The sun began to rise on a new day. Today was the day, the Fellowship of the Ring was finally going to depart Rivendell and begin their journey to Mordor.

It had been several days since the Council meeting with the past days being used to gather what supplies would be needed for the long journey, and plotting out the course to be taken. Having of seen a map of Middle-Earth, Kouta knew that this was going to be a long, LONG journey. At the least, a few months, depending on the amount of trouble they came across, at the most a year depending on the various roadblocks they could potentially encounter. The mission of destroying the One Ring wasn't going to be easy, without his Overlord powers getting there instantaneously was out the window. The fact Sauron prevented him from opening a Crack into Mount Doom itself spoke volume of his powers, Kouta couldn't risk opening another Crack in fear of giving away their location during the journey.

They were ten people, or more precisely four Hobbits, an elf, a dwarf, two men, a wizard, and a Kamen Rider who was also a Space God, against an army of evil creatures and men. If Sauron discovered them and found out they had the One Ring, there wouldn't be any doubt about it he would send those Nazgul guys, and probably even an army to keep them from reaching Mordor. Kouta could fight yes, but the others, he could tell Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, and Gandalf could hold their own, but the Hobbits were another story. They came from a race of people who preferred peace and quiet over anything else, which meant they had zero experience in fighting, let alone wielding a sword. Plus if they were engaged by an army his new friends would only be able to last long until continuous fighting would drain them and they would be overwhelmed. So as it looked, Kouta was going to be doing this journey the old fashion way, walking.

As it stood at the moment, there was really only one major roadblock in their path to Mordor. The fortress of Isengard, which was under the rule of the wizard Saruman. Gandalf had told him a bit about Saruman, he was a powerful wizard like him but even stronger, he was once their friend and ally but now it seemed he had fallen over to Sauron's side and was now breeding his own army of Orcs in the pits below the fortress he inhabited. Isengard sat right in the middle of their path to Mordor, to avoid trouble would mean taking one of two long other paths to avoid Isengard entirely which they wouldn't have the supplies for, not to mention both paths involved long, perilous tracks themselves through the mountains. The roads through and around mountains weren't exactly drawn out on the maps, plus there were still dangers from landslides, Giants, Goblins, Mountain Trolls, and who knows what else.

They were going to have trouble either way, but with how limited of supplies they had any longer treks bode far too dangerous to do, so getting close to Isengard and then just hoping to slip past undetected was the only way they could go if it meant a straight shot to Mordor. Once they bypassed Isengard and got some distance between them and Saruman, well that would be one less roadblock to worry about.

Kouta sat on a stone bench as he thought through all of this, just a few feet away from him was the rest of the Fellowship, everyone sans Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn had arrived already and were now just waiting. Everyone had something to carry, their weapons, maybe a few items on them, but otherwise the majority of what they had packed was being carried by the lone horse that they would bring along just for a few days until the more dangerous parts of the journey would begin. Another factor for the road they would be taking, they were a small company, which was both good and bad. Good in that they would be able to move faster with less people, but bad in the fact that they wouldn't be able to carry as much supplies as say an army could, which doing so could potentially slow them down. Speed was important in this mission. The faster they got to Mordor, the faster they could destroy Sauron before his war against Middle-Earth could truly begin, the faster they were, the faster they would be at escaping Sauron's minions if they were discovered and given chase.

As long as they could avoid the big fights, Kouta couldn't see anything going wrong, and as long as he was there, those Nazgul weren't going to get anywhere near Frodo.

Just then Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn appeared, being followed by Elrond, Arwen, as well as a few of their people, most likely coming to see the Fellowship off as they began their journey. Kouta got up from his seat and walked over to join the others "Looks like it's showtime." he says in his head.

"The Ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom…" Elrond began to speak.

Before him was the gathered Fellowship "On you who travel with him, no oath, nor bond is laid to go further than you will...Farewell. Hold to your purpose. May the blessings of Elves, and Men, and all Free Folk go with you." Elrond finishes.

Legolas, and Aragorn put their right hands over their hearts and bow forward a little in a sign of acknowledgement and respect to the Elven Lord, Kouta nods his head as well also to acknowledge this.

"The Fellowship awaits the Ring-bearer." Gandalf says.

All eyes were now on Frodo who seems to hesitate at this, slowly he turns around, stopping to eye everyone for a second before he begins walking towards the archway. The others move aside for him as Gandalf gestures towards the archway, the road splitting into two different paths.

"Mordor Gandalf, is it left or right?" Frodo asks in a whisper.

"Left." Gandalf whispers back, putting a hand on his left shoulder to reassure him that it would be alright.

(Insert Lord of the Rings: The Ring Goes South)

Everyone follows right behind the two in a single file line, Gimli, and Boromir behind Gandalf, followed by Merry, Pippin, Legolas, Sam who held the reins of their horse as he led it through the archway, and finally Kouta. All the while Aragorn was still standing where he had been before. He turns to follow but then stops, he slowly turns back and looks towards Arwen. She had a brave look on her face, but in her eyes Aragorn could sense sadness within; Aragorn gives a faint smile and nods a farewell as he turns to follow after the others. Arwen lowers her head and looks at the ground

The Fellowship begins their departure from Rivendell, crossing the bridge and making their way onto the mountainside path. Some time passes as the group approach the final turn, that once they make it the sight of Rivendell would be no more. While walking Kouta turns his head and gets a final, good look at Rivendell as the golden rays of the rising sun shine brightly on it.

For a long time the Fellowship travels. Passing by a set of old ruins on a plateau, and over open plains and hillsides. Passing over a rocky hill between two rocks we see Gandalf in the lead followed by Legolas, Gimli with a one-sided ax held over his shoulder, the four Hobbits with the horse in tow, Kouta, Boromir, and finally Aragorn at the rear of the group.

"We must hold to this course, west of the Misty Mountains for 40 days. If our luck holds, the Gap of Rohan will still be open to us. From there our road turns east, to Mordor." Gandalf says.

(End Lord of the Rings: The Ring Goes South)

After travelling for a few more hours, the group decides to stop and rest on an outstretched arm of the mountains. Sam cooks sausage and other food in a pan over a fire, putting some of that food onto a wooden plate as he then stands up and climbs up onto a rock behind him. Bringing the food over to Frodo who is sitting down and watching Boromir as he spars with Merry and Pippin, tutoring them on sword fighting as at the moment he spars with Pippin.

"Two, one, five. Good! Very good." Boromir congratulates Pippin after the young Hobbit successfully managed to block his sword swings as he backs up a little and then turns his attention to Merry. Just a few feet from them Aragorn along with Kouta watched the training session.

In Kouta's mind he was glad he wasn't the only one thinking that if they were going to be doing such a dangerous journey it probably would be in the best interest if the Hobbits got some training in sword fighting. On the off chance they did encounter Saruman or Sauron's forces, the Hobbits would be able to hold their ground until help had arrived from one of the others during combat.

Boromir was now back to fighting Pippin as he began swinging his sword again putting Pippin on the defense as he began blocking the attacks "Move your feet." Aragorn calls out while he had a pipe in his mouth.

Pippin blocked one last attack from Boromir "You look good Pippin." Merry compliments.

"Thanks." Pippin replies while backing up as it was now Merry's turn again to train.

"Faster!" Boromir says as he begins swinging, increasing his speed just a little as Merry blocks his attacks.

"Doesn't using a real sword for training seem kind of dangerous?" Kouta asks making Aragorn look at him. "I mean, I don't know if this is how you guys train people here but where I'm from we tend to use, you know, fake swords made of wood or something so that way you don't accidentally cut the trainee up. Plus it also allows you to go all out later on to up the training experience, all without actually slicing up the poor guy."

"We had to pack the necessities for the journey. Wooden or any form of training swords would have taken up room that could be used for something more useful, or necessary. We will just have to teach the Hobbits carefully during these training spars. After all it is either that or we don't train them at all." Aragorn says.

"Right, which would be very, very bad for us if we did get into a fight with any of Sauron's guys." Kouta says.

"If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note they're not." Gimli begins as he and Gandalf are up on one of the higher elevated rocks, Gandalf sitting atop one while Gimli walks around to its left side "I'd say we were taking the long way 'round. Gandalf, we could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin, would give us a royal welcome." Gimli says.

"No Gimli, I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice." Gandalf says.

Boromir spars again with Merry as Boromir swings, and Merry blocks "Say uh~, Kouta was it?" Pippin calls out as Kouta looks over.

"That's right." Kouta replies with a nod.

"Are you a warrior wizard or something?" Pippin asks.

"Huh?" Kouta asks.

"What you did back there at the Council meeting. You summoned a giant orange from the sky, and transformed it into armor. How did you do that?" Pippin asks.

Merry and Boromir finish their spar as Merry turns his attention to Kouta as well "Yeah, what was that about? It was amazing. Never seen anything like it before, not even from Gandalf."

"Oh. Uh~." Kouta says as he scratches the back of his head, he had been so busy with everything else he completely forgot about what his explanation would be when the others got curious about his Kamen Rider powers.

"You could say they're, magical in a way." Kouta says.

"But that makes no sense." Sam speaks up making Kouta turn towards him "How can you turn fruit in armor? Do you have other armor like it? And how do they appear like that from the sky and everything?"

"Slow down Sam, I'm sure many of us have questions for Kouta here. And he will do his best to explain them to us." Aragorn says.

"Uh~ right. Thanks Aragorn." Kouta says as he puts his right hand to his chin and begins thinking.

After a few seconds Kouta stands up and takes a few steps forward "Well for starters, the way I summon my armor onto me is with this." he begins as he takes out his Sengoku Driver.

The others are confused by the item having of never seen anything like it before "What is that supposed to be?" Frodo asks.

"It's called a Sengoku Driver. It's a...item I came across one day that in a way grants me the power to fight. All I do is put it on my waist." Kouta says as he does just that with the strap forming around him.

The others are slightly intrigued or awed by what they see "Is it a magic belt?" Pippin asks.

"Yeah, you could say that." Kouta says as he then reaches into his back pocket and brings out his Orange Lockseed.

"Is that a lock?" Merry asks.

"In a way. It's actually called a Lockseed. Just watch." Kouta says as everyone pays close attention to Kouta.

"Henshin!" Kouta shouts as he unlocks the Lockseed "Orange!"

A circle Crack opens up above him as the Orange Arms Armor Part descends out and stops a few inches beneath it. Kouta places the Orange Lockseed onto his Driver and locks it into place "Lock On!"

Kouta then pulls up on the Cutting Blade "slicing" the Lockseed open "Soiya!" the Crack disappears and the Armor slowly descends toward him as his Ride Wear undersuit materializes onto him "Orange Arms: Hanamichi on Stage!" the Orange Arms Armor falls onto his head and then forms onto his body, in a flash of light he completes his transformation into Gaim.

"Whoa~!" Merry and Pippin cry out in absolute shock and awe, even though they had seen it before it was still a sight to behold.

Sam, and Frodo are also in awe while Gimli and Legolas have intrigued looks on their faces. Gandalf and Aragorn's faces remain straight as they are nevertheless still also intrigued by this while Boromir has a more questionable look on his face seemingly not impressed at all.

"And uh~ yeah. That's how it works." Gaim says "Not really explaining much but, I can't really explain something I myself don't know about. Like why these things are basically fruit armor. It's just how they are I guess."

"One of the mysteries of the world, you could say." Gandalf speaks up.

"Yeah!" Kouta says pointing at Gandalf "There you go!" he lowers his arm.

"Yes well" Boromir speaks up catching everyone's attention "An incredible light show I will say, Kouta Kazuraba."

The way he was speaking to him slightly annoyed Kouta, almost like this guy was looking down on him for some reason "But it takes more than summoning magic fruit armor to fight. Sauron's beasts of war are not something so easily frightened by magic."

"If you're asking if I can fight, I can handle myself pretty well. I may not look like it, but I've been fighting for a few years now." Kouta says.

"I will be the judge of that." Boromir says.

Aragorn looks over at Merry and Pippin and gestures them over, the two Hobbits knowing what's about to happen run off the field as Boromir holds his sword at the ready. All the while Gaim just puts his left hand on the hilt of his sheathed Musou Saber, but does nothing with it. Boromir eyes the Kamen Rider, waiting for him to draw his blade so they could fight "If you're waiting for me to draw my weapon, you can go right ahead. I just thought I'd take this little fight nice and slow first." Gaim says.

"Are you mocking me? I will not hold back like I have been for the Hobbits." Boromir says.

"I'm not, I'm telling you, you can go ahead and attack." Gaim says.

"Very well." Boromir says.

With a battle cry Boromir charges forth, quickly closing the distance as he swings his sword down with Gaim throwing his body to the right to dodge, immediately he counters with a side kick right into Boromir's chest sending him flying to the ground. The others are slightly impressed by this while the Hobbits look on in awe. Boromir gets back on his feet and without a second though charges again, swinging his sword from the side as Gaim ducks and punches him in the stomach knocking the air out of him. Gaim gets back up and follows with a reverse roundhouse to the face sending Boromir spinning into the air as he lands back on the ground a few feet away.

"Someone who can fight even without a weapon. Never seen a person like that before." Gandalf says.

"Only a fool would dare fight anyone or anything using only their bare fists and feet." Gimli says.

Boromir slowly gets back on his feet, grunting in pain while doing so until he is back up, a look of anger on his face as he aims his sword at Gaim "Draw your weapon, and fight me like a real warrior!" he orders.

"Alright, you asked for it." Gaim says, bringing out his Daidaimaru as he bends down and places it on his shoulder.

The two warriors stand in place and stare directly at one another, Boromir with an intense look in his eyes while Kouta's eyes are not seen due to his helmet. With another battle cry Boromir charges, closing the distance as he drives his sword forward toward Gaim's chest, in a split second Gaim swings his Daidaimaru sword hitting Boromir's sword to the ground as he then draws his Musou saber and holds the edge of it close to Boromir's throat. Everything comes to a complete stop as Boromir's sword is held against the ground by Gaim's sword while his saber is held close to Boromir's throat.

"Still not convinced?" Gaim questions.

Boromir remains silent for a few seconds as sweat runs down his face, finally he relents "Very well, I give." he says.

Gaim pulls his saber back and lifts his sword back onto his shoulder while straightening himself. Boromir also pulls back as he rubs his throat out of reflex, the Hobbits are in absolute awe at what they have just witnessed while Aragorn and the other seasoned fighters of the group are intrigued by what they have seen.

"Come Hobbits. Let us return to training." Boromir calls to them while walking away from Gaim.

Merry and Pippin quickly get back on their feet and run over to Boromir while Gaim walks over and sits back down next to Aragorn "Skilled in both unarmed, and armed combat. There are very few, if non out there who can perform such a task. Especially as fighting anyone without a weapon would most certainly end in the unarmed being killed in the end." Aragorn says.

"May be true. But if you're skilled enough, even your own hands can be very helpful in a fight." Gaim says.

"Where was it that elf lord said he came from?" Gimli asks Gandalf.

"From a distant land." Gandalf replies without looking at him.

Legolas is looking down at Gaim, just then almost as if he sensed something he turns his head and fast walks by Gandalf, hopping onto a small rock before going onto a slightly bigger one as he stops and looks off into the distance. What appears to be a small dark cloud is seen coming in their direction. An alarmed look comes to Legolas's face as Gandalf is the next one to take notice of the strange cloud.

Sam holds two of Gaim's other Lockseeds in his hands as he looks at them "Pine? And Strawberry?" he questions as he looks at Gaim. The Kamen Rider having of joined him and Frodo on the rock when Sam wanted to learn a bit more about Kouta's Lockseeds.

"Yep, they may not mean much now. But each armor has its own set of skills and weapons I gain when I put them on." Gaim explains.

"Really?" Sam asks.

"Yep! For example this sword right here is the main weapon of this Orange Armor." Gaim says while holding up his Daidaimaru sword "For the Pine armor-" suddenly Gaim stops as he turns his head slightly to the left before completely turning to look off into the distance, spotting the same dark cloud Legolas and Gandalf had.

Meanwhile Boromir accidentally nicks Pippin's hand with his sword, making him drop his as he yelps and throws his hand around "Sorry!" Boromir quickly apologizes.

However, while still holding his left hand in pain Pippin suddenly kicks Boromir in the shin, making him cry out as he grabs his left foot and pulls it up.

"Get him!" Merry yells as he hits Boromir in the other leg, knocking him back as the two Hobbits decide to tackle him to the ground taking him completely by surprise.

The scene causes Aragorn to chuckle lightly "For the shire!" Merry yells.

"Hold him! Hold him down Merry!" Pippin yells as Boromir is also laughing now while the hobbits continue to "attack" him.

Aragorn gets up deciding to put a stop to this as he walks over "Gentlemen that's enough." he says.

Putting a hand on both of their shoulders, when suddenly both of them turn around and grab his legs, pulling them forward causing him fall back onto his back knocking the air out of him and surprising him at the same time.

"You've got my arm! You've got my arm!" Merry shouts repeatedly as the black cloud has now seemingly gotten a lot closer to their location.

"What is that?" Sam asks aloud as he and Frodo take notice of it as well.

"Nothing it's just a wisp of cloud." Gimli says thinking nothing of it.

Gaim slowly gets onto his feet "Yeah what cloud moves that fast?" he questions now getting really alarmed by what it was.

"He is right it's moving fast." Boromir says while catching his breath, now back on his feet with the others as everyone has now taken notice of the cloud quickly approaching them, if what they were seeing was a cloud that is "Against the wind."

The black "cloud" then breaks up into a bunch of smaller "clouds".

"That is not a cloud people!" Gaim nearly shouts.

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas yells.

"Hide!" Aragorn immediately yells.

"Hurry!" Boromir yells.

"Frodo, Sam, Kouta! Take cover!" Aragorn shouts at the three as Gaim helps the two Hobbits quickly onto their feet.

Everyone scrambles around, grabbing whatever items were theirs that laid out in the open.

"Go! Go! I got the fire!" Gaim shouts to Sam and Frodo pointing them away as he rushes over and stomps the fire out.

Frodo, Sam, and Aragorn throw themselves beneath the alcove of a large rock, pushing themselves up against the wall as best as they could as Gaim also dives beneath a large rock for cover. Everyone else finds their own hiding spots under rocks or in bushes, getting themselves concealed as best as possible as then everything goes completely silent. Several intense seconds of silence go by and still nothing. And then that silence is broken by the resounding caws of the Crebain, the dark birds flying right over the Fellowships campsite as from their respective hiding spots everyone watches them. This only lasts for but a few seconds however, as soon all of the birds begin to turn and fly back into the direction they came from, making a slight shift to their right as they do so.

Once at a far enough distance where their sounds could only barely be heard, everyone began to slowly come out from their hiding spots, Gaim gets out from the rock and takes a few steps forward while watching the birds fly away "What was that about?" he asks.

"Spies of Saruman." Gandalf speaks up in a slightly angered tone as he takes a few steps down from his hiding spot "The passage south is being watched." he says while everyone regroups around him.

"We must take the Pass of Caradhras." Gandalf says as he turns and looks up at the nearby snow-covered mountains.

Caradhras…

The Fellowship make their way up the snowy slopes of Caradhras, the sky blue and mostly clear of clouds.

As they made their way through the snow, Frodo loses his footing and falls, causing him to roll down the slope towards Aragorn. "Frodo!" Aragorn calls out, catching several of the others' attentions.

Luckily Frodo rolls right into Aragorn who stops him and then helps him up to his feet. Frodo gets back up and wipes some of the snow off, reaching under his coat Frodo suddenly finds the One Ring no longer there. Looking a few feet up ahead of him, he and Aragorn spot it lying in the snow, the sun gleaming off of it as it is then picked up; Frodo catches his breath as he and Aragorn stare at the person now holding it. Boromir raises the Ring up to his face and looks at it, his eyes unable to be taken off of it as he finds himself drawn to it, like he was in a trance.

By this point everyone else has come to a stop as they look back and take notice of what was going on, Kouta is drawn to Boromir specifically, not liking one bit how he seemed so mesmerized by the One Ring he now held.

"Boromir." Aragorn calls to him, a worried look on his face.

Boromir does not respond to Aragorn "It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt...over so small a thing." he begins to say.

Warning alarms were going off inside Kouta's mind, his Overlord senses telling him something bad was emanating from the Ring.

"Such a little thing." Boromir continues with a saddened look on his face. Suddenly he begins to lift his other hand toward it to touch the Ring.

"Boromir!" Aragorn calls out again, this time knocking him out of his trance as Boromir stops and looks toward him.

"Give the Ring to Frodo." Aragorn calmly orders.

Boromir stares down at them with his mouth opened, almost like he was hurt, and confused by what was going on. Finally after a few seconds Boromir began to walk toward them. Aragorn keeping his eyes on him as he got closer and then held his hand out to give Frodo back the Ring.

"As you wish." he says.

Frodo quickly takes it from him without hesitation "I care not." Boromir says.

Yet he looks back down at Frodo and continues to stare at him for several seconds, before randomly giving out a chuckle as he ruffles Frodo's hair a bit. Boromir turns and readjusts his shield on his back as he starts going back up the mountain, Kouta stares at this, behind him he held his Orange Lockseed at the ready just in case, as he also takes notice of Aragorn having his hands wrapped around the hilt of his sword, ready to draw at a moment's notice as well. It seems both of them were being very cautious right there, as they should be given what happened to Isildur could very well happen to any one of them as well. Kouta didn't like it one bit, how this one little ring could potentially turn any one of his new friends against the rest of them. If he had the power to destroy it he would have done so already, such a weapon should never exist.

Several Hours Later…

Kouta was now back in his Orange Arms armor as he held his left arm up in front of his face and pushed his way through the deep snow. A powerful snowstorm had arrived seemingly from out of nowhere, hitting the Fellowship hard as they trekked alongside the narrow pathway on the side of the mountain. The sky was now blackened out by the dark clouds above them as Gandalf led the way, using his staff to make a path through the snow that had now piled up to at least the stomach for Kouta, Aragorn, Boromir, and the wizard. It was so deep now that Aragorn, and Boromir had been forced to carry the Hobbits' in their arms, Aragorn holding Sam, while Boromir carried Merry and Pippin while Sam told them he was fine and continued pulling the horse along.

"Good thing this armor protects me from the cold somewhat." Gaim says in his head.

Just then Legolas walked right by him, the Elf somehow being able to walk right atop the snow without even sinking into it, almost as if he was as light as a feather.

"How the hell does he do that?" Gaim questions.

Legolas walked to the front of the group and stopped right at the edge as he looked out into the blinding snowstorm. To his ears, Legolas could just barely make out a voice among the blowing wind, a deep, and cruel sounding voice as it seemed to be chanting something.

"There is a fell voice on the air." Legolas speaks up.

Just as he said that the voice all of a sudden picked up in volume, everyone could now hear it "What in the world?" Gaim questions.

Who was that, and how could their voice be heard through the storm?

"IT'S SARUMAN!" Gandalf yells out.

Just then the sound of something breaking above them draws everyone's attention upward, just in time to see a group of large boulders falling right down towards them "WATCH OUT!" Gaim shouts as he and everyone else quickly throw themselves against the mountain wall for safety.

The rocks hit the side of the path and fall right off "He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must turn back!" Aragorn yells.

"No!" Gandalf yells back, determined to continue their way through the mountain as he had a feeling that trying to force them back was what he was trying to do.

Gandalf steps up out of the snow and onto the ledge as he begins yelling out, chanting something "Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith! (Sleep, Caradhras, be still, lie still, hold your wrath!)"

To Gaim it looked like he was trying to fight back against Saruman's magic, now that he thought of it, based on where they should be, and how far away Isengard supposedly was, the fact that Saruman's magic was seemingly causing all of this worried Gaim a lot. Perhaps this guy was as powerful as Gandalf said he was!

Which unfortunately appeared to be true, as even with Gandalf's voice booming through the air, the voice of Saruman seemed to be even louder than his as it easily drowned Gandalf's voice out through the maelstrom.

From atop his tower of Orthanc, at the fortress of Isengard, Saruman continued his magical chant. "Cuiva nwalca Carnirasse; Nai yarvaxea rasselya; taltuva notto-carinnar! (Wake up cruel Redhorn! May your bloodstained horn fall upon enemy heads!" his arms outstretched forward with his staff in hand.

Saruman faced Caradhras as from his tower he could see the large mass of dark clouds that had now covered the top of Caradhras, blocking out the blue sky as a powerful gust of wind blew past him causing his robes and beard to flap around from it.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning strikes the top of the mountain right above the Fellowship, everyone looks up again to now see an avalanche coming right down towards them. Gandalf cries out in shock as he throws himself up against the wall again to prevent himself from being knocked off the ledge.

"Oh no you don't!" Gaim yells out.

His orange eyes suddenly glow in multiple colors like a rainbow, as he takes out his Daidaimaru and pulls up on his cutting blade "Soiya! Orange Squash!"

Charging up his Daidaimaru with energy, Gaim uses his Overlord powers to add in some extra power behind the attack as with a battle cry he swings his sword upwards, producing a massive orange energy slash that collides into the snow and explodes. The shockwave of which pushes everyone up against the wall even more as the heat from the explosion even brings some warmth to the group.

From the tower of Orthanc, Saruman's eyes widened as he gasped in shock.

The explosion died down, the snowstorm was still blowing strong but other than that everything was completely silent. Gandalf and the others all opened their eyes, and then one by one turned their heads towards Gaim as he still held his sword out to the side after swinging it. The voice of Saruman having of disappeared, Gaim felt and could even sense that they were in the clear, for now anyways, as he looked back at the others "I think we're good for now! But staying here any longer is probably not a good idea! We need to get out of here before Saruman tries bringing the whole mountain down on top of us again!" Gaim shouts over the storm.

Everyone was still in complete shock and awe as to what they had just witnessed, even Gandalf had never seen something like that before. With just the swing of his sword, Kouta had managed to stop an avalanche from burying them alive.

"Gandalf!" Gaim yells again bringing him back to reality.

"Kouta is right!" Boromir shouts turning to face Gandalf as the wizard looks back at him "We must get off the mountain! Make for the Gap of Rohan, and take the west road to my city!"

"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn shouts pointing this part out.

"Aragorn's right! Now that Saruman knows what we're doing going through there would practically guarantee he comes after us!" Gaim shouts in agreement.

"We cannot pass over a mountain. Let us go under it. Let us pass through the mines of Moria." Gimli speaks up.

Gandalf doesn't say a thing, he just stares at everyone, in his mind though Gandalf thinks back to a previous conversation he had with Saruman regarding Moria some time ago "Moria. You fear to go into those mines. The Dwarves delved too greedily, and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dȗm…"

Saruman stares at Gandalf "Shadow, and flame." he says as he turns the page in his book, revealing a drawing of a large, shadowy beast with flames emitting from its body as it eyes glowed in fire as well.

Gandalf opened his mouth to speak "Let the Ring-Bearer decide."

Frodo looks at Gandalf with a shocked expression, he had placed the decision onto his shoulders and Frodo wasn't sure of what the right choice was. He turned his head and looked at Sam whose eyes were now on him, just like many of the others "We cannot stay here! This will the death of the Hobbits!" Boromir shouts as Merry and Pippin were shivering like crazy from the cold, and even beginning to turn pale from it.

"Frodo?" Gandalf says.

Frodo looks back at Gandalf, finally after a few more seconds of silence he gives his answer "We will go through the mines."

"...So be it." Gandalf says.

Back at Isengard, Saruman continued staring towards Caradhras with widened eyes "This power." he says in both awe, as well as shock.

He had never sensed anything like it before. And just as quick as it appeared, it was gone like that, but even those short few seconds caused great concern for the White Wizard. Gandalf had found something, or someone, someone with great power the likes of which he had never felt before. With haste he turned and made his way back into the tower. Sauron had to be informed of this.

More time had passed. The storm eventually degraded and the Fellowship was able to get off the mountain as they now made their way towards the mines of Moria, more precisely known as Khazad-dȗm, a Dwarven underground kingdom that lied beneath the Misty Mountains. A thick fog had now rolled in but that was behind, and above them, the area they were currently in was relatively clear of it.

Going up another mountainside path, the group spotted what appeared to be an aqueduct, one that lied in ruin as water continued to fall from it into the depths below. They were close to Moria.

"Frodo, come and help an old man." Gandalf calls to him.

Frodo walks up to Gandalf's side as he puts his arms around the young Hobbit's shoulders "How is your shoulder?" he asks.

Not wanting to take any more chances until they were somewhere safe, Kouta remained transformed as he kept walking while at the rear of the group "Kouta."

Gaim turned his head to see Boromir approach him as he walked up to his side and kept pace with him "Perhaps, I may have been a bit too harsh on you back at the campsite." Boromir says.

"Hehe, don't worry about it. I can understand." Gaim replies with a chuckle.

"You're a seasoned warrior, I can sense that in you. You wanted to actually see if what Elrond said about me was true for yourself. In which you did, you just got a bit carried away when I kind of embarrassed you in front of the others. Which I guess I should apologize for." Gaim says.

"No, it's alright. You are right, I did want to see how much of this "powerful" and "skilled" warrior Elrond boasted of you was true for myself. In which you not only proved that well by defeating me both unarmed, and armed, but back there. When you somehow stopped that avalanche from potentially burying us all. You truly are a great warrior, or a great warrior wizard is the right thing to be saying, especially for one as young as yourself. You have earned great respect from me, Kouta." Boromir says.

Gaim nods his head and grunts in acknowledgement.

"Now I am curious. Where is it that you come from? Perhaps when this is all over, a visit to your land would not be such a bad idea. I need to know what land raised such a great, powerful warrior as young as you." Boromir says.

"Eh?" Gaim says taken aback by this "Uh~ well…" Gaim drawls out as he scratches the back of his head, once again stumped as to how to answer the question due to his situation.

Gimli gasps in shock as the group reaches the top of the path "The walls…" he begins to say as he points forward "...of Moria."

Everyone looks forward, through the mist before them was a massive lake for which the aqueduct had most likely been built for, as well as a vast cliff face, sheer and brooding, rising above them.

"Huh?" Gaim says tilting his head to the side, confused by what he was supposed to be looking at.

The group had begun making their way around the lake as they were now walking alongside the cliff face "I'm confused, where's Moria exactly?" Gaim asks.

"You are standing next to it. You see young Kouta, Dwarf doors are invisible when closed." Gimli explains as he begins tapping his axe against the cliff.

"Oh~." Gaim says now understanding.

"Yes Gimli, their own masters cannot find them. If their secrets are forgotten." Gandalf speaks up.

"Why doesn't that surprise me." Legolas adds in, making Gimli grumble under his breath annoyed by the comment.

"So how are we supposed to find the entrance, if the door is literally invisible?" Gaim asks.

"You will find out in due time Kouta. Just be patient." Gandalf answers.

Frodo's right foot slips into the water by accident, quickly he pulls it out and backs away from the water. Looking out he finds the sight of it rather frightening, dead trees protrude out from it with moss hanging from the branches, and the water was for some reason very dark, so dark that they couldn't see anything in it, if anything was alive in it that is. Even Gaim found himself getting a rather creepy vibe from just looking at it, the place so far looked like something out of a horror movie, and he didn't like that one bit. Reckon if he was in one of those horror movies, with the way he is now he'd probably be able to deal with the knife-wielding maniac, or supernatural killer no problem so there was a bright side to the situation at least.

"Well let's see." Gandalf says as the group reaches a rather smooth part of the wall between two large trees.

He begins wiping away at the wall with his left hand "Ithildin." he quietly says.

Upon closer examination, there seemed to be some carvings in the wall "It mirrors only starlight, and moonlight." he continues as he turns around and looks up to the sky.

Just then the clouds roll out of the way revealing the full moon, the light of it which shines down onto the Fellowship. Suddenly the wall begins to glow in a bright, silver light, the light forming the outline of a door made up of two columns beneath an arch with a star in the center. Writing in a strange language appears on the arch as Gandalf backs up a few feet and puts his left hand to his hip with a proud smile on his face while Gimli stares at the gate in complete awe. Gaim breathes in awe as he stares at the door of light.

"It reads, "The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend, and enter."" Gandalf explains while using his staff to point out what the letters were saying.

"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asks.

"Ah it's quite simple. If you are a friend you speak the password and the doors will open." Gandalf quickly explains as he approaches the door and places the tip of his staff against the center of it.

"Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen! (Gate of the Elves, open now for me!)" Gandalf chants while everyone watches.

However, nothing happens.

Gaim listens but hears nothing, the door remains shut. Even Gandalf seems a bit confused by this as he takes a step back and decides to try something else "Fennas Nogothrim, lasto beth lammen. (Doorway of the Dwarf-folk, listen to the word of my tongue.)" He chants with his arms and staff now held in the air.

Still no response from the door as Gandalf lets out a huff and throws his arms down. Gimli groans in a displeasured tone, Legolas looks down at Pippin as Pippin says "Nothing's happening."

"Maybe it needs a push?" Gaim suggests.

Gandalf takes this to mind as he does just that, walking up to and attempting to push the door open, but it does not budge one bit. Even when putting all of his strength behind it.

"I once knew every spell in all the tongues of Elves, Men, and Orcs." Gandalf says to himself.

"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asks.

"Knock your head against these doors Peregrin Took! And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions! I will try to find the opening words." Gandalf replies back in anger and annoyance.

"If it's alright I could try destroying them? Unless your cousin minds that in which case I won't but, just trying to throw a suggestion out there." Gaim says.

"As helpful and quickly as that would be, I'm afraid our hosts would probably not take as too kind as to us destroying one of their secret doors." Gandalf says.

"Don't suppose these guys would have a magical doorbell but I highly doubt that. And knocking would probably not do well either considering how thick these walls probably are." Gaim says in his mind.

Gaim lets out a silent sigh of annoyance, this could probably take a while.

With nothing else to do the rest of the Fellowship just stand and or sit around while they wait for Gandalf to figure out how to open the door, the wizard continue to chant out words in hopes one of them would open the door.

Meanwhile Aragorn, Gaim, and Sam unload all of their supplies off the horse "Mines are no place for a pony… Even one so brave as Bill."

"Bye-bye, Bill." Sam says patting him on the side of the head, a bit saddened that they now had to say goodbye to the young horse.

"Stay safe on your way home Bill. We'll miss yah buddy." Gaim says while petting his side.

Sam takes the reins off of Bill "Go on Bill. Go on." Aragorn says urging Bill to turn around as the pony does so and begins to walk off "Don't worry Sam, he knows the way home."

Merry and Pippin sit on some rocks at the edge of the lake, getting rather bored of it Merry stands and picks up a small rock, tossing it into the lake as it lands with a loud splash. He throws another immediately afterward for another splash, Pippin is about to join in when Aragorn's hand suddenly grabs his "Do not disturb the water." Aragorn warns.

Aragorn releases his hold on Pippin and the two Hobbits sit back down as Gaim walks up to Aragorn's side while looking out into the lake "I don't like it either. Something about it just gives me a really bad feeling. Not just because it looks creepy either." Gaim says.

"Oh it's useless." Gandalf says finally giving up as he throws his staff to the ground after turning away from the door.

He grabs the hilt of his sword and sits down on a rock beside Frodo, taking his hat off afterward as he continues mumbling words. A large ripple travels outward towards the center of the lake, Boromir walks up behind Aragorn as the two of them, and Gaim eye the water with suspicion. Frodo stares at the door as he suddenly gets up and walks up to it, his eyes focused on the words.

"It's a riddle." he says.

Suddenly, a rather large ripple of water comes traveling towards the group catching some of their attention, wondering what could have caused it as there was no chance it could be some kind of after effect of Merry throwing some small rocks into the lake. And the lake so far had showed no signs of life.

""Speak 'friend', and enter."" Frodo reads again.

"What's the Elvish word for "friend"?" Frodo asks.

Another ripple of water was coming towards the group "Mellon." Gandalf answers.

The door rumbles to life as it suddenly splits down the middle and begins to open outward "Oh, hohoho." Gandalf chuckles lightly, happy to see that it worked as Gimli who was smoking a pipe, stops and takes it out as he gets up from his spot.

Everyone turns and begins heading towards the open door, especially those who were watching the water, now that the door was open it was time for them to get inside. They did not want to find out what was causing those ripples.

The Fellowship entered Moria, but all they were greeted with was darkness, as well as a bunch of shadowy objects covering the floor around the entrance. The only light, coming from the moon outside as it only illuminated up to few feet in front of them.

"Soon Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the Dwarves." Gimli speaks as his voice echoed through the chamber "Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone!"

Gaim looks around "Kind of hard to see anything. You'd think they would have some torches lit to light this place up so people could see." he comments.

Silently agreeing with him, Gandalf covers the crystal atop his staff with his hand as he blows into it, causing the crystal to slowly light up "This my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine." Gimli continues speaking as the crystal becomes brighter, and brighter lighting up more of the room they were in.

"A mine!" Gimli says one last time.

Legolas, Aragorn, Gaim, and Boromir stop in their tracks and look all around them "This is no mine. It's a tomb." Boromir says.

The four Hobbits look down as a Dwarven skeleton lies at their feet, frightening them as they skitter back a little. Gimli's expression of happiness changes into complete shock and terror as he looks all around him. Gandalf's light now revealing to the ground that the shadowy objects, were all skeletons, skeletons of long dead dwarves as their armor and weapons had rusted, and cobwebs had now covered most of them. These dwarves had all been killed in combat, arrows protruding out from some of them.

"No…" Gimli says as he jumps and rushes over to one of his dead people, crouching down beside the remains.

"NO~!" Gimli howls in absolute horror while swinging his head from side to side.

"What the hell happened here?" Gaim questions keeping his right hand tightly gripped on his Musou saber, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.

Legolas takes out an arrow from one of the bodies and examines the arrowhead, his eyes widen in horror "Goblins." he says as he looks at the ceiling on both sides.

Throwing the arrow away as it clatters across the floor, Legolas gets back on his feet and grabs an arrow while Aragorn, and Boromir unsheathe their swords. Gaim pulls out both his Daidaimaru and Musou Saber as all four of them stand ready for combat "We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here." Boromir states.

The four Hobbits begin to back their way towards the door. Pippin nearly tripping over a dwarf skeleton as he manages to catch himself from falling. Unbeknownst to the group, something bobs up and down in the dark lake, its eyes set on the four Hobbits that can be seen at the entrance to Moria.

"Now get out of here. Get out!" Boromir shouts as his voice echoes through the door.

The hobbits all stop in their tracks just right beneath the entrance, when suddenly Frodo falls to the ground. Falling onto the ground Frodo turns around to see a long, snaking tentacle holding onto his right leg as his three friends begin yelling out "Frodo!" repeatedly in a panic.

"Help!" Frodo cries out as Merry and Pippin rush to his side and grab a hold of him while still yelling his name.

"Strider! Gaim!" Sam yells out.

The two turn around and spot what's happening.

Sam pulls out his Barrow Blade and quickly rushes past Frodo who cries out "Help!" again.

"Get off him!" Sam yells as he begins striking the tentacle, his blade however having no effect on it as it is not sharp enough to cut through it.

Sam strikes it again as this time the tentacle releases its hold on Frodo and retreats "Aragorn!" Merry yells out.

"Kouta!" Pippin yells at the same time.

The tentacle pulls back into the water and everything goes silent. For just a second at least as then multiple tentacles some shooting out of the water, striking the three Hobbits and knocking them back as then one of the tentacles completely wraps itself around Frodo's left leg and pulls him away, lifting him up into the air as he cries out in terror. The tentacle begins swinging him around in the air as more tentacles emerge from the water, the others quickly come rushing out.

"Frodo!" Merry yells in terror.

Legolas pulls back on his bow and releases the arrow, hitting a three-pronged tentacle that was attempting to wrap itself over Frodo's face as he cries out "STRIDER!"

Aragorn drives his sword into a tentacle and pushes it into the water as off to his left Boromir cuts another tentacle. With a battle cry Gaim charges through the water and cuts a tentacle in front of him with his Musou saber, immediately cutting another one to his right and then spinning around to his left as he swings his Daidaimaru and cuts two more tentacles off.

Frodo continues to be flung around in the air, another tentacle now wrapped around his right arm as he is slowly turned around, a loud growl erupts into the air as suddenly the main body of the creature emerges from the water. A large, strange kraken like monster that then hovers Frodo over its body as he cries out in terror again while flailing his arms around. Looking straight down at it, he then notices the creature reveal its mouth which it then opens up as it prepares to eat him. Boromir cuts another tentacle off the creature, the creature reacts violently to this as it roars out in pain and swings Frodo around in the air.

Gaim jumps through the air and swings both of his weapons forward cutting through two more tentacles, landing back in the water as he gets up and turns around cutting another tentacle with his sword. Aragorn rushes past him and stops by another tentacle as he cuts right through it. This seems to be the one holding Frodo as he is released and dropped from the sky, Boromir luckily being right below as he manages to catch Frodo.

"We got Frodo!" Gaim shouts.

"Into the mines!" Gandalf yells out.

"Go! Go!" Gaim yells ushering Aragorn and Boromir towards the others as he turns to try and hold the creature off.

Gaim pulls back on the Barrett Slide loading some rounds into his saber, aiming right at the creatures face he fires away, hitting it three times as it roars out in pain. Angered by this the creature throws one of its tentacles right towards Gaim, unfortunately Gaim is unable to react in time as it slams right into his chest, propelling him backwards as he slams into the trunk of one of the trees. Causing him to grunt out in pain as he falls to the ground.

"Kouta!" Sam yells.

Gaim cries out in pain as he begins getting back up.

"Legolas!" Boromir calls out as the creature is now closing in on him and Aragorn, reaching for Aragorn this time with its tentacles.

"Into the cave!" Aragorn yells.

Legolas pulls out another arrow and fires it, striking the creature in its right eye as it rears back and roars in pain "RUN!" Aragorn cries out as everyone turns and runs into the mines.

Gaim gets back on his feet and runs after them, turning his head just in time to see as the creature uses its tentacles to lift itself out of the water "Oh come on!" Gaim yells as he comes to a stop and turns around.

Gaim pulls up on the cutting blade "Soiya! Orange Squash!"

Charging up his Daidaimaru with energy Gaim releases an orange energy slash that impacts right into the creature causing an explosion it to roar out in pain "Alright!" Gaim shouts with a fist pump.

Suddenly the creature collapses forward, and its tentacles coming down with it as unfortunately this, combined with the explosion caused from his attack causes the entire ceiling of the entrance to begin collapsing "Uh oh!" Gaim says realizing what he just did.

Quickly he turns and starts running again as the ceiling collapses down on top of the monster killing it, the rest of the tunnel coming down as well as Gaim quickly runs as fast as possible towards the others who have all gotten at a safe distance to turn around. The collapse catching up closely to Gaim, crying out Gaim launches himself forward into the air landing at the feet of the rest of the Fellowship as Merry, Pippin, and Aragorn rush over to make sure he is alright.

All the while everyone else watches as the ceiling continues collapsing at the entrance, the last light of the moon shines in until eventually the last boulder falls and everything goes completely dark. All that is heard is everyone's fast breathing as they catch their breath from the encounter and running.

"We now have but one choice." Gandalf speaks up.

He then taps his staff a few times, lighting up his crystal as it illuminates brightly, casting the darkness away and giving the Fellowship the light they would need to now travel through the mines of Moria.

"We must face the long dark of Moria."

After many, many, MANY months of this story being on hiatus (in a way) I am FINALLY BACK with a brand new chapter! Sorry for the long wait everyone, school got very busy, and then...well...I kind of found myself putting a lot more focus onto my Heroes UNITE! Story the past few months as well.

Luckily school is no longer an issue as I will be graduating soon, and I'm trying to get back onto my schedule of working on all of my other stories as well. The reason why Heroes UNITE! Was kind of the focus of my attention for the past several months was because of my intention of aiming to complete that story this year, hopefully my mid-2019. But don't worry I'm going to try and get back on my schedule this week (as I did for this) so I can put some focus onto my other stories as well. And so here I am back with a new chapter for The Kamen Rider of the Ring! Hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!

Q&A…

To DB-20 - DB, don't worry about those two. In fact, I can tell it's the same guy. During the time he was attempting to give Bad "Reviews" on this and my other story Neo-Heisei Riders Tail, but I kept deleting them. So yes the same dude actually went out of his way to create an account just so I wouldn't be able to delete it, and then when I blocked that account, he went and made another so I blocked that as well. Who knows maybe he'll continue his "attack" on me after seeing this but honestly, I don't care.

Go ahead Doom Marine (I know it's you) continue your little Troll Attacks. I don't care what you say. You're not going to stop me from making stories. You're just another one of those Internet Troll guys with nothing better to do with their life. Thinking "Hehehe, I'm all cool, look at me calling this guy names and whatnot. I'm such a cool guy." Yeah. Meanwhile I'll keep updating this story for the people who enjoy it. At least I can write stories, all I ever see of you is just trolling people and whatnot calling their stuff bad when you can barely write anything yourself XD.

So DB, just ignore those two, or any other guys who give such "Colorful Reviews" in the future. Cause that's just Doom Marine being his "cool" self. Cause he thinks he is "cool".

To StrangerDenB4 - Thanks for enjoying the story so far! And sorry about that, sometimes I get that part of Justice and or Freedom of the Riders confused and or mixed up XP. I'll try and fix that.

To crawforddarius7 - I have a story planned for Kamen Rider and Young Justice sometime in the future, unfortunately never watched any of the Fate series, and I did watch Akame ga Kill before but haven't come up with any story ideas for it yet. Maybe sometime in the future though.

To rmarcano321 - Well, I had to get the notice out to everyone since different people follow my stories. Thanks for enjoying my Deviant Art, as for why I made this, I just felt like it. After all Lord of the Rings is an amazing Movie Trilogy, and just seeing all of these different heroes get involved would just seem kind of cool, from Master Chief, to Team Natsu, and now a Kamen Rider! All with their own interactions and whatnot with the main characters, bringing their own skills, weapons, and abilities to fight against Sauron and his evil forces.

To Sauwk - Thanks for sticking through all of my Lord of the Rings stories! Hope you enjoy this one, and yes, I do agree with the My Hero Academia x Lord of the Rings story. But I'd want to see where My Hero Academia goes first before starting anything...which is contradictory since I kind of have started thinking about it XD. But the story would definitely be a lot different from any of my previous ones considering the Heroes of My Hero Academia. (IE: the kids of Class 1-A).

To Gina2Sam - Thank you! And you know, I never thought of Kiwami Arms almost looking like Aragorn's armor during the Black Gate battle XD.

To GXY-2013 - It's been a long time since you posted this so sorry if I don't remember XP. Still haven't gotten around to watching any Ultraman series yet, in fact my first time might be the upcoming one on Netflix. It's hard keeping track of everything to watch since there's so much good shows and whatnot out there.

To edboy4926 - Thank you!

To Guest - Yes it will be interesting to see.

To gaim - What gave you the idea he was underpowered? I don't plan on it, but I do have some interesting things planned for this story.

To Anti-W.T.F - Yeah, I mean after all Kouta does need to be filled in on what he's about to get himself into so it makes sense after all. And yep, pretty much, I even went back and watched that episode before writing the story to remind myself that yes, Kouta is the kind of person to just go through a magic portal when someone calls for his help. I hope I didn't sound mean or anything by accident when replying to your question, but I did need to bring up those points since that is the kind of person he is. Hence why we don't really get as epic, of an entrance to him going to Middle-Earth as say what happened to Team Natsu in my previous Lord of the Rings crossover story. Thanks, and you have a good life too!