Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own any characters or places in Lord of the Rings.

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Being a light sleeper, Frodo woke up seconds before Faramir approached with two men, while Sam slept like a rock, dead to the world.

"You must come with me. Now." Faramir said quietly. With growing concern, Frodo got up and followed the Captain of Gondor without a sound. After climbing a steep incline for a while, they got to their destination, a narrow edge overlooking a waterfall and medium-sized pool.

"Down there." whispered Faramir as he pointed to a spot way down below. Approaching cautiously, Frodo became curious and a little worried that this was a trap to lure him up on the rocky ledge only to suddenly push him over to free fall and go splat down below. No! Your becoming a little too paranoid, Frodo. Keep your cool. That's right, just keep calm. There's probably nothing to worry about.

When Frodo peered over the edge, he immediately saw what Faramir was trying to show him. Sméagol, aka Gollum, was perched on one of the rocks surrounding the pool, getting ready to dive in. With little splash, the creature dived into the pool and proceeded to swim around, looking for something.

"To enter the Forbidden Pool bears the penalty of death." explained Faramir, watching for any reaction from the hobbit beside him. A rustling sound suddenly was clear around him, as Frodo saw the previously hidden rangers with their notched bows, all pointing at one target below.

"They wait for my command." As Frodo continually stared at Sméagol, who by this time had emerged from the pool with a wriggling fat fish in his hands and had started singing, Faramir decided to push Frodo into deciding quickly.

"Shall I shoot?" he asked, as the sound of the singing down below was interrupted by whacks of the fish on rocks. With each whack, Faramir seemed to wince until he could take it no longer and decided to just shoot the creature. Raising his right hand, he prepared to give the order to release their arrows.

"Wait!" Frodo said, before Faramir's hand could make the downward sweep that would give the archers permission to shoot.

"This creature is bound to me. And I to him. He is our guide. Please, let me go down to him." pleaded Frodo. After considering it for a moment, gave a nod, signifying his approval.

Glad that his captor had at least given him this small chance, Frodo was too eager to see a small rocky spike in his path. Kicking it in his hurry to reach Sméagol, he tripped and went over backwards and fell down below, directly into the middle of the Forbidden Pool with a loud splash.

With a loud squawk, Sméagol quickly scampered off and disappeared into the shadows, carrying his new found treasure with him.

"NOOOOOOOO!" screamed Faramir as he turned around and quickly descended to where the Forbidden Pool was.

With a small sniffle, Faramir knelt beside the now empty pool. His men silently approached their captain.

"What are you orders, sir?" Faramir's second in command said softly well aware the pain his captain was in.

After a moment, Faramir pulled himself together and answered the question.

"Put up a monument. On it, it shall say, "Here was Faramir's pet, Freddy the Fish, last seen being taken by a monster and beaten brutally on rocks. May he rest in peace in Fish Heaven."

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AN: YAY! Another chapter. Wish me luck. My biology project is finally due next week… Yikes!

A SPECIAL THANK YOU GOES TO PHYLITR FOR SUGGESTING A PLACE IN LOTR TO FOCUS THIS CHAPTER ON.