Disclaimer: I do not own The Lord of the Rings. It belongs to
J.R.R. Tolkien.
Author's Note:
Naheka's name has been changed. Her name is NOT Naheka. Her real name is Naurglahad [nar-gla-hod]. It is actual name given to her by her biological family, therefore, she will be addressed as that. Handy fact: in her native language, "Naurglahad" means "the betrayer" or "the foresaker". I am foreshadowing... mwahahaha.
Anything against this new change (and I'm confident that there will be either few or none) will not be listened to because I have made up my mind! Yay! She's doomed.
Anyways... I've been mostly working on The File Cabinet, so I apologize for the very late update to all have been looking forward to this...But aside from that...
On with the fic! Tally-ho!
SET IT OFF!
Naurglahad almost tripped as C-chan took a dive right under her in attempt to escape from a powerful troll club smashing into the ground. Bits of stone and debris flew into the air, and when she had shielded her eyes, it was thanks to some strong moving force that pushed her out of the way. Her back met a crumbling stone pillar as she stumbled aside, the force still pressing against her.
"Pay attention!" hissed the force. "You'll die the next time you forget!"
Naurglahad angrily shoved the force off her chest with her elbow and charged off into battle again. She was ready this time as she took two to the head with a single swing. She could get used to this.
"Where do you think you're going?"
With a yank, she was flung and pushed up against the pillar again. Her black pupils darted back and forth confusedly, starting to lose thoughts concerning what she was supposed to be doing. Her friends were huddled at her ankles, weapons drawn only for matters of defense. And as for the force, it was Boromir, who averted his shield just in time to block an orcish arrow from flying at her face. Naurglahad's brow furrowed as her eyes questioned Boromir without words.
"I told you," he replied with speech. "You will die. Stay here and defend. You can't fight out there."
Naurglahad's legs weakened as she slumped to the ground, joining with the shivering puddle that was her trio of friends. Across the way, she saw the hobbits running about hysterically, stabbing orcs, or, in Sam's occasion, knocking them unconscious with frying pans. Legolas leaped out of nowhere and atop the troll's ugly arching spine, launching an arrow into where its medulla supposedly was. Aragorn was slaying orcs not by the double, but by the quadruple; Boromir at triple. Gimli... Gimli was terribly furious, hacking at the goblins like wood with his ax. Naurglahad's underestimation for the dwarf rose slightly.
As the battle passed on, Naurglahad did get a chance to take out a couple that had dared to approach her in offense. But that was all. Soon enough, the troll fell to the ground and died, and Gandalf was urging everyone out of the tomb and back into the darkness of the mines.
~*~
Run. Run. Run.
That's all that ever really happened down in the mines after the battle of Balin's Tomb. Naurglahad was right behind Merry as Aragorn led them through the darkness and newly lit flames. "Swords are no use beyond here." All was in motion now. If she stopped, if anyone stopped... someone might die. Intensity herded drops of sweat down her cheek.
They seemed to dry in the breeze as she used her spear to vault herself over the crack dividing the abyss and the steep stone stairway. When Megan had practically booted C-chan off the side, Jackie had barely made it. It was lucky that Megan was there to catch her hand. As the others made it across the way, a sudden inappropriate thought reached her mind; would now be a good time to shove Legolas off the staircase?
This perfect opportunity was drowned as her plots turned to panicked concern. Aragorn and Frodo were too late to get across. Then, there were arrows. Arrows from the balconies. "Damn goblins," she heard Megan grumble. The ding of the orcish arrows upon the ridge of the stairs was immediately returned with the whip-like sound of the twang of her bow. Or maybe it was the elf's bow. It didn't matter.
"Aha!" Megan shouted in triumph. "I got one!"
"Then get another one," replied Legolas, taking out one more.
Megan leaned over to Naurglahad and muttered in her ear, "Now I can understand why you hate 'im."
"Isn't it obvious?" the assassin snorted in reply.
"Of course."
Boom!
"Run!"
Down the steps the Fellowship and company went. The following corridors were just as dark and as foul smelling as the ones before it. And finally, they reached the thinnest, yet longest bridge Naurglahad had ever seen. Below it was a great abyss, even larger than the bridge. Her bones chilled, especially the ones that made up her feet as she sped lightly across after Merry. She stumbled once and almost lost her balance. Thank the gods that Jackie was there to pull her up. She continued running, but when she looked down to keep an extra eye on her feet, her stomach lurched.
The blackness gaped at her. Though without eyes, it stared her down. She felt weak.
"You cannot pass! Go back to the Shadow, Flame of Udûn!"
The blackness turned to the brown stone of Moria as soon as she had reached the other side. Her face relaxed. The flight across the bridge was over. Now if only the journey through the mines would end. She turned. She saw it.
The Balrog roared, the sound it emitted like an erupting volcano. Down its throat seemed like a tunnel of lava, but its tongue was a singed black. Its ferocious head was that of a sort of bull, except its snout was pulled up into a gruesome position, so that it snorted sparks with every heavy breath it took. As for the body, it was the most gigantic body of an animal Naurglahad had ever seen. The skin was black like the tongue, but also like an erupting volcano, cracks of lava were tattooed all about. Scarlet and black wings were torn and ragged looking from their folded position on its huge, arching back.
But what was also very amazing was that Gandalf was opposing the Balrog... alone.
"...hell'a doomed..." came a whimper from Megan.
Bang!
Naurglahad gasped after the white light had passed. Gandalf was still standing, his battered staff blocking a mighty strike from the Balrog's flaming sword. In rage, the giant beast tossed the sword aside and brought up a pronged whip. The crack flashed like lightning through the mines.
"You shall not pass!"
The events following were totally amazing. Naurglahad had lost her breath. Everything had lost its sound; the Balrog opening its enormous mouth as it fell into the abyss, the pants and sharp inhales from her companions, the lick of the whip, the sound of a foot slipping against stone... and the old Istari's last few words.
"Fly, you fools!"
~*~
"...On your feet, Sam."
"Come on, guys," coughed Naurglahad, rubbing her nose roughly as she swung around to face east. "Aragorn said we gotta' get outta' here fast."
"He's dead, Naur," sobbed C-chan. "I tell ya'. Didn'tcha' see him fall? That was our guide falling. Wi'out him, Sauron's gonna' kill us all!"
"Finish your words correctly," grumbled Jackie. "Now really. Gandy wouldn't want us to sit here and cry. He wants that Ring in the pits. Let's get out."
A sharp yank brought C-chan onto her feet. Naurglahad took the lead, head bowed low, her trembling hands fingering the edge of her sleeve, which had torn slightly. Probably from the battle in Balin's tomb. She sighed and trudged on. Eventually, her neck hurt after a timeless period of traveling. Averting her eyes from the ground, she turned her head up, defying the position it was in for the last many minutes. There was a shallow sort of lake ahead. Aragorn, Mister Long-shanks, was jogging swiftly right through it, then stopping at the peak of a grassy hill, looking out east into the distance.
During this time, the rest of the Fellowship collapsed in exhaustion at the bank of the lake. Merry and Pippin had completely fallen to the earth, almost dunking their head into the water, gasping for breath. Sam checked to make sure his master was comfortable --Frodo was laying flat-face on the ground-- before also dipping his face into the water. Naurglahad had the urge to jump in completely, but something told her that it was not something she wanted to do in this male-dominant fellowship.
Aside from the scent of clear, freshwater pressed to her lips, she could smell elf blood coming closer. Her plots from the falling staircase came back. Now was a good chance. It would relieve the stress and sorrow from her heart.
Rapidly, she rose to her feet, grabbed Legolas by the collar, and with one powerful move, she tossed him about a foot into an arch in the air, slamming him down into the water. As he sputtered and coughed out water, Naurglahad was choking with laughter. She rolled onto the ground, clutching her stomach. Her cheeks, light red with tear stains and giggling, boosted off into a bright scarlet as Legolas glared down into her eyes, his hair sopping wet and his elven garments soaked.
"You..." she was cut off with more laughter. "You really know how to--how to..." She couldn't stop laughing. To her surprise, Legolas smiled slightly. He pulled her up from the earth.
"I really know how to make you happy, don't I?" he finished, dusting her shoulder off. Naurglahad's laughter gradually died, the cheerful glint in her eyes dying into a suspicious glint. A similar glint was in Legolas' eyes.
"Wait a mi---"
Whoosh!
"Aieee!"
Everyone turned. As she rose out of the water, Naurglahad looked more like a wet Balrog reincarnated from Darkness than a frustrated sixteen-year-old.
"LEGOLAS!!!"
Joe made a huge batch of brownies. They're still fresh, so please take as many as you like (but File Cabinet readers please leave some for the others too... if there are any). I will explode if I have another.
Joe: And you might implode if you don't!
Ergh...
Author's Note:
Naheka's name has been changed. Her name is NOT Naheka. Her real name is Naurglahad [nar-gla-hod]. It is actual name given to her by her biological family, therefore, she will be addressed as that. Handy fact: in her native language, "Naurglahad" means "the betrayer" or "the foresaker". I am foreshadowing... mwahahaha.
Anything against this new change (and I'm confident that there will be either few or none) will not be listened to because I have made up my mind! Yay! She's doomed.
Anyways... I've been mostly working on The File Cabinet, so I apologize for the very late update to all have been looking forward to this...But aside from that...
On with the fic! Tally-ho!
SET IT OFF!
Naurglahad almost tripped as C-chan took a dive right under her in attempt to escape from a powerful troll club smashing into the ground. Bits of stone and debris flew into the air, and when she had shielded her eyes, it was thanks to some strong moving force that pushed her out of the way. Her back met a crumbling stone pillar as she stumbled aside, the force still pressing against her.
"Pay attention!" hissed the force. "You'll die the next time you forget!"
Naurglahad angrily shoved the force off her chest with her elbow and charged off into battle again. She was ready this time as she took two to the head with a single swing. She could get used to this.
"Where do you think you're going?"
With a yank, she was flung and pushed up against the pillar again. Her black pupils darted back and forth confusedly, starting to lose thoughts concerning what she was supposed to be doing. Her friends were huddled at her ankles, weapons drawn only for matters of defense. And as for the force, it was Boromir, who averted his shield just in time to block an orcish arrow from flying at her face. Naurglahad's brow furrowed as her eyes questioned Boromir without words.
"I told you," he replied with speech. "You will die. Stay here and defend. You can't fight out there."
Naurglahad's legs weakened as she slumped to the ground, joining with the shivering puddle that was her trio of friends. Across the way, she saw the hobbits running about hysterically, stabbing orcs, or, in Sam's occasion, knocking them unconscious with frying pans. Legolas leaped out of nowhere and atop the troll's ugly arching spine, launching an arrow into where its medulla supposedly was. Aragorn was slaying orcs not by the double, but by the quadruple; Boromir at triple. Gimli... Gimli was terribly furious, hacking at the goblins like wood with his ax. Naurglahad's underestimation for the dwarf rose slightly.
As the battle passed on, Naurglahad did get a chance to take out a couple that had dared to approach her in offense. But that was all. Soon enough, the troll fell to the ground and died, and Gandalf was urging everyone out of the tomb and back into the darkness of the mines.
~*~
Run. Run. Run.
That's all that ever really happened down in the mines after the battle of Balin's Tomb. Naurglahad was right behind Merry as Aragorn led them through the darkness and newly lit flames. "Swords are no use beyond here." All was in motion now. If she stopped, if anyone stopped... someone might die. Intensity herded drops of sweat down her cheek.
They seemed to dry in the breeze as she used her spear to vault herself over the crack dividing the abyss and the steep stone stairway. When Megan had practically booted C-chan off the side, Jackie had barely made it. It was lucky that Megan was there to catch her hand. As the others made it across the way, a sudden inappropriate thought reached her mind; would now be a good time to shove Legolas off the staircase?
This perfect opportunity was drowned as her plots turned to panicked concern. Aragorn and Frodo were too late to get across. Then, there were arrows. Arrows from the balconies. "Damn goblins," she heard Megan grumble. The ding of the orcish arrows upon the ridge of the stairs was immediately returned with the whip-like sound of the twang of her bow. Or maybe it was the elf's bow. It didn't matter.
"Aha!" Megan shouted in triumph. "I got one!"
"Then get another one," replied Legolas, taking out one more.
Megan leaned over to Naurglahad and muttered in her ear, "Now I can understand why you hate 'im."
"Isn't it obvious?" the assassin snorted in reply.
"Of course."
Boom!
"Run!"
Down the steps the Fellowship and company went. The following corridors were just as dark and as foul smelling as the ones before it. And finally, they reached the thinnest, yet longest bridge Naurglahad had ever seen. Below it was a great abyss, even larger than the bridge. Her bones chilled, especially the ones that made up her feet as she sped lightly across after Merry. She stumbled once and almost lost her balance. Thank the gods that Jackie was there to pull her up. She continued running, but when she looked down to keep an extra eye on her feet, her stomach lurched.
The blackness gaped at her. Though without eyes, it stared her down. She felt weak.
"You cannot pass! Go back to the Shadow, Flame of Udûn!"
The blackness turned to the brown stone of Moria as soon as she had reached the other side. Her face relaxed. The flight across the bridge was over. Now if only the journey through the mines would end. She turned. She saw it.
The Balrog roared, the sound it emitted like an erupting volcano. Down its throat seemed like a tunnel of lava, but its tongue was a singed black. Its ferocious head was that of a sort of bull, except its snout was pulled up into a gruesome position, so that it snorted sparks with every heavy breath it took. As for the body, it was the most gigantic body of an animal Naurglahad had ever seen. The skin was black like the tongue, but also like an erupting volcano, cracks of lava were tattooed all about. Scarlet and black wings were torn and ragged looking from their folded position on its huge, arching back.
But what was also very amazing was that Gandalf was opposing the Balrog... alone.
"...hell'a doomed..." came a whimper from Megan.
Bang!
Naurglahad gasped after the white light had passed. Gandalf was still standing, his battered staff blocking a mighty strike from the Balrog's flaming sword. In rage, the giant beast tossed the sword aside and brought up a pronged whip. The crack flashed like lightning through the mines.
"You shall not pass!"
The events following were totally amazing. Naurglahad had lost her breath. Everything had lost its sound; the Balrog opening its enormous mouth as it fell into the abyss, the pants and sharp inhales from her companions, the lick of the whip, the sound of a foot slipping against stone... and the old Istari's last few words.
"Fly, you fools!"
~*~
"...On your feet, Sam."
"Come on, guys," coughed Naurglahad, rubbing her nose roughly as she swung around to face east. "Aragorn said we gotta' get outta' here fast."
"He's dead, Naur," sobbed C-chan. "I tell ya'. Didn'tcha' see him fall? That was our guide falling. Wi'out him, Sauron's gonna' kill us all!"
"Finish your words correctly," grumbled Jackie. "Now really. Gandy wouldn't want us to sit here and cry. He wants that Ring in the pits. Let's get out."
A sharp yank brought C-chan onto her feet. Naurglahad took the lead, head bowed low, her trembling hands fingering the edge of her sleeve, which had torn slightly. Probably from the battle in Balin's tomb. She sighed and trudged on. Eventually, her neck hurt after a timeless period of traveling. Averting her eyes from the ground, she turned her head up, defying the position it was in for the last many minutes. There was a shallow sort of lake ahead. Aragorn, Mister Long-shanks, was jogging swiftly right through it, then stopping at the peak of a grassy hill, looking out east into the distance.
During this time, the rest of the Fellowship collapsed in exhaustion at the bank of the lake. Merry and Pippin had completely fallen to the earth, almost dunking their head into the water, gasping for breath. Sam checked to make sure his master was comfortable --Frodo was laying flat-face on the ground-- before also dipping his face into the water. Naurglahad had the urge to jump in completely, but something told her that it was not something she wanted to do in this male-dominant fellowship.
Aside from the scent of clear, freshwater pressed to her lips, she could smell elf blood coming closer. Her plots from the falling staircase came back. Now was a good chance. It would relieve the stress and sorrow from her heart.
Rapidly, she rose to her feet, grabbed Legolas by the collar, and with one powerful move, she tossed him about a foot into an arch in the air, slamming him down into the water. As he sputtered and coughed out water, Naurglahad was choking with laughter. She rolled onto the ground, clutching her stomach. Her cheeks, light red with tear stains and giggling, boosted off into a bright scarlet as Legolas glared down into her eyes, his hair sopping wet and his elven garments soaked.
"You..." she was cut off with more laughter. "You really know how to--how to..." She couldn't stop laughing. To her surprise, Legolas smiled slightly. He pulled her up from the earth.
"I really know how to make you happy, don't I?" he finished, dusting her shoulder off. Naurglahad's laughter gradually died, the cheerful glint in her eyes dying into a suspicious glint. A similar glint was in Legolas' eyes.
"Wait a mi---"
Whoosh!
"Aieee!"
Everyone turned. As she rose out of the water, Naurglahad looked more like a wet Balrog reincarnated from Darkness than a frustrated sixteen-year-old.
"LEGOLAS!!!"
Joe made a huge batch of brownies. They're still fresh, so please take as many as you like (but File Cabinet readers please leave some for the others too... if there are any). I will explode if I have another.
Joe: And you might implode if you don't!
Ergh...