Chapter 22.

Thank you all so much for the reviews! Honestly, you don't know how much it means to me. :)

Collin's story should be out soon! And for those of you who read Happy Burdens, I'm rewriting it. Mostly, I'm just touching it up, because the first chapter is poop. I kind of just tossed that story out in a moment of madness. And for you Plain Jane readers! The epilogue should be out soonish. I'm just kind of reluctant to end it! I'm also going to be touching that one up quite a bit, once I get through this story.

And for those of you who haven't read Plain Jane, go for it! That story's my baby, I love it, and it'd be amazing if you guys would read it and tell me what you think.

And the council in this chapter is a lot different from the movie. I mean, Collin and James are new additions, so that changes things, and people are also changed slightly by my four characters. It'd be unrealistic for everything to match up.

I don't own Lord of the Rings.

I did take some direct quotes from the film, and I would like to say that I do not own any of these quotes, and that I'm not making any profit whatsoever from this story. Everything belongs to its true owners, who aren't me. For example, Peter Jackson and the other producers of the Lord of the Rings

(Sophie)

"Ohh, look at me! I'm Mr. Fancy Council man!"

James rolled his eyes as he adjusted his belt. "Don't be mad at me just because you weren't invited."

"She doesn't need to be mad!" Cried Collin. "I'm mad for her! How dare they not invite Sophie!"

I gave Collin a pat on the back. "Nice try, buddy."

He shrugged. "I was just trying to help the cause."

"Come on, Soph! You know we're just gonna tell you everything that happens, anyways." James had been pleading with me all morning- he didn't want me to get in trouble.

Why would I get in trouble, you might ask? Well, it's quite simple really, and I'm sure you can guess.

I'm going to be spying on the council!

And of course, this wasn't my initial plan. Initially, I was just going to suck it up and let men be men, but Merry and Pippin showed me the light. Yeah, that's right. I'm going to be spying with two crazy little hobbits who could hardly get away with stealing vegetables from some guy with the last name Maggot. Great idea, Soph!

Collin was all for it; he'd even helped us pick out my hiding spot in the bushes! (I can't exactly fit behind the pillars as well as the tiny hobbits, even though they kindly offered to share)

James, on the other hand, was convinced that nothing good could come from it. Man, after all those ears of living with elves, he sure has become a stick in the mud.

Kristy wanted nothing to do with it.

"You sure you don't want to come with me?" I asked her just before I left to go hide myself before the council.

She clamped her hand over her ears. "I know nothing, I know nothing!"

With a sigh, I left the room and prepared myself for what could possibly be the most intense moment of my life.

Unfortunately, a little creature had already inhabited my hiding spt.

"Samwise Gamgee! What are you doing here?"

The little ginger looked up to me with wide eyes. "What do you mean, what am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to hide, you twit!" The sound of footsteps came to our ears, and we froze. There's no telling what Elrond would do if he caught us spying...

Fortunately, a familiar faux-hawk came into view.

"Collin! Make Sam get out of my hiding spot!"

Sam glared up at me. "Go find your own hiding spot! With all due respect, milady, I was here first."

Ohh, Samwise. Being polite will get you nowhere at the moment.

Collin took matters into his own hands; he shoved me right into the bushes and covered me with leaves.

"Sharing is caring!" He smiled triumphantly as the other council members began to wander into the courtyard. "Hello!" He waved happil at the dwarves, who had been sticking together in a tight group ever since reaching Rivendell.

And I thought that I didn't like elves...

The hairy little men studied Collin with suspicious eyes.

"And what country do you come from?" A dwarf with red-brown hair asked my friend, while clutching onto his axe.

"I hail from America!" Collin's bright smile seemed to creep the dwarves out, but the held their ground.

"America?" None of the dwarves had an idea what America was- no surprise there.

That'd be a miracle.

"Yepp! America!" My friend's smile never faltered. "Land of the hamburgers!"

"Hamburgers?" The red-haired dwarf was even more befuddled by this eccentric man. "What is a hamburger?"

Collin was used to the lack of hamburgers in Middle-earth by now- you should have seen him when he first discovered the lack of the tasty food.

"Hamburgers are big chunks of meat put on bread with other random things. Like onions!" He smiled at the burley dwarves. "Well, would you look at that!" He pointed to the sharp, shiny axes held by many of the little men. "Why don't elves have axes like that?"

Ohh boy, did that catch the attention of the dwarves.

"Elves? Bah! Elves don't know what they're doing." That dwarf immediately went on a rampage. "They hide behind their bows and arrows; the axe is a real weapon. It can hack through an orc far better than the tiny elven swords."

"Well," Collin shrugged. "I prefer to remain neutral on the subject, but your axes are pretty hardcore!" I could see my friend eyeing the sharp axes with excited eyes.

Great. Another violent weapon for him to carelessly fling around.

"You're fond of the axe, lad?" The dwarf smiled almost as brightly as Collin. "Well, let's have a look at yeh!" He immediately began surveing my friend, raising Collin's arms, poking him in the ribs- random things, like a farmer surveying a cow to be sent to the butcher. "You seem like a strong young lad, what are you doing around these elves?" He said elves like they were a disease.

Collin shrugged. "Dunno!"

I swear, if Collin tries to become a dwarf, I don't know what I'll do.

Fortunately, before any more could be said, a bajillion other people began to flood into the seating area, and the dwarves quickl shrank back into their shells and they backed away towards their seats. Boromir caught my eye as he walked in alone, seeming insecure and out of place. He seemed far less... Himself?

Or at least, my perception of him.

Aragorn walked in, next, looking the cleanest I'd ever seen him. All of the familiar faces slowly filled the seats, and Sam and I had to hold completely still to keep from alerting the elves. Those bloody immortals can hear so well, it's no fun to try to sneak up on them.

After what felt like a million awkward years, Elrond finally began to speak.

"Strangers from distant lands. Friends of old..." Oh gosh, I can already tell that this is going to be boring. Elrond slowly enunciated each word like his life was at stake- what started off as a good day quickly turned into gloom and doom. I kind of mentally shut down at the threat of being bored to tears, so I didn"t even notice that Elrond had called Frodo forward. "Bring forth the ring, Frodo."

The only thing that brought me back to reality was the loud, unified gasp that spread throughout the council. Everyone suddenly looked pained, like the ring was so potent that just the sight of it could kill a man.

I didn't know whether I should laugh at this silly fact, or be terrified that such mighty warriors were really so afraid of a simple gold ring.

The only two people who didn't seem uncomfortable were Collin and James. James seemed slightly uncomfortable, only because he was slightly taken aback by the reactions of those around him. Collin, on the other hand, was distracted by a bird fluttering around in the distance.

Typical Collin. He's always doing something strange.

"It is a gift..."

Say what?

"A gift to the foes of Mordor!" Boromir stood, and I kind of wanted to chuck some rocks at him. "Why not use this ring?"

"Because look where it got the last two owners."

Everyone turned to look at Collin.

"And what would you know of this matter?" Boromir wasn't too pumped. You could tell that he would have gone on a long speech if Collin hadn't spoken up.

Collin shrugged. "Nothing, really. I'm just stating the facts. I mean, Isildur got killed, that Gollum guy has turned into a monster, from what I hear, and Frodo got stabbed. There seems to be a bit of a pattern going on, don't you think?"

Boromir frowned. "My people have fought against the armies of Mordor for too long. This could be the key to our victory! Why not use it against him?"

"And what, scare him with our super invisible powers?"

Once again, Collin gained a few odd looks.

"The ring can not be wielded by any man." Aragorn spoke up. "It will turn against us and betray us to its master. Collin is right; the ring has corrupted its past owners, and it has no true power that could help us. It can turn anyone who wears it invisible, and it can turn even your closest friends against you. There is nothing it can do that can help us defeat Sauron."

Defeated, Boromir sighed and sat down. "Well then, what would a ranger suggest we do with it?"

"This is no mere ranger!" An overexcited elf leapt up from his seat, glaring angrily at Boromir. "This is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."

Say what?

Boromir's eyes opened wide. "This is Isildur's heir?"

Mr. Elf man nodded. "And heir to the throne of Gondor."

I especially dislike this elf.

Wait, did he just say Aragorn was heir to the throne of Gondor?

I looked over to Collin, whose eyes were opened wide. It looked like he'd just seen bigfoot, jaw dropped and all. He gaped at his friend, and Aragorn bowed his head down in what looked like embarrassment.

For the first time in his life, Collin was at a loss for words.

"Gondor has no king..." Boromir began, but an anxious James cut him off.

"I thought we were here to talk about the ring? With all due respect, Gondor's political issues can be dealt with later. The well-being of Middle-earth is kind of at stake."

Ohh, dear James. He's not gonna be liked by Boromir after that one. Poor man gets so angsty when he's nervous.

Aragorn gave my friend a grateful nod, and the council resumed.

"They are right..." Gandalf sighed. "The ring can be of no use to us."

"You have only one choice..." Elrond added in a dramatic pause. Hurry it up, old man, us mortals don't have forever! "The ring must be destroyed."

This just didn't sit well with the council members. A heavy silence fell upon the men, and all eyes were on the ring. Even elves were shifting in their seats- this ring really was the devil. Even I was getting the chills.

Collin's dwarf friend hopped up from his seat, clutching his axe. For a moment, I thought he was going to hack some elves to pieces. Instead, he went for the ring.

"What are we waiting for?" He swung his axe and smashed it down upon the tiny piece of metal.

I salute him for his effort, but at all seemed to backfire on him... Literally.

His axe broke into a million pieces that went flying through the air. The dwarf fell back to the ground in a heap, still clutching the handle of his shattered axe, a look of pure shock hidden under his massive beard.

Elrond lost my respect for the rest of the day when he almost seemed to laugh at the poor dwarf.

"The ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin, by any crafts that we here possess. The ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom, only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came... One of you must do this." Elrond studied the council members for volunteers, but no one was willing.

Gandalf sighed and looked to Collin. "Collin, your resistance to the ring is far beyond my comprehension, but if you were willing, we would be greatly in your debt.."

My friend's eyes widened and he began to shake his head furiously. "No, no no no. I am not your guy. I'm far too irresponsible. I'd lose the ring in a week."

The old wizard sighed, and all was silent again as everyone was caught in their own thoughts.

"Won't Sauron kind of notice if we walk into his home and try to destroy his ring?" Collin ruffled his faux-hawk- a sign that he is pondering. "That seems kind of... Risky?"

"Aye." Boromir nodded in agreement. Maybe he and Collin can be friends, after all! "We can not simply walk into Mordor. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the great eye is ever watchful. There is no army in Middle-earth that could hope to defeat Sauron's hordes of orcs. It is impossible."

The elf that I am less than fond of jumped up again. "Have you heard nothing that Lord Elrond has said? The ring must be destroyed!" Grr, anger issues, much?

Well, an elf trying to take control ticked off the dwarves, and men can't stay out of anything, so pretty soon, everyone was up and shouting. The only people who remained seated were Elrohir, Elladan, Aragorn, Frodo, and a daydreaming Collin.

Frodo's eyes were glued to the ring. Pain was clearly written all across his face, like someone was sticking needles in him. Right when he looked like he could take no more, he shot up and shouted into the loud din of arguing men.

"I will take it!"

Is he serious?"

"I will take it!"

Gandalf's eyes closed in despair, as he and the other council members turned to look at the halfling.

I think he's serious.

"I will take the ring to Mordor... Though, I do not know the way..." Frodo's previous fire had burnt out, and he quickly shrunk back into his shell.

Everyone stared in shock at the little hobbit. Of all people to man up and take the job, it was this little one?

"I will help you carry this burden, Frodo Baggins." Gandalf moved to stand behind the hobbit, and he placed his hands on Frodo's shoulders in support. "So long as it is yours to bear."

Aragorn moved forward, now, and kneeled down in front of Frodo. "If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."

My enemy elf grabbed James by the collar and pulled him up. "And you have our bows."

"And my axe." Gimli the dwarf was determined to beat that elf.

My heart skipped a beat when Boromir moved forward, and promised his help, as well.

Collin stood slowly and made his way over to the little group. "There's nothing I love more than destroying ugly jewelry. I'll help, too."

No.

No no no no no!

I hardly noticed the other three hobbits rush out, because my mind was at a stand-still.

Collin, leaving?

I wouldn't mind so much if his life wasn't at stake, but if something ever happened to him, I don't know what I'd do.

I sat in the bushes far after the council ended, trying to get my thoughts together. I had to talk to Collin and James, but what would I say? No, you can't go?

Unfortunately, Collin found me, first.

Collin's pale hand reached into the bushes and pulled me out. By the look on his face, I assumed that he knew what I was thinking, because there was a grim look on his face.

"Hey, Soph." He gave me a small smile. "I guess you're wondering why I'm leaving, huh?"

"Slightly..."

He sighed. "I want to contribute to this world somehow. I need to do something for our home. They need help, Sophie. But don't be too bummed, I've got a plan."