Disclaimer: None of this is mine.

A/N: Hey, hey, I never said the Ring saved Obi-Wan. I simply said it was Obi-Wan's best guess that the Ring saved him. The two are not the same thing. As for updating, I thought I explained why I have a problem with updating regularly. School. Track. Choir. Band. Little brother. Dad always on the computer. Yeah, thought I explained it. :)

Chapter Eleven
While the Wolf Waits Below

Darkness. That was the first thing Obi-Wan noticed as the Fellowship entered Moria. Even with the light still coming in from the outside, the ancient Dwarf-kingdom still seemed endlessly dark. There was also something else, something he couldn't quite place, that made him feel dizzy and weak.

Around him, Obi-Wan heard everything from gasps to shouts of disbelief coming from the rest of the Fellowship. As his eyes adjusted, he realized why. Dead corpses lay everywhere, probably Dwarves by their height, their rotting remains pierced by arrows. Obi-Wan took a step back. Certainly this explained some of what he had felt.

Some. He had seen death before, even in these numbers, in this way, and yet it had not made him feel quite like this. The feelings had never been so strong, so vivid. Perhaps his senses were growing stronger here, he reasoned, here where there were so few people around him, fewer bustling cities and roaring ships. Never had he been so isolated for so long from these aspects of his life, with people who found it perfectly normal. Maybe this place, this Middle-Earth, was beginning to affect him.

Obi-Wan looked around, but he still couldn't see much. One thing he did see, though, was an old torch, lying abandoned on the floor, burnt out. He summoned it to his hand and, after receiving an approving nod from Gandalf, lit it. Gandalf placed some sort of crystal at the top of his staff, which began to glow, as well.

The light, however, did not have its desired effect. Now that they could see more, more stairs and more passages and more bodies, most of the Fellowship obviously wanted to leave. The Hobbits, either consciously or unconsciously, were inching towards the door. Boromir and Strider had drawn their swords, and Legolas had his bow in hand. Gimli stood completely still, as if in shock, taking in everything. Only Gandalf looked around, not unafraid, but his wise old eyes clearly showing that he accepted the danger.

Obi-Wan gave the Wizard a nod. Neither said anything to each other. They didn't need to. The point was made: the Fellowship needed to go through Moria, and they needed to keep moving. "We have to go," Obi-Wan said, and was surprised at how his voice echoed about the stone walls.

His intention was clearly misunderstood. The Hobbits turned and headed for t he door. Legolas and Boromir remained, but looked as if they were ready to leave at any moment. Gimli still stood, now indignant, perhaps wanting to stay and learn more about the fate his kinsfolk had met. Strider simply looked to Gandalf, clearly ready to do whatever the Wizard said.

"Wait!" Obi-Wan called to the Hobbits. "I said we had to go; I meant that way." He indicated Moria with a sweep of his free hand. "What's back out there? Nothing. No danger, except that creature from the water, but no way around this place, either. If we stay out there, we will be here until we die of starvation, or go back, for once we leave Moria, we will not wish to reenter it."

Everyone nodded their agreement, at least, to the last statement. They did not wish to be there now, much less return once they had left.

"Then let us make for the Gap of Rohan," Boromir once again suggested. The others seemed more ready to listen to him now. Saruman seemed a faraway danger, compared to the dark unknown of Moria.

But Strider shook his head. "No. Obi-Wan is right. We chose this path, and it is the path that we must take. The threat of Saruman to the Ring is too great to risk the Gap of Rohan. The mountain-pass has failed. We have now only two choices. We must go this way, through Moria, or go back. And to go back is to admit that we have failed completely, and that Middle-Earth is doomed. I believe this road should at least be tried before we concede that."

Gimli at last turned to watch the rest of the Fellowship. He stood by Gandalf, making his point clear without words. He would follow the Wizard through Moria if it were the last thing he ever did. Strider and Obi-Wan, as well, stood further in by the Wizard and the Dwarf, awaiting the others' response.

To Obi-Wan's surprise, it was Legolas who moved first, coming forward to stand by Strider, who had sheathed his sword. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Legolas lowered his bow.

Once someone else had moved, Frodo came more easily, and with him Sam. Soon, they stood in the light of Gandalf's staff, at least partially comforted by the presence of both the Wizard and the light. Boromir, Merry, and Pippin looked at each other and decided without words. Boromir sheathed his sword and clapped a hand on Strider's shoulder, and the other on Obi-Wan's. "Very well. Through the mines, then."

So they set off. Obi-Wan soon found another torch, which he lit and handed to Legolas. The Elf seemed eternally grateful for the light, but still looked far from comfortable. It was as if he, too, sensed something that he could not quite place.

Slowly, the Fellowship fell into an order, as they had to walk single-file through some stairways and passages. Gandalf was ever in the lead, his staff showing the way. Close behind him walked Gimli, and, whatever the reason, this seemed to lift both their spirits. Perhaps Gimli was glad, as they all were, to have someone who knew where they were going, and perhaps Gandalf was simply delighted to have someone by his side who actually wanted to be there.

Next came Frodo, and Sam behind him. The pair seemed to linger between the light of Gandalf's staff in front of them and Legolas' torch behind them. After Legolas were Merry and Pippin, and then Boromir. Obi-Wan came next, and Strider with him. Whenever the path widened, the two walked side by side, sharing the same determination to keep going despite their own fears, which they didn't share with each other, but had no need to. Boromir, as well, often lingered at the back with them. They never spoke, for Gandalf had warned them all to be as quiet as possible, but it was clear that a bond had been formed.

At last they came to a halt. Before them stood an archway with three passages. The left one led downwards, the middle one straight, and the right one upwards. Obi-Wan, relieved for the rest, slowly stretched his arms and legs. Even after all these days of walking, none had been quite like this. Here, even with the way lit by torches, there was the constant risk of falling. As if that weren't enough, on the way down all the stairs, there had been several gaps where the stairs had simply worn away and fallen. The taller folk had leapt easily across all but the widest, but the little ones were too small. Obi-Wan had found himself working like an elevator, using the Force to lift the Hobbits over one gap after another. Gimli, of course, always refused, insisting on jumping the gaps himself.

Gandalf told them that they would rest here, but Obi-Wan had already guessed as much. The Wizard wanted time, time to think. He led them to a door to the left of the archway, and opened it. The Wizard entered first, with Gimli right behind him. Slowly, the rest of the Fellowship ventured in, as well.

The room was rather plain except for a large hole in the center. It was probably a well, Obi-Wan realized. His guess was soon confirmed by Gimli, who said this was the guard-room, used to watch the three passages.

The Fellowship lay down to sleep, all except Pippin, who had the first watch. Obi-Wan fell asleep immediately, surprised by his own weariness. His limbs ached, and his head was pounding. Why? What made this place so different? He found no answers as the darkness took him.

Obi-Wan was roused from his sleep by a cry of, "I knew it! I knew this Force of yours would bring us nothing but trouble! I knew! I told you! Now look what has happened!"

He didn't have to open his eyes to recognize Gimli, but he did, anyway. By now, the entire Fellowship was awake. "What?" Obi-Wan asked. "What's happening?"

Everyone looked at Pippin, who looked as pale as a ghost. "I . . . I was trying to keep myself awake, practicing with . . . with the pebbles I had. I decided to . . . to try some of the larger stones in here. I . . . I lost control, I suppose. One . . . it fell down the well."

Obi-Wan looked around. Worried looks filled the entire Fellowship. Only one person, however, looked as angry as Gimli. Gandalf was glaring at Pippin, who was by now shaking. The Hobbit had obviously not expected such a big deal to be made out of one stone.

"The fault is not yours, Obi-Wan," Gandalf said firmly. "It was Pippin's choice to play with the stones. You should know better, Pippin. At the very least, you could have practiced elsewhere, not over the well." He sighed. "But go back to sleep, all of you. You, as well, Pippin. Perhaps it would be safer if I did the watching."

Soon, most of the Fellowship was asleep. Only Obi-Wan and Gandalf remained awake. Slowly, on aching legs, Obi-Wan rose and approached where Gandalf was seated. "Pippin didn't mean any harm," he said quietly, sitting down.

Gandalf nodded. "Of course he didn't." Obi-Wan could tell, to his relief, that the Wizard was not being sarcastic.

"He's so young," Obi-Wan sighed. "So young and innocent. Part of him still thinks this is all a game."

Gandalf nodded again. "I'm afraid, though, that we will see that change. Frodo has already begun to accept his burden, his responsibilities, and realize what all of this means. Sam, Merry, and Pippin will, as well, eventually."

"Not that you're making it easier," the Wizard added with a smile. "All these games you play with them, with the pebbles and the grass, that's the real reason. You want them to be able to hold onto that, to cling to that innocence."

Obi-Wan stared into the darkness. That was it, of course. For all he wanted them to actually learn, Gandalf had found the real reason. Part of him didn't want to see them change. He loved their wide-eyed curiosity, their genuine love of everything new and exciting. They were the epitome of innocence, and he wanted that to remain the same.

Yet it couldn't, and he knew that in his heart. Children had to grow up. Sooner or later, all of this would start to affect them, change them. He just hoped he could help them through it.

Now more comfortable talking in the silence, Obi-Wan changed the subject. "A ways back, on one of the stairway passages, I began to feel something. I'm . . . not sure what it was, but I think . . . it was almost like . . ."

"Like we were being followed," the Wizard finished.

"Exactly," Obi-Wan nodded. That was it, though he hadn't known it at the time. It was good to have the feeling explained.

"We are," Gandalf nodded. "Gollum has been following us since shortly after we entered."

Obi-Wan nodded his understanding. This was another new danger. Gollum wanted the Ring. Yet the threat was not immediate. Gollum would not strike here, alone, with a Fellowship surrounding the Ringbearer. But Frodo must not wander off alone. And someone must always be on guard.

So was that it, he wondered. Was that what he had felt when they had entered, that he was there, and the feeling had gotten stronger as the creature started to follow them? Yet it had seemed as if the feeling had been new, not a growth of one that had existed before. Perhaps this explained what he felt, but it was still more likely that his perceptions were simply better here, he reasoned.

At last, Obi-Wan decided he should at least mention it. "When we arrived here," he said, quietly, "I felt something like . . . like I have never felt before. I'm not sure exactly what it was. It may have been a presence of some kind. It could simply be because of all the . . . the remains here. But whatever it was, I thought I should tell you."

Gandalf turned, and smiled. "I am proud of you, Obi-Wan."

"Why?" the Jedi asked.

"It took trust to mention that, to admit it, thinking it could have been nothing but your own fears taking shape in your mind. You are no longer afraid of appearing weak, at least not in front of me. I am proud of that, Obi-Wan. You are beginning to feel as if you belong here.

"As for your feeling, do not ignore it. I can assure you, it does mean something. Exactly what, I do not know, but be on your guard, Obi-Wan."

"I will," the Jedi assured him.

The Wizard smiled. "But now, take some rest. You will need it tomorrow, and after."

Obi-Wan rose and went back to his place. Seeing Pippin asleep nearby, he rustled the Hobbit's curly hair. Pippin gave no response; he was fast asleep. Obi-Wan smiled. He looked so peaceful, even after what had just happened.

If only that could last forever, he thought, lying down. If only . . . if only . . .