Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings is not mine. Star Wars is not mine. It's the tenth chapter; you should know that by now.

A/N: Well, since now you can't post reviewer responses, you'll probably be seeing a lot more of these author's notes. Yes, don't worry, the Balrog is coming. What's Khazad-Dum without a Balrog? (The answer is 'safe'.) :) Enjoy.

Chapter Ten
A Price

Obi-Wan sighed and looked around again. Merry and Pippin sat with Boromir by the lake of water near them. Legolas stood near a tree, blending in with the background. Frodo sat on a rock, with Sam close by. Strider stood a little ways away, staring into the distance. Last, Gandalf and Gimli stood by the doors.

The doors. The puzzle eluded the entire Fellowship, even Obi-Wan. He had tried to use the Force to open them, but to no avail. Gandalf still stood, puzzling, in front of the doors. Obi-Wan had gone over near the younger Hobbits.

"Do you think he'll ever get it open?" Pippin asked.

Merry sighed. "If he doesn't, what will happen?"

Boromir shook his head. "I don't think that's the question we should be asking. What I want to know is this: What will happen is he does?"

Obi-Wan looked around. Everyone else seemed to share the idea, not knowing which fate would be the worse one. Everyone, that was, except for Gimli. The Dwarf stood confidently by the Wizard's side, sure that whatever lurked on the other side of those doors, it was better than never knowing what had become of his kindred who had ventured there.

Merry slowly lifted a pebble using the Force, and tossed it across the water. It landed with a splash on the other side.

Pippin grinned, and lifted one of his own. But before he could throw it, Obi-Wan brought it to his hand. "Sorry. I don't wish to spoil your fun, but . . . I sense something in the water. Alive, close by. I do not think we should disturb it."

Merry and Pippin nodded, accepting the answer. But Gimli came over, scoffing, obviously annoyed. "Creature in the water, indeed. How could you possibly tell from here?" And before Obi-Wan could stop him, he threw a rather large stone into the water.

Strider whirled around. "Gimli! We are already in enough danger without inviting more. Please! I know you do not trust Obi-Wan, but do not endanger this Company because of it." He stepped back to his place by the wall and motioned to Obi-Wan to join him.

"I didn't mean to provoke him," Obi-Wan insisted. "I was only trying to--"

Strider held up his hand. "I know. Dwarves can be easily angered. Be careful, Obi-Wan. We do not need enmity within this Company. Enough shall find us from elsewhere."

Obi-Wan nodded his understanding. He'd had to deal with people he didn't like before, plenty of times. Why was it so difficult now?

Perhaps because it was his fault. It had been his rude awakening of the Dwarf that had begun all this. He knew better now, but too late, and it was that which troubled him. This could have been prevented. Easily. And yet it hadn't been.

Suddenly, Gandalf laughed, startling all of them. "Of course. How simple, like most riddles when you see the answer. Mellon!"

At this word, the doors creaked open. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. Melon? Wasn't that a kind of fruit? What kind of a password was that?

It was Strider who answered him, without even hearing the question. "Of course. The door reads, "Speak, friend, and enter." Mellon is the Elvish word for friend."

Obi-Wan nodded. Of course. "Speak 'friend,' and enter." Easy once you had the answer right in front of you. No wonder that Gandalf was laughing.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan felt the presence in the water behind him grow. He turned around just in time to see a huge head and several tentacles rise right out of the water.

The head was huge, with an equally huge mouth. The tentacles reached out for the Fellowship. It was obvious what this creature wanted; Obi-Wan didn't need the Force to feel it, though he could. This being only wanted lunch.

Obi-Wan raced for the shore to grab the younger Hobbits, but it was too late. One of the tentacles had grabbed Pippin around the middle. Merry drew his sword to slice at the tentacle, and Gimli drew his axe, but neither was fast enough. Both were soon enveloped by the creatures' limbs.

Legolas drew his bow, and Strider quickly followed suit. Obi-Wan reached out with to Force to hold the three tentacles still, giving them better targets. It wouldn't help them to injure the Hobbits, though Gimli's thick armor may have protected him from a stray arrow.

But holding the limbs in place required all of Obi-Wan's attention. He didn't notice a tentacle grabbing his leg until it was too late. Boromir rushed to his aid, but the Jedi was already high in the air.

Obi-Wan tried desperately to still hold the tentacles in place, but his focus had been shaken terribly. The creature took this opportunity to fling Gimli aside; apparently it had decided so much armor wouldn't taste good.

Legolas fired, then Strider, then Legolas again. Boromir and Gandalf had waded out and were hacking at the tentacles with all their might, somehow managing to avoid being caught themselves.

Hanging upside-down, Obi-Wan could see Frodo and Sam huddled together near the entrance to Moria. Gimli was regaining his senses and rushed to join the fight. But this was all a blur to the Jedi.

He needed to relax. He drew a deep breath, as best he could with his chest being squeezed now by the creature. Below him, he could see its huge, gaping mouth. He swung his head around, hoping for a glimpse of Merry or Pippin. To his relief, he saw that Merry had fallen safely into Boromir's arms, and that the tentacle that held Pippin remotely resembled a pincushion. It wouldn't be long before the creature dropped the other Hobbit, as well.

And then Obi-Wan was falling. Falling towards the creature's mouth. But then he felt a surge in the Force, so strong that he couldn't even pinpoint where it had come from. He felt a jolt as he landed in the water next to the creature's head.

Obi-Wan was amazed, but he had no time to stop and ponder the source of this sudden burst. Instead, he drew his sword and stabbed the creature directly in one of its huge eyes. The beast howled in pain and dropped Pippin into Strider's waiting arms.

The creature was diving. Obi-Wan could feel in it its strong natural instincts, to return to its home in the depths. Suddenly, though, he felt its tentacles wrap around his legs. It was dragging him under! Obi-Wan kicked with all his might, but it was no use. The tentacle wrapped around his body, pinning his arms, and his sword, in place. Just before he was drawn under, he drew a huge breath. He would need it.

But even for a Jedi, one breath would not last forever. Soon, his lungs were burning, begging for the air he could not give them. He tried desperately to relax his mind. Panicking took up too much oxygen. At last he was relaxed. He was doomed, but he was relaxed.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan felt a blade nick his arm as it slashed through the tentacle. Obi-Wan passed a barely free hand through the water. "This dinner is not worth it," he thought. "Go back. Go back to the depths." He could feel the creature's simple mind. It had no great strength of will. This would work.

Slowly, the tentacle unwound itself from Obi-Wan. The Jedi kicked for the surface, not knowing just how far it was. He lost conscious just before breaking the surface, but felt several warm, welcoming arms wrap around him, pulling him to safety.

Slowly, light came back to Obi-Wan's eyes. A collective sigh of relief was released by the whole Fellowship, even Gimli. Perhaps the Dwarf couldn't stand the thought of anyone, even Obi-Wan, dying for his little mistake. In any case, as Obi-Wan sputtered and gasped for breath, even the Dwarf looked somewhat relieved.

Obi-Wan's eyes darted around the Fellowship. Several, especially Gimli, Boromir, and Strider, were still sopping wet. Water was dripping from Gandalf's beard, and all the Hobbits were shivering. Even Legolas, who had stayed on the edge to shoot, and Frodo and Sam, who had stayed as far away as possible, were wet; they had obviously either rushed in to help after the creature had gone under, or been splashed even from the distance. All were cold and wet. All had done their best. The Fellowship had survived its first trial.

"Is everyone all right?" Obi-Wan asked.

Gimli burst out laughing. "Of course. The one who nearly fell into that thing's mouth and then nearly drowned wants to know if everything is all right."

Obi-Wan resisted the urge to mention that he was the one who had mentioned the existence of "that thing" earlier, and that a certain someone had ignored him. Instead, he said, "When that happened, when I nearly fell into its mouth, I felt a presence in the Force. Someone -- or something -- pushed me out of the way in time."

Legolas looked around. "One of us?"

"I don't know. You would have been my first guess, Legolas; you have the strongest connection with the Force."

The Elf shook his head. "I was distracted, trying to save Pippin. I didn't see you fall until it was too late."

Obi-Wan turned to his next best bet. "Gandalf?"

The Wizard shook his head. "I did not do it, Obi-Wan."

The Jedi looked around. "Then I do not believe it was a member of this Company." That was simply a polite way of saying that, frankly, no one else had the ability.

Gimli, at least, was out. Pippin had been occupied with kicking and screaming. Strider, Boromir, and Merry, though the thought may have occurred to any or all of them, simply did not have that kind of control yet. That left Frodo and Sam, who were even less likely to have the ability. He had thought perhaps Legolas or Gandalf might have been able to save him in this manner, but both had denied it.

Obi-Wan looked up at Gandalf. "Then I think I may have an explanation, and though it makes less sense, it is possible."

"The Ring. You think It somehow saved you."

"It would explain things, but raises even more questions, the most important of which being: Why?"

"Agreed," Gandalf nodded, "and perhaps in time the answer will reveal itself. But, for now, we must continue. Strider has gathered what supplies he can, for we have seen no sign of any Dwarves. But not all hope is lost, for we have not yet ventured into the Mines."

"Well," Obi-Wan nodded, sitting up clumsily, "we should do so. I have a bad feeling about this place. We should not stay here long."

Boromir offered his hand, and Obi-Wan took it. The Gondorian easily pulled the Jedi to his feet, then drew him aside as the others packed their bags. "I am uneasy about this place, as well, Obi-Wan, but we appear to have no choice." He looked around. "We have already met a share of trouble, and all survived, due in part to you and your lessons. Though we may not have as much sheer luck in the future, I believe that we have proven something."

"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan asked. He had a feeling he knew, but he wanted to hear it in Boromir's own words.

"We have proven that we can stand together, despite our differences. Gimli may not show it well, but he is as relieved as the rest of us that you were unhurt. He came to help when the creature took you, just as you came to help him. You may be different, and those differences may cause tension, but you can trust each other.

"And now we must again put that trust to the test. The road through Moria will not be an easy one, and only Gandalf and Strider know it. We shall have to trust to their memory and their judgment, for though we may be uncomfortable here, we are here nonetheless, and we are going through."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "It is not their judgment that I am uneasy about. This whole place makes me uncomfortable."

"It makes all of us uncomfortable, except perhaps Gimli. But we must push past that, through trust. The mountain pass was a failure, but no lives were lost. That creature knew of our presence because of a mistake, but we all survived. Let us hope that it will be the same along the way, that we may learn from our mistakes without paying a serious price."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yet because of Caradhras, we have only what supplies Strider has been able to find, and because of the creature, we are all cold and wet. That makes me wonder . . ."

"Wonder what?" Boromir asked.

Obi-Wan met his friend's gaze. "What more do we have to lose, before we do pay a price?"