A/N: The song is Hand In My Pocket my Alanis Morissette. Part of this might
be mushy…you have been warned…
Sean walks silently, slightly behind the group while walking through the Mines of Moria. He kept thinking of Ella's words. She was serious, all right no matter what Aragorn and Gandalf thought.
He quickly looked around as if someone might read his thoughts. Like he did to Aragorn and Gandalf. It had started happening when he got to Middle- Earth. At first they were only echoes of thoughts. But the more he tried, the better he got. Now he could read people's thoughts as if they were actually saying it out loud. He knew what Aragorn and Gandalf had said about them not really being serious. He knew they would be, when the time came.
He hadn't told Ella or the others about his ability to read minds. He was afraid what they might think. He KNEW he was his father's child, no doubt about it. He didn't need his friends' pity, no matter how much they cared. He could lie his way out of almost anything so he didn't have to worry about that.
Lysa sighed. She hated to see everyone so distant. It scared her. She had always been a person that was close to people, and not used of silence. She loved noise and the younger she was, the more attention she had wanted. Now she was used to not getting attention a lot, but she no longer stopped wanting it.
She walked through the darkness, in silence like everyone else, know what would happen if she made a single noise. Orc would come running and they would all die. Middle-Earth would be destroyed. She shivered at the thought of it.
Mickey sighed ever so slightly as she went over, again and again on the pictures that had been shown of her family. Her real family. Mina. Her siblings and her father. But her father was dead and her mother was supposedly in Lothlorien. Mickey didn't know if she would live to get there but hoped she would. She prayed she would. She had to.
Ella didn't know what to think. She wanted to think about the future, because there was no past for her to think about. But what in her future would she possibly want to think about. She could not think about anything farther than the breaking of the fellowship. She wasn't sure if the others would let her or not.
The darkness was complete and kept pressing. She felt as if she were in a trap that was miles long. She could move around but she could not get out. "Maybe there's a door," she mutters. Finally, when she thought she could stand it no longer, they reached the guardroom. Ella moved up into the front, oblivious of Gandalf's amazed look when she simply said, pointing to the well "Watch out. There's a well over there." Then she dropped to the ground, leaning against the wall and closed her eyes. Lysa followed and sat next to her.
Mickey and Sean joined them and Mickey was soon asleep. Mickey's took Sean's hand and held it tight before dropping off to sleep. Lysa tried to stay awake but didn't succeed and feel asleep.
Sean stayed awake, watching, waiting. After a while Ella awoke, drenched in sweat. She would not tell Sean what she had seen in her dream. They saw Pippin drop the rock into the well and Gandalf get angry. Sean dropped off for a few second but was awakened by the tom-tap, tap-tom. The other awakened too and looked over at the others, worried expressions on their faces.
Pippin sighed as he got picked for first watch. Ella joined him and they spent that time whispering back and forth. Ella was telling him stories of her world, to keep Pippin occupied.
Soon Gandalf had walked over. "You two may sleep. I will not sleep tonight anyway."
"Neither will I so I will stay as well." Ella said sighing.
The others remained silent and after time one after another they fell asleep. All except Ella who sat in conversation with Gandalf. Gandalf was smoking and seemed calmer because of that fact. She told Gandalf more than what she told Pippin. What she had told Pippin was folk tales, like Cinderella and Snow White. What she told Gandalf was entirely different.
"We instruments that help see things like cells and atoms without shrinking anything about ourselves."
"Cells? Not a jail cell, I'm guessing."
"No. We have found that every living thing are made of a simple (or not so simple) element we named cells. And atoms are-" she went on and on from science to history and from that to technology and then to the styles and then (though later she was convinced she shouldn't really have told Gandalf) the crimes that were being done in the world. Even rape was mentioned, ever so slightly. She didn't want to go into specifics.
Then they stayed in silence for a long while. Ella was thinking about how little she actually knew about the history of Middle Earth. Only Lysa had ever read anything else about Lord of the Rings that wasn't the trilogy itself or the Hobbit.
Gandalf was thinking how her world had survived so long without magic of any kind and only relying on technology.
Then Gandalf woke the others. He had made a decision. They would take the right hand passage. Then they went on.
Ella had not thought six hours had gone by and almost wished she had slept those six hours. Now she was tired and grumpy. She was ready to drop.
When at last they reached the great hall where they were to rest, Ella went to sleep at once. She slept through Gimli's song and through and through Gandalf's explanation of mithril. She also slept through all the night too. She awoke ealier than the others but stayed silent, thinking.
When they got to the wide corridor Ella's dread grew. She was extremely afraid of what was to come but was afraid to say anything. When they found Balin Ella was almost frantic. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and her hands were on the necklace she always wore. It always seemed to be made on fine silver and was light on her neck. If you looked at very, very closely you could see writing in a strange language. The language of the Dwarves.
As Gandalf read from the book, Mikey listened intently. She felt as if she were really there, with the dwarves. And suddenly she was. It was only for a few moments but it was as real as herself. There were many dwarves and they were all pushing. There was complete chaos surrounding her from all sides. Then they broke in. Who they was Mikey had no idea but she to fight. She did not know how she had gotten there but she knew she had to fight if she could.
But she never got the chance. Suddenly she was back, her eyes wide and her breath irregular.
The others were about to ask what had happened but then they heard the booms. They each took out whatever weapons they had. They were ready to fight till the death. Mikey held Sean's hand in hers for a few seconds before letting go. That's when it began. There are so many Orcs and so little of us, Lysa thought. She was fighting as well as she could but she had little experience and she was pretty cut up. When they finally began to retreat she was limping.
Ella had been with Frodo when he was hit. He, of coarse was not killed, thanks to the armor but Ella had no armor and when the troll slammed her with his hand she fell limp onto the floor. She was bleeding freely from her head and was unconscious. When Aragorn came to get them he picked them both up and ran to follow the others.
When they finally stopped, Lysa, Sean and Mikey crowded around Ella. Gandalf swiftly pushed them aside and went to work on her. Aragorn joined him and together they awakened Ella after a few minutes. But Ella was in a tremendous amount of pain. She whimpered piteously and felt like shrieking in pain. She held her head and dropped in and out of consciousness.
Gandalf decided that it was better for Ella for her to sleep, for a little while, at least. As they fled she knew nothing of it. But right before Gandalf fell she screamed "GANDALF! Don't forget!" But after a while for the Fellowship it no longer mattered whether they remembered or not.
They were rooted to their spots but Aragorn shooed them on.
~*~*~*~
They were walking again, having awakened Ella by a couple of slaps. They were walking to Lothlorien, that was the most Sean, Mikey and Lysa would tell them.
Legolas was ecstatic and Gimli was glum. But Mikey knew she was walking ever closer to her mother and her family. The others fed on her happiness. They walked and at times sang. Once they were almost in the forest she sang softly a song:
I'm broke but I'm happy
I'm poor but I'm kind
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah
I'm high but I'm grounded
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed
I'm lost but I'm hopeful, baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one's giving a high five
I feel drunk but I'm sober
I'm young and I'm underpaid
I'm tired but I'm working, yeah
I care but I'm restless
I'm here but I'm really gone
I'm wrong and I'm worry, baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite alright
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette
What it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one's giving a peace sign
I'm free but focused
I'm green but I'm wise
I'm hard but I'm friendly, baby
I'm sad but I'm laughing
I'm brave but I'm chicken shit
I'm sick but I'm pretty, baby
What it all boiled down to
Is that no one's really got it figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one's playing a piano
What it comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one's hailing a taxicab
Sean and Mikey, without noticing it walk closely side by side. Sean's hand occasionally brushes her upper arm (1*).
Ella watches them and smiles. Lysa comes up next to her. "They're sweet, aren't they? I wonder how far they'll go."
Ella laughs. "Who knows? They go from close friends to lovers? That'll be interesting to watch."
"It'll be nice if they kiss in Lothlorien. It'll be really nice."
"We better not pressure them or we'll get not gossip when they DO make a move." They both giggle, like the old days. They almost totally forgot about their situation.
As they enter the Golden Wood. They paid Boromir no mind. He was whining, in her own royal way but it was defiantly whining. Mikey couldn't wait to enter the wood. She wanted to see her mother so badly. She wanted to know someone didn't just give her up because they weren't ready for a kid. She wanted a real mother. And she hoped that what was she would receive. She deserved that much, didn't she?
~*~*~*~
Luci was still fighting, but getting weaker all the time. She was screaming in pain. She hated the ring but in turn love it for it was the only thing she could talk to. She would never hurt it, yet she wanted to so badly. She was being tortured.
She did not WANT to kill Ella. Ella might have been so annoying and immature but she was her sister. But there was no way she could protect her. She could only hope that she would protect herself.
"Against what, my dear?"
"Against…me!" Luci said wanted to scream it in the ring's face, knowing it had no face and that she was wasting her strength.
"She shouldn't though. She shouldn't be against Lord Sauron in the first place, right?"
Luci was falling into the ring's power. She was weakening enough to let the ring persuade her. "Yes, why shouldn't she tell Sauron, Lord Sauron I mean, all she knows?"
"Yes, yes. Correct, Luci. You're learning fast."
"No, no! She should never tell him! Never!"
"What are you speaking of, Luci?"
"I'm sorry. I felt madness come to me but now it has passed."
"Good. Good girl."
"Stop! Stop telling me your lies. I will not let you kill her!"
"But I will not kill her. YOU will. But you want to. You know it's right…"
"Yes. It's the only thing to do. It's the only right thing to do."
"Good. Good. Now, think. Where would they go? Not to Moria, of coarse. They must be idiots to go through there. Maybe they went south?"
"Leave me AlONE! Get out of my head. Please! Leave me in peace!"
But the ring did not respond. It was tired of playing with Luci. It had bigger things to fry. Bigger things to destroy. To kill. Luci could rot in the dungeon of her own mind, for all it cared. It only needed her body, after all. When this was finished, it would be glad to leave her nothing but a bag of skin. It would savor the moment. But for the moment, let her rot in silence. It's the best way to start any torture. The silence helps the evil part of their minds grow and that is so much easier to control. It would destroy her soul, yes. And it would love every minute of it.
1*=He IS a Man and she IS a dwarf, remember? It sounds stupid but I better stick to the facts.
A/N: arg….Too mushy, I'm getting too mushy!
Sean walks silently, slightly behind the group while walking through the Mines of Moria. He kept thinking of Ella's words. She was serious, all right no matter what Aragorn and Gandalf thought.
He quickly looked around as if someone might read his thoughts. Like he did to Aragorn and Gandalf. It had started happening when he got to Middle- Earth. At first they were only echoes of thoughts. But the more he tried, the better he got. Now he could read people's thoughts as if they were actually saying it out loud. He knew what Aragorn and Gandalf had said about them not really being serious. He knew they would be, when the time came.
He hadn't told Ella or the others about his ability to read minds. He was afraid what they might think. He KNEW he was his father's child, no doubt about it. He didn't need his friends' pity, no matter how much they cared. He could lie his way out of almost anything so he didn't have to worry about that.
Lysa sighed. She hated to see everyone so distant. It scared her. She had always been a person that was close to people, and not used of silence. She loved noise and the younger she was, the more attention she had wanted. Now she was used to not getting attention a lot, but she no longer stopped wanting it.
She walked through the darkness, in silence like everyone else, know what would happen if she made a single noise. Orc would come running and they would all die. Middle-Earth would be destroyed. She shivered at the thought of it.
Mickey sighed ever so slightly as she went over, again and again on the pictures that had been shown of her family. Her real family. Mina. Her siblings and her father. But her father was dead and her mother was supposedly in Lothlorien. Mickey didn't know if she would live to get there but hoped she would. She prayed she would. She had to.
Ella didn't know what to think. She wanted to think about the future, because there was no past for her to think about. But what in her future would she possibly want to think about. She could not think about anything farther than the breaking of the fellowship. She wasn't sure if the others would let her or not.
The darkness was complete and kept pressing. She felt as if she were in a trap that was miles long. She could move around but she could not get out. "Maybe there's a door," she mutters. Finally, when she thought she could stand it no longer, they reached the guardroom. Ella moved up into the front, oblivious of Gandalf's amazed look when she simply said, pointing to the well "Watch out. There's a well over there." Then she dropped to the ground, leaning against the wall and closed her eyes. Lysa followed and sat next to her.
Mickey and Sean joined them and Mickey was soon asleep. Mickey's took Sean's hand and held it tight before dropping off to sleep. Lysa tried to stay awake but didn't succeed and feel asleep.
Sean stayed awake, watching, waiting. After a while Ella awoke, drenched in sweat. She would not tell Sean what she had seen in her dream. They saw Pippin drop the rock into the well and Gandalf get angry. Sean dropped off for a few second but was awakened by the tom-tap, tap-tom. The other awakened too and looked over at the others, worried expressions on their faces.
Pippin sighed as he got picked for first watch. Ella joined him and they spent that time whispering back and forth. Ella was telling him stories of her world, to keep Pippin occupied.
Soon Gandalf had walked over. "You two may sleep. I will not sleep tonight anyway."
"Neither will I so I will stay as well." Ella said sighing.
The others remained silent and after time one after another they fell asleep. All except Ella who sat in conversation with Gandalf. Gandalf was smoking and seemed calmer because of that fact. She told Gandalf more than what she told Pippin. What she had told Pippin was folk tales, like Cinderella and Snow White. What she told Gandalf was entirely different.
"We instruments that help see things like cells and atoms without shrinking anything about ourselves."
"Cells? Not a jail cell, I'm guessing."
"No. We have found that every living thing are made of a simple (or not so simple) element we named cells. And atoms are-" she went on and on from science to history and from that to technology and then to the styles and then (though later she was convinced she shouldn't really have told Gandalf) the crimes that were being done in the world. Even rape was mentioned, ever so slightly. She didn't want to go into specifics.
Then they stayed in silence for a long while. Ella was thinking about how little she actually knew about the history of Middle Earth. Only Lysa had ever read anything else about Lord of the Rings that wasn't the trilogy itself or the Hobbit.
Gandalf was thinking how her world had survived so long without magic of any kind and only relying on technology.
Then Gandalf woke the others. He had made a decision. They would take the right hand passage. Then they went on.
Ella had not thought six hours had gone by and almost wished she had slept those six hours. Now she was tired and grumpy. She was ready to drop.
When at last they reached the great hall where they were to rest, Ella went to sleep at once. She slept through Gimli's song and through and through Gandalf's explanation of mithril. She also slept through all the night too. She awoke ealier than the others but stayed silent, thinking.
When they got to the wide corridor Ella's dread grew. She was extremely afraid of what was to come but was afraid to say anything. When they found Balin Ella was almost frantic. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and her hands were on the necklace she always wore. It always seemed to be made on fine silver and was light on her neck. If you looked at very, very closely you could see writing in a strange language. The language of the Dwarves.
As Gandalf read from the book, Mikey listened intently. She felt as if she were really there, with the dwarves. And suddenly she was. It was only for a few moments but it was as real as herself. There were many dwarves and they were all pushing. There was complete chaos surrounding her from all sides. Then they broke in. Who they was Mikey had no idea but she to fight. She did not know how she had gotten there but she knew she had to fight if she could.
But she never got the chance. Suddenly she was back, her eyes wide and her breath irregular.
The others were about to ask what had happened but then they heard the booms. They each took out whatever weapons they had. They were ready to fight till the death. Mikey held Sean's hand in hers for a few seconds before letting go. That's when it began. There are so many Orcs and so little of us, Lysa thought. She was fighting as well as she could but she had little experience and she was pretty cut up. When they finally began to retreat she was limping.
Ella had been with Frodo when he was hit. He, of coarse was not killed, thanks to the armor but Ella had no armor and when the troll slammed her with his hand she fell limp onto the floor. She was bleeding freely from her head and was unconscious. When Aragorn came to get them he picked them both up and ran to follow the others.
When they finally stopped, Lysa, Sean and Mikey crowded around Ella. Gandalf swiftly pushed them aside and went to work on her. Aragorn joined him and together they awakened Ella after a few minutes. But Ella was in a tremendous amount of pain. She whimpered piteously and felt like shrieking in pain. She held her head and dropped in and out of consciousness.
Gandalf decided that it was better for Ella for her to sleep, for a little while, at least. As they fled she knew nothing of it. But right before Gandalf fell she screamed "GANDALF! Don't forget!" But after a while for the Fellowship it no longer mattered whether they remembered or not.
They were rooted to their spots but Aragorn shooed them on.
~*~*~*~
They were walking again, having awakened Ella by a couple of slaps. They were walking to Lothlorien, that was the most Sean, Mikey and Lysa would tell them.
Legolas was ecstatic and Gimli was glum. But Mikey knew she was walking ever closer to her mother and her family. The others fed on her happiness. They walked and at times sang. Once they were almost in the forest she sang softly a song:
I'm broke but I'm happy
I'm poor but I'm kind
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah
I'm high but I'm grounded
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed
I'm lost but I'm hopeful, baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one's giving a high five
I feel drunk but I'm sober
I'm young and I'm underpaid
I'm tired but I'm working, yeah
I care but I'm restless
I'm here but I'm really gone
I'm wrong and I'm worry, baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite alright
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette
What it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one's giving a peace sign
I'm free but focused
I'm green but I'm wise
I'm hard but I'm friendly, baby
I'm sad but I'm laughing
I'm brave but I'm chicken shit
I'm sick but I'm pretty, baby
What it all boiled down to
Is that no one's really got it figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one's playing a piano
What it comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one's hailing a taxicab
Sean and Mikey, without noticing it walk closely side by side. Sean's hand occasionally brushes her upper arm (1*).
Ella watches them and smiles. Lysa comes up next to her. "They're sweet, aren't they? I wonder how far they'll go."
Ella laughs. "Who knows? They go from close friends to lovers? That'll be interesting to watch."
"It'll be nice if they kiss in Lothlorien. It'll be really nice."
"We better not pressure them or we'll get not gossip when they DO make a move." They both giggle, like the old days. They almost totally forgot about their situation.
As they enter the Golden Wood. They paid Boromir no mind. He was whining, in her own royal way but it was defiantly whining. Mikey couldn't wait to enter the wood. She wanted to see her mother so badly. She wanted to know someone didn't just give her up because they weren't ready for a kid. She wanted a real mother. And she hoped that what was she would receive. She deserved that much, didn't she?
~*~*~*~
Luci was still fighting, but getting weaker all the time. She was screaming in pain. She hated the ring but in turn love it for it was the only thing she could talk to. She would never hurt it, yet she wanted to so badly. She was being tortured.
She did not WANT to kill Ella. Ella might have been so annoying and immature but she was her sister. But there was no way she could protect her. She could only hope that she would protect herself.
"Against what, my dear?"
"Against…me!" Luci said wanted to scream it in the ring's face, knowing it had no face and that she was wasting her strength.
"She shouldn't though. She shouldn't be against Lord Sauron in the first place, right?"
Luci was falling into the ring's power. She was weakening enough to let the ring persuade her. "Yes, why shouldn't she tell Sauron, Lord Sauron I mean, all she knows?"
"Yes, yes. Correct, Luci. You're learning fast."
"No, no! She should never tell him! Never!"
"What are you speaking of, Luci?"
"I'm sorry. I felt madness come to me but now it has passed."
"Good. Good girl."
"Stop! Stop telling me your lies. I will not let you kill her!"
"But I will not kill her. YOU will. But you want to. You know it's right…"
"Yes. It's the only thing to do. It's the only right thing to do."
"Good. Good. Now, think. Where would they go? Not to Moria, of coarse. They must be idiots to go through there. Maybe they went south?"
"Leave me AlONE! Get out of my head. Please! Leave me in peace!"
But the ring did not respond. It was tired of playing with Luci. It had bigger things to fry. Bigger things to destroy. To kill. Luci could rot in the dungeon of her own mind, for all it cared. It only needed her body, after all. When this was finished, it would be glad to leave her nothing but a bag of skin. It would savor the moment. But for the moment, let her rot in silence. It's the best way to start any torture. The silence helps the evil part of their minds grow and that is so much easier to control. It would destroy her soul, yes. And it would love every minute of it.
1*=He IS a Man and she IS a dwarf, remember? It sounds stupid but I better stick to the facts.
A/N: arg….Too mushy, I'm getting too mushy!