*Holds head* damn headache! And I've got school tomorrow! (BOO!) My mom was bugging me to do my homework, so I said I'd do it after I finished this chapter...that's why this chapter is extra long, lol. Please review!

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Merry was disappointed when they got into the cave. Everyone had been going on and on about its dangers and the evilness inside it, but to him it just looked like any normal cave.

"What's so good about this place?" He asked, not managing to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"You sound like you wanted something to happen!" Replied Frodo, glancing sideways at Merry. Merry didn't reply to this, he wasn't sure if he did want something to happen, but after the way Gandalf was kicking up a fuss about it, something should!

"Quiet now," Ordered Legolas. Slowly they walked along in silence, occasionally walking past side passages or big bolted doors. Never did they stray off the main path.

"How do you know which way to go?" Asked Frodo in a whisper, as they stopped to rest for a few moments.

Legolas looked a bit bewildered, as if he didn't know himself. Then he smiled reassuringly. "Instinct!"

It got quite boring walking along the main passage, Merry was glad when they reached a three way fork in the path, straight in front of them. "Which way do we go?" He asked, glancing down each path in turn then looking up at Legolas.

"I...Don't know!" The Elf-prince admitted. "I don't think we should split up, I think we should go down each path and see where they lead too!"

Merry frowned at this idea. "But that will take ages! We don't have ages! You don't even know how long these paths are! We could still be going down the first one and Pippin could...well..." He trailed off into silence and sat down on the floor looking miserable.

"I agree with Merry...We should split up - if anything does happen we can shout and someone would hear!" Frodo offered helpfully. Merry glanced up at Frodo but stayed silent. The only sound they heard was Legolas sighing.

"So be it...But you have to be careful and any sign of danger you came straight back here and go down the middle path, that's the path I'm going to take - and don't wander off into any side passages!" He ordered, setting rules left right and centre.

Merry and Frodo nodded, then they set off, each down a different path.

The path Frodo took surprised him, he expected it to be dark and gloomy, but it was bright, as if there were hidden windows in the cave walls. The floor felt smooth underfoot, and Frodo felt his mood gradually begin to rise.

However, this feeling did not last long.

The further he walked down the path, the darker it got. Shadows seemed to move around independently, yet whenever he turned to get a better view of them, they were always still and lifeless.

Eventually he began to hear a voice. He couldn't make out any proper words, as if the speaker was just mumbling incoherently to himself. But what speaker? Frodo couldn't see anyone ahead of him, or behind. Not that he could see far anyway. He couldn't sense anyone, he couldn't hear anyone's footsteps. There was no one!

"Heh...Disembodied voices Frodo...You're going crazy!" He mumbled jokingly to himself. It made him feel better for only a short period of time.

Legolas wasn't having any trouble at all. No disembodied voices, no noises, no strange bangings. All the shadows were behaving like normal, it was as if all the evil things in that passage, had taken a day off...or moved into a different tunnel.

Merry tried not to think of the darkness as he stumbled and tripped his way along the small tunnel he had chosen, which was getting narrower by the second.

"If this goes on," He thought, "I'm going to have to turn back!"

A small noise behind him made him freeze. It was ever so soft, as if some one was tip toeing behind him. He spun round, expecting to come face to face with some horrible beast, and found nothing, he was alone in the passage.

He walked on nervously, trying to stay calm by telling himself that it was just his imagination playing tricks on him.

He saw something, or rather felt it brush past him. He gulped and carried on walking, trying to tell himself that he was doing this for Pippin and his imagination was just being stupid.

Something touched his shoulder, and breathed in his ear. That was way to much for Merry, he gave a terrific yell and hared up the passage, not daring to turn around and go back the way he came in case there was someone and It wasn't just his imagination.

He ran and ran until he couldn't run anymore, then he slowed and found himself in a room. He gasped as he saw the contents.