Youko-chan= Frodo's pout has won me, here's the next chapter!

Arda Rana, Thalion Maethor Lhûg yassen Anca en Lhach ar' Lith

Kirma 11.

They moved up the mountain and suddenly Dante heard a whisper over the wind. Legolas moved over to her and scanned the skies.

"There is a fell voice on the air." He murmured, barely heard over the wind. Gandalf looked around and then growled.

"It's Saruman!" Suddenly rocks came crashing down and they all threw themselves against the side of the mountain.

"He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must turn back!" Aragorn shouted. Gandalf shook his head in refusal; he pulled himself out of the snow and began to shout in a strange language and Dante began to get angry.

She snarled as she saw a huge amount of snow topple down towards them. She threw the hobbits in between her as it crashed onto them.

Dante sent out fire everywhere and it allowed everyone to break out of the snow.

"We must get off the mountain!" Boromir shouted. "Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the west road to my city!"

"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn shouted back. Frodo's grip around Dante's neck loosened.

"We cannot go over the mountain. Let us go under it!" Gimli yelled. "Let us go through the Mines of Moria."

Dante looked over to the old man and watched as he looked away and back. "Let the Ring-bearer decide." Frodo's body grew lax as he pulled away weakly. "Frodo?"

"Give him a fucking minute he's freezing!" Dante snarled. She raised her body heat even more.

Frodo murmured something and Dante looked down. "He said we go through the mines." She said looking back up. Gandalf had a strange expression as he sighed.

"So be it."

"How will we get back down?" Boromir asked. Dante narrowed her eyes, she could fly them.

"Take Frodo and Sam." She said as she handed them to Aragorn. She would have summoned more dragons, but such a move would cause another avalanche. Dante walked over to the cliff.

"Dante what are you doing?" Legolas shouted. Dante grinned.

"Don't follow me." She said as she let herself fall. As she twisted through the freezing air, her body shifted into her dragon form. She shot up and hovered in front of the fellowship.

Now, set the hobbits onto my back, the dwarf as well. They stared at her. NOW! They rushed to do as she said, Gimli fighting tooth and nail the entire way.

"I will not ride that female!" He shouted.

You only wish you could. Dante grumbled. Now, elf, you're light, once I've got everyone secured, you'll take hold of my tail. Legolas nodded.

She held out her claws and Aragorn took hold of one without much hesitation and it curled around his body, holding him carefully. Come on humans, this is the safest way down.

Gandalf slowly allowed Dante to grab hold of him but Boromir held back. Get on you stupid thing! She shouted. He glared at her and shook his head. Don't make me do this, she warned and as he did not get closer she shot forward and grabbed him with her jaws. Hurry elf! She yelled and swooped down, feeling the slight weight of the elf catching onto her tail. She headed down past the snow, and soon she found the ground.

Dante spat out the human and dropped the others, and lowered herself to the floor so that the dwarf and hobbits could climb down.

"Do us a favor," Merry groans, holding his stomach. "Please don't do that again." Pippin nodded.

Hahahaha! Dante laughed and morphed back into her humanoid figure. "Now what?" She said, spitting out the taste of human from her mouth.

"You just took me into your mouth!" Boromir shouted. "You could have snapped me in half!" Dante nodded.

"Yes I could, but I didn't. Be grateful because that is something I'm beginning to wish I had." That shut the human up.

Gandalf lead them through the rocks, Dante leading Tsukiyo as they had found him near by grazing. Soon they came up to a tall broken bridge.

"The Walls of Moria." Gimli said. Dante huffed.

"Doesn't look at that impressive to me." She said. Frodo shook his head as he clung to her hand, Merry and Pippin stuck to her other arm. Sam followed Frodo as he looked at all of the stone.

They continued to walk downwards until they hit a lower part of the earth; there was a small lake that gave Dante a bad feeling.

Gandalf walked over to a blank part of the stone. "Well, let's see." He murmured as he reached up to touch the stone. "Ithildin. It mirrors only starlight and moonlight." Dante watched as the stone began to glow into a drawing of an arch way.

Gandalf let out a satisfied sigh as he stepped back to admire the light. He grinned and raised his staff. "It reads 'The Door of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter.'"

"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked. Gandalf shrugged.

"It's simple. If you are a friend, speak the password and the doors will open." He put his staff onto the wall and began to chant in a strange language.

Dante rolled her eyes and went over to sit down on a rock. She watched as the old wizard pushed himself onto the wall as if he could shift it. Aragorn took off the packs from Tsukiyo and unpacked the horse.

"This will be no place for a horse." The ranger said.

"Bye Tsukiyo." Sam said sadly. Gandalf huffed and sat down.

Aragorn told Merry not to disturb the water and Gandalf grumbled.

"Oh, it's usless."

Dante noticed that the two humans were staring at the water. She stood and walked over.

"It's a riddle." She heard Frodo say. "Speak "friend" and enter. What's the elvish word for friend?"

"Mellon." Gandalf said and the sound of stone gnashing against stone was heard and Dante's gaze left the moving water.

"Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the Dwarves." Gimli boasted as they entered the dark entrance. Dante stopped and began to growl, the entire place smelled of death and foul creatures. "Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone! And they call it a mine."

"This is no mine, it's a tomb." Dante spat as Gandalf lit his staff with a small stone. Light pierced the darkness showing skeletons everywhere, arrows protruding from their rotting corpses.

Dante couldn't help but feel sorry for the dwarf as he cried out in anguish, she was about to say something when she heard something very bad.

"Goblins." Legolas said.

"Um guys…there's something out there." Dante said nervously. It wasn't a demonic aura but it wasn't human.

The hobbits shuffled around nervously and Dante turned to see a giant tentacle and let out an angry scream. Drawing out her gun, she shot at the tentacle, which blew apart as it reached for Frodo.

A terrible shriek came from the waters. Dante picked Frodo up and drew him away from the waters and into Gandalf's arms.

"GAAAH!" She fell to the ground as one of the slimy limbs gripped her legs and dragged her out of the mines. "Damn it!" She shouted and shot at the skull like head. "Shoot it shoot it shoot it!" She screamed.

Legolas began firing arrow after arrow and the two humans began to chop off the tentacles.

Finally Dante twisted her body and tore the tentacle apart with her claws. Leaping into the air, Dante blew out a large stream of hot fire. She then landed next to the screaming creature. "Run!" She shouted and grabbed the two humans and ran towards the others.

They tumbled inside as the creature tore the entrance down. Pitch blackness engulfed them and Dante could almost taste their fear. She created a small flame and pulled out a cigarette.

"We now have but one choice" Gandalf said and suddenly another light shone from his staff. "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." They began to move forward, Gandalf leading the way. "Quietly now. It's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."

Frodo and the other hobbits clung to her side as they moved through the caves. Hours later they climbed up steep stairs. The hobbits stumbled and Dante held behind to catch them if they fell.

Gandalf reached the top and Dante smelt his confusion. "I have no memory of this place." He whispered.

When Dante reached the top, she helped the hobbits set up a fire.

"Are we lost?" Boromir asked."

Dante lit up another cigarette and watched as Aragorn shook his head. "No."

"I think we are." Merry huffed.

"Gandalf's thinking." Sam shot back.

"Merry?"

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

Dante blew out a thin stream of smoke and sighed. "Take some food from your pack then. Not too much, we need to make it all last. I don't know when the next time will be when I can hunt for you." Pippin grinned and pulled out some salted dried meat and started chewing on it.

Frodo stiffened and pulled at Dante's sleeve. "Hmm?" He pulled her with him as he shuffled over to Gandalf.

"There's something down there." He whispered. The wizard nodded slightly, his teeth clenched on his pipe.

"It's Gollum." Dante raised a brow and turned around to see large sickly yellow eyes staring back. She bared her fangs and snarled and the eyes disappeared. "He's been following us for three days."

"You mean, he escaped from the dungeons of Barad-dûr?" Frodo asked.

"Escaped?" Gandalf muttered. Dante clenched her teeth. "Or set loose?" Dante pulled Frodo into her arms and glanced back at the creature that was hiding down on the lower rocks. "He hates and loves the Ring, as he hates and loves himself. He'll never be rid of his need for it."

Frodo frowned and looked away. "It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance." Dante looked down in surprise as the hobbit's words were laced in disgust.

"Pity? It is pity that stayed Bilbo's hand." Dante narrowed her eyes, obviously the ring was influencing Frodo more than she realized.

Youko-chan= Oh no! Not adorable smuushy Frodo!