What if…

What if…

Chapter 10

The journey through the mountain pass was every bit as difficult as Arianna had expected it to be. Although they were lucky to have clear skies for the first week of traveling through it, the previous snowfall was not fun to go through at all. It was already 4 hand lengths deep, which was bad enough, but the top had melted and re-froze over and over as the days went by, giving the snow an icy crust. The hobbits had a hard time with it, so they stayed in the back with Arianna and Boromir while the rest of the group walked in front, breaking a path for them.

Because of the traveling situation, there was much less conversation between any of them. Everyone was too busy concentrating on where they were stepping so as not to slip. Pippin was the first of them to have such an encounter with an icy patch, and because they were going uphill he couldn't stop himself from rolling until Arianna was able to get in the way. She decided to make this her job, and walked a bit behind the group just for that purpose. Gimli was the second to take a fall and this time Arianna was ready and was able to get in the way, although the dwarf almost bowled her over. When he got on his feet again, he had so much snow in his hair that it stood up on end. She shook with silent laughter as he trudged up the hill again and found the helmet that had fallen off. When he put it on, all the snow squished out around his ears, making it look as if he had snowballs growing out of them. That thought kept her entertained for a while.

Arianna was currently wondering what would happen if she were to slip. There wasn't anyone behind her, so would she keep rolling until she reached the bottom? Or maybe momentum would take her all the way back to the entrance to the pass. Suddenly she heard a yell from up ahead. It was Frodo who fell this time. She quickly got behind him before he rolled off to who knows where. She was helping him brush off his cloak when he realized that his necklace with the ring wasn't around his neck anymore. She looked up to see Boromir picking up the ring by its chain. She watched as Boromir held up the ring, as if admiring it in the sunlight. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. The man seemed to have very little power against the pull of the evil ring. He started muttering something about their fate belonging "to such a little thing" as he reached up to it.

"Boromir." She called sharply. He looked at her as if coming out of a daze. "Give the ring to Frodo."

"Of course." He said quickly, too quickly. He walked down to them, holding out the ring. As Frodo took it quickly Boromir looked in Arianna's eyes. "I care not." He said, as if he felt guilty. She could feel her own distrust of him and wondered how he couldn't feel it too. But then he gave an embarrassed chuckle and ruffled Frodo's hair, not at all like his relaxed self. Maybe he could sense it after all. He slung his shield back onto his back and started climbing again. Arianna realized she was griping her sword and relaxed her grip on the hilt. She hoped Boromir wasn't falling pray to the ring, because she had found a friend in the man who was trudging back up the mountain.

About 3 days later, the blizzard hit. Unfortunately, it was about the same time they were starting on the part of the road that wound along the sides of the mountains along the cliff sides. Harsh wind and snow everywhere was not a fun combination with a steep fall only a few steps to your right. The snow soon got so deep that the hobbits couldn't keep their heads above it. Arianna was carrying Frodo and Sam, while Boromir had taken charge of Marina and Pippin. Gandalf walked in front with Gimli behind him to break up the packed snow and make it easier for them. Legolas scouted ahead through the many twists and turns thanks to his ability to walk on the crust of the snow.

At one point Legolas walked ahead a bit, but stopped on the edge of the cliff as if he was listening to something. Arianna watched him as she struggled forward. He turned and shouted back to the group.

"There is a foul voice on the air!" Once he had pointed it out, Arianna could hear it too. She could barely hear it over the wind, but it was there. She silently congratulated him on hearing it at all.

"It's Sauromon!" Gandalf shouted. He then stood up and started shouting some sort of spell into the wind. The rest of the group stopped their struggling through the snow, as they weren't going anywhere anyway. Legolas walked back and jumped into the trench Gandalf and Gimli had made; checking to make sure the hobbits weren't frozen yet. He looked Arianna in the eyes. He could see that she was tired, and she was pale from cold. Suddenly there was a huge crack, and lightning hit the top of the mountain. Everyone looked up, only to see tons of snow falling towards them. Everyone rushed to stand as close to the mountainside as possible. Arianna threw herself over Frodo and Sam, and Legolas ducked down next to her, an arm around her back protectively. The next thing she knew, everything was white.

She felt like she was floating for a few seconds. She was supported from all around. The thing that brought her back to herself was the cold trickle of snow falling under her hood and down her shirt. She started pushing in the direction she hoped was up. Finally one of her hands broke through into open air, and she pulled herself up the rest of the way. Then she reached down and grabbed Frodo and Sam and pulled them upwards. When their heads and shoulders were out of the snow, she let them go, letting the loose snow pile under them and support them from underneath. It was a welcome rest for her arms. She watched as Gimli's head suddenly popped up out of the snow like a rabbit, and Boromir pulled Marina and Pippin to the surface. Gandalf was already above the snow, and watching to make sure they were all there.

"Gandalf, he's trying to bring down the mountain on our heads. It's not safe here!" she called to the wizard.

"Why go over the mountain when we can go under it. Let us go through the Mines of Moria." Gimli said. Gandalf had a strange look on his face. It was a mix of indecisiveness and fear. She didn't think she had ever seen him look so weary.

"Let the ring bearer decide." He said instead of giving an answer. Arianna felt Frodo's head jerk up. She thought Gandalf was being a bit unfair, putting all the pressure on him.

"We cannot stay here; this will be the death of the hobbits!" Boromir shouted. Arianna glanced back and saw Marina and Pippin shivering uncontrollably, both pale and red nosed. She squeezed Frodo's shoulder, showing what support she could.

"We will go through the mines." He finally said. Personally, Arianna was thankful. She was willing to go anywhere without snow at the moment, and the mines sounded much better than continuing through these mountains. Best of all, they wouldn't have to go all the way backwards. They'd only have to retrace their steps for a few days before finding a valley, which would lead them almost straight to the gates of Moria.

"So be it." Gandalf said gravely, and for a moment, Arianna wondered if the mines were really a good idea. The way Gandalf sounded, he was dreading it. But the decision had been made, and the group turned around. Thoughts of warm campfires kept them going long into the night. When they finally left the dangerous mountain paths, the blizzard stopped. Sauromon must have been behind it, because the timing was too convenient. But whether it was magic or not, everyone was grateful to be able to build a fire without it blowing out right away. That night was the first relatively warm one they had had for days.

After continuing on their trip for about four days, they came to the valley Gandalf had spoken of. They turned into it, and went on. Unfortunately, the valley was almost sheer rock, and they were hard put to find wood for fuel. They got into the habit of picking up anything they found along the way and putting it in a bundle on the pony's back. The rock walls rose steeply on either side of them, and there was nowhere to go but forward. At least they wouldn't have to worry about getting lost.

They'd been walking for three days when they came to a large lake. Gimli stopped and stared. "The walls of Moria." He said reverently. The group made their way along the edge of the water and the cliff face. When they reached the outer walls of the mine, Gimli started tapping the rock. "Dwarf doors are invisible when closed."

"Yes Gimli," Gandalf said. "Sometimes their own masters cannot find them, and their secrets are forgotten." Arianna snorted.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas said sarcastically. At this she chuckled softly, she could imagine Gimli rolling his eyes right about now. Gandalf came to a halt between two very twisted trees. It looked to Arianna like they were in agony with their bizarre shapes. Frodo and the hobbits hurried forward. Frodo's foot splashed into the water and he jumped back as if burned. Arianna looked suspiciously at the lake. Something about it bothered her, but she couldn't tell what. She looked back at the wizard to see him running his hands over some very faint lines in the cliff face.

"Now, let's see. Ithildin, it mirrors only starlight and moonlight." He looked at the sky just in time to see the moon appear from behind the clouds. Possibly done by the wizard himself she realized. The lines started to glow. Arianna stepped forward in wonder. It was beautiful. The doorway looked like an archway of trees, with a star in the center. Gandalf raised his staff and pointed to the words carved along the top of the doorway as he read. "It reads 'The doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter.'"

"What exactly that mean?" Marina asked, curious.

"Well it's quite simple." Gandalf answered. "If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." He then placed the head of his staff of the star in the center of the door and spoke a command. "Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen." Which Arianna knew to mean 'Gate of the Elves, open now for me.' But nothing happened. The wizard stepped back and said something else. "Fennas Nogothrim, lasto beth lammen." Which ment 'Doorway of the Dwarf-folk, listen to the word of my tongue.' Arianna sighed and changed her footing, she had a feeling they might be here a while.

"Nothing's happening." Pippin said, stating the obvious. Gandalf glanced at him annoyed, then tried to push the doors open by hand. He then stepped back, puzzled.

"I once knew every spell in the language of men, elves and orcs."

"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asked, oblivious to the gray pilgrim's frustration.

"Knock your had against them, Peregrin Took, and if that does not shatter them then I will at least have peace from foolish questions." Arianna glared at him, and he must have seen, because he took a deep breath and said in a calmer tone "I am trying to remember the opening words." He then went to a nearby rock and sat on it. He pulled out his pipe and stared at the doors, muttereing to himself. Knowing that this was the way he thought best, Arianna dropped her things against the cliff. A hint to everyone else that this might be a long wait.

After they'd been sitting for a while, Arianna stood up and stretched. She walked over to where Legolas had taken up a perch under one of the twisted trees.

"Why did they grow this way?" she asked him in whisper so as not to disturb the muttering wizard.

"I'm not sure." He said in the same quiet way, sounding thoughtful. "I've never seen trees grow this way before. But usually they don't grow in rock like these. I think they were planted here magically. There's no way a tree would grow here on its own."

"Then maybe they look strange from the magic, or maybe the lack of nutrients. If they were forced to grow on what little nutrients there are here, no wonder they look so terrible."

"Maybe…" he said as he rubbed his hand over the trunk. Arianna smiled, shook her head, and left him to his thoughts. She went over to where Sam was slowly taking the provisions from the pony's back. She helped him with the last of them, and untied the lead from the bridle as Sam patted him on the nose.

"The mines are no place for a pony, Sam. He'd be miserable; you know that, even if Bill is the bravest pony in Middle Earth." She said softly to the sad hobbit.

"Buh-bye Bill." Sam said, and the two of them pushed the pony into the direction of the valley.

"Don't worry Sam," she said, patting him on one dejected shoulder. "He knows the way home." They both turned when they heard a splash. Arianna's breath caught in her throat as she saw Marina throw a stone into the water, aiming at an old tree in the middle of the lake. She hurried forward and caught Pippin's arm before he could throw his stone. "Don't." she said, quiet but stern. "Try not to disturb the water. I don't trust it." She watched as the ripples from Marina's stone spread, but they didn't stop. Something was moving where the rock had landed. Just enough to cause a tiny ripple of its own.

Suddenly there were tiny ripples coming from many different places. What was making them? Were they a bunch of little creatures? Or one who moved really fast? Most importantly, was it/they dangerous? She stood back a bit, the hobbits following her away from the edge of the water which was surging slightly. Boromir came forwards and stood next to her. They watched as the ripples got larger. Suddenly a load groan from behind them made them spin around. The silvery lines had been replaced by an open door of stone. A burst of stale air came out and clouded their faces. Arianna suddenly didn't like the idea of going into the mines at all, no matter how cold it got in the mountains.

But the group started filing towards the entrance, she and Boromir once again bringing up the rear. They looked at each other, and he stood back mockingly waving her toward the door. She glared playfully at him, but went in. Gimli seemed ecstatic.

"Soon master elf, you'll be enjoying the fabled hospitality of the dwarves!" Arianna had to smile. She didn't think Legolas would enjoy the dwarves welcome much more than Gimli had enjoyed Rivendell. "Roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone!" when she saw Legolas grimace she had to remind herself of where they were to keep herself from laughing. "And they call it a mine. A mine!" Gimli laughed, but Arianna's giggles were gone. There were things here, dead ones. She could see the shadowy bodies lying all over the place, and stopped short. It was Boromir who gave her thoughts voice.

"This is no mine, it's a tomb." The hobbits jumped back from a nearby corpse as if they'd just noticed it, which they probably had. Gandalf brightened the crystal in his staff and they clearly saw the arrows riddling the bodies of the dead. Legolas pulled out one of them and inspected the tip.

"Goblins!" he growled as he threw it down and drew an arrow of his own. Gimli was moaning over the bodies as if he had personally known them all. Arianna drew her sword, and saw Boromir do the same.

"We make for the Gap of Rohan." He said carefully. "We never should have come here." Arianna wanted to glare at him but was too busy keeping a sharp eye out. Frodo had made the decision, and she didn't want him blaming himself for something that wasn't his fault.

"Let's just get out of here." She said calmly, as if they had simply found a dead end in a garden maze. They were carefully backing out of the mine when she heard a sudden yelp behind her.

"Strider!" she heard Sam call frantically. She whipped around to see Frodo being dragged towards the water by a large…snake…thing. Then she saw the suckers on it and realized that it was tentacle. If one tentacle was that big, then the monster itself had to be huge! Sam hacked at the arm until it let go and pulled into the water, as if defeated. Arianna could smell a trap and rushed forward, but before she could make it, a multitude of tentacles flew toward the ring bearer and slapped the other hobbits away. One of them grabbed Frodo around the ankle and pulled him into the air over the water. Another was wrapping itself around Frodo's face, but Legolas was able to shoot it before it got a good grip.

As Frodo gasped for air above them, Arianna and Boromir rushed into the water and splashed around; slashing at any bit of the creature they could reach. Tentacles fell like a forest of trees, soaking them both. In desperation, one arm tossed Frodo to another, and a head like thing rose out of the water. It pulled Frodo over its mouth and opened is jaw. It was going to swallow him whole! Arianna followed the arm with her eyes and slashed at it, cutting it clean off in her rage, and the tentacle dropped, loosening Frodo who was caught by Boromir. Gandalf stood next to the entrance to Moria.

"Into the Mines!" he called to them. Boromir, still carrying Frodo, ran towards them, followed by Arianna. Suddenly, one of the appendages wrapped around her left arm and gripped it tightly. She heard Boromir call to Legolas, but was too busy trying to keep from being pulled back into the water to pay attention. Then the arm's grip loosened enough for her to get away from it, and she looked up to see Legolas shoot a second arrow into the creature's face.

She ran into the mines, dodging tentacles as she went. As the group went deeper into the darkness, the beast tried to pull itself after them. Soon it had filled the doorway with its great gray mass, but still couldn't reach them. Instead it settled its rage by pulling in the walls as they continued to run. They stopped short to look behind them, Arianna almost crashing into Legolas before turning to watch. He put an arm around her shoulders, and felt her shaking. As the moonlight faded, he felt her shoulders tense up. Her left hand reached up and rested on the one he had laid on her right shoulder. And then it was dark.

Arianna didn't think she had ever seen such darkness. She could feel it in the air, and its cold seeped into her lungs, filling them with freezing pin picks. For a moment all she could hear was her own heart beat, but she forced herself to focus on the breath of her companions. With something to concentrate on, she slowly calmed down. Legolas was breathing almost normally, but a bit shakily from the encounter. Gimli breathed heavily, more from adrenaline than tiredness. Boromir was gasping for air, like her he was tired from a battle in the water. Gandalf was breathing steadily, as if nothing had happened at all. The hobbits were all out of breath, Frodo still choking a bit from when the thing had tried to cut off his air supply.

There was a thumping sound, and light filled the cave, blinding her for a moment. Gandalf's staff glowed brightly, lighting the mines and the stairs before them. Where the entrance had been, there was now only rubble and stone. It would be impossible them to clear it out.

"We now have no choice." Gandalf said gravely. "We must face the long, dark of Moria." Legolas felt Arianna shudder again at the word 'dark', and squeezed her shoulder before pulling his hand away. "Be careful. There are older and worse things than orcs in the deep places of this world. We must be quiet. It's a four day journey to the other side. We simply have to hope that no one notices us."

"I doubt they get a lot of visitors here," Arianna said matter-of-factly, trying to lighten the mood. "And I don't think they're expecting any anytime soon." She could almost feel the hobbits relax, as well as Gandalf. She hadn't realized how upset he'd been until he did so. But before she could decide whether to confront him about it, he started forward, followed by the others. She looked at Boromir ruefully, and he once again waved her forward in a mocking ladies first gesture, and she grinned good-naturedly as they fell once more into place.

--

I know, I know, another chapter so soon. I'm sure you're all complaining oh so much :P But i'm putting this chapter up purely for selfish reasons, lol. I just started posting my Holes fanfic, and was hoping people would go and take a look at it and give me your thoughts! And this the easiest way for me to spread the word On a different note, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. You may have noticed that Marina's parts are becoming less and less common. In fact, I don't think there were any in this chapter... Mostly this is because she had the first few chapters all to herself, and when the fellowship splits up, she and Arianna will both have major parts as they follow their different paths. So please review, the more reviews I get, the sooner I update!

Your Humble Authoress,

Whisperwings