A/N: Anyone interested in being a beta for me, let me know.

Thanks for all those who took the time to leave a review.

Enjoy.

Rivendell, Eriador
December 28, 3018 T.A.

Iri raised his sword to block Fred's blade, while sidestepping to the left to avoid Elrohir. Elladan then moved to contend with his twin, while Iri focused on Fred. Time held no meaning as Iri concentrated on the sword fight; lunging, dodging, thrusting and parrying. Suddenly George, who was acting as a sort of referee broke up the skirmish. "Iri, Sirius wants to talk to you."

Iri wiped the sweat from his brow, and shook hands with the twins for the good fight. In the 2 months that Iri had been in Rivendell, he had tried to learn as much as possible about how to defend himself (especially since his magic was so limited now). Though Iri was a natural with a bow and arrow (even beating the majority of the elves), and quite capable with daggers, his sword work left much to be desired. Even though elvish swords were far lighter and graceful than human swords, they were still quite big and heavy compared to Iri's small frame. And though Iri could use magic to lighten the sword so that it weighed next to nothing, he'd rather be able to fight without being dependant on his magic.

The green-eyed man sheathed his sword and made his way to his godfather as the twins renewed their duel, George filling in for Iri's spot. A lot has happened in the past two months, including his renewed relationships with those from Earth. At first their conversations were awkward and clumsy; they all had known each other very well, and after 450 years apart, it was sort of uncomfortable; no one knew what to do or say. (A/N: I don't know about you guys, but I find it more awkward speaking to someone who was my best friend in grade school than a complete stranger, just because we used to know each other so well). But now everything was much better; their relationships were well on their way to becoming even stronger than they had been on Earth. That's not to say that they were perfect or anything. Sirius was still getting used to calling Harry Iri, and was obviously restraining himself with much difficulty from smothering Iri, trying to allow his godson to come and talk to him in his own time.

"You wanted to see me?" Iri asked his godfather.

"Yes. I just wanted to see how you were doing, and hang out a bit. We haven't been able to see each other that much all things considered."

Sirius was right, but Iri also knew that Sirius just wanted to distract him from the fact that he hadn't been allowed to go with the fellowship. After the council Iri had been upset that Sirius had prevented him from joining, but then common sense kicked in. He may have been a considerable foe on Earth, but here he was not. He was in a new world where nothing was be familiar (therefore putting him at a disadvantage towards any enemies including those of an unfamiliar race, or when fighting in an unknown terrain), his magic was severely curtailed, and he didn't know how to fight without it (the Dursley's would hardly sign him up for any self-defense classes, wizards didn't bother teaching anything that didn't have to do with magic, and he didn't have the time to learn before he had been captured by Voldemort). All in all, Iri would have been more of a liability than an aid to the fellowship. Well, at first at any rate.

And though Sam, Marry and Pippin would be a greater liability, Iri understood the council's reasoning for allowing them to go. As Gandalf said, he'd trust in their friendship with Frodo over the wisdom and power any elf-lord that could take their place in the fellowship would offer instead. Iri himself could swear to the benefits of having your friends by your side, even if they (and yourself) were only untrained children.

"Don't be disappointed kiddo. You know that they could've only had a certain amount of people in the fellowship. The whole mission is dependant on speed and secrecy; something they wouldn't be able to achieve with too many companions." Sirius said, trying to cheer Iri up.

"That's rich coming from you. If you hadn't already promised Aragorn that you'd stay and lead the Rangers, you'd have volunteered yourself to the mission so fast my head would have spun." Iri rebutted.

Sirius blushed a little, unable to deny the accusation. It didn't help that weeks afterwards Sirius had still been complaining about the way his 'nephew' had hoodwinked him into agreeing to lead the rangers (just incase Aragorn stayed in Rivendell to be with Arwen for a while) before the council. Sirius accused Aragorn of knowing that a mission would have been appointed in the council and making sure that he would have been unable to go. Considering Aragorn's weak denials, Iri thought that his godfather might just be right.

"Look, I know that at first it wouldn't have been a good idea to go with them. But they had only left three days ago! In the past two months I've learned so much, and am more than capable of fending for myself and helping the fellowship. I've spent 2 years in the wild, and can easily hunt and move swiftly and silently, I can heal just about anything, and am not terrible with weapons. Better than the hobbits at any rate. I could have been useful." Iri stated.

The reason that the fellowship had only left 3 days ago was because of Lord Elrond's cautiousness. Since Frodo's mission was dependant on secrecy, the fellowship didn't dare leave Rivendell until scouts (mainly Aragorn, his rangers, a couple of elves (including Glorfindel) Sirius, and both sets of twins) searched the area for any sign of the enemy (the ringwraiths in particular). It would be no good if the mission was discovered, and therefore thwarted, before it had a chance to truly begin.

The scouts were able to find out that the Nazgûl horses had all died in the flood, and the ringwraiths themselves had lost their forms. They had been forced to journey to Mordor on foot so that their Master could restore them and give them new steeds. This was good news for everyone since it meant that the fellowship would not encounter the wraiths for quite some time.

Unfortunately, by the time the scouts returned and everything was ready to go for the journey, 2 months had passed and winter was upon them. The fellowship was forced to leave anyway, not having the luxury of time to wait until spring to set out.

Sirius tried to make Iri see that his staying behind was for the best. "I know that you're frustrated; you're a fighter and are used to doing whatever it takes to see to the safety of others. But this isn't your fight, and you're going to have to let others take care of this problem. You're still new to this world and you still have much to learn. And you shouldn't have to be worrying about dark overlords anyway - you've dealt with enough to last for the rest of your life. You need to learn how to just live – your whole life you've only known how to fight and survive. It's time for you to let go of responsibilities and learn how to fully relax, how to play, and fall in love. I just want what's best for you Ha –…Iri."

Iri felt the fight leave him at Sirius heartfelt words. "I know Sirius, but don't you understand that I still need to do something? If Sauron wins, you and everyone else might die – and I couldn't live through your deaths a second time. I need to be out fighting, it's who I am and it's what I believe and feel is right. I can help them Sirius…I need to help them."

Sirius didn't respond to Iri's words except to pull him in for a hug. They sat in comfortable silence for a long time, happily soaking in each other's presence while their minds drifted to a small hobbit and the burden he carried.

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Iri readjusted the bag (which was fashioned like a backpack) he had on his back and continued trekking through the woods of Trollshaw. On his person he carried an elven sword, a bow and a quiver of arrows and two daggers. The bag contained a few canteens of water, some food that would last for a very long time, some winter clothes and a few other useful things. Iri felt a bit bad for leaving, but this was something that he had to do. No way was he going to let others fight for the good of the world while he idly sat on his ass doing nothing. It just wasn't in him.

Ever since Iri learned that the fellowship wasn't leaving right away, he had tried his hardest to learn everything he could so he could join with the fellowship as well. But knowing that most still hadn't wanted him to go, Iri pretended to be upset but resigned to his fate. In secret though, he had been sneaking and storing food and equipment for the journey. It helped that he had aided the others of the fellowship pack, so he knew what to bring.

Iri waited an extra three days after the fellowship left to throw off any suspicions. He knew that those from earth would realize that he'd probably sneak out (hence him being watched around the clock on the 25th), and therefore decided to wait a bit until his security (a.k.a. Sirius) was a bit more lax.

Iri didn't think it would be too hard to catch up despite the fellowship's three day head-start – even if he wasn't as good at tracking as Aragorn (who was a ranger), Remus (due to his canine animagus form) and Sirius (who was both a ranger and had a canine animagus form), Iri was still quite good. He had spent two years in the wild, learning to track and catch food and avoid orcs and other beings. And when he had been a captive on Earth, whenever he had been able to escape for a brief period, he had always had to meet up with unfamiliar people at unfamiliar places to help the resistance. All that combined with the fact that the company consisted of four hobbits – who were both unused to traveling for long distances, and had small short legs (and therefore would considerably slow the fellowship down) – Iri was confident in being able to find them, it was only a matter of time.

He only hoped that those back at Rivendell wouldn't be too worried or upset. He had left a letter for the twins and Sirius (Remus and Tonks had left to return to Rohan a couple of weeks ago); hopefully they wouldn't try – or succeed – in dragging him back.

Pushing those thoughts to the side, Iri continued on his way towards the fellowship, more determined than ever in his quest.

I was originally going to have a longer chapter with some outtakes with Iri getting closer with everyone during the two month delay, but I couldn't find anything good to write. shrugs. It's a short chapter, but the next one should be longer.