Disclaimer: I do not, nor will ever, own Lord of the Rings or NCIS. I wish I did, but I don't, and if wishes were horses I would have more horses than the Rohirrim.

Rating: T. There is a curse word at the end, sorry. It's not bad, but I figured I should still warn

A/N: Sorry for the really long delay! As you may have seen, some of my other stories have had really long delays as well, and my main problem is writer's block. I also get bored with a story sometimes and have to go on writing another one, and as you may have seen I have a new Wicked/ Lord of the Rings crossover. I should have learned that I shouldn't start new stories, but oh well. I hope you like this really long chapter! I hadn't updated in forever, so I figured I should give you a ton to make up for it! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: dark-angels-who-eat-cookies, M E Wofford, BizzyLizzy, maryjean2001, NoFate2608, Isis the Sphinx, MaasaiGirl, The Fabulous Mrs Cole Turner, and Casperace13! You guys are awesome!

Ok, here is where you will start to recognize the movie. If anything is slightly off, I'm sorry. I haven't seen this movie in forever. Also, for the elvish there are translations at the bottom. Oh, also, if you want to know what a grey dappled horse is, there is a link on my profile for dappled grey horse, which is the same thing. Please review!

~Lady Ryn

Ziva looked curiously from Gandalf to Elrond as she sat down, perched on the edge of her seat. Elrond sighed and sat down in his own chair behind his desk.

"Ziva, how much have you heard about the Ring of Power?" he asked, his eyes flickering to the outside window.

"Not that much. It does not seem to be a popular conversation topic. Elladin and Elrohir though have spoken about it sometimes," Ziva answered, the tension in the air causing her to shift around in the chair. Where has Arwen gone? "The main idea I've gotten from it though is that it is an evil ring that can corrupt the mind of whoever is in possession of it, and it was created by a dark lord a long time ago to try to take over Middle Earth. I heard it was lost?"

"It was," Gandalf answered, startling Ziva a bit and making her turn to face him. His piercing blue eyes bore into hers, but Ziva held firm. She hadn't been a Mossad officer for nothing. "Can we trust her Elrond?" he asked as he turned to the older elf.

"She has not shown us any reason not to," Elrond answered, then he slipped into his own tongue and continued speaking with Gandalf. Ziva hated it when they did that. Arwen did it at times too with Elrohir and Elladin when she knew they were talking about things they didn't want her to know about. She picked up a few words, like Israel and America, but that was it. Elrond finally stopped talking and both him and Gandalf turned to look at Ziva.

"Are you done?" Ziva asked.

"Elrond has informed me you come from another world?"

"That is the conclusion we have come to. I have not seen any of the lands that are present here on my mapa, and none of my lands are present on your maps, so it makes sense," Ziva answered, tapping her fingers on her knee.

"Strange. You have come in an unfortunate time Ziva. The Ring of Power has been found. Well it had been found 500 years ago, and has been under my nose for 50, but it now has awoken. It's heard its masters call."

"I thought Sauron was dead?"

"He never was dead," Elrond answered, steepling his long fingers. "When Isuldur refused to destroy the ring, he let Sauron live on. You have heard of Isuldur?"

"Aragorn's ancestor, yes? The one who cut the ring from Sauron's hand?" Ziva leaned forward in her chair, connecting eyes with Elrond. She didn't like the way this was going. It seemed she had fallen from one war to another, or at least the start of a war.

"Yes. And when he was killed in the river, the ring was lost. That is where I am finally able to pick up the story again," Gandalf answered, and Ziva turned from Elrond to the old man beside him. "500 years ago, or roughly that amount of time, the ring was found by one of the river people, and his companion killed him for it. It seems the evil of the ring began corrupting his mind early. He took the ring, and found its power: The power to disappear, and used that power to steal and cause havoc. He was thrown out of the village, and retreated into the Misty Mountains, where he remained deep underground by an underground lake, the ring with him, quiet. Until 50 years ago. It abandoned Gollum, and a hobbit quite accidentally stumbled upon it. Have you heard of Bilbo?"

Ziva nodded, "Of course. I have actually met him as well. He's living here now, sort of his retirement as he finishes his book." Ziva's eyes lit up as she remembered the ring he had spoken about. "His ring is THE Ring of Power?"

Gandalf nodded. "The very same, unfortunately for Bilbo. So you know the story?"

Ziva nodded. "Bilbo has told it to me. A fascinating story."

"Well, it seems hobbits are made of stronger stuff than I thought, for Bilbo held out against its evil for nigh 50 years. I only got my suspicions when his reluctance to give up the ring turned violent and he started saying similar things to what Gollum used to refer to the ring. I went to Gondor to do some research, then returned to the Shire to prove my suspicions, and sent Frodo on what I hope is not to his death, and rode swiftly to Saruman to let him know about the ring." Gandalf put his hands on his knees and stood, making his way to the window to look out. "But Saruman has betrayed us, and locked me up, after letting me know the nine are heading this way."

"The nine? Nine what?" Ziva asked, looking between Gandalf and Elrond.

"The nine ringwraiths," Elrond responded. "They used to be kings of men, but after Sauron gave them rings of power and then created the one ring to rule over them, they fell into shadow and are under his will know."

"Are they dangerous?"

"Extremely," Gandalf answered, turning around to face Ziva.

"Arwen just went out to try to rescue Frodo and Sam before the nine reach them," Elrond continued, twisting the ring on his hand around his finger.

Ziva shot up from the chair. "I need to help her."

"Ziva, no!" Elrond said, shooting up himself from his chair. "You will stay here until she returns."

"But I want to help!"

"Ziva! She's a trained warrior. As much as I don't like it she can take care of herself."

"And I am a trained killer! I can keep her safe!" Ziva responded, heading towards the door.

"Arwen has told me of your abilities, astalder(1), but we don't need an assassin out there." Ziva stopped with her hand on the door at the word assassin. "We need someone who can outride them and outfight them if it comes to it."

"Outfight?! Elrond I have almost beat…"

"Hin dina(2)! This is not your fight and you are going to listen to me and stay in Rivendell. You are not to leave this valley and I do not want to hear that you've been in the stables. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Ziva snarled, throwing open the door and storming out.

"What?" Gandalf asked, watching her flee away from the building out the window.

Elrond sighed. "She has odd sayings sometimes that we don't quite understand."

"And a temper apparently."

"Yes, that too. My children encourage her."

The next morning dawned bright and early and Ziva was by the apartments, pacing back and forth. She had so much energy from sitting around for so long that she was ready to burst. Sparring was good and all, but she needed the adrenaline rush she got when faced with an enemy. She had spent the whole day before with her bow and some arrows at the shooting range, shooting arrow after arrow into the target. She was getting better, and the anger in her actually helped channel her abilities into hitting the target every time. She then coerced one of the elves in the sparring area to spar with her, but he had enough once she beat him a couple of times.

As Ziva fumed, she heard the slow tapping of a cane behind her, and stopped her pacing to watch Bilbo approach.

"Hello, Bilbo," she greeted, forcing a smile on her face as the old hobbit hobbled over to her.

"Good day, Ziva. What's got you so worked up?" His slow gravelly voice calmed Ziva down as she sighed and took a seat on the bench behind her, Bilbo sitting beside her. She debated whether or not she should tell Bilbo about his nephew.

"A scout brought some news about a problem beyond the Bruinen that Arwen went out to help control, and Elrond will not let me go help her." Her richly accented voice contrasted against Bilbo's scratchy one as she looked down at him.

"And when has that ever stopped you before? Elrond told you you were not allowed to spar with Arwen until your wounds healed up, but you did it anyway."

"But I have no horse," Ziva said, drumming her fingers on the bench.

"What about Sarnie(3)?"

Ziva shot up, her eyes going wide. "You are right! Sarnie would still be here because Arwen would have taken Asfaloth!" Sarnie was Arwen's other horse that she rode while Ziva rode Asfaloth. She was a mare so she usually wasn't used in battle, but she was just as good as Asfaloth. "Thank you Bilbo!" Ziva hugged the aging hobbit and then ran off towards the stable.

Bilbo chuckled as he heaved himself up off the bench and headed back towards his room.

Ziva went skidding into the barn and grabbed Sarnie's saddle and bridle out of the tack room and set it on the tie rail outside the barn, then grabbed the sword she usually used from the armory next to it.

"Sarnie!" she called as she ran to the pasture, untying the gate when she reached it. A lightly grey dappled horse came galloping at her, her ears pricked forward as her hooves drummed a staccato. She came to a screeching halt in front of Ziva and blew into her face. "Come on," Ziva said, grabbing her mane. "We have to be quick." She brought Sarnie out of the pasture and let go, turning around to tie up the gate, and then grabbed hold of her again to lead her to the tie rail. Once there she did a quick brush over to get any irritating dirt or debris from off her back, then threw the saddle pad and saddle over her back, quickly tightening the girth, then grabbed the bridle and put it over her head. As gracefully as she could, she put her foot in the stirrup and swung her leg over Sarnie's back, settling into the saddle. She turned her towards the path that led out of the valley and leaned forward a bit. "Noro lim(4), Sarnie!" The horse bunched her muscles together and took off towards the path, Ziva having to grab onto her mane to keep her from being thrown back into the saddle. It took a couple of strides for Ziva to notice the elven-guards set at the path who turned at her quick approach.

"Oh no, not this time Ziva," they yelled, blocking her path. Ziva looked to both sides and saw the short hedge that bordered the path, the ground on the other side the same height and even as the ground in front. Ziva turned Sarnie towards the hedge, shoved her heels down and grabbed mane as she felt the mare drop her hind end under her and push off, easily clearing the hedge. The smooth motion barely jarred Ziva as she easily rode the horse in the arc, and braced herself for the impact on the other side. Once all hooves were on the ground, she sent her off again up the path.

"Ziva!" the guards yelled, trying to run after the mare, but Ziva was already gone.

As Sarnie pushed up the path, Ziva held on, and as they cleared the lip of the valley, Ziva sat up, looking around. Luckily Sarnie knew this land well, and as Ziva guided her towards the ford, she immediately swerved and avoided the valleys that opened up beneath them. As Ziva rode, she began to worry about what would happen when Elrond found out she disobeyed him, but pushed that out of her mind. The most important thing was getting to Arwen now, especially since she was a day behind.

The only break Ziva got in the monotonous sound of Sarnie's hooves on the ground was the weaving back and forth and she followed the path, avoiding valleys and gulleys that Ziva knew could kill a person and a horse if they went over the edge. As the sun sunk about an hour lower in the sky, she finally heard the sound of running water, and as they come up and over a hill, the ford opened up beneath them.

"Whoa, easy," Ziva murmured, pulling Sarnie back to a walk as they made their way down the sleep slope to the river. She let her trot across the river, the splashing of the water feeling good on Ziva's skin. As they got to the other side, Ziva let Sarnie walk, then halt. She dismounted and studied the ground, trying to find Asfaloth's tracks, finally finding them. Elven-horses were hard to track, but she hadn't been trained by Mosad for nothing. She mounted back up and followed the track at a canter, letting Sarnie catch her breath a bit before they galloped after Arwen again. The path weaved back and forth and over a few fallen logs and large obstacles that Ziva opted to go around and not over, still not quite confident to go over large obstacles yet, even though she and Sarnie had cleared that hedge back in Rivendell. The ground sloped up away from the river, and by nightfall she had topped a rise and before her opened flat, open ground. She knew she would lose Asfaloth's track by night, so she stopped Sarnie and dismounted, pulling off her saddle and bridle and letting her loose to rest. The mare cooled herself off before dropping her nose down to munch on grass as Ziva sat down by one of the last trees and leaned her back up against it. She closed her eyes, deciding just to rest them for a minute.

Ziva was awakened by the sunlight streaming through the leaves above her and striking her in the eye. She blinked confusedly and looked around, finally remembering her chase the day before. She looked around and spotted Sarnie nearby, watching her. She stood up and Sarnie walked over as she replaced the saddle back on her back and the bridle over her head, mounting up. She looked around again, finally finding Asfaloth's tracks and slowly let Sarnie warm up at a walk before letting her canter on.

By midday, she had entered another forest and was still able to follow the track, but lost it at a place covered in a few sets of horse hooves as night began to fall. Sarnie halted quickly and threw up her head, rolling her eyes as her nostrils flared. "Easy, girl, easy," Ziva said, sitting up straight as Sarnie did a small rear, flicking her tail as a screech tore through the silent forest. Ziva turned Sarnie in circles, trying to find the source of the noise, and set off in the same direction she had been traveling before when the sound didn't return, Sarnie dancing around and not listening at all. Suddenly, she heard a yell off to her side and quickly turned Sarnie in that direction, letting her gallop forward. The sound seemed to have traveled a good distance, but as she burst through a group of trees, she spotted a small group on foot in front of her and sat up and pulled Sarnie to a halt. The tall dark man in front whipped around, pulling out his sword as the sound of pounding hooves reached his ears, and Ziva got a good luck at his face.

"Strider!" she said, relief showing through her voice as she used his ranger name.

"Ziva? What…"

"No time to explain." She then noticed the hobbits around Aragorn. "Frodo?" she asked, looking to the dark haired one who was in front of her.

"No," Aragorn answered, walking towards her. "He was stabbed, so Arwen just took him and galloped off towards the ford. But…"

Ziva didn't wait for him as he reached out to grab her bridle, but turned Sarnie and galloped out of the forest in the direction of the ford, Sarnie finally listening. Frodo stabbed. That cannot be good, she thought. As she galloped through the trees, much faster than she had entered, she put the reins in one hand and reached for her knife at her waist, checking where it was just in case she needed it. As Sarnie continued to gallop, Ziva took the reins in both hands again as they broke through the trees and to the open plain she had galloped across before, and in front of her she finally got her first sight of Arwen and Asfaloth. She leaned down over Sarnie's neck, encouraging her to go faster, and felt her find another gear. She lost sight of her as she entered the forest, but they entered not too long after. A few minutes into the forest, she caught sight of Arwen again, but what was behind her chilled her to the bone. Nine pitch-black horses, each with riders cloaked in pitch-black garments had fanned out behind the elf and were drawing closer. She could see Asfaloth was tiring a bit after two days of what she was sure Arwen had had him galloping, trying to find Frodo. Luckily, Sarnie found yet another gear as she spotted her herd mate and lengthened her stride. Then, Ziva saw one of the riders draw up beside Asfaloth and reach his hand towards the little hobbit she could now see was in front of Arwen. She had to do something.

Again, she put the reins in one hand again and unsheathed her knife, taking quick aim then throwing it at the rider reaching towards Frodo, praying it would hit its target. She was rewarded with that unearthly scream she had heard earlier as the knife buried itself in its back, making him retract his hand. She saw Arwen lean farther down on Asfaloth's neck as he then found some more energy left and galloped faster. Now, however, the riders knew of Ziva's presence. Four of them turned, looking at her with their faceless heads and then checked their horses to fall on either side of Ziva, now just behind the last other five riders. That was when she realized they were herding her to a large fallen log that crossed the path, the one that Arwen was just clearing on Asfaloth. That log was bigger than she thought she could ever jump, but realizing there was no turning back, she grabbed mane again, shoving down her heels, and looked up and over the log. She felt Sarnie leap up and forward and Ziva barely kept herself on as she was thrown back, her grip on the mane the only thing keeping her on. She leaned back as they cleared the log as Sarnie started her descent down, and caught herself on the smooth impact as Sarnie then galloped forward again. The other riders had gone around the log so Ziva now had a straight shot to Arwen and slowly rode up beside her. Arwen looked over, saw Ziva, gave her a strained smile and kept on riding. After what seemed like an eternity with the black riders all around them, they broke through the trees and Ziva and Arwen both pulled both horses up as they cantered across the river and stopped at the other side. Both of them pulled out their swords as the riders stopped on the other side of the river.

"Give up the Halfling, she-self," one of them said, his voice like nails on a chalkboard and Ziva shivered.

"If you want him," Arwen's clear voice rang out across the river, "come and claim him."

As one, all the riders pulled out their swords and headed towards the river. As their horses' hooves entered the water, the horses' eyes rolling, she heard Arwen start to chant beside her.

"Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer; rimmo nín Bruinen dan in Ulaer(5)."

At Ulaer, she heard a rushing sound and looked upriver to see a huge wall of water shaped like horses coming towards them. The riders also noticed it, but too far into the water they tried to turn around, but the wall of water hit them, pushing all underwater.

Ziva released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and heard Arwen do the same beside her. She then heard sounds of gasping, and turned towards Arwen as she swung off Asfaloth and lowered Frodo to the ground. "Frodo? Frodo no! Frodo, don't give in! Not now!" Arwen's eyes closed as she hugged him to her chest. As Ziva went to get off, Arwen's eyes flew open and she looked up at Ziva. "You can save him Ziva. Here, take him," she said, slinging him up in front of Ziva on Sarnie's shoulders. "Asfaloth can't go much farther and you need to get there and get him to my father as fast as you can. Go!"

Ziva spun Sarnie around and threw the reins at her, letting her gallop forward and up the bank, rocks flying out from beneath her hooves. Now going home and with all control on her, Sarnie almost flew across the landscape. Ziva had never gone so fast before, and just opted to hang on, keeping Frodo close to her chest. In record time, she recognized the ground and pulled back on the reins, trying to slow Sarnie down before they reached the valley opening, finally succeeding as they then trotted down the steep slope to Rivendell, Ziva leaning really far back and pulling Frodo with her. They finally leveled out, and as Ziva got a hold of Sarnie and slowed her to a walk, she looked up and noticed a couple of elves running towards her across the bridge, and they stopped beside her.

"He needs to go to Elrond, now!" she ordered, lifting Frodo up in front of her as one of the elves grabbed him and pulled him fully off Sarnie, cradling him as she ran across the bridge again and towards Elrond's office. Ziva looked up and noticed Elrond in the window, watching her. The look on his face, though relieved, was livid.

"Shit."

Translations:

1: Valiant one

2: Child quiet!

3: Pebble

4: run swift

5: Waters of the Hithaeglir, hear the word of power, rush, waters of Bruinen, against the Ringwraiths