Note: Not for purists. I take a few liberties with the original story in this beginning part and with the characters' personalities so please, no flames; they will only be met with the delete button, so enjoy it for what it is (fiction), and please send feedback!

Chapter One: Into The Darkness

Joanie sat in her seat with a flop and pulled out her copy of "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" and read. This is how she spent her daily bus ride to and from school at Lincoln High. She's read this series more times than she'd care to admit and she is also reading ti to her kid sister every night as a bedtime story. She tries to soften the blow of some of the violence by rtewording it but, more than once has she been woken up by her little sister wakening from a story-related nightmare.

She was at her favorite part in the book when they enter Moria. She loved how all of the wisdom of Gandalf couldn't open the door but little Frodo figured it out. Just then, the bus arrived at her stop. She put her bookmark in with a groan and got off.

Suppose for a moment that our favorite fantasy series is not fantasy but actually a history of a long-forgotten land. Not on the Earth we know today but an ancient earth. One that was home to all of the fantastic creatures we read about in these books.

The Fellowship walked single file, Gandalf leading the way through the dark passages. They entered a room and Gimli ran to a tomb-like rock. "Here lies Balin..." he read. He fought off tears. "How could this have happened?" He gripped the handle of his battle-axe as anger grew in him.

Their question was answered by Gandalfwhen he read from a journal of sorts. It told of a great drumming sound getting faster and nearer. How they were trapped and could not get out. They had a cave troll with them.

Gandalf stopped when they heard drums. The company looked at each other in fear. Aragorn and Legolas ran to the door and barred it shut. The backed and way and all of them prepared their weapons. Frodo's Sting glowed brightly. For a time they stood there, watching the door as the drumming grew nearer. Suddenly, the cave troll burst through the door. Legolas's bow sang. Aragorn, Boromir, and Gimli attacked fiercely. The hobbits protected Frodo.

The troll's club came down toward the hobbits. They dashed out of the way. Sam huddled in a corner. Frodo found himself trapped behind a pillar in a corner. The troll spotted him and went after him. The troll's arm went around the right side of the pillar. Frodo scrambled to the left. The troll's arm went around the left side. Frodo scrambled to the right. The troll's spear came down suddenly, hitting frodo in the left breast. He gasped for breath for a few moments as the others watched in horror. He fell forward.

"Frodo!" Sam screamed. He looked at Merry and Pippin. There was fire in all of their eyes. All at once the remaining hobbits jumped on the back of the beast, slashing wildly with their hobbit-swords. Seeing Frodo fall ignited a new flame within all of them and with a few final blows, they finally slew the beast.

Sam and Aragorn ran to Frodo. Aragorn pulled out the spear and was shocked to see Frodo catching his breath. Frodo looked up at Aragorn. "You should be dead, my friend." Aragorn said. He unbuttoned Frodo's shirt to find his mithril mail. "It seems a hobbit has thicker skin than we previously thought."

They regrouped and then left the room. They continued along the passage. They entered a grand hall. As they neared its middle, they heard scratching noises all around them. They put their backs together and again drew their weapons. Sting glowed even brighter than before. "Orcs," Legolas muttered with disgust in his voice.

They could see them now in the pale light given of by Gandalf's staff. There were thousands of them. Clinging to the pillars, scrambling on the ceiling, creeping toward them on the floor. They came near and nearer and the nearest was within twenty feet when there was a roar that sent them all scattering. The Fellowship stood there in awe and cunfusion as the roaring grew louder. Gandalf, who faced the way that had come saw fire growing down the hall. "Balrog! Run!" he yelled. They took off running down the next passageway. Along the way, orcs fired arrows and Legolas sniped them in their alcoves.

They ran toward the bridge. After making it across stairs that were crumbling, they got to the bridge. The Balrog cut them off, smashing the thin rock bridge ahead of them to pieces. Boromir and Legolas had been leading and they stopped the company behind them from falling into the abyss. Gandalf came forward and the others stepped back. Gandalf raised his staff. The Balrog swung a flaming whip and shoved the entire fellowship into the darkness and with it, all of Middle-Earth's hopes for survival against Sauron.

When Joanie arrived home, she opened her book and was shocked. Slowly, the words on the pages were fading away and leaving a blank book as if it were being unwritten.

Frodo came to conciousness and looked up. His eyes widened with terror as a large thing with many wheels and a blaring roar came hurtling towards him. Just as it was about to hit him, he was borne away by an unkown person. When he was laid on the side of the road, he saw that it was Aragorn that had saved him. "What was that?" Frodo asked. He put a hand to his temple to massage away a blinding headache.

"I don't know... Are you alright?" Aragorn said. "Do you still have the Ring?"

Frodo's hand went inside his shirt to find the ring and its chain missing. Frodo Looked at Aragorn with a terrified look on face. He stood up and leaned against a nearby brick wall. Aragorn surveyed the surroundings. None of their friends were in sight although there were some peculiar looking men in the area. They were not dressed how Aragorn was accustomed and non recognized his royalty. These people were giving them odd looks and some pointed at Frodo and said "Look at the midget!"

Aragorn looked at Frodo who shrugged. They walked along the sidewalk, against the bulk of the pedestrian traffic. They saw a large crowd on a corner that was shouting jeers and insults. Frodo got down on his hands and knees and crawled under the legs of the rabid group.

When he reached the center, he saw Merry and Pippin, their backs to each other with panic on their faces. "Merry! Pippin! You're alright!" he yelled.

That was his first mistake. The whole group looked at him. "Uh... hi Frodo..." Merry said while Pippin tried to tell him to run.

Aragorn didn't like the sound of Merry's voice and he pushed through the crowd. He grabbed the hobbits by their cloaks and ran. He ran into the subway and found a dark corner to hide in.

While the two younger hobbits made sure Frodo was alright, Aaragorn peered around the corner as the mob made their way into the corridor. "We're trapped. They have the only exit blocked."

More parts of the story are coming soon!

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