A/N: I'm so sorry it's been so long! I got really sick for about a week and a half, and then had to spend a LOT of time catching up on school work, regular work, etc. Anyway, updates will hopefully be much more often in the future. This isn't my longest chapter, but I've added some Boromir/Anna moments in this one.

Chapter Five

They had been hiking up the mountain for only a few hours, and the sun was still shining, but the cold had already made Anna's toes go numb. Not only was it cold, but trudging through the high, heavy snow made Anna realize just how stunningly out of shape she was. She was hiking with Pippin beside her, whom she had come to like quite well. He was an amazingly optimistic little hobbit, and he made her laugh. Behind them were Merry and Boromir. She didn't know how Boromir did it, wearing his sword and his horn, which looked quite heavy, not to mention the gigantic shield. The four of them had been making small talk, which helped the time pass at least a little more quickly.

After a while, Anna felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Merry looking up at her, concerned. Boromir was not beside him anymore.

"What is it, Merry?" she asked. Merry turned around and pointed, and she realized that Aragorn and Frodo had fallen behind. She turned around just in time to see Boromir pick something up out of the snow.

It was the ring.

Boromir held it up in front of his face by the chain, almost cupping the ring with his other hand. He was mumbling something, but Anna couldn't make out what it was.

"What's he doing?" she heard Pippin pipe up from beside her.

"Giving the ring back to Frodo," she said, not looking away. She only hoped she was telling the truth. Boromir didn't move however, despite Aragorn's gaze. She also noticed that Aragorn had his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. She didn't know what was about to happen, but she had to do something to stop it.

"Boromir!" she called out. He turned to look at her, and, to Anna's relief, she seemed to have taken his attention away from the ring. "Give the ring back to Frodo," she said. She saw his expression darken again, and added, "Poor Merry here is having trouble in the snow. I cannot help two hobbits by myself." His face returned almost back to normal. He turned around and walked towards Frodo, handing the ring to him with relative ease, all the while taking quick glances back at Anna. He paused for a minute, looking down at Frodo.

"Here," he said. "I care not," he added with a chuckle, ruffling some snow out of Frodo's hair.

Boromir made his way back up to Anna and the hobbits. He looked down, seeing Anna's suspicious expression, and put a hand on Merry's shoulder. She felt bad, as if she had manipulated him somehow. She knew, however, that she had to do something.

"Come on," she said, this time without sounding so harsh. This was the first time she had actually seen him look ashamed, even afraid. Perhaps he knew what the ring was doing to him, in retrospect at least.

By nightfall, they had reached the Mines, according to Gimli. The doors were glowing with blue letters Anna didn't recognize. She asked Aragorn about it, learning that they were elvish. Gandalf stood in front of the doors and looked up.

"What does it say?" Frodo asked from beside him.

"Well it's quite simple really," Gandalf said. He seemed to have an answer for everything. "If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." It couldn't be that easy. Gandalf began chanting in elvish, but to no avail. He tried for a good ten minutes before sitting on a nearby log to ponder the issue more. The rest of the fellowship had decided to take some rest while they could.

Anna looked over to Aragorn and Sam. Sam had to turn his pony, Bill, loose, as he could not go through the mines.

"Bye bye Bill," Sam said sadly, stroking the pony's mane.

"Don't worry Sam," she heard Aragorn assure him. "Bill knows the way home." Bill then trotted away back up the rocky slope from which they had come down. She felt a sudden wave of pity for poor Sam, and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Aragorn had turned his attention to Pippin, who was throwing rocks into the lake that stood before them. "Do not disturb the water," he said in a warning tone. She saw him exchange a worried glance with Boromir, and she looked over her shoulder at him and saw a worried expression on his face.

"What is it?" she asked. Before he could answer, she heard a movement in the water that sent chills up her spine. She turned around and saw a large, scaly object moving through the water. She felt a hand on her arm, gently pulling her back. Boromir slowly let go of her arm and stepped in front of her. She looked at the water warily, along with Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas, and Pippin. The others hadn't noticed anything yet.

Gandalf still seemed to be working on opening the doors when Frodo suddenly piped up.

"It's a riddle," he said. "Speak friend and enter. Gandalf, what's the elvish word for friend?"

"Mellon," Gandalf answered. Suddenly, there was a great rumble as the doors began to open, and they all glanced in to see only darkness, and Anna felt a horrible feeling arise in the pit of her stomach.

Turning their attention away from the water, they entered the mines, which were utterly dark. Anna heard an odd crunching under her feet and looked down in horror. All around them were skulls with arrows protruding from them, bones and weapons scattered about, covered in cobwebs and dust.

"This is no mine," she heard Boromir say. "It's a tomb." Gimli suddenly let out a cry, sinking to his knees. Before anyone could react, they heard a wail from behind them. They all whipped around to see Frodo being dragged towards the water by a large tentacle. Boromir, Aragorn, and Legolas immediately sprung into action, with Anna following.

Her heart was pounding so fast she was afraid it would burst, but she decided to use the adrenaline rush to her advantage. She unsheathed the sword that had been given to her earlier in Rivendell, and began aimlessly slashing at the creature, although she didn't seem to be doing any significant damage, unlike Boromir and Aragorn, who were slicing off tentacles, and Legolas firing arrows at the creature, however to no avail. The creature still had Frodo in its grasp.

Anna noticed that the creature had gotten somewhat distracted, and the tentacle holding Frodo had lowered to within Anna's grasp. Acting quickly, she sliced at the tentacle. In retrospect, probably not the smartest move, considering she could have impaled Frodo. Thankfully, however, Frodo was freed.

She caught him, but both of them fell in the process. While Frodo was small, he was not light. She saw another tentacle darting their way, and shoved Frodo as far away from her as she could. Before she could get up to run, she felt the tentacle wrap around her ankles.

"Anna!" Frodo cried.

"Run Frodo!" she yelled. The hobbit, although hesitant, listened. As the creature dragged her away, her head hit the ground, and the yelped in pain. Before she knew it, she was much too high in the air, being flung back and forth.

"Anna!" she heard another voice call out. The creature had apparently realized that she was not what she was after, and flung her out of its grasp. She felt her stomach in her throat as she fell. She closed her eyes, and did her best to relax, bracing herself for impact with the hard ground when a pair of strong arms caught her. She opened her eyes, clinging to Boromir, adrenaline still pumping endlessly through her veins. "Into the mines!" he yelled, with the rest of the Fellowship following.

They passed through the opening to the mines, and a loud noise greatly disturbed her as boulders cascaded down and blocked the entrance completely. Everything went dark.

Gandalf lit up the space with his staff so they could see. Boromir set Anna down gently, but sensing her instability, kept his arm around her to steady her. Her heart began to slow again, and she calmed down, at least to some extent.

"Are you alright?" Boromir asked in a concerned tone. She looked up at him, his brows furrowed in concern. Still slightly in shock and unable to speak, she nodded slowly, although her head was still throbbing. He reached a hand up and brushed her forehead. "You're bleeding," he said. She reached up, and brought her hand back down to find blood on her fingers. She looked at Boromir again.

"I'm fine," she said. "It's just a scratch, that's all." She removed herself from his grasp, but still felt herself teetering. Boromir moved to steady her again, but she only grasped his arm. "Thank you," she said, not looking at him. She once again found herself feeling like the weak link in this Fellowship.

Gandalf's voice broke the tension.

"We have but one choice," he said. "Forward."

A/N: Again, so sorry this is so late, but please review! It really does motivate me to update sooner.