Sam sighed deeply as he sat down for a quick rest on the nearest rock that he could feel out with his foot, and found himself having to hold down the urge to kick it good and hard across the cavern floor. The group had come into the Mines of Moria two days before and Sam was already getting antsy to get out again and feel the earth beneath his feet- even if it was cold and hard earth, it would be earth none the less.
He couldn't really tell about the others though; Pip and Merry were seeming to stay to themselves, doing whatever they did and telling their stories to each other to keep themselves occupied as much of the time as possible. It seemed likely to Sam that they had felt the nervousness of the fellowship, and were trying to ward it off for as long as possible.
Likewise, Frodo and Gandalf were getting deeply into a conversation about his own past. Who he had once been, and how he had become the wizard that he was in this day and age. Sam would normally have been very interested in tales such as those, since he knew that they were virtually never told at all, but he felt like he was intruding whenever he went near the pair. They were friends, albeit in a strange way, and he didn't know quite how to react to them when they were together- though they had been on the trip for so very long.
Aragorn and Boromir had found themselves taken with each other as well, as Boromir shared tales of his home. Aragorn seemed quite interested, though Sam couldn't see why. Whenever he managed to catch a snippet of the conversation it seemed quite dull. But then, perhaps a Hobbits tale of fun was not quite the same as a Humans. Perhaps Aragorn was even thinking of visiting this home of his when things were all done up right and proper; it seemed likely with that wishful look that seemed to grow on his face with each tale.
Sam knew that Gimli had found himself quite alone, but was obviously content for things to remain that way. He would search through the ruins quietly as they walked, only saying "hrumph," every while or so, to show he was not happy with the way something ha been built. Sometimes however, he would pick up an artefact of some type and would motion as if about to tell the Fellowship all about it, before remembering that nobody cared- much less wanted to be there.
It was Legolas he had slowly come to worry about actually, what with the Elves being famous for not liking being underground, or away from the stars for any length of time. And so as soon as everybody had become engrossed in their own quiet conversation, he sped up until he was walking nigh beside his friend. It was so dark that nobody would really notice… and at any rate he didn't think it would even matter anymore if they did.
Legolas and he were friends. It was a comfortable friendship, and he no longer felt the need to confine it to the dead of night. "Legolas," Sam gasped as he struggled to keep up with the long strides, "You walk so quickly!"
The Elf slowed down a mite as he saw he was being followed, and let the group pass him to give Sam a chance to catch his breath. "And you Sam, why do you not leave me to my thoughts and go walk with your friends?"
"Am I to consider," Sam asked in confusion at his anger, "That you don't consider me a friend? That I am not good enough to walk beside such a person as yourself?"
"No," Legolas back peddled quickly, "Of course you are Sam… I am sorry, I'm simply… being here in these caves does not bring out the best in me at all, as you and the rest have no doubt noticed."
"I don't think they have actually," Sam replied with a hint of a smile, "They're too wrapped up trying to hide their own."
"That is a relief."
"Not really."
"Perhaps you are right Sam."
Sam stopped for a moment, and considered his next words. "I've heard tales pf the Elves and their lack of any fondness for the cave, I'll admit. But to be truthful I'm not sure if any of use like them, save for Mister Gimli of course," Sam reasoned, "Do they upset you so much though? The dark and the rock?"
Legolas shook his head and frowned. "It's not being in the dark that bothers me at all, or ever then rock that cuts me off from the sky. There is no life here Sam," he said more quietly then ever, as if Gimli would hear and come running at them with his axe held high, "I don't see how anybody bar Gollum could live down here, much less a whole race of people."
"What is so wrong with it?" Sam asked, he knew why he didn't like the caves, but he wanted to know Legolas' reason. Why so many Elves against it, for ever so long.
"It is gorgeously built, and there is fresh water and good rock…" Legolas admitted freely, "I will not say anything against that to be sure. But the sun! The stars! The moon! Life itself down not survive nor thrive here, but the hidden creatures of the dark and dank."
Sam began to walked again as he noticed that the group was getting quite far ahead of them, and motioned for Legolas to follow. "I understand what you mean," he said in a quiet, level voice, "I am a gardener. I create life, it's what I do. But everything has a beauty of its own Legolas. Everything has a purpose and a reason; a good point.
"But one!" Legolas nearly gushed, desperate for a reason to keep on walking through the Mines, "Name one good about this place! Name one good thing that this cold place has! No life, no love! Just death and memories of better time. What is the good of that."
Sam looked at him, an odd look on his face as he though over the question. It was a good one, he had to admit, but he wanted an answer now. He had honestly believed all of his life that every place had a good point to it, and not found that if he wasn't able to find even one about the caves… it would go against quite a bit of belief.
"I believe you yourself just answered your own question." Sam finally said after a long though, not quite sure how to phrase what he had begun to consider.
"And how, pray tell, did I do that?"
"Memories." Sam continued, "You say this place is evil, because of death and memories, but to think of it… On the land or in the sea… anywhere there is life. But life can only flourish when there is something to feed from. Some dead thing to use. In this place, as dark and dank as it might seem, to look at the rock is something of a miracle I would think."
"How so Sam, if you've thought that far at all?"
"Wonder for a moment how long that rock that makes up the cave has been standing there," Sam said as he pointed at a side cave that led to heavens knows where, "Wonder how long it has stood, holding up an entire kingdom beneath it. How many people have looked up at that ceiling. To know how much was above them, pressing down on them, and how little was keeping it from crashing down… all but for the help of a few Dwarves. Think of every corner stone, and wonder for a moment about the person that created it.
"Every rock, every stone, everything here is a memory of another living person. Everything here will survive this age and the next, until perhaps even the Elves are gone, and those memories will exist a thousand times longer then any on the surface. Those will be eaten away slowly as time passes, but these will survive for time and time later."
Sam smiled for a moment at the look on his friends face. One of slight confusion, slight understanding, and one of a need to know more.
"This pillar here," Sam said as he reached out a hand and drew it across the stone, "It's carved with designs so intricate there must have been a lifetime spent on it. Look at this rock and understand Legolas, though I had never though of this even myself, that in this rock you can see the entire life of a living being. As long as this pillar stands, there is a memory- proof even, that there once was a man who had a wife and children, who took up his axe a number of times. Who had friends and enemies.
"Without a mark left after all things are done and gone, what good is the past at all? Who will remember it when all who were there or could tell the tale have died? Empires will be created and crumble. Races will vanish. But the man who built this pillar will have survived; changing even our lives today by having this pillar here to keep the cavern up and safe."
Sam stopped for a moment when he realized that he had stopped walking, and kept his rock on the stone, and quickly took it away. "As long as there is something here that he created, he can never die. Perhaps he even wrote his name on it, somewhere at the top, or somewhere at the bottom. The amazing thing of it all is that he once stood on this very spot, and said to himself that he need only work an hour more. An every day thing, but we know that it happed here. We have the proof, right here!"
Sam stopped talking when he realized Legolas was looking at him oddly, and nearly slapped himself for going on as he did. "Least wise, that's how I see it.
Legolas shook his head, and took Sam's hand to make sure they caught up to the group before he began to speak his own mind. "To look at you Sam, one would only see a gardener."
"Is that to be an insult in good taste, or a compliment in bad?"
"But to know you," Legolas continued as if he had never been interrupted, "Is to know an oddly wise little fellow. To know somebody who only sees the best in things. The Elves have never liked the caves, and I can not change mass opinion… but know that you have made me stop and think- and perhaps now I can see the life for what it is, though it might not be the type of learned to love till now. You have given me something Sam."
"I've given you nothing but my thoughts Legolas."
"You've given me a wisdom that a thousand generation of immortal people have never seen. You've shown be hope, even now in the dark. You gave hope, though only shared words."
"…Ummm… you're welcome?"
"I think I will walk by myself again Sam. Not to be by myself, nor to hide in anger or fear… nor even disgust. But this time I will look… and I will think, and imagine. There are people all around me Sam, and if I think about it hard, I don't think we will be so alone here."
And even though Sam walked by himself the rest of the day, he didn't feel along either.