Disclaimer: I don't own anything, still. ::growls::
I just want to thank all of my reviewers and my beta reader, Alassea2
Happy Friday the Thirteen/Valentine's Day! On Friday the Thirteenth I got hit with a lacrosse ball. :'(
Chapter 8
The descent down the mountain of Caradhras was a long one, but the frostbitten snow and winds had finally relented, much to the Fellowship's huge relief. The hobbits trudged along through the knee-high snow with long faces. At least it was knee-high for them. Enellewyn traipsed lightly on the thick snow, Legolas walking next to her.
Enellewyn couldn't help but see how painstakingly depressed everyone looked, with the exception of Gimli, who was quite pleased that they were to take the pass through the Mines of Moria. Legolas's face was blank as he looked forward, but Enellewyn could see a small smoldering flame showing in his dashing sapphire blue orbs.
Boromir marched on, his massive rounded shield hefted on his back. Suddenly, an instantaneous idea came to her mind. She debated with herself trying to see if this was a practical idea, most likely not.
Edging over to Boromir, Enellewyn tapped him on the shoulder. Jumping slightly, Boromir looked at her.
"Do you think I could use that shield for a little minute?" Enellewyn asked, her childhood memories deluging her as she remembered when she and Legolas used to play tricks on people.
Boromir looked at her shiftily. Enellewyn flashed him her best smile, or what she thought it was.
"Is there any chance of it getting damaged?" he asked as a precaution.
"Of course not! It will be returned in top condition," Enellewyn said seriously. Boromir looked contemplative for a moment, and then handed his shield to Enellewyn, albeit grudgingly. Enellewyn grinned.
"Great." Grasping the handle of the shield, Enellewyn heaved it onto her back, her feet slightly sinking into the snow covered ground. She strode over to Legolas at a leisurely pace, everyone else, looking at her oddly.
She whispered something in Legolas's delicate leaf-shaped ear. He looked at her as if she had sprouted another head, and shook his head vigorously. Enellewyn clasped her hands together, pleading silently.
Rolling his eyes, Legolas nodded reluctantly. Enellewyn's face lit up in a smile and she placed the shield on the ground. Seating herself down on the stiff surface of Boromir's shield, she kept her shield in her lap.
Legolas gulped and looked around at the scenery as if he were saying his last good byes to the earth. Sitting down, he clutched his bow in his slender hands, his knuckles turning an unhealthy pastel shade.
Enellewyn, a beaming grin still cemented firmly onto her face, placed her hands on the icy ground. Pushing off, the shield started out slowly, but gathered speed as it hit the first incline.
Enellewyn screamed, feeling the adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Legolas also screamed loudly also, but for an entirely different reason. Skidding on a patch of ice, the base of the mountain rushed up to meet them. Reaching the foot of the mountain, they slithered to a halt, leaving a smooth trail in their wake.
Enellewyn stood up, pumping her fist through the air, her legs slightly wobbly. Legolas's eyes were wide and his shoulders were tense. He still had a vice-like grip on his bow and his complexion was drained of all color.
He sat as still as a statue, and Enellewyn prodded him gently.
"Legolas? Legolas?" she asked a second time, with a panicked note in her voice. Legolas turned his head towards her, his eyes eerily vacant. Wordlessly, he stood up, stretching his sore limbs.
The Fellowship had reached them and Aragorn was chortling while Gandalf shook his head. Merry and Pippin were looking at them, as if they had been left out of the fun, and Boromir was just staring at his shield with a worried expression painted on his facial features. A small grin graced Frodo's lips and Sam was shaking his head, much in the same manner as Gandalf. Gimli was muttering obscenities to himself, most likely about foolish elves that slid down mountains on defense instruments.
Enellewyn grabbed Boromir's shield and handed it to its rightful shield.
"Thank you," she said courteously. He nodded blankly. Legolas still looked like he was going through trauma, which in a way, he had.
The Fellowship traipsed along the oath that led to the Gateway of Moria, Gandalf as the head of the group. Enellewyn could hear Gandalf say something, beckoning for Frodo.
"Frodo, come and help an old lad," she heard him say, but the rest of their conversation was obscured, as they spoke in hushed whispers. All of a sudden Gimli gasped.
"The Walls of Moria!" he exclaimed. Traipsing along the rocky wall, the Fellowship searched for the entrance. Gimli knocked his axe against the rock, listening for some unknown sound. "Dwarf walls are invisible when closed," he said informatively, and somewhat smugly.
"Yes, Gimli, even their masters cannot find them, if their secrets are forgotten," Gandalf said.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas asked sardonically, looking around at his surroundings warily. Gimli grumbled.
"Well, let's see. Ithilden...it mirrors only starlight and moonlight." Gandalf ran his rough fingers over the walls, tracing out a design. He looked up at the sky, and as if on cue, the clouds parted to reveal the luminous moon and twinkling stars. Magically, a shape began to appear, with designs engraved into the stone.
"It reads: 'The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter," Gandalf said simply.
"What do you s'pose that means?" Merry asked curiously.
"It's quite simple really, if you are a friend, just speak the password and the doors will open," Gandalf said, with an air of confidence about him. He turned to the doors and threw his arms open, his wooden staff in one hand, with its gnarled tree branches perched at the top. Gandalf uttered a few words in the ancient tongue and Enellewyn translated with difficulty.
'Gate of Elves, listen to my word, Threshold of Dwarves!'
"Nothings happening," Pippin said, looking up at Legolas. Legolas just looked at the small periannath and then turned back to Gandalf, not knowing what to say.
"I once every spell in all the tongues of Elves, Men, and Orcs," Gandalf muttered to himself.
"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asked inquiringly.
"Knock your head against these walls Peregrin Took! And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words," Gandalf said, with a sigh. After about fifteen minutes of Gandalf bellowing passwords to the tightly sealed doors, everyone settled down, expecting it to be quite a while before the stubborn doors would open.
Merry and Pippin hurled rocks into the murky water to ease their restlessness. Aragorn gripped Merry's arm just as he brought it back to toss one in, seemingly having a competition with Pippin.
"Do not disturb the water," Aragorn said, looking at the water warily. Aragorn walked away as Merry and Pippin cast their throwing stones to the dirt.
From Enellewyn's station on the ground, she could see Gandalf trying to shove the doors open with his weight. Several futile attempts later, Gandalf took his hat off and sat down on a stone.
"Oh, it's useless," muttered Gandalf, sounding frustrated indeed. Enellewyn looked around at the Fellowship, feeling bored. Suddenly, Merry stood up.
"It's a riddle! Speak friend, and enter. What's the elvish word for friend?" he asked Gandalf. (A/N: I know this didn't happen in the movies, but it happened in the books. I think it was rude the way Peter Jackson took Merry's moment and gave it to Frodo.)
"Mellon," Gandalf and Enellewyn recited at the same time. The stone doors, that minutes ago would not budge, opened with loud moans of disapproval from their age. Merry had a smug and proud smirk etched onto his facial features while Gandalf looked impressed at Merry's sudden common sense.
The Fellowship filed inside, one by one, enshrouded in the shadow of the deep cavern. Enellewyn was the last to enter, and as she did, she looked behind her back at the water guardedly, remembering Aragorn's words of caution. Turning around grudgingly, she entered into the dark of Moria.
'Trust a dwarf to lead us to our deaths,' she thought, cursing the race of dwarves for their stupidity. They gathered inside the cave. There was a sweeping ceiling. Enellewyn crinkled her nose in distaste as a putrid odor reached her nostrils.
"Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves! Roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone! This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine. A MINE!" Gimli bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls, in the gloom. Enellewyn winced at the loud sound.
"This is no mine. It's a tomb," Boromir said, looking around at the dead miniature skeletons that littered the floor. Enellewyn realized the foul smell had been of the rotting flesh. Gimli shuffled over to one of his dead ancestors and screamed in agony.
"No. Nooo! NOOO!" Legolas grabbed an arrow from a dwarf's rotting corpse and scrutinized it carefully. It had been lodged inside the ribcage of a long dead dwarf.
"Goblins!" he exclaimed, throwing the arrow to the ground in disgust.
"We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here! Now get out of here! Get out!" Boromir said with disdain in his deep voice. The hobbits began backing out of the cave, looking around with large frightened eyes.
Suddenly Frodo fell to the ground, being dragged into the water. Enellewyn saw that a slimy tentacle had a vice-like grip on the poor halfling's ankle. She whipped an arrow out of her quiver, bent her bowstring, and fired it with astounding accuracy.
"Strider!" Sam yelled, looking to their trusted friend for help. The periannath slashed at the tentacles with their elvish knives.
"Aragorn!" Merry yelled, desperate to help his lifelong friend. Frodo's strangled cries came from his position in the air, being waved around carelessly like a rag doll. Boromir and Aragorn treaded into the water, slashing at the monster as they went along. Legolas and Enellewyn fired their arrows that whistled through the air, thudding into the marine beast.
Frodo came hurdling towards the ground. He landed in Boromir's arms, nearly knocking him into the water.
"Into the Mines!" Gandalf shouted over the din of the splashing water and the crumbling rock. Everyone scrambled to get into the safety of Moria. Still the Watcher went after them, climbing out of his lake sanctuary.
"Legolas!" Boromir shouted, telling him to shoot an arrow at the creature. Legolas strayed behind to fire another arrow.
As he let it go, Enellewyn grasped his tunic, pulling him into the cave before the monstrous beast claimed her best friend in its jaws, lined with deadly fangs. Legolas fell back, landing in Enellewyn's lap, knocking the wind out of her.
The darkness closed around them and all was silent. Legolas slowly pulled himself to his feet. Brushing dust off of his leggings and tunic, Legolas reached a hand out to Enellewyn. She gripped his slim hand and hauled herself to her feet.
"We now have but one choice," Gandalf said grimly. "We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world." The head of Gandalf's staff glowed with a bright and luminous, lighting the path.
The Fellow ship walked for a long while until they came to three doorways leading off to different areas.
"I have no memory of this place," Gandalf said, furrowing his bushy gray eyebrows. Before long, Gandalf had settled down and began to smoke his pipe, mulling over which path to take.
"Are we lost?" Pippin asked Merry in a small voice.
"No," Merry whispered back.
"I think we are," Pippin said in a hushed whisper.
"Shhh, Gandalf's thinking," Merry said, chiding his young cousin.
"Merry," Pippin spoke, his voice echoing slightly.
"What?" Merry asked exasperatedly.
"I'm hungry." Merry smacked his cousin in the arm. Enellewyn grinned at their humorous behavior. Legolas stared down at her oddly from where he stood next to her, leaning on the solid rock wall.
I hope you liked this chapter! I'm sorry for not updating for so long, but I've been kind of occupied. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon! Please don't throw rotten vegetables at me!
Review, if you will. :o)
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I just want to thank all of my reviewers and my beta reader, Alassea2
Happy Friday the Thirteen/Valentine's Day! On Friday the Thirteenth I got hit with a lacrosse ball. :'(
Chapter 8
The descent down the mountain of Caradhras was a long one, but the frostbitten snow and winds had finally relented, much to the Fellowship's huge relief. The hobbits trudged along through the knee-high snow with long faces. At least it was knee-high for them. Enellewyn traipsed lightly on the thick snow, Legolas walking next to her.
Enellewyn couldn't help but see how painstakingly depressed everyone looked, with the exception of Gimli, who was quite pleased that they were to take the pass through the Mines of Moria. Legolas's face was blank as he looked forward, but Enellewyn could see a small smoldering flame showing in his dashing sapphire blue orbs.
Boromir marched on, his massive rounded shield hefted on his back. Suddenly, an instantaneous idea came to her mind. She debated with herself trying to see if this was a practical idea, most likely not.
Edging over to Boromir, Enellewyn tapped him on the shoulder. Jumping slightly, Boromir looked at her.
"Do you think I could use that shield for a little minute?" Enellewyn asked, her childhood memories deluging her as she remembered when she and Legolas used to play tricks on people.
Boromir looked at her shiftily. Enellewyn flashed him her best smile, or what she thought it was.
"Is there any chance of it getting damaged?" he asked as a precaution.
"Of course not! It will be returned in top condition," Enellewyn said seriously. Boromir looked contemplative for a moment, and then handed his shield to Enellewyn, albeit grudgingly. Enellewyn grinned.
"Great." Grasping the handle of the shield, Enellewyn heaved it onto her back, her feet slightly sinking into the snow covered ground. She strode over to Legolas at a leisurely pace, everyone else, looking at her oddly.
She whispered something in Legolas's delicate leaf-shaped ear. He looked at her as if she had sprouted another head, and shook his head vigorously. Enellewyn clasped her hands together, pleading silently.
Rolling his eyes, Legolas nodded reluctantly. Enellewyn's face lit up in a smile and she placed the shield on the ground. Seating herself down on the stiff surface of Boromir's shield, she kept her shield in her lap.
Legolas gulped and looked around at the scenery as if he were saying his last good byes to the earth. Sitting down, he clutched his bow in his slender hands, his knuckles turning an unhealthy pastel shade.
Enellewyn, a beaming grin still cemented firmly onto her face, placed her hands on the icy ground. Pushing off, the shield started out slowly, but gathered speed as it hit the first incline.
Enellewyn screamed, feeling the adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Legolas also screamed loudly also, but for an entirely different reason. Skidding on a patch of ice, the base of the mountain rushed up to meet them. Reaching the foot of the mountain, they slithered to a halt, leaving a smooth trail in their wake.
Enellewyn stood up, pumping her fist through the air, her legs slightly wobbly. Legolas's eyes were wide and his shoulders were tense. He still had a vice-like grip on his bow and his complexion was drained of all color.
He sat as still as a statue, and Enellewyn prodded him gently.
"Legolas? Legolas?" she asked a second time, with a panicked note in her voice. Legolas turned his head towards her, his eyes eerily vacant. Wordlessly, he stood up, stretching his sore limbs.
The Fellowship had reached them and Aragorn was chortling while Gandalf shook his head. Merry and Pippin were looking at them, as if they had been left out of the fun, and Boromir was just staring at his shield with a worried expression painted on his facial features. A small grin graced Frodo's lips and Sam was shaking his head, much in the same manner as Gandalf. Gimli was muttering obscenities to himself, most likely about foolish elves that slid down mountains on defense instruments.
Enellewyn grabbed Boromir's shield and handed it to its rightful shield.
"Thank you," she said courteously. He nodded blankly. Legolas still looked like he was going through trauma, which in a way, he had.
The Fellowship traipsed along the oath that led to the Gateway of Moria, Gandalf as the head of the group. Enellewyn could hear Gandalf say something, beckoning for Frodo.
"Frodo, come and help an old lad," she heard him say, but the rest of their conversation was obscured, as they spoke in hushed whispers. All of a sudden Gimli gasped.
"The Walls of Moria!" he exclaimed. Traipsing along the rocky wall, the Fellowship searched for the entrance. Gimli knocked his axe against the rock, listening for some unknown sound. "Dwarf walls are invisible when closed," he said informatively, and somewhat smugly.
"Yes, Gimli, even their masters cannot find them, if their secrets are forgotten," Gandalf said.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas asked sardonically, looking around at his surroundings warily. Gimli grumbled.
"Well, let's see. Ithilden...it mirrors only starlight and moonlight." Gandalf ran his rough fingers over the walls, tracing out a design. He looked up at the sky, and as if on cue, the clouds parted to reveal the luminous moon and twinkling stars. Magically, a shape began to appear, with designs engraved into the stone.
"It reads: 'The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter," Gandalf said simply.
"What do you s'pose that means?" Merry asked curiously.
"It's quite simple really, if you are a friend, just speak the password and the doors will open," Gandalf said, with an air of confidence about him. He turned to the doors and threw his arms open, his wooden staff in one hand, with its gnarled tree branches perched at the top. Gandalf uttered a few words in the ancient tongue and Enellewyn translated with difficulty.
'Gate of Elves, listen to my word, Threshold of Dwarves!'
"Nothings happening," Pippin said, looking up at Legolas. Legolas just looked at the small periannath and then turned back to Gandalf, not knowing what to say.
"I once every spell in all the tongues of Elves, Men, and Orcs," Gandalf muttered to himself.
"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asked inquiringly.
"Knock your head against these walls Peregrin Took! And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words," Gandalf said, with a sigh. After about fifteen minutes of Gandalf bellowing passwords to the tightly sealed doors, everyone settled down, expecting it to be quite a while before the stubborn doors would open.
Merry and Pippin hurled rocks into the murky water to ease their restlessness. Aragorn gripped Merry's arm just as he brought it back to toss one in, seemingly having a competition with Pippin.
"Do not disturb the water," Aragorn said, looking at the water warily. Aragorn walked away as Merry and Pippin cast their throwing stones to the dirt.
From Enellewyn's station on the ground, she could see Gandalf trying to shove the doors open with his weight. Several futile attempts later, Gandalf took his hat off and sat down on a stone.
"Oh, it's useless," muttered Gandalf, sounding frustrated indeed. Enellewyn looked around at the Fellowship, feeling bored. Suddenly, Merry stood up.
"It's a riddle! Speak friend, and enter. What's the elvish word for friend?" he asked Gandalf. (A/N: I know this didn't happen in the movies, but it happened in the books. I think it was rude the way Peter Jackson took Merry's moment and gave it to Frodo.)
"Mellon," Gandalf and Enellewyn recited at the same time. The stone doors, that minutes ago would not budge, opened with loud moans of disapproval from their age. Merry had a smug and proud smirk etched onto his facial features while Gandalf looked impressed at Merry's sudden common sense.
The Fellowship filed inside, one by one, enshrouded in the shadow of the deep cavern. Enellewyn was the last to enter, and as she did, she looked behind her back at the water guardedly, remembering Aragorn's words of caution. Turning around grudgingly, she entered into the dark of Moria.
'Trust a dwarf to lead us to our deaths,' she thought, cursing the race of dwarves for their stupidity. They gathered inside the cave. There was a sweeping ceiling. Enellewyn crinkled her nose in distaste as a putrid odor reached her nostrils.
"Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves! Roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone! This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine. A MINE!" Gimli bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls, in the gloom. Enellewyn winced at the loud sound.
"This is no mine. It's a tomb," Boromir said, looking around at the dead miniature skeletons that littered the floor. Enellewyn realized the foul smell had been of the rotting flesh. Gimli shuffled over to one of his dead ancestors and screamed in agony.
"No. Nooo! NOOO!" Legolas grabbed an arrow from a dwarf's rotting corpse and scrutinized it carefully. It had been lodged inside the ribcage of a long dead dwarf.
"Goblins!" he exclaimed, throwing the arrow to the ground in disgust.
"We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here! Now get out of here! Get out!" Boromir said with disdain in his deep voice. The hobbits began backing out of the cave, looking around with large frightened eyes.
Suddenly Frodo fell to the ground, being dragged into the water. Enellewyn saw that a slimy tentacle had a vice-like grip on the poor halfling's ankle. She whipped an arrow out of her quiver, bent her bowstring, and fired it with astounding accuracy.
"Strider!" Sam yelled, looking to their trusted friend for help. The periannath slashed at the tentacles with their elvish knives.
"Aragorn!" Merry yelled, desperate to help his lifelong friend. Frodo's strangled cries came from his position in the air, being waved around carelessly like a rag doll. Boromir and Aragorn treaded into the water, slashing at the monster as they went along. Legolas and Enellewyn fired their arrows that whistled through the air, thudding into the marine beast.
Frodo came hurdling towards the ground. He landed in Boromir's arms, nearly knocking him into the water.
"Into the Mines!" Gandalf shouted over the din of the splashing water and the crumbling rock. Everyone scrambled to get into the safety of Moria. Still the Watcher went after them, climbing out of his lake sanctuary.
"Legolas!" Boromir shouted, telling him to shoot an arrow at the creature. Legolas strayed behind to fire another arrow.
As he let it go, Enellewyn grasped his tunic, pulling him into the cave before the monstrous beast claimed her best friend in its jaws, lined with deadly fangs. Legolas fell back, landing in Enellewyn's lap, knocking the wind out of her.
The darkness closed around them and all was silent. Legolas slowly pulled himself to his feet. Brushing dust off of his leggings and tunic, Legolas reached a hand out to Enellewyn. She gripped his slim hand and hauled herself to her feet.
"We now have but one choice," Gandalf said grimly. "We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world." The head of Gandalf's staff glowed with a bright and luminous, lighting the path.
The Fellow ship walked for a long while until they came to three doorways leading off to different areas.
"I have no memory of this place," Gandalf said, furrowing his bushy gray eyebrows. Before long, Gandalf had settled down and began to smoke his pipe, mulling over which path to take.
"Are we lost?" Pippin asked Merry in a small voice.
"No," Merry whispered back.
"I think we are," Pippin said in a hushed whisper.
"Shhh, Gandalf's thinking," Merry said, chiding his young cousin.
"Merry," Pippin spoke, his voice echoing slightly.
"What?" Merry asked exasperatedly.
"I'm hungry." Merry smacked his cousin in the arm. Enellewyn grinned at their humorous behavior. Legolas stared down at her oddly from where he stood next to her, leaning on the solid rock wall.
I hope you liked this chapter! I'm sorry for not updating for so long, but I've been kind of occupied. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon! Please don't throw rotten vegetables at me!
Review, if you will. :o)
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