((A/N As before, none of the characters apart from Jen belong to me.
Enjoy!))
It was cold. Through the sun was shining in a blue sky, I was still freezing. Luckily, Boromir had brought a spare cloak with him and I was currently huddled up in that, trying to conserve body heat.
But I felt like a polar bear as I walked alongside the fellowship, who were still talking to me. Well, apart from Pippin, but that was because I had insulted mushrooms.
I was contemplating what I knew would be happening in the future, and praying to all the Valar I could name, Manwe, Varda, Ulmo, Yavanna, Aule, Nienna, Este, Vaire, Vana, Nessa, Tulkas, Irmo, Namo and Orome, that I could be taken back home before we got to Moria. It had been traumatic enough reading about Gandalf dying in the book and seeing it on screen without seeing it in reality.
Plus there was the large matter of the Balrog.
"What are you thinking about?" Sam asked, before I fell flat on my face in the snow.
Laughter greeted me as I raised my head, spat out a mouthful of snow and glared at the rock that had tripped me. Then I glared at the fellowship for good measure. If anything, my annoyance only served to make them laugh more.
So I did the only thing a decent girl could. I formed a snowball, and lobbed it at Legolas's head.
It impacted on his shoulder, and he just eyed my curiously, until one hit Gandalf, which made him laugh.
Soon a full blown snowball fight was in progress, with me, Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry ganging up on Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir and Gandalf.
At first the men had seemed slightly aloof from the battle, but that changed once I poured a handful of snow down Boromir's back.
Finally, fun over, we continued to trek.
My mind wandered to be truthful. I concentrated on walking rather than what the fellowship were saying.
But Aragorn's harsh saying of Boromir's name drew my attention.
Boromir was standing with his back to me, holding, by its silver chain, the one Ring.
My mind ran over the words he would say, but then I remembered the tension that would follow. So as the scene played out, I prepared.
Once Boromir had handed the Ring back, he laughed, ruffled Frodo's hair and began to turn away.
As he turned, my loosely formed snowball hit him on the cheek.
"Thrrrrrrrrrrrrrrppppppppp." I blew the loudest raspberry I could, sticking out my tongue at him, before running like buggery.
Boromir chased, while the rest fell about laughing. As I passed Gandalf at high speeds, I could have sworn he whispered.
"That was well done."
I had lost track of the duration that the storm had raged. We were all caked in snow, shivering with the cold as we ploughed through the snow.
Legolas, bless his little cotton socks, er woollen tights, was the only one that wasn't struggling. He stepped ahead of us, before halting, looking fairly like a pointer dog.
"There is a fell voice on the air!" he called.
"Its Saruman!" Gandalf called.
There was a tremendous crack from above and large boulders of snow came tumbling down, missing us narrowly.
"He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must turn back!" Aragorn yelled.
Gandalf shook his head wordlessly, before he began his own counter incantation.
In my minds eye I saw Saruman, on top of 'Mount Fang', or Orthanc as it was more commonly known, casting his own spells.
Dark clouds raced over the mountains, ferocious in their intensity.
I braced myself as a crash and a flash of lightning sundered the air.
It impacted at the top, and sent tons of snow cascading downwards.
In an instant, my world went black and cold. My world was now nothing but snow and my limbs were leaden.
I was paralysed, unable to move with the fear that gripped me. Blackness began to dance across my vision.
Then survival instincts I didn't know I had kicked in and I began to thrash wildly. The snow only shifted fractionally as I tried to make my way to the surface.
But then a hand grasped my shoulder, its fingers contracting like iron bands. I did not struggle as the hand pulled me upwards towards light.
My head broke the surface and I looked straight into the eyes of Legolas. The rest of the fellowship had been dug out, covered in snow. The hobbits looked to be as miserable as I felt/
"We must get off the mountain! Make for the Gap of Rohan! Or take the West road to my city!" Boromir shouted over the call of the wind.
"The Gap of Rohan takes us to close to Isenguard." Aragorn shook his head.
"If we cannot pass over the mountain, let us go under it. Let us go through the Mines of Moria." Gimli argued.
"Let the RingBearer decide." Gandalf said heavily.
I knew why he was so worried. The words of Saruman were bouncing around inside my head.
"You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-Dum. Shadow and flame."
I knew what was to happen, bit I was praying furiously that Frodo would not say…
"We will go through the Mines."
But he did.
And so we left the snowy slops of Caradhras behind, for the darkness of Moria.
It was cold. Through the sun was shining in a blue sky, I was still freezing. Luckily, Boromir had brought a spare cloak with him and I was currently huddled up in that, trying to conserve body heat.
But I felt like a polar bear as I walked alongside the fellowship, who were still talking to me. Well, apart from Pippin, but that was because I had insulted mushrooms.
I was contemplating what I knew would be happening in the future, and praying to all the Valar I could name, Manwe, Varda, Ulmo, Yavanna, Aule, Nienna, Este, Vaire, Vana, Nessa, Tulkas, Irmo, Namo and Orome, that I could be taken back home before we got to Moria. It had been traumatic enough reading about Gandalf dying in the book and seeing it on screen without seeing it in reality.
Plus there was the large matter of the Balrog.
"What are you thinking about?" Sam asked, before I fell flat on my face in the snow.
Laughter greeted me as I raised my head, spat out a mouthful of snow and glared at the rock that had tripped me. Then I glared at the fellowship for good measure. If anything, my annoyance only served to make them laugh more.
So I did the only thing a decent girl could. I formed a snowball, and lobbed it at Legolas's head.
It impacted on his shoulder, and he just eyed my curiously, until one hit Gandalf, which made him laugh.
Soon a full blown snowball fight was in progress, with me, Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry ganging up on Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir and Gandalf.
At first the men had seemed slightly aloof from the battle, but that changed once I poured a handful of snow down Boromir's back.
Finally, fun over, we continued to trek.
My mind wandered to be truthful. I concentrated on walking rather than what the fellowship were saying.
But Aragorn's harsh saying of Boromir's name drew my attention.
Boromir was standing with his back to me, holding, by its silver chain, the one Ring.
My mind ran over the words he would say, but then I remembered the tension that would follow. So as the scene played out, I prepared.
Once Boromir had handed the Ring back, he laughed, ruffled Frodo's hair and began to turn away.
As he turned, my loosely formed snowball hit him on the cheek.
"Thrrrrrrrrrrrrrrppppppppp." I blew the loudest raspberry I could, sticking out my tongue at him, before running like buggery.
Boromir chased, while the rest fell about laughing. As I passed Gandalf at high speeds, I could have sworn he whispered.
"That was well done."
I had lost track of the duration that the storm had raged. We were all caked in snow, shivering with the cold as we ploughed through the snow.
Legolas, bless his little cotton socks, er woollen tights, was the only one that wasn't struggling. He stepped ahead of us, before halting, looking fairly like a pointer dog.
"There is a fell voice on the air!" he called.
"Its Saruman!" Gandalf called.
There was a tremendous crack from above and large boulders of snow came tumbling down, missing us narrowly.
"He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must turn back!" Aragorn yelled.
Gandalf shook his head wordlessly, before he began his own counter incantation.
In my minds eye I saw Saruman, on top of 'Mount Fang', or Orthanc as it was more commonly known, casting his own spells.
Dark clouds raced over the mountains, ferocious in their intensity.
I braced myself as a crash and a flash of lightning sundered the air.
It impacted at the top, and sent tons of snow cascading downwards.
In an instant, my world went black and cold. My world was now nothing but snow and my limbs were leaden.
I was paralysed, unable to move with the fear that gripped me. Blackness began to dance across my vision.
Then survival instincts I didn't know I had kicked in and I began to thrash wildly. The snow only shifted fractionally as I tried to make my way to the surface.
But then a hand grasped my shoulder, its fingers contracting like iron bands. I did not struggle as the hand pulled me upwards towards light.
My head broke the surface and I looked straight into the eyes of Legolas. The rest of the fellowship had been dug out, covered in snow. The hobbits looked to be as miserable as I felt/
"We must get off the mountain! Make for the Gap of Rohan! Or take the West road to my city!" Boromir shouted over the call of the wind.
"The Gap of Rohan takes us to close to Isenguard." Aragorn shook his head.
"If we cannot pass over the mountain, let us go under it. Let us go through the Mines of Moria." Gimli argued.
"Let the RingBearer decide." Gandalf said heavily.
I knew why he was so worried. The words of Saruman were bouncing around inside my head.
"You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-Dum. Shadow and flame."
I knew what was to happen, bit I was praying furiously that Frodo would not say…
"We will go through the Mines."
But he did.
And so we left the snowy slops of Caradhras behind, for the darkness of Moria.