The moon was still high in the sky when they reached the small hill above the hobbit home. They were directly on top of the home, and Aragorn silently jumped down into the garden. Legolas followed instantly after, then Gimli, quite unceremoniously. You followed, landing with a quiet thump beside a bunch of blue flowers. Aragorn waved everyone over by the door, and you and the others all crowded beside it. Aragorn locked eyes with you. "Are you sure this is the place?"
"Yes, I am sure," you replied. "Couldn't be more sure."
Aragorn held your gaze for a moment longer then slowly turned the knob of the door, and it creaked open. You cringed, the door sounding like a cannonball exploding in the quiet of the night. Aragorn rushed inside, and Legolas and Gimli followed. You slid inside, checking behind you before closing the door silently. You turned and, seeing what you saw, felt your heart warm.
The small hobbit home was everything you could have hoped for. You had this vague memory that you'd always wanted to see a hobbit home, and you'd seen them in the movies, but nothing could have prepared you for this moment. The walls were curved to create a curved ceiling, and the ground was flat and wooden. In fact, all the walls were wooden, and nearly everything else was too, including the various shelves screwed into the walls. The wood was a lovely red-brown colour, giving the home a warm and welcoming feeling. A couple couches were positioned near a window, and a desk was seated in a room whose door was wide open. You breathed in the smell, the beautiful hobbit home smell. You would never forget this. But you had more pressing matters now. You crept to the door with the desk and peered inside, but no one was there. You turned to the others and shook your head, and everyone moved down a hall. You were about to follow, but hesitated a split second before. A dark presence was here. The shadow was here, in this home. You shuddered and drew your knife, rushing to catch up with the others. You tapped Gimli's shoulder as you reached them, whispering, "He's here."
Gimli stiffened and passed on the word to the others, and each of them drew their weapons: Aragorn, his sword, Legolas, his daggers, Gimli, his axe. You all advanced upon a room where soft snoring arose from. Aragorn peered in, then reappeared a moment longer, nodding. 'He's in here' he mouthed. Feeling relieved that you'd all finally found Sam, you all entered the room quickly but nonetheless careful.
A soft snoring was the only sound heard in the room besides the near-silent footsteps creaking the wood beneath them. A small desk was set up near a window, and a couple of shelves set next to it. A bed was also set beside the desk, at least a metre away from it, and upon that bed lay Sam. His mouth was open and he snored loudly, completely out of it. Aragorn crept across the room to Sam's bedside and gently shook the hobbit's shoulder. Sam groaned and turned over, facing away from Aragorn. Aragorn sighed and shook his shoulder again.
"Sam, it's Aragorn," Aragorn whispered. "You need to wake up. Now."
"Go away Frodo, just five more minutes..." Sam mumbled, holding his blanket closer.
Aragorn sighed again and looked helplessly at Legolas. The elf shrugged, looking just as helpless as Aragorn looked. You shook your head in half amusement and frustration. This was going great. You walked over to Sam's bedside on the opposite side of Aragorn, and shook Sam roughly. Sam's eyes flew open and he sat up like a bolt of lightning, eyes wide with alert. You clamped your hand over his mouth, and his eyes landed on you with terror. Oh. That's right. He didn't know you. You gestured with your hand over to where the three members of the Fellowship stood, and slowly withdrew your hand away from his mouth. His eyes widened even more as he saw his friends.
"Aragorn?" Sam breathed. "Gimli! Mr Elf! I-I can't believe it's really you! What are you doing here?" Sam shook his head in annoyance with himself, then quickly got out of bed and grabbed a dressing gown, wrapping it around himself. "Where are my manners. Can I get something for you?"
"No, Sam," Aragorn responded. "And keep your voice down." He leaned in close to the hobbit, his face serious. "Where's Frodo?"
"Mr Frodo?" Sam repeated. "He's in the room next door. I would ask why you want him, but I feel like that's not my place right now."
"You're right," Aragorn agreed. He moved away from Sam and headed over to the door. "He's in danger. You need to come with us, because of your association with Frodo. You could be in danger too."
"Another adventure?" Sam whispered. "So be it!"
You held back a small giggle as Sam went over to his dresser to get changed. Sam was everything the movies made him out to be. You turned away from him to give him some privacy. Some rustling and moving around was heard, then Sam walked over to your side in a light brown top with dark green pants. Your heart warmed at the sight of the small hobbit. They were even smaller than in the movies!
Aragorn had left the room with Gimli, and Legolas was waiting for you and Sam. Sam strolled up to a small chest by his bed and opened it, revealing startling shining treasures and armoury. Amazed, you saw various sets of armour fit for the size of a hobbit and a small belt with a sheath attached to it. The sword itself was laid neatly atop all those things, and you realised it was Sting. So Frodo had actually let him keep it...Sam grabbed the sword and belt, wrapping the belt around his waist. He sheathed his sword, then nodded to Legolas. He moved away from the doorway to allow you and Sam to exit first, and he took up the rear. You felt a prickling sensation again, the same feeling that you'd felt when you'd left the forest. But again you shook it off, reassuring yourself it was just your nervousness. You followed Aragorn and Gimli, creeping quietly through the Hobbit home. You approached Frodo's home, coming to a stop outside the door. Aragorn raised a finger to his lips, and Gimli and Legolas understood the hint. Gimli readied his axe, and Legolas sheathed his daggers and drew his bow, drawing back an arrow. You readied your elvish knives, raising them in front of you in a half-defence, half-offence stance. Aragorn gave the slightest nod, and he silently grabbed the door handle. He suddenly pushed it forward with lightning fast speed and charged in, sword raised. Gimli leaped through, axe raised, Legolas beside him with an arrow pulled back. You charged through as well, knives at the ready. Brave Sam had Sting drawn as well, holding it with two hands defensively. You waited for the unexpected to strike.
But nothing happened.
Confused, you looked around the room, frowning. Then your eyes widened in horror. In the corner of the room there was a bed, and no one lay upon it. You sucked in a breath, feeling defeat pulsing through you. Frodo was gone. They were too late.
Aragorn stormed over to the bed and ruffled the sheets, throwing the pillows off the bed violently, searching vainly for any sign of Frodo. He let out a growl of frustration.
"Look!" Legolas rushed over to a small round window. The window was open, letting a gentle breeze tug at the curtains. Legolas peered through the window, eyes narrowed with concentration. "I see hobbit footprints. Three sets, meeting up only a few metres from here. Merry and Pippin must have left too!"
Sam looked utterly horrified. Aragorn left the messed bed and joined Legolas at the window. He peered through the window, eyes narrowed. He was no elf, he wouldn't be able to see anything you guessed. At last Aragorn pulled away from the window. "I trust your judgement, Legolas. Quick! We might be able to stop them."
A prickling sensation crept up your spine and sent shivers down your back, making goosebumps form on your neck. The shadow. It was still here. Which didn't make sense, if Frodo, Merry and Pippin had already left far from here, with the shadow controlling them. Surely there couldn't be more than one shadow in one place? Like, it's kinda a common sense thing to do, really. Want to conquer the world, spread your minions all over the place? Not in one place? This was getting more and more confusing by the minute... But this time, as much as you tried to push the feeling away, you could not rid yourself of it. The shadow was here, now. In this room. Which meant...it was in one of you. One of your companions. You felt sick to the stomach. You knew it wasn't Sam, for you'd felt it before you entered Sam's home. No, it was Aragorn, Gimli, or Legolas. And you knew who it was. Feeling even more sick, you followed Aragorn as he rushed out of the room, Legolas and Gimli following close behind. Trying to seem as less suspicious as possible, you allowed Gimli and Legolas to draw ahead of you, as well as Sam. You knew what you had to do. If he had the evil in him, he had to be stopped before he did something he'd regret. He'd want you to do it. You hoped. It was the only thing keeping you going as you readied your knives. You put on a quick spurt and your footsteps didn't make a sound on the creaking wood. As soon as you neared him, you leaped up and wrapped your arms around his neck, knife to his throat.
"Aragorn!" you yelled.
Everyone stopped, turning to face you. Their eyes widened with horror as they saw you holding Legolas in a headlock, knife to his throat. You gripped it tighter, knuckles turning white.
Aragorn took a step forward, concern and caution in his gaze. "Y/n, what's going on?"
You held the knife so tight your hand was hurting. Your gaze flickered between Aragorn's cautious gaze, Gimli's confused one, and Sam's horrified one. Legolas' sharp breathing echoed in your ears, his breath hot on your arm.
"Y/n, calm down," Legoals tried, slowly raising a hand and resting it on your arm, which was wrapped around his neck. You jerked at his touch, and you shook his hand off.
"Stay," you hissed. You were a whirl of emotions; anger, confusion, sadness, and fear. But also calm. You knew you had to get the shadow out of Legolas. "On your knees. Now."
Legolas slowly obeyed, kneeling down. You lowered yourself too, your knife still to his throat.
Y/n!" Aragorn was getting annoyed now, and he was gripping his sword tightly, knuckles turning white. "Let him go."
"No, Aragorn, listen to me." You shifted slightly, adjusting your knife in a better grip. "The shadow. It's here. In Legolas."
"You have no proof," Aragorn snapped. "Step away from him."
"Can't you feel it?" You stared at them in bewilderment. Surely they could feel the darkness in the air, the prickling sensation that crept up their skin? "He's here!"
"It must simply be a lasting effect, since it was just here with the hobbits," Gimli reasoned. "I believe you are feeling the after effect. Calm down Y/n."
"No! Can't you feel it? How can you not feel it?" The feeling was getting more and more vibrant, and you stared down at Legolas. He was not twitching a muscle; he was utterly frozen. You nudged him. No response. "Legolas?" You nudged him again, and yet again there was no response. You loosened your grip the slightest bit to peer at his face, but that was the biggest mistake you had ever made.
Legolas was up in an instant, shoving your arms over his head, while he ducked under and whirled around with his two, long white knives in hand. Without any hesitation he plunged one straight into your abdomen, then backflipped away from you, striking out with one leg to send you flying across the room. You crashed into a chair and you felt the air leave your lungs in a sharp gasp. Pain erupted in your abdomen, and you let out a groan. You struggled to get up, refusing to back down, but you were shocked and hurt, so all you could manage was to roll over onto your side. You saw Legolas slashing his knives at Aragorn, Aragorn desperately attempting to block the lightning-fast strikes. There was a sudden opening, and Legolas kicked Aragorn square in the chest, sending him flying into the nearby wall. Gimli came up from behind and attempted to bring the side of his axe down onto the elf's head to knock him out, but Legolas anticipated the attack and ducked, dodging to the side and whirling around, landing a blow to the side of Gimli's head. The dwarf fell to the ground, his axe landing a couple metres away from him, just out of arm's reach. Legolas gripped his long, white knife that gleamed in the dim light, the small fire of the candles reflecting on it, and brang it down on Gimli. But the blow did not land.
You lifted your head ever so slightly, staring in horror and pain at the sight before you. The dagger was right above Gimli's heart, and Legolas' hands were shaking, and his face was contorted in an indescribable pain. Tears poured down his cheeks, and occasionally a spark of anger would pass through his eyes. Realisation struck you like lightning. He was fighting against the shadow's control. He didn't want to kill Gimli. He was fighting it.
But it looked like the shadow was winning, for the blade slowly got lower and lower, closer and closer to Gimli's heart. Gimli, dazed, was pinned to the ground unable to escape. A small groan indicated Aragorn was recovering, and you craned your neck to see him getting up from where he had been slumped against the wall. He saw the situation, and his eyes flashed with fear and sadness. But also determination. He charged at Legolas, and slammed into him, sending the elf rolling away from the dwarf. The dwarf gasped, crawling away to find his axe. By the time Aragorn recovered from slamming into his friend, Legolas was already up and was running to the window. He leaped through feet first, and was gone in an instant. Aragorn struggled to his feet, staring after where his friend had been, before running over and peering through the window. Gimli had gotten to his feet too, staring at Aragorn, his face twisted with sadness. Aragorn hung his head and turned away from the window, walking back over to Gimli.
"He's gone."
Gimli hung his head in sadness, nodding. A sudden groan from you on the floor made Aragorn turn sharply towards you. His eyes widened in horror and he jogged over to you. "Y/n, oh no Y/n...hold on ok you're going to be fine." He inspected your wound by gently lifting up your hoodie and shirt underneath, peering at it with worry. He touched it gently, and you let out a hiss of pain. "Sorry."
"How bad is it?" you asked, your voice tight with pain.
"Not too bad, I've seen worse," Aragorn admitted. "But you need medical attention right away."
"We don't have medical attention!" Gimli said worriedly. "And I doubt the hobbits would have anything."
"You'd...be...s-surprised," you gasped out.
"I'm sure we would," Aragorn said, trying to sound comforting. "It's ok, you're gonna be fine. Hold on Y/n, don't close your eyes!"
Black dots danced around the edges of your vision, and you felt the comforting tug of darkness. It helped you escape from the pain and all the worrying thoughts plaguing your mind. You felt yourself drifting away, and you had one last conscious thought.
Legolas.