Here's Chapter 9!

Chapter 9: Stupid Birds and Snow

"100 bottle of milk on the wall, 100 bottle of milk…" Robin sang. It had been a few days of travel, and she was already bored.

"Did you expect to meet a band of orcs everyday?" Peyton asked when Robin had complained to her.

Kayden shook her head. "Trust me, you do not want that to happen."
So Robin had taken up singing. "What is that song?" Merry and Pippin asked curiously.

"It's called `100 Bottles of Milk on the Wall'," she informed them. "It's a good way to pass time."

"Will you teach us?" Merry asked. Robin nodded her head and began teaching them the song. Within moments, the two hobbits had learned it.

"Just one question," Pippin asked. "Does it have to be milk?"

Robin shook her head. "Nope. It can be whatever liquid you want."

Merry and Pippin shared an excited glance. "ALE!" they chorused. Together the three of them began singing:

"100 bottles of ale on the wall, 100 bottles of ale! Take one down, pass it around, 99 bottles of ale on the wall. 99 bottles of ale on the wall, 99 bottles of ale…"

Kayden facepalmed. "What troubles you?" Legolas asked.

"If the hobbits keep singing, we are going to wish we were attacked by a band of orcs everyday," she replied, shaking her head.

"Surely it cannot be that bad," Boromir chastised.

Five minutes later, Boromir was groaning with Peyton and Kayden.

"And they are only on 85," Peyton complained.

"When does it end?" Boromir moaned.

"When they get to zero," Kayden answered regretfully. "Be thankful they don't know what negative numbers are," she whispered to Peyton, who stifled a laugh. She was actually beginning to enjoy watching the hobbits annoy Boromir.

~o*o*o*o~

After a few more days of travel and singing, the twelve companions stopped to rest on a great rock formation. Sam was cooking sausages, and Merry, Pippin, and Robin, who had finally stopped singing, were practicing their swordfighting with Boromir, much to the amusement of Peyton and Aragorn.

"Good, very good," Boromir complimented as he practiced with Robin.

"Move your feet," Aragorn added from the sidelines.

"You look good, Robin," Merry commented. Robin grinned as Boromir began to practice with Merry.

Meanwhile, Kayden and Legolas were standing watch while Gandalf and Gimli sat on the rocks, deep in thought.

"If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note they're not, I'd say we were taking the long way around," Gimli began, turning towards Gandalf. "Gandalf, we could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome."

The gray wizard shook his head. "No, Gimli. I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice."

Suddenly, Kayden noticed a black cloud coming towards them. She and Legolas rushed onto some boulders to get a closer look. Meanwhile, Pippin was sparring with Boromir. "Argh!" Pippin yelled as Boromir accidentally cut his hand.

"Sorry!" Boromir stepped forward to look at the hobbit's hand. Pippin kicked him in the legs, and together, the three hobbits tackled the man to the ground.

"For the Shire!"

"Hold him down, Robin!"

Aragorn chuckled as the three hobbits began tickling Boromir. Peyton, however, doubled over in laughter, which only increased when Aragorn, in an attempt to break up the fight, was thrown to the ground.

Sam and Frodo smiled as they watched the scuffle. Suddenly, Sam saw the black cloud moving towards them. "What is that?" he asked nervously.

"Nothing, it's just a wisp of cloud," Gimli reassured him.

Peyton observed the cloud. "It's moving really fast."

"And against the wind," Boromir added.

"It looks like a flock of birds," Kayden commented.

Legolas was the one who recognized what those birds were. "Crebain from Dunland!"

"Hide!" Aragorn commanded. Everyone hastily grabbed their things and ducked under the boulders for cover. Suddenly, the Crebain swarmed the camp, crowing evilly as they flew over their hiding places. Finally, the Crebain passed, and the Fellowship emerged. "Are you alright?" Legolas asked Kayden, who had been hiding near him. Kayden nodded, breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush.

"Spies of Saruman," Gandalf informed them as they regrouped. "The passage south is being watched. We must take the pass of Caradhas!"

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Kayden murmured as they made their way to the mountain. (A/N: Where's that quote from?)

~o*o*o*o~

"Now I see why we lived in southern California," Peyton mused as they trudged up the mountain. "There's no stupid SNOW!" Robin grinned at her friend's displeasure, earning her a good fistful of snow in the face. Before the hobbit could retaliate, however, Frodo slipped and tumbled down to the ground, causing the girls to gasp.

"Frodo!" Peyton called. The said hobbit stopped rolling down the slope at Aragorn and Kayden's feet, who promptly helped him up.

"You alright?" Kayden asked Frodo. He nodded and started brushing himself off, only to begin to panicking because the Ring and its chain had fallen from around his neck. Kayden noticed it a few yards away, but Boromir had also found it. He gently picked it up out of the snow and stared at it as if in a trance.

"Boromir," Aragorn called. Boromir did not answer and continued to stare at the Ring in awe.

"It is a strange fate," he murmured, "that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing." He stared at the Ring, mesmerized, unaware of the gazes of the other eleven member of the Fellowship.

"Boromir!" Kayden shouted, breaking said man out of his trance. "Give the Ring to Frodo," she commanded.

"As you wish." Boromir walked towards the threesome, holding out the Ring. Frodo quickly snatched it from his grasp. "I care not," Boromir added, ruffling Frodo's hair. It was not until he had walked a good distance away did Aragorn and Kayden loosen their grips on their swords.

~o*o*o*o~

"I really hate snow," Peyton muttered under her breath. They had been trudging through waist deep snow for days. Blizzards raged upon them as they climbed the mountain. Kayden felt really bad for the rest of the Fellowship. They had to struggle their way through the biting snow, while she, being an elf, was impervious to the cold and could walk on top of the snow like she had snowshoes. Of course, Legolas could do this too, and together, the two of them marched up the mountain, listening over the howling wind.

"There is a fell voice on the air," Legolas announced worriedly.

"It doesn't sound very friendly!" Kayden added, more urgently.

"It's Saruman!" Gandalf yelled. A loud crack was heard above them, and huge boulders tumbled down, narrowly missing the Fellowship.

"HE IS TRYING TO BRING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!" Aragorn cried. "GANDALF! WE MUST TURN BACK!"

"NO!" Gandalf denied. He began to chant. "Sleep, Caradhas, be still, lie still, hold your wrath!"

Lightning flashed through the air, and chunks of snow began to rain upon them. "AVALANCHE!" Robin shouted, before they all were buried in ice.

Kayden tried to fight her way through the snow, but it was no use. Suddenly, she felt a hand seize hers and pull her up out of the snow. Looking up, she saw Legolas, covered in white powder, grasping her hand. Kayden nodded her thanks before helping uncover the rest of the Fellowship.

"We must get off the mountain!" Boromir shouted. "Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the west road to my city!"

"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn argued.

"If we cannot pass over the mountain, let us go under it!" Gimli suggested. "Let us go through the Mines of Moria!"

Gandalf paused in thought before announcing, "Let the Ringbearer decide."

Frodo looked around at his snow covered friends. Boromir spoke up. "We cannot stay here! This will be the death of the hobbits!"

"He's right, you know," Robin added, standing half-frozen next to Merry.

"Frodo?" Gandalf asked.

Frodo took a deep breath. "We will go through the mines."

Hope you liked it!

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