Of Futures Past (Legolas)

12

As they waited for Gandalf to figure out the password to the gates of Moria, the rest of the Fellowship sat around in relative silence, except Merry and Pippin who felt the need to throw rocks in the water.

"Do not disturb the water." Aragorn said sternly, holding their wrists.

Closing her eyes briefly, Alana sifted through visions of their potential futures, seeing wargs and orcs attacking them in the early morning outside the gates, some strange creature of the depths attacking them with ginormous tentacles, among other possibilities.

Standing from her place next to Legolas, where they had been sitting in absolute silence, Alana walked over to Gandalf.

"Gandalf, we must be gone before morning or else we shall be slain by orcs and wargs. I do not mean to rush you. There is a strange monster in the lake as well." Alana said quietly, so that Frodo would not hear and be worried.

Gandalf's face was very grave, and he returned his attention to the dwarf gates, glowing silver in the moonlight. 

Some time later, Frodo stood up with a look of realization on his face. "It's a riddle. Speak 'friend' and enter. Gandalf, what's the elvish word for friend?"

"Mellon." Gandalf said.

With that, the stone doors slowly began to open, and the rest of the Fellowship stood and entered Moria.

Gimli began loudly expressing his excitement to enter the mine, with large gestures. "Soon master elf you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves. Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone. This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine. A mine!"

"This is no mine." Boromir said gravely, looking around at the fallen dwarf corpses littering the floor. "It's a tomb!"

"Oh! No! Nooo!" Gimli exclaimed, and Alana approached him, putting a hand on his shoulder as she felt tears prick her own eyes at the thought that some of her friends had died. Gimli reached up and grabbed her hand with his own.

Legolas picked up an arrow from a fallen corpse, examining it before throwing it away in disgust. "Goblins!"

Alana's face showed an equal disgust, remembering when Thorin's company had been caught by goblins, as she pulled out her knives. Legolas, Aragorn, and Boromir pulled out their swords.

"We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here." Boromir said.

The hobbits began backing out of the mines nervously, but Alana's face was white with fear. "The water. Gandalf, the water, we cannot turn back!" 

But Boromir had not heard. "Now get out of here, get out!"

The whole company began starting for the door, while Alana hesitated behind them. "We cannot! The waters are stirring!"

"That matters not compared to goblins!" Boromir replied.

Heaving out an exasperated, fearful sigh, Alana followed after the others.

Then, the hobbits all yelled out. "Frodo!"

A ginormous tentacle had grabbed the hobbit by the ankle and was dragging him towards the lake.

"Strider!" Sam yelled, hacking at the tentacle with his small blade. "Get off him!"

The creature released Frodo for a split second, feigning defeat, and as Alana yelled "Watch out!", a dozen more tentacles shot out of the water, pushing the other hobbits aside and lifting Frodo into the air.

Legolas shot at the tentacle holding Frodo, while Boromir and Aragorn rushed into the water, hacking at the tentacles. Alana stayed behind, protecting the other hobbits from the swinging tentacles and providing cover for Legolas.

Boromir managed to cut the main tentacle holding Frodo's leg and caught him as he fell, retreating back to the shore with Aragorn.

"Aim for his eye!" Boromir yelled, and Legolas shot an arrow into the eye of the creature whose face had surfaced during the fight.

The Fellowship raced into the mines as the creature pulled back, one of his tentacles reaching out and slamming the gates of Moria shut behind them.

"We now have but one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world." Gandalf said gravely, a light shining from his staff.

The Fellowship began to pick their way over the fallen bodies carefully, up the large staircase. 

"Quietly now. It's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed." Gandalf warned.

They entered a large cavern with a serpentine walkway through the middle, then climbed steep steps on the side of the cavern lined with buildings. As they were walking, a rock underneath Alana's foot was loose and she stumbled, losing her balance. 

Behind her, Legolas instinctively grabbed her waist to hold her steady and Alana blushed at the contact, glad he could not see her face.

Embarrassed, Alana thanked Legolas quietly.

"Are you alright, Alana?" He asked, his hands still on her waist.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." 

Alana continued walking, forcing Legolas to drop his hands, and focused on her breathing in an attempt to slow her heart rate.

The first three days through the mines passed with little difficulties, other than Alana's minor slip. On the fourth day, after climbing another set of stairs, Gandalf, who was leading the group, stopped in front of three large doorways.

"I have no memory of this place." Gandalf murmured.

Alana froze slightly. She, as were most elves, was not fond of the underground and had been waiting rather impatiently for their escape from the dark mine.

The Fellowship decided to rest while Gandalf attempted to remember the way through. 

Alana sat next to Aragorn and Legolas, leaning against the rock face.

"Have you seen much danger in your visions?" Aragorn asked. 

Alana sighed, darkness clouding her face. "Yes, very much. I am only praying we do not wake it."

"What is it?" Legolas asked, his eyes wary and alert.

"A demon that only Gandalf has any chance of defeating. I did not wish to come down here, though I am no fan of the Redhorn Pass, but otherwise we would have either died on the mountain or been killed by the pack of orcs and wargs that was hunting us." Alana replied, face somber and eyes heavy.

Her companions were silent, until Aragorn spoke. "You carry a difficult burden."

"Yes, but I am glad. I may prevent much suffering, and I would not change that." Alana mumbled, leaning her head back against the rock.

The silence prevailed once again, and soon Alana had drifted off to sleep, her arms wrapped around herself trying to keep herself warm.

Cautiously, Legolas leaned over and put his cloak over her, but in her sleep, Alana gently grabbed his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Panic briefly overcame Legolas's features and Aragorn began chuckling at the elf's reddened face, which was gazing affectionately at the woman resting on his shoulder.