Finals are over, and I'm back! lol :) I'm very sorry for taking this long to update. I am very glad to be having the time to write again. :) Thank you guys for being patient and understanding. I also wanted to wish you all happy holidays. :) Can't believe Christmas is almost here. lol :) I went to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi a couple days ago, and to be quite honest, I enjoyed it. :) Anyways, enough talk. lol. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. :)


Chapter 28: Journey in the Dark

Another problem was once again on the Fellowship's hands. And this time it came in the form of atentacle. When everybody saw Frodo being dragged towards the water, they immediately rushed out of the mine to help him. Hera, Sabine, Zeb,and
Rex were firing at the tentacle, trying to make it releasethe poor hobbit, while Sam, Merry, and Pippin were hacking at it with their swords. Ezra was about to rush up and cut it with his lightsaber, but the three hobbits had already done the
job. Their blades cut completely through the flesh and Frodo was free.

Ezra thought he heard a monsterous roar come from beneath the water. The wounded tentacle had disappeared back below the surface. Frodo and his kin sighed with relief, thinking that was taken care of. But they saw how wrong they were as suddenly several
tentacles shot out of the water. Their first move was knocking the hobbits down. Their next move was once again grabbing Frodo by the leg and hoisting him into the air! The hobbit was screaming out in terror as he was hanging upside down.

Ezra didn't know what to do. He was too busy fearing for his friend's life that he couldn't think clearly. The rest of the tentacles were attacking the Fellowship, and one almost hit the young Jedi. Ezra had seen it coming, though, and had jumped out
of the way just in time. The tentacle then made another swing for him, but this time he was ready and cut through it with his lightsaber. Whatever this thing was, it felt that, and let out another roar of pain. Ezra had a feeling that he had just
made it angrier because he saw the rest of that tentacle still attempt to attack him.

"What is this thing?!" he shrieked, "A dianoga?!"

Sabine dodged one of the long arms and fired her twin blasters before raising a brow at Ezra, "Yeah, sure. And it just happens to be on a planet that hasn't heard of Twi'leks or Lasats!"

Ezra rolled his eyes irratibly, "Not a good time for sarcasm, Sabine!"

"Nevermind what it is!" Kanan snapped at them as he leapt and then sliced at a tentacle, "It has Frodo! Focus on getting him down from there!"

"What do you think we've been doing?!" Zeb asked annoyingly.

Everybody ignored him, and continued fighting. Aragorn and Boromir had raninto the water and weretrying to chop off the tentacles holding Frodo, but with little success. Thethicker the arm, the tougher the skin was. Legolas shot a few
arrows towards the top of the tentacle, but unfortunately that had little affect compared to a creature wasn't liking the laser bolts hitting its arms, and Ezra could feel that it was getting angry.

Then, as Frodo was being lowered towardthe water, a huge slimy face emerged from below. And it was both the scariest and ugliest sight Ezra had ever seen. This was definitely no dianoga. It looked even worse than what those foul beasts were. Frodo
was looking down at it, and paled when he saw the thing open its huge mouth. He kept on crying out for help, which only doubled the Fellowship's efforts.

Zeb had become irritated with this creature, so he aimed his bo-rifle right towards its face and fired. Indeed, that broke its attention on Frodo. But the bad news was that it had its eyes set on the Lasat now! Ezra sensed the danger, and tried to yellfor
Zeb to run, but it was too late. The creature sent tons of its arms swinging straight at the Lasat and grabbed hold of him around the waist. Zeb tried to break free, but the tentacle had him in a tight grip. It then lifted him into the air as well.
He tried to stab at it with theshock stick part of his bo-rifle, but the arm then violently swung him around and made him lose his grip on it. Ezra watched as the Lasat's weapon hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Zeb!" the young Jedi yelled.

Zeb was growling andfighting vigorously to loosen the tentacle's hold on him, "Let go of me, you big glob of slime!"

Boromir looked up and saw him hanging there and groaned, "Great."

While Aragorn focused on trying to get Frodo down, the Gondorian turned his attention to getting the Lasat down. He furiously chopped at the tentacles, but before he could get far, another arm swooped down and knocked the man off his feet. And instead
of taking an interest to Frodo first, the creature brought Zeb closer to its mouth, opening wide. And Ezra didn't need to guess what would happen next.

Zeb realized it too, and shook his head fearfully, "No no no no no no!"

It then began to loosen its grip on the Lasat. Zeb could feel himself slipping, and he was right over that thing's mouth! Ezra had become desperate now, and sliced as many tentacles out of his way as he could. He had to catch his friend. They were not going
to be down one crew member.

It finally happened. Zeb had made his best attempt to hold on to the arm, but he finally lost his grip and was now falling. Straight down towards the bottom of that thing's throat. However, he then found himself floating in midair and realized thatEzra
holding him up. The padawan focused hard on the Force to try and move him away from the creature. Zeb just hoped the kid didn't lose focus and drop him.

But of course, his fears had to come true, because Ezra wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, and that thing was about to swing another one of its arms at him!

"Kid, watch out!" Zeb shouted.

Ezra's eyes snapped open, and he jumped above the swinging tentacle, but that made him lose focus, and the Lasat was falling again. And this time all the way to the creature's mouth. But just before he could go in, Zeb reached his hands out and grabbed
onto a couple of its teeth. He didn't have time to react to how awful it felt, because he wasbusytrying to stay alive andnot go beyond the mouth.

Then, to make things worse, the creature began to close its mouth, attempting to eat the Lasat. Zeb immediately swung his feet up and pressedthem hard against its bottom teeth. He did the same thing with his hands against the top
was now in a very tight spot. The thing had strong jaws, and he was trying to keep its mouth open with all his might. Kanan sensed a danger to that move and waved to the rest of the crew.

"Hold your fire!" he ordered, "If that thing opens its mouth any wider, Zeb will fall in!"

Zeb was now sweating and he found himself yelling the last thing he ever thought he'd say, "Help!"

"What're we going to do?!" Rex demanded, "If we don't find a way to kill this thing, Zeb and Frodo are going to die!"

Kanan turned his head to the side, trying to debate what to do. Their options were very little. They couldn't shoot at the creature with their blasters, and the Jedi Knight doubted his lightsaber would be of much help either. And he could feel Zeb's strength
weakening every second. They couldn't risk the creature opening its mouth wider. Once the Lasat fell in, there would be no possible way to get him out. And Kanan had no wish to let any of his companions die today.

He then had an idea. The creature was swinging its arms all over the place, and even though that was a big problem for the company, he was beginning to think they might have some good use after all.

"Ezra!" Kanan shouted to his apprentice, "I need you to listen to me, and do exactly as I say!"

Ezra looked at him and ducked as another tentacle came at him, "Okay, sure, Kanan." He ran over to his master and dodged another swing, "What do I need to do?"

"Grab on to one of its arms," Kanan instructed.

Ezra had a shocked look on his face. Had Kanan gone mad?! He looked at the creature, and watched as it was furiously swinging poor Frodo about.

"Kanan, are you crazy?!" Ezra exclaimed.

"Just do it!" Kanan snapped. He then reached out his hand and waited for another tentacle to come his way. When it did, he seized the tip of the arm with his hand and was instantly hoisted into the air.

Ezra just watched him. Was he seriously expecting him to do this too?! Was he trying to get them both killed?! Nervously, the young Jedi reached his hand out as well, and when a tentacle came his way, he did what his master did and grabbed it at the top.
He suddenly felt his whole body launch up into the air as he held on to the longslimy wiggling arm. The world around him was spinning, and he felt like he could be launched into space by how violently he was being swung around.

But then Ezra reminded himself to focus. He closed his eyes and made every attempt to stay calm and let the Force be his guide. Now obviously Kanan was having them do this for a reason, and he needed to find out what it was. He sensed his master on the
other side of the creature, facing the same circumstances that he was. However, Ezra could also sense that Kanan was focusing on the Force as well.

The young Jedi waited for him to make a move. But when he finally did, it was the last thing Ezra expected him to do. Kanan was slowly inching himself down the tentacle towards the creature's gaping mouth! A flash of panic came over the young apprentice.
This plan was getting crazier by the minute. Ezra wondered if he should just forget and let Kanan handle this one, but then thought twice and had a strange feeling that Zeb and Frodo couldn't be saved without his help.

He took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the slimy skin, and slowly moved down. The creature wasn't paying any attention to them. It was mainly focusingon trying to slap away Aragorn and Boromir who were chopping at the arm holding Frodo, and
trying to close its mouth on the ever so struggling Lasat. The rest of the Fellowship were watching fearfully on the shore, hoping that the two Jedi knew what they were doing.

Ezra could feel himself getting closer it the thing's mouth. He knew that because he could smell the odor of what might be thousands of rotting corpses. Who knows how many helpless individuals this thing had now had to wrap his arms around
the tentacle because the part close to the body was really thick. He was lucky that the slime didn't make him fall off.

What now?

Ezra finally opened his eyes again, and gave his best effort to see what Kanan was doing. The arm constantly moving was making that a bit difficult, unfortunately. He did see Kanan turn his head towards him and make a gesture with his handto wait.
Wait for what, exactly? Zeb was now screaming in agony. His grip was about to give way, and it'd bring the creatures big sharp teeth down upon him.

Then, without warning, Ezra saw Kanan jump off the tentacle and high into the air. The whole world around young Jedi seemed to slow downas he saw what his master did next. As Kanan was falling back down, he moved both of his hands back to the right
side of him, and instead of clasping them together, he had them a couple centimeters apart, as if he was harnessing energy in between his palms. His gritted his teethas he then threw is hands forward with all his might.

Immediately, Zeb was launched out of the creature's mouth by some unseen force and was flying right towards Ezra. The apprentice realized what he had to do, and then used the Force with all his might to push the Lasat as close to the shore as possible.
Zeb fell into the black soulless water with a loud splash. Before Kanan could join him, though, he somehow grasped onto another one of the creature's tentacles and swung himself up to where he was standing on top of it.

"Ezra, now!" he shouted as he began to run along it.

Ezra jumped onto the arm he was holding on to and followedhis master. Both Jedi activated their lightsabers and raced straight for the tentacle holding Frodo. They launched themselves at it and chopped the arm up into two pieces. Frodo came falling
down towards Aragorn and Boromir. The Gondorian held his arms out and caught the hobbit.

Ezra, Kanan, and Zeb swam onto the shore, followed by the other three. Now the creature was really mad, and began to move closer to the Fellowship. Hera, Sabine, and Rex were about to resume firing but Gandalf then abrubtly shoved them into Moria's entrance.

"Into the Mines!" the wizard ordered the company.

Nobody argued and stopped what they were doing, retreating into the door. Legolas, however, sent a few arrows the creature's way before following the Fellowshipinside. It shrieked in pain for a few seconds, but then furiously grasped its tentacles
onto the rocks all around the stone doors. Ezra could feelthe ground beneath him tremble, and realized the creature was blocking the entrance! Massive rocks tumbled down from outside, landing right in front of door. Within the next five seconds,
the Fellowship was surrounded by complete darkness, and everything became silent.

Sabine had accidentally fallen to the ground during all the commotion and her helmet had rolled off to somewhere in the chamber. She was as blind as the rest of the company. With a grunt, she shakingly got back on her feet. There was some dust in the
air and it made her cough. She then heard Ezra coughing too and felt around for him. Her hand finally made contact with his arm and she then grasped the young Jedi's hand.

"Ezra, are you okay?" the Mandalorian asked worriedly.

A couple coughs later came Ezra's reply, "I think so."

Sabine then rose a brow as she then got a feel of the young Jedi's hand, "Are you sure? Your hand feels reallycold."

"Um Sabine?" Ezra said confusedly, "That's not my hand you're holding on to."

Before Sabine could ask anything else, there came a loud booming sound. She looked back in alarm, but relaxed when she saw it was only Gandalf, tapping his staff on the ground and creating a bright light for everybody to see each other. The whole company
had dust from the rubble all over them and they began to brush it off.

Sabine then looked back to see whose hand she was holding, but then realized that it was a skeleton. She yelped in horror and quickly let go, stepping away from the corpse. She then spotted her helmet against the wall and picked it up, placing it back
on her head. She didn't want anybody to see the embarrassed look on her face.

Nobody noticed, though. They were busy looking back at the blocked entrance.

Finally, Gandalf spoke aloud, "We have nowbut one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria."

As tough as it was for the Fellowship to hear, they knew that it was their only option now. They couldn't move all that rock. Well, the Jedi could but that creature was still out there, and would probably be more than happy to attack them again. So their
only option was to go forward, into this 'great' Dwarven kingdom. There was no time to complain nor rest, for they knew that this wasn't the time to do it. They had to get moving.

So without even a second thought, everybody picked all their attire back up and waited for the wizard's next move. When Gandalf was convinced that they were all ready, he turned around and walked towards the steep stone stairs before them. The others
slowly followed.

"Be on your guard," Gandalf warned them, "There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world."

Everybody exchanged glances when he said that. What exactly was he meaning by that? What could be worse than these Orc things Ezra had constantly heard about? Maybe it was one of these'fouler things'that aredown here that made Gandalf
so afraid to come to Moria in the first place. And the young apprentice was starting to feel said fear too, for he wasn't really wanting to journey in the dark.

None of the crew of the Ghost did. The look of Moria already gave them the creeps.

Ezra glared disappointingly at Zeb and whispered, "Nice going, Zeb! You just had to wake that thing up and get us stuck in here!"

Zeb held up his hands in guilt and nodded, "Okay okay, I know. This ones definitely on me." He then glared at Merry and Pippin, "I shouldn't have listened to Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dummer."

Both hobbits were about to argue with the Lasat, but they got silenced by the wizard.

"Shh, quietly now," Gandalf muttered to the rear of the group.

Merry and Pippin knew better than to disobey the old man, so they immediately shut their mouths. They'd argue with Zeb later. They always argued later. Ezra sometimes wondered how those two managed to stay alive from Zeb's constant threats.

Hera stared at the corpses along the stairs and shivered. It was both creepy and saddening. These poor dwarves didn't deserve such a fate. What kind of monsters were these Goblins to cause so much death and destruction? Not even the Empire had this many
casualties. They'd rather imprison or enslave the populace, not put them to death. But the Imperials were still monsters all the same.

Gandalf shot them all another glance and whispered, "It's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."

Zeb's mouth hung open and he silently mouthed "Four days?!" Ezra and Sabine looked as unhappy. Four days in the bloody dark?! How would they survive?! Rex simply grunted before turning the night vision back on his helmet. The wizard's light was helpful,
but clone technology was better in his opinion. Kanan had similar thoughts and activated his lightsaber to give some extra light to the Fellowship's surroundings. Sabine followed suite and activated her helmet's night vision.

Aragorn and Boromir noticed some torches at the top of the stairs and rushed up to grab them. Apparently everybody was wanting to get as much light as possible if they were going to be traveling in the dark for four days. With some help from Gandalf's
staff, the two men soon had the torches blazing, making things even brighter. Ezra rose a brow. Even after they had been on this planet for so long, the locals still had a high regard for doing stuff the old fashionway.

With light now basically surrounding the whole entire Fellowship, Gandalf led them into the darkness before them. And when Ezra's eyes became more used to the dark, he could finally see what the inside of the mines looked like. It was enormous! He would
never have thought to have seen a kingdom with so much empty space beneath the mountains.

They were walking along a narrow stone pathway that went through huge stone arches. Ezra kind of wished this path had rails or something because he glanced over the edge only to find more darkness. There was no telling how far one would go down should
they accidentally slip off. These were mines, so Ezra guessed it would go down a long way. Curious how dwarves could live here.

Speaking of which, none of the travelers were surprised to find no sign of anybody. The Dwarven population had vanished. Well, besides the couple dead corpses they saw laying along the path. Ezra knew better than to think the Mines were deserted. Thanks
to Legolas's observation, they all knew that Goblins had attacked this place. How long ago was yet to be seen.

But Gimli keptinsisting that there had to be survivors deeper into Moria. And no doubt his cousin, Balin, would be with them. According to him, the elder dwarf wouldn't go down without a good fight. And Ezra believed him. Yet, Gandalf remained unsure
about Balin's could tell he was regretting even more coming here. The old wizard didn't need to say anything, his expression said it all.

Nobody heard a peep out of thefour hobbits as they continued walking. They didn't look the least bit thrilled to be here either. Ezra thought he saw Pippin nervously glance around dark corners off and on, thinking there would be something there.
Poor Halfling. Although, he, along with his cousin and Zeb, were partially responsible for getting them trapped in here.

Sam kept his eyes lowered to the ground. He didn't like Moria, and was eager to get out as soon as
possible. He was still a bit sad about having to let Bill go. And now that they had discovered a huge creature beneath the black water, Sam was now even more worried about the pony. What if that thing got him?! What if poor Bill was dragged into that
filthy water and eaten?! He tried to hold back his tears, but unfortunately couldn't prevent a couple from rolling down his cheeks.

Behind her helmet, Sabine watched the hobbit from the corner of her eye. When she spotted the tears, she walked up behind him, placed her hands on his shoulders, and gently rubbed them, trying to comfort him. It had little effect, but Sam was greatful
for the comfort nonetheless.

Ezra shot both of them a glance and gave a sad smile. He too felt sorry for Sam, but he did understand why they had to let Bill go. He also noticed how sentimental Sabine seemed to be. That's when he realized that the Mandalorian had indeedchanged
since they got here. He kind of regretted saying earlier that she hadn't changed all this, Sabine had been a rather distant person. She liked to be in her room alone, eat alone, paint alone, etc. She might've been a good friend,
but she had still been a loner. Yet now, here of all places, she had seemed to put all that behind her. And to Ezra's disbelief, Sabine had developed,in her heart, asoft spot for the hobbits. The young Jedi didn't know if he'd ever get
the chance to say this, but he was actually really proud of her, and couldn't help but lightly smile at her as she comforted Sam.

Frodo, of all the hobbits, was the most quiet. He felt like he made a mistake about deciding to come to Moria. And it made him fear more for the safety of his friends. He didn't feel any better about choosing to be the Ring Bearer, but he had a feeling
that this would've been part of what he was getting himself into. And he accepted that. He was doing this for all Middle Earth, especially the Shire. Oh how he missed his home. He missed the comfort of Bag End, the harvesting and planting, the taste
of the first strawberries of the new year. So many good things happened back home, and for the first time, Frodo would actually miss it. He wondered if this was how Bilbo felt when he set off on his grand adventure with the dwarves.

There was also something else keeping Frodo quiet. He was closer to the end of the group, and since nobody was talking, he could hear the echoing of their footsteps. However, when Gandalf halted the company for a few seconds, Frodo heard something that
sounded a bit off. He was confident that all members of the Fellowship stopped at the same time, yet he still heard the echoing of feet. Well, at least for a second. The hobbit wasn't sure if he was imagining this or not, but it almost sounded like
something was following them. Whenever they moved, he heard the faintest sound of feet not that far behind. He didn't worry about it though, but if he actually did see something, then he'd tell Gandalf.

Kanan had a slight frown on his face during the whole entire walk. He sensed so much darkness here. Pain, suffering, death. The Dark Side of the Force was strong in this place. Or was it Sauron's power he was sensing? Kanan couldn't really tell anymore.
They had been stranded on Middle Earth for so long that a lot of the things he used tobe accustomed to were now vivid memories in his mind. The Force flowed so differently here. The slightest hint of darkness made the Jedi's hair stand on end.
He knew that whatever happened here in Moria had Sauron or Saruman's fingerprints all over it.

As hours went by, they were now walking along a path right up against one of Moria's walls. Ezra looked around him and saw tons of big chains hanging all over the place. There was a huge dark pitright next to them. It was so huge that probably an
Imperial cargo ship could fly through it, or even the Ghostif it had been here. Ezra wondered what the dwarves did here. Was this one of their mining pits? Judging by the size, it'd probably take a whole army of dwarves to mine this place.
What did they even mine for in this place?

Ezra then noticed that the wall had strange markings all over it. Wait. Were they even markings? The young apprentice traced his hand along it and noticed that they felt rougher than the stone wall itself. What was this stuff? It appeared to be buried
beneath the rock. Gandalf noticed it too and stopped the company again. He shined his staff along the wall and mumbled something that sounded like admiration.

The wizard looked at everybody and said, "The wealth of Moria was not in gold, nor jewels," he then shined his staff down into the large pit, "but Mithril."

Every members' jaw dropped when they got a good look at the pit. Ezra was correct in thinking it was one of their mining pits, and it went down for miles and miles! There was no sign of the bottom anywhere. How many years did it take to achieve something
like this?!

Zeb was starting to feel dizzy again like on Caradhras and backed up against the wall. Merry looked almost too curious and bent down further, but was quickly stopped by Pippin. Gimli looked unbothered and just grinned at the pit's 'beauty'. And as for
the rest of the group, they were just simply awestruck. It was both fascinating and creepy to Ezra. There was still no sign of anybody, and he had a ridiculous fear that something big lingered at the bottom of the pit, waiting to pounce up and eat
them all. There werea ton of places for those Goblins to hide, considering how big Moria was.

Gandalf then began to walk forward again and commented, "Bilbo had a shirt of Mithril rings that Thorin gave him."

Ezra recalled seeing the old hobbit presenting said shirt to Frodo back in Rivendell. He wasn't sure if the hobbit had ever tried it on though. After seeing Bilbo creepily try to take the ring, he had decided to step out and leave him and his nephew alone.

"Oh, that was a kingly gift!" Gimli exclaimed.

Hera traced her hands along the silver markings on the wall, "What is Mithril?"

"A rare metal found only in Moria," Gandalf explained, "It has a unique resemblance to silver, but is far from it. It is stronger than any normal steelfound in Middle Earth, but amazingly blade can pierce it."

Rex's eyes widened behind his helmet, "How could someone like Bilbo be so lucky to receive something like that?!"

Gandalf chuckled and replied, "He helped 13 dwarves reclaim the ancient kingdom of Erebor."

The crew of the Ghost had definitely heard that story who knows how many times.

"And this Thorin, I take it, was one of those 13," Hera realized.

Ezra and Sabine already knew this, though. They remembered Frodo's tales of his uncle's adventures back in Bag End. They both could recall one of said 13 dwarves being named Thorin Oakenshield. A name that still sounded strange to Ezra, specifically the
last name.

Gandalf nodded, "Indeed, General Syndulla. Thorin was alsothe heir to the throne of Durin, and became 'King Under the Mountain' for a short time after Erebor was reclaimed." His face saddened when he thought back to those 60 years ago, "A short
time indeed."

Zeb rose a curious brow, "Define: A short time."

Gimli butted in and huffed, "Meaning he wasn't evena king for a whole month! He died not longafter the death of the dragon, Smaug."

Gandalf sighed, "That is unfortunately true. When Erebor was reclaimed, all eyes from across Middle Earth turned towards the mountain, for both its wealth and position. Eventually within the next couple days, war broke out between Dwarves, Men,
Elves, and Orcs. Thorin joined in the fight, but was killed by the time it all ended."

Now that was something Ezra hadn'theard about. And he was slightly taken aback by how quickly the dwarf had died. He had only been king for a couple days! Ezra wondered whether Frodo just forgot to mention it...or if Bilbo didn't really like to
talk about it. The young apprentice knew nothing of what it must've been like for Bilbo to go off on a journey for the first time. He could imagine that the old hobbit had developed a deep bond with all 13 dwarves. How close would he have been to
Thorin? Probably to the point where the dwarf and hobbit became more like brothers instead of aquatints. He gave him a Mithril shirt, for crying out loud!

Oh how it must've hurt poor Bilbo to lose such a dear friend. Ezra could sense so many losses on this planet. Both the light and dark roamed through the lands, stronger than ever. He could feel almost every member of this company had experienced some
sort of loss. Was this all the doing of Sauron? Most likely not. Yet, Ezra felt like the Dark Lord's wrath still had a big impact on the lives of these people.

Kanan crossed his arms and commented, "Bilbo was pretty fortunate to have a friend like him. This Mithril shirt is indeed an honorable gift."

"Indeed," Gandalf smiled, "I never told him, but it's worth is greater than the value of the Shire."

That was actually both stunning and hard for Ezra to believe. A simple shirt was more valuable than all of the Shire?! What could ever be more valuable than that peaceful little village? Mithril must be somethingif it even topped that merry land.
Ezra looked back at Frodo to see what his reaction was. The hobbit had actually stopped for a brief moment, his eyes really wide after listening to what Gandalf said. But then when he saw the young Jedi looking at him, he started moving again. Ezra
just smirked. He expected that kind of reaction. Frodo and Bilbo just didn't realize how lucky they were, even with that little ring trying to ruin their lives.

Everybody fell silent once again after that. And their original feelings returned. It seemed not even conversation could improve their feelings about traveling through Moria. And why should it? Ezra had never travelled in the dark for this long. And the
scenery around him had a scary resemblance to the underground of Malachor. There were a lot of things there that had gone wrong. He had gotten separated from Kanan and Ahsoka, which led him to meeting Maul, which then led him to discovering the Sith
holocron, which activated a weapon. Indeed so many things had gone wrong that day. And the only bright side about traveling through Moria was that Maul wasn't here this time. Yes, Ezra had trusted the former Sith Lord at first, but after what happened
to Kanan and Ahsoka, he hoped never to see that traitorous Zabrak again.

What Ezra did want to see, however, was sunlight. Several hours of darkness was too much to deal with. And there was now a slight chill in the air. Of course there would be. They were, after all, underground in a sense. This place was no better
than Caradhras, though. And Ezra hated the feeling of goosebumps. He needed warmth. If only Gandalf could let them rest for a bit. But the wizard had no intention of stopping. He looked like he was wanting to get out of Moria as fast as possible.

But judging by the fact that it was a four day journey to the other side, Ezra felt like they would be stuck walking through these mines for a very long time.


More hours had passed, and the Fellowship was starting to slow down. They were tired, and angry, and hungry, and especially cold. What time even was it?! Did anybody even know what day it was?! Ezra couldn't tell anything anymore! All he had seen for
all these hours was darkness! Was there no end?!

He calmed himself down, and slowly reminded himself to stay focused. There was no point in complaining, because that would get them nowhere. Ezra just wished to see the sun. Surely it would be out after how many hours they had travelled. Or had it gone
down again? Ugh, he just didn't know! The darkness of Moria felt like an eternal night! And he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

To make things worse for the group, Chopper began to complain nonstop. That droid didn't even have to walk and he was still whining about being tired. There was nothing in the galaxy that that droid couldn't complain about. Ezra almost had half the mind
to rip out that power chip from Chopper's circuits, and then make Zeb carry him the rest of the way.

Well, actually maybe not.

Judging by Zeb's expression right now, he'd probably just throw the astromech right at Merry and Pippin. Those two hobbits had become extremely slow, and the Lasat had to be right behind them. He too was struggling to stay awake. Either that, or
his stomach was growling. Zeb actually looked delirious, quite honestly. Ezra was afraid he might lose his balance eventually and collapse on the ground, unable to getup. He hoped that didn't happen. The last thing he wanted to carry was a smelly
Lasat.

Things got even better when the Fellowship walked around a corner. Before them was long and steep column of stairs. Both Zeb and Boromir muttered something under their breaths, while the rest just looked up at the stairs in course
meant one thing: They were gonna have to do some climbing. And that was the last thing they were in the mood for. Some shot Gandalf hopeful glances, expecting him to say that they could take a rest, but said hope was shattered when the old man started
to climb.

With a groan from a couple of the Ghost crew members, the whole company followed. Although, since the stairway was pretty steep, a majority of them knelt down on their hands and knees and then proceeded to climb up. Chopper was at the end of the
line and let out a long over-exaggerated groan. They were moving so slow that every twenty seconds the droid would go up only one step.

Zeb was busy telling himself not to look over the edge. But the higher they climbed up, the more his heart pounded. He was beginning to think that he was clutching on to the stairs almost too tight. Zeb's hand suddenly fell on something. He looked down
to see, but quickly pulled back his hand in disgust when he saw it was a bone. There were corpses all over the stairs. Where in this bloody kingdom did they not have any corpses?

Suddenly, Pippin accidentally slipped and backed up against the Lasat, startling him to death. Merry grabbed his cousin and pulled him back up.

"Pippin!" he quietly scolded.

Zeb, who had recovered from his surprise, tapped the Took on the shoulder, "A little 'friendly' warning." He pointed at him and then said, "If I fall off these stairs, I'm taking you with me."

Pippin paled at that comment and then continued to climb. Hera shot Zeb a disappointed glare, but the Lasat just shrugged, pretending to wonder what he did wrong. Ezra rolled his eyes and just stared disgustingly at the rotting corpses. He even used the
Force to push some nearby bones off the stairs.

Finally, after what seemed like several minutes, the Fellowship reached the top of the stairs. Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb were trying to catch their breath from all the climbing. But when they looked up, they saw Gandalf staring up ahead, as still as a statue.
They all glanced passed him and saw what he was looking at. There were three doors that led three different directions. Ezra had a hunch that none of them would wind up leading to the same spot. They all looked to be leading to different rooms, although
the Jedi couldn't tell because there were more stairs.

Gandalf turned his head towards every doorway. He didn't say anything for a couple minutes, and some of the Fellowship rose their brows, wondering what the holdup was.

Gandalf then tilted his head and finally said in complete embarrassment, "I have no memory of this place."

Kanan and Hera exchanged glances, and then the Jedi asked, "What do we do then, Gandalf?"

The wizard looked back at the company and realized how weary they looked. He even had to admit that they had been traveling for longer than they should've. It was indeed time for rest, especially since the old man's mind was having a difficult time remembering
this particular area.

Gandalf smiled kindly at his companions and replied, "Perhaps this will be a good time for all of you to get some rest. We have travelled far over these past couple hours, and you deserve a good sleep."

Zeb exhaled, "Finally!" And abrubtly dropped the bags he had been carrying.

The hobbits agreed with him and collapsed on the ground in pure exhaustion. Nobody could express enough of how relieved they were to be taking a rest. Most of the company instantly fell asleep the moment they sat themselves down. Others got a small fire
going and just sat around it, taking out pipes and smoking. Gandalf walked up and sat himself upon a large stone in front of the three pathways and juat sat there in deep thought. Ever since they got to Moria, things hadn't really seemed to be going
the wizard's way, and he was getting pretty annoyed with it. First, he didn't remember the spell to open the doors, and now he didn't know which pathway was the right one to take.

Ezra didn't like the look of this. If the wizard had to think so hard that he had to sit down, he had a hunch they'd be here for a very long time. That was honestly kind of a good thing, in Ezra's mind. That meant tons of time to rest. So the young Jedi
proceeded to borrow some unused cloaks from one of the bags and made a bed out of it. When he laidhimself down, he had to move around for a couple of seconds to get comfortable. The cloaks really did nothing, because he could still feel the
cold hard stone floor. But for now, it'd have to do.

As more minutes ticked by, though, Ezra realized that he was never going to fall asleep. The floor was just too uncomfortable and he could hear other people whispering, and it was bothering the heck out of him. The best Ezra could do was just close his
eyes and relax. It was moments like these that he rarely got to do anymore. He just enjoyed letting his mind wonder, think about ridiculous things, and even picture stuff in his mind. There was one particular image that instantly came to Ezra. It
was something he hadn't really thought about that often.

Lothal.

Yes, he still missed it. Even though the planet was under Imperial occupation, he still missed wondering the streets. There were so many people there he wanted to see again: Mr. Sumar (another friend of his parents), Old Jho, Zare Leonis, Jai Kell, Ryder
Azadi. People that he had left behind to deal with the Empire. Ezra couldn't believe how many years it had been since he visited his home planet. He kinda wished he could see it right now. If only the Force had some sort of way to take him there.
He would be more than happy to step out of where he was just for a moment, and see Lothal's beautiful plains.

Would he ever get the chance to do that again? This quest was literally a matter of life and death. What if he somehow died on this journey? What if he would never fulfil the promise he made to return and free his home world? What if none of the crew
made it? There were so many what ifs and it made Ezra afraid. He had never felt so afraid of death before. But then again, he never asked to come here. It just...happened. And now he had no idea if they'd ever set foot off of Middle Earth.

But then Ezra remembered his vision. And guilt washed over him. Yes, he wanted to see Lothal again, but he had also sworn an oath to Frodo. The people of Middle Earth needed their help. Ezra couldn't let them down. Yoda's words came back to haunt him.

Follow it, you must. If leave the path you do, then die everything else will. Including yourself.

Ezra was beginning to realize the meaning of that dream. The more he thought about the land around him in the vision, the more it reminded him of Middle Earth. It was making sense. This was the path that Yoda spoke of. And if he ever strayed from
it, even for a moment, everything would fall apart around him. The quest to Mordor was his duty, as both a rebel and a member of the Fellowship.

Ezra opened his eyes, wondering how long he had been thinking. It felt like sometime had gone by, but he didn't know how much. He wouldn't be surprised if it had been a couple hours. Gandalf was still sitting in the same spot, staring at the three
doors. A majority of the crew of the Ghost, except for Zeb, Sabine, and Chopper, were still resting. The Lasat was sitting around the fire with the rest of the Fellowship while the Mandalorian was leaning against a stone wall, staring at the
three pathways through her T-visor helmet.

Ezra spotted Frodo sitting close to the edge of the stairs they had climbed up earlier. That hobbit was always so distant. But the Jedi decided not to let him be distant this time, so he got up off the ground, walked over, and sat beside him. He gave
Frodo a wave. The hobbit lightly smiled and waved back. But neither one of them said anything. Both the Halfling and the Jedi had various thoughts lingering in their mind.

So they simply watched the others and what they were doing. Aragorn and Gimli, no surprise, were smoking their pipes and just watching the fire. Boromir was sharpening his sword using a nearby rock. Sam was nibbling on a little biscuit left over from
an earlier lunch. Legolas was just watching Gandalf, wondering what he was going to do. Zeb had his hand over his face, trying to cover his annoyed expressionof having to listen to Merry and Pippin mumble.

"Merry," Ezra heard Pippin whisper to his cousin.

"What?" Merry asked.

"I'm hungry," Pippin simply said.

Zeb's jaw clenched and he turned his head and whispered, "Pippin."

"What?" the hobbit asked.

"Shut up!" the Lasat hissed aggravatingly.

Ezra silently chuckled and shook his head as he listened to the squabbling. Frodo just simple smiled, although the Jedi could see he was kind of amused too. The hobbit then turned around and just stared at the restof Moria behind him. They had travelled
a long way in these mines, and he couldn't believe they were so high up. Ezra looked at it too, but really didn't show how he felt about it. Mines were just mines to him.

Suddenly, Frodo's expression changed. Instead of looking relaxed, he now looked horrified. He quickly stood up and looked more closely at the way they had come. Ezra was confused and looked to where the hobbit was looking. But then he too froze and realized
why his friend looked so worried. Far down the way they had come, there was something moving. And it wasn't fallingrocks. It looked small and very alive. Was it one of those Goblins? No, it looked too small and it didn't appear to be carrying
any weapons. Ezra could tell, though, that it had hands and feet.

He watched as the thing creeped along the path and then abruptly dash behind some rocks. Ezra wondered if it thought they had spotted that was creepy enough for both the apprentice and Frodo to jump to their feet and rush up to Gandalf. Sabine
rose a brow when they rushed past her and decided to follow.

"Ezra?" she asked quietly, tapping him on the shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Ezra looked at her and then pointed back at the mines, "There's something down there. It's small and very creepy looking."

Gandalf, who was still staring the the doors, overheard them and replied, "It's Gollum."

Frodo's eyes went wide and heglanced back at the rocks that thing hadhid behind. Ezra and Sabine were as baffled.

"Gollum?"Ezra exclaimed in disbelief, "Isn't that the creature Bilbo stole the ring from?"

Gandalf nodded, "He's been following us for 3 days."

Well, that answered one of Ezra's questions. He couldn't believe that they had been in Moria for 3 days already.

Frodo couldn't believe what he was hearing, "He escaped the dungeons of Barad-Dur?!"

A frown came on the Grey wizard's face and he looked at the three of them, "Escaped...orwas set loose."

Ezra's brow furrowed and he held up a hand, "Wait. Set loose? Are you saying that Sauron let him go?! Why would he do that?!"

Gandalf huffed, "Why does Sauron do anything? He always has a purpose for his actions. He would do anything to retrieve the ring, even use ones who have a strong connection to it." He then pointed back at the mines for a brief second, "More specifically,
use the one person with a strong connection."

Ezra and Sabine looked back. Now the Mandalorian could see the shape of a small creature hiding behind the rocks, looking up at the Fellowship. Ezra thought he could slightly see Gollum's bulging eyes in the dark, but he couldn't make out the rest of
his figure.

Sabine then looked at Gandalf confusedly, "The one person? I thought Bilbo would have a strong connection to the ring as well."

Gandalf shook his head, "That is both true and not true at the same time, Miss Wren. Yes, Bilbo has a strong connection to it. But the ring had only been in his possession for 60 years. Gollum, on the other hand, had it for 500."

500?! Was he serious?! Gollum had lived for 500 years?! How was that even-?! Ezra rethought on that. If Old Bilbo could live to be 111 and not look that old, then surely Gollum could get away with the same thing. The ring did delay old age, after all.
Gandalf had said that himself back in Bag End.

"A connection like that can draw him anywhere the ring is," Gandalf continued, "And now the ring has drawn him here."

Ezra frowned and looked down. The ring could draw Gollum as it did with the black riders. How obsessed was this creature with it that he would come to Moria? What was his goal? Was he going to kill them all in their sleep and retrieve his precious ring?
Ezra doubted that would be possible. 16 companions would be more than a match for such a small creature as Gollum.

He glanced back at the path, trying to see if he could get another look at the creature. Of course, he found no sign of him and figured he ducked behind the rocks again. But perhaps Ezra didn't have to see Gollum with his own eyes. Kanan had once taught
him a rare trick with the Force. If you focused hard enough, you could see an individual up close. Ezra didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a shot.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head. Every other thought that was swimming around in his mindwas pushed to the back, and he concentrated on the creature. He pictured where he last saw him, and what his shape was. Ezra only hoped that he didn't
lose focus. But then, he started to see something. He could make out several shapes. Some large, others small. But there was one shape in the middle of it all that was moving. Ezra focused harder, and the image began to become so much clearer. He
now realized it was taking an 'almost' human form. He realized he was indeed seeing Gollum! Eventually, he got the full picture. He saw the creature hiding behind the rocks. When Ezra got a good look at him, it was a tiny bit horrifying.

Gollum wasn't all that he had expected. He imagined him as some ugly creature, yes, but this was far from ugly. More like disgusting really. Gollum almost looked like a skeleton. A skeleton with a deformed body. What in the world had happened to
him?! How did he end up like this?! Ezra almost had a bit of pity for the creature.

"He will never be rid of his need for it," Gandalf then said with a shake of his head, breaking Ezra's concentration, "He hates and loves the ring. As he hates and loves himself." He then let out a deep sigh, leaned forward, and folded his hands,
"Smeagol's life is a sad story."

Ezra turned his head. Smeagol? Who was Smeagol? But then his eyes went wide in realization. No. Surely Gandalf didn't mean-

The wizard looked at them, seeing that they all had the same expressions. He nodded sadly. "Yes, Smeagol was what he was once called. Before the ring found him." He looked forward again, "Before it drove him mad."

Ezra crossed his arms and then asked hesitantly, "Gandalf...what did Gollum used to look like? Before the ring?"

Gandalf looked at the apprentice, "You can see him, can't you?"

The young Jedi knew better than to lie to the old man and nodded. Gandalf knew he wouldn't ask such a question if he had not seen what Gollum looked like.

"Before he found the ring, he looked normal," the wizard said with a sigh, "he lived in a small corner of the world with a best friend and a grandmother." He glanced at Frodo, "He actually wasn't that far from a hobbit, really." Gandalf leaned his head
on his hands as he continued, "They were fishing one day, Smeagol and his best friend Deagol. But then Deagol was accidentally pulled into the lake by a strong fish. While at the bottom of that lake, he spotted something. Something small and made
of gold."

Sabine didn't need to guess what it was, "The ring."

Gandalf nodded, "Yes. So a curious Deagol pulled it out of the lake and brought it back to the surface. But when Smeagol found him and saw the ring, he immediately developed a desire for it and proceeded to kill his own best friend so he could keep
it." He shook his head again, "And as the years went by, the ring's affect on him began to show. He became a skinny deformed creature that forgot all the pleasant tastes of normal cooked food. He ate things raw, even fish from the sea."

Sabine's cheeks turned a bit green. That was honestly pretty disgusting, even for her.

"Eventually, he took the ring deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains," Gandalf went on, "And he fed on the Goblins hiding in there. Up to the day when a hobbit named Baggins showed up."

Frodo's jaw clenched and he glared darkly at the spot where Gollum was hiding, "It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance."

Ezra and Sabine were taken by surprise at the hobbit's comment. That was kinda dark coming from him. And Gandalf seemed to agree with him because he gave his little friend a stunned look.

"Pity?" Gandalf replied, "It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death, and many that die deserve life." He then frowned, "Can you give it to them, Frodo?"

Frodo's expression softened and he became lost in thought.

"Do not be too eager to deal out death and judgement," Gandalf advised him, "Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill...before this is over." He then gave a shrug and then said,
"The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many."

The Grey wizard made some pretty fair points. Even Ezra had to admit that some of his thoughts about Gollum had changed just a bit. He had never thought about killing the creature; that was definitely not the Jedi way. Hehad, however,thought
about locking him up. But then after Gandalf's rather inspirational speech, he was reminded that Gollum never asked for any of this. He never asked to live forever, or become an outcast to the rest of his people. The ring basically ruined him, and
it made Ezra feel very sorry for him.

The young Jedi closed his eyes again, trying to see what Gollum was doing. He saw him still hiding behind the rocks, watching them. But then, before Ezra was about to break focus, something happened. Gollum twirled around, as if startled by something
from behind and scurried off. Ezra opened his eyes, confused by what just happened. What had he seen? Was there something else coming down the path? He eyed the mines suspiciously, trying to make out even the slightest hint of something else moving
around.

Meanwhile, Frodo sat down next to Gandalf, his voice sounding heavy as he spoke, "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."

Sabine placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, although she silently agreed with him. The Mandalorian wished the ring didn't even exist. It had caused so much problems for them already. What would happen next if it remained with them? Sabine didn't
even comment, and just tried to show Frodo comfort.

Gandalf did the same, and said understandingly, "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." He made Frodo look at him and gave a warm comforting smile,
"There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring, in which case you also were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought."

That was an interesting perspective that the wizard had, and Sabine had the strangest feeling that he was telling the truth. Perhaps there were other forces at work in the world. And maybe they were on their side. If that was the case, then maybe there
was hope that they'd win in the coming war.

Gandalf's gaze then went to the pathway on the right and he suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! It's that way!"

When the Fellowship heard that, they all jumped to their feet, eagerly putting out the fire and gathering their belongings. It was about time he figured it out! Everybody was more than eager to get moving again. Sitting in the same spot for several hours
got pretty boring.

"He's remembered!" Merry remarked.

"No," Gandalf replied with a smile as he stared at the path, "but the air doesn't smell so foul down here. And if in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose."

Zeb chuckled, "Not bad advice. I like the sound of it."

The Fellowship began to follow the wizard down the path. Well, all except for Ezra. The Jedi was still staring suspiciously at the path. He had a strange feeling that something was coming. Gollum had been scared off by something in that mine. So what
was it?

Kanan stopped walking, sensing his apprentice was not moving, and glanced back at him.

"Ezra, you coming?" he asked.

Ezra didn't reply. The rest of the Fellowship stopped as well and looked back at the two Jedi. Kanan, sensing something was up, walked next to his apprentice, trying to see what he was thinking. Ezra paid him no mind. His eyes had become fixed on one
particular spot of the path they had come. He saw something! A light. No wait, two lights. Well, not even that either. More like rays of light. There was someone moving through the tunnel.

"I think we have company," he mumbled to the others.

Hera and the rest of the Ghost crew walked up beside them to see what they were looking at. They froze when they realized Ezra was right. They could see the light coming closer. And...they also heard something. There was a clomping noise against
the stone. Ezra rose a brow. Was that...booted feet? The crew exchanged confused glances and then stared hard at the corner the light was about to come around of.

When it happened, all seven of them got the biggest shock of their lives. They stepped back, shaking their heads repeatedly. The Fellowship wasn't sure what was bothering them. Two figures had come around the corner. Both of them were dressed in familiar
white armor and were equipped with blasters!

"What the-?!" Ezra exclaimed, "Stormtroopers?!"