Everyone crowded forward, peering into the dank deepness of the mine. Gandalf grunted and removed a crystal from his robes, which he stuck in the notch on the top of his staff. Frodo, Jacen, Tenel Ka and Sam were at the back of the group, waiting to enter the doorway.
Suddenly, with a yelp,Frodo disappeared. Sam and Jacen spun, looking for where he had gone. Tenel Ka dropped to a crouch, unclipped her lightsaber, and shouted to the group by the doorway. Surprisingly, they all responded quickly, shoving the remaining hobbit and the defenseless droids back. The other drew weapons, like blasters, swords and Gimli's axes. Jacen shrugged off Talon, who flew at the creature in the water.
The monster had Frodo clutched in one tentacle, while many other waved around, hoping to grasp another victim. Tenel Ka severed four of the appendages, while Han, Leia and Boromir shot at it with blasters, (Boromir missing entirely, and almost shooting Sam) while Chewie shot bolts at the creature with his bowcaster.
The head of the monster, when it reared up out of the water, was that of a Kraken, an aquatic monster, much like an octopus on spice. It had jagged teeth, a vicious attitude, and a ravenous appetite. The Kraken roared as the blaster bolts seared into its flesh. Frodo screamed.
"Strider!" The hobbit was petrified. Aragorn waved off the people with blasters, and ran forward. He hacked at tentacles, giving the Jedi an example to follow. Tenel Ka had already cut off a good score of the blasted things, and shelooked grimlyat Jacen, Zekk, Jaina and Lowie, as they circled around the water's edge. Anakin and Tahiri moved to stand guard in front of the group, lest any tentacles try to attack further up.
With Talon diving for its eyes, the Jedi and Aragorn hacking off its limbs, and the threat of more blaster fire, the Kraken knew it was beaten. With a roar it dropped Frodo and submerged itself. Aragorn caught the hobbit, and yelled for the others to run. The whole group ran into the door and managed to barely enter the threshold when the Kraken surged up again. It lunged for the retreating backs, and only managed to grasp the trees and rocks outside. Roaring its displeasure, the creature ripped up rocks and the very doors of Moria and pounded them down upon the Fellowship. Aragorn, bringing up the rear, just managed to clear the rocks and rubble. Darkness descended like a smothering cloud upon everyone as the last rocks settled, trapping them all.
Gandalf coughed. He pounded his staff on the floor and the crystal on top bathed them all in a weak light. Light enough to see their surroundings... A keening noise erupted from Gimli.
"My folk.. Dead!" He sobbed as the others looked down at the floor littered with dwarf corpses. Leia shuffled over and hugged the dwarf, trying to console him of this loss. Gimli settled to only a few hiccupping noises, burying his face in his beard. Everyone looked unsettled, and Gandalf snorted. Beckoning to Aragorn, Han and Leia, the old wizard shuffled up the steps. With Chewie carrying R2, the group ambled along behind, careful not to touch the skeletons. Gandalf's voice carried back down the stairs:
"Now we face the long dark of Moria. Let's hope our passage here will go unnoticed."