Out of Place

Chapter21

The group travelled in silence, their minds all thinking back to the cloaked enigma whom had saved the Ring bearer. The unknown entity had rushed onto the scene quicker than their minds could comprehend and in a roar of fire, had tamed the beast and saved Frodo. Each time one of the more.. curious of the group mentioned the peculiar creature, Gandalf shot them down or interrupted them the second they opened their mouth. They weren't sure why the wizard was determined to ignore the obvious existence of the blue-eyed hobbit's saviour but after a while of asking questions and bringing up the recent events and receiving no answers in response, the inquiries stopped.

Although the majority of the group was suspicious about the hobbit's saviour, they tried their best to drop their concerns, however; they remained tense as they advanced through the mines. Gandalf didn't seem too worried about the creature and; as a result, they guessed that they shouldn't be too concerned. Then again, they couldn't ever really tell with Gandalf.

From the moment they had begun their journey through the mines, Gandalf had warned them that it would be a four-day journey, meaning that they would have to sleep where many skeletons resided -much to the hobbits' displeasure. Even in its abandoned state, the group could tell that the mines were truly impressive, many wooden bridges connected the path, protecting them from the fall they would have had to take if the structures weren't there. Great piles of rock, blended together, creating huge pillars that towered above them. There were obvious signs of ruin- most likely from whatever invasion the previous inhabitants had died from. 

Steep staircases travelled up the mines, the hobbits finding themselves climbing up them on all fours, their short statures and big feet making the precipitous stairs that much harder to mount. Not to mention the multiple skeletons and other objects spread about the place.

Pippin nearly took a tumble when he slipped, Merry having to help steady him. Gandalf was the first to reach the top, having been the one leading them in the first place. He looked around at the multiple stone archways, each leading down its own tunnel. A piece of large rock that protruded from the ground stood before the three tunnels and Gandalf found himself sitting down on it after coming to the daunting realisation that he had no memory of the place where they now found themselves.

The rest of the fellowship sat around, Aragorn smoking his pipe from his place next to Boromir.

"Are we lost?" Someone whispered right before a loud shushing noise was heard.

"Merry? I'm hungry."

"What?"

As Gandalf, sat nibbling mindlessly at his pipe, Frodo sensed a presence lurking in the darkness. He frowned, becoming more alert at the muffled scraping that met his ears. Ascending the stairs he spotted some kind of creature travelling on all fours, not hesitating, he rushed up to Gandalf.

"There's something down there." He whispered, his voice hushed but still echoing slightly in the silence of the mines.

"It's Gollum." The wizard replied, not seeming very concerned in the least.

"Gollum?"

"He's been following us for three days. As has that saviour of yours."

Blue eyes blinked before widening. He hadn't seen nor noticed the hooded entity yet Gandalf stated that he had been following them as well. His hand reached up to feel the material of his shirt that rested above the golden object he had been carrying. He hoped that whatever business the creature had, it didn't involve the Ring. 

Deciding to focus on Gollum for the time being, he opened his mouth to speak.

"He escaped the dungeons of Barad-dur?"