Notes: *bangs her head on the keyboard* Oh, just shoot me with a silver arrow. I really must follow my own advice and read the damn book more closely. I have edited my mistakes in this chapter as best I can and to at least follow the history as I know it (which is little). So mistakes are mistakes and I'm just going to have to live with them.
***
The Return to Moria
Chapter II: Through the Mirrormere
By RubyD
***
The next morning they set off on foot, as it were but two hours walk from the new town in the far end of Dimrill Dale to the Great Gates. The burning orb of the sun rose from the horizon like dew on a leaf and washed the lands in its warming rays. Legolas and Gimli looked down upon the town before they headed off, marveling in the transformation of the once empty mountain lands the Fellowship had passed in their escape from Moria, from Khazad-dum.
'I came here only hoping to stop for a moment's time to speak to you before continuing towards the forest of Fangorn,' said Legolas, 'but I feel that this detour would be worth a while away from the Ents.'
'Yes,' responded Gimli, and said no more.
The path to the Gates was well worn from the travels of many Dwarves and Men. It glided like a smooth gray river winding around in the best of places to lead further through the Misty Mountains. Gimli and Legolas passed Durin's Stone where many lifted their heads in honor, and then Mirrormere where more folk were gazing into its perfect sapphire depths. Others on the road waved a cheerful greeting to the pair, and Legolas felt the unease of Moria began to lift in him.
The area had changed and with it a frail, and very precarious, veil of caution and spirit seemed to have descended on the Dale. Even now, that veil had been disturbed and people whom were surprised to find an Elf in their midst stared, to his discomfort, but smiled all the same, though a few smiles did not reach the eyes - and teeth turned into sneers. It was well known that Elves and Dwarves had a rift of separation between them.
Yet if one were looking upon the easy and close friendship of Gimli and Legolas as they reached the rim of the pool, one would never have suspected of such a disagreement between cultures.
'Here lies the Mirrormere,' said Gimli with slight regret. 'Many times have I stared into its waters, remembering when Gandalf had fallen with the Balrog and we all thought him dead. Even though we know that is not true, I shall find no joy in its depths for many years.'
'It is beautiful,' Legolas said softly. He and the Fellowship had peered into it seven years ago, and upon them shown the beauty of the land in its reflection.
'Then have a closer look, friend! And maybe you will find what I have lost.'
The Elf stepped lightly over the smooth steps of gleaming stone to the edge of the pool, where he knelt. Mirrormere was deep - deeper than his keen eyes could perceive, clear yet very dark, and blue like the sky at daybreak before the stars have faded and the birds have sung. And suddenly his heart began to yearn for the sea. This was different than that first time. There was music in the waters, soft and tantalizing, and it pulled at his soul as he would the bow and arrow on his back. It beckoned Legolas to lean further towards it surface . . . So beautiful.
Without warning a strange fancy came unbidden to him of old dark worlds unknown and ghastly creatures unseen. Then the Mirrormere faded black, and a glimmering glow seemed to shine at him from a great distance, white and cold. A terrible clamor was upon his ears and the sounds rose like an echo of a long-finished symphony. Dread wrapped its wispy claws around him and he bowed ever closer, unable to break the draw.
A hand on his shoulder wrenched back his body, and the vision disappeared as quickly as a dream.
'Take care that you don't fall in,' said Gimli with worry. 'It is very cold and very deep.' The rough and callused hand released, and then the Dwarf laughed. 'See something you like?'
'There is something about this lake.' Legolas stood, eyes searching the clear waters for any sign of what took place. There were none, and his unease returned. 'Something like . . . like power. Faint, yet there. What could it be?'
'Not much is known about the Mirrormere, save for it is unnatural-like in loveliness. It is calm even in the wind and the ripples of rocks thrown down into the water dissolve swiftly and become still.' Gimli nodded. 'For all that could be, Galadriel herself might have bathed in it.'
'You would think that.' He sent him a look of distaste.
'Come, I was merely jesting, but I see now something has disturbed you. What was it that you saw?' Gimli gazed into it and found nothing that he hadn't noticed before.
'A vision, one that somehow has me troubled.'
'Then worry no more, Legolas, for the Great Gates to Moria are just over yonder and we will leave this far behind. We'll investigate this further in the knowledge of the Dwarves. Visions will come and go, and we also must.'
'It's probably nothing,' said the Elf, blinking thoughtfully. 'Nothing more than some old trace of a spell. We will arrive to Moria without fret. Let us go.'
Up the stone steps they climbed with the sun reaching midmorning, and they did not look back.
To Be Continued
Notes: *grumbling to herself* It's 'white and cold' not 'red and hot'! *frantically rewrites* This will be the fourth time I upload this! Smite it!
***
The Return to Moria
Chapter II: Through the Mirrormere
By RubyD
***
The next morning they set off on foot, as it were but two hours walk from the new town in the far end of Dimrill Dale to the Great Gates. The burning orb of the sun rose from the horizon like dew on a leaf and washed the lands in its warming rays. Legolas and Gimli looked down upon the town before they headed off, marveling in the transformation of the once empty mountain lands the Fellowship had passed in their escape from Moria, from Khazad-dum.
'I came here only hoping to stop for a moment's time to speak to you before continuing towards the forest of Fangorn,' said Legolas, 'but I feel that this detour would be worth a while away from the Ents.'
'Yes,' responded Gimli, and said no more.
The path to the Gates was well worn from the travels of many Dwarves and Men. It glided like a smooth gray river winding around in the best of places to lead further through the Misty Mountains. Gimli and Legolas passed Durin's Stone where many lifted their heads in honor, and then Mirrormere where more folk were gazing into its perfect sapphire depths. Others on the road waved a cheerful greeting to the pair, and Legolas felt the unease of Moria began to lift in him.
The area had changed and with it a frail, and very precarious, veil of caution and spirit seemed to have descended on the Dale. Even now, that veil had been disturbed and people whom were surprised to find an Elf in their midst stared, to his discomfort, but smiled all the same, though a few smiles did not reach the eyes - and teeth turned into sneers. It was well known that Elves and Dwarves had a rift of separation between them.
Yet if one were looking upon the easy and close friendship of Gimli and Legolas as they reached the rim of the pool, one would never have suspected of such a disagreement between cultures.
'Here lies the Mirrormere,' said Gimli with slight regret. 'Many times have I stared into its waters, remembering when Gandalf had fallen with the Balrog and we all thought him dead. Even though we know that is not true, I shall find no joy in its depths for many years.'
'It is beautiful,' Legolas said softly. He and the Fellowship had peered into it seven years ago, and upon them shown the beauty of the land in its reflection.
'Then have a closer look, friend! And maybe you will find what I have lost.'
The Elf stepped lightly over the smooth steps of gleaming stone to the edge of the pool, where he knelt. Mirrormere was deep - deeper than his keen eyes could perceive, clear yet very dark, and blue like the sky at daybreak before the stars have faded and the birds have sung. And suddenly his heart began to yearn for the sea. This was different than that first time. There was music in the waters, soft and tantalizing, and it pulled at his soul as he would the bow and arrow on his back. It beckoned Legolas to lean further towards it surface . . . So beautiful.
Without warning a strange fancy came unbidden to him of old dark worlds unknown and ghastly creatures unseen. Then the Mirrormere faded black, and a glimmering glow seemed to shine at him from a great distance, white and cold. A terrible clamor was upon his ears and the sounds rose like an echo of a long-finished symphony. Dread wrapped its wispy claws around him and he bowed ever closer, unable to break the draw.
A hand on his shoulder wrenched back his body, and the vision disappeared as quickly as a dream.
'Take care that you don't fall in,' said Gimli with worry. 'It is very cold and very deep.' The rough and callused hand released, and then the Dwarf laughed. 'See something you like?'
'There is something about this lake.' Legolas stood, eyes searching the clear waters for any sign of what took place. There were none, and his unease returned. 'Something like . . . like power. Faint, yet there. What could it be?'
'Not much is known about the Mirrormere, save for it is unnatural-like in loveliness. It is calm even in the wind and the ripples of rocks thrown down into the water dissolve swiftly and become still.' Gimli nodded. 'For all that could be, Galadriel herself might have bathed in it.'
'You would think that.' He sent him a look of distaste.
'Come, I was merely jesting, but I see now something has disturbed you. What was it that you saw?' Gimli gazed into it and found nothing that he hadn't noticed before.
'A vision, one that somehow has me troubled.'
'Then worry no more, Legolas, for the Great Gates to Moria are just over yonder and we will leave this far behind. We'll investigate this further in the knowledge of the Dwarves. Visions will come and go, and we also must.'
'It's probably nothing,' said the Elf, blinking thoughtfully. 'Nothing more than some old trace of a spell. We will arrive to Moria without fret. Let us go.'
Up the stone steps they climbed with the sun reaching midmorning, and they did not look back.
To Be Continued
Notes: *grumbling to herself* It's 'white and cold' not 'red and hot'! *frantically rewrites* This will be the fourth time I upload this! Smite it!
