The next few days on Caradhras were complete and utter misery.
Gandalf walked ahead of them at all times, plowing a way ahead with his staff. One night- though, they really guessed at the time of day- they rested during a fierce snowstorm. Gandalf couldn't light a fire because the wind was blowing so hard, and everyone was freezing. Because Edmund refused to get anywhere near Peter (Yeah- they're still fighting), he ended up huddling between Susan and Lucy, with the Hobbits with them.
Peter was helping Boromir, Aragorn and Legolas plow through the snow, trying to create a path, or maybe the more appropriate word would be 'tunnel', up the mountain. Aragorn gave the teenager a pair of gloves so he wouldn't get frostbite as he scratched away at the snow. About thirty minutes into this rather unpleasant activity, Peter was ready to collapse. He turned to look at his companions up ahead and next to him.
Tired as he was, Peter wasn't willing to give up until they did. Well, at least until Boromir and Aragorn did. After all, Legolas was an elf; since he couldn't feel the cold as badly as the humans, dwarf and hobbits could, chances were that Legolas could be at this for hours before tiring. Peter respected Aragorn and Boromir- respected their strength, their determination, their perseverance… He didn't want to look weak in front of them.
So, Peter kept knocking away at the snow. He must have been more tired than he thought, because suddenly, he felt Aragorn shaking his shoulder. "Peter!" The Ranger called over the howling wind. Peter snapped up, and realized that he had been falling asleep. For the past few minutes, he had been whacking numbly at the snow, with no effect to the tunnel. "Go back and get some rest!" Peter shook his head, forcing himself awake.
"I'm fine!" he called back.
"You're falling asleep on your feet. Go back to your brother and sisters!" Aragorn insisted, giving the fifteen-year-old a little nudge towards their snowy camp. Peter sighed in defeat, and tromped back through the knee-high snow to the rest of the Fellowship. There, he slumped down next to Susan, crossing his arms tightly to keep himself warm. Soon after, he nodded off.
The next two nights were no better. The third night, they were hiking up a winding trail, next to a high wall of rock. Peter had an arm around Lucy, and Susan had an arm around Edmund against the wind. Boromir was carrying Merry and Pippin, while Aragorn carried Frodo and Sam. Because of their smaller statures, the Hobbits could barely stand in the gale-force wind without being blown over. Gimli brought up the rear with Bill the Pony, and Legolas walked beside the group, on top of the snow.
Gandalf, as was said before, led them, plowing ahead with his staff, snow caught in his beard. Legolas strode by the wizard, to a turn in the path, and stared out intently. The company stopped. "There is a fell voice on the air!" Legolas called to them. Everyone listened. Then, on the wind, they could all detect a deep, harsh voice, bellowing something unintelligible.
"It's Saruman!" Gandalf roared.
"He's trying to bring down the mountain!" Aragorn cried.
"Saruman?" Edmund yelled, uncomprehending.
"A wizard of Gandalf's order; He's betrayed our side!" Legolas called to him. Gandalf, meanwhile, had raised his staff high, and was bellowing in- what the Pevensies thought- complete gibberish.
"What is he doing?" Susan asked.
"Trying to counteract Saruman's spell," Aragorn said. "Saruman must be the one who's conjuring the storm!" A second later, there was a loud 'BOOM'. Lucy screamed; the sound was all too reminiscent of the sound of bombs dropping and exploding. Nearby, Susan screamed. It was an avalanche! A bolt of lightning- Saruman's work, undoubtedly- had stricken the area above them, causing a wave of snow to come crashing down on the Fellowship.
There was a pause.
Legolas was the first to break through the snow, shaking his head, trying to rid his face and hair of the snow. Gimli, Aragorn, Gandalf and the others soon followed. "Well," Peter muttered. "That definitely woke me up."
"We must get off Caradhras!" Boromir cried to Gandalf. "Make for the Gap of Rohan and press forward to Minas Tirith!"
"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn protested loudly. "We could walk right into Saruman and his henchmen! Not to mention the land would be swarming with Orcs!"
"Is there any other way?" Edmund called to Gandalf.
"There is!" They all turned awkwardly to face Gimli. "If we cannot go over the mountain, let us go under it! The Mines of Moria!" Everyone turned to Gandalf for council. Peter, who was closest to the wizard at the time, saw that his eyes and expression were dark. What was so bad about the Mines of Moria? Then again, they were in a world where a little, golden ring was a weapon of terrible power- with that in mind, Moria could be a nightmare.
When Gandalf failed to respond, Boromir spoke up with a new point. "We cannot stay here! This will be the death of the little ones!" He was, of course, referring to Lucy, Edmund and the Hobbits. While Edmund put on a stoic front, he was shaking from the cold. Lucy, Merry, Sam and Pippin were no better. Frodo seemed to be doing better than them all, for some reason.
"Let the Ring-bearer decide." Was Gandalf's verdict. Lucy, though her teeth chattered, couldn't help but think that it was rather unfair of Gandalf to heap that responsibility on Frodo. The poor hobbit was already notably stressed under the pressure of his position as the Ring-bearer, and didn't need this extra worry on his mind. "Frodo?"
Frodo quietly observed each member of the Fellowship, Gandalf in particular, before saying: "We'll go through the Mines."
They soon found that going down the mountain was far easier than going up. It took them two days to reach a non-snowy surface- half the time it had taken them all to get up Caradhras in the first place. On the morning of the second day, the sun shined brightly, warming them all, and making the cold far less miserable.
Everyone's moods were lifted significantly; even Edmund's. And what do ten-year-old boys do when they're in a good mood?
Why, cause trouble, of course!
Edmund was walking towards the back of the group, with Gimli, Pippin and Boromir. Suddenly, his happy little mind came up with an idea. Peter was in his direct line of vision- no one in the way, no straying to the side… Just straight ahead. In his mind, Edmund pictured a small bulls-eye on the back of his older brother's head. Could he? Certainly. Should he? Well… Edmund doubted that the other members of the Fellowship would let Peter mutilate him, but still…
Ah, what the hell. Edmund thought. Quietly, he fell a little further back, stooped down, and picked up a handful of snow, patting it in his hands. At that moment, Boromir noticed that the second-youngest member of the Fellowship had fallen behind. He turned, shifting his shield, and froze when he saw Edmund with the snow.
Edmund, in turn, froze when he saw the man look at him. Bus-teeeed… A pleading look in his eyes, Edmund used his free hand to make a slashing motion across his throat. Boromir blinked, and then turned to look back at the company. He saw the back of Peter's head, and- being a brother himself- understood Edmund's intentions immediately. The Gondorian winked, and turned his back to the dark haired boy, feigning ignorance.
Edmund grinned- Boromir was definitely someone he would look forward to knowing better. Carefully, he ran forward, lined up the shot, and hurled the snowball at the back of his elder sibling's head. SPLAT. "AUGH!" Peter cried out, attracting everyone's attention. Boromir bowed his head and snickered softly to himself.
Whirling around, Peter glared immediately at his antagonizer; it didn't take a genius to guess who it was. "ED!" He barked. Edmund grinned impishly.
"That was for the window!" He called triumphantly. Peter look confused for a moment, wondering that the hell Edmund was talking about, before he remembered.
"EDMUND!" He roared. "YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT HIT THE DAMN BALL!"
"YOU BOWLED IT!" Edmund yelled back.
Now, surely you realize that Edmund was referring to the broken window that had landed the four Pevensies into Middle Earth, and into the Fellowship. But you also must understand that the rest of the Fellowship, excluding Susan and Lucy for obvious reasons, didn't have a clue as to what the two brothers were talking about.
But, as with most arguments between the Pevensie boys, the fight escalated quickly. Of course, Peter had to pick up a lump of snow and hurl it back at Edmund, who dodged with irritating ease. "Peter!" Susan said angrily. "Do you always have to move these arguments along? I swear-"
"WE'RE ON ED'S SIDE!" Merry and Pippin screamed simultaneously, running up the hill to Edmund. Susan groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead.
"Traitors," Peter huffed. Aragorn chuckled and stepped forward.
"Seriously, gentlemen, we are on a schedule. Now-" Without warning, a snowball to the face cut off the Ranger. Sam, Frodo, Lucy and Susan gasped. Legolas, Gimli and even Gandalf's respective jaws dropped. Boromir was grinning mischievously, and wiping snow off his gloves. No one was quite certain how Aragorn might react to being nailed in the face with a wad of compressed snow.
Slowly, Aragorn wiped the snow from his face, looking surprisingly calm. "I…" Everyone drew in a tense breath. "… Am on Peter's side." Is it necessary for me to say that a snowball fight broke out? Yes, a distinguished bunch of warriors, a wizard, four hobbits and four children had a vicious snowball fight. Susan had intended to remain neutral, but she was quickly heard screaming for Pippin's blood when he got her in the chest with a particularly large ball.
The sides were as follows- On Edmund's side, there was (of course) Edmund, then Lucy, Merry, Pippin, Boromir and Gimli. On Peter's side was (of course) Peter, then Susan, Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, and Legolas. Peter was mainly aiming for Edmund. Susan was mainly aiming for Pippin. Aragorn was mainly aiming for Boromir. Legolas, naturally aimed for Gimli, and the remaining three aimed for everyone.
The snowball fight went on for about two hours. Peter's side had a significant advantage- partly because they had an extra person, partly because they had an elf and a wizard. The fight ended when Edmund simply gave up and tackled Peter into the snow. Eventually, Peter got the upper hand, and shoved his little brother's face in the snow. As Aragorn and Boromir tore them apart, Pippin approached Susan. "Aye," The hobbit said. "You've got a good arm, Susan. You hit me in the forehead." He rubbed aforementioned body part, flinching. "We even?"
Susan paused for a moment, considering this. Then, she pulled another snowball from behind her back, and smashed it over the youngest hobbit's head. Then she smiled. "Yes, Pippin. We're even."
Sorry I didn't go into detail about the snowball fight, but I couldn't think of a good filler.