Mysterious Fate

By Cormak

Disclaimer: The original characters from Lord of the Rings belong to their respective owners. New characters belong to me, especially Kaitlyn. This story was written for fan enjoyment and not profit.

Reviews are always welcome. I especially like constructive criticism. Flames are not welcome and will be ignored. Any additional author's notes may be found at the end of each chapter I post.

Special thanks to my beta Scattered Logic for listening to ideas and helping me to figure out where this story was going.

Chapter 2: Introductions…

Everyone was silent as they traveled, except Merry and Pippin who whispered to each other and kept glancing back at the human woman who had joined them. She walked with Legolas in front of her and Aragorn and Boromir behind. She had been quiet for a while now. She glanced at the surroundings, looking lost and confused.

Kaitlyn gave a hearty sigh. The older man with the pointy hat had told her things she had not wanted to hear. She wanted this to be a dream. It had to be. She had even pinched herself to prove it but she had not awakened. Why was fate being so cruel to her? What had she ever done to deserve this punishment?

"What is your name?"

She blinked and then glanced down to see that one of the hobbits was now walking beside her. He had curly light hair and warm dark eyes.

"I'm Merry," he told her placing his hand on his chest. "And that's Pippin, Frodo and Sam." Merry told her pointing to each of the hobbits.

"My name is Kaitlyn." She tried to smile at him, but she found it difficult. Her mouth just wouldn't perform the required motion.

Merry smiled. "Kait-lyn. That's an interesting name. Where are you from?"

"I live- uh…lived " she restated. "In upper state New York. Otter Lake to be precise."

He shook his head apologetically. "I'm not familiar with those places."

"I didn't expect you to be." She frowned and looked away so that Merry would not see the tears that were gathering in her eyes.

It was one thing to be across the country or on vacation and people had never heard of your home, but to be in a completely different world where no one knew what you were talking about was frightening and overwhelming.

She heard talking and turned slightly to see that the elf had joined the man with the dark hair and they were speaking in hushed voices.

She frowned when she realized that they were not speaking English. "What language are they speaking?"

"Elvish." Pippin replied, joining Kaitlyn and Merry. "Aragorn can speak it very well."

"Aragorn, is he the Elf?"

Merry shook his head. "Aragorn son of Arathorn is the man. Legolas son of Thandruil is the elf."

"Ah." She had no idea what they were saying, but the language was very pleasing to her ears.

Kaitlyn turned to glance at the man with the dirty blond hair. "And who is he?" She asked Merry quietly.

"That is Boromir. His father is the steward of Gondor." Merry replied.

"And the dwarf?"

"Gimli son of Gloin." Pippin told her.

Kaitlyn nodded though she had no idea what any of this meant. But at least she had names for faces. She sighed and glanced around the cavern that they were currently traveling in and then at her companions. This was still so hard to believe. She was traveling with hobbits, an elf and a dwarf.

"So, where are we going?" she asked after a few moments. No one had told her their destination, just that they were leaving Moria.

Suddenly all conversation ceased in the span of a heartbeat.

Kaitlyn glanced around at her companions who were all looking at her. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Things will reveal themselves at the correct time." Gandalf told her.

"Why can't the right time be now?" she asked, frustration creeping into her voice.

Merry and Pippin tried to hide their amusement and shock. She was very bold for a woman.

"It's because you don't trust me," she realized softly when no one answered right away.

"We don't know you." Sam told her honestly from his place beside Frodo. Kaitlyn had not seen the two hobbits apart since she had met them.

"There are many things that you do not know-" Gandalf started.

"Well, no kidding," Kaitlyn huffed.

"They will reveal themselves to you at the proper time." He told her calmly. "We are on a quest, an important one, and for now that is enough information. Too much information is a dangerous thing, especially to someone from another realm." Gandalf stressed.

She nodded to Gandalf as his words made a great deal of sense. She had no idea what to expect. These people had taken her in and she realized that she could be a great burden if someone found out information from her that they weren't supposed to know. She was an easy target and that didn't sit well with her. She frowned openly.

"Do not fear." Gandalf told her. "You are in good company here."

Kaitlyn nodded and then studied Gandalf. She liked the older man. He reminded her of her history professor from college. Mr. Brumbach had been very wise, very patient and very charming. He had been like the grandfather she'd never had.

This man was similar, kind, knowledgeable and she respected him. He was odd with his long gray beard, pointed hat and long robes, but she liked him.

He opened his arm toward her, gesturing that she should walk along side him. She nodded to Merry and Pippin and left their company to join the man's. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you a wizard?" she asked, gazing up at his hat and glancing at his staff. He reminded her of someone out one of the Harry Potter books that her cousins loved so much.

He laughed. "I could be called such. I am Gandalf the Grey, sometimes known as the Grey Pilgrim."

She nodded and then frowned, lowering her face. She had no idea what these titles meant and she knew that she was only going to grow more confused as time went on. Her emotions were a wreck. She was content one moment because she was safe and the next she was depressed. She already missed home more than she thought possible. The thought of never seeing her parents again, her friends. It was heart wrenching. But the thought of being the first of her world to discover a new place was also very fascinating to her.

"Keep your chin up and do not despair." Gandalf told her. "I am quite certain that there is a reason for us crossing paths."

She gave a heartfelt sigh and glanced into Gandalf's kind eyes. "If you know that reason then please tell me. I've been taken from my world against my will and dropped here. I have no idea where we are traveling to, I know hardly anything about my traveling companions…"

"The time will come for you to learn all that, but it is not now. We must concentrate on leaving Moria."

"How long will that take?"

"3 more days."

"Geez Louise."

"Who is Louise? A friend of yours?"

Kaitlyn turned to Pippin. "It's an expression."

"Oh." He smiled and raised his brows.

The group traveled on into the second day and began climbing a steep staircase. Twice Pippin slipped on debris that littered the stairs. As they reached the top, Gandalf frowned. There were three different passages to take.

"I have no memory of this place." He whispered. He sat himself upon a rock that faced all three passages and it was apparent to all that they would be stopping for a while.

Kaitlyn was glad to rest and she sat with the hobbits on the stairs. Boromir and Aragorn sat side by side. Aragorn began to smoke a long pipe. Legolas stood behind them with his arms crossed over his chest.

Merry and Pippin whispered quietly amongst themselves.

"Quiet, Gandalf's thinking." Merry told Pippin when he had tired of hearing Pip's voice.

"Merry, I'm hungry."

A small sound was heard in the quiet and Pippin glanced at Kaitlyn. "She's hungry too."

"She hasn't eaten in 3 days," Merry told him.

"Well, we should feed her." Pippin said. "And ourselves too," he added.

"I've had some food, but not much. I only had snacks with me. I didn't know I would be away from home for so long traveling in caves." She glanced around and drew her sweatshirt closer. This place was giving her the creeps.

"Mine. It's a mine." Gimli told her in an annoyed tone.

"Mine, sorry." Kaitlyn told him. She didn't know what to think of the dwarf. Sometimes he seemed friendly and other times he was irritated. And he and the elf, Legolas, seemed to have some sort of problem with each other. They instigated each other constantly and reminded her of children.

Kaitlyn glanced away from Gimli and her eyes met Legolas'. He was still standing with his arms crossed over his chest, his fair blond hair cascading down his shoulders. He was looking at her intently and Kaitlyn immediately looked away. There was something about the elf that made her uneasy.

Frodo caught her attention as he looked down into the ravine and then rushed toward Gandalf. The wizard had his hat off and was sitting crossed legged on a rock at the top of the staircase. He was smoking a pipe and was gazing off.

"There's something down there." Frodo told him.

"Yes, it's Gollum." Gandalf said slowly.

"Gollum?" Frodo said and Kaitlyn mouthed the word the same time that Frodo said it. The name sounded familiar to her for some odd reason.

"He's been following us for 3 days." Gandalf continued.

"He escaped the dungeons of Barad Dûr!" Frodo's eyes widened.

"Escaped…," Gandalf said and then he turned to Frodo. "Or set loose?"

Their voices quieted and Kaitlyn missed what they were saying. She lowered her head and gave a heavy sigh. It served her right for eavesdropping, but she just wanted to know something, anything.

"You must be terribly frightened, yet you do not show it." Boromir told her from where he sat.

Kaitlyn lifted her head and gazed at him. There was something about this man that made her leery and she didn't know what it was.

"What good would it do to show my fear?" she told him.

Boromir became silent.

Aragorn puffed his pipe and released the smoke, watching it drift up toward the stone ceiling. "What is your world like?"

Kaitlyn turned to him. "My world? It's very different from this." She gestured to their surroundings. "I honestly wouldn't even know where to begin." How could she explain about cars, planes, school, television, or radio? These people carried swords and bows and knives. They would never understand.

"What was your purpose there?"

"You mean my job?"

"If you had one. What did you do to pass the time?" Aragorn inquired.

"Well, my job was a banker, even though I graduated from college with a degree in Bio. I deposited money and did transactions and…uh-"

She realized that everyone was looking at her strangely, all except Frodo and Gandalf who were still speaking.

"Uh, a treasurer?" she tried using a term she hoped that they would understand.

"Ah, you guarded the treasure." Merry nodded.

"Uh, sort of, but close enough." She shrugged.

"That sounds like too much of an important job for a woman." Boromir told her.

Kaitlyn spun to face him, her eyebrows lowered over her eyes. "What is your problem with women?"

"I have no problem with most of them." He told her staring directly into her eyes. Then he glanced her over, stopping to take in her odd clothing. "It's the ones who are self righteous and think they can act like a man that I have trouble dealing with. They don't know their place."

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing, fair lady." Boromir taunted sweetly.

Kaitlyn snorted. "Well, then you and I are just going to be best buds, aren't we?" She shot back sarcastically.

"We should not be quarreling amongst ourselves." Aragorn told them. He watched as Kaitlyn shot Boromir a look. She would be a force to be reckoned with once she had a sword in her hands.

"Ah, it's that way!"

Everyone looked up and saw that Gandalf had chosen a path.

"He's remembered!" Merry replied.

"No, but the air doesn't smell so foul down here." He smiled at the young hobbit. "When in doubt, always follow your nose."

They walked down a narrow passage way with stairs and entered a cavern with a large ceiling.

"Let me risk a little more light." Gandalf said. His staff began to glow more brightly. The hobbit's eyes widened and Gimli gasped at the sight revealed before them.

"Dear God." Kaitlyn let out.

"Behold…" Gandalf started. " The great realm and Dwarf-city of Dwarrowdelf."

Giant pillars with intricate carvings reached for a tall ceiling that clearly rivaled anything Kaitlyn had seen at home. She closed her eyes for a moment, imaging thousands of dwarves similar to Gimli in appearance walking about. She could hear their laughter and the sounds of everyday life. She held onto that for a moment and it was ripped from her mind when Sam spoke.

"There's an eye opener and no mistake."

Kaitlyn opened her eyes and watched the reactions of her companions. Wide eyes, jaws dropped in surprise and amazement. She no doubt appeared just as they did.

The group walked in silence for half a day because the hall was so large. They walked silently each person lost in their thoughts as they traveled onward.

Kaitlyn felt as if she were on an archeology expedition. Seeing the things she sometimes watched on the Discovery Channel but had never seen in person. She was almost sad when the end of the giant pillars was in sight.

She glanced back at them as they passed the last few.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Gimli asked her. The pride in his voice was obvious.

She smiled at him. "It is."

A small alcove came into sight with skeletons littered on the outside. There was a door open and light could be seen filtering through.

Kaitlyn secretly hoped that it was the exit to Moria.

"Oh!" Gimli suddenly began to sprint and he rushed toward the door.

"Gimli!" Gandalf cried out.

But the dwarf paid no attention to the wizard. He rushed into the chamber and the group followed him.

Bodies were piled everywhere and Kaitlyn felt a chill in her bones. She had never seen so many dead before.

"No! No!" Gimli called out. He walked toward a large stone rectangle at the center of the room. Moonlight filtered through a small window high on the wall directly in front of them.

Kaitlyn lowered her head. This wasn't the exit.

To be continued…

I apologize to all if the first few chapters make you feel as if you are just sitting and watching a movie you've probably seen a billion times. It's not my wish to have Kaitlyn take over this story and I'm attempting to balance things out. As the story progresses more and more new scenes will be added.

Fernvigiel: I'm glad that you believe me. I'm not really one for Mary Sue stories. I hate reading them so I do not want my character to be one. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Thanks for your review.

Solar: Well, here's chapter 2 so now you've had more to read! I'm very glad that you are enjoying the story so far. I hope that you continue to!

Thanks also to The Hooded Crow, Lorelei and Addie for commenting on this story before the chapter was even properly finished. You gals have been great!