Okay! I'm back! Hopefully it wasn't a huge long while since I updated, wasn't it/shrugs Oh well. Anyway, on to the Disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR, but I do own Cadan, Lilka, and Becca. ;)

Thanks to my Beta-Reader, Amy aka Paper Crane. ;)

On to the shoutouts!

myfoolofatook: Aww, I'm glad you liked it! I wanted to make Pip sound like... Pip! Anywhoo, we SHOULD turn ourselves into hobbit, make EVERYONE in the world watch/read LOTR and LIKE it. :D /insane laugh MEEP! I forgot what your hobbit's name is! NOOOOOOOOOO! What to do what to do! Oh, btw, thank for reviewing:D

Piraticia: Hahahaha! Did you see my review for your story? Did'ja? Huh huh huh? lol! Know what? I forgot that the word Kuduk mean hobbit/dances in celebration for learning new word Can you tell I'm on a sugar high today? Don't know what made me so hyper... Thankies for reivewing!

DayDreaming Turtle: Gosh, I have braces too... /makes face They're not THAT bad, since I've just only had them for 2 months, but.. I still don't like them. :D Yeah.. like I said in the last chapter, I have no clue if those Westron words are right, I just randomly found them on the internet. ;)

HermonineHeart: Lol! I'm updating I'm updating! I'm glad you like. ;)

You know what people? This is really annoying! For some reason this program won't let me put theA symbol, the star (pound.. or whatever it's called..) Or slashy marks! Does anyone know how to make it so I can type normally without having to come up with new symbols? Thanks.

On to Chapter 5!


Chapter 5

Frodo's POV:

I wake at the crack of dawn when only Strider is still awake, and the others are
just stirring. I look up at the huge hill called Weathertop looming before me,
and wonder: Will Gandalf be there?

I miss him so much. He promised he would be at the Prancing Pony, but he
wasn't. If it were not for Strider, I'm afraid we hobbits wouldn't be here right
now, and the Ring would be in Sauron's hands.

I shiver at the thought. What would have happened? Would the Shire be in ruins
by now? Would Sam's old Gaffer, or Paladin Took, or even the Sacks-ville
Baggins, (though I do not care about their fate) still be alive?

I look gratefully at Strider. I suppose Sam doesn't trust him a bit, but I do.

It's very strange that I would trust him, his being a Ranger, and
suspicious-looking from the start. I think once Gandalf might have said that the
Rangers protect the borders of the Shire. I wonder if it's really true. If so,
Strider really is one to trust.

Strider, in his turn, does not trust Lilka. I can tell. It's not like he treats
her rudely, or deprives her of rest or food, but the way he looks at her
sometimes… It's like he is trying to pry into her very mind and see if she
really is whom she appears to be.

I suppose you never know. She might be a spy of the Enemy, she might be faking
everything; maybe she really can speak Westron and is listening to everything we
are saying. Maybe she knows all about the Ring, and is just waiting for the
right moment to take it.

But I don't think Lilka is a spy, just a lost girl.

But… what would happen, if someone did take the Ring?

I feel chills running up and down my spine; I won't let anyone take the Ring.
Never. Whenever I see the Ring, I think of Sauron, and when I think of Sauron, I
think of the Shire lying in ruins...

I shake my head. No. That will never happen. I won't let it, not while I'm still
alive.

I wonder if I will die soon. I know it may be too early to think of such things,
but what if we run into the Ringwraiths? I know if they find me they will kill
me, they are not beings of mercy, but what will happen to the others?

When Pippin, Sam, and Merry promised to help me to get to Rivendell; that they
would stay through thick and thin, I was delighted but horrified at the same
time.

It's always hard to tell your feelings when they are mixed, but not that time;
that time I felt that maybe something horrible might happen. So far nothing has,
and I am grateful, but what if one of them dies or turns to the enemy? What will
I do then? Maybe the reason I didn't want them to go is because I'm afraid they
will be too exposed to the Enemy to ever recover. I've already seen more than I
want to of Him, but I have a feeling that I will see too much of Him soon…

"Good Morning, Frodo." A voice startles me from my thoughts and back to reality.
I turn to see that it's Lilka. Her face is shining, and I can tell she is proud
of remembering some of her words from last night.

"Good morning, Lilka! How are you?"

Her face shows confusion, and she shrugs, showing she doesn't understand. I
smile to show that it's fine, and walk over to Pippin.

"Wake up, you sleepy head," I whisper in his ear.

"Oh Frodo, let me just sleep for 30 more minuets!" Pippin groans and rolls over.

I smile. Pip and I go through this routine every morning. It's become a habit to
us. I try to get him up, and he makes it exceedingly difficult to do so. He will
either beg for more time to sleep, or ignore me, or sometimes throw his blanket
at me.

"Not today Pip, you'll get up when I say to," I say in fake sternness, making my
mouth go into a tight line.

Pippin looks up at me with surprise,and then laughs.

"What? Do not laugh at me, young lad!" I say, trying so very hard to hold my
stern gaze for just a moment longer.

Pippin sits up.

"You look so funny!" Exclaims a now wide awake and enthusiastic Pippin.

"Ah-hah!" I say, letting my face melt into a smile. "You sat up all on your own
this morning, without me dragging you out of bed."

Pippin's face grows surprised, "You old fool, you!" Pippin playfully pounces at
me and pulls at my hair. "Next time I won't be tricked so easily!"

I push him off effortlessly and he sighs and grows sullen.

"What's wrong, Pip?"

"We have to go up there, don't we?" Pippin asks, pointing to Weathertop.

"Yes, we will. You never know, we might find Gandalf there."

"I suppose," Pippin sighs. "I'm just worried, Frodo, I… I'm not sure what to
think. Whenever I look up there I sense this feeling of fear in the pit of my
stomach. I'm afraid." He says the last sentence in a whisper and glances
worriedly at Weathertop.

I pull him in for a hug, "Oh Pip, you never know what will happen. As you know,
this journey is full of unexpected twists and turns. But don't worry. We have
Strider; he will keep us safe." I can feel Pippin relax slightly and sigh.

"I know. I'm just… worried. Can we talk about something else?"

"Of course."

"What do you think of Lilka?" Pippin asks, pulling away from my embrace and
lowering his voice so that Lilka would not catch her name in our conversation.

"I don't know," I say carefully. "She seems to be lost and confused, but I'm not
sure. She has never seen us hobbits before, that's certain."

"I know that you might not trust her Frodo, but I do," Pippin says, his face
serious.

"Why do you say that?"

"I saw her crying yesterday. She was lagging behind and I stayed behind too, you
know, just to make sure she didn't get lost or anything. And I looked up at her,
and she was sobbing and stumbling. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

"No, I didn't." I say thoughtfully, "I did see her lagging behind, but not
crying."

"You all were probably lost in your thoughts. Anyway, I tried to comfort her,
and it worked. She clutched at my hand like she was drowning. She settled down
after awhile. That was when I tried to teach her Westron."

"She seems to be making some progress. She told me good morning."

"She did! That's wonderful!" Pippin's face lights up. "But… I still wish she
could say… everything. You know, speak Westron."

"I know, Pip, me too."

"I mean, I'm dying to know where she came from, and what she's doing here and…
and…" Pippins voice trails off into silence.

"Well maybe someday we can find out. If she still shows this same enthusiasm for
learning Westron, then you can be sure we will know everything she wants to tell
us soon." I pause and stand up. "I have to wake the others up Pip." I pat his
shoulder and walk over to Sam. I shake his shoulders. I look back at Pippin, and
see him staring up at Weathertop, fear on his face.


Cadan's POV:

"Lilka!" I yell as my voice is lost by the wind. Where is she? One minuet,
I'm climbing the wall to the school, and the next, I'm falling! My back still
hurts like heckfrom landing. What is going on?

I look at my surroundings. Nothing. Nothing but grassland and mountains. I don't
see any road, highway, house, car, people… anything.

"LILKA!"

No answer. Not even an echo. Where is she? Where am I?


Lilka's POV:

"Cadan!" I call into the darkness, but all I hear is his voice, echoing again
and again.

"Help me! Help!' His voice is drowned out by this awful screeching and
screaming. I cover my ears and fall to the ground with terror. It hurts my ears!
I can feel my heart filling with terror at the screams. "Stop it! Make it stop!"

Iopen my eyes and situp. It's morning. I look all around me, Frodo is up, but all the other
midgets are asleep, and Strider is awake too. I sigh in relief. It was only a
dream. An awful dream. Who knows what is happening to Cadan right now? I calm
myself and try to distract my thoughts from the dream.

The words for good morning… hmm. I wonder if I remember it correctly.

"Good morning, Frodo," I say in his language. At least, I hope I said just that.

Frodo turns to me and smiles. "Good morning, Lilka," And something else I can't
understand. I shrug and he nods and turns to wake Pippin.

I really appreciate what Pippin did for me yesterday. I'm not sure if he'll ever
know how that helped me.
Not only was I comforted, but when he tried to teach me
some of his language; and then when everyone else joined in, it gave me a sense
of belonging. Before I felt like almost another piece of the luggage. Now, I can
actually communicate somewhat! I hardly know any words, though. But does it
matter? I can talk to them a little, and that's all the matters.

Tonight I want to learn more. And I want to learn it all so I can talk with them, and find out
more than just their names.

I smile as I see Pippin, now up, tackling Frodo and Frodo in turn pushing him
off easily. They are all so close. The midgets, I mean. Strider isn't, though. I
feel sorry for him, in a way. It's obvious that the midgets have known each
other for a long time. But Strider seems to always hide so much of himself.

What does he have to hide? It's clear that Sam doesn't trust him.

I shift my thoughts to my backpack and the book inside it. Sitting on the top of all my other stuff is the book, that dreaded book:Lord of the Rings.
Should I look at it? I'm sort of afraid to. I mean, what if it WAS the book that
sent me here? I've read these kinds of stories before, only with different books
or stories. I don't think anything would happen if I read just a bit.

Hmm…

I glance at the others, everyone is up and fixing breakfast, I know it will be
at least 30 more minuets 'till we leave, so I can at least read it until
breakfast is ready…

I pull out the huge book at stare at it. Where should I read first? Should I
start at the beginning? Or should I start where it freezes shut? Or maybe
somewhere in the middle?

I decide to start by where the book froze, and start to read.

"All that day they plodded along, until the cold and early evening came down.
The land became drier and more barren, but mist and vapors lay behind them on
the marshes. A few melancholy birds were piping and wailing until the round red
sun sank slowly into the western shadows then an empty silence fell. The
hobbits…"

Hobbits? What the heck are hobbits? Is there such a word? I shake my head and
continued reading.


After a couple minuets, I try to turn the page, but, of course, it won't let me.
It seems though, that I've read a bit into the future, because the book talked
about us leaving the swamp, (which we have done already) and then camping,and then we basically will do
nothing else today but walk. At least, that's all I could read, I'm not sure
where we will camp or anything like that.

"Lilka?" Strider says, and said something else that I assume means "time to
eat". I walk over to the others and sit down, putting the book in back in my
backpack.


Striders' POV:

I scan the plains down below for anyone, anything at all. We finally made it to
Weathertop, and we did find some sign that Gandalf have been here. On a rock, we found a G
rune, for Gandalf, and then it showed us that he was here on the Third. What has
happened since then? Where is he now? I do wish he was here to help us.

"What's that?" Frodo gasps and pointes to the plains. There are figures, black
figures, moving along the plain. They look like tiny specks now, but I know at once what they are: Ringwraiths.
Fear fills my heart as I try and figure out what to do; what should I do? Should we
run? Or should we wait? Maybe they will pass us by, or maybe we can scare them
off.

"Strider." Frodo pulls at my cloak this time, waiting for an answer.

"They are most certainly Black Riders, Frodo."

They are coming for the Ring.

A/N: Okay! How was that one? Huh huh huh? Reviews welcome. Suggestions are also welcome! LOTS of suggestions. :D