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Pirates in the Fellowship Chapter 9
The Fellowship had descended Caradhras and were now making their way along a rather large rock wall that ran beside a large lake, knocking and prying at it trying to locate the doors to Moria.
"And just why do we need to knock on the wall again?" Jack asked, feeling a little ridiculous as he knocked his fist onto another part of the wall.
"Because Dwarf doors are invisible when closed." Gimli informed the Pirate as he tapped on the rock with his axe.
"Yes, Gimli, their own masters cannot find them, if their secrets are forgotten." Gandalf called back, overhearing the comment.
Legolas just rolled his eyes again and as usual made a jest at the dwarf's expense. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
Gimli as much as he would have loved to retort, kept his thoughts to himself and grumbled at the elf. After a few more moments of searching, Gandalf paused running his hands along portion of the wall between two twisted, gnarled trees.
"Now let's see. Ithildin, it mirrors only starlight and moonlight..."Taking a step back from the doors Gandalf glanced up at the black night sky; and the moon appeared. Framed by the sharp shadows of the two trees, a web of silvery lines began to glow brightly, shining with sheer white light which outlined a large door. The glowing lines formed a pattern of two columns beneath an arch with a star in the center, and writing in a strange tongue appearing in the arch. Gimli stared in awe at the gate of his forefathers.
Gandalf took a step closer to the wall and then began to explain the writing, pointing with his gnarled staff. "It reads "The Doors of Durin - Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter."
"What do you suppose that means?" asked a confused Merry.
"Oh, it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password, and the doors will open." replied Gandalf as he placed to tip of his staff upon the star and began to chant, "Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen! (Gate of the Elves, open now for me!)"
Will and Jacked at each other amused when the doors didn't open and Gandalf was forced to try another spell which also failed to break the seal over them. Needless to say, the wizard was a quite cranky in his reply to Pippin when the hobbit asked what he was going to do. "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."
Legolas shifted his weight as he continued to watch Gandalf still trying after 20 minutes, to find the opening words for the doors. Shaking his head Legolas decided to try and rest while he could and took a seat next to Will who was staring off blankly into the dark waters of the large lake outside the gates. Will sighed loudly and looked to Legolas,"Gandalf gave that warning to Frodo, because of me didn't he ?"
Legolas shook his head no. Will had accidentally overheard a conversation between Gandalf and Frodo, in which the old wizard told the hobbit that evil would be drawn to him from outside the fellowship, and that he feared also from within.
"No, Will, Boromir was right. It would have happened to whoever picked up the Ring. Do you think you are the only one who has heard its call?"
Will sighed again, "No, I guess I'm not. It was just disturbing."
Legolas nodded in agreement. He too had been a little shaken by the Ring at the council, but he thanked the Valar that he had never gotten as close to the Ring as Will had. "I know." The elf paused for a moment, seeking for something to distract the blacksmith. Finally, he thought of something.
"I've been meaning to ask you how things have been back in the Caribbean."
Will smiled broadly as he thought of his home. "Good. Elizabeth has been running around planning the wedding."
Legolas' head shot up. "You're engaged, already?"
"No waiting around, I'm not going through that again!"
Legolas laughed at the words and understood Will's reasoning perfectly well. He had felt so badly for his young look alike when their final battle with Barbossa was over and he had talked to Elizabeth about returning to the Dauntless, and her new fiancé. Even Aragon, who disliked Will at the time, pitied him.
"So how did the Commodore take that news?" Legolas asked curiously. This time Will laughed.
"If you thought his normal death glares were bad, you should have seen the one I got when he was told the news. I swore he was going to spit blood."
"Who was going to spit blood?" Looking up they saw Aragorn approaching after having reprimanded Merry and Pippin for throwing stones into the lake.
"We were discussing your favorite man Estel, dear Commodore Norrington."Aragorn screwed up his face, something like the face Jack had made when Cotton had revealed his half a tongue, and took a seat next to Will.
"Why would you discus that man? Are our days not dark enough already?" At this, Will, Legolas and Jack, who had been eavesdropping, burst out laughing.
"Well to answer your question Strider, he looked like he was going to spit blood over young William and Elizabeth's engagement." Jack replied, while patting Will on the shoulder in congratulations.
Aragorn's smile faded as his thoughts drifted to the maiden he loved and was engaged to, Arwen. "Don't worry Estel, you and your beloved's wait is almost over." Legolas stated after observing his friend's mood change. He knew the man well enough to guess what was on his mind.
"Aragorn, are you engaged as well?" Will asked curiously with a hint of shock mixed in with his tone. Aragorn smiled broadly and nodded in response to his friend, whose face also lit up with a smile.
"I bet I know who it is."
Aragorn turned to face the pirate sitting behind him and raised his eyebrows. "Really; well then Elendur, tell me who you believe is my betrothed."
"The Lady Arwen of Rivendell. It's not a hard thing to guess, anyone with a drop of common sense could see the love between you two. That and I also caught you two kissing on the bridge the night before the council so that was kind of a give away, savvy?" Jack said arrogantly.
Will rubbed a hand over his mouth hiding his smile from Jack when he realized that was what Aragorn had been referring to when he said Jack was getting payback for spying on him. Aragorn rolled his eyes in amusement when he saw the smile plastered on Will's features and shook his head.
"Well you are quite right my friend."
"How long have you two been waiting to marry...?"
The four friends' conversation came to a halt when the creaking of stone came from behind them and turning they could see the mighty doors of Moria swinging open. Will stood and stretched his tired muscles as he waited for his other companions to also rise and follow Gandalf into the mines. Jack tapped Aragorn on the shoulder drawing the ranger's attention back to him.
"Hey you never answered my question mate."
"And what question would that be Jack?"
"How long have you two been engaged?"
Aragorn looked to Legolas who simply stated "A LONG time" as the answer to Jack's question. Jack had wanted an actual number of course, but he just shrugged and followed the others when he realized he wasn't going to get a straight answer from either the Elf or Ranger. Aragorn nodded in thanks to Legolas. The fact that he and Arwen had been engaged now for thirty-nine years would have come as a definite shock to his friends and he didn't feel like trying to explain the whole situation at that point in time.
At the entrance to the mines, Legolas paused for a moment, his features clouding with dread as he peered into the dark beyond the doors. Boromir noticed this and paused next to the elf.
"What is wrong Legolas?" Legolas just cringed more and shook his head as Boromir waited for the elf to answer.
"I hate caves, every experience I've had in one has been bad and I know this one will be no different."
Aragorn also was feeling very uneasy when he entered the cave, probably because he had traveled through the mines once before and the experience was not a good memory, and for some odd reason this place reminded him of the caves he had been in with Jack and Will.
Gimli, on the other hand was delighted to finally have gotten his way and to now be traveling through the mines of his kin. "Soon master Elf; you will experience the fabled hospitality of the dwarves! Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone. This, my friend, is the home of my cousin, Balin, and they call it a mine, a mine!"
Everyone looked around the room which was now better lit from the light coming from Gandalf's staff.
"This is no mine, it's a tomb!" Boromir said grimly as he spotted the skeletal remains of a dwarf lying by the wall to his right. As Gimli leapt towards one of the fallen dwarves crying out in grief and distress Legolas knelt down next to one of the small bodies and plucked an arrow from it. After a few moments of examining the arrow Legolas looked up the Aragorn. His voice was full of alarm and disgust when he spoke.
"Goblins!" Legolas quickly got up and retrieved an arrow from his quiver as Aragorn and Boromir both drew their swords and began scanning the area.
"Perhaps it is time you used your new bow Jack." Aragorn glanced back over his shoulder and spotted Jack standing behind him wide-eyed and unsure. But with a reassuring smile and slight nod from the ranger, Jack retrieved his elvish bow, a beautiful and most unexpected, yet appreciated gift, from Lord Elrond, and quickly strapped his quiver onto his back before he stepped up beside Legolas.
Jack smiled meekly at him as he retrieved one of his own arrows and notched it in the string of his bow. The wood of Jack's bow had been stained black and had designs similar to those of Legolas' bow, but only in sliver instead of gold. And thanks to Aragorn, Jack's initials were engraved into each arrow shaft in the elven fashion of marking the owner of the arrow, and also, much to his amusement, the skull and crossbones of the pirate flag.
"We make for the Gap of Rohan; we should never have come here." All four hobbits began backing away towards the door as Boromir continued, and they remained completely oblivious to the thing stirring in the water behind them. Boromir began to shout. "Now get out of here, get out!"
As the Fellowship began to back away towards the door, something from behind wrapped around Frodo's ankle and drug him down to the ground and back towards the water. The other hobbits all ran to the aid of their friend calling his name in alarm except for Sam who called for Aragorn. But seeing as he was the closest Will ran to the hobbits' aid first and easily slashed through the tentacle with his razor sharp, handmade blade. As the rest of the tentacle shrank back into the water they all backed up closer to the door away from the water, thinking they were now safe, which proved to be the complete opposite of what they were. Suddenly a rain of tentacles came shooting out of the water knocking Will and the other hobbits away from Frodo, who was lifted into the air above the water when another tentacle wrapped around his leg.
Frodo yelled in distress the as others ran out of the caves, and both Aragorn and Boromir dove into the water while Legolas stayed on the shore. Taking aim the elf released his arrow which struck a three pronged tentacle that was wrapping itself over the hobbit's face.
As Frodo again called out for Strider, Will entered the water along with Aragorn and Boromir and began slashing away at the flailing tentacles.
Jack finally got up his courage when he realized that the others weren't having much success. Deciding he had nothing to lose he took aim and fired at one of the tentacles that looked as though it was wrapped around Frodo's arm, slowly lowering him to the set of waiting jaws below. Much to Jack's delight he hit the moving target dead on and the creature lost its grasp on Frodo's arm.A moment later Aragorn located the main tentacle holding the hobbit and sliced through it making the creature lose its hold on Frodo. The Ringbearer fell into the arms of Boromir who was waiting below him.
Once Frodo was safely secured in Boromir's arms Gandalf yelled, "Into the mines!" and the five in the water retreated back to the caves as Gandalf instructed. As they ran the creature began to once again advance on them and Boromir called out to Legolas who again fired an arrow, which buried itself deeply into the Watcher's right eye. Aragorn risked a glance back the creature when it roared in pain and fury and saw that the elf had bought them a few extra precious moments to try and escape the foul beast. They all took advantage of this and ran as quickly as they could back into the dark caves to try and escape the Watcher.
As the Fellowship retreated into the mines the creature slammed the doors shut behind them with so much force that it triggered a cave in and the roof of the passageway behind them collapsed. All eleven members, once they were far enough into the mine, turned to watch in horror as the last light of the moon was blotted out by the huge stone slabs and darkness overtook them.
For a few fear-filled moments the only sounds that could be heard was the ragged breathing and gasps coming from the Fellowship until Gandalf spoke breaking the silence.
"We now have but one choice..." tapping his staff on the ground a few times he rekindled the light that came from it, "...we must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than Orcs, in the deep places of the world."
"Well I believe that the thing out there was maybe a bit fouler, mate." Jack said flatly to the wizard as he passed him. Gandalf just shook his head and kept going deciding not to press the issue with the pirate.
