Disclaimers: As usual, I do not own any of the characters of the Fellowship, but I do own Rietta, Nimir, and anyone that you have never heard of before. I hope you don't mind my odd little plot twists. I have combined parts from both the book and the movie. Please review as constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, and if you hate this I will still continue writing it...
*Note: Italics are parts from the book.
PART 2
"So you can speak," Gandalf said with a gentle smile.
"Yes- I- I am not... accustomed to it, for I have been alone so long..." she sighed and made a move as if to stand up, but Boromir held her down.
"You are strong enough yet," he explained.
"I am strong enough," she protested, lurching forward violently and falling back. She pushed straggles of long, tangled hair out of her eyes. "Although perhaps not yet," she admitted, her face brightening as she smiled. Suddenly she began to cough, hard racking coughs.
"You are ill," said Aragorn.
"No, 'tis just this... this infernal dust..." She coughed so hard that her eyes began watering.
"She has the distinctive Rohan accent," Aragorn remarked quietly, out of her hearing, to Boromir.
"Yes, I recognize it also," he replied.
When she stopped coughing, Legolas knelt down and held the water flask up to her mouth. She drank thirstily. "Are you alright now?" he asked gently.
"Yes," she replied, her voice cracking halfway through the word. She looked around at the nine. "Why.. why ever would nine travellers be in the Mines of Moria?"
Silencing Merry and Pippin with a single look, Aragorn answered rather vaguely. "We are on a journey, and we felt that the mines would be the safest route of passage." He glanced over at Frodo, who was toying rather nervously with the chain about his neck. The look on Aragorn's face reassured Frodo that nothing would have to be said about his burden. "We are leaving this place, and you must come with us. It is not safe here for you. You will die. We will make sure you get back to Rohan."
"I have almost died many times..." she whispered. "But I cannot return to Rohan..." she swallowed and her eyes flickered wildly about the small space.
"Either way, we shall not leave you in Moria," said Gandalf, straightening up. "Even if we need carry you out."
"You shall not carry me!" cried the girl, and she slowly got to her feet. "I will go with you."
"Somehow I feel that we should not stay in this place much longer," said Legolas, casting a wary eye about the room. "It is too... closed in; if we were ambushed, this would be our tomb."
"Come, then, pack up and we shall leave." Gandalf gathered up his things and moved toward the doorway. The four hobbits quickly shoved everything into their packs, Sam hefting his heavy burden onto his back with a loud grunt.
The girl watched them curiously as she stood fraily, supported by the elf archer. "What are they?" she asked, watching Pippin berate Merry for squashing one of the packages of sausages. She smiled delightedly, in an almost child-like way.
"They are hobbits, from the Shire," explained Legolas. He felt strangely interested in the girl. How in Middle Earth could she have spent so long (he was guessing at least several months) in Moria? He could not imagine how anyone could do that, being so used to the finery of the Mirkwood palace.
Aragorn passed close by Legolas and whispered something to him. "Do not tell her too much. We still do not know if we can trust her."
The elf was shocked at Aragorn's reluctance to trust the girl. Certainly she did not seem evil.
Upon exiting the small room, Gandalf once again found his bearings and lead the Fellowship down the right-hand passage, explaining that the air smelled fresher that way. The nameless girl did not speak much, and seemed suddenly very tired, although she walked along with the rest of them. She would not look at any of the Fellowship when they spoke to her.
As they passed a small crack in the walls lining each side of the passageway, the girl suddenly halted. "I must retrieve my things," she said, and slipped through the crack. The Fellowship waited uneasily for her, wondering how long she would take and what her things consisted of. She returned after about a quarter of an hour. "I am sorry for my absence," she said in apology. She did not appear to be burdened with any baggage or anything at all.
They continued onwards, and the girl grew more and more furtive, constantly glancing around as if waiting for something, or someone. The skeletons that littered the floor became more and more frequent, and Gimli became more and more anxious. He finally rushed into a high dark room with one single ray of light shining down upon-
A coffin.
It was a tomb. There lay Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria. Even as Gimli screamed his rage and sadness to the heavens he knew that Balin's people had lost the battle with the mines. While the Fellowship waited sadly in the dim room, Pippin accidentally knocked the remains of a skeleton into a well shaft.
"They'd get you now, if not later," muttered the girl darkly. She glanced around at the tomb room: various dwarf skeletons lay strewn across the floors, mingled with axes and arrows. Legolas picked one up and examined it. "Orcs," he said.
Gandalf sighed deeply and removed a thick, heavy book from the dead arms of one skeleton. "So what we feared has come to pass," he said, flipping the book open. He read the last few passages of it aloud, while the Fellowship waited in agonizing silence. "We must leave this place," Gandalf said quickly, shutting the book with a clap of dust.
It was then that they heard them. The unmistakable booming of drums, coming from the depths of the underground labyrinth, combined with faint, but crazy screaming.
The girl sucked in a deep gulp of air and her face was pale. "I cannot do this..." she whispered. Her eyes once again glowed. "You must flee! Run, get out, do not stay! You shall be trapped...!" She pushed them towards the door but her words were cut short as an arrow zipped past them and embedded itself in a rotting skeleton.
"They have a cavetroll," Boromir remarked wryly as he and Aragorn struggled to close the huge wooden doors.
Author's Note: I'm really sorry about cutting the chapter off at an odd place, but it would have been double the length if I hadn't… that is, unless people don't mind a really short chapter then a long one. Thanks to Sharkbait and Moonwinges for reviewing! One more thing, if any of you have speculations about who the girl might be and where she comes from, feel free to leave them in a review!