The next day, Merry shook me awake.

"What, what?" I mumbled groggily.

"Come on, Pippin," Merry said, turning to check no one was near the door. "Frodo went to decide the ..." he paused and checked again. "Decide the fate of the Ring." Merry whispered eagerly.

"So?" I flipped over, pulling the comforter more snugly around me. "Gandalf told us; we weren't invited."

Merry sat on my back.

I groaned. "Off. Would you get off?" I choked out.

"Pip, how many parties have we crashed back in the Shire?"

"Too many," I gasped, reciting the words that had come from Gandalf a while ago.

"So, would it be so different to crash a council?" Merry asked thoughtfully.

"Get...off..." I managed before I couldn't take in another breath.

"Lets go!" Merry took off out the door.

I wheezed as I swung myself out of bed and blundered over to the closet. I chose a white shirt under a dark green cloak-thingy and a pair of brown trousers.

I combed a few tangles out of my hair with my fingers and ran after Merry.

==========================

"...you've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor."

My bare feet slid across the marble floor as I came to a stop behind a column. I pushed my back up against the column as Elrond continued.

"Middle-earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate; this one doom.

"Bring forth the Ring, Frodo."

I watched as Elrond extended his hand. Frodo stood up nervously and placed the Ring on a stone podium in the center of the Council.

"So it is true," a Man sitting close to us murmured. As heads turned, I flattened myself against the column again.

"The doom of Man." He said quietly. "It is a gift." He stood up and addressed the whole Council. I could hear the slight lust in his voice.

This should be interesting.

"A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring? Long has my father, the steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe."

I exchanged a glance with Merry. We silently agreed: this guy was a little off.

"Give Gondor the weapon if the enemy. Let us use it against him."

"You can not wield it." A blue-clad man with dark hair interrupted.

Finally, a guy with some sense here.

"None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master."

"And what would a Ranger know of this matter?"

Oh! The sensible guy was Strider! Man, I knew that voice was familiar ... why couldn't he have been facing me? then I would've been able to tell.

A tall Elf with long blonde hair stood. "This is no mere Ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."

"Aragorn?" The annoying guy slightly sneered. "This is Isildur's heir?"

"And heir to the throne of Gondor." Te Elf said.

Aragorn raised a hand. He said something in Elvish.

Why were people always talking in Elvish?!

I racked my brains, trying to translate. It was short...some sort of command ... ok ... um ... give me dinner, Legolas? No ...

The annoying guy turned to Legolas.

"Gondor has no king."

He turned to Aragorn.

"Gondor needs no king."

The annoying guy sat down defiantly. Man, sometimes I just want to punch people.

"Aragorn is right." Gandalf said. "We can not use it."

Elrond stood again. "Then you have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed."

Everyone looked at the Ring. There was silence except the breeze in the dry tree leaves.

"What are we waiting for?" A Dwarf, half obscured by his beard, stood, grabbed his axe, and flung it down upon the Ring.

I almost cried out: No!

The axe shattered upon impact with the Ring, and the Dwarf was flung backwards.

Frodo gasped and clutched his temples with one hand.

Something in an ancient and evil tongue was murmured inside my head until Elrond spoke.

"The Ring can not be destroyed, Gimli, son of Glóin, by any craft 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."

The words hung in the air like a foul stench.

The annoying guy with orange hair spoke again.

Ugh.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep."

I swallowed. Ginger over here was not making Mordor sound like a Sunday picnic.

"The Great Eye is ever-watchful. It is a barren wasteland riddled with fire, ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume."

Definitely not a picnic.

"Not 10,000 Men could do this. It is folly."

The Elf stood again. "Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said?! The Ring must be destroyed."

Gimli interrupted indignantly. "And I suppose you think you are the one to do it?!"

Ginger stood and intervened. "And if we fail, what then? what happens when Sauron takes back what is his?"

Gimli stood. "I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an Elf!"

I saw Aragorn tilt his head slightly, suggesting that he was rolling his eyes.

All the Elves stood angrily. All the Dwarves stood angrily. Most of the Men stood angrily.

Here we go.

I heard shouting, and Gimli cried, "never trust an Elf!"

Gandalf shook his head and tried to help. "Fo you not understand? While you bicker among yourselves, Sauron's power grows! None can escape it! You'll all be destroyed!"

Frodo inhaled through his nose. I saw he was sweating.

"I will take it!" He stood. "I will take it!"

The shouting ceased as everyone turned to look at the small Hobbit.

"I will take the Ring to Mordor." Frodo said again. "Though, I do not know the way."

Gandalf stepped back behind Frodo. "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear."

Aragorn, who had been the only Man sitting through all the arguing, stood. "If by my life or death I can protect you, I will." He walked forward and knelt before Frodo. "You have my sword."

I saw Gandalf wink at Elrond. Had he planned it to go this way?

"And you have my bow." Legolas said, also coming before Frodo.

"And my axe." Gimli said, raising his weapon into the air a little.

Ginger stood forward. "You carry the fate of us all little one. If it is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done."

"Hey!" Someone yelled from the bushes behind Frodo's seat. Sam ran under Aragorn's arm and stood next to Frodo. "Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me."

"No indeed; it is hardly possible to separate you, even when he is summoned to a secret Council and you are not." Elrond chuckled.

Merry and I looked at each other.

"Oi!" Merry spoke up as we ran up the stairs to the group. "We're coming, too!"

Elrond watched us run by incredulously.

"You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us." Merry concluded as we came to a halt next to Frodo.

"Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of ... mission ... quest ... " Nouns failed me. "...Thing." I added.

"Well that rules you out, Pip." Merry rolled his eyes.

I nodded, and then, realizing what he was saying, elbowed him. "Hey!"

"Nine companions." Elrond observed. "So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

Merry and I high-fived.

Then, something dawned on me.

"Great!" I pressed my lips together. "Um, where are we going?"

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Hey guys! I am SOOOO sorry about the SLOW update, but here it is (if u want to know why I've been gone, check my message board)!

Please please please PLEASE comment and vote!

-PurpleBandana/MrFrodo