(A/N: Just so you know, this is my first story, so I'm still getting used to this site, especially compared to Quotev (where I've been working before), so… ON WITH THE SHOW!)

Chapter 2: From Council to Fellowship

I sit next to Legolas as the council comes to order. The others chat in a friendly manner as we all wait for Elrond to come. I just sit silently, looking at the group of people who have gathered. Surprisingly, the elves and dwarves haven't started an all out war between each other, yet.

Elrond brings the council to order saying, "Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will all fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Frodo."

Frodo, a young hobbit, stands up and places a small gold ring on the stone pillar in the center of the room. Many people start to whisper about it. I look to my brother to see him staring at me. It's scary how much we look alike in times like this.

The man who was messing with Narsil the other night, Boromir, says, "So it is true." He stands up and goes to the pillar with the Ring. Muttering something under his breath while he reaches for the Ring.

"Boromir!" Elrond intervenes on his new relationship with the Ring.

While he says this, Gandalf starts speaking, "Ash nazg durbatulûk. Ash nazg gimbatul; ash nazg thratulûk…" I close my eyes and try to shut out the sound. When I do open them after Gandalf stops, Elrond has his head on his hand and Boromir had backed away.

Elrond doesn't seem glad. "Never before has any tongue uttered those words in Imaldris."

Gandalf got up and leaned against his staff, "I beg your pardon, Master Elrond. For soon the black speech of Mordor may be heard in every corner of the West. The Ring is altogether evil."

"It is a gift, a gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring to our advantage?" Boromir tells us.

I shake my head; men are the most subject to the Ring.

"Long has my father, the steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people, your lands are kept safe," he boasts. I frown; it is highly unlikely that Gondor has ever held Mordor at bay single-handedly. He continues, "Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him."

"You cannot wield it. None of us can. The Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no master," Aragorn argues.

"And what would a ranger know of this matter?" Boromir asks of Aragorn.

Legolas stands up and says, "This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathron. You owe him your allegiance."

This seems to have shocked Boromir somewhat. "Aragorn? This is Isildur's heir?"

I stand as well, "And heir to the throne of Gondor."

"Sit down Legolas! Sit down Nemlas!" Aragorn says in elvish. I reluctantly sit down, but only on the edge of my seat.

Then Boromir says, "Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no king." That is almost past the edge: no matter what the idiot thinks, his father is nothing compared to a king.

Gandalf comes in to help us, "Aragorn is right. We cannot use it."

Elrond stands up, "You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed."

Gimli, one of the dwarves, stands up with his ax and says, "What are we waiting for?" He swings his ax down on the Ring, but the ax was destroyed, and nothing happened to the Ring at all. The pieces of the ax had flown out from the pillar (where Gimli is) and I think at least one has embedded itself into the tree behind Elrond.

"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli son of Gloin, by any craft that we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mt. Doom. Only there can it be unmade," Gandalf tells Gimli.

Elrond says, "It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from which it was made. One of you must do this."

Then Boromir speaks up again, "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just orcs. There is evil there that doesn't sleep. The great eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland riddled with fire, ash and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with a thousand men could you do this. It is folly."

At this, my brother stands up again, "Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said? The Ring must be destroyed!"

Gimli says to Legolas, "And you think you can do it!"

Boromir comes back as well, "And if we fail, what happens when Sauron takes back what is his?"

"I'll be dead before I see that Ring in the hands of an elf!" Gimli says.

The elves and dwarves all stand up to get into the conflict. Legolas holds his hands out to keep the other elves –especially me- from physically fighting them.

From this all hell breaks loose. The men, dwarves, Legolas and I all go into a verbal fight over who should take the Ring.

Though it doesn't seem like it to many of the people of the council, I am a woman, and women are usually excluded from this kind of matter. I nominate myself and of course, all of the others in the fight want to take in themselves for the job.

I just barely hear it, but over the midst of the shouting, I hear Frodo say, "I will take it," as he stands up.

I just barely hear him over the shouting, but no one else did.

Frodo keeps trying to get our attention, "I will take it."

Finally we all quiet down so we can hear the hobbit properly.

Frodo says, "I will take the Ring to Mordor," he pauses, "though I do not know the way."

"I will help you to bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear," Gandalf says.

Aragorn stands up and says, "If by life or death I can protect you… I will." He walks over to Frodo and kneels. "You have my sword."

"You have my bow," Legolas and I say at the same time, when we walk over.

"And my ax," Gimli says a second after we speak. I wonder why he said that, as his ax broke when he foolishly tried to destroy the Ring with it.

"You carry the fates of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done," Boromir says.

"Hey!" We all look over to see a hobbit run to Frodo's side. "Mr. Frodo isn't going anywhere without me."

Elrond says, a bit amused at first, "It's not possible to separate you, even when he's summoned to a secret council and you're not."

Then all of a sudden, two more hobbits run to Frodo's side. "We're coming too! You'll have to tie us up in a sack to stop us," the first of the last two says. Elrond seems surprised at all the hobbits that are now surrounding Frodo.

"Anyway, you'll need people of intelligence for this sort of journey… quest… thing." The other hobbit says.

"Well in that case, that rules you out Pip," the first hobbit says quietly to the other one who must be Pip.

Elrond says, "Ten companions. So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

"Great," the Pip says, "Where are we going?" I roll my eyes at his stupidity.