Chapter 11—Crows, Snow, and Evil Powers.

Forest turned to rocky hills and plains as the fellowship traveled closer to the mountains. The mood in the Fellowship had changed to a lighter one. Serenity was walking along side of Boromir, deep in conversation about Minas Tirith. Mostly, it was Boromir who was talking and Serenity listening. She absorbed anything the Gondorian said, wondering how the city looked. For some reason, her knowledge that she normally had as Cosmos, even when she was not in uniform, was fading from her mind. She thanked Boromir and moved back, past the hobbits and Gimli. She took up the rear guard, going over everything that she knew. A worried frown crossed her face as she wondered if something had happened. She looked up at the people in front of her. She smiled a little, watching the hobbits entertain themselves as the group moved forward.

The found a group of rocks that had some brush, but other wise was clear. Gandalf stopped them.

"We will rest here for the moment. I am sure that some of us are hungry."

They set up a small camp, even starting a fire. Boromir pulled Merry and Pippin aside and started to teach them how to fight with a sword. Serenity watched, amused, then turned and went over to Gandalf. She could hear Gimli asking him why they were not going through Moria. She stopped a few feet away, pondering that name. Although she couldn't pull up any information, she felt darkness in her heart. She turned and saw Boromir get taken down by one of the two hobbits. She heard his shout of surprise and saw the other hobbit attack him. She chuckled, then full out laughed when she saw Aragorn go to help him but suffer the same fate as Boromir. She felt pity for the two men and went to help. She helped Boromir up then held her hand for Aragorn to grasp. Pippin and Merry looked at eachother then ran up, pushing Serenity. Her shriek made the rest of the fellowship hurry over. They started to laugh at the site. Serenity sat next to Aragorn, a bright blush covering her cheeks and Aragorn was glaring at the two hobbits. Legolas chuckled a bit, turning and then frowned. Gimli, who had been smoking his pipe, pulled it out of his mouth.

"It's only a wisp of cloud."

Legolas shook his head, "It's moving against the wind."

"Crebain! Hide! Hurry!" Aragorn shouted.

The Fellowship hurried, gathering their things. In the chaos, someone put out the fire, and they dove for hiding spaces. Serenity managed to hide her stuff, but found that her spot was too small for her and her things. Getting ready to put it in her pocket, she felt herself grabbed and pulled under a rock cropping. Looking up, she saw Legolas, his eyes toward the sky, waiting for the birds to go past. Feeling the evil purpose of the birds, she also felt the man that was behind their dark travels. Closing her eyes and fighting back the feeling of nausea, Serenity prayed that the evil creatures would leave, and soon. She didn't know how much time had passed but she felt herself being shaken and opened her eyes. She looked at Legolas and took his offered hand and came out from hiding. She heard the argument for the different paths they could take, and yet again heard Gandalf proclaim that they would not take the Moria route. Eventually the route over Caradhras was chosen and Serenity groaned. She looked at Boromir.

"Is it cold there?"

"Yes, it's covered in snow about now." He answered, getting his shield. He laughed at the face Serenity made.

"What? I've had to fight in the cold before, and in my solider form. It's not fun. Although…I guess this would be different."

Serenity went past him with a smile. The Gondorian looked at her with a curious look. The small elf reminded him of a fairy, flitting from one idea to another, yet strong when push came to shove. He followed the group, taking up the rear. They made their way toward the mountains. The closer they got, the more the season seemed to change from spring to winter. Serenity pulled her heavier cloak out and wrapped it around her as she started to see frost on the ground. She looked at the hobbits and pitied them. They didn't have shoes, and a sudden wave of concern passed over her.

'I wonder if they will be ok? The snow's only bound to get deeper.'

They continued on. Slowly the snow deepened and Serenity found that she, along with Legolas, had the ability to walk upon the snow. Looking at the others trudging through it, she giggled. She skipped along the snow, actually enjoying this part now, when a shout came from behind her. She turned and saw Frodo tumbling back down the way they had just come. She took a few steps back but saw that Aragorn had caught the hobbit. She let out a sigh of relieve then heard movement. She looked and saw Boromir picking up the chain with the ring. Her breath caught in her throat and she watched him. Her hands automatically moved into position to fire off an attack. She dimly heard Aragorn say something and it seemed to snap Boromir out of the trance he was in. He walked over and handed the ring to Frodo and walked away. Serenity looked up and caught Aragorn's gaze. She noticed him moving his hand away from the hilt of his sword and she smiled softly. Turning she continued to walk.

The trail into the mountains started to turn colder with more snow piling up. Serenity frowned at the way the hobbits were struggling. She frowned and looked at the rest of the group. With the exception of Legolas and herself, the rest were struggling. She was about to say something when she heard a faint voice on the wind. Legolas looked over at Gandalf.

"There is a foul voice on the wind!"

"He's going to bring down the mountain!" Aragorn yelled after narrowly missing some falling rock. Serenity glanced at Gandalf as he tried to mount a defense. Hearing a crack, she looked up and saw some rock and snow falling toward them. She gasped and held her hands up, her cloak opening slightly to show that she was in her uniform.

"Silence Wall!"

A thin purplish barrier formed over the party and the rocks and snow hit it. Serenity strained under the pressure, but held firm. Gandalf kept up his counter spell, but the effort was useless.

'Princess! Release the barrier! Don't use my powers!'

Serenity's eyes widened, 'Saturn?'

'Using my powers could mean your death! Please, let it go. No harm will fall upon the group. Trust me!'

Feeling tired, she looked up at Gandalf. The old wizard caught her gaze and ordered the group to go against the mountain. They had just gotten there when Serenity could no longer hold the barrier, even with wanting to, and it collapsed, bringing snow and rock to cover them. Legolas was the first to reach the surface. He helped Aragorn and Boromir, who in turn helped to get the Hobbits out. By then Gandalf had reached the surface and was spitting snow out of his mouth. Pippin looked around and over the sputtering of Gimli said words that later on, the men would admit to themselves were the worst words they had ever heard.

"Where's Serenity?"

Aragorn and Boromir looked at eachother and then started to frantically dig through the snow and rock. Soon, Aragorn moved some snow and found her hand. Shouting to Boromir, the two men, now with the help of Legolas and Gimli pulled Serenity out of the snow. She coughed a bit and looked at them.

"Sorry…"

She looked down at the ground, feeling ashamed that she couldn't keep them safe. They shot looks at eachother and Aragorn put his cloak over her. She listened as they argued above the wind about where to go now. The mountain was too dangerous, yet they couldn't risk the Gap of Rohan. Gandalf looked at Frodo.

"Let the Ring barer decide."

Serenity looked up at Frodo and saw that he looked at each of them. Stopping at Serenity, he smiled a little and looked back at Gandalf.

"We go to the mines."

A/N: Hey, sorry for the late put out. I've had the biggest case of writers block know to man, dwarf, elf, orc,….ya, you get the picture. I'll try to update ASAP. I'm starting college on the 14th, so I'll be back on that schedule, although I seem to get more done when I am. sighs Well, enjoy and again I'm sorry for waiting so long. If it's any consolation, this chapter was started right after the last one….just…took longer…really long. Enjoy!

Princess Silver Serenity.

Also, I have a forum set up It's going to end up being a forum for all animes, but we're hoping for new members. We're around…20 or so right now. Here's the Link, I hope you join. Unfortuantly, the only way to see it right now is to join. I had some hacking problems. But if you don't want to stay in it, I can easily unsubscribe you. Plus, on there you'll probally get more updates on my stories. Thanks!

http:s4. (Just take out the spaces between the and s. Thanks!