Jetsabel removes the undesirables.

By Irishsodabread

Disclaimer: I don't own anything…

They traveled at a brisk pace along the foothills of the misty mountains. The forest was dense, vines and branches crawling out from every which way. Buffy, the dwarf and the hobbits were having the most trouble climbing over these branches, making Buffy emit many curses.

"I hate trees!" Buffy whined as she had to climb over yet another huge root.

"Lucky your not in Fanghorn Forest right now…" Boromir said

"Why is that?"

"The tree's will strike you down if you say one ill word about them…" Gandalf called from ahead, turning back to give Buffy a smile.

" Oh... that's pretty cryptic and scary." Buffy said, before realizing something " Oh! You know what's pretty scary? A talking puppet…"

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He watched her from behind, as she walked lazily over the brush. She was complaining again. How he hated women who complained. He could take the constant whining and constant crying for only so long. Usually, he never had to endure it. He never had to endure women, usually. He just stayed up in his tower or in his comfort zone, and when he had his needs, they were met with one of the few harlots within his father's kingdom.

He never really courted a woman; never had the need to.

But the feelings he was feeling towards this woman, this incompetent and extremely irritating woman were extremely intense. Before, he had been enthralled by her, her peculiar speech and choice of words. But now, the longer he was in her presence, the more he heard her speak, the more restless he got. She had a mouth, an opinion, something he wasn't entirely use to. Women of his kin weren't usually those to speak their minds against him, the prince. But she did. Not to him particularly, but he heard stories from Aragorn about how she manipulated him into resting for an hour or so, against his better judgments. She was fiery and defiant.

A different breed.

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They had reached the top of a hill, where they had decided to stop and rest for a while. It was around mid-day, and it was the perfect place to lay your head down on a flat rock and sleep for an hour. Those were the exact plans that Spike had, but the screaming and laughing from the Hobbits and Boromir was distracting him.

"Could you all shut your bloody traps?" Spike yelled irritably. They merely looked at him before continuing their playing around.

"Oh, go on Master Spike, it would truly an interesting sight to see you fight either Boromir or Aragorn…" Gandalf said suggestively.

"Forget it mate…" Spike said just as he closed his eyes. He just lay there, listening to the laughing of the hobbits and humans, but never fell asleep;

IOU(& (& (HIY

"Seems like your companion is asleep over there…" Gimli said gruffly.

"Yea… he likes his rest. Plus, this is usually his time for sleep anyways. He must be having relapses."

"How long have you known him?" Legolas asked as he stared out into the distance, keeping a watch.

"Oh, I don't know anymore. Let's see, he came along when I was in 11th grade, I'm 21 now. Six years I think." Buffy answered.

"Did he aid when you were so young, in the beginning." Legolas asked, where Buffy one stared, as if transfixed.

"Who, Spike?" Buffy laughed "Spike hated me so much in the beginning; he threatened to kill me like every week. Never did of course."

"What made him start helping you?" Legolas asked, as he peered into the distance, his brow furrowing.

" I don't know, a change of heart." Buffy said softly, as she glanced at the stoic form of her friend.

" Are you and him romantically involved?" Legolas asked, turning his gaze upon her.

Buffy looked up, and found the elf's eyes burning into her soul. She had to catch her breath, for surely she knew it would have stopped right then and there. " No…"

He gave her a soft satisfied smile before he once again turned his gaze back out into the distance.

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"Lady Buffy, come train with us?" Merry called a short time later, breaking Buffy from her reverie.

She nodded, and glanced at the elf who gave her a small smile, before she picked up her sword and stalked over to the group.

" Boromir was just teaching us some swordplay. Did you see us fight him?" Pippin asked

" Yup… You kicked his behind right up to crazy town…." Buffy received blank stares from her companions. She rolled her eyes "Yes I saw, you did pretty well… But first, let me show you something…."

She showed them some basic moves and stances, something entirely different from what Aragorn and the others taught them.

" Since you're so small, this let you give the most impact without using too much energry…"

Merry and Pippin turned towards the older man, and stood like how Buffy had instructed. They raised their swords, as did Boromir. They both launched themselves at the man, using some of the techniques taught to them. Boromir was surprised for a second for his strength, but he soon gained the upper hand, blocking them with ease. But soon, Pippin, getting frustrated, kicked him swiftly in the shin.

"That kids smart…" Buffy muttered before turning back towards the elf and Gandalf.

" Legolas, what do your Elvin eyes see?" Aragorn called.

"I'm not sure…." He stared more intently.

" Tis but a wisp of cloud…" Gimli said, waving it off.

"It's moving against the wind."

" Crebain from Saruman!" Legolas shouted.

They all turned quickly for the nearest shelter. Buffy was mildly confused. It was only a bunch of birds, and yet they were running away like it was an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Gandalf eventually grabbed her and hid her with him. The only one who was left out was Spike, who was still laying on quietly on a rock.

"Spike!" Gandalf called. The vampire woke up, surprised at what was happening, and ran over to Gandalf, under the tree. They eventually passed, the birds

"What was that?" Spike asked.

"Spies of Saruman. He knows we are planning on passing through the misty mountains."

"We must find a safer route." Aragorn stated. "We can make it through the Caradhras, which enables passage beside one of the range's tallest peaks."

"I fear we may be watched that way…" Gandalf says grimly. " So it may be, we are to pass through the Caradhras."

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The Caradhras was a passage over the tallest peaks of the Misty Mountains. The peaks were covered with snow, deep enough for a hobbit to get lost in. The higher you went, the more brutal the weather got. Their cloaks were not enough to keep them all warm, though they clutched them closely to their shivering bodies. Spike held his duster closer to him, thankful that the leather was somewhat warmer than the cloth the others were supplied with.

The sun was almost blinding on the white snow, causing everyone to squint for them to see.

Legolas was having no problems traveling through the snow, he was light enough to stand on it without falling through. Everyone gave him dirty looks because of this.

"I really hate snow…" Buffy complained.

"This is your first time ever being in snow." Spike said quickly.

"Yea, so. I can still hate it. I like my climate warm and sunny thanks." She quipped.

"This is nothing. Just wait till we get higher" Boromir said from behind.

"Why?" Buffy asked

He merely just glanced at her before walking past Buffy. Buffy just glared at his back before turning to Spike with a questioning glance.

"Blizzard like conditions love, the higher up you get the colder it gets; simple geography."

" Shit!"

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"Such a small thing…" The sandy haired man caressed the gold ring gently.

" Boromir…" Aragorn sounded, worry mixing in with an adamant tone for him to give the ring back to the ringbearer.

The sandy haired warrior strode over to the nervous looking hobbit and briskly put it in his hand before rubbing his head roughly.

Spike watched this exchange with interest, he saw the possessive glint in the mans eye, as he stared at the gold ring. He watched the nervous stance of the Hobbit, his blue eyes wavering towards the ground, into the blinding snow.

He could understand the desire to use such a powerful weapon, its understandable really, when your country and your world was going through so much strife and agony over this thing. And then there it was, its power and its influence lay seemingly vulnerable in front of you and the desire to help ones country was enough to make you to take it possessively into your hands and savor the extreme influence you had over it.

But this, this seemingly vulnerable ring was what could take influence over you as soon as you laid eyes upon it.

He knew the power of this thing, for he felt it in his bones at this very moment. It called to him. Birds of a bloody feather…..

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Spike was right, the higher up they did get, more brutal the conditions got. Snow drifts smothered them with every wind blow. The hobbits were having a hard time with the snow, as was the dwarf. Buffy was behind him, clutching tightly to her cloak, shivers like mad.

Spike looked over to the elf. He was rather unfazed by the snow, in fact, he was dancing along on top of the snow like some sort of fairy.

But he wasn't a fairy

He was an elf.

Close enough.

Legolas wasn't exactly dancing along, though Spike wished he was, so maybe he would fall of the bloody cliff. No, it seemed that Elves were rather immune to gravity; or the laws of physics.

"What's that?" Pippin asked

There was a rumbling above them, and a rather eerie voice in the distance. Gandalf, being the intuitive bloke he was, stood against the wind and grumbled something in some foreign language that Spike did not know.

"That foul voice was Saruman, he wishes to make our travels even more perilous than we were expecting." Gandalf said from ahead.

"We have to move faster." Aragorn shouted

As if on a rather ironic queue, the rumbling above grew louder.

"Oh shit…" Spike muttered, knowing what was going to happen next.

"What—"Buffy's voice was muffled by the onslaught of snow that had at that very moment pummeled them. Once the Spike got over the shock, he dug himself out of the cold. Luckily he didn't need to breathe. But the others did. Legolas and he got out at the same time, and Spike immediately dug for Buffy. He found her rather quickly, her face a pale blue.

"I'm fine." She assured him as she turned and started to dig for whoever was closest. Luckily, the three found everyone within a relatively short time.

"What are we going to do?" Frodo asked.

"We keep moving." Gandalf said.

"There is another way, its too dangerous!" Aragorn shouted.

"Yes, through the mines of Moria! It's a much safer route, and my cousin will give us a welcoming fitting of a king!" Gimli said proudly.

Gandalfs face fell slightly, and Spike couldn't help but get the feeling that this Moria place wasn't all daisies and puppies, like Gimli was describing. There was something there that put the ancient man uneasy.

"Let the ring bearer decide." Gandalf said quickly

Frodo didn't seem to have to think about it twice "We will go through Moria."

"So be it." Gandalf said simply.

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Happy thanksgiving!! Well anyways, I finished this rather quickly, because I'm awesome like that.

NOTE: Within the next month or so, I am moving to a different state, from New York to Pennsylvania. This might be my last update for at least a couple of months. Seeing as I am rather retarded with computers, and everything is totally different there, I might not be able to update due to not having internet.

I could update this story again, but please note that that will my last update for a very long time.

So please review for all your worth, because then I might update again before I leave. Ok?

REVIEW MY LOVIES!!!

Irishsodabread