"Ugh! Where IS this place? You said we had to get to some stream, right? Well, for hours now I have not heard any sound of running water!" cried Nell. The Company was making their way through the dark red-brown rocks, still journeying to entrance of Moria. She had heard Gandalf, Aragorn and Gimli speaking about a stream called Sirannon that was the only road of old to Moria from the West. Apparently they should have found it by now, but they weren't having much luck.
It had been a whole day since they began this trip to Moria, and even though she hated to admit it, Nell was getting weary, not to mention cold. Her thin leather jacket was most unsuitable for the current weather conditions.
She hadn't bothered Legolas much anymore. After he had spoken the words about the history of the Ring, she went into deep concentration. She had recalled the memory of what the portal had shown her about the Ring. She guessed that the armored hand had been that of the Dark Lord guy, because it was shown first and looked the most evil. The man that came next looked a whole lot like Aragorn. She didn't know, they just looked alike, as if they were related. She didn't have a clue who the little monster thing was, but the old short person that was shown looked very similar to the four short boys with the hairy feet, whom she learned were called Pippin, Merry, Sam, and Frodo. After watching and listening to them for sometime, Nell realized that they were very merry, happy little people, especially Merry and Pippin. The only one of them who wasn't as talkative as those two was Frodo. He was usually quiet, and often had a sad, distant expression on his face. He and Sam kept close to Gandalf and Aragorn a lot.
Anyway, back to the subject of the Ring! Nell knew she should probably just ask one of them about the Ring. 'Definitely NOT Legolas again!' her mind said. 'He's way too… way too… umm… he's… handsome? No! That's not the word! God, Nell, you're such an idiot sometimes! Why do I keep thinking of how good he looks!? Hmm… maybe it's cuz he just is… OR because he's an elf! I know elves don't really exist, at least they don't in MY world! But… there are all those old ancient books that the gang back home is always researching, and they mentioned something about elves once… though I can't recall why… oh well… Great Nell, you're thinking about LEGOLAS again! Argh! I need to beat something up to relieve this stress! Maybe one of those orc things will appear again!'
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Gandalf speaking suddenly.
"Ah! Here it is at last!" he said. "This is where the stream ran: Sirannon, the Gate-Stream, they used to call it. But what has happened to the water, I cannot guess; it used to be swift and noisy. Come! We must hurry on. We are late."
"Not more walking!" whined Pippin to Merry. Nell sighed in agreement.
They were all footsore and tired, but they trudged along the rough banks of the winding stream for many more miles. They reached what remained of the Stair Falls, and Gandalf commented on how much things had changed there. They found the stone steps without difficulty, and swiftly climbed them up. At the top, stretched before them a dark still lake, on which nothing reflected on it's surface. The Gate-stream had been dammed and filled the valley.
"There are the Walls of Moria," Gandalf said, pointing across the water at the vast cliff side they could see. Nell looked at it perplexedly, for there was no sign of gate or entrance. Not a fissure or crack could be seen in the frowning stone. Everyone except Gandalf obviously noticed the same thing.
"Well, I guess that none of the Company shall wish to swim this gloomy water at the end of the day. It has an unwholesome look." Spoke Gandalf again. They all murmured in agreement.
They managed to find a way round the northern edge, and they found themselves right up next to the great wall.
"Well here we are already. But I where are the Doors? I can't see any sign of them," stated Merry.
"Dwarf doors are not made to be seen when shut," explained Gimli. "They are invisible."
"But this Door was not made to be a secret known only to Dwarves," said Gandalf, stepping forward. " Unless things are altogether changed, eyes that know what to look for may discover the signs."
Right between the shadows of two great trees that stood near the wall there was a smooth space, where he passed his hands over muttering words under his breath. Then he stepped back.
"Now, the moonlight… look!" he said.
The silver light of the Moon shone upon the rock, and they gazed curiously at it for a while. Then, slowly, faint lines began to appear like veins of silver running in the stone. They formed a design into the shape of a door right in front of them.
At the top was an arch of elegant letters in Elvish character.. Below, the outline could be seen of an anvil surmounted by a crown of seven stars. Beneath these were two trees, each bearing crescent moons. In the middle of the door shone forth a single star of many rays. Nell was astounded as were the others.
"There are the emblems of Durin!" cried Gimli.
"And there is the Tree of the High Elves," said Legolas.
"And that is the Star of the House of Feanor," spoke Gandalf. "This door is wrought of ithildin that mirrors only starlight and moonlight. It only shows until one speaks words long forgotten in Middle Earth."
As everyone looked over the great door, Nell felt completely out of place for she had no idea what they were talking about.
"What does the elvish writing say? I can't read the inscription," said Frodo.
"These are words in elven tongue from Middle Earth in the elder days, but it is not of great importance to us. They only say: The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter. Celembrimbor of Hollin drew these signs." Replied Gandalf.
"What does that mean?" asked Merry.
"That is simple enough! If you are a friend, just speak the password to enter," said Gimli, who was quite happy that they were going through the mines, unlike the others.
"Do you know this password, Gandalf?" asked Boromir.
"No!" said the wizard.
They all looked dismayed except for Aragorn. Nell stared at Gandalf in puzzlement.
"Then what was the point of bringing us here?" cried Boromir.
"Patience, Boromir," said Gandalf. "I do not know the word yet… But we shall soon see. Now, I need peace from questions."
He stepped forward to the rock again, and lightly touched the star in the middle with his staff. Nell was even more puzzled when he spoke in a commanding tone in a very strange language that sounded like nonsense to her.
"Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen! Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!"
Nothing happened.
Gandalf looked at the doors in silence, and then attempted to speak again. Still, the doors didn't budge.
"Oh great…" muttered Nell as she stretched slightly and sat down on a large flat rock jutting out of the ground. As Gandalf's attempts continued to fail, everyone sat down to rest with nothing else to do.
Nell sighed, and looked up at the foul water she was near to. She shivered, as if a cold breeze had passed through. There was something very eerie about that nasty water, but she couldn't guess what it was. Her Slayer mind sensed something about it. She shook her head and decided to ignore it.
Turning to look back at the Door, Nell saw that Frodo was sitting a few foot away from her, with that distant expression again. She scooted up a little.
"Hey." She said in a low voice. She felt a low voice was necessary because everything else was so quiet, except for Gandalf's words and Merry and Pippin chatting about something near the water's edge.
Frodo looked up at her, surprised.
"Um, hello." He replied, looking back to the ground he had been staring at.
"So… how did you end up being Ring Bearer? …Not that I know enough to understand this whole Ring deal…" she asked curiously.
"Oh… umm… 'tis a very strange tale… My uncle, Bilbo, found the Ring, and it has passed to me. I chose to be Ring Bearer…" he said slowly.
"Really? Well… cuz this whole quest your buddies are going on appears to be real dangerous, I'd say you were pretty brave in making that decision," she said thoughtfully with a smile.
Frodo smiled back, but for just a second, before he frowned again.
"So what's the big deal about this Ring? I mean… no matter how serious Legolas said it was, I still don't get it. I saw it, well, that portal showed it to me, but it's just a 'ring'! When I saw it, it was just a plain piece of jewelry!" exclaimed Nell.
Frodo wasn't sure what to say.
"Well… it is 'the' One Ring… it has great power and is full of evil… it lures people to it, and corrupts them if they are near it too long. It has a mind of its own, and it has corrupted many," he said finally. Nell was silent, thinking over his words. Then she shrugged.
"I guess I see why this Ring is so important… but I don't think it's anything special, even though I probably should," she said with a sigh. "Anyway… I've been wondering about something… and I don't mean to sound… uh, rude…"
Frodo looked up at her, expecting a question.
"What… exactly are you? I know that there is elves, dwarves, wizards, and humans, but I seriously have no idea what you short guys are," she said quickly.
"We're… hobbits. Or halflings, which is what the big people call us," he replied, his distant face seemed to be fading into a more lively one as they spoke.
"Hobbits? That's a funny name, but it's cool too," she said with a little giggle. "Back in my world we have no dwarves, wizards, elves, or hobbits… we're all human."
"What's your world like?" asked Frodo out of curiosity.
"It's… it's very big and difficult to explain… but it's like Middle Earth in some ways, and in other ways, completely different. Mostly different, though," she began. "There are billions of people living on our Earth, and there are hundreds and hundreds of different nationalities… Me? I hail from the United States of America, or U.S.A. That's like… the world's superpower. We don't have any of the funky magic from this world. We built up our cities out of advanced technology and stuff… For example, we build this great big buildings we like to call skyscrapers, and some of them are taller than this Wall of Moria here… We also don't use swords and bows for weapons in our militaries, we used to, but that was ages ago. Now we have way more powerful weapons like guns, explosives, airplanes, nuclear bombs, and… you haven't the slightest idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
Frodo had been listening very intently, and Sam had sat down to listen as well.
"No, no! I'm intrigued, I wish to know more," said Frodo.
"Oh, it would take me days to tell you everything!" laughed Nell. "Maybe some other later time, when we aren't in a situation such as this one."
Frodo and Sam looked disappointed but nodded. She looked amused.
"You remind me of someone I know back home…" she said slowly, to Frodo. Her smile faded slightly as she recalled her family and realized that she greatly missed them.
"Who would that be?" he asked.
"Hmm? Oh… a girl named Dawn, younger than me. She's one of my best friends, like a sister to me. She practically is my sister, so you're kinda like a brother" she said, looking sad but smiling a little.
It was just then that Nell looked up, right at Legolas standing a couple feet away. He just happened to look up at the same time and they're gazes locked. Nell immediately blushed and looked away. Legolas looked at her for a second, and then looked away again, wondering what had just occurred.
Pippin and Merry were throwing pebbles into the dark water, but Aragorn stopped them, warning them not to disturb the water. He and Boromir stood looking cautiously at the lake.
Suddenly, Gandalf gave a great sigh, threw his staff to the ground, and sat down in silence.
"Hmm… that stupid riddle or whatever they've got up there is probably just screwing with us," muttered Nell.
Frodo's eyes widened and he stood up.
"That's it! It's a riddle!" he cried, walking up to the door. "Speak friend, and enter… Gandalf, what's the elvish word for friend?"
"Mellon." Stated Gandalf, who stood up again.
The Door made a low creaking, shifting sound, and the bright lines began to fade. Slowly, it divided down the middle and began to open like a double doorway.
"Hey, cool," said Nell, who had never expected her words to help solve their predicament. They all got up and stared in wonder.
Nothing but darkness could be seen inside the doors.
"Well now! I don't see why I never saw it before!" chuckled Gandalf. He then picked up his staff.
"Now let us go!" he said.
And there was Chapter 4 everyone! =) I hope you like how the story is going… if you don't, it would be nice if you gave me friendly suggestions, and not go flaming me or anything… =)
Sorry I just ended it right there, but I as you know, I wanna get these chapters out fast.
PLEASE R&R!! I LIVE FOR REVIEWS!! I write a lot faster if I get lots of reviews!!
