A Mischievous And Loving Adventure (A Lord Of The Rings Fanfiction)

Daylight

Chapter Eight:

The trail they took led through the woods here and there, and then over hills and across streams.

Pippin walked by Merry for about an hour before he gave in and ran up to Penny.

She said nothing yet smiled as he joined her.

Pippin felt a but awkward, but Penny was enjoying herself. While they walked in silence, she surprised him by taking his hand.

Pippin had never felt such silky soft skin. It was flawlessly perfect.

Hand in hand, they walked for several miles together. He couldn't have been more happy.

The Fellowship stopped to make camp after a steady rain began to fall. Pippin watched Penny make another fire in that special way.

That night, it was especially cold. So, Penny curled up next to Pippin. This, he liked, a lot...She slept so peacefully.

In the morning, daylight showed itself at last. Relieved, everyone packed and set off.

A light must began to fall and it soon turned to snow. The Fellowship pushed on as best as they could. Legolas nimbly stepped across the top of the snow mocking the struggles of everyone else. At the pace they were going, everyone was at a different place up the mountain.

Frodo seemed to struggle the most; one step forward, fall backward two. He took one final step and slipped tumbling head over heels back down the mountain. Aragorn luckily caught the flailing hobbit. Frodo shook himself off and groped at his neck.

"The ring," he breathed heavily.

Aragorn glanced up and saw Boromir not far ahead dangling the ring by its chain. He seemed entranced.

"Boromir! Give the ring to Frodo," Aragorn snapped at the man.

"Such a large fate we must all suffer for such a small thing," he mused.

"Boromir!"

He stepped down through the snow and held out the ring to Frodo. The hobbit snatched the ring from Boromir and stared up at him. Boromir laughed and ruffled his hair before slinging his shield over his back and continuing up the mountain side. Aragon, who had been very tense, relaxed a little and removed his hand from his sword hilt. Onward they pressed.

It wasn't until they had reached an almost level spot on the treacherous hill that the snow storm picked up. Snow fell in thick, cold sheets blinding everyone. As Gandalf pushed through the snow, Legolas walked by as if the snow didn't bother him.

Penny envied the elf's ability to walk on top of the snow as she pushed at waist deep snow. It froze her finger tips and toes while the cloak barely kept her warm. No one else was doing any better.

Legolas pulled one of his dramatic faces and looked up into the swirling sky.

"There is a fell voice in the air," he said.

"It's Saruman!" Gandalf shouted back.

Penny strained her ears and was just barely able to pick out the faint cry of an angry voice in a foreign language. Gandalf yelled something back and that was answered with a crack of lightning raining down more snow on everyone.

"He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf! We must turn back!" Aragorn screamed.

The mountain pass no longer seemed an adequate choice to pursue anyway.

"Gandalf, may I propose that we go through the mines of Moria? My cousin Balin will give us a warm welcome," Gimli stated.

Gandalf paused in thought. He looked carefully at the soaked group and then finally at Frodo.

"Let the Ring Bearer decide," he said with and air of finality.

Frodo (after a little encouragement from Gimli the dwarf) said they should take the path through the minds if Moria.

Gandalf, very grudgingly, obliged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The tired group reached the entrance by twilight. The entrance meaning a cliffside. Though no visible door could be seen in the dark, the moon showed itself illuminating a door. Upon the door was an elvish phrase: 'Speak friend and enter'.

"What does it mean?" Sam asked curiously.

"It simply means if you are a friend, you speak the password and enter," Gandalf hastily answered.

He attempted something in Elvish to no avail. Confused, Gandalf muttered a few words and tapped the stone wall. He tried a few more times before sitting down frustrated.

"What are you going to do now?" Pippin inquired.

"Knock your head against the walls Peregrin Took and if that doesn't work then I don't know!" Gandalf said sternly.

Pippin backed away and stood by Merry so he was out of the way of Gandalf. After a while of going over the possibilities of the correct password, Penny stood up and said, "What's the elvish word for friend?"

"Mellón."

Gandalf spoke it and the door opened.

Frodo and the others began to collect their belongs to enter. Penny looked over at Merry and Pippin who were carelessly throwing stones into the nearby pond.

"Pippin! Merry! You mustn't disturb the water!"

"Why?" asked Merry.

"An evil creature lives in it!" Penny said urgently, "Come along before one of you gets hurt."

The two mischievous hobbits put down the rocks and picked up their packs and followed the others into the mine. The water began to churn and bubble. The Fellowship turned to see a squid like monster rising from the froth. And it lunged straight for Frodo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I know the last chapter wasn't all that exciting but I hope this one intrigued you all! Thanks again for reading.

***February 2014***

I re-wrote a good 75% of this...