Chapter 6
The Fellowship of ten had two days to make their final preparations for the trek to Mordor; dried, jarred, and otherwise preserved foods were stored, weapons were sharpened and tested, spare clothes were packed, and everyone had the chance to get to learn about each other. Sierra first learned the name of the elf she'd befriended: Legolas, a name meaning "Greenleaf" in Elvish, and he was indeed of a princely manner, the son of King Thranduil of the forest of Mirkwood. She'd gotten to know Gimli the dwarf too, he was hot-headed and gruff, but was somewhat glad to have Frodo, the other hobbits, and Sierra traveling along; it made him feel taller being nearer Sierra's height than the hobbits'. Sierra even confronted Aragorn about his alias and why he hid who he was; she never got a straight answer, but affirmed he was still someone she needed to and could trust. Boromir, however, was a different story entirely; he seemed to have a quiet disdain for everyone on the mission, especially Sierra, deeming her 'useful to cook and clean' and being a 'hindrance' to their quest because she was female. Sierra would have to try really hard to find a reason to trust the man already swayed by the Ring and bearing very sexist values.
At pre-dawn on the third day, they all began to assemble at a gate of Rivendell with Bill, the faithful stallion and Sierra's favorite pony of any she'd ever met. The hobbits, Sierra, and Gandalf had already bid their farewells to Bilbo Baggins and, if you glanced up and to the right, the party would have seen the old hobbit watching over them from a balcony high above. Many of the elves had gathered at this gate with Elrond standing before them all, preparing to send them off.
"The ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom." He stated, "On you who travel with him, no oath nor bond is laid to go further than you will." Sierra determined he'd meant there was honor in their endeavor and no shame in retreat. She was determined, though, to see this to its end. "Farewell. Hold to your purpose. May the blessings of Elves and Men and all free folk go with you."
"The Fellowship awaits the ring-bearer." Gandalf called softly, summoning Frodo. The dark-haired hobbit turned towards the Fellowship and led the way out of the gate, a determined and worried expression on his face.
"Mordor, Gandalf," Frodo whispered, quiet enough for most to miss, "is it left or right?"
"Left." Gandalf assured, and the small hobbit led the way. Gandalf took second, Gimli third, then Boromir, Pippin, Merry, Sierra, Legolas, and Sam who guided Bill; the small horse bore much of their gear and was intended to for as far as he would go. Aragorn was last and paused to cast a sad glance back at the assembled elves, Arwen in particular, before following the other nine. In her time in Rivendell, Sierra learned of the devotion Arwen and Aragorn shared; it seemed a tragically romantic story out of a book to her.
The party ventured far in their first few days, going from the forests of Rivendell to the rocky dry hills peppered with ruined forts and watchtowers, many hundreds or even thousands of years old. The arrangement of people in the train they travelled in changed often, though Aragorn kept to the rear and Frodo stood with Gandalf at the head. Their only stops so far had been for meals and sleep, but they slept fairly well and ate decently, what with the hobbits and dwarf sharing a love of good, belly-filling food and sleep. When they stopped, Boromir, Aragorn, and Legolas had taken to teaching the hobbits and Sierra how to better attack and defend with their blades and how to use a bow. It was during one stop along the Misty Mountains where Boromir was teaching Pippin and Merry some sparring while Aragorn watched and Frodo ate with Sam. Gandalf watched over them towards the west while Legolas watched the north, Gimli the south, and Sierra the east, though really her view was just of the western side of the Misty Mountains, from a stone perch a several feet above them.
"If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note they're not," Gimli remarked from his spot, "I'd say we were taking the long way 'round." He turned to face the wizard, "Gandalf, we could pass through the mines of Moria. My cousin Balin'll give us a royal welcome." Sierra then turned on her perch to look at Gimli. She'd remembered Bilbo's dragon story and particularly the names of the many dwarves he'd traveled with.
"What is he like Gimli?" Sierra asked, "Him and Gloin and all the others. Bilbo's only told me of his adventure and not too much about the dwarves in particular."
"Oh, Balin is right jolly!" Gimli answered cheerily, looking up at the lone female of the group, "Thin as a rail as dwarves go, but he's got a beard as thick an' wild as Gandalf's. Heh, an' twice as white! Ain't no dwarf ruled Moria half as kind and firm as he! Made it a right palace he did." Indeed, he seemed a charmer, "Now, as for my father Gloin-"
"Forgive the interruption, but no, Gimli. I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice." Gandalf interrupted, drawing the dwarf's, elf's, and woman's attentions. There must have been something serious about the mines to make Gandalf think twice about entering. After his remark, Legolas changed his perch to face the south and took hold of his bow. Gandalf, Sierra, and Gimli watched the elf and waited to see if he'd sensed anything off while the two men and two troublemaking hobbits were blissfully unaware. Sierra then looked to the south and squinted her eyes, shielding them from the sunlight with her right hand.
"There's a dark shape out there." she said, loud enough to be heard by the other watchmen and Sam.
"What is that?" the large hobbit asked, seeing the same shape.
"Nothing, it's just a wisp of cloud." Gimli commented.
"It's moving fast," Boromir added, "and against the wind."
"It looks like a flock of birds to me." Sierra clarified.
"Crebain! From Dunland!" Legolas warned.
"Hide!" Aragorn commanded. She didn't know what crebain were, but judging by how everyone seemed frantic to hide, she wasn't about to sit around and find out. Sierra quickly scrambled from her perch and hurried into a thick shrub where she found Legolas already hidden, his bow in hand and eyes on the sky. Sierra sat crouched beside him, her knives drawn and adrenaline pulsing as she watched the flock of black birds. They screeched and cawed loud above the hidden party before wheeling around and flying off again. When they had gone, the party came out of hiding.
"Spies of Saruman." Gandalf surmised. Sierra scowled. Not long into their stay in Rivendell, Gandalf confided why he had been delayed: his mentor Saruman, a white wizard, had allowed his mind to be poisoned by Sauron's evil and now played a spy and general in his dark master's bidding. "The passage south is being watched." Everyone gathered around their guide. "We must take the pass of Caradhras."
Sierra hated snow. Not flurries or few-inch-deep drifts, those were fun, but waist-deep and even knee-deep drifts infuriated her. With her small feet, she had to walk especially careful over the snow and relied on her companions when she found herself stuck. She wondered how the horse didn't fall stomach-deep into these drifts. The hobbits, on the other hand, had no trouble at all, their proportionally large feet acting as snowshoes. Tired from the already long trek, Frodo slipped and tumbled a short ways down the mountain where Aragorn caught and righted him. The party paused to wait for the ring-bearer to get back in the thick of the group and noticed he was frantically patting his chest.
'The Ring!' Sierra thought, glancing around for it. Another had found the trinket in the snow, Boromir. Everyone watched cautiously as the man studied the Ring at the center of a silver chain, waiting to see what he decided to do.
"Boromir." Aragorn called. The man of Gondor did not respond immediately.
"It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt of so small a thing…" Boromir half-murmured, his eyes intent on the golden ring, "Such a little thing…" His hand rose toward it.
"Boromir!" Aragorn called again. Boromir seemed to snap out of his reverie, "Give the Ring to Frodo." He seemed torn a moment, but managed to will himself to step forward and hold out the ring to the hobbit.
"As you wish," The troupe relaxed when they saw the fair-haired man relinquish the Ring to its bearer, "I care not." Frodo held the Ring close, worried of Boromir. The man ruffled his hair playfully before turning and marching back to the group. With cautious glances all round, the Fellowship continued on their way through the snowy mountain pass. Hours passed and a blizzard had set in over the travelers as they traversed a winding, precarious path along the mountainside. Gandalf led the way, carving out a path for the others with his staff. Sierra found herself blinded by the snow and pain incited by the cold and so held on to the cloak, shirt, or belt of whomever stood in front of her, at this moment it was Gimli and behind her the trusted bag-pony, Bill's reins held tight in her hand. The hobbits' feet were spared walking on the cold snow and were carried by Boromir and Aragorn, using their cloaks to shield them further.
"I HATE BLIZZARDS!" Sierra called over the winds. The hobbits all shouted in agreement, even quiet Frodo joined in. She didn't understand how Legolas could withstand the cold in his light traveling gear, and especially wondered how he was able to stand atop the delicate snowdrifts. 'Elven magic.' She surmised, bracing herself against another fierce wind. Suddenly the elf stepped ahead and looked around, something was coming.
"There is a fell voice on the air." The elf said loudly.
"It's Saruman!" Gandalf shouted, just as boulders splintered from above the group. They braced against the wall of the mountain and the boulders luckily passed them all safely.
"He's trying to bring down the mountain!" Aragorn shouted, "Gandalf! We must turn back!" Sierra agreed. Being on a mountain was scary enough, a blizzard mountain even worse, but a blizzard mountain that was being collapsed by an evil wizard far away? They had to go back.
"No!" Gandalf shouted. Sierra silently cursed the old man's stubbornness. He got above the drift with Legolas and shouted a counterspell into the wind. But Saruman was too strong and the counterspell too late. The storm grew more vicious around them and suddenly lightning reached from the thick coulds above and struck a shelf of snow high above the party. Everyone whipped their head up and braced themselves as the snow came down. Sierra lost a grip on Gimli when the horse frightened and then lost the reins immediately after. Sierra threw her arms above and forward of her face and braced.
It was suddenly silent in her snowy prison, the only noise the buffeting wind on the outside and the heavily muffled sounds of people struggling. Hastily and carefully, Sierra cleared the snow around her head and chest, giving herself room to breathe before scratching at and reaching out of the snow above her. Suddenly a gloved hand grabbed hers and her second hand flew up to grip the man's forearm. The hand belonged to Legolas, the first who freed himself from the snow, and he pulled hard to free his female companion. When her head was free, Legolas moved to help another and she struggled and squirmed out of the snow and then scrambled to free Bill's head. Thankfully, the horse's frantic and strong scrambling had loosened the snow and Sierra released its head, immediately petting the long face and muttering words of praise and comfort to the animal.
"We must get off the mountain!" Boromir shouted, "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 warned.
"Saruman will kill us all if we don't do something!" Sierra added, digging Bill free with Gimli's help.
"We cannot pass over the mountain," Gimli said, "let us go under it! Let us go through the mines of Moria!" Gandalf paused, thinking hard about what he needed to do. For the Ring. For the Fellowship.
"Let the ring-bearer decide." The wizard replied. Sierra trusted Frodo to take whatever route he felt best, as did the others. So they waited for his answer.
"We cannot stay here!" Boromir called, another harsh wind beating at the weary group, "This will be the death of the hobbits!" Indeed, Sierra was freezing but imagined the hobbits were running the risk of frostbite and hypothermia with their bared feet and small bodies. The wizard prompted Frodo for his answer.
"We will go through the mines." Frodo finally answered. With that decided, Legolas proceeded to the back, now the front, of the train and Gandalf did too, again taking the time to plow open a path for the Fellowship. Sierra took hold of the pony's reins again and pulled the still frightened beast along behind Gandalf while the others followed. Sierra was more than elated to get off the mountain.
It was dark, both from cloud cover and by the setting of the sun, when they had gotten off the pass and traversed a rocky pathway; what appeared to be a large, broken, stone bridge loomed high above them. Gandalf and Frodo shared a private conversation and the others caught up around them. When Gimli crested the small ridge they travelled along, he remarked with awe, "the walls of Moria." Though, to any normal man and Sierra, it was merely an almost vertical rock face. As they traveled along to where Gandalf and Gimli estimated the door to be, Sierra turned and spoke to the dwarf.
"How can you be sure this is Moria? I mean no offense, but it just looks like a rock wall to me." She asked the dwarf, genuinely curious.
"Been here many times, lass, and I know the door's along this wall somewhere. Dwarf walls are invisible when closed." He commented, tapping the stone with his axe.
"Yes Gimli," Gandalf added, "Even their own masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten." It made perfect sense to Sierra. Often when she needed a password to access a website back home, if it wasn't one she commonly used or had written down somewhere she would not remember it and would be denied access.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas asked flatly, causing Gimli to grumble. Sierra scrunched up her face and jabbed an elbow into the elf's side, the age old way to tell people to shut their mouths when they say something stupid. Legolas looked questioningly down at her angered face and rubbed his now sore side tenderly, deciding against continuing to antagonize the dwarf. Frodo stumbled and his foot slid into the still water on the right of their path. He was fine, but the water had startled him and the environment had him wary.
Gandalf moved to one particular section of wall and felt around, finding the indentations and murmuring to himself, he turned around and looked up at the sky. Sierra could only catch the last of his mumblings: "…it mirrors only starlight and moonlight…" As if by his bidding, the clouds parted and the full moon shown through to light the wall; they were all gladdened by the appearance of the white sphere, both for its added light and its effect on the doorway.
"Wow." Sierra murmured as the indents lit up to reveal an intricately patterned door.
"It reads: 'The doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter.'" Gandalf translated.
"What d'you s'pose that means?" asked Pippin.
"Oh, it's quite simple," Gandalf replied, "if you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." The wizard placed his staff at the star design in the middle of the door and spoke an elaborate password. Everyone waited excitedly…and waited…and waited. The door did nothing. Gandalf stepped back and tried another detailed password. Still, nothing.
"Nothin's happenin'." Pippin pointed out. Gandalf proceeded to try to push at the door to open it, but it held firm and didn't budge.
"I once knew every spell in all the tomes of elves..." Gandalf murmured, quietly trailing off. Sierra wished she could help the old man, but the best she could do was stare at the elaborate Elvish writing atop the door. She entertained the idea of shouting 'Open Sesame!' and seeing if that would have worked, but put the thought out with a smothered snort of a chuckle.
"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asked.
"Knock your head against these doors, Peregrin Took." Gandalf snapped in frustration, "And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words." He seemed back to the kindly old wizard he portrayed then, but Pippin, properly chastised, got the message and promptly shut his mouth for some time.
"We should take the time to rest and think of another path, just in case this one doesn't pan out." Everyone agreed while Gandalf continued attempting to open the wall. Gimli took to sharpening his axe blade while Boromir and Sam were brushing Bill down after the long day. Aragorn was off to the side, thinking as he usually did, Frodo sat on a boulder near the door and helped Gandalf brainstorm a password. Merry and Pippin had taken to sitting by the eerily still water and lastly, Legolas came to take a seat on a boulder beside Sierra on the opposite side of the door opening as the boulder Frodo sat on.
"Mines are no place for a pony." Boromir murmured, "Even one so brave as Bill." Sam murmured a goodbye to the pony as he removed the bridle and Boromir gave the pony a gentle push, "Go on, Bill. Go on. Don't worry Sam, he knows the way home." Sierra turned and looked after Bill as he walked off. She would miss him.
"What did you mean when you said 'pan out'?" the elf eventually asked her.
"Well, 'Pan out' as in the action of panning. Like panning for gold." She explained to the elf. Legolas stared back blankly. "Are you telling me you have no idea what panning is? How old are you, Legolas?" Sheepishly, Legolas cleared his throat and looked away. "Okay, I'll make it simple," he looked back at the human woman, "people would take shallow metal trays or bowls, they were called 'pans', and would go to mountain streams or rivers and sift through the wet silt along the edge until metals like gold or silver appeared in the pan. If the act was successful it had 'panned out'. It was a common way to find potential mining locations a long time ago back home and became a turn of phrase."
"Aye," Gimli confirmed from his place a few feet away, scraping a whetstone along his axe blade, making a smooth metallic scraping noise, "Dwarves of old would pan sometimes to check their mines for when to stay an' when to move on." He barked a laugh, "Though, dwarves would have to dig far longer than elves have been around to know when to give up."
"And where is home? Bag End in Hobbiton?" Legolas prompted. Sierra paused, thinking of how much she wanted to tell the elf.
"Well, my first home is what I'm talking about. I mean, Hobbiton is home, but…I'm talking about my…my first home." Sierra clarified, "A long, long ways away in a town called Carson City. I don't think hobbits or dwarves or even elves have ever been there or heard of it. I'm even named for the mountains in that area: the 'Sierra Nevadas'. Along time ago there was a mining boom there, especially in California." Legolas cast her a questioning look, "It's the name of a territory in my country. Anyway, California had become known for its gold veins and Nevada, another territory immediately next to California, had become known for its silver. Panning was just an old way of finding valuable deposits before people began to develop more refined techniques for finding them."
"Well, you are right. I have not heard of that place. Nor of 'panning' before today." Legolas admitted.
"Ha ha!" Gimli barked a laugh, "The wee lass knows more of Dwarven arts than the immortal elves! Take that, pointy-ears!" Legolas gave him a deadpan stare while Sierra tried to stifle a laugh. Quiet then assumed its place among the Fellowship, that is, it was quiet until there was a loud 'plunk' of a rock being thrown into water. Merry and Pippin had taken to tossing rocks into the water to entertain themselves. Aragorn quickly stopped them and murmured an ominous warning.
"Do not disturb the water." A chill ran along Sierra's spine and the creepy atmosphere had become even more disturbing. Gandalf soon gave up on the door, deflated and murmuring that he had no idea how to open it. He tossed down his staff and took off his pointed hat; he looked more weary than Sierra had seen since the day of the council. Boromir came up beside Aragorn and stared out into the water, the ripples from Merry and Pippin's stones still reverberating. Frodo then stood up and looked thoughtfully at the door.
"It's a riddle…" he surmised, Sierra all but jumped when she saw something in the water move, "Speak friend and enter…what's the Elvish word for friend?" Sierra turned to look at the hobbit and wizard as another ripple appeared in the water. Something was in that water.
"Uh, Gandalf…" She started, Legolas and Gimli were standing now and staring warily at the once calm waters.
"Mellon." Gandalf answered Frodo, and suddenly the doors creaked open. So the door wasn't just saying the rules to the password, but it was a command. "Oho!" Gandalf exclaimed, happy that the door had opened at last. Everyone started to file in, but Legolas, the three humans, and Merry and Pippin kept glancing back at the water nervously. Sierra especially was happy to get away, she was growing a fearful distrust of this particular body of water.
And that makes six chapters.
I'm wondering if I should break up the full story as was done originally: one story, then another, then another. Or maybe I should have it all consolidated into one huge story. I'll figure it out eventually.
.-.-. News Update .-.-.
I currently have my computer back and I will proceed with these chapters as scheduled. My apologies for the delayed update, my internet went out before I could upload the chapter.
If you ever EVER want to keep your data backed up without worry, I suggest you go with Carbonite. I did lose the changes I had made on the day of my computer crash, but this is a far better situation than if I had lost my writing entirely. Carbonite is my hero and I highly recommend trying it out if you want your information safe and secure.
