Fellowship Guardians

Chapter 8: The Long Dark Mines

As the Fellowship ventured deeper into the mines and without any source of outside light, it became increasingly hard to tell what time of the day it was but what they did know is that they would need to find a place to set up camp and that was something they weren't looking forward to especially with the threat of any possible attacks from goblins. Even with the entrance to the mines blocked off, there was thought that they were still in the mines but since none of the dwarves here had been seen it was most likely they were somewhere else within the mine. Despite their predicament, they didn't have any choice but to take their chances. The company walked for a few more hours; it felt longer to them, then stopped deciding this was a relatively safe spot to set up camp. Aragorn volunteered to take the first watch which gave the group some reassurance. Xiumin mentioned that since he was a light sleeper, he would help with his watch and alert him of anything, having better hearing than the man.

As the others slept, thankfully without any disturbances, Aragorn kept watch then when his turn was up, he woke up Legolas. When the elf prince believed it was morning after a few hours, he took one last glance around then began to wake up the rest of the Fellowship. Xiumin, Gandalf, Boromir, and Aragorn were the easiest to wake followed by Gimli and Kyungsoo then the hobbits. He started to move to the rest of the guardians but the guardian of ice beat him to it.

With a cold hand, he easily woke up Chen and Chanyeol, the latter jumping to his feet which woke up Sehun in the process who had been clinging to him. Legolas turned to the last two only to find them sleeping together: Baekhyun was facing the opposite direction away from his sister while Yeona was lying horizontally on his side. Giving them both a firm shake on the shoulder, the twins woke up and looked at him, their hair, as well as the others', was standing up in different places. With everyone now awake, Sam, with the help of Kyungsoo and Xiumin, made a quick breakfast for everyone. When everyone was done, they started moving again. They walked for several hours through the winding tunnels, climbing any parts that walking wasn't an option.

During this time, Sehun was able to use his powers again without the others watching him for any trouble. Every now and then, Gandalf would stop and look around the area before leading them on. Xiumin, Kyungsoo, and Lay the ever-observant ones noticed how often he would stop and took longer to lead them in the right direction and were growing concerned that he might not remember the way out of the mines but didn't say this to anyone else least this caused some panic."How long have we been walking?" Baekhyun asked out of the blue, his tone one of boredom. "I don't know hyung. Wish I could tell you but I'm not walking watch," Sehun answered, sounding equally as bored.

"If Suho hyung was here, he'd probably make a joke right now," Chen said causing most of the guardians to groan causing the others who didn't know about the jokes to look at the younger ones confused. "What do you mean? His jokes can't be that bad," Boromir said earning multiple snorts. "You don't know Suho. He may be our fabulous leader but when he's goofing around he makes jokes with bad puns that we don't understand. I think the only ones who laugh at his jokes are Kai, Lay, and Yeona," Xiumin answered, looking at the two aforementioned. Lay being his usual self didn't seem to hear what his oldest hyung had said while Yeona looked anywhere but the others who were looking at her.

"I only laugh because they're just ridiculous. I don't understand what makes them funny to him," She replied as her twin gently nudged her side. She glared at him then shoved him away causing him to bump into Boromir. "Could you tell us more about your world?" Legolas asked and all the guardians looked at each other then nodded or shrugged. "Also, I'm curious about the songs you were singing," Gimli added. For the next few hours, the guardians told their Middle Earth companions about their world; with the advancement of technology and many other things.

They, the boys, as per request from Gimli, explained how on their Earth they were known for their music, dancing, singing, performances, and personalities. They keep their powers hidden but there are a select few who know them and have found ways to make it appear they did but didn't. Yeona explained how she, instead of being an idol like her brother, was an actress and occasionally sang songs but more to cover than writing her own. They walked all day, the guardians telling stories of what they had done of trips they've taken or what they had done which thankfully passed the time and made the atmosphere less gloomy and they soon stopped, standing between two passages, Gandalf looking down one then the other. "Gandalf?" Aragorn asked the grey-clad wizard when he lowered his head. "I have no memory of this place,"