A War To Remember
Chapter 5
By: Hotaru170

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Lord of the Rings. Nor do I own any of the cool characters. That is reserved for the geniuses that made them up. Thanks for reading. I hope enjoy the story!

RECAP: Once they reached the bottom of the staircase, most of the fellowship was struck speechless. Before them lay a vast hall, that was impossibly long and extremely high. The hall was carved out in the heart of the mountain and it had great pillars, carved with elaborate details. Once they recovered from their awe, they continued their journey through the mines. Quietly they traveled, hoping their passing would go unnoticed by the goblins lurking about.

Frodo and the other hobbits had lost track of how far they had traveled in the great hall. Hotaru and Legolas were keeping watch in rear and Aragon was making sure none of the hobbits fell behind. Gandalf led the fellowship but kept a sharp eye for trouble. He knew the evil that the dwarves had awoken because of their greed. They dug to deep and now they let a creature of the old world loose. Hotaru also knew of what the dwarves had awoken. She knew the very first name given to the creature by its master. Gandalf and the other wizards knew of it as a Balrog. Hotaru had fought this creature thousands of years ago, when it was called a Shadow Warrior for the Dark Kingdom. She knew that time had weakened its power but it would still be a considerable foe. She hoped to move through the mine without waking it. The wrath that the creature would have if it recognized her would be a bad sign and draw unwanted attention herself. 'Let our passing be quiet and our feet be swift or we shall find ourselves to be in unimaginable trouble.'
Hotaru had her bow and arrowed already out and ready for action. Legolas watched her from the corner of his eye. 'She definitely knows what she is doing. She must have many years of battle experience. I wonder how someone such as her has had to live such a hard life.' Legolas shook his head and thought to himself. 'I got to stop staring at her before she catches me. I need to pay attention to the situation at hand.'
As Legolas finished his thoughts, Gimli saw a chamber door open along the wall. He ran off towards it with the fellowship close behind. Once inside, they saw that skeletons littered the ground. In the center of the room Gimli fell to his knees when he saw the coffin in which his cousin, King Balin, was laid to rest. He wept quietly to himself.
Gandalf saw one of the skeletons holding a book. He handed his staff and hat to Pippin and took the book from the clutch of the skeleton. He opened it up to the last entry and read it aloud. (AN: I don't remember exactly what it said so I am going to skip this part. If you know what was said, then please email me at Hotaru170@aol.com. Put LOTR FIC as the subject so I know what it is. Thanks.) Pippin saw a skeleton that looked like it was sitting on the side of a well. He walked up to it and touched it. As soon as he touched it, the chain around its body fell down the well. It banged and rattled all the way down. Gandalf was furious and grabbed Pippin by the ear, while scolding him.
Hotaru looked around and said, "That noise has awoken every goblin in this accursed place. We must not linger." As soon as she finished saying those words, they heard drums and growling. Boromir ran up to the door and looked out. Hotaru walked up behind him just in time to pull him out of the way of an arrow aimed for his head. He nodded his thanks. Hotaru turned back to the others and said, "We must find something to barricade the door." Aragorn, Legolas, and Boromir scrambled and found what they could to brace the door. Hotaru had gathered the hobbits and told them to try and stay out of sight.
The others finished bracing the door and drew their weapons. Hotaru still had her bow and arrows out. Gimli stood on top of the sarcophagus that held King Balin and said, "Let them come. There is still one dwarf left standing in Moria."
The goblins reached the door and started to pound it down. Hotaru, Legolas, and Aragorn let off a barrage of arrows, when the goblins had knocked a hole in the door. They killed several of them before the goblins made a quick retreat. Everyone looked around at each other. Hotaru shook her head and said, "It isn't over yet." They heard big footsteps. Hotaru yelled, "Everyone, brace yourselves. They have a cave troll." Just as she got the words out of her mouth, the troll burst through the door. Behind the ghastly creature the goblins filed in. Hotaru picked off several more with her bow and arrows. When they got close enough she drew her sword and started cleaving any goblin in her path.
While the others were fighting, the cave troll spotted Frodo trying to hide behind a pillar. Aragorn rushed to Frodo's side and stabbed the creature with a spear. This did little damage and Aragorn was easily knocked aside. He flew across the room and hit the wall, rendering him immobile. Hotaru saw what happened and ran across the room to help. Before she got there, the cave troll had taken the spear that Aragorn had stabbed in its shoulder and was aiming at Frodo. Hotaru tried to pick up speed but she was blind sided by a goblin. It had shot an arrow into her shoulder. She stumbled a little but remained on her feet. She pulled the arrow out, just in time to see the cave troll stab Frodo in the gut with the spear. She was in shock at the happenings before her eyes and slowly made her way over to the scene. The others had launched an all out attack on the cave troll. Hotaru soon regained her focus and started shooting some arrows at the troll. She scored one right inside its mouth, killing it. (AN: I know that was Legolas' shot but I gave it to Hotaru.) She strapped her bow on her back and made her way over to Frodo. She pulled his body over with ease. She was surprised to find that he had no visible wound. She felt for a pulse and found it strong and steady. Once the rest of the goblins were killed Frodo woke up and everyone was in awe that he survived. Aragorn was in shock and said, "That spear would have skewered a wild boar." Gandalf smiled and said, "I think there is more to this outfit than meets the eye." Frodo smiled and pulled back his shirt to reveal a mithril chain mail. Once everyone had regained their bearings, they heard more goblins coming their way. Hotaru pulled out her sword and winced at the pain in her shoulder. 'I forgot about it. I must heal it later. I have no time now.' Legolas saw her wince but did not comment on it. He looked at her shoulder and saw the reason for her pain. He looked at her in a state of disbelief and thought to himself. 'No wonder she is in pain. An arrow hit her in the shoulder. If I had not been paying attention, I wouldn't have noticed at all. Yet, she says nothing of it.' Legolas was shaken from his thoughts when Gandalf motioned for everyone to follow him.
They ran out of the chamber and immediately were being followed by thousands of goblins. Hotaru looked at their number and thought to her self. 'We cannot out run them. There are too many and they are spread to vast.' She put away her sword and grabbed her bow and arrows in mid stride. She was shooting arrows and running at the same time. Her aim was not in the least bit affected. Every single arrow hit their mark. Aragorn and Legolas soon followed her example. Hotaru shook her head and said, "We will never be able to out run them like this, Gandalf. They will close around us soon." Gandalf knew that Hotaru was right. 'This cannot be the end of our journey yet. We must find a way to get away for these creatures.'

Just as Hotaru had said, the goblins had completely surrounded the fellowship. Gandalf was using the light from his staff to keep them at bay, but it would not hold for long.
In the distance, the fellowship and the goblins, heard a sound like thunder. The goblins looked kind of spooked by this sound and started fidgeting. Once the goblins had realized what it was, they started fleeing in all directions.
Gandalf and Hotaru had taken this new development as a bad sign. Their worries were now coming into play. Hotaru looked at Gandalf and said, "We would have been better off battling the goblins. We cannot fight this being without a proper battlefield. We have the ring and the ringbearer to think of. They cannot remain here. We must flee and we must do it now!" Gandalf nodded in agreement and turned to the rest of the fellowship. He said, "We must get out of here. We cannot face that creature here. Whatever you do don't stop and don't look back." They all took off running as fast as their feet would allow.
They reached the next room with the Balrog close behind. Boromir had almost fallen off the ledge but was pulled back by Legolas. Gandalf pointed and said, "There is the bridge. We must make it across." Hotaru nodded and took off running down the stairs until she came to a gap. Part of the stairs had been broken off. She jumped across with ease. Legolas jumped right behind her, then Gandalf and Boromir. Aragorn started to toss the hobbits across because they could not make the jump. Gimli was to pround to be tossed and he jumped across on his own. He didn't quite jump far enough but was saved by Legolas who grabbed him by his beard. Just as Aragorn grabbed Frodo and was about to jump, the edge of the stairs crumbled. The gap was now twice the size it was before with no way for them to jump across.
The foundation that the stairs were on started crumbling because of the steps of the Balrog. Aragorn looked down at Frodo and said, "Lean your weight forward." Frodo did as he was asked and leaned forward. Aragorn did the same. Aragorn and Frodo managed to swing the stairs forward so they would land against the stairs below. They jumped across and continued their way towards the bridge. The Balrog was close behind and was quickly gaining on them. When they made it across the bridge, the goblins were spread out on ledges above them. The goblins started shooting arrows from afar. Hotaru and Legolas returned fire with arrows of their own. From the corner of her eye, Hotaru caught a glimpse of an arrow that was headed straight for Legolas and she pushed him out of the way. The arrow hit her in the thigh. She grunted but pulled it out quickly. Legolas winced and was going to help her but she urged him to keep running. (AN: Wow! I must really have it out for Hotaru. LOL. Not really, the injuries do serve a purpose.) Aragorn and the hobbits crossed the bridge followed by Boromir and Gimli.
The only one left to cross was Gandalf. Halfway across the bridge, he stopped and turned to face the Balrog. He still had his sword drawn and he held his staff in front of him. The Balrog had a whip of fire and lashed out at Gandalf. The whip hit a shield that Gandalf had erected in front of himself. Gandalf gathered his power and yelled out, "You shall not pass!" Then he brought down his staff on the bridge and a flash of light was seen and a loud crack was heard. The Balrog roared and thought that Gandalf's spell had not worked. It stepped out onto the bridge. As soon as the creature put his weight down, the bridge started crumbling and it fell towards the abyss. In a last desperate attempt, the Balrog lashed out with its whip one last time. The whip swung around Gandalf's ankles and started pulling him off. He slid down but managed to grab a hold of the edge. He struggled to climb back up but realization set in. There would be no climbing back up. He looked back up when he heard Frodo call out his name. He said, "Run you fools!" Then he lost his grip and fell with the Balrog into the black abyss below.
The fellowship stood in shock at the fate of their advisor and leader. They were soon brought back to reality when arrows from the goblins started whizzing by their heads. Boromir grabbed Frodo and started pulling him out of the cave. The exit was just within sight. Legolas and Hotaru continued to return fire and Aragorn lead the rest of the hobbits out of Moria.
The fate of the fellowship was now uncertain.

To be continued.

Hello everyone. Thanks for reading my story. I really appreciate all of the support from my readers. You guys continue to inspire me. I have been struggling with a little bit of writer's block but after tonight I think I am cured. I went to the theatre and watched the final movie for Lord of the Rings. The Return of the King was an excellent movie. It really rang true to the book. Although they did cut out some parts, which is understandable since it is a 3 hour and 10 minute movie already. I really loved it. I am kind of sad to see it come to an end though. The excitement will not be forgotten and all LOTR fans will remember the trilogy as movie history. Well, enough babbling on. Thanks for reading and I'll get to work on the next chapter ASAP. Bye now!