HERE YOU GO, Indigo575! THANKS FOR REQUESTING AND HOPE YOU LIKE! NOW, FOR REVIEWS!
Me and Not You 1001: I am so sorry you were confused and didn't understand, but hopefully my PMs helped? Well, we're back in Middle-Earth, so that should help, too! ;)
GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!
~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER
"Here lies Balin, son of Fundin." Gandalf reads as Gimli falls to his knees, weeping. I put a hand on Gimli's shoulder respectfully, sighing heavily. "It is as I feared, then." Gandalf mumbles, handing his hat and staff to Pippin and picking up a book from a skeleton leaning on the tomb.
"I'm so sorry, Gimli." I say, kneeling down and drawing the Dwarf in for a hug, which he surprisingly accepts. Poor Dwarf is devastated, weeping into my shoulders.
"We must move on. We cannot linger." Legolas cautions to Aragorn, who frowns.
"Give Gimli a moment, Legolas!" I bark, still holding the sobbing Dwarf. "He's just found out his cousin is dead!"
"'They have taken the bridge," Gandalf reads and I then notice the amount of dust everywhere. I then realize that this didn't just happen. This has been like this for a long time. "and the second hall.'" He continues, sending a chill down my spine.
"What took the bridge and the second hall?" I ask.
"Orcs, if I had to guess." Boromir growls.
"'We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long.'" Gandalf continues. "'The ground shakes. Drums. Drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out. They are coming.'"
"Then we should be leaving!" I retort, hitching my satchel up. Just then, Pippin reaches for an arrow stuck in a skeleton sitting on the well. "Pippin, no!" I cry, too late. He's twisting it and the head flops off, back into the well and down, knocking loudly against the stone. "Pippin!" I snap, even as the rest of the skeleton falls, taking the bucket and chain with it. Poor guy winces at every booming thud and noise the skeleton makes. There's tense silence as we wait to see what happens now. Absently, I reach into my satchel for my glock, hoping I wouldn't have to use it.
"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf growls as he lividly snatches his hat and staff back. "Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" He snaps.
"Calm down, Gandalf!" I bark. "Pippin didn't mean to make noise! He was just messing around!" I retort, then stiffen as I hear it.
A drum. Drums in the deep. Just like in the account Gandalf read.
Frick.
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As the drums get louder and nearer, we try to prepare for the assault as best we can. I help Legolas and Aragorn gather spears and halberds before I go with Boromir to close the door. An arrow whizzes past our heads, barely missing as it sinks into the door. I let out a squeak of shock and peer at where it came from. A sea of black, horrible things are coming, with something very big and very nasty looking bringing up the rear. I then yank the doors closed and lean against them, eyes wide.
"Were those things Orcs?" I mumble stupidly. Boromir nods.
"Aye." He then turns to Aragorn. "They have a cave troll." Boromir grumbles, as if it were only a minor inconvenience.
"That big, nasty thing in the back?" I ask as I grab my glock and the holster I'd been given along with it, making sure I had a full magazine and cocking it before clipping the holster on. Boromir nods as he helps pile the gathered spears and halberds to bar the door.
"Yes."
"What is that?" Merry asks, pointing at my gun.
"You'll see. Now get behind me. Stay with me and Gandalf, okay?" I then pull the hammer back as whatever's outside comes banging on the flimsy, ancient door.
"Let them come!" Gimli roars, standing atop the tomb with his ax drawn. "There is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!" Within seconds, the door starts to crack open and I fire just as Aragorn and Legolas shoot their bows. Everyone flinches and I curse under my breath. It may be the only weapon I have, but it makes a crap-ton of noise in this confined space. I have to keep firing, though, as these horrible looking mutations come barreling into the room. All is then chaos and noise as we try to hold our positions. I keep firing, making sure to keep track of the Hobbits, even as they join the fight.
Then, as if the situation weren't bad enough, in smashes that cave troll Boromir so casually mentioned earlier.
"Sam, look out!" I scream, but Sam is already ducking between it's legs as it swings at him. I breath out in relief and fire at it's shoulder, but it only makes the troll mad and after me. I curse and scramble away, trying to find somewhere that thing couldn't get me.
"Rowena!" Boromir roars as he and Aragorn take the chain and yank with all their might. It manages to halt and unbalance the troll, but then it spins and Boromir is given only a second to realize he's still holding the chain before he's sent careening to the other side of the room.
"Boromir!" I scream as he falls limp to the ground. I race over, firing at the few Orcs in that area, and find Boromir sitting up, shaking his head and standing. "You okay?" I ask worriedly. He nods.
"Come. The battle still rages." He replies, grabbing his sword and charging back into the fray. I sigh. He had a concussion, I was almost positive, but stopping to explain it to him would probably do nothing but guarantee our deaths. So, reluctantly, I rejoin the battle, making sure to stay near Boromir, in case he suddenly passed out or something.
In another part of the room, Gimli threw one of his throwing axes at the troll, which only enraged it further as it charged toward him. Gimli barely dodged as the huge mace came crashing down onto the tomb of Balin. He then used that blind rage to make the swings of the mace take out a few Orcs.
Just as Gimli was getting up, and the mace was about to come down, Legolas shot the troll's collarbone and I pulled Gimli up, firing at a few Orcs as I did. Legolas, now the troll's primary target, had to dodge swings of the chain, until he finally seized an opportunity and jammed the chain into broken stone, climbing up it and standing on the troll's shoulders, firing two arrows at it's head. They do nothing against it's thick skin, and he leaps off. The troll, stumbling around in agony, snaps the chain and reels around. I then notice Sam banging Orcs with a frying pan. I smile.
"Frying pans." I muse, referencing Tangled and knowing he wouldn't get it. "Who knew, right?" He chuckles.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this!" He chirps. I grin.
"Just keep going!" I am then alerted by Pippin's scream, whipping around to see the troll swinging at the three other Hobbits. "No!" I scream, firing at its shoulder. It screeches and I sprint over to Frodo as the troll searches for me.
"Frodo! Rowena!" Aragorn cries, slaying more Orcs as fast as he could to get to us.
"Don't worry; I got him!" I call back as I pull Frodo with me behind a pillar. The troll doesn't see us and we move as it circles to search the other side of the pillar. After a second or two, it leaves and I slowly come out.
We breath out in relief, only for the troll to appear and roar at us. I squeak in fright and Frodo trips over his feet. Before I can even aim the gun, Frodo and I were grabbed and dragged toward the troll. I try to find a good grip, cursing under my breath. I then give up and aim at the thing's head. I fire at its eye and it roars, dropping us. I stand and prepare to fire again. Only for Aragorn to jump down from a chunk of rock with a halberd at the ready, stabbing it into the troll's chest. The troll merely smacks Aragorn into me and together we crash into the pillar Frodo and I hid behind.
As I collapse to the ground, I hear a ringing in my ears and couldn't move a muscle, even when I barely hear the troll approaching and feel Frodo shaking us, calling our names worriedly. There are sounds of a brief struggle, and I desperately wish I could get up as I hear Frodo gasp in pain and struggle to breath.
What was happening?! Why can't I move yet?! I hear Frodo collapse as Sam calls his name. Everything then kicks into gear and the Fellowship roar in outrage, fighting off what few Orcs remained. Merry and Pippin, it seems, are trying to deal with the troll.
Then, as if I, too, were given whatever second wind came over the others, I could move again. I instantly check Frodo over, but can't find anything encouraging. I regrettably have to leave him and deal with the troll. Merry has been tossed off the troll and Gimli is trying to hold it off long enough to let Merry get up. I race over, pull Merry to his feet and take aim at the troll's mouth as Pippin stabs it again and again in the neck. Legolas and I fire in sync and the troll slows, feeling it's mouth before collapsing, dead. Pippin is sent flying and I barely catch him. I then hug him.
"Good job!" I praise. In the quiet that envelops us, Aragorn regains consciousness and crawls despondently to Frodo. Sam looks on in grief and shock and I give him a side-hug, unsure of what else to do. The grief of what happened hits me full-force and I tear up. Then, just as Aragorn flips the Hobbit over, he begins breathing! I start in shock before sprinting over. "Frodo! How in the frick did that not- -oh." I then notice a gleam of some kind of mail from beneath his shirt.
"He's alive, Ms. Rowena, and that's all that matters now." Sam replies happily, deflating in relief as he puts a comforting hand on his friend's forearm.
"I'm alright. I'm not hurt." Frodo says, feeling his chest and panting slightly. I shake my head in wonder.
"You should be dead." Aragorn muses, relief coursing through his very being. "That spear would have skewered a wild boar."
"I think there's more to this Hobbit than meets the eye." Gandalf points out. Frodo then pulls his shirt down to reveal a very handsome looking mail shirt.
"Mithril." Gimli breaths in awe. Then, we hear more Orc drums and pattering feet on their way. I pale.
"Oh, come on!" I snap, standing and helping Aragorn up, who in turn gave Frodo assistance.
"To the Bridge of Khazad-Dum!" Gandalf orders briskly. We sprint out of the room to find that the Orcs were closer than we thought. They came crawling down the huge pillars of the main hall Gandalf had showed off earlier, before we went into that accursed side room. The Orcs looked like spiders, crawling over everything to get to us. We keep running until we realize they have us surrounded. I grip my glock in readiness as the Orcs press closer.
Just as they're about to overrun and eat us, however, there's a deep, gut-wrenching roar from deep within Moria and even the Orcs tremble in fear. They screech in terror and are gone in an instant, more roars greeting us as whatever was coming approached.
"What is that?" I ask no one in particular. Gandalf looks resigned, yet afraid and I raise a brow.
"What is this new devilry?" Boromir adds and Gandalf takes a second to answer, his eyes scrunched in some emotion I can't read.
"Gandalf?" I ask. I'd never seen him like this, so scared, so...vulnerable.
"It is a Balrog." He says hesitantly. "A demon of the ancient world." I gulp. Great. Waittaminute...isn't this where- -oh, crap! Oh, no! I bring my gun to a ready position, but Gandalf pushes it back down. "This foe is beyond any of you. Run!" He orders and we do. Once we get to a flight of stairs, I have to screech to a halt as I almost topple of a ledge! I scream out in fright as Boromir collides with me, nearly pitching us over the brink. We try to regain our balance but are quickly failing. That is, until Legolas pulls us back by the backs of our shirts.
"...Thanks." I mumble gratefully, scrambling to my feet and we continue down the actual flight of stairs. Running with this size a group over this narrow a path was decidedly dangerous, but we have no choice, so I position myself closer to the wall, not the bottomless pit, and keep running. The temperature spikes as we round a bend and fire springs up out of nowhere. I frown. What the heck? I whirl around when I realize Gandalf is not with us to see him standing and facing...I can't even describe it! It's certainly demon-esque, with horns and the raging fire around it to complete the picture. "Gandalf!" I scream. "Come on!" Thankfully, he does. Together, we race to the bridge, and I fall in behind Boromir and ahead of Frodo, running for my life across the narrowest bridge ever. Without handrails, to boot!
I then remember the iconic scene coming up from the movie and whirl. No, no, no! Seeing it in a movie was one thing, but actually being here, getting to know Gandalf...no!
"You cannot pass!" Gandalf snaps at the Balrog.
"What are you doing?!" I screech. "Gandalf, get over here!" But it does no good. He merely lifts his staff.
"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, Wielder of the Flame of Arnor! Dark Fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun!" He growls and a sphere of white light encircles the wizard as the balrog rears up in rage, preparing to assault Gandalf with a flaming sword. The sword crashes onto the sphere, but it holds, barely. Sparks fly and Gandalf grunts, but is still standing when the sparks die off. "Go back to the Shadow!" Gandalf roars. The balrog merely steps forward, drawing out a whip of pure flame, cracking it menacingly. Gandalf does not flinch or back down, raising his staff and gathering his strength. "You. Shall not. Pass!" He thunders, slamming the staff down onto the bridge. Then, just as the balrog begins to charge forward, the bridge cracks beneath its feet and it is sent into the pit, roaring in shock as it falls. Then, as I knew it would, the whip snaps around Gandalf's feet and he falls, grabbing at the edge and clinging on for dear life.
"No!" I scream, running forward, only to be stopped by Aragorn. I tear through the restraint and sprint forward.
"Fly, you fools." Gandalf says and I am just a split second too late.
"Gandalf!" I cry, grabbing at his hands, but he is too far down and is lost. I sob and don't even notice everyone's screams for me to come back. I can't believe it. I know he comes back, but...to see it with my own two eyes, to feel it, live it...was another matter entirely. I then slowly get to my feet, knowing we'd be overrun by Orcs if we delayed another- -gah! I grab my shoulder, where an arrow has suddenly sprouted, along with a lot of pain.
Frick. Grimacing, I start running, snapping the shaft off and screaming in pain when pure agony courses through me. I grit my teeth and run with everyone else to the exit, however, forcing my legs to run.
It's only when we stop not fifty yards outside Moria that it all sinks in and we all begin to grieve. Even Gimli, who tries to rush back into the mines and fight off the Orcs. Boromir hold him back and I come to stand in front of the Dwarf, tears running down my face and hand over my wound.
"Gimli, stop!" I sob, pushing on his chest with my free hand. "There's nothing we can do. He's gone!" For now, I add internally, clinging to that hope. Gimli stills, eyes locked on the arrowhead in my shoulder.
"L-lass!" He stammers. "Yer injured!" I nod.
"Yeah. I'll live, but it hurts like you wouldn't believe." I reply. Gimli shakes his head.
"You need treatment!" I purse my lips.
"If I yank this arrowhead out, I'd probably bleed out before anything could be done about it. So, for now, the arrowhead has to stay in there." Aragorn, his eyes shining with tears, calls for Legolas.
"Get them up." He orders. I sigh and walk over to Merry and Pippin.
"Guys, I'm sorry, but we can't stay here." I tell them. They instantly hug me and I grimace as it jostles my wound.
"Give them a moment, for pity's sake!" Boromir protests, sounding and looking ready to cry. Aragorn winces subtly.
"By nightfall, these hills will be swarming with Orcs." He counters, then takes note of me. "I am truly sorry we can't tend to your wound, milady, but we have no choice." I nod, gently removing the boys from myself and standing, hand over my wound again.
"I know."
"We must reach the forest of Lothlorien!" Aragorn calls, sheathing his sword. "Boromir, Rowena, Legolas, Gimli, get them up!" He calls. I step over to Merry and Pippin.
"Come on. We just have to get to the forest, then we can stop, alright?" They nod, sobbing, than sniffling, wiping their noses on their sleeves as they stand up, resolute yet sad looks on their faces. "Good." I praise. "Now, we gotta get going."