Gollum led Frodo, Sam, Tosh, and Vorazun south.

"Hey, stinker, don't go getting too far ahead," said Sam as the creature attempted to catch a fish with its bare hands.

"This isn't a way to catch fish," Tosh muttered.

"Why do you do that?" Frodo asked Sam.

"What?"

"Call him names. Run him down all the time."

"Because … because that's what he is, Mr. Frodo. There's naught left in him but lies and deceit. It's the Ring he wants. It's all he cares about."

"Sam's got the point. That creature here is a beast and will turn on you when it has an opportunity. Your uncle underestimated him because of pity, don't make the same mistake as he did," said Vorazun.

"You have no idea what it did to him … what it's still doing to him. I want to help him, Sam, Vorazun," said Frodo.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Because I have to believe he can come back."

"You can't save him, Mr. Frodo."

"What do you know about it? Nothing!"

"Not everybody gets a second chance," said Tosh.

"I believe he will," Frodo argued. "I'm sorry, Sam, Tosh. I don't know why I said that."

"I do. It's the Ring. You can't take your eyes off it. I've seen you. You're not eating. You barely sleep. It's taken hold of you, Mr. Frodo. You have to fight it," said Sam.

"I know what I have to do, Sam. The Ring was entrusted to me. It's my task. Mine! My own!"

"Can't you hear yourself? Don't you know who you sound like?"

"I think he should learn teamwork. We're all on in this," said Tosh.

"There's no way he can complete that mission alone," said Vorazun.

"I wish he can that," said Sam.

The hobbits and Vorazun slept while Tosh took the night's watch. "We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little Hobbitses. Wicked. Tricksy. False. No. Not master. Yes, precious. False. They will cheat you, hurt you, lie! Master's my friend. You don't have any friends. Nobody likes you. Not listening. I'm not listening. You're a liar and a thief. No. Murderer. Go away. Go away? I hate you. I hate you. Where would you be without me? Gollum. Gollum. I saved us. It was me. We survived because of me. Not anymore. What did you say? Master looks after us now. We don't need you. What? Leave now and never come back. No. Leave now and never come back. Leave now and never come back!" the spectre heard the creature talking to himself. "We told him to go away. And away he goes, precious. Gone! Gone! Gone! Smeagol is free!"

The next day, Sam and Vorazun woke up while Frodo was still dozing. Gollum returned with two dead hares, "Look. Look. See what Smeagol finds?" Frodo woke up and was glad except for Sam, Tosh, and Vorazun. "They are young. They are tender. They are nice. Yes, they are. Eat them. Eat them!" the creature broke a hare into two to Frodo's disgust.

"You'll make him sick, you will. Behaving like that," Sam grabbed the hares from Gollum. "There's only one way to eat a brace of coneys," he then made a stew.

"What's it doing? Stupid, fat Hobbit. It ruins it," Gollum asked.

"Better to eat them cooked than eating them raw," said Tosh.

"He's got a point. What's to ruin? There's hardly any meat on them," Sam agreed. "What we need is a few good taters."

"What's taters, precious? What's taters? Eh?" the creature asked.

"Potatoes! Boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew. Lovely, big, golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish," Sam's patience was running out and Gollum spat out a bit not at the stew. "Even you couldn't say no to that."

"Oh, yes, we could. Spoil a nice fish. Give it to us raw and wriggling. You keep nasty chips."

"You're hopeless."

"Mr. Frodo?" Sam realized that his friend was missing.

Frodo heard something and went off. The others caught up to him and they all saw a huge horde of human soldiers marching. The men were all masked and their clothing was similar to Earth's Arabs. They were spearmen and archers.

"Where are those human soldiers going?" Vorazun asked.

"Servants of Sauron. They are called to Mordor. The Dark One is gathering all armies to him. It won't be long now. He will soon be ready," Gollum replied.

"Ready to do what?" Sam asked.

"To make his war. The last war that will cover all the world in Shadow."

"We've got to get moving. Come on, Sam, Tosh, Vorazun," Frodo prepared to go.

"Mr. Frodo. Look," Sam heard a sound and two beasts appeared. They appeared like Earth's elephants but they had the size and tusks of mammoths. The beasts carried platforms that had more men on them. "It's an oliphaunt. No one at home will believe this."

"So, the primitives here use beasts for war," Vorazun commented.

"During the ancient times, there was no technology in Earth," said Tosh.

"Vorazun, those humans are called the Haradrim. They live in a desert region south of Mordor and those beasts are called Mumakil," Rohana informed from the Spear of Adun.

"Inform the Hierarch about it," said Vorazun.

There were sounds and Gollum went off. "Smeagol?"

The Haradrim were ambushed as arrows flew towards them and some of the men fell off from the platforms to their deaths. The infantry were easy kills while the Mumakils all shrieked with pain when the arrows embedded onto the beasts.

"I wonder who can strike from the shadows," Vorazun muttered.

One of the Mumakil ran towards Frodo's group and one arrow landed onto a Haradrim causing him to fall dead into their position.

"We've lingered here too long," Frodo began walking. "Come on, Sam, Tosh, Vorazun," but he bumped into a hooded man wearing a cloak. Sam, Tosh, and Vorazun attempted to help by preparing their weapons. Another hooded man pushed Sam into the ground with his sword touching the hobbit's throat. A group of hooded men grabbed the arms of Tosh and Vorazun. The hooded man threw Frodo onto ground and the young hobbit got up attempting to fight but was grabbed by another.

"Wait! We're innocent travelers!" Sam shouted.

"There are no travelers in this land. Only servants of the Dark Tower," a hooded man who appeared to be their leader said.

"We are bound to an errand of secrecy," Frodo got the leader's attention. "Those that claim to oppose the enemy would do well not to hinder us."

"The enemy?" the leader then examined the dead Haradrim who was not masked. "His sense of duty was no less than yours, I deem. You wonder what his name is, where he came from. And if he was really evil at heart. What lies or threats led him on this long march from home? If he would not rather have stayed there in peace. War will make corpses of us all." The leader then ordered, "Bind their hands."

The hooded men blindfolded the Frodo, Sam, Tosh, and Vorazun before tying their hands.

Author's Note

The next chapter will be on Aragorn and his group.