Middle-Earth always has its places of wonder and danger, like the land of Mordor, and just recently, the smoking valley of Isengard, where Saruman, the head of the wizard's order, has turned to the darkside. Everywhere in the lands of Middle-Earth, beauty reigned, even in the lands of the Misty Mountains.

On some days, the mountains were beautiful and peaceful, and on some nights… who knows? Maybe dark and dangerous events occur. The lands of the Misty Mountains were probably more dangerous inside of the mountains rather than the outside. Like when the creature Gollum took the One Ring of power into the mountains' tunnels and kept it there for 500 years.

The Misty Mountains, even now were full of danger, which is made clear by the echoing screams of people, throughout the mountain range…

The echoing continued…

I am the servant of the secret fire, wielder of the flame of Arnor…

Argh…!

Go back to the shadow…

The dark fire will not avail you, FLAME OF UDUN!

The echoing screams came from inside the mountains, into the mines of Moria. An old man, with a staff and sword, was standing on a bridge, facing a fiery creature called a Balrog. A company of fifteen, watched the fight. Four of them were Hobbits. There were two women and a child. One was an Elf, one was a Dwarf, and the others were men. The Balrog cracked its whip at the old man, proceeding forward.

"YOU…" shouted the old man, raising his staff, "…SHALL NOT… PASS!"

The old man quickly slammed the staff on the bridge, illuminating a white light that drove the Balrog back a bit. The old man held his own when the Balrog proceeded again only… the bridge started to collapse under it, taking the Balrog with it as it fell down a chasm.

Exhausted, the old man turned around to leave with his companions but…

The flaming whip lashed up from the abyss, from which the Balrog fell into and grabbed the old man's ankle, pulling him to the edge. The old man clings onto the bridge, but is straining to keep his grip. One of the Hobbits started to run to the old man, but one of the men held him back.

"No!" said the man.

"Gandalf!" yelled the Hobbit to the old man on the bridge.

The old man, Gandalf, continued to struggle to keep his grip and then, unexpectedly, he looks to his companions and the scared Hobbit, one last time…

"…Fly you fools," said Gandalf.

"NOOOOOOO!" yelled the Hobbit.

Gandalf then loosened his grip, directly falling with the Balrog into the abyss…

The abyss in which they fell into was very vast and very deep. Gandalf then was able to spot… and grab hold of his sword, Glamdring. Gandalf proceeded directly towards the fiery Balrog… and started to hack away at it with the sword with each hit he made…

SLICE!

The battling pair fought in the bloodiest fashion. And at that moment… Gandalf plunged his sword into the creature, emitting sparks of fire from it. But…

The Balrog knocked away Gandalf like a pest. However, the wizard continued to fall alongside the Balrog in the enclosed cavern…

The battle became fiercer each time as they plunged at even greater speeds…

The demon tried to knock Gandalf away again, but the wizard would not give up as he struggled to regain his hold on the demon. But unfortunately, the Balrog grabbed him first, so he wouldn't be able to strike. Gandalf continued his struggle, as he did…

The demon crashed into the walls, releasing Gandalf. Gandalf was able to grab one of the horns, enabling him to jump onto the creature's back… and plunged his sword into the Balrog's neck.

In the heat of this moment…

The battling pair started to fall into a giant cavern with cold, frozen glacial water at the bottom of it. The fiery flames of the Balrog lit the cavern as it and Gandalf slowly… but surely… fell into the water. Just then…

"…Gandalf!" Frodo cries out as he awakes from his sleep.

He was taking a nap, along with Sam, Kaoru, and Yahiko. When Frodo woke up crying out Gandalf's name, the others woke up, worrying about Frodo.

"What is it, Mr. Frodo?" asked Sam.

"Are you alright, Frodo?" asked Yahiko.

"Anything the matter?" asked Kaoru.

Frodo answered, solemnly, "…nothing… "

Frodo lays down again.

"…Just a dream," he added.

'…More like a nightmare,' thought Kaoru, '…poor Frodo. He yelled out Gandalf's name. Frodo has been upset ever since we lost Gandalf. He still misses him…as I miss Kenshin.'

Kaoru and Yahiko lay down and returned to their sleep as well.

SECTION 2: KENSHIN AND THE TWO TOWERS

Chapter 1: Encounter with Gollum, lead us to the Black Gate

Once a Fellowship of sixteen…

Now has been cut down to fourteen with the loss of Gandalf and the recent loss of Boromir. And recently…

The Fellowship was now scattered when Frodo chose to go on his own. However, Kaoru, Yahiko, and most importantly… Sam went along with the ring-bearing Hobbit. Also, Merry and Pippin were captured by the Uruk-Hai and were now being pursued by Misao, Kenshin, Aragorn, Gimli, Sanosuke, Legolas, Saito, and Aoshi.

But unfortunately…

The news of Boromir's loss has not yet reached the four travelers as they continued to trek their way through the razor sharp hills of Emyn Muil, as they have been for several days hence. As they reached the top of a certain hill, they oversaw an ominous, dark, and fiery light from a great distance. It was their destination, the mountain of fire in Mordor.

"Mordor," stated Sam, "the one place in Middle-Earth we don’t want to see any closer. And it's the one place we're trying to get to. It's just where we can't get."

Sam then turned to face Frodo and added, "let’s face it, Mr. Frodo, we’re lost."

"Yeah," agreed Yahiko, "this is crazy. We just got to get to Mordor somehow."

"Well," said Sam, "…I don’t think Gandalf meant for us to come this way, Mr. Yahiko."

"…He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen Sam," interjected Frodo, "…but they did."

As everyone's spirits were nearly down in despair…

Kaoru spoke, "guys, we mustn't worry so much about this. Even though Gandalf is no longer with us, our goals are still the same. We'll get to Mordor eventually, and when we do, we're going straight for Mount Doom so we can destroy that awful ring, right?"

"…Yeah, Kaoru," Yahiko agreed.

Frodo looked up at Kaoru. "Thank you for your speech of confidence, Miss Kaoru," he said smiling.

But out of nowhere…

Frodo looked toward the mountain of fire suddenly… and immediately felt and saw the Eye, zooming in on him, in a flash!

Frodo gasped and backed away, panting. Everyone gasped at Frodo's dilemma and Kaoru rushed towards Frodo as he fell into Kaoru's arms.

"Frodo," Kaoru said, "are you okay?"

Frodo continued to pant heavily. Sam gave a worried look at Frodo.

"Frodo?" he asked, "…it's the ring, isn't it?"

"It's getting heavier," replied Frodo as he went on panting, clutching the ring in his hand.

"Just hold on Frodo," interjected Kaoru, "we'll destroy the ring soon enough."

Frodo slowly and weakly nodded at her as he sat down and fumbled for his bottle of water to take a sip.

"You know, Frodo," said Yahiko, "seeing you drink your water is making me hungry."

"Yeah," Kaoru agreed, "I'm getting hungry too, Yahiko. Lets have something to eat while you're resting."

"…Okay," said Frodo as he turned to Sam, "…what food have we got left, Sam?"

Sam took off his backpack and set it down to look inside of it. "Well let me see," he said as he went through his bag and took out a package.

"Oh yes, lovely… Lembas bread." Sam then went into his bag again, "and look… "

He showed another package to them.

"…More Lembas bread," Sam added sarcastically.

Kaoru giggled, "oh Sam."

Sam then broke off a few pieces and tossed each piece to Frodo, Yahiko, and Kaoru. He munched a piece himself.

"Thanks, Sam," said Yahiko.

"I don't usually hold with foreign food," said Sam, "but this Elvish stuff, it's not bad."

"Nothing ever dampens your spirits, does it Sam?" inquired Frodo as he smiled.

"You can," added Yahiko, "say the same thing about me too, Frodo."

Frodo smiled even brighter at the child's enthusiasm. Sam smiled back at Frodo and Yahiko.

Suddenly, a front came over them, which Sam looks ominously at.

"Those rain clouds might dampen our spirits, Mr. Yahiko," said Sam.

The four travelers continue trekking through difficult terrain, often huddling underneath their cloaks when it rained, to keep themselves dry, so that they wouldn't catch cold. The path of Emyn Muil became endless each time they trekked, going on for days and days. When they reached a particular spot, Sam looked around like he knew where they are.

"This looks strangely familiar," Sam mentioned.

Frodo did know this particular place as well. "…Its because we've been here before," he said, exasperated, "we're going in circles."

"Circles?" said Kaoru with a quizzed look, "it's more like a maze of rocks that we can't seem to get out of Frodo."

"I know, Miss Kaoru," Frodo agreed.

"Besides," interjected Yahiko, "Gimli said that this place would be impossible."

"Ah! What's that 'orrid stink?" gasped Sam, getting everyone's attention, "I'll warrant there's a nasty bog nearby… can any of you smell it?"

A few moments passed. "Yes," Frodo answered as he came up beside Sam, "…I can smell it."

Frodo then turned to face his companions and whispered, "…we're not alone."

Night fell over Emyn Muil. The travelers slept quietly. Unaware of a dark shape, that has suddenly appeared over the cliff, loomed over them like an ominous dark shadow, and was now making its way down to the travelers.

"They're thieves," said the shape, "they're thieves! The filthy, little thieves! Where is it? Where isss it? They stole it from us… my preciousss…"

The shape loomed closer and closer each time… towards the travelers…

"Curse them! We hates them! It’s ours, it is... and we wantssss it!" it finishes while reaching out to the Hobbits with its hand…

The Hobbits then sprang up… and grabbed the intruder. Kaoru and Yahiko also woke up and saw the Hobbits struggling with the creepy intruder and joined in. The intruder was pulled down.

Amidst the struggle, the intruder wriggles loose and leaps onto Frodo. As Frodo falls back, the chain and ring around his neck is revealed and the intruder jumps straight for the ring, reaching for it with its finger. Sam ran over and tried to grab at him by pulling his leg, but was knocked away.

Kaoru and Yahiko grabbed the intruder next and they both struggled with him. The intruder was able to knock away Yahiko. Kaoru now struggled alone with the creature, trying to subdue him.

"You're not getting away that easily, mister," said Kaoru.

But the intruder was able to pick up a rock and hit her on the head, knocking her out.

Yahiko grabbed his new wooden sword, provided by Galadriel, and tried to hit the intruder, but it escaped. The same thing happened each time when Yahiko tried to hit the intruder.

"Hold still, creepy," he said, exasperated.

But then, the intruder was able to hit Yahiko up against the rocks, knocking the wind out of him.

Frodo couldn't believe that the intruder had just knocked out Kaoru and Yahiko. The intruder immediately went back for Frodo to reach for the ring even as Frodo grabbed his hands… and tries to push him away. The intruder's cheeks puff with exertion and his enormous eyes were fixed on the ring as he continued struggling with Frodo.

Sam grabbed hold of the intruder again by the arm, enabling the intruder to throw Frodo aside with his other arm. The intruder used Sam to climb up the cliff… and jumped right back on top of Frodo. Sam wouldn't give up defending Frodo as he grabbed the intruder under the arms… and tore him away from Frodo, carrying him high in the air.

The intruder then turned around and bit Sam on the shoulder, wriggled around… and clasped his arms around Sam’s neck and legs around his waist in a death grip. Kaoru and Yahiko regain consciousness and see Sam at the intruder's mercy. Then…

Frodo drew Sting and ran over with it to the intruder, using his free hand to grab the little hairs the intruder had left on its head, pulling his head back, while he held the tip of Sting it at its throat…

"This is Sting," Frodo said, menacingly, "you've seen it before, haven't you… Gollum!"

Kaoru and Yahiko gasp at this revelation. The intruder was none other than Gollum, the creature that had the ring for 500 years.

"Release him," Frodo threatened Gollum, "or I'll cut your throat."

Slowly, Gollum loosened his grip on Sam and as the latter disentangled himself, Gollum began to wail. His wailing lasted throughout the night…

The next day, Gollum continued to wail and writhe in pain while being dragged with Sam's Elvish rope around his neck.

"Hey," cried out Yahiko to Gollum, "would you mind keeping it down, ugly?"

"It burns!" Gollum cried out, continuing to be dragged by Sam, "it burns us! It freezes!"

Gollum was then able to grab onto a rock, stopping himself from being dragged any further.

Gollum grabbed onto the rope and ranted further, "nasty Elves twisted it! Take it off us!"

"You heard Mr. Yahiko," Sam ordered as he tugged fiercely on the rope, trying to silence the creature, "keep it down!"

But Gollum kept wailing as he hated being dragged by Sam.

"Quiet you!" Sam ordered again, very fiercely.

"AAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGGGHHH!" Gollum wailed even more loudly, while on his knees.

"Man," said Yahiko, "he just doesn't know when to quit, does he?"

"It's hopeless!" cried out Sam, in dismay, "every Orc in Mordor's going to hear this racket!"

"I don't know about you, Sam," said Yahiko, "but I'm ready to take on those ugly Orcs anytime!"

"Well," replied Sam, "I think we should just tie him up and leave him."

Gollum didn't seem too happy about that. "No!" he cried, "that would kill us! Kill us!"

"It’s no more than you deserve!" cried Sam to Gollum as he slowly collapsed on his back.

After a pause, Frodo interjected, "…maybe he does deserve to die."

Frodo then walked up closer to the cowering Gollum and added, "but now that I see him… I do pity him."

After another pause, Kaoru asked Frodo, "…is it because of what Gandalf said about not being too quick to judge about anyone who deserves to die?"

"…Yes, Miss Kaoru," Frodo solemnly replied, "…it is."

Gollum then brought himself to his knees and begged, "we be nice to them if they be nice to us."

"Take it off us," Gollum added as he grabbed the indicated rope around his neck, "we swears to do what you wants. We swears."

Frodo said to him, "there is no promise you can make that I can trust."

"We swears," said Gollum as he bowed to Frodo, offering his services, "…to serve the master of the preciousss. We will swear on… on… the precious! Gollum! Gollum!"

Frodo retained his sense of caution. "The ring is treacherous," he said, "it will hold you to your word."

"Yes…" answered Gollum, as he crawled closer to Frodo, "…on the precious…"

Gollum then looked up at Frodo and finished, "…on the precious."

But Sam wouldn't accept Gollum's offer of service. "I don’t believe you!"

"Me neither," added Yahiko.

Gollum backed away from them, climbing up a boulder, in fear. Sam strongly jerked at the rope as Gollum tried to get away from him.

"Get down!" cried Sam, "I said down!" Gollum crashed onto the ground, choking.

"Sam!" cried Frodo.

"He's trying to trick us!" Sam warned, "we let him go, he’ll throttle us in our sleep!"

"I agree, Frodo," added Yahiko, "let's do what Sam said and tie him up."

"Sam, Yahiko!" interjected Kaoru, "…we're wasting time. Nothing's going to get done by arguing. Since Kenshin isn't here with us… I believe that Gollum's fate is decided with Frodo."

Kaoru then turned to Frodo. "…What do you want to do with him, Frodo?" she asked earnestly.

Frodo looked at Kaoru for a moment… and then turned to walk over to the panting Gollum, who backed away from him in fear and uncertainty…

Frodo asked Gollum, "you know the way to Mordor?"

"Yes," answered Gollum as he nodded warily.

"You've been there before?"

"…Yes…"

Unexpectedly… Frodo reached out and loosened the rope noose off of Gollum's neck, surprising the others. Gollum seemed both surprised and relieved at the act of mercy provided by Frodo.

Frodo commanded, "you will lead us to the black gate."

Gollum did as Frodo asked as he began to scramble off in the direction of Morannon, the black gate of Mordor. The travelers, who were many paces away, managed to catch up to Gollum and saw him covering his face and muttering to himself about the dangers of Mordor and the Eye of Sauron.

But then…

Gollum uncovered his face and hissed at the travelers, "AARRGH!"

Gollum then ran off again, forcing the travelers to run after him.

"Hey!" Sam called out.

"Wait up creepy!" Yahiko called out also.

"Come back now!" Sam continued to call out, as they chased after Gollum, "come back!"

The travelers slowed down and stopped to look around for Gollum… but he was nowhere to be found.

"There! What did I tell you?" said an exasperated Sam, who believed that his suspicions about Gollum were now confirmed, "he's run off, the old villain."

"I knew we couldn't trust him," Yahiko added his exasperated growl, agreeing with Sam.

"So much for his promises," Sam concluded. Then…

"This way, Hobbits and Travelers!" said a voice from above…

It was Gollum, who was almost ducking behind a rock.

Gollum quickly lifted his head again and quickly added, "follow me!"

The travelers slowly began to grow very weary and impatient with the creature's obnoxious, frivolous behavior as they continued to follow in Gollum's wake…