Fan Fiction ❯ Forget Me Not ❯ I Hate Walking ( Chapter 6 )

It has come to my attention that I hate walking. I absolutely hate it. Running is worse, but walking always will make me cringe from now on. Although, when you're walking to destroy some evil ring that will kill everyone in the world, walking seems less tedious. Wait, I meant more tedious…

 

Not that the scene around us wasn't spectacular. When we were treading through the grasslands there was a rock that looked scarily similar to Sam's potato-like head. I took the liberty of pointing it out to him. And though I still have the lump on my head and the scary thought that we are related carried around with me, it was definitely worth it.

 

The mountains looked too large to be real. I had never seen them before in my life and I couldn't help but stare. “We must hold to this course, west of the Misty Mountains, for forty days,” Gandalf interrupted my thoughts, making me jump and stop looking out at the mountain tops.

 

My brain caught up with what he had said. “Forty days?!” I squealed, almost fainting thinking about all the walking time. We had been walking in a line for what seemed like forever. Gandalf in the lead, then Legolas, Gimli, Frodo, Merry, Me, Pippin, Sam and the horse, Bill, Boromir, and last but not least, Aragorn. Pip and Merry laughed at me, succeeding in me giving them a double death glare.

 

On the other hand, Frodo smiled and gave me a long hug, whispering, “I'll carry you if need be.” I hugged him back gratefully and enjoyed the stares we were getting from Merry, Pippin and Sam. (Although Sam's stare was more of his own double death glare at the two of us…) (A/N: Ahh! That's so cute!!)

 

“If our luck holds,” Gandalf continued, ignoring everyone else, “The Gap of Rohan will still be open to us.” As Frodo let go, I hesitantly put my head on his shoulder, not sure when we'd have time to be close again after all the walking, because I knew I was going to collapse after that and not be able to remember being close to him.

 

*=*=*

 

After several gruesome hours of constantly being on my feet, we finally stopped to rest on some huge rocks and bushes. Sam, of course, immediately started cooking varied meats and vegetables. From somewhere in his hulking bag he produced several loaves of bread and a skillet.

 

I stared at him wordlessly, my mouth hung open in amazement. I turned to Frodo, who was sitting right next to me, and said, “Where does he keep it all?” Frodo looked to where I was pointing and laughed shortly.

 

“Want to see something even scarier?” He asked, turning back around. “Take a look at Merry and Pip.” I gazed down at them, lifting high their swords as Boromir tried to teach them how to hold it right. Aragorn sat close by, smoking his pipe calmly.

 

“Oh no…” I thought aloud. “Someone's got to put a stop to this…” Frodo laughed as I hopped down from the rock and sat closer to watch Pippin and Merry screw up.

 

“Two, one, five,” Boromir called out, watching the two show him the moves that he had just taught them twenty minutes ago. “Good! Very good…” He started to fight one-on-one with Pip. Pippin frowned in concentration, his eyes flickering over to where I was every few moments. “Move your feet!” Boromir commanded and Pip moved to not get trampled over.

 

“You look good, Pippin.” Merry remarked, sounding surprised. I smiled despite myself. Pip did look a little…different fighting like that.

 

`No! Stop that!' I scolded my mind. `You're in love with Frodo….repeat after me…You're in love with Frodo…' Where were these new feelings popping up from?

 

“Thanks!” Pippin smiled. I laughed at him and I swore I saw his eyes flicker toward me, but I threw the thought away and told myself that it was just the sun playing tricks on me.

 

“Faster!” Boromir shouted, switching to Merry. Merry jumped back a bit, unprepared for the attack.

 

I heard laughing from above. I looked up and saw Sam and Frodo eating and watching the swordplay. Well, Sam was eating, but Frodo was staring at me. I smiled and winked. He grinned back and pointed with his fork at his plate, indicating that he had some food left over. Never a hobbit to pass up food, I scrambled back on top of the rock and sat next to him, using my fingers to eat the rest of his food.

 

“Hey! Don't take all of it!” He objected and we fought over the plate, laughing like two little children. It was fun until the plate slipped out of our hands (Because of all the grease; I keep telling Sam not to cook such fatty foods, but does he listen to me? Noo…) and fell onto the rock, cracking in two, and slid down into the bushes. Frodo and I looked at each other in shock for a few moments, and then slowly turned around to face Sam.

 

Sam looked livid; his face was bight red and veins were popping out on his neck. “Uh…Sammy?” I asked cautiously, using his old nickname so that he wouldn't get too mad and go on a psycho rampage and kill us all. He glanced up from the spot where the plate fell.

 

“Please don't be mad, it was all Miriam's fault.” Frodo told him. I elbowed him in the stomach and we both tried hard not to laugh. Sam said nothing, but stood up and went down to retrieve the platter. We waited until he was out of earshot and then burst out laughing.

 

“Did you see his face?!” I cried, wiping tears from my eyes. Frodo was unable to say anything; he was laughing too hard.

 

“If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note they're not,” Gimli's voice carried over to where we were. I looked up and saw that he was standing on top of a higher rock, looking out into the distance. Legolas was opposite him, on another rock, looking the other way. Gandalf was sitting on a rock, smoking his pipe, between them.

 

I cocked my head sideways. “I didn't know that there was a rivalry between dwarves and elves.” Frodo gave me a look and started to giggle. “What?” I asked, not knowing that I said something plainly obvious.

 

“Nothing,” He said. I elbowed him in the stomach again, which only made him laugh harder. “You're so naive!” he finally sputtered. He smiled and ruffled my hair.

 

“Hey!” I cried out. “I'm not that much younger than you! Don't treat me like a child!” He rolled his eyes at me.

 

“If you two would stop flirting,” Sam said, climbing back onto the rock. What he was going to say next however, was cut off by Gimli.

 

“I'd say we were taking the long way `round.” Gandalf just glanced at him. “Gandalf,” Gimli continued, walking over to where he was sitting. “We could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin, Balin, would give us a royal welcome.” We waited eagerly for an answer.

 

Gandalf puffed on his pipe for a moment before telling him, “No, I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice.” Out of all of us, he seemed the most wary of our journey. Legolas suddenly ran over to the other side, where Gimli was, and started to check if everything was alright over there.

 

There was a screech of pain from behind us and we turned around instantly, ready to tackle whatever it was. It was nothing to get excited about. Boromir had accidentally hit Pip's hand with his sword and was apologizing over and over again. Pippin held his hand like it was a deep wound, but I couldn't even see a scratch on it.

 

“Sorry!” Boromir said once again. In response, Pip kicked him as hard as he could and Boromir knelt over in semi-pain.

 

“Get him!” Merry shouted and he and Pippin both attacked Boromir, knocking him to the ground and tackling him, hitting him over and over again. Aragorn, who had been strangely silent through the whole display, chuckled a little, just enough that no one could hear him.

 

“For the Shire!” Merry yelled, still not letting up on beating Boromir up, even though he obviously wasn't getting hurt from their blows. Boromir tried to get up, but Pip held him to the ground.

 

“Hold him.” Pip said, having trouble holding him down now that Boromir wanted to get up. “Hold him down, Merry!” Boromir started to laugh at their attempts to hold him.

 

Aragorn, who, I guessed, had enough of the horseplay, stood up and tried to get Merry and Pip off Boromir. “Gentlemen, that's enough.” He said sternly, but Merry and Pip were never ones to follow orders. That was one of the reasons why they have never yet helped set out food for a gathering; they eat it all before anyone else can get to it.

 

Sensing that their fun might be over, Pip and Merry looked at each other, then both went for Aragorn's legs and flipped him over. Sam, Frodo and I couldn't stop laughing. I closed my eyes to make them stop tearing up.

 

“You've got my arm! You've got my arm!” I heard Pippin shouting, but I had no idea what was going on now. I was too busy trying to make my sides stop hurting.

 

Suddenly Sam stopped laughing. “What is that?” He said, and I opened my eyes. Coming our way quickly, there was something that looked like a black cloud.

 

Gimli was looking at it too. “Nothing,” He told Sam, “It's just a wisp of cloud.”

 

Merry, Pippin, Boromir, and Aragorn stopped fighting. “It's moving fast. Against the wind.” Boromir stated. We all stared at it.

 

When it was a little closer, Legolas instantly knew what it was. “Crebain from Dunland!” He yelled and we all looked at each other confused.

 

“Hide!” Aragorn shouted at us and suddenly there was a frenzy of panic and trying to grab everything in sight. Frodo grabbed the blankets and Sam stomped the fire out and took the food with him.

 

“Hurry!” Boromir yelled at us.

 

Aragorn came from nowhere and said, “Frodo! Take cover!” He quickly grabbed his sword while running toward some bigger rocks to get under. Frodo took my hand and pulled me under the rock with Sam and Aragorn.

 

There was a few seconds of silence and then they came very quickly. They were so fast that I couldn't tell whether they were birds or bats, but they swooped down and covered everything they could, making cawing noises the entire time. It looked as if it were pitch black while they flew by, because there were so many of them.

 

Then, just a quickly as they came, they were gone again. It was silent as if they hadn't even come. Everyone came out from their hiding places, scared to crawl out in case they really hadn't gone.

 

“Spies of Saruman,” Gandalf said, explaining. “The passage south is being watched. We must take the Pass of Caradhras.” He looked to the mountains and I suddenly had the feeling that I didn't pack enough blankets.

 

*=*=*

 

Let me tell you; walking is bad enough, but walking in the snow is even worse. Several times everyone tripped and fell a few feet backwards, making it practically impossible to walk more than a couple of feet at once.

 

Frodo, who was helping me stand after a nasty fall, didn't seem the same since Rivendell or that day on the rock. I hadn't seen him smile in such a long time; I had forgotten that he used to smile nonstop. We took a couple of steps, but almost instantly Frodo lost his footing and rolled down the hill towards Aragorn.

 

“Frodo!” I yelled, although I knew there was nothing that I could do to stop him. Luckily, Aragorn was there at the end of our long line to help him up. I scrambled down to where they were as the others watched what had happened. Aragorn and I tried to wipe the snow off of him as he felt around for the Ring that he had been keeping around his neck.

 

Frodo's actions became hurried and I noticed that the Ring had fallen off his neck. At the same time we both saw where it was and who was picking it up.

 

“Boromir.” Aragorn sternly told him as Boromir slowly lifted the necklace up to his eyes to stare at it.

 

The air seemed to become denser for some unknown reason. Boromir didn't heed Aragorn's request. “It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt…” Boromir stated, transfixed by the small thing that he held in his hand. “Over so small a thing.” His eyes never blinked nor wavered from the Ring. “Such a little thing.” His fingers were mere inches away from touching the Ring, and something about it made my spine tingle again. It was like the Ring had him under its spell.

 

“Boromir!” Aragorn said yet again, this time stronger. Boromir closed his eyes and snapped out of the faze that he was in and the air became colder again. “Give the Ring to Frodo.” Aragorn commanded. Boromir smiled coldly.

 

“As you wish,” He said reluctantly. He held the Ring out toward Frodo, but not so close that he could drop it into his hands. It was almost as if he didn't want Frodo to have it. Frodo snatched it from him forcefully. Boromir's grin became wider.

 

“I care not,” He said, ruffling Frodo's hair as if he were his beloved uncle. Slowly Boromir climbed back up, so not to fall back down again. Aragorn slowly let go of his sword, but I hadn't even seen him touch it before. Something was telling me that Boromir was to play a bigger role later on.

 

*=*=*

 

The snow got worse. Soon we were trapped on the mountain's ledge while the snow and debris flew everywhere. Also, because we were so short, the snow came up to our waists and was slowly climbing higher. And somewhere, although I thought I was going crazy, I could swear that I heard some sort of singing.

 

There was a great burst of lighting from above us. Without warning, the snow that was above us collapsed and fell right on top of our huddling group.

 

There was no air; I couldn't breathe. Every time that I tried to snow filled my mouth and nose and was slowly going to fill my lungs if Legolas hadn't pulled me out of it. “T-thank y-you,” I sputtered against the cold air while I tried to regain my strength back. Legolas smiled and nodded.

 

I looked around at the others who had just emerged from the snow. It wasn't easy; the wind was still blowing flakes into my eyes and I began to think that maybe it would have been easier to stay under the snow rather than in it. Everyone looked cold and wet and, if they were like me, hungry.

 

“We must get off the mountain!” I heard Boromir shout over the wind, although I had no clue to where he was. “Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the west road to my city!”

 

“The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!” I heard Aragorn yell from about right next to me. They were starting to argue again.

 

“If we cannot pass over the mountain,” Gimli added, “Let us go under it. Let us go through the Mines of Moria.” I swiveled around in the now chest-deep snow and saw Gandalf contemplating what to do.

 

He finally answered. “Let the ring-bearer decide.” Frodo, who was right next to me, stared at him in disbelief. I knew as well as he did that he didn't know what to do. Aragorn had his hand on his shoulder in comfort to tell him that he would always stick by him and Sam and I were trying to smile, but failing dismally.

 

“We cannot stay here!” Boromir called out again, telling us mentally that we needed to find a place to stay quickly, as if we already didn't know that. “This will be the death of the hobbits.” I saw Merry and Pippin standing with him, both as white as they had never been before. In my mind I knew that I looked that way too and it scared me.

 

“Frodo?” Gandalf said, almost inaudibly. I saw Frodo's lips tremble, though I'm not sure if it was because of the snow and cold or because he was making a decision that would affect all of our lives.

 

Frodo made up his mind. “We will go through the mines.” Gandalf seemed to be worried about this, and he was silent for a moment.

 

“So be it.”

 

*=*=*

 

Hours (Or was it days? I had soon lost track of the time…) later we were treading through a much warmer place. There was rock everywhere, but thank goodness there was no snow, although the rock was hard on my blisters on my feet. Thankfully there were an adequate number of sights to see. Well, one actually, and it was only a broken bridge that was high above us, so it was hard for me to see.

 

“Frodo, come and help an old man.” I heard Gandalf call out from a head of us. Frodo went to him and held him up.

 

“Strange,” I muttered to Merry, “Every time I've ever seen Gandalf, he's been anything but an old man.” He smiled and laughed quietly, nodding.

 

Suddenly there came a horrible smell from behind us. It was enough to make me puke. “Ewww!” Merry coughed out while holding his nose. I was doing the same.

 

“Where is that coming from?!” I asked, deciding that holding my nose wasn't doing anything to help the smell go away. Merry and I looked around for an answer and soon found one.

 

“Pippin!” Merry barked at Pip, who was the only person behind us. Pip instantly stopped his innocent act and smiled sheepishly.

 

“Gross!” I said. Pip's smiled suddenly left his face.

 

“Sorry,” He said, catching up to us and trying to come up with an excuse. “I just…couldn't help it?” At this Merry and I both groaned again as whenever he was nearer to us the smell got worse. His face fell and I felt sorry for him.

 

“Look, it's not your fault,” I started, trying to cheer him up. “Oh, wait…it was your fault.” That set Merry and me laughing again and Pippin moved behind us, sulking. My laughing became bitter. “Maybe I should-” But Merry shook his head.

 

“You know there's only one reason why he does this, right?” He asked me. I shook my head, confused.

 

“Because he wants attention?” I guessed. Merry half smiled.

 

“Close,” He explained. I waited for him to say more. He seemed to be trying to find the right words to tell me. “He just wants one certain person to notice him.”

 

“I think you're reading too much into this. Just because he farted doesn't mean-” He interrupted me.

 

“No, I think you're not reading into it enough.” I looked at him strangely, my brain trying to untangle his words.

 

Then I got the idea. “You mean…No way,” I said, surprised. “He wants attention from…” Merry was nodding.

 

“You.”

 

“Me? I thought it was you!”

 

“What?” Merry looked very confused. “Oh…” He finally got it. “NO! That's just not right!” I laughed at his face, which looked like it had shrunken in.

 

“Why would he want attention from me, though?” I asked him.

 

“Umm…I didn't mean that…” Merry tried to come up with an excuse for what he had said.

 

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You're lying to me, aren't you?” Merry avoided my eyes. Before I could interrogate him farther, Gimli interrupted me.

 

“The walls of Moria…” He gasped. We stopped talking to stare at it, although it was hard to tell what it was because there was so much fog from where I was. “Dwarf doors are invisible when closed.” Gimli explained to everyone. He tapped the stone wall we were walking next to with his axe.

 

“Yes, Gimli,” Gandalf agreed, obviously done talking to Frodo. “Their masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten.”

 

“Why doesn't that surprise me?” Legolas asked and I could swear that Gimli was holding back to not attack him. It was quite funny, if you thought about it.

 

From up ahead, I could see Gandalf feeling the wall for something. “Well, let's see,” HE muttered, and by some miraculous miracle, I was able to hear him. It was probably because everyone else was being so silent. “Ithildin…” He was searching for something, tracing the smooth wall. “It mirrors only starlight and moonlight.” He explained to the rest of us who hadn't studied when they should have. He looked up as the moon suddenly reappeared from behind some clouds. As we looked on, there came a shining from the stone Gandalf was just peering at. The door was shining and it was fantastic. Gandalf seemed proud of himself. “It reads,” He said, talking about the writing on the top of the door. “ `The doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter.' ”

 

Merry spoke up. “What do you suppose that means?”

 

Gandalf turned to him. “Oh, it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password, and the doors will open.” He turned back to the doors and put his staff in the middle of the stone. He spoke some sort of language that had to be elvish. I saw Merry nod and look over at Pip, who smiled. They both turned to look at Gandalf, obviously sure that this was going to work.

 

Nothing happened. Gandalf tried yet again and raised his arms and spoke more elvish. Still, the doors wouldn't budge. Pip took that time to point that out. “Nothing's happening,” He said. I rolled my eyes and elbowed him in the gut.

 

In an act of desperation, Gandalf pushed against the doors with all his strength. It didn't make a difference anyway. “I once knew every spell in all the tongues of Elves, Men, and Orcs.” He said, apparently frustrated with himself.

 

Pip just couldn't keep his mouth shut. “What are you going to do, then?”

 

“Knock your head against these doors, Peregrin Took!” Gandalf shouted at him, suddenly flaring in a rage. “And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find that opening words.”

 

Merry elbowed Pippin and whispered, “See, I told you that you weren't supposed to ask.” I rolled my eyes at the both of them.

 

*=*=*

 

Many hours later the moon was still shining down upon our small group as Gandalf tried every spell known to anyone to open the doors. Everyone had long since gone into their own little comfort zones; Sam trying to figure out whether to let Bill (The horse) go or not, Merry and Pippin going from playing cards to playing the most annoying games imaginable to skipping rocks in the lake that was near us, and Frodo sitting on the ground with me laying in his lap trying to get some much needed sleep.

 

I lay with my eyes closed, pretending to sleep, but really listening to everything that was going on around me. Frodo's hands were running through my hair, making me very content.

 

“Mines are no place for a pony, even one as brave as Bill.” Aragorn concluded to Sam, who was still making up his mind whether to let Bill go or not.

 

“Bye-bye, Bill.” I heard him say sadly. It still amazes me how much my brother can love every living creature, even the smallest bug that may eat up his garden. I wonder what happened to Bill…

 

“Go on, Bill.” Aragorn told the horse. “Go on. Don't worry, Sam. He knows the way home.” I heard the horse's hooves on the rocks and I knew that I didn't have a pack mule to carry all my stuff anymore.

 

Pippin and Merry's rock skipping suddenly turned into rock throwing. Apparently the object of the game was to make the loudest and biggest splash that you possibly could. It was actually very annoying to a person who was trying to sleep, but I was too comfortable on Frodo's lap to yell at them.

 

Suddenly I heard the splashing stop. “Do not disturb the water,” Aragorn told the two of them. I smiled at the thought of the looks on their faces.

 

“Serves them right…” I muttered aloud and Frodo laughed as he kissed the top of my head.

 

“Oh, it's useless.” Gandalf said and I opened my eyes. He sat down and took his hat off, finally giving up. Frodo suddenly stood up, causing me to flop over onto the ground because he didn't warn me first.

 

“Ouch…” I said, as Frodo apologized. I started to get up, but as I did, something caught my eye. The lake was…moving…which was strange because it seemed to look like a tentacle. I heard laughter from behind me and turned around to find Merry, Pip, and my evil brother having fun making fun of me. I gave them all a death glare.

 

“What?” Sam asked me. “You can make fun of us but we can't make fun of you?” The other two nodded to agree to what he was saying.

 

Before I had a chance to come up with a smart comment, Frodo had started talking and caught my attention. “It's a riddle,” He stated, talking about the doors. Immediately everyone looked at him in confusion. I could hear from behind me that the water was moving again, but it didn't seem like a huge factor at that moment. “ `Speak `friend' and enter.' ” He looked at Gandalf. “What's the elvish word for `friend'?”

 

“Mellon,” Gandalf told him and at once the door broke and came open, seeming like a miracle. Instantly everyone stood and started to go through the doors, Gandalf leading. He put a clear crystal in the top of his staff, for some unknown reason.

 

“Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the Dwarves.” I heard Gimli brag to Legolas from in front of me. “Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone. This, my friend,” He stated, although I sincerely doubted that he and Legolas were friends at this point. “Is the home of my cousin Balin, and they call it a Mine. A Mine!” I failed to see the humor in that, but I guest that hobbit humor is different than dwarf humor. A lot different.

 

Gandalf succeeded in making some light in the darkness that was the Mine. Suddenly it didn't seem so friendly anymore. There was what looked like arrows sticking out of something that was littering the ground. Then I realized that what littered the ground were bodies. “This is no Mine.” Boromir said disgustedly, looking around at all the dead dwarves. “It's a tomb.”

 

Gimli instantly became distraught. “No…Oh! NO!” Everyone began to look at all the damage that was done, wondering what could have happened to them.

 

Legolas, being the smart one out of all of us, pulled out an arrow from one of the corpses. “Goblins,” He told us, throwing the arrow down and quickly looking around to see if they were still there. The others were making the same precautions. Aragorn pulled out his sword, as did Boromir and Legolas.

 

“We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here.” Boromir said and all of us hobbits suddenly found each other again and backed out the door together. “Now, get out of here. Get out!” He yelled at us and we scrambled backwards, Frodo tripping. I thought it was because of a slippery rock, but it was something much more dangerous.

 

“Frodo!” I saw Sam scream. Quickly I turned around and found that the something that was moving in the water was a giant squid and it had Frodo, but everything was going in slow motion…then things began to go black…and I…I can't remember anything… except the dream.

 

*=*=*

 

…I was walking home…but it didn't look like The Shire…There was too much darkness and not enough green…Then suddenly there came a burst of light from a head of me…I followed it, half afraid of what it might be and half excited to be seeing home again…

 

…but things were not as they seemed…As I came closer to the bright phenomenon, it became apparent that the bright lightning from ahead wasn't fireworks…suddenly I felt sick to my stomach….there was fire…fire everywhere…not one hobbit could get away from it…

 

…Then I heard a cry from behind me…Sam and Frodo were both perishing in the flames, not able to get out…I hurried, trying to rescue them…but then the fire was all around me, too…and I couldn't get out…

 

…I couldn't get out…

 

*=*=*

 

“Miriam!!! Wake up…Miriam…”

 

“Please wake up…”

 

Instantaneously, the shouts awoke me. My eyes flashed open and I found it very hard to breathe. I thought it was because of the eerily real dream, but then I looked down. Sam was hugging me around the middle, crying into my stomach. It was so pathetic it was sweet, until I ruined the moment. “Sam…I…can't…breathe…”

 

He looked up, tears still crowding his eyes. “Miriam! Thank goodness…you're awake!!” With that he gathered me up in his arms and held me to him, making it even harder to breathe. Then I realized that Frodo had been the other voice that was calling to me and was sitting only a few inches away. I pushed Sam (with love!) to get out of his tight grip and practically fell into Frodo's arms, crying for the image that I had seen of him and Sam.

 

“What's the matter?” He asked, concerned. “You only feinted and had a nightmare.” I pulled away and looked at him curiously.

 

“I did?” Suddenly it dawned on me that I was no longer outside by a lake with a giant squid-like thing. “Where are we?”

 

Sam smiled at me, making fun of me in his mind. “We're in the mines. Strider and Boromir took turns carrying you.”

 

“Not true!” I said and Sam rolled his eyes at me. Then I noticed that everyone was resting again, Gandalf sitting on a rock, looking at three very similar stone doorways. “What's going on? Why have we stopped?” I asked quickly and Frodo explained.

 

“We were walking along just fine and now we don't know where we are.” Sam interrupted him and Frodo nodded to agree.

 

“Oh,” I said, still a bit confused and drowsy from the dream. “Well, that can't be too good.” They both laughed tiredly. “I think I'll walk around for a bit.” I told them and Frodo let go of me, now not paying attention and looking down deeper into the mines.

 

I frowned, a little concerned, but didn't think that it was anything very big. Shrugging my shoulders, I walked off in search of Pippin and Merry. It wasn't that hard to find them, as Pip's stomach was growling and could be heard for miles around.

 

“Are we lost?” Pip asked as I spied Merry and him talking, sitting around doing nothing and looking terribly bored. Merry was staring at Gandalf, most likely mentally telling him with his mind to hurry up and Pippin was flicking rocks over the edge of the cliff.

 

“No.” Merry replied, not even looking over at him. Good thing, too, because I was right behind him and I wanted to scare them a little.

 

Pip was quiet for a moment, and then said, “I think we are.” Merry seemed annoyed.

 

“Shh!” He shushed him momentarily. “Gandalf's thinking,” There was a longer moment of silence until, finally, Pippin couldn't stand it anymore.

 

“Merry?”

 

“What?” He asked dejectedly, obviously not wanting to answer him.

 

“I'm hungry.” I couldn't stand it one minute longer. This was just too pathetic.

 

“You're always hungry…!” I stated, making Merry and Pippin jump two feet in the air. I laughed at them as their faces turned their normal color again. Suddenly Pippin's eyes widened and he bounced up, giving me such a tight bear hug that it rivaled Sam's. “Pip…” I stuttered, and he stopped hugging me at once, realizing what he was doing. His face was now bright pink.

 

“Glad to see you're back on your feet.” Merry said, smiling and not looking at Gandalf for the first time that I had seen him since I had feinted.

 

“Thank you,” I smiled back and there was a gap in the conversation, as it came to a halt. We stood around nervously, not knowing what to say or do. “So…” I said quietly. Merry and Pippin nodded enthusiastically. “Well, it was nice to talk to you two agai-” I started, preparing to leave, but that was when Pip decided to speak rather harshly.

 

“Is it true that you and Frodo are…?” He left the question hanging in midair, waiting to see if I would catch the bait. I stared at him, confused to why he would ask that in such a tone, but I answered him in the same voice.

 

“Why do you ask?” I replied and Pip sensed that he was treading on dangerous ground. Although why, I couldn't figure out. Sigh. Pip's always doing things that I don't understand…

 

Pippin didn't say anything in return; just looked at me with a stony face. My mind had to be playing tricks on me when I thought I saw a tear forming in his eye, but he turned away and sat down, his head down while he flicked rocks again. Merry looked at me, as if to talk to me mentally.

 

“Just remember what I told you about him,” He whispered so that Pippin couldn't hear him and he too sat down next to Pip, consoling him.

 

My brain was muddled. What had he said about Pippin again? I couldn't seem to remember anything before I feinted. Slowly I walked back to where Sam was still sitting, alone now that Frodo had gone to talk to Gandalf. “Sammy,” I sat down and whined, leaning against him and calling him an old baby name that mother used to call him.

 

He let me lean on him, being a good brother for once. “What's the matter, Mira?” He asked and I said nothing, closing my eyes and pretending that we were back home again. I just needed the comfort from my brother. We sat there for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company because we hadn't had a chance to in what felt like forever. It seemed like all we had done so far on this trip was fight and bicker and I didn't want Sam to think that I was mad at him in any way. Not that he would remember it in any case…

 

Suddenly Gandalf's voice rang out from the rock where he was sitting with Frodo. “Oh! It's that way.” Instantly everyone was on their feet and gathering up their things. Sam was among them, and once again, I was dumped on my face.

 

“Ouch!!” I shouted, rubbing my head. “Why am I always the one who gets dumped on the ground!?” (A/N: That's becoming a repeating joke in this series, isn't it?) I could hear Merry and Pippin sniggering at me, but I ignored them. I closed my eyes against the pain and instantly saw fire. My eyes flashed open, scared and wide-eyed and when Sam said a quick sorry it brought me back to the present. He was hurrying over to where the rest of the fellowship had gathered.

 

Gandalf was answering whatever Merry had said. “…The air doesn't smell so foul down here.” He said, pointing toward one of the tunnels leading downward. “When in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose.” I laughed at Merry because he was being called by his first name and then I realized that it wasn't that funny and I shut up.

 

We followed Gandalf down the steep stairs and into a cold room. After I had looked around at it in the dim light coming from Gandalf's stick, I noticed why it was so cold. It was huge. It was bigger than huge. It was ginormous!! Wait…that isn't a word. Oh, well.

 

“Let me risk a little more light,” Gandalf said, reading my mind. I was anxious to look around us in better light. The light shined in a blinding way, but at least it was easier to look around. “Behold the great realm and Dwarf city of Dwariaowdelf.” Gandalf explained as we all stood, spell struck, at the hall with its large columns that seemed to go on forever.

 

“There's an eye opener, and no mistake,” Sam barley more than whispered. For once I didn't have the strength to point out his pointing out of the obvious. None of us could help but stare at the hall, except Gimli, who seemed to be used to the eloquence of it all.

 

We began to walk through it, not quite sure of what we were looking for, but looking for it anyways. For once, I was glad to be walking; feinting had left me itching to stretch my legs. We hadn't walked but for five minutes when we spotted an open doorway, dead dwarves all around the entrance, making the hall suddenly less appealing. Gimli saw it and gasped, running as fast as he could on short legs through the door.

 

“Gimli!” I heard Gandalf shout at him, but Gimli didn't notice or didn't care. He ran straight in to look at a giant stone in the middle of the room- the only thing with a window of light pouring down on it.

 

“No…No!” We saw Gimli kneel and shout, obviously distressed. “No…No…” It was one of the saddest things in my life, to watch Gimli cry. He was such a warrior. To see someone like that break down was heartbreaking. Gandalf led the way into the room and the rest of us, naturally, followed.

 

Gandalf read off the writing from the slab of stone that was in the middle. “ `Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria.' ” He read to us who couldn't read Dwarvish. “He is dead, then.” He took off in hat in respect of the dead. “It's as I feared.” Quickly, he handed his hat and staff to Pippin, which, looking back, was a dumb thing to do, even for Gandalf, and he picked up a dusty old book that had been lying in a Dwarf's skeleton's hands.

 

Gimli began to speak in Dwarvish, which none of us could understand as Gandalf leafed through the pages in the book, some of which were falling out each time he touched it. He blew on it in order to get some of the thick dust that covered it off.

 

Some of us were getting testy. “We must move on,” Legolas, who was behind me, whispered to Aragorn. “We cannot linger.” Aragorn didn't answer him. I inched over to Frodo, who had that worried look on his face again, and took his hand. He smiled gratefully, glad to see my face.

 

“ `They have taken the bridge and the second hall. We have barred the gates but cannot hold them for long.' ” Gandalf's reading penetrated all other noise; it was like nothing was happening but what the dwarf had written down in the book. “ `The ground shakes. Drums, drums in the deep.' ” Behind me, I could see a nervous Pip backing up and looking around, not wanting to listen anymore. Gandalf turned the page and did not stop. “ `We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark.' ” I was being distracted by Pippin, who had backed into a well that was behind him with a skeleton sitting on it. My eyes were no longer on Gandalf, but on Pippin and the stupid thing that I knew he was going to do. “ `We cannot get out. They are coming.' ” The words had no meaning for me, as Pip reached out to touch the arrow sticking out from the corpse. I could feel the anticipation in the air, as everything seemed to slow down as Pip turned the arrow, probably thinking that it would be neat to take it back home with him.

 

I knew that something terrible was going to happen before it actually did. The head of the skeleton suddenly fell of into the well, making a horrible clattering noise as it went. Then the bad just kept on coming. The body fell with it and, since it was chained onto the chain and bucket, everything that was on the well fell down it. The crashing echoed as Pip flinched with every noise. Then it stopped and there was silence. After a moment when nothing happened, everyone let out the breath that we had been unconsciously holding. Gandalf shut the book with a snap, looking livid.

 

“Fool of a took.” He put the book down, no trace of teasing in his face. “Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity.” He took his hat and staff back from him. Suddenly I felt a weird need to protect him from deep down in my gut. I never had that feeling before, not even for Frodo. Scared, I pushed it away, even though the sight of Pippin's sad face made my stomach tie in knots.

 

Then there came an echoing of drums. It seemed to be coming out of the well; slow at first and then suddenly coming faster and faster and echoing not only from the well, but from every side of the room and the hall. We didn't know what was going on until Frodo remembered his sword and quickly pulled it out, reveling a bright blue.

 

“Mr. Frodo!” Sam said, concerned because he knew what it meant. I got to be left alone in the dark while the others looked worried. The next second what the color meant was apparent.

 

There came a loud screeching noise in the hall. “Orcs,” Legolas explained, spitting out the word as if it were a nasty taste in his mouth.

 

Boromir went to the doors and looked outside. There came a ZING! and two arrows barley missed his face.

 

Aragorn was instructing us. “Get back! Stay close to Gandalf.” We all huddled behind Gandalf, who was pushing us behind him. Boromir, Legolas and Aragorn closed the doors.

 

Boromir turned back toward us and explained. “They have a cave-troll.” Us hobbits looked at each other in fright, my hand still enclosed in Frodo's, who was squeezing it tightly for comfort for me.

 

Legolas threw two convenient axes to Aragorn and Boromir, who caught them in midair. Together they began the barricade the door, trying to make sure nothing could get in. Gandalf threw his hat on the ground (which I've never seen again, come to think of it…) and drew out his sword. The rest of us did the same, looking pale in comparison to Frodo's bright blue sword.

 

“Let them come!” Gimli shouted, standing on top of his cousin's tomb. “There is one Dwarf in Moria who still draws breath.” The pounding on the door increased and we all stood, ready to face whatever was coming. Aragorn and Legolas pulled their arrows back into the bow, every inch a warrior. Everyone stood with their weapon in hand and I couldn't help but feel that we weren't going to survive.

 

*=*=*=*=*

 

Sorry to leave it there!! I know, I know…you hate me…blah, blah, blah…;)

 

Sorry again!!! I love you all!!!

 

Emmablk1