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"What's so special about that?" asked Juliet quietly to Pippin. He shrugged. If Gandalf thought that it was important, it must be. Juliet listened to what they were saying. Apparently, it was the entrance to Moria. Wherever it lead, it had to be better than Caladeras. Too much snow...Brr! Gandalf ran his hands along the rock face.
"Ithildin." he said, running his fingers along strange carvings in the rock. "It mirrors only starlight and moonlight." explained Gandalf. He turned and looked up at the sky. The moon came out from hiding and a large archway was oulined in silver. Juliet gasped in wonder. Gimli was worshiping it with his eyes. Even Boromir looked impressed. Gandalf looked at the inscriptions above the archway.
"It reads; Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter." Juliet loved the silver shining. She walked forward and laid a finger on it, before Gandalf slapped it away. She glared at him, while Merry stepped forwards as well.
"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked as he looked up to get a better look at the doors.
"Oh it's quite easy," Gandalf stepped closer. "If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open. Annon Edhellen hi amen!" Nothing happened. Gandalf looked at the doorway puzzled. He walked up to it and pushed against the doors. Nothing happened. Juliet had to turn and smirk to herself.
"Ando Eldarinwas a lasta quettanya, Genda Cassarinwa!" Once more nothing happened. Pippin instinctively knew that nothing would happen for a while, so he sat down and was joined by Merry and Juliet. Frodo stayed up near Gandalf.
Gandalf spoke yet another attempt to get the doors open. By now they all realized that it would be a while before they actually got past the doors. Most of them drifted away, gathered into groups and talked in quiet murmurs. Juliet felt Boromir glaring at her, and she glared right back. Suddenly, she felt an itch on her back. She scratched, but it seemed to be deeper than most. She realized that it was from her wings not being used as much as they should be. She hadn't let her wings out since she had woken up in Rivendell. She hadn't even told anyone, not even even Frodo. Now, they itched to get out.
"I'm bored." whispered Pippin, looking at Merry. Merry rolled his eyes, and stood up. He walked to the water, and picked up a decent-sized stone.
"I bet I can throw this rock further than you." he challenged, turning with sparkling eyes to Pippin. Pippin jumped up and grabbed another one.
"I bet you can't!" And Merry chucked his pebble. Pippin laughed at the attempt, and threw his. The plunking was further out than Merry's. Pippin laughed and Juliet grinned. Just as Merry was lifting his arm to throw again, Aragorn suddenly grabbed it.
"Do not. Distrub. The water." he hissed, and Merry, spooked, set down the rock. They sat down again, and Sam joined them, looking crestfallen.
"What's wrong, Sam?" asked Juliet, not liking the sadness in his eyes.
"I had to send Bill away..." he said, wiping away a quick tear. Juliet smiled sympathetically, and patted him on the shoulder. She could understand his love of animals in ways that Merry and Pippin couldn't.
"Oh, it's useless." said Gandalf, sitting down and removing his hat. Frodo looked at the doorway. He remembered the riddle contest...
"It's a riddle..." he said in wonderment. Juliet looked at him in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" she wondered, walking up to him.
"What's the Elvish word for "friend"?" he called out, still staring at the inscription. Juliet suddenly realized where he was going with it.
"Mellon." said Gandalf, and with a suddering groan, the doors spilt down the middle, and swung open to reveal a dark opening to the Mines. Everyone stood up, and converged on the doors. Nobody seemed to notice the ripples growing. Gandalf entered first, placing a crystal in the top of his staff. Juliet followed Legolas and Gimli. She couldn't help overhearing Gimli's bragging.
"Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the famous hospitality of the Dwarves. Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone. This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin-" Gandalf lit the crystal and Juliet's eyes went wide. Gimli continued to walk and talk, his eyes closed. "-And they call this a mine. A mine!"
"This is no mine." said Boromir, horrified. "It is a tomb!" There were Dwarf skeletons everywhere! Strange arrows stuck out from petrified skin. Some still had skin clinging to their frames. Gimli ran here and there, screaming with horror and disbelief.
Legolas grabbed one of the strange arrows. "Goblins!" he said, whipping out one of his own arrows. All of the Men drew their swords. Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Sam clumped together and started heading for the exit, stepping over several skeletons.
"We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should have never come here. Now get out of here. Get out!" shouted Boromir, backing up as well, keeping his eyes on the darkness. Juliet stared at the Dwarf laying on the floor next to her. What were his last thoughts? Was he afraid?
"FRODO!" came a paincked shout from behind her. She looked back only to see Sam slashing at a tentacle that was holding Frodo! Sam shouted for Aragorn, still not out of the habit of calling him Strider. Juliet saw it retreat into the water, and she didn't even have a second to breath before too many tentacles blasted out of the water, knocked everyone back and snatched Frodo by the ankle.
"Fro-DO!" she screamed, her voice rising sevral octaves, as she dashed out, dodged the Hobbits, and let her wings out. With a ripping of fabric, they exploded from her back with a shower of dark red sparks. They glowed a deep burgandy and she flew in the air, barely avoiding an arrow shot by Legolas. She spun and dove amoung the tentacles. She reached Frodo and grabbed one of his hands and pulled.
He was screaming for her to get away. She shook her head and pulled all the harder. All of a sudden, a tentacle wrapped itself around Juliet's right leg and hurled her away. Frodo's hand was ripped from her grip and she tumbled over and over in the air, hitting the ground at a fantastic speed, but instantly getting back up and launching herself into the air. What she saw caused her to loose all feeling in her stomach.
It was a giant squid-like thing, all eyes and tentacles. She was disgusted as it opened it's great maw and she realized that it wanted to eat Frodo! She screamed again, but this time with fury. Her wings transformed into a bright deadly red, and she dove at the creature, unsheathing her sword as she did so. She hacked and stabbed at the tentacles, fighting her way to Frodo, when he suddenly disappeared.
She looked down, and saw that Boromir had caught him from falling. As if from another dimension, she heard Gandalf yell for them to get into the mine. She gave the creature another slash, before flying to the cave. Legolas shot another arrow, hitting it right in the eye. She landed on the ground, stumbled, almost fell, but was steadied at the last second by Legolas who hurried her into the cave.
She made the mistake of looking behind her as they ran. The thing was trying to follow them! It's tentacles grabbed onto the rock, accidentally bringing the cave down upon itself and effectively trapping them within Moria. She stood with the rest of the Fellowship, watching in horror as the rocks crumbled down not five feet in front of them. The darkness was comsuming. She couldn't see a thing, because as soon as she had landed, her wings had disappeared into her shoulders.
"We now have but one choice." said Gandalf from off to her left. A soft light, not unlike a night-light, leaked from the crystal on the top of Gandalf's staff. "We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard, there are older and fouler things than Orcs in the dark places of the world." Gandalf started up the long set of stairs, everyone following his lead. "Quietly now, it's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope our presence may go unnoticed." Suddenly, something was covering her bare back. When she looked about her, everyone had their cloaks on. Everyone except Boromir. She smiled softly to herself. She'd make him a cake later...
They walked on for several hours, up steep steps, along narrow ledges and through halls so high that the darkness disappeared near the top. Juliet sighed as they went up another set of stairs. Nobody dared to talk above a whisper, and they were even trying to breath softly. They reached the top and found there to be a corridor with doors on either side. Gandalf poked his head into one, and entered. Everyone followed him.
"We can rest here." said Gandalf quietly, taking off his hat and sitting down in an old chair. Juliet was actually quite surprised that it held him up. She sat down against a wall with a sigh of happiness, and almost instantly, she was surrounded by her friends. Merry and Sam were looking at her increduously. Frodo was just looking at her.
"What?" she demanded, as Pippin elbowed her.
"You have wings, Juliet." said Sam. It wasn't a question.
"Yes. Is that a problem?" she asked, looking around at all of them. Sam shook his head, but Merry wasn't done.
"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked as he shifted into a more comfortable sitting position. Juliet remained silent for a moment, thinking.
"I don't know. There was never really a good time. We were either being chased by Ringwraiths or marching to Mordor. Nothing ever came up about flying. Tonight, they just came out of their own accord." she explained, trying to tame her beast of a hair.
"Why did you put yourself in danger? Aragorn, Legolas and Boromir were handling it." said Frodo, his eyes full of concern. She bit her lip.
"I've never really been one to stand aside when someone needed help." she started, carefully. "My wings reacted to my instincts." she finished, hoping that that explaination was good enough for them.
"How long have you had them?" asked Pippin, yawning directly afterward. Juliet smiled at him rather fondly, before thinking about her answer. Unaware of it, she started thinking out loud.
"Before Rivendell, but Pippin knows that..." Everyone glared at Pippin. "Before Bree...what's today's date?" she wondered, not really expecting an answer as they shrugged. "Oh! Bilbo's Birthday, that was it!"
"That long?" asked Pippin, blinking rapidly.
"Yes." she replied. "Now I need to tame this beast of a head of mine. Excuse me, please." She pulled out a boar-hairbrush from her bag that Alona gave her. She then attacked her hair. She jerked it, pulled, yanked and cursed underneath her breath. Much too long later, she threw her brush across the room, and glared at her hair. The top had become untangled. But, two inches above her shouldesr, there was a monster knot that had formed in the middle and there was no way to get it out. She thought she saw grass bits, twigs and bread pieces in it. She had been gentle, she had been rough, but that monster knot wasn't coming out.
A brilliant idea struck her mind. She glanced both ways to make sure that no-one was watching. Pippin was asleep beside her, and Merry was wheedling Aragorn to give him another piece of bread. Frodo was talking to Gandalf. Boromir and Legolas were standing guard outside the door. She grinned, and pulled out her sword. She grabbed the knot up in her fist, and moved the sword right above it. She took a deep breath and cut her hair.
Pippin woke up when the point of the sword whistled over his head. He rubbed his eyes, opening them, and he saw what Juliet had done. He shouted and everyone within hearing distance pulled out swords.
"It okay." she said, holding up her hands (one of which still clutched her hair). "I just needed to cut my hair. Pippin freaked." Everyone shook their heads and put away their swords. She whacked Pippin upside the head, muttering about his being "a Fool of a Took". Rubbing his head, he went back to sleep.
"Psst! Sam!" she whispered-shouted. He turned from talking to Gimli who was brooding. She motioned him over, and he came over confused. "Can you fix up my hair? I have a feeling that one side is longer than the other." She handed him her sword and turned her back to him. Soon, she heard snipping. Unmindful, she twisted quickly, causing Sam to clip her ear with the gardening shears.
"You brought gardening shears?" she said disbelivingly.
"You'd never know when they'd come in handy." replied Sam, making motions for her to turn about again. Soon, they were done and she bandaged her ear. She then lay down, so tired. Before she closed her eyes, her fingers closed about the necklace she was wearing, and she had worn for several months, ever since Frodo had given it to her. She smiled and thought about the Shire. Her mother and father were probably worried sick, not knowing if she were alive or dead. And since it was looking more and more like she'd be dead before the quest was over, she was feeling pretty guilty. Not to mention her aunt. When she had gone, what had Aunt Heather gone through? Now she was feeling so guilty, she was feeling ill.
She closed her eyes, the smile gone. She fell down and down into her mind. After falling for so long, she was surprised in dream-like state to see her home from above. It was sunny and bright. Falco and Riles were tossing about a ball. Juliet stood beyond the hedge, feeling like an intruder into a happy scene. Her father had probably disowned her.
"Hey, Riles? Where do you suppose Juliet is now?" asked Falco, tossing the ball. Juliet could tell that it was a frequently asked question.
"I don't know. Maybe the Misty Mountains? Maybe further? Who can tell?" replied Riles, catching the ball and his features looking very unhappy. Juliet felt her heart bleed for his pain.
"Riles." she said. Riles stopped playing with Falco. Falco smiled and disappeared into the air. Slowly, the air changed about them, until they were floating in the heavens, the stars dancing aboout them. Riles looked at her in amazement and anticipation.
"Are you a ghost?" he asked, raising a hand. But he apparently encountered a barrier, preventing him from touching Juliet. She raised her hand as well, and mirrored his movement. She also hit a barrier. Their hands weren't even an inch away, yet they could not touch.
"I don't think so. Last time I checked, I was falling asleep." she said, looking at the invisible barrier with curiousity.
"Me too. Do you think we're dead?" he asked. "It feels like sometimes that would be better."
"Than what?" she wondered, looking deeply into his eyes for the first time since she saw him.
"Than seeing your empty room once more. Than seeing Mother clean it every single day, waiting for you to come home. Than seeing Father waste away, waiting for a letter or message or something. Than hearing Falco ask where you've gone and if you're ever coming back."
"Oh, Riles." she said, feeling tears leak out of her eyes. They floated up past her face, and turned into stars. "If I could, I'd come home now. It's getting so dangerous. I thought it would only be to Rivendell, but now-"
"Wait, what would only be to Rivendell?" asked Riles, his green eyes confused and searching.
"The quest." she replied. "I accompanied Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin (along with Aragorn) into the Wilds, to Rivendell. It's a long story, but we made it. Then, I volunteered for the Fellowship, and now we're in the Mines of Moria. It's horrible, skeletons everywhere. And we don't even know what lurks in the dark. Riles, sometimes I think that we will not make it. If you remember this dream, please tell Mother and Father that I'm alive, I'm in Moria and I love them. We're trying to get to...well I don't know." The bakcround
"Oh, Juliet." said Riles, trying to reach out further, but he couldn't, the barrier stopped him. Both hands pressed up against the barrier, he looked at his little sister and tried to smile. He had tears as well. "I will. And, please know, I love you. We all still do. Mother will be happy to hear this. I wonder, is this really a dream? It's been happening in my head, hasn't it?"
"Even if it has," she replied, grinning at his wonder, "Why should it not real?" Suddenly, she was flying upwards, away from Riles. "RILES! I'M SORRY!" she screamed as she flew up and up and up...
She gasped as she jolted awake, Pippin had been shaking her for so long.
"Com'n, Juliet. Time to get moving again." he said, looking at her with a bit of concern. Juliet shook the cobwebs from her head. Did she really just talk to Riles? Did she really tell him just about everything that had happened? What had happened? Had they met inside of their dreams? She didn't know and couldn't figure it out. She strapped on her sword, swung her bag over her shoulder and exited with everyone else. She walked quickly beside Boromir.
"Here." she said, handing back his cloak. "Thank you for the useage of it yesterday, or last night, or whatever the time passage is." He took it and gave a small ghost of a smile.
"You're welcome." he replied, a tint of warmth on his voice.
