Author's Note I decided to put my author's notes in the beginning of my stories instead of the end now, so more people are likely to read them lol. I know, I know, the last chappy was bad. You don't have to tell me -- I wrote it after all. LoL. But this one, I am going to try to make better though it may take a few more days, since school is back. Plus -- feel some pity for me. My bf just cheated on me with one of my closest friends. *sobs* Ah, well, he wasn't good enough for me anyway. Except he had the bluest eyes..and the cutest crooked smile..and..STOP! Will not think about the lying cheating scumbag and his new freakin %$#!. *Smiles pleasently*. Anyway, thank you for listening to my rambling, and for revieiwing [because i know you will ;o)]

Oh yes -- before i forget. In FOTR, it does say that Aragorn has been in Moria before, but that "the memory is evil" [mwuah, subtle hint for this chapter] but then how come he didn't know the password? Hmm? Is our ranger going senial? No! So in this part, yeah, er, Aragorn does not know the password now. Neither does Legolas -- just so you know. Oh, yeah. Another note. Some of the words in this chappy are Westron (Tolkien's Common Tounge) and Elvish. The translations are at the bottom of the page, but I thought it gave it a certain sparkle. Don't mind me, I'm delusional.

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"The long dark?" Krystal repeated dumbly as they stood in front of the gates of Moria, their doors sealed tightly. "How long are we talkin?"

Legolas flashed her a grim look. "Long."

Annore scoffed. "Come, come," he scolded as he cautiously approached Durin's door. "It isn't *that* long. About four days or so."

Krystal's eyes widened, and Avar stomped her foot impatiently. "Four days?" Krystal echoed disbelievingly. "Without sunlight?"

"We have torches," Tharros said helpfully but was silenced by Krystal's glare. He glanced down, suddenly very interested in his hands and Legolas smirked. Krystal's glares could do that to you.

"Annore--" she began pleadingly and he glanced back.

"What?" he snarled impatiently.

She looked taken aback, so abruptly switched tatics. "What are you doing? Or, should I say..what are you trying to do?" she snapped nastily and he shot her a withering look.

For the past ten minutes, Annore had been examining the sealed gate in front of him, scowling all the while. When Krystal had called his name, Annore had been been trying to act as though nothing was wrong, but had been heavily leaning on the door, trying to nonchantly shove it open by sheer force. Needless to say -- it wasn't working.

"Do you require any assistance, Annore--" Tharros began helpfully, but Annore shrugged. "No," he grunted through breaths of exhasution as he hurled all of his weight against the door. "I've--almost--got--it."

Elladan and Elrohir exchanged looks and Legolas's eyes fled to the sky as he forced himself to look away.

"You know," Aragorn said thoughtfully, "I remember Ada--"

"Ada?" Annore interrupted, reconizing the elven word for father,"I thought you were an orphan."

Aragorn's face contorted and Elladan opened his mouth as if to say something, but Krystal roughly elbowed him in the ribs and shot him a Keep that overly large mouth of yours shut look. Which he did.

Aragorn replied calmly, "I am not an orphan. My mother, Gilraen lives. I was raised in the House of Elrond. He has told me that the Doors of Durin were inscribed with Ithildin." When Annore didn't respond, nor stop shoving his body weight against the door, Aragorn arched a brow, assuming the man did not know what Ithildn was. Dismounting and walking over to the door so he could better inspect the tightly sealed door, he explained patiently, "You might know it as moonsparkle. It only shines in starlight and moonlight and--"

"I know what Ithildin is," Annore snapped impatiently. His face was flushed with exsertion and his eyes narrowed as Aragorn lightly ran his hands over the door's creavices, Estel's dark eyes focused as they raked the smooth stone. Aragorn glanced over at him at this tight reply, and inclined his head respectfully. "Of course you do," he said politely, but he did not sound convinced.

Aragorn glanced at Legolas, who was literally biting his lip to keep from speaking, obviously afraid of what words would form if he opened. "I was just making sure you were aware--"

Annore paused in his shoving, straighening up to his full height. It might have been intimidating if Aragorn wasn't a good inch taller then him, and several pounds heavier, but nonetheless, Aragorn, out of respect for the elder man, glanced away. Annore, realizing now that Aragorn outmatched him physically as well as mentally, flushed scralet in anger and embarassment, and his eyes turned cold as he decided to vent his pent up frustration out on the young ranger. He had held his tounge for long enough; no longer.

"Let me tell you something, Bophîn Barabatta ,* I do not need your aid. You think you are such a wonder, so intelligent simply because you are raised with elves! Elves, with their set stubborn ways, and unacceptable sense of properity. Elves, who are so haughty and have such hostility to those who acquire wisdom but are not of their kind. Elves, who refuse to comply with any idea that anyone but they have suggested. Elves, who think they know everything! You are not an elf! No matter how many of them you surround yourself with, no matter the time you spend with them, your ears shall never be as pointed and your skin shall never be as fair! Do not speak to me as if you have the wisdom of one many times your age; Do not speak to me in such a condesending matter! You think you are so much better then us men, us men who you belong with--" Annore broke off, breathing heavily, his face flushed, his voice bitter and resentful. No one moved. Tharros's horse snorted uneasily, his breath rising into mist, and Avar, sensing the tenseness in the air, tossed her head. Krystal reached out and patted her neck reassuringly, but her face had paled dramatically and her eyes, like everyone else in the party, was glued to Aragorn's face.

A flurry of emotion flashed across Aragorn's stiff profile; hurt, anger, and remarkably, accpetance. And when he opened his mouth, his voice was amazningly unhostile and he locked gazes unflicning with Annore. Elladan unconciously held his breath, his hands curled into tight fists on this reigns, a muscle twitching in his jaw as if he longed to scowl.

"I understand your thoughts, Annore. I truly do, and I do not hold your words against you, for you are not the first nor shall you be the last to utter them. I do admit I walk a strange line between the worlds of men and elves, balancing at times on one side and at other times, another. The elves I was raised with are my family; there is no doubt about that. But the world of men will always be where I belong; you are my people. I know I do not hold myself in any higher regard then I hold you. You, who do not understand, dislike what you see. But that is no fault of mine, or my family, and I'll thank you never to speak like that to me again."

He paused, and Legolas quickly spoke up, flashing a reassuring glance at Elladan and one of pride at Aragorn. He felt complied to speak; this issue had been bothering him greatly ever since Annore had contradicted Elladan's descion on Krystal, and he felt now was the appropriate time to speak out. He could not believe the amount of obstacles this group was facing before it even entered Mirkwood.

"Estel has never held himself higher then any of you; it is only in your minds you sense this nonexistent hostility. But when you learn to accept that we concider you as friends, as allies, maybe you shall cease to consider us competiros and begin to think of us as advocates. We are in this together, my friend, whether we like it or not. That which is the darkness of Mirkwood does not care whom its victims are; elves or men, man or woman. It only cares that it has a victim, and if this issue is not resolved now, we shall not survive. The only way to make it through my forest is to ban together; if you harbor such feelings of hostility now, when our journey has barely begun, we are doomed before we begin."

Annore shot Legolas a harrowing glance. "Do not condem us to die before we step foot in the forest," he spat, his face still flushed with ill placed rage. "You may not have faith in your men's abilities, but I do, and we could make it through that forest without you!"

Elladan's voice now added to the row and Glorifindel's face tightened. This was so foolish, so pointless! They werne't seeing the common goal, weren't banning together, weren't acting as one...

"You men are all alike!" Elladan cried impatiently. "So rash, so harsh! Why don't you think with your heart instead of your thick heads--"

"Our hearts?" Annore shot back. "So that we may stoop to foolish, delicate feminine notions of loyalty and nobility? We are above that, elf! We use common sense to solve these problems!"

"Common sense!" Legolas mocked loudly. "You call common sense forcing your way through a mine that his been deserted for many years, and only Eru knows what now lies within those mountian halls! Countray to what you believe, you are not Eru!"

Tharros too, added his voice to the ruckus, at Annore's promtping glare. "You would rather us freeze on the mountain side! We are mere mortals, your precious Estel and Krystal included! We shall freeze to death! Have you care for no one but yourselves that we must resort to trickery to survive against those who claim to be our allies!"

"You claim we have little faith in ourselves! You must resort to trickery so you do not take the longer, but safer route! You are not thinking of the common good of all!" Elrohir snapped viciously, and Krystal stared desperately -- dear God, even Elrohir, the calm, sensible one was getting involved!

"Good of all!" Annore roared, his eyes buldging and wild. "You mean the good of the elves! Do you think us that foolish! We knew this was your plan all along -- to lead us up on the mountain side where frigid air and icy winds will be our undoing, and our spirits flee to the Halls of Mandos! While you, my fair elves," he mocked," survive and hurry on to Mirkwood to claim the glory for yourselves!"

"This is not about glory!" Legolas hurled furiously at them."How could you think of glory when the life of Middle Earth is at stake? You humans aren't thinking about the whole picture! This isn't about glory! This is about life, about love--"

"Oh, yes, that love notion again" Tharros taunted with a sneer. "How precious---"

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone stopped, most of them breathing heavily in anger. Aragorn's cheeks were flushed with outrage, and Legolas's cool resolve had faltered and the elf looked mutinous. Elladan and Elrohir were staring at each other, obviously talking with their eyes. Tharros and Annore glanced up, surprised. Glorifindel was quietly examining the Door of Durin, acting as if the screaming behind him hadn't just been reaching ear-splitting levels. But it wasn't he who had spoken. It was Krystal.

The petite girl had hopped off of her mount, making her look even smaller to Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir and Tharros, who were all still mounted. Glorifindel payed her no attention, and Annore merely looked down at her, while Aragorn didn't meet her eyes.

Her sharp eyes brimmed with fury and unshed anger, but her face looked terrified, paralzyed with fear. "What is wrong with you?" she screeched hysterically, glancing around at all of them. "Have you forgotten why we're here? Jesus -- who gives a hell whether some of us are here for glory, or others simply because if feels right. I don't care and neither does whatever that--that--thing in Mirkwood is!"

"Now I don't know what the hell is wrong with you--" and she looked Annore straight in the eye, pushed past properity. "But whatever it is, fix it. I didn't come on this stupid trip to die, or listen to you all complain. I came--" she hesitated, then forged on. "Well, i haven't figured it out yet. But instead of thinking up witty insults to hurl at each other, perhaps you can think of some witty ways to get this stupid door open so we can keep moving. This trip is taking too long -- by what Gandalf said, we should have been at least halfway down the Misty Mountains by now!"

She waited for someone to yell at her, to scream at her that it wasn't her place, and she glanced around at the slightly ashamed faces. "Well," she said, her voice slightly deflated. "Anyone have any ideas on how to open this?"

Legolas frowned, his brow furrowed, gracefully dismounting off of his horse. He locked eyes with Annore, who was standing with his back to the door. When he spoke his voice was even.

"It is oft said the wisdom grows with age, but when it comes packaged in those younger then us--" he shot Krystal a side glance and she flushed "--we must listen. I don't pretend to like you, but I respect your abilities and I hope you respect mine. If we do as she says and work together, we may just yet live to sort out our petty differences later," he paused for a moment, debating on his next words, and when he spoke, it was with slight difficult, though firm. "I hope we can continue the rest of this journey in peace -- nin mellon."

As Annore hesitated, then finally reached out and shook the Prince's hand firmly, there was a slight rucus behind them.

"Ai! Ai!" Glorifindel exclaimed, in shock, stepping back as the door pulled back to reveal a darkened chamber.

Krystal peered around Annore to glance inside, and what she saw immeaditely made her cringe. There were high, tall ceiling and jabbing rocks, but the path before them was smooth, if rickity and dust covered from lack of use. From somewhere deep within the chamber, something fell, down a deep chevise, and the could hear the echo bang and pound off the rocks. The entire mine was gray, and dirty, and it was obvious no one had used it in quite some time. Sharp ravines jutted out from the side and slooped down into the dark unknown. The air inside the chamber was stale, as if unused, and Krystal cringed as her eyes traveled up and down thr graceful paths and tunnels the dwarves of long ago had created.

"We are going..in there?" she asked hesitantly.

Annore's confidence seem to recede with the light as they all took one step into the dark corridor. "We are going in there," he confirmed quietly.

"What of the horses?" Tharros asked after a moment. "They will not follow us over rocks and crevaices."

"They will if Legolas ask them," Aragorn said immeaitely, and the fair prince comfortingly laid a soft hand on his mount's elegant head. The animal lowered his head calmly and took several steps into the creeping dark, but the other horses were no where near as calm, throwing up their heads and snorting in anguish. Avar's head was up, and her ears were back, her eyes rolling as she sidestepped frantically, trying to back out as Krystal yanked on her lead. "Legolas--" Krystal said with difficultly as she tried to get Avar to calm down. "A little help here, please!"

But the Prince was busy. Having already gotten his animal into the darkness, he handed the horse's lead to Annore as he turned towards the men's horses. Annore's mount, a particularly skittish sorrel, reared slightly, but bumped his head on the low ceiling of the entry chamber, frightening the poor beast even more. Legolas laid a hand over the horses terrified eyes, and spoke softly to it, and Krystal look around helplessly as Avar half dragged her out of the shadow of the darkness. "Avar," she grunted. "Calm--down." Elladan appeared at her side, his soft gray features comforting as he reached for Avar's head without a word to the petite girl besides him. Avar at one point had been Elladan's favorite mount, and she obviously reconized him, her delicate head stopping it's tossing as he gently stroked her nose, though she continued her troubled prancing. Krystal could just hear Elladan muttering to the beast, something that sounded like, "Stille nú." She had no idea what he was saying and frowned, wishing for the hundreth time she could speak elvish."Elladan--" Krystal began, certain her friend was angry at her, but her voice seemed to agrivate Avar even more, though Krystal didn't know why, and the animal snorted, eyes rolling. Immeaditely, Elladan whispered "Dina," to Krystal, who backed away uneasily, brow furrowed. "Um, no. I'm Krystal--remember?"

Elladan seemed to be in a thoughtful mood and a winsome smile touched his features as he gently muttered soothing words to Avar, his hand stroking her head reassuringly. The animal finally seemed to calm down, resting her nose on Elladan's shoulder as he gently led her back into the mines. "No," he explained quietly. "It means 'be quiet' in my tounge." Krystal's ears perked up. She and Elladan hadn't been 'normal' since she had arrived -- she longed for the comfort of their friendship, of his companionship, of his presence. But now it seemed that he was at least willing to speak to her -- or walk with her, as the rest of the elves had moved to the front of the party. The group began to move into single file, progressing steadily deeper into the darkness of the mines, leaving Elladan and Krystal to bring up the rear -- good, thought Krystal Maybe now we can actually...be . "Can i talk now?" she said after a moment, when Avar, her head hanging comfortably down, had walked into the full darkness of the mines, the doors sliding shut behind her rump. Elladan smiled gently. "Yes -- what is it?"

She hesitated, taking Elladan's horse's lead. Elladan glanced at her when she said nothing, but his eyes narrowed as he saw Glorifindel and Aragorn behind Annore and he called up quickly, "Ya auta yeste'?"

"Tharros ar' Elrohir," Legolas called back, and Elladan nodded, tying Avar's lead around his wrist, checking to make sure Krystal did the same. Her brow was furrowed. "What did that just mean?" She asked, confused. Elladan's face was slight with a slight smile. "Ya auta yeste'?" he repeated, and she nodded. "It means, 'who's leading?'." He explained patiently and she nodded. "Right. Your language is so..I don't know..."

"Different?" he supplied, smirking and she chuckled. "Well, i've never heard anything like it." He nodded easily, and the silence grew between them. Krystal gnawed on her lip, unsure if she should say anything. "Elladan--" she began and he glanced over at her. She had been meaning to say, 'I didn't mean to cause trouble' or 'I'm sorry' but glancing into his eyes, she was filled with the sudden feeling that..well..he knew. It wasn't meant to be said. But she had to finished her statement, or look like a fool. So she said the first thing that popped into her head: "El--I'm scared. No, not even scared. I'm absoultely terrified."

They both stared at each other, and her hand popped out to cover her mouth, as if she could take back those words. She hadn't meant to say that, hadn't meant to admit it. "I--I'm..i," she stumbled, tearing her eyes from his and Elladan stared sympateically at her. "I know, Krystal." He said softly after a moment, and he opened one arm to her, the other wrapped around Avar's halter. He wrapped his left arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him with a brotherly familarity. She buried her head into his warm chest, taking comfort in the toned muscles beneath his tunic and the comforting beat of his heart. She listened to it's steady rthyem for a while, the beating of his heart marching in rhythem with the steady, slow beat of their footsteps as they walked into the long dark.

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Elladan ducked his head down as they walked under a particularly low underpass, his mouth pressed firmly into a tight line. He had a growing feeling of unease building in his chest, and glancing up to Elrohir, he could see that his brother's eyes were darting around suspiciously, lingering on the group of bolders poised above their heads. A threatening detached, rounded and much-worn mass of rock leered at them on the passage off to the right, and Elladan felt a warning grow in his mind as he stared at them. A deep ravine ran off of the path, dropping so far down so that even Legolas's eyes could not see the bottom, and when a pebble slid off, no one, elven or mortal, heard it reach the ground. The path they were on was thin, and narrow, and the horses snorted their protest but eventually walked on, single file. Krystal was still leaning on Elladan, and he was in no hurry to move her -- he missed her, despite his reluctant acceptance of her presence, and was glad that he could sooth some of her fears. Even if his own were growing.

The path narrowed slightly, then widened aided by a rock-slide of long ago. Tiny pebbles littered there path, and Elrohir, who had unwillingly taken the lead when Tharros had slowed down several miles ago, paused. "Asca," he called warningly behind him, "Tira ten' rashwe!". Annore, third in line, rolled his eyes. "Would you mind giving instructions we could all understand?"

Elrohir started, then looked up sheepishly. "Right, sorry," he said, still not moving. "I said hurry, but be careful." He glanced back at the rocks before adding, "I have a warning in my heart about this path. These tiny rocks are already evidence that a rock slide has happened here once before, and can happen again."

Elladan waited for the sarcastic response from Annore, but it never came, and he raised his brows, impressed. Krystal leaned away from him to glance over Glorifindel's shoulder, at the large boulders and stones that stood in their path. "Perhaps maybe we should find another way?" she suggested timidly, but Tharros shook his head. "There is no way down from this path, and too go back around would waste much time. We shall just procede with caution."
"Extreme caution," Elladan added his eyes never leaving the jagged, pointed rocks overhead.

But the words were barely out of his mouth as Elrohir stepped forward, his steps timid. But the horse behind him was anxious, and ready to get off of the narrow path, and charged ahead, knocking him into a loose rock. The rock rolled away as Elrohir stumbled into it, and the elf's eyes were wide with horror as the seemingly steady wall next to them became to slide right into them.

It happened almost at once. Rocks began to slide, and the ground beneath them shook. Krystal's eyes widened and she called out something, but her words were drowned out by the sudden crashing roar of a rockslide. Elladan picked her up and threw her behind him as the rocks swept down on them. Tharros's horse squealed in horror, and jerked his lead away from the human, scrambling backwards. But the path was too narrow, and his hind foot slipped, causing his thousand pound body to slip, and slam into the already shaking path. Someone screamed, rocks fell, but the darkness and dust covered everything and no one could see. Krystal slipped and fell onto a sharp rock, slamming into her arm as she screamed. Elladan threw himself on top of her as the rocks finally washed over their heads, covering her body with his to protect her from the biting bruisies the large rocks would leave. She squeezed her eyes tightly together as she heard Tharros's horse squeal one last time as the tide of rocks swept him down off of the ravine, and she heard another horse turn and bolt. She raised her head to see where everyone had gone, the deafening noise of falling rocks still roaring in her ears, but she only caught sight of Legolas struggling helplessly as the rocks swept him dangerously close to the ravine. "LEGOLAS!" Aragorn screamed hoarsely as the Prince lost his footing and his body fell with a thud. The rocks swept over his head, but Krystal couldn't see if the tide of stone was pulling him off of the ravine. She tried to get up, but Elladan pushed her back down, screaming, "DONT MOVE!" as a large, dusty boulder rolled down towards them. But Krystal knew no more as the rock slammed her head into the jagged ground, and the screams and roar of the rocks faded into black.

Translations:
Bophîn Barabatta: Forgotten Quicktalker. (Explantion: Forgotten -- Annore is referring to the fact that many people consider Aragorn an orphan, a misfit. When Annore says 'Quicktalker' he is claiming that Aragorn's words are not well thought out, that he talks too quickly. This isn't true, but we'll let Annore think what he wants.)
Nin Mellon: Elvish for 'my friend'
Stille nú:: Elvish; Literal translation -- "Calm now"
There is more elvish used, but the translations are given in the paragraph so i'm not giving the translations here.