Sucked Into Middle Earth...Just My Luck!

chapter 5

Alice's POV.

We sat outside the gates to Moria for what seemed like eternity, but in actuality it was only around 2 hours. I was beginning to lose patients and had decided to pass my time by teaching Legolas, Aragorn and Boromir to play Skip-bo. The only downside of this was that Boromir was being rather cocky about the fact that he was beating me and Legolas was kicking all our asses! No idea how, the game was literally all to do with luck. karma had decided to keep an eye on Merri and Pippin to make sure they didn't disturb the water. She figured the giant calamari at the entrance didn't really have to be disturbed if we could avoid it and if the party decided not to go through the mines when they saw the state of it then they could just pull the 'we-know-best' card against them. Karma had an aversion to seafood, hence her reluctance to encounter the tentacled fiend, but honestly I didn't care whether or not it rose because it was only really going to go after one member of the group in particular and we both knew he'd come out of it fine in the end.

Legolas announced his victory and I threw down my cards with a sigh. That elf was far too lucky for his own good. I laid back on the ground and gave a stretch, letting out a satisfied groan as I felt and heard my back pop. I heard someone clear their throat and turned to look at Boromir who had been the source.

"Yes?" I asked as he stared down at me impatiently.

"You're on my foot" he said as though his dilemma had been obvious.

I moved very slightly and realised that the 'rock' I had thought was under me was indeed his shoe. I figured he must want his foot back but instead of simply complying to his silent request I decided to give him a 'What of it?' look by raising my eyebrows at him. Clearly he was catching onto my antics because he gave a frustrated sigh and simply lifted his boot up, causing me to roll over and onto my stomach with a little 'oof'.

Karma came over to help me up and in doing so she whispered, "Gandalf keeps giving me these accusing glances. He absolutely knows we can tell him the password to get inside".

"So go ahead and tell him already" I told her simply while Legolas watched us carefully. I had a sneaking suspicion he listened in on our hushed discussions frequently, but as long as he kept quiet about everything and let us utilise our knowledge our way I guess it was fine to some degree.

"You know we have to let Frodo figure it out" she said exasperated.

"Why?" I shrugged.

"Because his attitude right now is beginning to get on my nerves and I really need him to make himself useful or I'll run out of reasons not to shake him until he develops a personality" she sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. From what I'd seen he HAD been quite a buzzkill these last few hours. Like, I get that he's exhausted, we all are, but please for the love of Cthulhu just brighten the fuck up for even a moment.

We heard the unmistakable sound of a rock breaking the surface of the water, the splash seeming louder than it should have in the still night air. Karma groaned and as Pippin went to throw an even bigger rock she rushed to stop him but luckily Aragorn beat her to it. I guess she's just gonna hope that single rock wasn't enough to wake the kraken?

Finally Frodo spoke up and said, "it's a riddle. Gandalf, what's the elvish word for friend?"

"Mel'lon" said Gandalf with apprehension but it did the trick.

The gates swung open and I gave a small 'woop!' of approval as I entered along with the others. Gimli was boasting the whole time of the feasts they'd enjoy and the majesty of the place, all the while I just bit my lip to stop me from blurting the crippling truth to him before it was time.