Bravery and Courage. Found on the Battlefield.

Chapter six.

Arneth's POV.
After the trek down the mountain my legs fell out from under me and I felt someone scoop me up. I look up at the person to see Legolas looking at me with concern. "Forgive me, I should not have let you carry Pippin after your shock," he says. I blush and look away. "It's fine, this happens a lot actually. Umm, could you put me down please?" I ask. He laughs, "But I am not holding you!" he tells me. I look at him then down at the ground and back to him. He looks at me and puts me down before turning away quickly. Well ok then! We have a rest for a few minutes before setting off towards the Mines of Moria. Halfway there Gimli pulled me aside. "Now lassie, you tell me if that elf is bothering you and I will deal with him" he spits out the word elf. "Thank you Gimli, but I know how to handle myself. Besides he was only helping me, you would have done the same!" I reply. He just nods and walks back towards Gandalf. After a while we took a path that led down one side of the mountain and entered a little valley. Gimli gasps and says "The walls of Moria". There is a little lake here and unfortunately Frodo's foot slipped into it and he gasps.

Gandalf stops at, what I presume to be the doors of the Mine but, it still looks like a wall to me. Then he outlines them and now I can see them more clearly. "Now let's see. Ithildin... It mirrors only starlight and moonlight." he mutters. He turned and looked at the sky, and suddenly the moon came out and illuminated the door. "It reads "The Doors of Durin - Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter." he says. Merry looks really confused, "What do you suppose that means?" he asks. Gandalf turns to face him, "Oh it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." Gandalf said. Then he turned to the door and said, "Annon edhellen edro hi ammen! (Gate of the Elves open now for me!)". Nothing! Gandalf tries to push the door and then we wait. He pushes the tip of his staff against and says, "Ando Eldarinwa a lasta quettanya, Fenda Casarinwa! (Gate of Elves listen to my word, Threshold of Dwarves!)". Annnnd nothing! Aragorn takes Bill's reins and starts to untack him. Sam walks over and asks him what get is doing. "The mines are no place for a pony, even one so brave as Bill." he tells Sam and poor Sam looks heartbroken. But he nods and pets Bill while saying goodbye. "Go on, Bill, go on. Don't worry Sam, he knows the way home." Aragorn tells him as soon as he is finished. Sam comes over to me and I wrap him up in a big hug. "Oh my dear little hobbit! Don't be sad, he will be fine. As will you, now go keep Frodo company." I tell him. I look over to Merry and Pippin. They are throwing stones in the water. I get a weird feeling about this place. I made my way over to the waters edge. Merry threw a stone and Pippin was about to when I grabbed his arm. Aragorn says from the other side of Pippin, "Do not disturb the water!". Pippin dropped the stone straight away. Just then I hear the clatter of wood off the ground and turn to see Gandalf has thrown his staff on the ground in frustration. "Oh it's useless!" he groans.

Walking over to Frodo and Sam, and talking to Sam because Frodo seems lost in thought. Frodo stands up quickly and a look of happiness comes over his face. "It's a riddle. Speak "friend" and enter. What's the Elvish word for friend?" he asks. I'm quick to reply with the word, "Mellon". Suddenly the walls start to part as the door opens slowly. Everyone turns to look at it in surprise and Frodo hugs me. "Thank you Arneth. You got the door open!" he says and I laugh. "No Frodo, you figured it out, I just gave you the word" I tell him. We are walking into the Mines and all you can hear is Gimli talking to Legolas, which is an improvement. "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!" he says. I'm at the back of the group with the hobbits. The floor of this mine is weird, it sounds all crackly and I look down. Oh my goodness! Skeletons of Dwarves. Eww. "This is no mine, it's a tomb!" Boromir says. As we look around we see dead Dwarves everywhere. Gimli sounds heartbroken. "Oh! No! Nooo!!!" he cries. The hobbits and I have slowly started to back away. I'm not backing away because I'm afraid, nope, Frodo holds one of my hands and Pippin holds the other. Once they started to back away I was pulled with them. I can see Legolas pull an arrow out of a Dwarf head and looks at it carefully, then throw it away in disgust. "Goblins" he says. With that he knocks an arrow and Legolas and Aragorn unsheath their swords. "We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here." Boromir says. Everyone starts to panic and Boromir yells "Out! Get out!" and they start heading toward the exit too. Suddenly, I feel something wrap around my ankle and I drop Pippins hand. I was about to drop Frodo's when both his and my feet were yanked out from under us and we were pulled towards the water. Sam yells "FRODO" while Merry and Pippin yells "ARNETH". I try to get a dagger loose and cut at the offending tentacle, but I can't. Sam turns to Aragorn "Strider! Get off him!" he says and then he cuts the tentacle that was holding Frodo off. I still struggled with mine because it looked like the creature had given up. I get the feeling something is going to happen so I take whatever can fall off of me off, meaning my bow, quiver and swords. Leaving me with just my daggers. No sooner than I have finished this, a whole heap of tentacles shot out of the water. They knock the hobbits aside and then Frodo and I are pulled up into the air. Frodo yells in fright and I scream "ARAGORN".