It didn't take long for spirits to flag. Gimli and the wizard just stared at the wall while Legolas and Aragorn took up watch with their bows. The hobbits meanwhile were hard at work cooking up eggs and greens that they'd foraged along the way. Drizzt had to appreciate the halflings' dedication to food in times like this. So like the rothe cattle of the Underdark, capable of maintaining their appetite even when a dozen predators were right around the corner. She was tempted to tell them to pack it up and start fortifying the camp against biting beasts but it smelled too good to stop them now. At least there was one good thing about the condescension she suffered from all the men, they always fed her first for some reason.

She nearly jumped out of her seat as Boromir sat down beside her. She knew she'd forgotten one of them. He was strangely good at sneaking up on people. He spent so much of his time blustering and stinking of spirits and trampling around like a blind troll that when he actually tried to be silent he was difficult to notice.

Instead of jumping she settled for pulling her blanket-cloak around her front. His eyes had a habit of drifting to her chest for some reason that sort of creeped her out. He was a nice fellow though if she ignored his faults and general Mannishness and they'd talked together a decent amount over the course of the journey.

"Not going to give it a try?" he asked in Sindarin, gesturing towards the supposed dwarf doors.

"Soon," replied Drizzt. "I'm still warming up." She wasn't too confident she'd find anything though. Nearly all drow had some ability for magic and she'd had more natural talent than most but stone wasn't her specialty. Drow tended towards fire, poison, and demonic magic more than anything else. Picking up a bit of faded stone magic that was designed to be subtle in the first place was far beyond her abilities without a ton of luck.

"You can sit on my lap to warm up if you like," he said with a smile.

Drizzt was tempted. It'd been a while since she was truly warm and in this area the fetid pond would cover the human's body odor. But she shook her head instead. Surface dwellers were far more gregarious than drow but his offer still felt like a trap somehow.

Moonlight broke through the clouds, white patterns painting over the cliffside in the shape of giant doors. 'At least we're actually in the right place,' thought Drizzt.

"Look at that!" shouted Merry. He led the rush to reexamine the doors but the others were close behind. Soon only Drizzt and Sam lay behind, Sam continuing to tend the cooking meal. The minor display of magic had everyone alert again but the fervor faded until as the doors failed to immediately open wide

"Look up, Gandalf. There's a phrase," said Frodo.

Gandalf spoke slowly as he translated the Quenya phrase. "Speak friend, and enter." He stood taller, confidence rising. "It's simple, we just have to say the password and the door will open."

Drizzt wondered if anyone else had the same sinking feeling she did upon hearing the wizard's confidence. If they didn't, the next hour of Gandalf grumbling words in various languages was enough to dull their optimism.

The hobbits had produced their second round of meals, one plate of which rested on her lap. She picked at the meal, not particularly hungry. It was tasty though in small amounts, and spicy enough to cover some of the stink from the pool. Most of her attention was not on the food but the patch of pine trees a couple hundred meters away. Arwen's eyes weren't as good as her drow eyes had been in the darkness but they were still keen enough to spot movement at the edge of the woods. She wondered what they were waiting for. Trying to build up the courage to go against the keen arrows of the archer trio? Or perhaps they were simply waiting for reinforcements.

Plip plip pllongk.

"Ha, beat that Pippin," said Merry. Drizzt was only half done with her smaller portion but it seemed the hobbits were already done and back to play. She couldn't deny that the game was a little neat though. She'd never seen a rock skip atop water like that, never even considered that it was a possibility. Was this yet another strange activity of surface dwellers or something unique to hobbits?

"Three skips? You're making it too easy," said Pippin. He hurled a rock out over the pond with loud grunt of exertion.

Plonk.

"My hand slipped, I'm doing it again," cried Pippin.

"Quiet!" said Aragorn. "Do you want to bring a horde of orcs down on us?"

"Let the hobbits have their fun," said Drizzt. "We're already being watched."

"What?" said Boromir.

"For over an hour now. Legolas sees them too, no?"

"Yes," said Legolas reluctantly. "I didn't want to alarm anyone."

"You should have told us immediately!" said Boromir, standing nearly chest to chest with Legolas. "Now we're surrounded."

"Well I didn't expect it to take so long to open the door. But I guess I should have expected as much of dwarven hospitality."

"Now look here laddie," said Gimli, rising from his seat on a stone.

Drizzt tuned out the rest. The stretch as she bent over for a rock felt good, revealing just how badly she was in need of exercise. As soon as they made it inside she was going to work on her fitness. For now though she was going to try this "rock skip" game of theirs.

The rock flew true, trajectory more akin to Merry's than Pippin's. Each skip filled her heart with excitement as it kept going and going.

Plip plip plip plip plll.

'Odd.' The last one sounded funny. Less like a rock falling into the deeps and more like it had just decided to sit there atop the water.

The mystery was solved as a great bulbous head lifted out of the water with the rock atop its head. 'What is that?' The eyes and the slimy exterior reminded her of illithids which immediately had her on guard. Not on guard enough though as a tentacle came shooting out of the water. She spun, trying to dart away, but her quickness worked against her. The overly long blanket she used as a cloak tripped up her feet and planted her face in the sand. She didn't stay eating sand long though before the slimy tentacle wrapped around her bare leg and dragged her skywards.

"Aiii!" she screamed, swinging like a rag doll as the beast carried her towards the center of the lake.