Having been defeated by the mountain, the fellowship trekked down another way than they had taken on their way up Caradhras. Having walked as far as they could, the company halted at the foot of a small hill. They sat down to have a small council about that which way they should take. Once they had had a small meal and agreed to take the road through the mines of Moria, most of them lay down to rest while they could.

Before long a bright light was seen not so far away from their camp. Uncertain what it was Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas took it upon themselves to investigate while Gimli and Gandalf watched over the hobbits, and most importantly, the Ringbearer.

Cautiously the two men and elf made their way towards the area which the light had appeared. Halting some distance from the hill-side where two dark shapes were only visible thanks to Legolas' keen eyes. Once the elf had moved a bit closer to the silhouettes, he returned to Aragorn and Boromir. He told them that the two silhouettes were that of two men, one short and broad shouldered while the other was tall and slim in build. He also told them that the two men were not alone. There was a woman there as well, and as from what he could see, she seemed to be injured.

"What do you suggest we do?" Boromir asked Aragorn. The man also known as Strider thought for a little while before he answered.

"If she is injured as you say, we must help her" The other two nodded their agreement and they moved even closer to the strangers. Legolas had described the strangers and how they were oddly clad. One of them, the tall one, had strange eye-coverings.

Before they came into view of the strangers Legolas went off into a direction, so that he could stealthily walk up behind the two men while Aragorn and Boromir created a distraction.

"What the..." Gambit said taking in the surroundings. They were no longer in the apartment they had been in a while ago. They were now on a small hill with a few small and twisted excuses for trees. Gambit walked over to Wolverine was standing. The shorter man seemed to be sniffing the air.

"There's something odd about this place. I don't know what it is, but it's different."

While the time slowly passed by, Gambit checked Iris' vitals every now and then while Wolverine checked the hill for any signs.

It wasn't until about half an hour after they had appeared on the hill that Wolverine picked up something. He picked up the scent of two men and something else. Whatever it was it smelled 'earthy', and it wasn't like the rest of the surroundings.

"Hey Gambit, we're got company"

"How many?" the Cajun said, getting off the stone he was sitting on.

"Two, I think, maybe a few more. They'll be here soon." Not long after Wolverine had uttered those words, two silhouettes could be made out in the dark. Standing their ground, Wolverine and Gambit waited until the strangers were visible.

"Who are you -" One of the strangers beat Wolverine to the question, "- and what are you doing here?

"Who wants to know?" Wolverine asked back. The strangers looked at each other and then back at them.

"I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and this is Boromir son of Denethor. I have told you my name, now give me yours."

"I'm Wolverine and this is Gambit."

"Those are strange names you have, where do you hail from?" Boromir said, standing beside Aragorn.

"Depends, where are we?"

"Are you claiming that you do not know where you are?" Aragorn asked skeptically, while looking over the two X-men's shoulders to see if Legolas was close enough to save the girl.

"Yeah, that's what we're saying" Wolverine said, crossing his arms over his chest, sizing the two fellowshippers up. Meanwhile Gambit had turned around just a second after Aragorn had glanced over his shoulder, as if looking for something. He walked over to the unconscious form of Iris, once again checking her vitals. "She still stable?" Wolverine asked over his shoulder, not one taking his eyes of the two men.

"Yeah, her pulse is still a bit weak, but it's stable."

"What about the head wound?" When the bright light had faded, the both men had been unharmed. However, the wound Iris had on her forehead had reopened and the bandage around her head had red stains on it.

Gambit carefully lifted the nearly blood-soaked dressing. The gash had stopped almost entirely stopped bleeding.

"It's stopped bleeding" Gambit said looking up at his team-mate. Wolverine simply nodded at that.
Aragorn and Boromir had been standing still and they watch the interaction between the two men. They didn't seem to be harming the girl as they had first thought. It looked more like they were helping her. The first thing they had to find out now was if there two men were friends or foes. Were they simply strangers or was this a trick by the enemy? Aragorn knew that Legolas was not far off, that the elf could hear every word spoken and see every move they made. If something should happen the elf would better their chances of winning, but Aragorn hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Is she badly injured?" Aragorn asked, looking at Iris. Wolverine looked at him. Grey eyes met dark eyes. They stood there for a second, sizing each other up, before Wolverine answered.

"You could say that. Why, you know where the nearest hospital is?"

"What is a 'hospital'?" Boromir asked.

'What kind of prehistoric hell hole is this!?' was one of the thought that crossed Wolverine's mind when Boromir wondered what a hospital was. Still looking calm he said: "It's a place of healing."
As Boromir and Aragorn nodded understandingly, a movement caught Wolverine's attention. Before the other had a chance to react Wolverine had pinned down Legolas. The Canuck was on top the pointy eared elf, and had his hands and feet in a steel grip.

"Who are you?" Wolverine asked, almost growling.

"Do not harm him!" Aragorn cried out. "He is with us. He is a friend." Gambit, who was standing between Wolverine and the two men, looked over to the other X-men to see what he would do. Wolverine glanced back before he released the fair-skinned elf, muttering something about 'smelling like a bloody spring morning'.

"So who are ya, bub?" Wolverine asked yet again. The elf cast fleeting look towards Aragorn before answering.

"I am Legolas of the Woodland Realm" Legolas didn't move his eyes away from Wolverine as Aragorn tried to break the tension by changing the subject.

"What sort of injuries does she suffer from?"

"She's got a gash on her forehead and she's unconscious" Wolverine said warily. "I'm guessing that she doesn't have a concussion"

"May I?" Aragorn asked, taking a step forward. He received a nod and walked over to the seemingly slumbering form of Iris. He lifted the headband and took a look at the wound which was now covered with coagulated blood. After the Dúnedain had inspected Iris' injuries, he looked up at Wolverine and Gambit. "I can heal her wound, but we would have to take her to our camp for me to do so." Gambit and Wolverine shared a look before they agreed to go with the strange men.
Gandalf and Gimli were awake, having been left to watch the hobbits as the two Men and Elf had left to investigate the odd light that had appeared little over an hour ago. Seeing something move in the corner of his eye, Gandalf rose, looking out into the dark. He could make out five figure heading towards the camp. In a few moments Legolas' face could be made out as the elf had gone before the others to bring them the news. He told Gandalf and Gimli briefly about the two men and woman that they had found. By that time the other four shapes could easily be identified. Only it wasn't four, but five of them. Besides Aragorn and Boromir, there were two men and one of them was carrying what Gandalf assumed was the injured girl.

Pippin, who had been awakened by the sound of hushed voices, opened his eyes and looked around. Aragorn was leaning over someone by a little fire that he had made, while two strangely clad men stood a few feet away from him. The strangers were watching not only Aragorn's every move, but also the rest of those who were awake.

"There, I believe that should stop the wound from getting infected" Aragorn said standing up and facing the newcomers. Pippin didn't hear anything other than that, before Aragorn led the two over to where Gandalf was standing. Looking around for the others Pippin saw that Gimli and Boromir were lying not to far from where Gandalf and Aragorn were having a little 'chat' with the strangers. Where Legolas was, he couldn't see, but he guessed that the elf was most likely be a bit off, standing guard.

Silently Pippin sneaked closer to the still form. Still not able to see the face of the stranger, Pippin crept even closer, until he could make out visitors features. It was a girl. It was the motionless form of a girl. A girl who had a bandage around her head and who was – who was about to wake up! Pippin watched as she slowly blinked a few times before she attempted to open her eyes. First she opened they only a little. Then after having done that a couple of times, she opened them and looked up with a still dazed look. It took a while before Pippin noticed that something was off. Her eyes, they weren't normal. Chocked, Pippin gave out a startled cry. As he did so, the girl shut her eyes and her hands were almost immediately covered her face.
Interrupted by the sudden cry the men who were aside, discussing, hurried over to where the sound had originated from. They were met by the sight of a midget trying to crawl away from the body of Iris. Walking up behind Pippin, Gandalf grabbed him and pulled him up onto him feet. While Pippin muttered about 'eyes', Gambit and Wolverine walked over to where Iris was lying. Crouching down, Gambit pulled away the blanket that was covering Iris head.

"Cheré, are you alright?"

"It hurts. My head hurts. Feels like there's elephants dancing in my head" Iris said quietly, starting to rub her temples gently.

"It's okay. They'll be no more elephants dancing. The club's closed now. You'll be okay" Gambit said, helping Iris sit up. While he helped her, Wolverine watched Pippin, who was trying to hide behind Gandalf. Only it wasn't working since Gandalf was holding him firmly.

"What's the problem with the munchkin?" He said, nodding towards Pippin.

"He is not making any sense. He insists that the girl has red eyes" Gandalf said as if that was the craziest thing he's ever heard of.

"So?"

"Well, that can no be" Aragorn stated.

"Really? Is that so?" Gambit said, still wearing his sunglasses. He glanced at Iris with an amused look on his face. "Well cheré, what do you think about that?" Iris slowly lifted her head, hands still rubbing her temples. Sighing, she said;

"I don't think that my shields are strong enough for this one... But what's a girl to do?" she said, opening her eyes. All who were not asleep, except Gambit and Wolverine, gasped. "I knew it! I knew they weren't strong enough" Iris said. She could hear the murmuring sound of those around her. She quickly tried to build up her mental shield before her headache increased.

"How is it possible? Is she ill?" Aragorn asked.

"It just is, and don't talk about me like I'm not even here" Iris said jadedly. "And I'm not sick. Well, not that kind of sick at least..." The fellowshippers watched her with stunned faces. - 'This is a trick. It must be' - 'the work of the Dark Lord' – 'I knew it! I was right!'- Iris could hear the incoherent thoughts of those around her and pushed her shield even higher.

As the talk grew more and more quiet, Aragorn and Boromir listened to the wind after someone had pointed out that it sounded like the wind was howling. That brought the two of the men into a discussion about wolfs and wargs, which Iris couldn't care less about. It didn't take much time after that that a bunch of eyes in the dark were seen. After getting very paranoid by the knowledge that there was something out there, but you didn't know what it was, something that looked like a wolf on steroids to try to attack them.

The 'warg', as they called it, never got the chance to even get close to them. When it had first appeared, the man in the pointy hat, Gandalf, had challenged it. Stubborn as it was, it just had to attack. Luckily, well not so lucky for the warg, Legolas shoot it in midair. Legolas was the one with of few there who had some sort of mental shield. The others being Gandalf and Aragorn. They weren't all that, but they were better than nothing. As for the ones she was with, they knew how to put up shields, Iris could tell. After the leader of the warg pack had died, the others withdrew and the fellowship as well as the 'strangers' moved to the top of the little hill they had camped near.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Wolverine and Gambit talking quietly among themselves. 'I bet they don't know where we are either' she thought to herself, lying down to hopefully get some sleep. As tired as Iris was, she didn't get much sleep. Half of the time she tried to find a comfortable position, the other half she tried to figure out what had happened. 'How did we get here? Why can't I remembered what happened?' In the end Iris gave in to exhaustion and fell asleep.

It was her. She could see her own body seizure. How the darkness somehow surrounded the body, yet she could see clearly as a few tears made their shaky way down her cheeks. She was so alone. The darkness closed in ever more. She tried to get to her body, tried to hold down the quivering form that was her. As the shakes became more and more violent, a light started to form. Soon her body was bathing in the white light. The darkness fell back as the light grew stronger. The light was so bright. She tried to shield her eyes, but it was no good. Covering her eyes with her hands, she waited until she dared look again. When she did her body was no longer floating in the darkness it had done, but it was lying on grass. She couldn't see much of the surroundings due to some sort of illuminist mist. Judging that her body was safe since the seizure was over; she tried to check out the surroundings. But as she tried to do so, something suddenly pulled her back. She tried to fight it, but the unseen force was too powerful for her.
"Iris, wake up" Lazily she opened her eyes. "Come on kid, we don't have time for this. We're under attack" the voice of Wolverine said. Wolverine helped her sit up and told her to stay close to the midgets. The 'midgets' as he had called them were standing to them selves, two of them holding what looked like big knifes or a small swords. Hobbits, that's what they were called. At least that's what she had heard them be referred as. It was one of these hobbits that had screamed when she had woken up, giving her a migraine. She hadn't heard much of what the others had discussed, but apparently these people were on some sort mission. 'Good luck!' she had thought cynically when she had found out. They had an old man, four midgets, a hairy dwarf, and only three looked like they could really look after themselves. Then again, being around mutants taught you that things aren't always as they look.
The two men, the elf and the dwarf, Gambit and Wolverine stood around the small hill, ready to take on the new wave of wargs that were closing in. Gandalf was standing somewhere between the front and them, while the hobbits were worried about their friends. Iris dusted off some of the dirt on her clothes while she walked over the small distance to the hobbits. The one named Pippin flinched when he saw her move closer.

"I'm not going to bite you or anything" she said. "I'm Iris" she introduced herself to the others which she hadn't really met. Since the fight was about to break out at any moment they quickly introduced themselves and went back to quietly taking in the surroundings. The tension in the air was so thick that you could almost cut through it with a knife.

Suddenly all hell broke lose. There were wargs attacking from every direction and due to the skill of those who were fighting around the hill, very few wargs managed to enter the inner circle.

Iris couldn't do much more than watch. She didn't really have enough strength to help out. She watched Wolverine and Gambit fight.

It was beautiful in a twisted way. They managed to move like dancers, yet they were surrounded with carnage.

The two men with swords slashed their way through the wargs. Their swords and the elf's long knife were stained with blood, as was the edge of the dwarfs axe.

Before Iris knew it the tree behind her was alight.

Two of the wargs had managed to slip through the defense. Growling, they bared their teeth. Fearing that the wargs might be able to evade Gandalf's sword, Iris put up a shield around her body. She only regretted that she didn't have enough strength to shield anyone else or to help them fight.

Before she knew it, the fight was over. Looking around she saw that no one was injured badly; most only had a few cuts and bruises. As the elf went to retrieve his arrows, Iris walked over to where Wolverine and Gambit were. After all, they were the only ones she knew there. Not that she knew them that well, but it was better than nothing.

"You guys okay?" she asked, approaching them.

"Yeah, nothing serious" Wolverine retorted even though his clothes had a great deal of holes in them. Gambit also had slightly tattered clothes, but nowhere near as many as Wolverine. "How about you, kid? You feeling okay?" he said looking her up and down in search of new injuries.

"Yeah, still tired, but I'll live."
Reaching the place called Moria Iris slumped down on a rock. It was now dark and the old man, Gandalf, was stroking the rock wall as if looking for some kind of hidden button. He talked about something mirroring in only in starlight and moonlight. And lo and behold, as soon as he had said that the moon appeared from behind a cloud. A large gate was now visible. The doors were covered in some writing and what looked like an anvil and seven stars. Standing close enough to the doors Iris heard the discussion some of the others were having.

"It reads "The doors of Durin - Lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter" Gandalf read out when someone asked what it said.

"What does it mean by speak, friend and enter?" one of the hobbits asked.

"That is plain enough. If you are a friend, speak the password and the doors will open, and you can enter" Gimli, the dwarf, answered.

As time passed, Gandalf tried different words and phrases, all with the same results. Whatever the old man said, nothing happened.

Getting tired of watching the old man fail, Iris directed her attention elsewhere. One of the hobbits was standing with the pony and looked very reluctant to leave it behind. But one of the men, Aragorn, seemed to be talking him, reassuring him that the pony would be okay.

It took a while, but they finally managed to crack the password. It turned out to be a riddle, and that the password was the elvish word for 'friend'. Picking up her bag Iris walked closely to Gambit and Wolverine as they entered.

"Man, it's dark in here" Iris muttered, insisting on walking between the two X-men. It was no wonder that she received a grin from Gambit and a "Well, we are in a cave you know..." from Wolverine. Coming to a stop only a few feet inside the doors Iris could hear Gimli boast about his cousin and food.

"There's dead body's here" Wolverine whispered to Iris and Gambit. Just as he said that someone in the front stopped and suddenly someone else was telling urging them to get out and that they were not in a mine, but a tomb. Seeing the men draw their weapons Iris started backing towards the exit, slowly followed by the X-men. What no one seemed to notice was that something was stirring in the water behind them. As the entire company started moving closer to the doors something looking like a tentacle darted out from the water and grabbed Iris, dragging her under the water before anyone could react.

Author's Note: Im sorry for not updating for so very long, i had the a huge writers block. however, for the moment i'm working on the coming chapters of this story (chapter 3 done and chapter 4 on the way ). hope you enjoyed it and remember the purple button is your best friend in the world! ;)