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Chapter 6: Gandalf's discovery


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Middle Earth was truly a wonderful place. But no more is it wonderful in the land of Mordor, the home of the dark lord, Sauron. Thought defeated long ago, has begun to return. The land, compared to all of Middle-Earth, was completely barren. No trees, no beautiful animals, even the sky was all black, black as Mordor. Even Mt. Doom in Mordor was very barren and ugly with its fires and ashes erupting from it. The scariest of all Mordor is the fortress of Barad-dûr, Sauron's personal stronghold. And even scarier were the screams from Barad-dûr... screams from a creepy creature...

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"AHHHH! SHIRE! BAGGINS!" screamed the creature...

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Fire erupted from Mount Doom...

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And immediately...

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Black riders were unleashed in Mordor, from Minas Morgul, with orders from Sauron to seek out Baggins, and to claim the ring to bring back to him...

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Back at the Aoiya, in Kyoto, Megumi worked twice as hard to tend to Saito and Aoshi's wounds. She gave orders to the people around her, including Misao, who especially stayed with her to tend to Aoshi. Sanosuke waited outside the room with a darkened expression...

'...You've made me a fool faking your own death, Saito,' though Sanosuke, as he balled his hand into a fist, '...as far as I'm concerned... our score isn't settled yet. You won't run away this time.'

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Kenshin and Kaoru were outside, waiting for the news. Kaoru comforted the children. Ayame was the first to speak, "Auntie Kaoru, will they be okay?"

"Don't worry, Ayame," she assured the child, "you know how good Megumi is with medicine, don't you?"

A few moments of silence followed the youth, "yes, Auntie Kaoru, I do."

"Then have faith, they'll be okay," Kaoru instructed.

Kenshin however, had a great shred of doubt... Kenshin thought to himself...

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Seeing Saito and Aoshi as wounded, as they are, greatly distress me, Miss Kaoru. I still haven't told you about the encounter with Radagast fully, have I?

So far, I've told only Sir Okina of my encounter with the strange old man, that I have. Sir Radagast told me the tale of the One Ring of Power forged by Sauron, the dark lord of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom. He also told me how the dark lord was defeated in a battle to determine the future of Middle-Earth. But the dark lord's spirit was still bound to the ring and it lay dormant for over 3000 years...

Now, it seems, that after all this time... Sauron is starting to return as strong as he ever was. In a way, it makes me recall the fight I had with Shishio to determine the future of all Japan. Another battle is coming, as Radagast said would happen. It will be indeed, be as worse as the battle with Shishio, much worse indeed, that it will. And as it happens, it's not just Japan that is in danger, but this entire world as well...

And it will begin when this strange realm of Middle-Earth, as told to me by Radagast, is first taken over by Sauron. I'm sure of it!

The creator of the evil ring of power seeks to claim this world as his own, as well as his world, when he's finished. The battle for both worlds is indeed... about to begin...

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Kenshin was indeed right. Some way, somehow, Sauron is seeking to claim Japan, as well as Kenshin's entire world, for his own...

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Gandalf rode into the land of Gondor, which nearly neighbors Mordor. And there, over a hill, Gandalf sees for himself his worst fear realized. Sauron is back, and is planning to rule Middle-Earth. Mordor thundered with fire, the same fire from Mount Doom...

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Gandalf immediately rode over to Minas Tirith, the white city of Gondor. He walked hurriedly through the halls of the city, and, with a guide, went into the library downstairs...

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Gandalf pulled out every book, every paper, and every manuscript of the old times of Middle-Earth, to solve the ominous mystery of Bilbo's ring. Suddenly, he looked at a manuscript, which may be the answer to his questions:

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In the year 3434 of the Second Age...

Here follows the account of Isildur, the High King of Gondor, and the finding of the Ring of Power...

It has come to me, the One Ring...

It should be an heirloom of my kingdom. All those who follow in my bloodline should be bound to its fate, for I will risk no hurt to the Ring...

It is precious to me... though I buy it with a great pain...

The markings on the band begin to fade...

The writing which was at first as clear as red flame has all but disappeared, a secret now that only fire can tell...

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As Gandalf finished the manuscript, he now knows what he should do to find out if the ring which Bilbo once had was, in fact, the evil one ring of power.

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In the shire, one evening, a hobbit, who was cutting wood, is now startled by the coming of a Black Rider. The rider was entirely cloaked with a hood, which apparently had no face. The horse's eyes were a bright red. His dog barked at the rider at first, but sensibly retreats into the house, as the rider became more ominous than it was.

The black rider turns to face the hobbit. "Shire! Baggins!" it said most ominously.

The frightened hobbit stutters his answer to the rider. "Th...there's no Bagginses around here!" the hobbit stutters even more as he started to move back.

"...There out in Hobbiton!"

The rider then started to move and frightened the hobbit even more...

"...That way!"

The rider then strode off fiercely as the hobbit follows his dog's example and ran into the house.

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In Hobbiton, the black rider's next destination, it was closing time for the local pub, The Green Dragon. Frodo and Sam left and said farewell to the lovely Rosie.

As Frodo and Sam bade each other farewell in front of Frodo's new home, Bag End, Frodo finds a window open, and the house is all dark and gloomy. Suddenly, but unexpectedly, a hand slowly manifested from behind Frodo and grabbed him. Frodo gasped and turned around to find Gandalf behind him...

"Is it secret! Is it safe!" he cried out to Frodo.

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Frodo immediately went into the chest, where he kept the envelope, as Gandalf stood watch. He hears a sound coming and quickly turned around. So far, all was clear. Finally, Frodo pulls out the envelope with the ring in it and Gandalf snatched it immediately and threw it into the fireplace, to burn.

"What are you doing?" Frodo wonders fiercely at the wizard's behavior.

Gandalf waited until the paper burned and the ring revealed. The wizard grabbed a pair of tongs and, with caution and careful precision... retrieved the ring from the fire.

"Hold out your hand Frodo," he instructed the hobbit. Frodo was still unsure.

"Its quite cool," Gandalf assured Frodo as he dropped the ring into the hobbit's hand. Gandalf was right, the ring didn't burn him, and not a bit of it did.

"What can you see?" asked Gandalf, "...can you see anything?"

Frodo looked at the ring carefully, "...nothing... there's nothing," said Frodo.

The wizard put on a face of defeat that he thought he had the answer, but suddenly...

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Frodo spoke, "wait." Gandalf regained his composure, he was right after all; he had found the answer to the mystery of Bilbo's ring...

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"...There are markings," Frodo went on as red-like flame markings started to appear on the ring, that shone all over his face, "...its some form of Elvish, I can't read it."

"There are few who can," answered Gandalf, "...the language is that of Mordor, which I shall not utter here."

Frodo turned around and gasped at the wizard, "...Mordor?"

Gandalf begins to tell the hobbit the translation of the language, "in the common tongue, it says; One ring to rule them all... One ring to find them... One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness, bind them."

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Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Lord of the Rings. RK is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Lord of the Rings is the property of Professor J. R. R. Tolkien

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