Chapter 3

Iris barely had the time to react when she felt something grab and pull her off her feet. To surprised to even let out a scream, she tried to fight the slippery tentacle which had wrapped itself around her and was pulling her into the water. What she did not know was that the beast had also grabbed Frodo and was pulling him into the water as well, and it wasn't until Frodo had yelled that the others noticed that the Watcher in the Water had sneaked up on them.

Wolverine heard a gasp from behind him and turned. As he did that, Frodo gave out a scream, attracting the attention of all. Something had grabbed the hobbit. Stepping forward to help he noticed that something was missing. Iris. She was nowhere to be seen. Looking towards the beast Wolverine saw that the creature had grabbed Iris as well and was trying to pull her into the water.

As the other hobbits bravely tried to free Frodo, Gambit and Wolverine tried to free Iris before she was pulled under. As Boromir and Aragorn slashed the attacking tentacles, Wolverine extracted his claws and slashed along with them. Grabbing a handful of pebbles, Gambit charged them as much as possible, throwing them at the large beast, trying to miss both Iris and Frodo.

Screeching with pain the Watcher tossed his captives wildly in the air as several of its tentacles were chopped off. Managing to cut off the main tentacle holding Iris, Iris fell towards the ground, only to be caught by Gambit. Once Gambit had her he quickly made his way back to the shore. A moment later Boromir made his way towards them with Frodo in his arms, Wolverine and Aragorn watching their back.

"Legolas! His eye, aim for his eye!" Boromir yelled as soon as he was out of reach for the tentacles. And aim for his eye Legolas did, forcing the creature to withdraw. However, as the fellowship and the others raced into the caves the Watcher reached out and slammed the doors shut.

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Making sure that she still had her bag, Iris held her side trying to breathe normally. Her lunges ached and she was soaking thanks to the little dip she had, courtesy of the Watcher. Bending a bit forward she took a slow and deep breathe.

"Are you alright, kid?" Wolverine asked, noticing that Iris was still holding her side.

"Yeah, it just knocked the air out of me" she said, not really being able to make him out completely in the dark. As good as her sight was in the dark, there was still the matter of not being able to see much in the dark of the caves they were stuck in.

"We now have but one choice. 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" Gandalf said as his staff gave out a beam of light, forcing most to momentarily shield their eyes. Once Iris had gotten used to the little light she looked at the others, seeing the startled faces of the fellowship. As for Gambit and Wolverine, they looked unruffled by the entire situation.

Urging them to be quiet Gandalf lead them up many stairways and through many chambers before they halted. Slumping down on the ground Iris leaned against a stone wall, catching her breath. Never in her life had she ever walked up and down that many stairs. Taking off her boots she stated rubbing her sore feet. The thought of simply using her powers so that she wouldn't have to actually walk had crossed her mind, but for some reason she had decided against that. There was something wrong with these caves, she could feel, it but she had no idea what it was.

"Here" someone said. Looking up she saw that it was one of the men, Boromir. He was handing her something to eat.

"Thank you" she said, noticing how hungry she really was. She ate the piece of bread and cheese while looking at the others. Seeing the two x-men not so far from her she pondered on how they ended up where they were. How had it happened? Why had it happened? And most of all, how come she couldn't remember anything? All she remembered was that one moment she was walking to the door at Gambit and Wolverines house, and in the next moment someone was looking down at her, screaming and backing away from her.

"Something wrong?" Gambit asked, sitting down beside her.

"Not really..."

"Don't you be giving me that. I can see there is something bothering you"

"Fine. I just don't like the fact that I can't remember how we got here, okay.

"Don't worry, it'll come back to you" he said giving her an awkward hug. Picking up one of the blankets he had brought with him, he handed it to her. "Get some sleep, chere. You'll need it" With that he wrapped the blanket around him, he moved into a more comfortable position. Looking at the blanket in her hands for a while she heard Wolverine sit down on her other side, he too trying to get some rest. Finally wrapping the blanket around her, Iris lay down between the two men. Closing her eyes she stretched out with her mind, gently brushing past the others minds. Most of them had already fallen asleep, but a few of them were still awake.

As Iris moved onto the astral plane she tried to find her memories. Walking across the field she had created she moved towards a big tree by a stream. Touching a leave she accessed one of her many memories. The one in question was the memory of her 18th birthday, the day when one of her friends gave her a little stereo-type-thing. Not being able to locate the memories she was looking for she left.

She saw the minds of the others now as little spheres of light. Most of them were glowing. No matter how tired she was she always loved the feeling of freedom she got whenever she was on the astral plane. She could do anything she wanted here. Taking a closer look at a smaller golden sphere she found out that it belonged to the elf. Intrigued she leaned closer and touched the surface with her fingertips. At once the glowing dimmed and the globe got smaller. He most have noticed her and shielded his mind, she thought as she returned to her body to get some sleep.

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Getting up a few hours later the journey through the dark continued. Every so often Iris would feel someone staring at her, but every time she looked around she didn't notice anything unusual. After a number of short halts to rest and eat, the company finally halted when they arrived at a crossroad. Apparently Gandalf, who was the leader of this little expedition, didn't recognize the place, which meant break time. While the old bearded man sat in front of the three doorways Iris heard two of the hobbits talking.

"Are we lost?" the one named Pippin asked.

"No" the other one answered.

"I think we are" Pippin said in a sad tone.

"Shhh! Gandalf's thinking" a third hobbit, Sam, said. After a little while Pippin once more spoke.

"Merry?"

"What?"

"I'm hungry" he said, making Iris smile. She couldn't help it, but they seemed so sweet. Before closing her eyes to get some rest Iris looked around with half closed eyes. Doing so she saw that the elf, Legolas, was looking at her. Iris suspected that he knew about the other night when she had visited the astral plane. 'Of course he knows' she thought to herself. Lying down to get some sleep, she could feel someone lying down next to her. Feeling cold Iris was drawn by the warm body next to her and inched closer. Press herself against the back of the male she felt him stir slightly, before lying still. It didn't take long before Iris fell asleep to the sound of steady breathing.

Once Gandalf finally made up his mind about what way to go Iris had managed to get some rest. Despite the last days of walking and such, she was feeling much better. Her head didn't hurt as much and the gash she had hadn't gotten infected. What she was looking forward to the most at the moment was a bath, a long warm bath. It was that thought that drove her to put one foot in front of the other. That and the fact that the cave was really creeping her out.

Taking the route Gandalf had chosen they walked into a more open space. As Gandalf made his staff give out a brighter light, the large space turned out to be a really big hall of some sort. There were large pillars and arched ceilings as far as Iris could see. Hearing a few gasps Iris knew that the others were just as in awe as she was at the sight of the grand hall, even though it was barren.

"Behold the great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf" Gandalf said, letting the other take in the sight for a moment.

Moving on through the Hall, Gimli suddenly saw something in one of the side rooms. Halting for a moment Gimli gave out a strangled sound.

"Gimli!" Gandalf said warning, but ignoring Gandalf Gimli made a dash towards the entrance. Inside the room, which was somewhat filled with spider web-covered corpses, was a big tomb. It was there they saw Gimli kneeling by the tomb, crying. As Boromir walked over to lay a sympathetic hand on Gimli's shoulder, Gandalf brushed away some dust to read what was written on the tomb.

"Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria" Gandalf said, translating the runes on the tomb.

"He is dead then. It is as I feared" Frodo said. At that point Gimli started to wail in some language. As the rest stood around the tomb, Gandalf gave his hat and staff to Pippin. Then he walked over to one of the corpse and grabbed a hold of the book it was holding.

"We must move on, we cannot linger!" Legolas said to Aragorn, but that was very much ignored by Gandalf, who opened the book and started flipping through it.

Iris couldn't stand it anymore. This was creeping her out, and it was not just because they were stuck in a huge cave and all. Seeing dead bodies lying around wasn't really comforting. It only got worse when Gandalf started reading from the book he took.

"They have taken the bridge, and the second hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums, drums in the deep" he read out loud, pausing only to turn the page. "We cannot get out. A Shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out... They are coming."

Hearing the old man read those lines send shivers down Iris's spine. This did not bode well, not well indeed. Brought back to reality by the sound of something falling, Iris saw that Pippin had dropped something down a hole in the ground. He winced at every wave of sound until there was nothing left but silence. As everyone let out a breath they hadn't realised they had been holding. Gandalf slammed the book shut. And that's when the berating started.

"Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" Gandalf said, grabbing his staff and hat from the hobbit. Just as he did so they could hear the echoes of drums from deep below. For the first time Iris saw worry written all over Wolverine and Gambit's faces. But they were nothing compared to the fear the fellowshippers were emitting. 'This is bad. Very bad' Iris thought.

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Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long to update, I've been a bit busy. But there it was - chapter three of 'The X-ship of the Ring'. I hope you enjoyed it and i'd love to hear your thoughts about it. Press the purple button, it is your best friend in the whole wide world. I sure know I love it :)