An- Hey everyone! So it really has been awhile. School is SO brutal this semester. I really haven't had a chance to sit down and write anything for a week and a half. But here I am now! This part here is 'A New Guide' –where Gollum catches up with Sam, Frodo and Erin- rewritten. I was in the mood for some action, so that's the way I slanted it. It's also a way to show how Erin begins to evolve into the fighter she becomes (which we waited until like, the next story). For Erin it's not rushing into battle, but a slow build up to becoming a warrior. I wanted to show a place where it started, and this was perfect. Enjoy!

Erin knew that they were keeping something from her. Twice she found Sam and Frodo talking to each other in a hushed tone, and each time they had abruptly changed into louder conversation whenever she got close enough to hear. When she asked what was wrong they both replied with a very suspicious 'nothing'. Whenever Erin pressed the issue Frodo replied with a vague 'we're trying to get un-lost' type answer that far from pleased her.

The two of them were very bad at not acting suspicious.

Normally Erin would have demanded that they tell her exactly what was going on, but today she just couldn't bring herself to care.

Erin felt freaking terrible. As Sam had pointed out earlier, it smelt as though a bog was nearby. Said bog smell was turning her stomach in the worst way. She had been sick three or four times, though she had only let Frodo and Sam think it was only once. She was tired and that was leading to aching limbs. She had to pee every half an hour.

So she was perfectly happy to be in denial at the moment. She so didn't need to stress anymore than she already was. She really didn't need that, so she let them be all mysterious without making a fuss.

Yet of course, not asking eventually came back to bite her in the ass.

It was night time and, no matter how tired she was, she couldn't get to sleep. Erin had never been able to sleep comfortably on the ground, let alone now that she had a fairly large belly she had to accommodate. Not to mention this ground was especially uncomfortable, what with the rock shards and unevenness. Both Sam and Frodo had offered to let her use their cloaks for extra padding, but she had (regretfully) declined. It was cold enough at night that there was a high chance of frost bite and hypothermia if they went all night without. So she'd just have to deal.

She'd be able to drift off slightly only to be fully awake a moment later when she shifted, allowing the sharp end of a rock to jab into her.

She was at the drifting off stage at the moment. Frodo and Sam were already asleep, had been for awhile. Erin was getting there, though there was some annoying voice echoing in her head. It was saying something about 'wanting it'. Erin's half unconscious mind had no idea what the voice in her head wanted. Whatever it was, it was apparently 'precious'.

It wasn't until she heard a scream that Erin realized that maybe she wasn't dreaming that voice. She bolted up right, looking around frantically for whatever the he;; was making the noise. More voices, this time furious ones on the verge of cursing, joined the yelling.

Erin looked over just in time to see what quite honestly looked liked some sort of giant mix of person and frog jump Frodo.

Erin just reacted. She scrambled to her feet, managing to keep her balance despite the extra weight she still wasn't really used to. She picked up the closest projectile, which happened to be a fixt size rock.

"Leave him alone!" she screamed when she saw its hands going for Frodo's neck. Then she hauled back her hand and threw the rock as viciously as possible. By some miracle the rock made impact with its target (she really hadn't expected it to- she had always sucked at baseball). It crashed into its forehead when it turned to look at her after her scream, sending it tumbling off Frodo's chest. Frodo scrambled away, going for his sword.

Erin was about to give some sort of triumphant yell when she realized that it had recovered, and instead of going for Frodo again, it came flying at her instead.

Erin couldn't keep in her screech as she stumbled backwards. Her heel caught on the edge of a rock, and she went down. This time her yell was once of panic as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. She made sure she made impact on her back, yelping as sharp rocks slammed into it. She managed to keep her head from connecting, well aware that getting one of those rocks to the back of the head would not hold good results.

Next thing she knew, it was on top of her. It was going at her throat just as it had Frodo.

"Get off of me!" she screamed, bucking her body in an attempt to get it off. It didn't work.

She had hold of its wrists, trying to keep its hands away from her throat. That wasn't working out so well either. For something so skinny it was damn strong.

She kept thrashing and screaming at it to let her go, hoping that would through it off. She tried to kick her legs. Hell, she even tried that head butt thing.

Then it was gone. She heard Sam's voice scream "Get off of her!" and then there was no more weight on her and no hands trying to choke her.

She was back on her feet as quickly as she could, knowing she stood a better chance of defending herself this way than lying on her back.

Sam was still struggling with it now. They were rolling around, each trying to gain the upper hand. Frodo was rushing them, Sting ready.

Erin got there first. She rushed towards where they were struggling, picking her pack off of the ground as she moved. When she reached them the thing was on top, which suited Erin just fine. When she was close enough she swung the pack, putting as much force behind it as she could. It connected with the side of its body, throwing it off and sending it crashing into the side of the cliff. It hit hard, and then it just laid there.

Erin stood there panting hard.

…then she got angry.

"Is that what you've been not telling me about!" Erin shrieked at the two Hobbits.

Frodo and Sam looked at each other, an almost panicky expression on their faces.

"Erin-" Frodo tried to soothe, but that only pissed her off even more.

"Just trying to figure a way out," she mocked them, "everything's fine. Like fucking hell it is! We were just attacked by the creature from the black lagoon! How is that fine!"

"We didn't want you to worry!" Frodo tried the soothing voice again.

"I think I deserve to know these things! You should have told me some creepy mutant was stalking us! What would have happened if it had attacked me? I wouldn't have been on guard and completely unaware because I didn't know anything was even following us!"

Both Sam and Frodo looked guilty at that, and Erin felt a flush of satisfaction. Serves the idiots right!

"Gollum," Frodo spoke up suddenly.

The subject change threw her, but Erin figured Frodo just didn't want to listen to her yell at them anymore.

"What?"

"I think that," Frodo gestured to the still unconscious creature, "is Gollum."

"And it just keeps getting worse!" Erin was getting to the point where she was so furious she was about to cry. Damn hormones.

"What do we do with him now?" Sam asked, ever the practical one.

Frodo didn't say anything for a long time, and Erin was too busy fuming to make a comment.

"Tie him up," Frodo decided finally, "we'll wait until he awakens before we make any decisions."

Sam did as he was asked and Frodo turned to her again.

"You're right. We should have told you we were being followed. It was dangerous for both you and the baby to keep you in the dark," a little smile graced his lips, "but you did a splendid job defending us."

"Yeah, well-" Erin began to semi brag, but then a thought struck her, "oh my God…I used me pack. I have a sword and I used my back pack. I'm the little old lady who uses her purse to fend off the mugger! Gah!"

Frodo could barely hold in his chuckle at how her face scrunched up in disgust at the realization. Why it was a problem he had no idea, but he had long since stopped trying to understand her. He loved her, but she was still insane. Not that he'd ever tell Erin that- he didn't have a death wish.

With another small, amused shake of his head Frodo turned away from the sulking girl and went to make sure Sam secured Gollum right.

l.l.l.l

An- So there you have it! Erin beginning to kick some ass. So new chapters should be coming out at a quicker pace now, considering I have a few already written. Stay tuned, oh and Happy Halloween everyone! Peace, Love & Rainbows!