Hello! So. A few questions.

1. There are six years until the Fellowship at this time, have any ideas as to how to pass that time? Let me know. I'm open to absolutely anything.

2. Who's your favorite character, now?

3. What's your favorite chapter?

Yeah. I had more questions, but I forgot them like, five seconds ago. Anyways, let me know your opinions! What would you like to see happen, yaddayadda? I want your input. :)

Another short chapter, I've got to get through some things before I get to some more important moments in the story! :)

I don't own Lord of the Rings.

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(Sophie)

All was quiet. Everyone was asleep, asides from Strider, who was keeping watch. Such a cool guy; he likes to sing.

Anyways, I was on a mission; an INTENSE mission. I was going to find Collin's journal and read it.

You might be thinking, 'that's not intense at all!'

Oh, but you don't know Collin. He's like a feaking ninja; there's no getting past him, only a fool would even try.

Well, I was a fool.

Quietly, I sat up from my little bed in the back of the wagon. Collin had decided to sleep on the ground the past couple days, in order to give Kristy and I some more room. Well, that also means that all of his stuff is on the ground with him; my mission is going to be a bit harder.

Carefully, I crawled out of the wagon, making sure to make the least amount of noise possible. Strider heard me, though, and turned his head to give me a curious look. I placed one finger on my lips, signaling for him to keep quiet. He gave me one last odd look before turning back to the fire, making sure to glance back at me every now and then out of pure curiosity.

I moved slowly towards the heap on the ground that was Collin. He was rolled tightly in his blanket, sleeping quietly. His bag was laid out next to him, and I quietly made my way towards it in the darkness. I creeped towards his sleeping form until I finally made it to his bag. Strider eyed me suspiciously, so I gave him a small smile and a thumbs up.

Another moment later, and I had the bag open; his journal sat on top. Perfect. As I pulled the journal out and brought it back to me I sighed in relief. I'd done it.

But something was wrong. Collin didn't seem alive; his body was motionless underneath the blanket, and I couldn't hear his steady breathing. Was he dead?

You might call me crazy, but we've already established the fact that I'm a fool. Collin could be dead, what else could I do? I gently nudged his shoulder, just enough to get some reaction out of him without waking him up. His shoulder was hard. Hard, as in, not alive; no flesh; no blood; no warmth. Panicked, I ripped the blanket away, exposing Collin's camera and some extra blankets piled up to look like a body.

Crap.

"Aha!" Collin jumped out of some nearby bushes and tackled me to the ground.

He pinned me down with his legs and easily pulled the journal from my grasp (he's very strong; he still practices sword fighting, and he's even been practicing with Strider). Speaking of Strider, he was now clutching his ribs, shaking with laughter.

"I can't believe you!" Collin gave me a very disappointed look and I suddenly felt rather sad. "You could have gotten away with it, if you would have just taken the journal!"

My eyes were wide, and I was struggling to break Collin's hold on me. "You could have been dead!"

"Who cares? A good thief never stops for anything! You take what you came for, and go!" He rolled off of me and shoved his journal back into his bag. "Honestly, do you have any ninja skills at all?"

Wow, I can't believe that he wasn't really mad. He's just upset that I wasn't ninja enough?

"Have you been waiting for me this whole time?" I found it hard to believe that it was simple a coincidence that Collin just so happened to be in the bushes, and his blankets and camera just so happened to look like a body. I turned to Strider. "Did you know that he was waiting for me?"

The ranger raised his hands in defence. "I had nothing to do with it."

I chucked a twig at him. "You bunghole! And to think, you were changing my opinion beards..."

Collin snuggled back into his blankets, a smug grin on his face. "I know you too well, Sophers. It was clear that you were plotting something all day, today. Anyways, Strider's my home-dog. Ain't that right, Strider?"

Strider seemed unsure. "Home-dog? Are you suggesting that I am a house pet?"

"Ha!" I struggled to contain my laughter. The way that man said 'home-dog' made him sound like a total white-boy.

Collin giggled, too. "No, Strider! Home-dogs are friends, not reall dogs!"

"Oh..." Strider gave us a small smile. "Then you are all my home-dogs!"

Ohh boy...

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Our days of travel were at an end as we drew closer to Rivendell. I'm not sure how I felt about it. From the descriptions that Strider gave us, I'd say that elves were far more intense than I had previously guessed. In his words, they are 'perfect, beautiful immortals.' Mmhmm. And why, exactly, would I want to hang out with people that make me feel self-concious? I don't.

Collin was pumped, because he wants to be trained by people that have had thousands of years of training. Kristy was sinking into her shell, her shy tendancies coming out. It's not like she's this complete wimp who can't talk to anyone. She only gets a tad nervous every time she enters a new place; like whenever you switch schools, or go on a cruise without a friend.

"Don't worry, Kris." I gave her hand a squeeze. "It'll all be alright. Collin will make us some new friends in no time."

She smiled. "Naturally."

"It's just around this bend..." Strider spoke from his spot next to the wagon. We were on a small path surrounded by beautiful plant-life, and I already knew that Rivendell was going to be a beautiful place.

Beautiful didn't do it justice.

As we turned a corner, the trees thinned, and we came into a large opening. A big waterfall was off in the distance, right next to what could only be Rivendell. The only way to get there was from this path, and the steam rising from the mouth of the waterfall gave the place this mystical feel. I was at a loss for words. Kristy's eyes were wide with wonder, and Collin's jaw was dropped. Yeah, you know something's amazing when even Collin is caught off guard. Despite all of the descriptions and stories that Gandalf and Strider had told us on our way here, nothing could possibly prepare us for the beauty of this place. Elves sure do know how to live.

Like I said, there was only one way to get to Rivendell, and that was the small little path that we were on, now. It took a while to finally reach the gates, but we didn't mind. Even Strider and Gandalf had fond expressions on their faces; obviously, something as amazing as this doesn't get old.

A voice cut out into the silence, speaking some mumbo jumbo that sounded like nonsense, to me.

But Gandalf and Strider knew exactly how to speak jumbo, so they replied with some more nonsense, and the gates opened to us.

The architecture was absolutely breathtaking. Such detail and precise work had to take lifetimes; I guess it's a good thing that elves live forever, huh? And I thought Minas Tirith was impressive...

Gandalf parked us in the stables by the gates, and we all grabbed our things from the wagon.

"When can we see the elves?" Collin asked impatiently. He liked meeting new people, and he's yet to make an immortal friend.

Gandalf smiled at Collin, for once. "Soon, Collin. Very soon."

Strider led the way out of the stables, and we came into contact with our first elf.

"Elladan!" Strider happily embraced the super-hunky man in front of us. "It has been a long time, my friend. Where is Lord Elrond?"

Ohhh... Lord... Even more intimidating...

Elladan had long, dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a perfect complexion. It was like two male models mated to create the perfect man.

"Father's in his study, where else?" The pretty elf shrugged. His eyes now turned to me and my mortal friends. "Who are your friends?" He gave us a friendly smile.

"They are my charges..." Gandalf cut in.

I winced. "Ouch, Gandalf..."

Collin looked shocked. "Are we really that bad? We're your 'charges,' but not your friends? Bad form, Gandalf... Very bad form."

The old wizard did his odd form of an eye roll (it was weird, he eye-rolled, but somehow made it look classy?). Elladan laughed.

"I like them" He declared, wearing a brighter smile.

Strider nodded. "They're very agreeable. We are home-dogs."

Kristy choked on air, I clamped a hand over my mouth, and Collin revealed a proud smile.

Gandalf, on the other hand, was in a bit of a hurry. "Yes, yes. We are all home-dogs. Now, if you will excuse us, we must speak to your father."

He practically dragged us to a large, beautiful building.

"Bye Elladan!" Collin and I called back to the elf, who waved cheerfuly to us.

I turned to my friends, an excited smile attacking my face. "Rivendell's gonna kick ass, dude..."

.

Hey, you guys. I've learned something today...

There are balding elves.

Well, okay, he's not really balding, he's just got a really big forehead...

Maybe he's balding... I dunno. His head is kind of dominated by these crazy eyebrows...

Man, I'm terrible! Elrond's a nice guy! I don't need to be criticizing his eyebrows! He's pretty nice. After Gandalf explained to him our situation, he was more than happy to help us out while Gandalf's gone. Evidently, he raised Strider, and they call him Estel, here. I always thought that Estel was a girl's name, but hey, whatever, right?

We met Arwen, Elrond's daughter and Estel's lady. Oh yeah, you can bet that we tease him relentlessly about that! She's gorgeous, and I can already tell that Kristy's gonna be good friends with her; they're both gentle souls. Don't get me wrong, I know that I'm gonna become good friends with her, too. It's just that Kristy and Arwen are a lot more alike. I know that I'm going to love it, here.

(James)

Miss me?

Yeah, I've been busy. Owning a big house and training to be a soldier is kind of difficult, especially when Legolas is your slave driver.

Okay, so I'm exaggerating. So what? I've been bitten by a giant spider, I'm allowed to exaggerate. Okay, sad excuse. Still, I plan to get all of the sympathy I can get. Even if it has absolutely nothing to do with anything, there's always something sad about a guy getting eaten by a giant spider...

Not really.

So, what have I been up to?

Well. I've been getting my butt kicked every day, from dusk til dawn. Ainion and Legolas are terrible. They're like big bullies. Big, pointy-eared, male model, alien bullies.

No wonder they're bullies... That's a lot to deal with.

Well, on another note, I love Maerwen. Yepp. I am in love. Of course, I've expressed my love for Maerwen a million times, and I'm sure you're tired of hearing it. But, it's true. I'm going to marry her, too.

No, we're not engaged. I haven't even asked her, yet. Still, that doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it. It's only been eight months since I've met her, I should at least give it another... Two months?

Hey, I'm no expert on the etiquette of love. All I know is, there's a fire burning in my heart, and I can't stop thinking about her. I won't live forever, and she will. I want to have her for as long as possible.

Well, other than that, there's not much to entertain. I just wanted you to know that I was alive.

Goodbye, now. I've gotta go hunt down some more giant spiders.