Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings.
A/N: Well, I may have been cutting it close, but here is the next chapter, as I promised. As a bonus, I made this chapter extra long. AND, I decided to start posting the prequel, Dreamer, on , even though it still isn't finished, for anyone that is interested in reading it. There is a link to the story in my profile. Anyways, hope you enjoy!
Chapter 6 – The First Tough Decision
The next morning, the fellowship got an early start. After the events of the night before, Tammy couldn't get any more sleep. Well, more like she refused to. Not because she was afraid to, but because she knew that if she fell asleep, it would be impossible for her to wake up early the next day.
As she walked along, Tammy thought about the night before. While the events that took place were not too pleasant, there were two good things: she was extremely lucky and she had the fellowship's trust.
One thing she wasn't overly happy about was the fact that her instincts only went so far. But, she figured that, with time, she would develop mild instincts on the matter of self-defense. Even if for no other reason, then simply because it was necessary. She couldn't always count on luck to save her. Since her skill level wasn't too great yet, though, all she could depend on was the little skill she did have, and the luck she seemed to have. As long as her luck didn't run out, she would be fine.
After walking along for a while, they stopped to rest among many rocks large enough to be boulders. Sam was cooking, Gandalf was talking to Gimli, and Boromir was helping Merry and Pippin improve their fighting skills.
Tammy watched on in amusement as Merry and Pippin 'attacked' Boromir. While Pippin and Boromir had been parrying, Pippin accidentally cut his hand on Boromir's sword. Afterwards, Pippin playfully kicked Boromir's leg. Merry quickly knocked Boromir over.
It looked to Tammy that Merry and Pippin were tickling Boromir. It was quite an amusing site.
"That's enough, gentlemen," Aragorn said as he walked over to break up their tickle fest.
As soon as he was in range, Merry and Pippin knocked him over, too.
It was shortly after this that she noticed that Legolas had moved forward to get a closer look at something in the distance. He stood there focusing, trying to figure out what was coming.
"What is that?" Sam asked when he, too, spotted it.
Tammy looked up and saw a mass of what looked like a thick black cloud. While under normal circumstances she would dismiss it as nothing, she knew it was not good. Best-case scenario, it was a storm cloud and would blow over. Worst-case scenario, it wouldn't pass over. She knew that if it started to rain on the company, things would get miserable fast.
"Nothing...just a wisp of cloud," Gimli replied nonchalantly.
"It's moving fast...against the wind," Boromir observed as he stood up straight.
"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas shouted in warning.
"Hide!" Aragorn ordered. Everyone frantically tried to get everything out of sight. Sam quickly put out the fire. Then, everyone scrambled to find hiding places.
The minute everyone and everything was out of sight, the birds flew through the area in which they had been only moments before. Tammy looked out. She had no idea what the problem was, but she assumed from the feeling that had come over her, due to the actions of her companions, that these were no ordinary birds.
'Geez,' Tammy thought. 'Even birds are enemies here.'
After circling around once, the crebain flew away.
Once the crebain were gone, the fellowship came out of hiding.
"Spies of Sauruman," Gandalf stated as he came out of hiding. "The passage south is being watched. We must take the pass of Caradhras."
Tammy looked in the direction that Gandalf was looking. Her eyes widened when she saw the mountains. 'Well that's just great,' she thought sarcastically. 'Just remember...you got yourself into this. No one forced you.' She sighed, knowing that, as always, her voice of reason was correct. With that thought in mind, she decided to try and function on autopilot. It might not totally work, but it would help.
"Frodo," Tammy heard Aragorn say. She turned around to see what was going on. When she did, she found that Frodo had fallen.
He was alright, but a bit stressed when he found that the ring was missing. The ring he wore on a chain as a necklace had fallen off when he tumbled down the mountainside.
Boromir walked forward, finding the ring in the snow. He picked it up by the chain and stood there staring at it.
"Boromir," Aragorn yelled. Even if Boromir heard him, he chose to ignore him.
"It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing..." Boromir said, entranced by the ring once more. "Such a small thing..."
"Boromir," Aragorn yelled, finally getting Boromir's attention. "Give the ring to Frodo."
Boromir shook out of the daze he was in and hesitantly walked forward. "As you wish," he said. He held out the chain slowly, as if it took a great deal of strength to do so, and Frodo instantly grabbed it. "I care not." He stood there for a second, then good-naturedly ruffled Frodo's hair and walked away.
Tammy felt a wave of uneasiness wash over her. That was the second time she saw Boromir entranced by the ring. She had heard at the council that the ring had a master, and that the ring would only 'answer' to that one master. They were talking about the ring as if it could think and plan like a living creature. She had just witnessed how the ring could tempt people. She didn't know what she would do in a situation like that, and she didn't want to know.
'And before I had been thinking that rain would be miserable,' Tammy thought as she struggled on through the snow. She was freezing. The snowstorm just wouldn't let up.
She looked over at Legolas, who was effortlessly walking on top of the snow. 'How can he do that?' Tammy thought.
Legolas quickly walked in front of everyone else when his elf ears picked up a sound. "There is a fell voice on the air."
They were all listening and found that to be true.
"It's Sauruman!" Gandalf yelled.
Immediately after Gandalf spoke, they all heard a loud crack and moved out of the way. Large boulders had begun to fall down. Everyone stayed close to the walls of the mountain until the boulders crashed down onto the edge and continued to fall down the mountain.
"He is trying to bring down the mountain!" Aragorn yelled to be heard over the wind. "Gandalf, we must turn back!"
"No," Gandalf said, stubbornly shaking his head. He turned around and moved forward, beginning to chant something. "Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!"
Lightning struck the mountain causing an avalanche. Everyone looked up, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they were covered with snow.
It took a moment after the snow hit her for her to start reacting. She quickly started struggling to find a way out of the snow. After a few seconds, her hand broke through the surface. Using all of the strength she had, she pulled herself up out of the snow.
Moments later, everyone had surfaced.
"We must get off the mountain!" Boromir stated. "Make for the gap of Rohan or take the west road to my city!"
"The gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn declared.
"We cannot go over the mountain," Gimli began. "Let us go under it. Let us go through the mines of Moria."
Gandalf stood there, lost in thought. He was not sure what they should do. He, himself, knew what was lurking in the mines. He did not want to venture there unless they had no other choice. At this point, he wasn't sure what would be best for the fellowship.
"Let the ring bearer decide," he finally said.
Frodo looked around, contemplating what his decision should be.
"We cannot stay here! This will be the death of the hobbits!" Boromir pointed out.
"Frodo?" Gandalf questioned.
Coming to a decision, Frodo replied, "We will go through the mines."
"So be it," Gandalf said after a short pause.
With that, the fellowship made its way back down the mountain.
"Tammy," Pippin said.
Tammy turned around to see Merry, Pippin, and Sam walking together. She paused for a second to allow for them to catch up, so that the four of them could walk together.
"What is it like...having dreams that come true?" Pippin inquired.
"Well," Tammy began, "it was weird at first, but after a while, I just got used to it."
"Before, you said that your parents did not believe that you had this gift. How could your parents doubt you?" Sam asked.
Tammy sighed. She didn't like keeping a secret like this from her parents, but she felt like she had no choice. "Where I come from, most people aren't quite as believing about things like this. Most people figure that if someone claims to have seen, heard, or be something out of the ordinary, it is automatically assumed that that person is mentally insane. My parents are probably as skeptic as you can get."
"Why do you not just prove it to them, like you did last night?" Merry suggested.
"Because it's not that easy. If it was, they would know by now."
"The walls of Moria," the four of them heard Gimli say.
Everyone stopped and looked. Before them was a long, tall wall of solid rock. After a moment of looking on, the fellowship proceeded to move forward, towards the mines.
When the fellowship reached the wall, Gimli started gently hitting his axe against it. "Dwarf doors are invisible when closed."
"Ask Gimli. Even their own masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten," Gandalf added.
Seizing an opportunity to insert sarcasm against dwarves, Legolas said, "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
Hearing that remark, Tammy stifled her chuckle. She didn't know much about elves and dwarves, but from the time she first encountered the two together 'til now, it was obvious that elves and dwarves didn't get along. At this point, Legolas and Gimli merely put up with each other due to the need to.
Gandalf continued to search the wall for signs of the door. After mumbling to himself, he looked up, and the clouds covering the moon moved out of the way.
Suddenly, a beautiful arch appeared on the rock wall. The arch resembled a gate of some sort. There was writing on the upper part of it in some foreign language. The outline was a brilliant white. There was an outline of what looked like two pillars with vines winding around them.
"It reads: The doors of Durin, lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter," Gandalf stated.
"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked.
Gandalf turned around to reply to Merry. "Well, it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." After this, he turned back around to face the door once again.
"Annon Edhellen edro hi amen," Gandalf said. When this didn't work, he tried something else. "Fennas Nogothrim lasto beth lammen."
"Nothing's happening," Pippin stated the obvious.
Gandalf went forward and started pushing against the door in an attempt to get it to open, but to no avail. "I once knew every spell in the tongue of elves and men and orcs."
After a slight pause, Pippin asked, "What are you going to do then?"
"Knock your head against these doors, Peregrin Took, and if that does not shatter them, then at least I will be at peace from foolish questions. I am trying to find the opening words," he said in frustration. Then, he went back to trying to find the password.
Things went on like this for a while. Everyone found a way to get comfortable and pass the time. Some chose to remain standing. Others chose to sit. Merry and Pippin took up skidding rocks across the water, that is until Aragorn stopped them.
After what seemed like hours, Gandalf gave up. "This is useless," he grumbled as he threw his staff down.
A few moments later, Frodo stood up. "It is a riddle...speak friend and enter. Gandalf, what is the elvish word for friend?"
"Mellon."
Finally, the doors opened. The fellowship made their way into the mines of Moria, with Gimli rambling on. "Soon, master elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves," he began. "Roaring fires, malt beers, ripe meat off the bone. This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin, and they call it a mine...a mine!"
As he was talking, Gandalf lit his staff so that they could see better.
Boromir looked around. "This is no mine. It's a tomb."
Tammy looked around in disgust. There were skeletons everywhere. Cobwebs and or spider webs were present on all of the corpses. She looked away from the grotesque sight.
"Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!" Gimli screamed in horror.
Legolas stooped down to get a closer look at one of the corpses. He took an arrow out of it. After quickly examining the arrow, he threw it on the ground. "Goblins," he stated with distain.
"We make for the gap of Rohan," Boromir said. "We should never have come here. Now, get out. Get out!"
Before anyone could make a move to get out of there, a tentacle came from out of the water, wrapped around Frodo's feet, and began pulling him towards the water. Merry, Pippin, and Sam were the only ones to notice it, for they had been standing next to him.
"Strider!" Sam yelled. He went forward and started hitting the tentacle with his sword. After a few attempts, he cut the tentacle, freeing Frodo.
Then, numerous tentacles surged out from the water and knocked the hobbits, except for Frodo, out of the way. Once this was accomplished, the tentacles reached for Frodo once more, this time lifting him up into the air.
Legolas shot an arrow at the watcher. The arrow went soaring through the air, and hit one of the many tentacles.
Aragorn and Boromir ran out into the water, swinging at tentacles as they went along.
The watcher's head came out of the water, opening its mouth. The creature was enormous. Between the creature's powerful tentacles and its monstrous head, it was like something straight out of a nightmare.
Frodo started screaming in horror as the tentacles brought him closer to the creature's wide-open mouth.
Aragorn swung his sword at the tentacle that was holding Frodo, cutting the tentacle and forcing the watcher to release Frodo. Boromir swiftly moved in to catch him.
"Into the mines!" Gandalf ordered.
With that, Aragorn and Boromir, who was now carrying Frodo, ran out of the water. Once they were out of the water, Boromir set Frodo down.
Legolas shot one more arrow at the watcher in an attempt to delay the watcher's movement for a slight period of time. Afterward, he, Aragorn, Boromir, and Frodo sprinted back to the mines.
The watcher swarmed forward and attempted to enter the mines. In the process, it caused the entrance to cave in. The fellowship was trapped inside.
It was pitch black. No one could see anything. This just added to the fear that had enveloped the fellowship.
"We now have but one choice," Gandalf began, lighting his staff once again. "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."
Everyone moved forward, towards the stairs. "Quietly now," Gandalf continued. "It is a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."
"It has been a long day's journey. We shall rest here for the night," Gandalf replied.
After building a small fire for warmth, the fellowship settled down for the night.
Tammy laid down on the blanket she had been given back in Rivendell and got in the most comfortable position she could manage. In a matter of minutes, she was asleep.
The fellowship was racing across a thin bridge. There wasn't much time. They were being followed.
Once the Gandalf was about half of the way across, he stopped and turned around to face the creature that was pursuing them.
The creature was surrounded in flame. It had long black horns that curved out from its forehead. It carried a sword and a whip.
"You shall not pass," Gandalf said, raising his sword and staff before him. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. Dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn."
A strange white glow surrounded Gandalf. The creature stepped forward, raising its sword. As the sword made contact with the white force field, sparks flew. The sword was repelled away.
"Go back to the shadow." The creature swung its whip out to the side. Gandalf raised his sword and staff together. "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!" With that, he brought his sword and staff down, hitting them against the bridge.
The creature moved forward, ignoring Gandalf. Once it stepped onto the bridge, the bridge crumbled out from under it.
Gandalf stood his ground, not moving until the creature had fallen into the abyss. Once he was sure that all was well, he turned around and began walking away, towards the fellowship that was awaiting him on the other side.
Before he got far, the creature's fiery whip lashed out and wrapped around Gandalf's feet, pulling him backwards and over the edge of the bridge.
For a few moments, Gandalf struggled to climb back onto the bridge. With the realization that he couldn't make it, he looked up at the fellowship. "Fly, you fools," he said.
He then let go, falling into the abyss with the creature.
"Tammy," Aragorn said, shaking Tammy awake.
She shot up and looked up at Aragorn.
"It is time to move on," he said.
Tammy got up and gathered her things.
As she hurried to follow the rest of the fellowship, she couldn't shake the uneasiness that was caused by the dream vision she had. It wasn't even so much what happened in the dream that unnerved her. The thing that upset her the most was the vibe the dream gave her.
All of her dreams give off vibes. These vibes are how she determines whether the event needs to be prevented or if it has to happen. The strength of the vibe varies from dream to dream.
The thing that caused her uneasiness was that the dream gave off a strong vibe...a strong vibe telling her that it had to happen...a vibe telling her that she had to stand by and do nothing.
It was imperative that she listened to her dreams' instructions at all times. If she didn't...well...let's just say that things would get worse...a lot worse.
A/N: Well, that's it for chapter six. Hope you liked it! I will try to have the next chapter up next week. If not, it will be shortly thereafter.