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Chapter 3

Legolas watched as Rana murmured something to her horse, Morbein. The horse then trotted off. He wasn't surprised she was parting with her horse. They were at the gate of Moria. All that awaited them was darkness and stone. Horses did not belong there. Sam was also parting with his pony, Bill. Aragorn was helping him deal with it.

"I'm surprised you were so willing to part with her," he said, walking over to Rana. The beautiful black haired elf turned to face him.

"I wasn't. I simply told her to wait elsewhere. No horse or pony should be underground in mines. She will come when I need her, though," Rana replied.

"Of course." Legolas wasn't so sure about that. How a horse would be able to find them again once they reached the other side of the mountain, he didn't know. It would be nearly impossible. Then again, he didn't know much about Rana's horse, so he may as well take her word for it.

"Do you think Gandalf will ever figure out the password?" Rana mused, watching as the wizard continued to attept to open the gate.

"I certainly hope so," Legolas replied, his blue eyes hoding concern. "Otherwise, Pippin may recieve severe injuries."

Rana laughed. "You think Gandalf may go through with his threat to use Pippin's head to knock the gate open?" she asked as Gandalf sat.

"Perhaps. I hope not."

Morwen smiled. Perhaps Legolas wasn't as bad as she'd though. No. She couldn't think that. She couldn't allow herself to befriend Legolas, or Boromir, or anyone in the Fellowship. Not when she planned to kill them and take the Ring to her father. She could act like their friend, but she couldn't allow herself to truly become their friend.

"It's a riddle!" Frodo said suddenly. "Speak friend an enter. Gandalf, what's the elvish word for friend?"

"Mellon," Gandalf said slowly. The gates suddenly opened. The Fellowship began to make their way inside.

"Soon, master elf, you will enjoy fine dwarven hospitallity," Gimli was sayin to Legolas proudly. "Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone. This is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine." The dwarf laughed as if the concept was ridiculous. "A mine!"

As Gandalf shed some illumination, Morwen saw bones, cobwebs, and weapons.

"This isn't a mine," Boromir said. "It's a tomb."

"No. No!" Gimli exclaimed.

Legolas picked up an arrow.

"Goblins," Morwen and Legolas said at exactly the same time.

"Get out now!" Boromir said. "We make for the Gap of Rohan! We should never have come here!"

At that moment, something came out of the water and grabbed Frodo's ankle. A tentacle. Even more trouble.

Seconds after Boromir spoke, Legolas saw the tentacle grab Frodo.

"Help him Strider!" Sam shouted. Aragrn turned, and drew his sword, as did Boromir. Gimli lifted his axe.

As Legolas knocked an arrow on his bow, he saw Rana hesitate, as though she was unsure whether to help Frodo or not. That brief hesitation was all he needed. He now doubted her fully. No one else seemed to notice her, save for Gandalf. Rana suddenly saw him looking at her, and seemed to make up her mind. She grabbed her bow.

Legolas pulled his gaze away and returned his attention to the creature that now also had Pippin. He shot an arrow at it as Boromir cut off the tentacle holding Frodo. They quickly managed to free Pippin as well, before hurrying into the mines and shutting the door.

Gandalf iluminated the cavern with his staff. "We have no otehr choice. We must now endure the long dark of Moria. Let us hope that our passage may go unnoticed. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world," he told them.

Legolas turned to look at Rana. The beautiful black haired elleth's pale face was emotionless and expressionless. She turned slightly to face him. Their eyes met, and he expected her to turn away, but she did not. Her green eyes held his gaze, and in that moment he knew that she knew he suspected her of lying. He narrowed his blue eyes. One way or another, I'll find out exactly who you are.

Boromir couldn't help but notice the way Rana and Legolas were looking at each other. There was something going on between the two elves. And it was not a good thing.

As the Fellowship made their way through Moria, Boromir confronted Legolas about it.

"What's wrong? I noticed the way you and Rana were looking at each other," he said to the blond elf.

"She's not being completely honest with us. She's up to something, I know it," Legolas replied. Boromir watched as his eyes moved to the elven female.

Boromir was thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps she ran away to find some excitement and doesn't want anyone to know why."

Legolas snorted. "I doubt that. No, it's something else. I don't trust her."

Morwen listened as Legolas and Boromir discussed her. The elf was right not to trust her, although he would make her task more difficult. Of course, his not trusting her was nothing new. He just had more reason to now. She had seen him catch her hesitating to help Frodo when the creature attacked. The only reason she had helped when that incident had occurred was the fact that the elf had seen her hesitation. But her helping should have removed some of the elf's suspision. Apparently it had not.

"I have no memory of this place," Gandalf said suddenly.

Morwen sighed. Great. More time underground. Perhaps this would be a god time and place to kill them all and seize the Ring. No. She was alone save for the rest of the Fellowship. She would be too outnumbered. They would be more likely to kill her, which would be of no use to anyone except for those fighting against her father. Best to wait.

"Why did you hesitate earlier?" she turned, and, unsurprisingly, saw Legolas. The blond elf's arms were crossed against his chest, and his stunning blue eyes held nothing but acusation. Wait, stunning? Where had that thought come from? she pushed that question from her mind and responded.

"I beg your pardon?"

"When Frodo was attacked by that thing. You hesitated. Why? Did you want him dead, Rana?"

"Of course not!" Morwen exclaimed, the lie coming to her easily. "I was simply deciding whether it would be more useful to use my sword or my bow." That excuse worked well, as she carried both. Still, the other elf continued to look suspiciously at her. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Were you really? For a moment it looked to me like you would be content to stay back and watch him die," Legolas said.

"I swear, I was! Why would I want Frodo dead, Legolas?" Morwen asked, surprising herself by wishing she wasn't lying to him. No! I can't be thinking that way!

"I don't know, but believe me, I'm going to find out," Legolas replied, glaring at her. Morwen struggled to think of something to say, but found that her mind had gone blank.

"Ah, it's that way!" Gandalf said suddenly, to Morwen's relief.

"He's remembered!" Merry said, clearly relieved.

"No, it's just that the air doesn't smell quite so foul that way," Gandalf explained. "When in doubt, Meriadoc, alays follow your nose."

As they continued on through the darkness of Moria, Legolas found that he was truly confused by Rana. A part of him wanted to believe her, mostly because he didn;t want to see her as a threat to their safety, while at the same time he knew she was not to be trusted. He knew that there was some reason for her being there with them, more than her wanting to travel with them. She was clearly being forced to be there. But why? That was the question he wanted the answer to, almost more than he wanted to know who she was. But he had a feeling that if he found the answer to one, he'd get the answer to the other.

"I think we can risk a little more light," Ganalf said, breaking the silence. The cavern was illuminated instantly, revealing pillars and rocks. "Behold, the dreat dwarven city of Dwarrowdelf."

"No. No!" Gimli excaimed suddenly before running forward towards what appeared to be a tomb.