So! This is the first chapter of our first story (a Lord of the Rings/Silmarillion/InuYasha crossover) as AeroAngel. In the Fourth Age of the Sun, Morgoth the Evil Vala was freed from the Void and destroyed most of the Undying Lands with his creatures. Manwë Sulímo sent a group back in time to gather new heroes to fight the darkness consuming Aman, and suddenly Frodo Baggins finds himself face-to-face into InuYasha, the half-demon with a big red sword! However, getting back to Aman is not as easy as coming here. Frodo and the new fellowship must reach inside their dreams for the way back home, and InuYasha, Kagome and the others intend to help them. This fic was named after the Van Halen song "Dreams" from the 1986 album "5150".

Title: Dreams

Author: AeroAngel (Aerosnitch and Ming)


Chapter 1: The Fellowship of the Sword

World turns black and white
Pictures in an empty room
Your love starts fallin' down
Better change your tune
Yeah, you reach for the golden ring
Reach for the sky
Baby, just spread your wings

We'll get higher and higher
Straight up we'll climb
We'll get higher and higher
Leave it all behind

Run, run, run away
Like a train runnin' off the track
Got the truth bein' left behind
Falls between the cracks
Standin' on broken dreams
Never losin' sight, ah
Well just spread your wings

We'll get higher and higher
Straight up we'll climb
We'll get higher and higher
Leave it all behind

So baby dry your eyes
Save all the tears you've cried
Oh, that's what dreams are made of
'Cause we belong in a world that must be strong
Oh, that's what dreams are made of

Yeah, we'll get higher and higher
Straight up we'll climb
Higher and higher
Leave it all behind
Oh, we'll get higher and higher
Who knows what we'll find?

So baby dry your eyes
Save all the tears you've cried
Oh, that's what dreams are made of
Oh baby, we belong in a world that must be strong
Oh, that's what dreams are made of

And in the end on dreams we will depend
'Cause that's what love is made of

(end song)

Indeed there was a time where the Valar, the supreme gods, lived in peace. The highest of these gods, Manwë Sulímo, looked down upon Aman from his citadel of Taniquetil, which stood upon the highest mountain of all Aman. His eye could pierce the thickest of darkness, and then some. Varda, the Queen of the Stars, and Manwë's spouse, looked on from beside her husband's seat as well. Both looked over the lands before them to ensure peace and happiness.

However, that time was over.

War and strife was upon them. The wrath of Morgoth, the Dark Lord, had fallen down on the Valar like a tower that had been besieged and smote to the ground. Morgoth had fallen previously at the end of the First Age of the Sun, but had returned due to Sauron, his general's, spirit, which sacrificed itself to free his master from the Timeless Halls of the Void. And now this towering malice of darkness had come to Aman and ravaged the land as it spun through the alternate universe. By all standards, it took all the power of the Valar just to stop Morgoth from taking the land for his own, let alone daring to show his face in that land. Calling up his demons and beasts and dragons, Morgoth marred the land, scorching it for his thralls of darkness. It was utter chaos. The sky was the colour of smoke, and still growing darker, now seared with bots of fire. The peoples of Aman, the Elves, spoke with terror in their own language and were fleeing the scene, but amongst the Elves ran a short figure with an Elven blade in its belt. It had curly walnut hair and wore an elven cloak, and it was also running with the Elves.

"Bilbo!" he shouted, and raced towards Eldamar, the first city of the Elves, which had not yet been overrun by the din horde. The horde itself was advancing on the small army of Elves that were brave enough to stand against them.

"Frodo!" yelled an Elf, passing by. It was Glorfindel, the guardian of Eldamar. "May the wings of the Valar protect you!" With this prayer Glorfindel threw a chain at Frodo, who caught it, apprehensive. He looked at the chain. It had a tiny sword statue attached. A sword? he thought. what could I do with this fragment of iron? But little did Frodo know of the abilities this small statue had in store for him.

Just then, the host had reached him.

"Back, you foul beings!" commanded Frodo. "Go back to the hole you came out of! You have no business here!"

The orcs just laughed, and their voices were horrible; gurgling, wicked, and slightly muffled. "We shall smash your bones into the ground!" they jeered. "Ya hoi!"

"A Elbereth Githoniel!" cried Frodo, holding up the chain. There was a blinding flash of light, and the orcs screamed with agony, for this radiance burned the very hide that they clung onto. They broke and wavered, but other forces, like the Dragons, swept down upon him. However, Thorondor, the Lord of the Eagles, had swept down upon Frodo, gripped him by the scruff of the neck with his gentle but sharp talons, and borne him away from the unforgiving onslaught. Behind Frodo, the cries of Elves and orcs could be heard amongst the sounds of battle and clinking metal on metal or metal on flesh. As Thorondor wheeled about and headed towards Taniquetil, Frodo looked around at the battle. The Elves were losing as dragon fire blazed upon them, and burned their flesh. Several dragons fell as arrows struck their bloated bellies, but still the dark forces plowed through the Free Peoples and struck without mercy. Frodo glanced this way and that, and despair grew in his heart as he perceived the tumult and destruction around him. Frodo hid his eyes from the sight, and at last Thorondor had reached the halls of Taniquetil. Frodo dismounted off of this soft, feathery back of the eagle, who bent his neck and swept into a curtsy to a giant kingly figure, whose eyes could pierce darkness.

"My lord," said Frodo, bowing to Manwë as well, but not looking at him either, "why have you brought me here? It seems that there is nothing we can do. I myself have gazed upon the virtually complete destruction of the land and hid my salty tears."

Manwë bent down, and put his face low to Frodo's height. Very unwillingly, Frodo looked up, and stared into the clear, searching eyes.

"My good hobbit," said Manwë softly, "there is always hope. Darkness may break it, but it will always mend itself. If we all keep our minds clear and our hearts pure, we will always overcome the night that swallows up the day."

Frodo then suddenly remembered something, the chain that Glorfindel gave him, and Manwë smiled. It was as though he already knew.

"Yes, I sent Glorfindel and Thorondor to find you," he said gently, ignoring the sounds of battle from afar, "for the reason that, though strong our hearts and pride are, we need more beings who share those same feelings as we do. This chain," Manwë clasped the hand that held the chain gently, "is a magic emblem that will take you anywhere you wish to go. Time will freeze for as long as you are gone. It will resume the moment you have re-entered into this realm. Go now, young hobbit. I have complete confidence in you," finished the Lord of the Valar, but then up came running a stout figure as short as Frodo, with chestnut hair and also wearing an elven cloak.

"Sam!" cried Frodo, eyes widened in surprise

"No!" yelled Samwise Gamgee, sprinting up the corridor and coming to a complete halt in front of Manwë, panting for breath. He bowed twice and painfully to Manwë before addressing him. "Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me!" he said firmly, still panting. Manwë raised an eyebrow, and chuckled. Just then, a giant figure swept through an opening in the wall; Gwaihir, another eagle, and Thorondor's kin. On his feathered back were two more figures; an Elf, and a Dwarf.

"Master Legolas and Master Gimli have decided to journey with Frodo," said Gwaihir, bowing his head low to both Thorondor and Manwë. Frodo looked amazed.

"Most amazing the voices you hear at far distances!" he exclaimed.

Legolas did not answer, but Gimli said "Indeed we have seen you borne upon the Eagle Lord, and knew it was to go on a quest at the least!"

"And no hobbit goes on a quest alone without Gandalf," said a voice.

Frodo turned. Framed in the hall stood Gandalf the White, or Olorín. Leaning on his white staff, he walked slowly towards the group, with a grave face.

"Olorín," said Manwë, "how now? Why do you intrude in our discussion?"

"Because," said Gandalf, stopping next to the group, "this group needs a safeguard. And it shall be me. You would have to banish me to the Void to prohibit me from venturing with Frodo; otherwise, with Frodo I shall go."

Manwë stared long and hard at Gandalf, who looked up at Manwë. The old, wrinkled face of the Lord of the Valar seemed to become frozen in time, and to Frodo looked as if it had turned to stone. But no, for the old King inclined his head towards Gandalf a few seconds later.

"Very well then," said Manwë. "But if any harm befalls this brave hobbit then it shall be blamed upon Olorín, if at all. Dear me, I am forgetting…the only way the sword works is atop the tower of Tirion, where the darkness has not yet fallen. It cannot work here, as there is a great amount of magic in the air. The eagles will take you there. Hurry now," the King pressured them. Thorondor and Gwaihir bent low to allow the group onto their backs.

Far away, there was a gigantic explosion, and then a shrill, high-pitched cry, terrible as death. The Winged Beasts they were, featherless and reptilian in nature. Their wings were leathery like bats, and their cries shook the hearts of all who heard them. They could be seen now, hurtling towards Taníquetíl. As the eagles got ready to take off, Legolas fitted an arrow to his bow.

"Show us the true meaning of speed!" said Gandalf, and both eagles rose from the stronghold and towards the sky, Manwë looking up at them. Then they gathered speed and flew off towards Tirion.

"May the grace of Valar protect you," said the Vala himself, bowing his head.

Well, how was the first chapter? Next chapter: the fight and flight to Tirion, and to the InuWorld. Peace! Aerosnitch and Ming out!

Copyright AeroAngel Industries 2005 ® (just kidding)