Mae Govannon, my Lovelies! I'm sorry I was gone (and probably will be gone) for a long time, but I wanted to give you something quick in my spare time. Also, happy late Halloween!
Love you, my friends!
-crescentmoonthemage
The snow got deeper and deeper.
Estelyn wasn't affected, she could walk on top of it just fine, but she could see the rest of the Fellowship fading fast. In some places, the snow was too deep for the hobbits or Gimli to get through, and they had to be carried. The blizzard was so thick that she could barely see Legolas, and he was barely 10 feet in front her. They had to get off that pass, fast.
Suddenly, as if the snow couldn't get any worse, she heard something. She couldn't be sure, after all, it was supremely windy, and her curls were whipping about her face like they had minds of their own. But as soon as she dismissed the thought, it was back again, that strange sound on the tips of the air. She darted forward a few steps to Legolas, who seemed as uneasy as she was, staring at the roiling clouds with as much intensity as he could muster, she figured. A moment later, he turned around. "There is a fell voice on the air," he announced. Instantly, Gandalf looked around cautiously. "It's Saruman!" he shouted.
The mountain seemed to rumble in response, chunks of snow sleeting down upon the Fellowship. "He's trying to bring down the mountain!" shouted Aragorn, trying desperately to be heard over the raging snowstorm. "Get back!" shouted Gandalf. Instantly, she ran over to the side of the mountain, and they watched as Gandalf tried a counter-attack. He chanted, and they could hear his powerful voice mixing with that of Saruman's. But it did no good. Snow crumbled down, faster and faster, until she was pulled against the wall and completely buried by a wall.
She'd always thought snow was light and airy- but this snow had the consistency of sludge. It buried her soundly, and she was glad that she was an elleth, because she could burrow out easily enough.
Elleth or not, it still took her a solid minute and a half before she could finally worm her way out of the drift. She turned around to see an arm sticking out of the snow, and hauled out what appeared to be Merry, snow filling his hair and his cloak. She brushed him off, and then checked to see if anyone else needed excavating. Aragorn was pulling out Boromir, and once they were out, all the Fellowship breathed a small sigh of relief. But it was short lived: they were still on the pass of Caradhras, and it had grown no less snowy then in the past moments.
"This will be the death of the hobbits!" cried Boromir. "We cannot stay here. Let us make for the Gap of Rohan, then take the road west to my city."
"That will take us too close to Isengard!" argued Aragorn.
"If we cannot pass over the mountain," interjected Gimli, "let us go under it. Let us pass through the Mines of Moria."
Estelyn grimaced. She glanced over at Legolas and saw he wore almost an identical expression. Elves and caves… didn't mix. Gandalf sighed, looking for the moment, nothing more then a weary old man. "Let the Ring-bearer… decide," he announced, the words holding weight.
"We will go through the Mines," decided Frodo, rather quickly. Estelyn glanced longingly at the snow-covered path. Right now, even that seemed better then a cave, underground, with no way out but through. Legolas must have seen her discomfort, for he nodded, eyes holding sympathy but mouth a grim line, as he was probably harboring the same discomfort within himself.
And it was in this manner that the Fellowship made it off the Pass of Caradhras.
Light was low in the foothills, and the shadows were quickly lengthening when they made it to a small glen. Estelyn sank down on a log for a moment, depositing her things, before they settled down for the night. The night wore on.
And the following day wore on even longer. The Fellowship were laughing and joking, but Estelyn could not enjoy the comfort of a warm day, not when she knew what lay ahead: endless dark, dank places full of mold and rot. Gimli didn't seem to believe that; he believed that the Mines was a cheery place, full of roaring fires and good ale. Even if that were true, Estelyn hated the dark with a ferocity she doubted even Legolas had, because no good things ever bred in darkness.
She brushed a stray curl behind her ear and studied her reflection in one of her daggers, just to pass the time. She looked content enough, but her stormcloud eyes gave her away. She heard laughter, and turned to see the elven prince staring at her with such an expression of amusement, she couldn't not laugh.
"What? I thought you hadn't yet forgiven me," she asked.
"Mirrors, Estel?" he jested, carefully ignoring her comment. "You care about your looks so much."
"Oh, and look who's talking. You with that… perfect hair. Mine has to be all stupid and curly."
He smiled. "Curly hair is just fine with me."
She tugged on it stubbornly. "But I feel like a…" she struggled for the right words. "A Hobbit!"
He laughed, but she didn't laugh along with him. "Really though, why?" she asked.
"Why what?"
"Before we left, you were hateful of me and everything I had done, and now you're going back to acting like you were so long ago. I thought you hadn't forgiven me."
He sighed, and looked down. "One part of me doesn't want to. But since we are on a quest to save the world, I make due."
With that lovely comment, he walked off to scout. She sighed, not happy about having ruined the conversation. There was a part of her that wished she had never left, but a greater piece of her knew that what she had done, she had done for what she knew was right, even if snooty Legolas didn't think so.
She sighed, tucking a chestnut curl behind her ear, mind deep in thought. And so was how the Fellowship progressed to the Mines of Moria.
It was dark when they arrived, stars twinkling in the clear sky. Gimli was regaling them with yet another tale of the dwarves of Moria (did he ever run out of tales?) and Estelyn was trying very hard not to yawn in boredom.
She watched as Aragorn unloaded their pony, and Sam, tearfully, let him go. The Mines were no place for a pony. She heard Gandalf muttering some incantations, nd turned around to see him pushing on a solid wall of rock.
"He forgot the password, I believe," said Legolas, announcing his presence behind her. She turned around in surprise to find the blond-haired Elf hanging from the bough of a tree. She smiled; it appeared his childish nature had never truly abandoned him. "Well, it seems we shall have to wait, then," she said, leaping nimbly up beside him. "I can't stay angry at you, you know," he announced. "I still haven't forgiven you, probably never will, but can we at least not glare at each other every chance we get?"
She smiled. Small steps were better then no steps at all.
Question of the chapter: What kind of Halloween candy do you think which member of the Fellowship would like?
