First Battle Scars
Gandalf was right; it was a long trek. Just like before. And it was starting to bug Rosalie. This meant she started bugging someone until they glared her into submission. And five minutes later it would start all over again, but with a different victim. The absence of natural light made Rosalie feel fidgety and also meant she couldn't tell how long they had been walking- only from the ache in her feet telling her it was far too long.
They also walked in silence, treading lightly on the ground, desperate not to make a sound and only the elf succeeded in that. Gandalf's staff gave them little light; the world around them bleached black and grey and Rosalie tried hard not to trip on anything as they climbed a giant set of stairs. God, what did I get myself into?! Rosalie was panting, her legs burning as she dodged a crumbling step. Pippin slipped, sliding down, almost kicking Merry in the face. He grabbed Pippin round his middle, stopping him from taking a tumble down the stairs. "You okay?" The girl whispered to the little hobbit who nodded, looking away from her, embarrassed. Gandalf and Legolas were far ahead of them, the crystal's light weak on the girl's skin.
The silence felt deafening to Rosalie, and she started to nod her head to a tune playing inside her head. Rosalie stilled for a moment, closing her eyes briefly before opening them and looking down at what she had stepped on. A dark grimy skull stared at her, jaw slack, as if in shock as she removed her foot from its eye socket. She shuddered and felt a hand on her shoulder. Aragorn grimaced with her and urged her to keep going.
Eventually, the fellowship came to a fork- three great arches stood proudly before them, a reminder of the dwarves' skills with rock. Gandalf lead them to the top and stared hard at all three passages. "I have no memory of this place." His voice was quiet but it echoed around them, hundreds of wizards giving them bad news. "Are we lost? I think we are." Merry put a hand over Pippin's mouth. "Shhhhhhhh... He's thinking." the little Hobbit let out a mumble against Merry's hand. "What?" "I'm hungry."
Gimli let out a sigh and slumped to the floor, the rest of the fellowship joining him. Boromir leaned forward, dragging small chunks of wood together, and Rosalie leaned forward, desperate for some warmth. Only Legolas and Frodo stayed standing, the elf straightening the feathers on his arrows, occasionally looking over the faces of the company around him while the Hobbit stayed close to Gandalf. Rosalie could hear faint snatches of their conversation about a creature named Gollum and Bilbo. "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had ever happened." Frodo sounded like he was close to tears and Rosalie drowned it out, deciding to give them some privacy.
Rosalie nestled herself in between Pippin and Legolas, listening to the gentle whispers of the Hobbits, faint cracks from the fire and got out her sketchpad. She flipped to a clean page and smiled to herself, letting her imagination take over the page. The world around her tuned out- only her sketchpad remaining, the picture coming into focus on the page. Above her, Legolas craned his head slightly, trying to see what the girl was drawing and the hobbits turned to her. "What're you drawing?" Pippin asked, frowning slightly and Rosalie looked up and smiled playfully at him. "You." She said simply, turning the paper slightly so they could look. Merry snorted. "It isn't very good," The smile fell off of Rosalie's face as she stared at the Hobbit and Sam looked at him shocked. "Pippin is a lot uglier in real life," The hobbit finished, smiling widely at the girl, ignoring Pippin's splutters and the men's laughter.
Suddenly, Gandalf leapt to his feet and the rest of the Fellowship spurred into action. The wizard started going down one path. "oh good, he's remembered!" Merry whispered loudly and Gandalf let out a chuckle. "No, only the air doesn't smell so foul down here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose." Rosalie let out a faint giggle and she could feel Gimli grinning behind her.
Finally, they had stopped for a while, and Rosalie let out a groan, sagging to the floor and not bothering to get out her sleeping bag. Pippin and Merry sat there, mouths agape and Pippin leaned over to Aragorn. "Do all women act like that?" He whispered, pointing at the girl stretched out in the dirt and the man chuckled, shaking his head. "Just because I'm too tired to walk, does not mean I can't hear you Pip." Rosalie murmured, her eyes still shut but she fumbled blindly through her pack for her sleeping bag and pulled it out, lying on top of it. "Wake me for my shift," she murmured and one of the men made a noise in his throat. "I don't think that will be possible." His voice was far away and Rosalie felt herself fall deeper into sleep.
Rosalie woke to someone shaking her shoulder. She looked up at the blurry figure of a man, who moved away from her, Gandalf's small light blocked by his figure. The girl backed away from him unconsciously and he sighed. "We need to start walking again Rosalie." The voice of Boromir came from the silhouette and Rosalie nodded.
Just ahead of Rosalie, Gandalf stopped suddenly, and the girl almost ran into him. The stairs had widened considerably since the narrow paths the days before. "We are going to need more light," The wizard murmured, reaching into his robes. "Behold," Gandalf's voice rung out. "The great realm of the dwarf city, Dwarrowdwelf." He threw his hands up and light floated to the ceilings and Rosalie felt her eyes widen and her mouth drop.
Huge pillars of chiseled stone rose to greet the roof, thick lines weaving along the pillars in an almost Celtic design. It was dark and deep, Gandalf's voice echoing but Rosalie could almost imagine scarlet fires lining the walls, throwing shadows and light everywhere, the loud bellows of Dwarven laughter and the clinking of a legion of hammers meeting rock. "There's an eyeopener, make no mistake." Sam mumbled behind her and she nodded absentmindedly.
Suddenly, Rosalie was jolted forward and she saw Gimli sprinting towards a small archway near the back of the room. Gandalf shouted the dwarf's name but he refused to stop and the others ran to catch up. Gimli bolted through the door and Rosalie heard him howl. They ran into a smaller room with high walls and pillars holding the ceiling and in the middle of the room was a marble tomb. Cobwebs covered skeletons in mail-shirts and helmets, some scattered around the heavy wooden door, others guarding the tomb. Gimli was howling, head bowed to the tomb. "No, no!" He cried and Gandalf silently walked to the side of the tomb, reading the strange lettering on top. "Here lies Balin, son of Fundian, Lord of Moria." His tone was somber and Gimli's howls grew louder and Rosalie winced. "He is dead then. It is as I feared." Gandalf took off his hat and passed it along with his staff to Pippin and pulled a chunky book from the bony hands of one of the dwarves, wipeing a thick layer of dust from the pages.
From the corner of her eye, Rosalie watched Legolas stride over to Aragorn. "We must move on, we cannot linger." Rosalie turned to the pair. "Why?" She asked and Legolas' eyes darted to Aragorn and he hesitated.
"They have taken the bridge. And the second hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long." Rosalie felt a chill go down her spine. "The ground shakes. Drums, drums, drums in the deep. We cannot get out. Shadows moves in the deep. We cannot get out. They are coming." There was a silence among the group, the men exchanging glances and Aragorn took a step closer to Merry, Sam and Frodo. Pippin was over near a crumbling well, a skeleton sat on top of it, thick black arrows protruding from its rib cage. "Pippin!" Rosalie hissed and the Hobbit jumped, and the girl's eyes widened, realising what was going to happen.
CRASH! Rosalie flinched at the sound and everyone spun towards Pippin. The skeleton fell down the well, ricocheting off the walls and with every crash, the hobbit winced and Gandalf's anger seemed to grow. A bucket and chain fell with the dead dwarf and the sounds rung around the ruins, the noises getting louder with each echo. Gandalf glared at Pippin, true anger flaring in his eyes. "Fool of a Took!" He hissed, "Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity." Pippin hung his head in shame and sympathy welled in Rosalie as the wizard turned away from the Hobbit. Aragorn let out a sigh and turned as well, motioning for the fellowship to start walking but stilled suddenly.
Boom. The girl's eyes widened and she turned to Gandalf. Boom. Everyone had stopped, straining to hear the sound. Boom. Boromir's hand moved to his sword and the wizard moved back towards the Hobbits, sheltering them with his body. Boom! The last echo was the loudest and the Fellowship jumped into action.
"Orcs!" Legolas snarled, his face contorting with rage and he shoved Rosalie backwards and closer to the wizard. He reached for his weapons, eyes hardening. "Get back!" Aragorn roared at the Hobbits and Rosalie. "Get behind Gandalf!" Rosalie did as the man said and drew her sword shakily, pointing it at the door. Boromir ran forward, peering out into the darkness of Dwarrowdwelf but quickly ducked his head as arrows flew through the air at him and he pushed the thick doors shut. "They have a cave troll," he said breathlessly and Rosalie could almost hear the sarcastic laughter in his head.
Aragorn and Legolas went to the man, helping him barricade the door before moving away, both the elf and ranger drawing their bows taunt. Gimli growled and got off the ground, holding his axe menacingly. "Let them come! There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath."
Screeches and snarls reverberated through the ruins and Rosalie shivered but kept her focus on the doors. The orcs scratched at the other side, small chips of wood cracking in the door and Legolas fired. There was a scream and a muffled thump as the creature fell to the floor but another took it's place. Legolas and Aragorn fired with deadly precision and the monsters let out dying shrieks. Rosalie crept closer to the Hobbits, fear building inside of her.
The doors finally splintered and thousands of orcs swarmed into the room, squealing in delight and the Fellowship let out battle cries, while Rosalie's arms trembled. Several scuttled towards her and she jabbed her sword at them, cringing as dark blood splattered the floor and her. One of them stalked towards her and the girl swung her sword before recoiling from it; the creature had stringy hair, dark faces and sharp, yellow teeth like cannibals had in horror movies. Behind her, something hissed and she turned to see it raise it's weapon and Rosalie instinctively raised her arm to her face. The orcs screeched and she watched it fall, a smooth, slim arrow with white feathers poking out from it's chest.
Somewhere in the chaos, Rosalie could hear Aragorn shouting, as if he was trying to warn the orcs of his power. The ground started to tremble and there was a crash as the remainders of the destroyed doors were torn off their hinges. A giant snarling beast stood there and the orcs moved backwards. It's face was squashed and it had horrible tusks jutting from its lower jaw and thick leathery skin. Legolas took aim and buried an arrow deep into the troll's shoulder. It roared in pain and swiped at the elf, who jumped gracefully at the last moment.
Near the back of the room, Pippin screamed and Rosalie spun towards the noise. The troll noticed as well and slammed it's hammer down, almost crushing Sam. Frodo, Merry and Pippin ducked behind a pillar and Rosalie crouched, narrowly avoiding a blade arching above her head. The girl raised her sword but the Orc crumpled before she made contact and looked up to see the elf spinning away once again. Gimli snarled at the troll, eyes narrowed in disgust and threw his axe at it. The cave troll's growls became angrier as it's eyes zeroed in on the Hobbits, and Rosalie felt shivers run down her spine.
Slowly, the orc numbers started to decrease. The cave troll was still alive; thick ropy scars lining its hide and trickles of black blood splattered across it. The elf kept firing at it, arrow upon arrow burying themselves into the troll but nothing slowed it down. The troll raised it's fist, swinging the chain downwards but jerked forward, the chain wrapped around a column. Nimbly, the elf jumped up and climbed onto the troll's back, still firing arrows.
Sam was still on the ground, wildly swinging the frying pan, knocking down orcs with each swing. "Think I'm getting the hang of this!" He yelled, hitting a few orcs with a powerful blow. Rosalie turned, eyes widening and raised her arm and Sam stopped, mid-swing. "Woah... Erm, sorry there Miss Rosalie." He said almost sheepishly and Rosalie made a noise somewhere between a squeak and a shriek.
"Frodo!" Aragorn shouted and Rosalie watched as Frodo ran around the pillar, the troll's meaty fist grabbing at the little Hobbit. He let out a scream as the troll roared triumphantly, bringing out a squirming hobbit trapped in his hand. Aragorn jumped up, driving his spear into the troll and it howled in pain, throwing the man across the room. He fell roughly and Frodo screamed. Merry and Pippin started to throw little rocks at it but the troll ignored them, still chasing Frodo. The hobbit tripped and stumbled and Rosalie rushed forward, standing in front of him, staring into the face of the troll, trying not to let her legs quake. It growled and slowly, Rosalie drew her knife and thrust it into the troll's leg. It bellowed at her but dodged round her and she fell to the ground.
Frodo let out a moan and Rosalie turned to him and tried not to cry out. Aragorn's metal spear protruded from his chest and the troll made a strange noise in its throat. Somewhere behind her, she could hear the Hobbits wail and she saw Merry and Pippin jump onto the troll's back, stabbing their small blades into its hide. Legolas' face was contorted with rage and he fired an arrow into the troll's mouth.
The troll staggered backwards, black blood dripping to the floor and it fell heavily to the floor, letting out a death moan. There was a silence and the Fellowship stumbled to their feet, brushing dust, blood and gore from their bodies. Rosalie felt a tear roll down her cheek, still staring at Frodo's body. A light, warm hand rested on her shoulder and she leaned into the elf behind her. "Frodo..." She breathed and turned her head into Legolas' shoulder.
AN: Dun, dun, dun! Cliffhanger! (But not really) Anyway, another chapter done and dusted.
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