. Perhaps if I leave it with Elrond he can send it to me at a later time. I won't be able to use my powers as often as I want. If Sauron learns of my power before it is time then many more lives will be lost before I can stop him.' ((AN: Okay, I know what you people are thinking. You want to know why she doesn't have it appear at her command, right? Well, I mentioned her trying to keep her powers a secret, so wouldn't it look suspicious if it just popped out of thin air. This way she will still have her trusty glaive and not raise any questions. Okay, on with the story!)) She left her chambers and went to speak with Elrond privately. She found him standing on the balcony overlooking the gardens. She approached his side and looked out. She finally broke the silence and said, "I know what you are thinking Elrond. You must let the past go because it will only bring forth more hate. I know what Isildur did. I know how he betrayed your trust and the alliance. You cannot blame all of mankind for the fault of a few. Nothing I can say can make you change your mind, only you can do that. Now on to the matter at hand, I must ask one more favor of you, Elrond. I have something that I cannot take with me but I will need it at a later time. I could make it appear with my magic but then I would be asked questions that I cannot answer right now. So I need you to have a messenger deliver it to me when the time is right." Elrond glanced at her and asked, "And what time is that?" She smiled and said, "Don't worry my friend. You will know when the time is right. I shall give you a sign. Now I must meet the others for our journey. I leave this to you." She called forth her glaive and handed it to Elrond. She then turned and left the room. Elrond looked at the weapon that he held and felt a sense of power coming from it. He called forth one of his most trusted servants and told him to put the weapon in his chambers. The servant nodded and did as he was asked.

Outside the gates of Rivendell.
Hotaru was the first one to arrive at the gates. She closed her eyes and let her senses flow out and scan the surroundings.
Legolas was heading to the gate after he was done preparing for their journey. He got closer and realized that he wasn't the first one there. He saw Hotaru standing outside of the gates facing away from him. He was entranced by her and whispered, "So mysterious and yet beautiful."
Hotaru still had her eyes closed but she had sensed Legolas when he approached. She smiled to herself and said, "You can go ahead and come out here, Legolas. I sensed your presence when you first arrived."
Legolas was a bit shocked but let it pass. He walked over to her and said, "Forgive me, my lady. I did not wish to disturb you."
Hotaru laughed and said, "You didn't disturb me, Legolas. And please stop calling me Lady. We are all fighting for the same reason, so please just call me Hotaru. We will have no need for formalities on this journey."

Legolas smiled and said, "Very well, Hotaru." As the two finished talking the others arrived with Aragorn and Gandalf in the lead. Gandalf looked around and said, "This is your last chance to make sure you have chosen the right path. If any of you wish to stay, now is the time to do so." Boromir laughed and said, "Maybe you should ask the she-elf if she thinks herself capable of making this journey." Hotaru's eyes narrowed and she said, "You should watch your tongue, Boromir of Gondor. Someone who bases opinions on outer appearances is not needed on this quest. Remember that before you open your mouth again. I have no objection in showing you what I am capable of." The others were a little scared at her comment to Boromir and reminded themselves to never get on her bad side. Boromir was shocked at her boldness. He was not used to women voicing their opinions or making threats to men. He thought to himself, 'Stupid she- elf has no right threatening a man. She has no right to be on this journey.' After he finished that last thought he saw Hotaru's eyes narrow even more as if she heard the very thoughts in his head. He decided then to not get on her bad side. Gandalf cleared his throat and said, "We will have to go on foot. Saruman and his minions are watching the roads and it will be easier to avoid them on foot. Now let us be on our way." With that said, the fellowship left the House of Elrond and Rivendell.

After the fellowship stopped for a break, Boromir decided to give the hobbits a few lessons in sword fighting. Aragorn, Gimli, Gandalf, and Frodo were watching in amusement, while Sam was making some dinner. Legolas was keeping watch, as was Hotaru.
Hotaru could sense something amiss in the air. 'Something is not right.' She looked out across the sky and saw with vision that no ordinary elf could have. She spotted black dots in the distance. Her eyebrows went up in recognition. She turned to Legolas and said, "Tell the others to hide. We have the watchers of Saruman approaching." Legolas nodded and called to Gandalf, "We have watchers or Saruman approaching. Everyone hide yourselves." The entire camp scurried about to hide their belongings. Hotaru grabbed Legolas and pointed to some tall grass that would provide great covering. Just as the rest of the fellowship hid, the birds of Dublin circled above. Hotaru watched with a careful eye. 'They already know of our presence. We can no longer take this path.'
After a few more minutes of circling the birds finally left. The fellowship came out of hiding. Hotaru walked to up to Gandalf and said, "We cannot take this path any further, Gandalf. Saruman is watching it to closely. We should try the mountain pass." Gandalf nodded in agreement and told the others. They packed up the rest of their supplies and headed to the mountain path with Gandalf and Hotaru leading the way.
The hobbits were having a bit of trouble making their way up the mountain. Aragorn was watching the back of the group with Frodo just in front of him. Hotaru looked back and seen that Frodo was having trouble stepping in the deep snow. She fell back silently and unnoticed until she came to walk beside Aragorn. She smiled at Aragorn and continued to watch Frodo steps. Just as she thought, Frodo slipped and fell back. Aragorn caught him and asked, "Are you ok, Frodo?" He smiled at Aragorn and said, "Yea." As soon as he finished saying that, his hand went to his throat. The ring that was held on a chain around his throat was gone. He looked around frantically and saw Boromir pick it up. Hotaru frowned at this. She could hear the voice and malice of the ring tempting Boromir. She slipped her hand to the hilt of her sword unnoticed by the others. Aragorn did the same. He looked at Boromir and said, "Boromir, give the ring back to Frodo." Boromir didn't hear Aragorn say this. Hotaru eased her sword out of the sheath just a slip. She put just an ounce of power in her voice and said, "Boromir give the ring to Frodo, right now." Boromir snapped out of his stupor. He looked at Hotaru and said, "Okay then, I care not about it." After he handed the ring to Frodo, he rubbed Frodo's head and walked away. Aragorn let out a sigh of relief and took his hand off of his sword. He glanced sideways at Hotaru. She still had the hilt of her sword grasped in her hand and it was out of the sheath about an inch. He was shocked and thought to himself. 'She is a true warrior. I never saw her make a move to grasp her sword. I have no doubt that she would have taken the ring from Boromir by force if necessary. He is lucky that she used a spell to break him from the ring's stupor instead of spilling blood.'
Hotaru sighed mentally that she didn't have to take the ring by force. 'He is a good man but to easily seduced by the ring's power. I have a feeling that he will try to take the ring from Frodo. I know that he will not succeed but that does little to comfort my feelings of dread.' She was walking and thinking, when Legolas came to walk beside her. He saw that she didn't immediately recognize his presence and he asked, "Are you alright, Hotaru?" She smiled and glanced at Legolas. "I am fine Legolas. I just got lost in memory. I have seen many days of war and I long for those days to end. I just hope that I can stop Sauron and Saruman from succeeding in their attacks against Middle Earth." Legolas looked puzzled but refrained from asking questions. The wind picked up and it started snowing hard. Hotaru looked in front of the group and said, "Further ahead the path will be narrow and the snow will deepen. We will have to carry the half-lings." She moved ahead to talk with Gandalf and Legolas moved to tell Aragorn of the news.
Hotaru walked beside Gandalf and said, "I assume you know what I am going to say." Gandalf smiled and said, "Yes, I do know. I will take care of it." He turned to the others and said, "The path further ahead is covered in deep snow and the hobbits will not be able to walk through it. Boromir and Aragorn, if you would kindly carry two hobbits apiece and follow me. I will clear a path to make it easier." Aragorn and Boromir nodded. Boromir picked up Merry and Pippin, while Aragorn picked up Sam and Frodo. Gandalf nodded and led the way.
The snow had deepened and the path narrowed, but Legolas and Hotaru were not hindered by it. They traveled atop the snow because of their elf heritage. On occasion they helped the others dig their way through the tougher areas. Hotaru just finished helping Aragorn, when she stopped walking suddenly and looked out to the distance. 'Saruman knows we are here and he will try to bring the mountain down upon our heads.' She hurried to the front to inform Gandalf. By the time she reached Gandalf, Legolas had heard a voice over the air and said, "There is a foul voice upon the air." Hotaru looked at Gandalf and said, "It is Saruman. He is trying to bring the mountain down upon us." Gandalf held his staff up and tried counteracting Saruman's spell. He tried again but Saruman's power was too much for him. A lightning bolt hit the mountain above their heads and sent a huge pile of snow and rocks towards them. Hotaru grabbed Gandalf out of the way and pushed against the mountainside as much as possible. The snow came down and buried the fellowship.

To be continued.

Thank all of my lovely readers for leaving me a review. I greatly appreciate it. It encourages me to do better and stay on task. If you like this story please leave a review. Please don't flame me if you don't like this story, or about my grammatical errors. I do the best I can with what time I have. I have already started on the next chapter and hope to have it out very soon, so please check back often.