'…Cut my life into pieces,
This is my last resort.
Suffocation, no breathing,
Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding...'
Papa Roach Last Resort
Chapter Six – Trapped
Clouds of dust from the collapsed slabs of rock filled the base of the ample staircase leading deeper into the mines irritated sinuses and eyes alike. It wasn't that the ancient air that already inhabited the so-called tombs wasn't bad enough, but the added effect of the extra particles didn't make for a very warm welcome into Moria. Frodo was still shaken by the incident with the creature from the deep; his ankle ached where the monster had wrapped its gnarled tentacle round his leg and hauled the Hobbit metres from the waters surface. The details of how he'd been rescued were still hazy, as at the time he'd had to deal with other things such as all the blood that his body contained rushing to his head. He remembered the flash of a sword, steel glinting in the moonlight as various members of the Fellowship attempted to cut him down. Sounds, the distinct whiz of arrows slicing through air and of course the tremendous groans from the creature itself as its limbs were severed. Squinting in the darkness he made out vague outlines of his companions as they steadied themselves after the encounter. A point began to glow against the black background, the light growing to reveal a mat of grey hair and a dirty beard. Gandalf, the old wizard, didn't look too pleased with the situation at hand. What Frodo could still only describe as a crystal on the top of his staff was the source of the light that had now grown to illuminate most of the chamber. It skipped over the Dwarven skeletons, valiant warriors that even in death clutched their axes, ready for battle. The Hobbit looked to the space where the doors had once taken up residence. All that was left was a pile of rubble…moving rubble.
A dark figure, the Elven archer remembered a dark, cloaked figure jump down from cliff face in what he assumed was an attempt to save Frodo. He assumed this because, well, he had to admit that they could have easily murdered, or at least helped the creature to kill the Ring bearer on several occasions. But there was something that unnerved him. It was the fact that who ever it was had been able to avoid the attentions of both Aragorn and Legolas himself for at least a little while. Just how long the stranger had been following them was still a mystery, this only added to his uneasiness. In all the times the Ranger had gone back checking over every little inch of ground he'd found hardly anything to suggest that there might be some sort of a tracker. The question now, was what had happened to them? Had they been killed by the creature? He'd fired a few last shots at the watcher before he'd run into the mines to give the stranger some time to get away. In a way he felt slightly guilty for it, but then again, they had helped, and in his opinion only a servant of the Dark Lord deserved to die in such a gruesome manner. His train of thought was derailed as a pale light started to shatter the darkness, breaching the shadows. His eyes adjusted at a moment's notice as he scouted to make sure that all nine members of the Fellowship had made it in unharmed. A tiny stone falling from the heap of rubble that was not so long ago known as the entrance caught his attention. The pile started to move. It was only slight at first, a tiny pebble here and there, but then lager things started to fall until at last the tips of a set of fingers broke forth from a tiny space between two boulders. There was a muffled groan before a full hand shot out and started feeling around, searching for a place to get a grip on. It went limp after a few moments before perking up again and waving almost comically to the bemused Fellowship.
"Little help here?" Croaked a voice from beneath the rubble. Each member of the Fellowship in turn looked to Gandalf then Aragorn and finally to Frodo. The young Hobbit made a move towards the pile.
"Wait!" Said Aragorn sharply. Frodo stopped and turned to face him.
"That person down there helped to save me…I…I remember…we can't just leave them to suffocate. It wouldn't be right." With that Frodo walked to the heap, picking off the smaller rocks and boulders on the mound. Following his lead, Sam, Merry and not long after, Pippin came to help him. It became slightly obvious however half way during the Hobbits task, that they would be somewhat unable to lift some of the larger slabs that covered the unwanted stranger. Seeing this fact, Legolas decided to give in to Frodo's plight, walking over and helping Merry with a rather cumbersome rock. It took a while but eventually a large slab was removed, a cloak-covered body was uncovered from the wreckage and after a bit of struggling, out half walked half-crawled Yuna.
"Lady Yunalesca." Said Aragorn all too inhospitably.
"Lord Aragorn." She returned, seemingly oblivious as she brushed off the dust and dirt that had attached itself to her. "Hope you don't mind me dropping in on you like this. I just thought I might come by and see how you where getting along." It was coming back to Legolas now, he remembered her face from the council and her irregular features. He also remembered her parting remarks.
"What are you doing here, woman?" Asked Boromir viciously. "What depraved powers are you working for?" He walked forward until he had drawn level with Yuna who was now standing and looked her straight in the eye.
It was all Yuna could do stop herself from recoiling as Boromir's putrid breath was projected straight in to her face. Swallowing hard, she barely managed to produce a smile. It wasn't large, first, a curl of the lips, the corners then rising, and finally, a lift in the cheeks. However, it never quite reached her eyes, which held a sort of eternally glazed spite.
"As I said before." She replied icily. "I just thought I'd see how you were doing." 'Liar'
"She is in allegiance with Sauron, why else would she come here?" More of his infamous gestures. 'And why else would I risk getting my foot chewed off to save the Ring-Bearer?' He turned to face Aragorn. "You heard the words she spoke at the council, she is only here to destroy what it is we've been fighting for." Yuna could sense that things were about to take a turn for the worst. As silently and inconspicuously as she could, she hid away her crossbow and other small weapons until it looked as if they were merely harmless parts of her outfit. Her daggers would have to be left, but there was little she could do about that.
"What would you have us do Boromir?" Said the Ranger in response. "Although I personally would not trust her, Lord Elrond respected her enough to let her join the council, and as some of us know, he does not make decisions of that sort lightly. We cannot just kill her–" 'That's nice.' "–Nor can we let her go to do as she pleases. If, indeed she was in allegiance with the Dark Lord, she would only get word back to him of our quest." 'Like he doesn't already know.'
"Then there is only one thing to do." Gandalf interrupted, "We must take her with us. Now come along, we have little time to waste."
"I am in the room, so if you wouldn't mind talking about me as if I'm not…I don't get a say in this, do I?" Yuna said, getting agitated, because, even though it was her well-being they were talking about, she seemed to have no part in the conversation.
"Well, my dear, seeing as you seem to have no intention of telling us what your purpose here is, or what your actions towards us might be. We have no choice but to consider you as hostile." 'Good choice.' "If we are quick, it will only take us four days to reach the other side. We cannot tarry in our decisions. When we reach Lórien, we will let the elves decide what to do with you. Now, bind her hands so she doesn't get into any mischief." Yuna looked menacingly around to the various members of the fellowship; they all seemed rather reluctant to comply with Gandalf's request. "Quickly now, time is of the essence."
"Fine, I will do it." The Gondorian came forward, slipping some rope out of his pack.
"Touch me," She said between gritted teeth. "And I assure you you'll live to regret it…oops, did I say live? So I suggest that you do not come any nearer, or I will not be held responsible for my rather…unfriendly actions." This seemed to deter Boromir slightly, he'd already stopped in his tracks, unsure of what he should do next. In truth, she did look as if she was more than able to carry out her threat, and he wasn't about to try and test whether this was true or not.
"Ahem…In that case." Came a voice that originated in the direction of a somewhat strawberry-looking Merry. "Would you allow me, milady?" Yuna could barely stop herself from smirking. Amused with how the situation was turning out.
"But of course, dear sir." She replied politely. It was easy to see that embarrassment was oozing out of the young Hobbit's pores, there was no need to further it by turning him down. The smirks and chuckles from his fellow Hobbits seemed to only make his face turn a rather fetching shade of beetroot. "I suppose you'll be wanting me to remove my weapons?"
"It would be kind of ya." He replied, going full-blown crimson. She did as he said, removing all the more…obvious weapons, which was really only a small dagger here and there. Anything that might really cause damage was already well hidden. She wasn't about to use them on the Fellowship, but she'd been through Moria before, and in case they ran into any opposition, she wasn't about to be left unarmed. After taking the rope out of Boromir's grasp, the Hobbit went to Yuna, who'd already put forward her hands and was looking wickedly in the dirty-blonde's direction.
"I'll take the weapons, shall I?" Said Pippin, who'd, unnoticed by everyone else, sidled up behind Merry, his undisputed partner in crime, and was now looking like a magpie at the shiny bladed objects scattered about her feet. Merry was carefully wrapping and knotting lengths of rope around and between Yuna's wrists. She hated to see someone else handling, really, the only possessions she had, but there was nothing she could do. So, pushing away her pride, she did the only thing she could.
"Just…careful you don't cut yourself." She said apprehensively. 'And for the Valar's sake, don't take them by the blade!' She added to herself.
"Don't worry," Said the young Hobbit pleasantly. "I promise you I will take the utmost care in returning them to you in perfect condition." Despite all the past occurrences that might stand to contradict his statement, she believed him. Some say that your eyes are the gateway to your soul. And when she looked into his, all she could see was the innocence of a child, even though she knew he was proabaly older than Boromir. When finally Merry had finished his delicate task, he slowly backed away, with his head a little bowed. Pips then also finished packing up the prized objects, and went to stand triumphantly next to his cousin.
"Is that all, Lady Yuna?" Asked the Ranger, suspiciously.
"My dear Aragorn, are you accusing me of lying?"
"Yes." Came the blunt answer. He retrieved the elusive crossbow bolt from somewhere on his person.
"Hey! That's mine! I was lookin' for that." Said an outraged Pippin.
"I believe this is one of yours? And unless I am mistaken, some kind of a propulsion device is needed to fire this, more formally known as a crossbow...?"
Yuna sighed exasperatedly, rolling her eyes as high as they would go. "Fine. You've got me. But I can't exactly get to it with my hands like this."
"I'll get it." Chimed Pips, a little quicker then he'd meant to. Even more embarrassed, he ambled forwards, looking up expectantly.
"It's strapped to my leg, over there." She nodded in the general direction of her right thigh. 'Because this isn't gonna be awkward at all.' Pippin looked uncertainly at the small leather strap around it and gulped, he could feel the blood rushing to his head. Carefully, he felt around for the buckle and tried to unfasten it without touching her leg. "Right a bit, no, down, hey! Left, a bit more, bit more, uh, not there, sweetie." Yuna, at this current point in time was trying to convince herself that, no, she was not being touched up by a waist-high Halfling. Success! He had finally managed to release the buckle and now held the small object proudly in his hand. As he scampered back to his cousin, Merry gave him a look that could have curdled milk. Pippin grinned widely in return.
"Then let us get on." The old wizard said lowly. "As I said, it will take us at the very least four days to get through the mines, let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."
With that, the Fellowship and their reluctant companion were on their way, up the stone steps and beyond.