"At least we have a lot of supplies with us." I looked at all of our packs. "It may be a pain to carry it all, but it will be useful." I threw my own bag over my shoulder. "Push the boat into the river, will you Sam?"

"Are you sure?" Sam asked.

"Well, if you're set on carrying it to Mordor…" I replied, smirking a little.

Sam replied that he had no such intention and shoved the boat we no longer needed back into the river.

"Where do we go now?" Sam asked.

"Up." I nodded to a rocky path leading to higher altitudes. "First we catch our bearings, and from there we decide our path." I looked over at Frodo. "Would you care to lead, Frodo? We are just headed uphill."

"Yes." Frodo nodded, and headed in front of me. "We should be able to see Mordor from up there." He said.

"What do you think Mordor will be like?" Sam asked.

"I don't expect it to be very pleasant." Frodo said.

"It will be challenging." I said. "Enemies, heinous terrain, there might even be a dragon or two."

"Dragons?" Frodo and Sam asked, Frodo a bit curious and Sam in a bit of panic.

"Alright, probably no dragons." I admitted. "But enemies and heinous terrain surely. The stuff of adventure."

"Do you think we will make it to Mordor?" Frodo asked. "Fali?"

"Making it there will be difficult but doable…" I said. "It's the journey through it that will be more pressing…" I shook my head. "Let's not worry ourselves just yet. If we worry now, we won't be able to go on. It's best we just focus on putting on foot in front of the other, just as Bilbo always said in his tales."

After an hour of uphill walking, we reached a plateau. On one side of the hill was the river we had traveled on an a stretching forest. On the other was more forest and plains and at the end of the horizon was a haze that covered what lay beyond in a shadow.

"Good, we can at least see where we are going." I said. I started to rummage through my supplies. "There must be a map in one of our bags…"

"Mordor." Frodo said, staring at the shadowy landscape at the edge of the world. "I hope the others find a safer route."

I thought of Gideon briefly. Perhaps he was on his way home already. My hand wandered to my silver pendent. I held onto the image of the dear, and thought of Gideon with a similar decoration round his own neck in the shape of an otter. Yes, he would find his way now.

"Strider will look after them." Sam assured the two of us.

"Yes." I said, softly. "Aragorn will look after them. He'll lead them home."

"I don't suppose we'll ever see them again." Frodo said, with a small sigh of regret.

"We may yet, Mister Frodo, we may."

"We will." I said, determinedly.

"Of course, you're going to see Mister Gideon again." Sam said.

"Not just him, Gimli, Aragorn, Legolas, Boromir…we'll see all of them again. When this is all finished."

"Sam, Fali." We turned to Frodo, who was speaking. "I'm glad both of you are with me."

"I'm glad you have not pushed us away in a time of need." I pulled a small map from the corner of my bag. "Aha!" I exclaimed. I opened the parchment. "Hopefully this will be able to show us the way." I passed the map to Frodo. "Lead the way, Ring-bearer."

Frodo took the map in his hands and headed down the hill. Sam sighed, glancing at Mordor again. "One foot in front of the other Sam." I gave him a gentle pat on the back.

"Right, Miss Fali." He nodded, and followed Frodo.

"I'll have to get used to being called that, I suppose." I shrugged, and took up behind them both, where I could keep an eye on my dear hobbit friends.

And so it began…

I, for my own part, was comfortable (or at least as comfortable as I could be). There were no signs of orcs or other foul things yet, which was encouraging. We were in the middle of a rocky and rather sparse landscape, which seemed remote and troubling to the hobbits probably, given the beauty of the Shire they had seen all their lives, but I found it familiar. The little ledges, cliffs, plateaus and hills of shale pieces reminded me of my mountain home, and the paths leading to it's greater heights.

I was fondly reminded of afternoons with a blue sky overhead, and climbing around the rocks and ridges, frolicking along the little trails with glee. The mountain had been my play-ground. I took the lead beside Frodo, easily clambering over the boulders, and giving him and Sam a hand along the way. Hobbit's were not the best of climbers, at least when rocks and cliffs were involved.

I kept a good eye on both Frodo and Sam. It was what Aragorn, Boromir, and everyone else would have wanted me to do. Sam tried to be optimistic, and did whatever he was told. Bless his heart for his efforts. Frodo was having a respite after leaving the Fellowship. Out here, with no one around but Sam and I, he seemed to be more at ease. His appetite was still less, but he remembered to eat. He did not look as nervous as before, and his hands did not flinch up to the buttons of his shirt where the Ring lay any more. During the day he was able to walk on, talk with Sam and I, and smile when we were encouraging or humorous. It looked like leaving the Fellowship had actually done him good, and had been the right thing for us to do.

Of course, the night always came, and revealed that not everything had been solved yet. Frodo's sleep remained fitful. He often shuddered, and his eyelids shook, as he glanced back and forth in his sleep.

I knew he was having nightmares, though he did not speak of them. What they were of was a mystery to me, but I knew they could certainly be nothing good.

When Frodo was asleep I would sit beside him as I watched over our little camp. When he shivered violently, facing the terrors of his mind, I placed a hand on his shoulder, gently, hoping not to wake him. It took him long enough to fall asleep, and he needed all the rest he could get.

The map was not entirely useful. Though it did show the area we were in it was not detailed enough to know exactly where we were, and we found ourselves going up and down, glancing around ourselves when we were up high, and trying to figure where we should go next.

We were on one such cliff when I discerned that our best path lay directly ahead of us.

"But there is no path ahead of us, Miss Fali." Sam dared to look down from the edge. Mist had rolled into the rocky hills, and now you could not see the bottom of the drop.

"We'll simply have to climb down." I said.

"Climb down?" Sam looked back at me.

"Yes." I replied. "Don't worry Sam, we have the rope that Lady Galadriel gave to you. That will be more than strong enough."

"Is it safe?" Frodo asked. "We do not know how high this cliff is."

"It's can't be too awful, given how far we've climbed to get up here."

"So if one of us was to…let go of the rope…by accident…" Sam delicately brought up.

I shook my head. "That would not be a very good idea, Sam."

Sam appeared uneasy. Frodo stared at the mist floating at the bottom. "It will take too long if we keep go back and around." He judged. "And it will only give us more chance to lose our bearings Sam…"

"I suppose you're right, Mister Frodo." Sam agreed.

Sam tied the rope round a solid stone, and flung the other end over the cliff. Frodo bravely went first, and I placed Sam in between us along the rope, for fear he wouldn't have the courage to go after me. I took up the rear, giving on last, firm tug on the rope just to assure myself it was sturdy.

I placed my feet against the wall of rock in front of us and began to slowly descend.

"Not so fast, Miss Fali." Sam urged me to slow my pace. I glanced below me and saw he was just underneath me.

"It's alright Sam, just hold on tight and use your legs." I told him. "Go. Go on." I waved my hand at him. He lowered himself another degree. "Good work." I said. I was too comfortable in the rocks it seemed. I would have to slow myself to their pace, or else I would drive them off the rope.

"Can you see the bottom?" Sam asked Frodo, farther below us.

"No. Don't look down Sam. Just keep going." Frodo called back up to us.

"Look Sam, we must be halfway down already." I encouraged. "Just a bit farther." I lowered myself again.

"Look out, please, Miss Fali!" Sam interrupted my progress again, this time my closeness causing him to lose his footing briefly. He stumbled a bit, and hurried to correct himself. "Oh! Catch it! Grab it Mister Frodo!" His calls changed.

I looked down to see some small box fall from Sam's pocket. Frodo reached out and caught the item. Then he too lost his footing, attempted to stabilize himself—and disappeared into the mist with a short yell of surprise.

"Frodo!" I shouted, my voice bouncing back against the stones.

"I think I have found the bottom." His voice came back, not sounding in pain or anything ill.

"Move along, Sam." I urged the second hobbit, a little less patiently this time.

Sam stepped onto solid ground again, muttering "Bogs and rope and goodness knows what. It's not natural, none of it."

I jumped onto the low ground again was saw Frodo standing there, thankfully unharmed. "You're not hurt?" I asked.

"No, not at all." Frodo shook his head.

"You're sure?" I asked again.

"The drop was hardly anything." He shrugged.

"Well, thank Mahal it was." I almost snapped at him. "I thought you were gone when you disappeared." I stared at the box. "And for what did you risk your life?"

"I don't know." He examined the box. "Sam, what is this?"

Sam looked sheepish for endangering our friend over the small thing. "Nothing, just a bit of seasoning. I thought maybe if we was having a roast chicken one night or somethin'."

"Roast chicken?"

"You did all this for a bit of sage and rosemary?!" I chided him.

"You never know." Sam replied.

I groaned. "Hobbits." I sighed. "I should have guessed."

"Sam, my dear Sam." Frodo found the whole idea more amusing than I did.

"It's very special, that. It's the best salt in all the Shire."

"Salt…" I sighed heavily to myself again. All that for something as plain as salt? Given salt was bit of a luxury now, but still…

"It is special. It's a little bit of home." Frodo agreed with Sam.

In a way, he was right. Poor Sam, he had been pulled into this quest just as much as Gideon had. I couldn't hold it against him too badly.

"We can't leave this for someone to follow us down." Frodo looked to the rope.

"Who's going to follow us down here, Mister Frodo? It's a shame really. Lady Galadriel gave me that. Real elvish rope." He sighed. "Well, there's nothing for it. It's one of my knots. Won't come free in a hurry." He tugged sharply on the rope, and the whole length cam falling down.

"Real elvish rope?" Frodo grinned, humored.

"Let's just be glad that didn't happen while any of us where still hanging onto it." I shook my head. "We need to be more careful." I took out the map again, and found the route I had been hoping for blocked by yet more boulders. "Lovely." I said to myself, with sarcasm. I glanced at the cliff we had just climbed down. There was no going back up it now. "Come on, let's go this way." I began to lead the way through the only clear path we had.

After wandering about until we managed to get higher up again, we saw Mordor again in the distance. "Mordor. The one place in Middle-Earth we don't want to see any closer. It's the one place we are trying to get to and it's just where we can't get." Sam said. "Let's face it Mister Frodo. We're lost. I don't think Gandalf meant for us to come this way." He looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry to say so, but the map's been of little use, Miss Fali."

"He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen Sam. But they did." Frodo sadly agreed.

A great, unexpected jolt came over Frodo then, knocking him to the ground and taking away his breath. For a moment I thought he had collapsed and lost consciousness, but when I knelt down to his side he was already lifting himself back up. He looked awake, but shaken. "Frodo, what happened to you?" I asked. I had not expected that simply mentioning Gandalf would have that profound an effect on him. The bodily reaction was almost unnatural.

"It's the Ring, isn't it?" Sam asked.

"it's getting heavier." Frodo replied, quiet. His eyes were still wide with shock over what had happened to him.

"Sit down and catch your breath." I said, gently. Frodo sat himself down on a larger rock, and his hand clutched at the Ring through his shirt. I slapped lightly at his hand. "Stop that." I said, firmly. "It won't help you any." Sam passed him some water, which he drank, and nodded a little to agree with me.

"What happened?" I asked again, once his thirst had been quenched.

"Nothing." He replied, shortly.

"You're lying. You wouldn't have just fallen down like that on your own." I stared at the Ring, which seemed to stare right back again. "You say it's getting heavier…" I tried to get him to speak. "Do you hear it speaking to you sometimes?" I asked. "Maybe in your nightmares?"

"Fali…"

"I know you've been having them." I replied. "There's no use in ignoring it."

"I saw him." Frodo spoke quietly, obviously trying to make sure Sam did not overhear.

"Who?"

"The Dark Lord." He answered. "It has not been the first time."

"You have seen him before?"

"When I wore the Ring." Frodo admitted with a heavy heart.

A wave of different emotions came over me, the most powerful being my temper, which was directed more at the Ring than it was at Frodo. For the hobbit I felt a strong sympathy. I set my face straight to not seem angry as I said "The Ring is just trying to frighten you. It's want to be found but not destroyed. It alive in its own way…and it only wants to manipulate you. Pay no attention to it." I narrowed my eyes at the gold object in question.

I'll be glad to see you dissolve back into nothing when you're back in the fires of Mount Doom, I thought to myself, some small part of me hoping that the Ring was somehow aware of that threat.

"What food have we got left?" Frodo asked Sam then. Over the few days we had gone through the last bit of meat I had preserved in my bag. Now that the issue was brought up I found myself worried. This was not the most suitable of areas for hunting.

"Let's see." Sam hummed, opening his bag. "Oh, lovely." He held upa leaf wrapped wafer. "Lembas bread. And look…" He tone turned almost jokingly sarcastic. "…more lembas bread." He revealed a few more wafers inside the bag.

I smirked at him. "That's perfect." I replied. "Trust me Sam, those few wafers will be worth a thousand roast chickens and your wonderful box of salt." I looked around me. "Hunting won't be very good for some time, I expect. Too many rocks, not enough grass, smelly bog not far away. It'll be a stroke of luck if we find anything with a decent amount of meat on its bones in this labyrinth."

With that, Sam tore off three portions of lembas bread and we all slowly ate our meal. It still surprised me how something so small could fill my entire stomach. "I don't usually hold to foreign food, but this elvish stuff, it's not bad." Sam judged the provisions we had.

"Nothing ever dampens you spirits, does it Sam?" Frodo asked.

There was a low rumble of thunder. "Those rain clouds might." Sam sighed.

I knew it would not do well to have two drenched hobbits again, especially with spirits being as unsteady as they were at the moment. "It's evening anyhow so we may as well seek some cover." I said, optimism returning. A brief search revealed there were no caves, per say, but rather nooks and crannies in the rock that offered some cover from a shower of rain. The rain that evening was surprisingly dense. The hobbits and I were cramped together in our little sheltered place, trying to see through the rain.

"Can you make anything out?" Frodo asked me.

I squinted more, but saw nothing but rivlets of water streaming over stones. "No, I don't believe so…" I scanned the area.

Movement.

I saw some animal move out there in the pouring rain, quick and low to the ground. "Did you catch that?" I pointed in the direction of the creature. "I think it might have been an animal of some kind."

"I thought you said there was no game here."

"It's unlikely, but it's possible." I squinted more. I grabbed my sword from my belt. "Whatever it is, it's smaller than me…I'll go and see if I can hunt it down."

"Out in the rain?" Sam asked. "Are you sure Miss Fali?"

"A little rain would be worth the meat." I smiled. "You may have your roast chicken yet Samwise." I pulled on cloak and hood and was gone, climbing up the rocks where I had seen something moving.

The rock was slippery now, and I advanced slowly. The rain could not keep the growing stench of a nearby bog away, even now as it grew a little heavier still. I knelt low to the ground, and proceeded to examine every crack and furrow in the rocks where an animal may hide. Most surprisingly, whatever it was did no longer here, and did not care to shield itself from the rain.

I was confused, for the nearest way to escape me was up a rather steep hill of loose rubble. I could not think of an animal that would be able to escape up it in such a hurry. There was brief flash of lightning and rumble of thunder. I kept looking, but found nothing. Had I seen something at all? Or had I simply imagined it?

I looked through the dim night up the hill before me. Lightning flashed and for a second I saw something.

Something covered in mud, and with a sickly body. I did not see it for more than a second, in that flash of lightning, but what my eyes did catch were a pair of eyes looking back at me. The light had caught them most grotesquely, and they had only appeared to be two glowing white orbs within a dark skull.

My breath caught in my throat, a silent scream, as I took a hurried step back. Thunder rumbled again, and there was a second flash of lightning, but whatever had been sitting at the top of the hill was gone now.

I blinked, many times. What was that? Was it real? Was my mind beginning to tricks on me?

Paranoia took over my mind and I discarded my hunt, seeing as I could not find anything. I returned to Frodo and Sam, shrugging my shoulders.

But I could not shrug off the feeling that something was watching me now.