"There is a fell voice in the air," Legolas proclaimed as the Fellowship continued to walk, step by step into the Pass of Caradhras. Only he was able to walk in the snow without sinking into it, while the others were waist high into the white shrouds upon the ground. The Halflings, they were almost buried under the snow, and were clinging to Aragorn and Boromir. Meanwhile, Arya used her powers to form a wall in front of them, removing as much snow before her as she could, while Diva tried to deflect the bolts of lightning that seemed to be targeting them with her own.
Gandalf knew that there was only one person that could have created such a messy situation for them. "It's Saruman!" he shouted, and got out of the snow, right to the ledge and began to cast what seemed like a spell. Arya saw this, and encased his ankles in earth to prevent him from falling over.
Aragorn was concerned. If things continued to get worse, they will all die there. "He's trying to bring down the mountain, Gandalf, we must turn back!" However, Gandalf refused, and continued to cast his spell. The voices of the White Wizard and the Grey seemed to be clearer and clearer, and the Ranger's eyes tracked the presence of yet another bolt of lightning that could have struck him down if Diva had not absorbed it, and directed it to the neighboring summit of a mountain. "Diva, there is another!" he added, signaling the Queen to the one that hit the top of the mountain they were directly under.
Diva saw what Aragorn was shouting of, but it was too late. She had no time to deflect it. "Legolas, get Gandalf!" Arya told the Elf before releasing Gandalf from his earthen harnesses. With the quickest of reflexes, Legolas pulled Gandalf from the ledge while she formed a shield of earth around them. However, the impact of the avalanche on them was so strong that the snow broke through Arya's shield, completely burying the Fellowship.
Luckily for them, Arya's shield managed to hold off most of the snow, which saved them from a freezing death. One by one, they emerged from the snow, Legolas first, followed by Diva and Arya. "We must get off the mountain!" Boromir exclaimed, "Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the west road to my city!"
Aragorn, adamant to his decision not to lead the Ring into Minas Tirith argued, "The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" The Queens and the Halflings just watched as Gimli added his input into the debate. Arya and Diva needed rest from the intense usage of their powers, while the Halflings were too cold and frightened to say anything.
"Let the Ringbearer decide," Gandalf said finally, looking at Frodo. All eyes of the Fellowship were immediately on Frodo, and the Halfling thought for a moment. If every road was as dangerous, then perhaps, they would face that dander in Moria, where at least, they would not be tortured by the elements. Frodo then decided that they would go through the mines, leaving Gandalf to close his eyes for a moment, a sigh escaping his lips. "Then so be it."
The descent into the Mines of Moria was even more difficult than their ascent into the Pass. "Arya, forgive me for what I have done these few days," Boromir said, holding Arya's hand as Gandalf and Frodo were huddled in a conversation of their own. "I do not know what has gotten into me."
Arya was not sure if she wanted to speak of him as of yet. He did not understand how his actions might have affected their mission. The thought of the Fellowship breaking from within scared her, but to know that that perpetrator could be Boromir… she was even more afraid to see that pass. "Boromir, it's like I do not know you anymore," she said, breaking her silence. "I no longer see the pride and honor that you once held. That Boromir is lost to me now."
Boromir could not comprehend what she was talking about, and looked into her sapphire eyes. Once again, he found sadness and disappointment. "I am not lost, Arya, I…" He needed the Ring for his father, to protect the land that he loved so much… He would not be corrupted by the Ring, he would not be! "What can I do to show you that I have no intention to take the Ring for myself?"
The Queen just stared at him and said, "Perhaps you should try to protect Frodo as you have sworn… if I see you trying to harm him again, I will kill you myself." Her voice was cold, colder than what they had experienced in the mountains above. Those words stung his heart, but he knew, that she said them for the good of all Middle Earth. "Please, do not drive me to destroy someone so dear in my heart…"
With that, she walked away from him, leaving him to ponder on her words. Did she really feel the same way as he did her? Putting those thoughts aside, he quickly rejoined the group when Gimli exclaimed, "The Walls of Moria!" As the Fellowship continued to walk beside the walls, the Dwarf began to elaborate on the architectural marvels that were the Walls. "Dwarf doors are invisible when closed."
"Yes, Gimli," Gandalf said, leaning on the walls for support. "Their own masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas asked, only to be swatted by both Diva and Arya. "What, I was merely voicing my thoughts!"
Soon, the Fellowship came to a halt, and Gandalf stood before what looked like the outlines of a great door. For a moment, it seemed like the doors were bare, their existence, unable to be proved, but when the moon and the stars were no longer cloaked by the clouds above them, the door began to illuminate, and writing in blue light illuminated immediately. Gandalf said that the words read: The Doors of Durin, speak, friend, and enter. It suggested that they needed a password to be granted entrance.
"Adam and William would have loved to find out the password for us," Diva whispered to Arya. The Chevaliers to their cousins were once able to hack into computers to obtain enemy passwords, but living in Middle Earth for most of their early years did not enable the youngest Queens to comprehend the level of technology available in the world their family escaped from. To them, they were just strange things available "back there", as their parents and cousins would have said in their own words.
It was a long wait indeed, and Aragorn decided to tell Sam that Bill could not travel into the Mines, being a steed. "The Mines are no place for a pony," he said to the rotund Halfling. "Even one so brave as Bill." Removing the tack and equipment that Bill used to bear, Aragorn made eye-contact with Arya and Diva, signaling them to follow the pony after he had released it. They would need a fair share of blood, for it would be a four day march from the Doors of Durin to the Bridge of Khazad-Dum. "Don't worry, he knows the way home…" he told Sam, who reluctantly said his goodbyes to the pony.
"Sam, we'll go and check to see if Bill is going in the right direction," Diva said, patting Sam on the shoulder. Turning to Aragorn, she said, "We will not be long."
Once they were far away enough, Arya closed Bill's mouth with some earth, to stop him from making any noise, before encircling themselves with more earth. As fast as they could, they sucked whatever blood that Bill had, and once they had their fill, Diva destroyed the remains by charring them with her lightning-based powers.
When they had returned, all evidence of their feeding destroyed, the doors were already open, and they began to tread inside the Mines. "Strange…" Diva said to the others. "I see no heat signatures here… Gimli, you said that your cousin was here…"
"This isn't a mine…" Boromir started to say, looking around him. "It's a tomb…" At this revelation, the Fellowship started to look around them, finding immense numbers of Dwarf-corpses littered all around them. Legolas pulled out an arrow lodged in one of the skeletons and muttered something having to do with Goblins. Immediately, those who were armed drew their weapons. "We make for the Gap of Rohan; we should not have come here… Now get out of here, get out!"
At those words, everyone started to make for the exit, when something caught Frodo by his ankle, a long object, much like the tentacles of a squid. A beast soon appeared before them, in the deep pool in front of the Doors of Durin. "Holy shit!" Diva exclaimed, reverting into the dialects of her family's original world. "That's a Watcher!"