I seem to take these "thank you breaks" more and more often. But not
replying those amazing reviews would be on my conscience forever! Actually
I have to say that I am a bit overwhelmed and stupefied by the whole
positive and kind reaction to the story. Just to think that there are
people out there who sit down and take the time to read some pure fiction
that my distorted mind gave birth to - that is unbelievable. But the fact
that they like it! Now that is beyond me!
As you can tell, my updates are rather frequent at this point. The fact is, at the end of every chapter I decide to give it a break and then I get so many and such beautiful mails, my muse starts nudging me in the ribs again. I have some grave idea where the story is going, but believe it or not, some crucial elements of it are appearing as I write, out of nowhere it seems. I have a suspicion that Irulan is very much planning to take matters into her own hands as we go on.
Let's hope not. That woman has no sense.
A quick but grave note: fanfiction.net IS actually going insane. It is driving me crazy. There are days when it won't accept my password, days when my story does not exist and others when they for some reason are not in word format anymore. Sigh..there may be slight delays or problems. Bear with me.
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"I think we are very close to the Gates of Moria now" Irulan said when she finally reached the group of men leading the line. They all jumped, obviously not having heard her approach. Taken aback by their surprise, she looked from one to the other, but each hastily looked away.
"Ah yes....... I think you are right" said Gimli a little too loud.
"Yes, yes..... I think I can see the Gates" added Gandalf.
Irulan narrowed her eyes. "You have been talking about me, haven't you?" she said slowly.
All heads snapped around.
"What are you talking about?" said Gandalf innocently.
"Don't you think we have more important things to talk about?" hissed Legolas and walked ahead with a faster pace.
"Women! They think it's all about them!" mumbled Aragorn and followed him.
"Aragorn! Wait! You still did not answer me" said Boromir after a moment, and casting a swift glance in her direction, quickened his pace to catch up with the man.
"What's up with these hobbits? I better go and look" said Gimli and fell back.
Irulan shook her head and looked at Gandalf. "I see you still prefer cheap and dirty gossip, old man" she said with the expression of a mother scolding her child. Gandalf pretended not to hear her at all. "The Gates of Moria!" he exclaimed a bit too loud, "we have arrived at last" and walked past her. 'Note so self: Men are capable of lying as much as a bear is capable of singing'.
***
The Gate to the mines stood with a dull glow before them. Irulan was looking up to it, with curiosity and admiration. Moria! The fabled place about which she had read so many stories as a child. She could still remember bits and pieces of the pictures in her head, of how she imagined it to be. She knew it had been carved into the mountain, but after having walked on that very same mountain for a time and having appreciated its real size, she knew that the real Moria would most certainly outshine her childhood imaginations. If only Gandalf could open the doors!
They had been waiting for a while now and the cool and damp air seemed to be seeping not only into their clothes, but their mood as well. But she had removed her outer tunic and remained with her shirt that revealed her arms and shoulders. She felt hot after the long walk on the mountain. Everyone kept his distance from the wizard, not wishing to be the object of his wrath right now. Which meant of course that Irulan HAD to do the exact opposite.
"Gandalf; is it possible for wizards to get old?" she asked with a serious voice. Gandalf was sitting on a large boulder, mumbling to himself. He looked up at her with glazed eyes.
"I mean, old HERE" she said and pointed to her head. "I wonder if they ever reach an age when they.....well....begin to get confused. You know....forget spells, mix in the wrong ingredients in a potion......" she smiled slightly and added with a whisper "....forget to wear underwear...."
Gandalf bit on his pipe. "Irulan, I am older than you can imagine and yet sharper than you'll ever be! Disappear now, I need to concentrate!"
"I know that can be hard when I am this charming, but really, you have to get over your infatuation with me!"
Gandalf closed his eyes. She grinned at his expression that spoke books.
"Irulan!" he snapped loudly and everybody's head turned around to look at them.
"No Gandalf!" she said seriously, "I can not accept. I am sure you will find another". Gandalf sprang to his feet.
Irulan quickly retreated, still looking at him, "No need to stand up when a lady leaves your presence, you old casanova!" and she hastily turned around to join the others before Gandalf actually decided to throw a lightning bolt in her direction.
Boromir and Aragorn were chuckling. "Stop stepping on his tail, Irulan" said Aragorn, "he looks dangerous enough without it".
"Believe me, I am doing it in the best interest of the company. He thinks better under pressure" she replied smoothly.
Boromir looked at her and suddenly stood up "You are wounded" he said softly. Irulan followed his gaze to her right shoulder. She remembered the boulder from the avalanche. The cut had obviously not bled in the cold environment of the mountain, but was not gently oozing with the increased temperature. She realized the sting as well; she had not felt it before.
"Oh.....yes.....it's nothing. Just a little cut. A boulder hit me in the avalanche" she said and wiped away the blood trickling down her shoulder. Another small stream formed immediately.
"Let me take a look at it" said Boromir and softly touched the wound. "It is not deep, but we better clean it, before it gets infected" he said and went to his bag.
Merry and Pippin were throwing stones into the large pond that lay at their feet. Aragorn snatched the stones away hastily, whispering "Do not disturb the water". They looked out into the dark water and, surprising as it was, stopped.
Boromir came back and began cleaning the wound. "You should be more careful Irulan, we can not afford losing you" he said with a velvet voice. 'That look in his eyes again!' she thought with growing discomfort. She glanced at Aragorn but he seemed to be lost in his own world, looking out towards the pond. Legolas though was very much aware of everything and he was looking directly at her with yet another unreadable expression on his face.
"Oh, so I am not the witch who stole your precious Knight, anymore?" she said mischievously, ignoring Legolas' gaze.
Boromir laughed lightly. "Oh you are a witch, alright. You put a spell on me" he said and looked up to her.
Irulan froze and felt herself stiffen. She looked away hastily, not knowing exactly what to say. That accursed elf was still looking at her and no doubt, had heard every word of the conversation, being so close to them. She felt uncomfortably exposed and stared back at him with defiance. His expression had turned even more sour, if such a thing was possible. He had pursed his lips and anger was emanating from his beautiful face.
"I am sorry about my accusations" said Boromir. She had almost forgotten about him. "I was wrong to say those ugly things".
"No need for apologies. Not between us, son of Gondor" she said, hoping the words to come out as cold as possible. Boromir had finished cleaning and disinfecting the wound, but did not move away. She cast another glance at Legolas. 'Fine' she thought, 'if he is going to be like that, I might as well not reject the friendship and kindness offered to me by others!' She turned to Boromir and smiled warmly.
The man's breath caught for a moment. "I am glad that you feel the same way" he added slowly after a short hesitation.
Irulan nodded lightly and slowly turned away from him, back to where the wizard was sitting and still brooding. With the corner of her eye she saw Legolas stiffen and when he sharply turned away, his blonde hair flew around his face and hid his expression. Once free of Boromir's gaze, she exhaled with relief and realized that Frodo was talking to Gandalf.
"Mellon" replied Gandalf a moment later and behold, the mighty stone gates slowly cracked open! She could not help but to shiver with excitement and curiosity. Moria! At last!
They quickly gathered their belongings and began walking in. It was very dark and the moonlight -coming from behind- made it hard to see. Thank the heavens for magic, for soon they had a little light provided by Gandalf's staff. "Unusually quite for a place where thousands of dwarves must be living" thought Irulan to herself. And that's when they became aware of the skeletons lying around. "Everybody, fall back!" commanded Gandalf and before they knew what was happening, all hell broke lose. She heard someone scream and it took her a few moments to realize that it was Frodo. Only she could not locate him in the dark. Then she saw Sam's outline in the entrance, trying to rush out.
Irulan ran to the entrance with everyone else, but all of a sudden was grabbed from below and hurled sideways. The breath left her lungs when she felt herself crushed against the wall. "So much for being a Darma Druid" she thought ruefully. 'Maybe we should include surprise attack training in our schedules'. It is funny how the most incredible thoughts can invade the brain in moments of grave danger.
Just when her body gave in and decided to breathe again, she was hurled again, this time towards the pond (by what little she could make out in the tumult) and that's when she realized something was wrapped along her leg, squeezing mercilessly. And thankfully her warrior instinct took over. She drew the sword strapped to her back in a moment and tried to cut around the thing holding her leg. She must have finally hit the mark, for both the pressure and the pulling stopped instantly and was replaced by something even more dreadful: the feeling of falling - an especially unwelcome feeling when you don't know how high you are and where you will land.
She hit the shallow water with a nasty thud and since she had survived, it meant that it could not have been too high. The screaming and yelling around her continued. Irulan's sense of up and down swam back and she lifted her head. Then her sense of direction returned as well and she realized she was by the edge of the pond with tentacles dancing around her. Judging by the size of those, something really big and ugly was out there in the water. And it had managed to grab Frodo by his foot. She sprang up to her feet immediately and joined the rest of the team, trying to cut her way through the tentacle forest to reach a dangling Frodo. She actually did manage to cut about two of them and free a panicked Pippin, but Boromir hit one that obviously hurt more than the others, making the thing decide to drop its meal into Aragorn's arms.
"Into the mines!" somebody yelled and she did not halt to see who it was, running along. She stumbled inside while the entrance behind her crumbled down and the last light vanished. Sheathing her sword, she kept walking in the dark until she bumped into someone.
"Are you alright?" said the beautiful voice of Legolas. It was too dark and she could not see a thing but obviously he could, because he softly grabbed her arm and tugged her along.
"Yeah, fine" Irulan said a bit stiffly.
"That was a nasty fall. Are you hurt?" he said. Was that actually concern she heard in his voice? And that cruel edge seemed to have disappeared as well. She would never understand men!
"I guess I'm getting too old for this" she said in a sarcastic tone, trying to feel whether she had indeed broken something in her body or not. Everything seemed to be in place.
Legolas stopped and a soft glow filled the room. "We must face the long dark of Moria" Gandalf was saying. She looked around. Everyone was there. Irulan sighed with relief. 'So much for being useful!' she thought bitterly, 'I was almost crushed and barely ran to save myself!' She felt a dark fear gripping her then. 'If you hold back, you will fail this quest and you will drag everyone down with yourself!' her inner voice screamed and her heart took a leap. 'You will fail! You will be the end of everyone simply to save yourself!' Irulan felt nauseous all of a sudden. She felt also like banging her head on the walls a couple of times. 'Stupid girl! You were far better when you were merely a child! At least you had courage then!' Legolas was still looking at her in the dim light.
"I'm alright Legolas. I did not break anything" she said, ashamed to look at him and drew her arm away. She walked off, keeping a distance between herself and the rest.
Legolas stared after her. He was so angry with her, and yet.....when she fell back there.....he had immediately bolted towards her, Frodo and the rest completely forgotten. If Boromir had not called his name, he would probably never have come back to his senses. It was his call that had made him stop in his mid-tracks and start shooting at the beast. 'I will fail this fellowship' he thought grimly. 'I am letting my feelings for her get in the way of the mission already!' His feelings for her? What was THAT all about? Legolas massaged his forehead and dared a deep breath. 'So much for being an elven prince' he thought and grimly resumed his walking. He too, kept his distance, for his mind was clouded. It would be a long, dark walk indeed.
As you can tell, my updates are rather frequent at this point. The fact is, at the end of every chapter I decide to give it a break and then I get so many and such beautiful mails, my muse starts nudging me in the ribs again. I have some grave idea where the story is going, but believe it or not, some crucial elements of it are appearing as I write, out of nowhere it seems. I have a suspicion that Irulan is very much planning to take matters into her own hands as we go on.
Let's hope not. That woman has no sense.
A quick but grave note: fanfiction.net IS actually going insane. It is driving me crazy. There are days when it won't accept my password, days when my story does not exist and others when they for some reason are not in word format anymore. Sigh..there may be slight delays or problems. Bear with me.
************************************************
"I think we are very close to the Gates of Moria now" Irulan said when she finally reached the group of men leading the line. They all jumped, obviously not having heard her approach. Taken aback by their surprise, she looked from one to the other, but each hastily looked away.
"Ah yes....... I think you are right" said Gimli a little too loud.
"Yes, yes..... I think I can see the Gates" added Gandalf.
Irulan narrowed her eyes. "You have been talking about me, haven't you?" she said slowly.
All heads snapped around.
"What are you talking about?" said Gandalf innocently.
"Don't you think we have more important things to talk about?" hissed Legolas and walked ahead with a faster pace.
"Women! They think it's all about them!" mumbled Aragorn and followed him.
"Aragorn! Wait! You still did not answer me" said Boromir after a moment, and casting a swift glance in her direction, quickened his pace to catch up with the man.
"What's up with these hobbits? I better go and look" said Gimli and fell back.
Irulan shook her head and looked at Gandalf. "I see you still prefer cheap and dirty gossip, old man" she said with the expression of a mother scolding her child. Gandalf pretended not to hear her at all. "The Gates of Moria!" he exclaimed a bit too loud, "we have arrived at last" and walked past her. 'Note so self: Men are capable of lying as much as a bear is capable of singing'.
***
The Gate to the mines stood with a dull glow before them. Irulan was looking up to it, with curiosity and admiration. Moria! The fabled place about which she had read so many stories as a child. She could still remember bits and pieces of the pictures in her head, of how she imagined it to be. She knew it had been carved into the mountain, but after having walked on that very same mountain for a time and having appreciated its real size, she knew that the real Moria would most certainly outshine her childhood imaginations. If only Gandalf could open the doors!
They had been waiting for a while now and the cool and damp air seemed to be seeping not only into their clothes, but their mood as well. But she had removed her outer tunic and remained with her shirt that revealed her arms and shoulders. She felt hot after the long walk on the mountain. Everyone kept his distance from the wizard, not wishing to be the object of his wrath right now. Which meant of course that Irulan HAD to do the exact opposite.
"Gandalf; is it possible for wizards to get old?" she asked with a serious voice. Gandalf was sitting on a large boulder, mumbling to himself. He looked up at her with glazed eyes.
"I mean, old HERE" she said and pointed to her head. "I wonder if they ever reach an age when they.....well....begin to get confused. You know....forget spells, mix in the wrong ingredients in a potion......" she smiled slightly and added with a whisper "....forget to wear underwear...."
Gandalf bit on his pipe. "Irulan, I am older than you can imagine and yet sharper than you'll ever be! Disappear now, I need to concentrate!"
"I know that can be hard when I am this charming, but really, you have to get over your infatuation with me!"
Gandalf closed his eyes. She grinned at his expression that spoke books.
"Irulan!" he snapped loudly and everybody's head turned around to look at them.
"No Gandalf!" she said seriously, "I can not accept. I am sure you will find another". Gandalf sprang to his feet.
Irulan quickly retreated, still looking at him, "No need to stand up when a lady leaves your presence, you old casanova!" and she hastily turned around to join the others before Gandalf actually decided to throw a lightning bolt in her direction.
Boromir and Aragorn were chuckling. "Stop stepping on his tail, Irulan" said Aragorn, "he looks dangerous enough without it".
"Believe me, I am doing it in the best interest of the company. He thinks better under pressure" she replied smoothly.
Boromir looked at her and suddenly stood up "You are wounded" he said softly. Irulan followed his gaze to her right shoulder. She remembered the boulder from the avalanche. The cut had obviously not bled in the cold environment of the mountain, but was not gently oozing with the increased temperature. She realized the sting as well; she had not felt it before.
"Oh.....yes.....it's nothing. Just a little cut. A boulder hit me in the avalanche" she said and wiped away the blood trickling down her shoulder. Another small stream formed immediately.
"Let me take a look at it" said Boromir and softly touched the wound. "It is not deep, but we better clean it, before it gets infected" he said and went to his bag.
Merry and Pippin were throwing stones into the large pond that lay at their feet. Aragorn snatched the stones away hastily, whispering "Do not disturb the water". They looked out into the dark water and, surprising as it was, stopped.
Boromir came back and began cleaning the wound. "You should be more careful Irulan, we can not afford losing you" he said with a velvet voice. 'That look in his eyes again!' she thought with growing discomfort. She glanced at Aragorn but he seemed to be lost in his own world, looking out towards the pond. Legolas though was very much aware of everything and he was looking directly at her with yet another unreadable expression on his face.
"Oh, so I am not the witch who stole your precious Knight, anymore?" she said mischievously, ignoring Legolas' gaze.
Boromir laughed lightly. "Oh you are a witch, alright. You put a spell on me" he said and looked up to her.
Irulan froze and felt herself stiffen. She looked away hastily, not knowing exactly what to say. That accursed elf was still looking at her and no doubt, had heard every word of the conversation, being so close to them. She felt uncomfortably exposed and stared back at him with defiance. His expression had turned even more sour, if such a thing was possible. He had pursed his lips and anger was emanating from his beautiful face.
"I am sorry about my accusations" said Boromir. She had almost forgotten about him. "I was wrong to say those ugly things".
"No need for apologies. Not between us, son of Gondor" she said, hoping the words to come out as cold as possible. Boromir had finished cleaning and disinfecting the wound, but did not move away. She cast another glance at Legolas. 'Fine' she thought, 'if he is going to be like that, I might as well not reject the friendship and kindness offered to me by others!' She turned to Boromir and smiled warmly.
The man's breath caught for a moment. "I am glad that you feel the same way" he added slowly after a short hesitation.
Irulan nodded lightly and slowly turned away from him, back to where the wizard was sitting and still brooding. With the corner of her eye she saw Legolas stiffen and when he sharply turned away, his blonde hair flew around his face and hid his expression. Once free of Boromir's gaze, she exhaled with relief and realized that Frodo was talking to Gandalf.
"Mellon" replied Gandalf a moment later and behold, the mighty stone gates slowly cracked open! She could not help but to shiver with excitement and curiosity. Moria! At last!
They quickly gathered their belongings and began walking in. It was very dark and the moonlight -coming from behind- made it hard to see. Thank the heavens for magic, for soon they had a little light provided by Gandalf's staff. "Unusually quite for a place where thousands of dwarves must be living" thought Irulan to herself. And that's when they became aware of the skeletons lying around. "Everybody, fall back!" commanded Gandalf and before they knew what was happening, all hell broke lose. She heard someone scream and it took her a few moments to realize that it was Frodo. Only she could not locate him in the dark. Then she saw Sam's outline in the entrance, trying to rush out.
Irulan ran to the entrance with everyone else, but all of a sudden was grabbed from below and hurled sideways. The breath left her lungs when she felt herself crushed against the wall. "So much for being a Darma Druid" she thought ruefully. 'Maybe we should include surprise attack training in our schedules'. It is funny how the most incredible thoughts can invade the brain in moments of grave danger.
Just when her body gave in and decided to breathe again, she was hurled again, this time towards the pond (by what little she could make out in the tumult) and that's when she realized something was wrapped along her leg, squeezing mercilessly. And thankfully her warrior instinct took over. She drew the sword strapped to her back in a moment and tried to cut around the thing holding her leg. She must have finally hit the mark, for both the pressure and the pulling stopped instantly and was replaced by something even more dreadful: the feeling of falling - an especially unwelcome feeling when you don't know how high you are and where you will land.
She hit the shallow water with a nasty thud and since she had survived, it meant that it could not have been too high. The screaming and yelling around her continued. Irulan's sense of up and down swam back and she lifted her head. Then her sense of direction returned as well and she realized she was by the edge of the pond with tentacles dancing around her. Judging by the size of those, something really big and ugly was out there in the water. And it had managed to grab Frodo by his foot. She sprang up to her feet immediately and joined the rest of the team, trying to cut her way through the tentacle forest to reach a dangling Frodo. She actually did manage to cut about two of them and free a panicked Pippin, but Boromir hit one that obviously hurt more than the others, making the thing decide to drop its meal into Aragorn's arms.
"Into the mines!" somebody yelled and she did not halt to see who it was, running along. She stumbled inside while the entrance behind her crumbled down and the last light vanished. Sheathing her sword, she kept walking in the dark until she bumped into someone.
"Are you alright?" said the beautiful voice of Legolas. It was too dark and she could not see a thing but obviously he could, because he softly grabbed her arm and tugged her along.
"Yeah, fine" Irulan said a bit stiffly.
"That was a nasty fall. Are you hurt?" he said. Was that actually concern she heard in his voice? And that cruel edge seemed to have disappeared as well. She would never understand men!
"I guess I'm getting too old for this" she said in a sarcastic tone, trying to feel whether she had indeed broken something in her body or not. Everything seemed to be in place.
Legolas stopped and a soft glow filled the room. "We must face the long dark of Moria" Gandalf was saying. She looked around. Everyone was there. Irulan sighed with relief. 'So much for being useful!' she thought bitterly, 'I was almost crushed and barely ran to save myself!' She felt a dark fear gripping her then. 'If you hold back, you will fail this quest and you will drag everyone down with yourself!' her inner voice screamed and her heart took a leap. 'You will fail! You will be the end of everyone simply to save yourself!' Irulan felt nauseous all of a sudden. She felt also like banging her head on the walls a couple of times. 'Stupid girl! You were far better when you were merely a child! At least you had courage then!' Legolas was still looking at her in the dim light.
"I'm alright Legolas. I did not break anything" she said, ashamed to look at him and drew her arm away. She walked off, keeping a distance between herself and the rest.
Legolas stared after her. He was so angry with her, and yet.....when she fell back there.....he had immediately bolted towards her, Frodo and the rest completely forgotten. If Boromir had not called his name, he would probably never have come back to his senses. It was his call that had made him stop in his mid-tracks and start shooting at the beast. 'I will fail this fellowship' he thought grimly. 'I am letting my feelings for her get in the way of the mission already!' His feelings for her? What was THAT all about? Legolas massaged his forehead and dared a deep breath. 'So much for being an elven prince' he thought and grimly resumed his walking. He too, kept his distance, for his mind was clouded. It would be a long, dark walk indeed.