Notes: First time Ring-fic here. Going with the flow, so sorry if I manage to traipse my way through Middle-Earth factually inaccurate and with half-cooked sentence structures. Forgive me for my gratuitous use of Over- and Melodramatics. No slash, but smarm, so never fret.
I had a different story up earlier but to my dismay when I re-read RK I found my germ of a plot was entirely implausible, so I have rewritten the whole thing, short as it was.
Without more delay:
***
The Return to Moria
Chapter I: The Long Dinner
By RubyD
***
'I may adore your Glittering Caverns, Master Dwarf, but I save no love for this one!' protested Legolas as Gimli bade him to visit Moria.
'It is safe, I assure you!' said Gimli as he drank down his foamy mug. It was a late dinner at one of the many lively bars in Dimrill Dale. Four hours they spent discussing the happenings of the mountain that loomed darkly in Legolas' memories.
'Safe?' inquired the Elf with a disbelieving look.
'Well,' he added reluctantly, 'mostly safe.'
'Gimli!' Legolas sighed in exasperation. 'After all that had taken place during the Fellowship and in that pit I can't believe you are asking me to go back.'
'But this have changed, as you well know! Back three years ago Mirkwood had gathered about an army to reclaim Moria. Even Aragorn sent his men to aid us! Ah, it gladdened me to see those long lines of Dwarves marching to the gates and thrashing the Orcs standing in the way!' Gimli pounded his fist heartily on the table. 'There were a great many of the foul demons indeed.'
'I heard that the Orcs who escaped the War of the Ring had fled there. Did they give a good fight?'
'A grand one! You should have been there, Legolas!'
'I was in my own lands, convincing some of my people in Greenwood to come down south,' he said. 'They are now in Ithilien.'
'And the land is better for it.' Gimli nodded. 'What once was dead has sprung new life - and so is the same in Moria! It is the home in which we all should have encountered when we first entered not a decade ago.'
'Seven years, I believe,' said Legolas.
'Right, you are. And my kin will give you a fine welcome! For if I am an Elf-friend, then you are a Dwarf-friend! Lord Talin* would certainly be disappointed if you didn't give one visit after the tales I have told about you. What halls that were once dark are filled with glorious lights that could rival the sun and moon in magnificence! Empty walks now busy with Dwarves who explore the depths again for mithril, and cold chambers made warm with the brilliance of fire and jewels. And save for the few Orcs that have crawled deep into the holes, deeper than we have ventured for fear of disturbing any more Balrogs that might be sleeping, there is no need for fear and it is safe.' Then he added: 'Mostly.'
Legolas shook his head, but laughed. 'You do not inspire much confidence in me, my friend - '
'Aye, sorry about that.'
' - But I do not wish to disappoint the Lord of Moria after all the tales you have told me of him.' The Elf smiled. 'It may be a chance to compare stories and see what exaggerations you've been saying behind our backs!'
'Oh, you wound me!'
'One that will heal . . . although, I am curious now. Curse you and your talk, friend!'
'So do you give and will come?' asked Gimli with a great twinkle in his eyes.
'I give!' he declared, throwing up his hands. 'If only to finish this conversation and be able to eat. This food has been cooling for a long while.' He motioned to the untouched bowls decorating the wood surface in front of them.
'Then we will order for fresh plates!' cried the Dwarf. 'For I am happy, Master Elf, that you will be finally able to see what Moria should be! Ai, order up more food!' With a wave of his arm he accidentally knocked over a servant carrying several mugs of drink and they landed on the floor in a loud splatter. 'A fine waste of beer,' he said remorsefully.
To Be Continued
Notes: So I made up a new Lord of Moria. Oh well, c'est la vie.
And thank-you Sundance! Blue Meanie? I, Four Sacred Streams, did some editing.
I had a different story up earlier but to my dismay when I re-read RK I found my germ of a plot was entirely implausible, so I have rewritten the whole thing, short as it was.
Without more delay:
***
The Return to Moria
Chapter I: The Long Dinner
By RubyD
***
'I may adore your Glittering Caverns, Master Dwarf, but I save no love for this one!' protested Legolas as Gimli bade him to visit Moria.
'It is safe, I assure you!' said Gimli as he drank down his foamy mug. It was a late dinner at one of the many lively bars in Dimrill Dale. Four hours they spent discussing the happenings of the mountain that loomed darkly in Legolas' memories.
'Safe?' inquired the Elf with a disbelieving look.
'Well,' he added reluctantly, 'mostly safe.'
'Gimli!' Legolas sighed in exasperation. 'After all that had taken place during the Fellowship and in that pit I can't believe you are asking me to go back.'
'But this have changed, as you well know! Back three years ago Mirkwood had gathered about an army to reclaim Moria. Even Aragorn sent his men to aid us! Ah, it gladdened me to see those long lines of Dwarves marching to the gates and thrashing the Orcs standing in the way!' Gimli pounded his fist heartily on the table. 'There were a great many of the foul demons indeed.'
'I heard that the Orcs who escaped the War of the Ring had fled there. Did they give a good fight?'
'A grand one! You should have been there, Legolas!'
'I was in my own lands, convincing some of my people in Greenwood to come down south,' he said. 'They are now in Ithilien.'
'And the land is better for it.' Gimli nodded. 'What once was dead has sprung new life - and so is the same in Moria! It is the home in which we all should have encountered when we first entered not a decade ago.'
'Seven years, I believe,' said Legolas.
'Right, you are. And my kin will give you a fine welcome! For if I am an Elf-friend, then you are a Dwarf-friend! Lord Talin* would certainly be disappointed if you didn't give one visit after the tales I have told about you. What halls that were once dark are filled with glorious lights that could rival the sun and moon in magnificence! Empty walks now busy with Dwarves who explore the depths again for mithril, and cold chambers made warm with the brilliance of fire and jewels. And save for the few Orcs that have crawled deep into the holes, deeper than we have ventured for fear of disturbing any more Balrogs that might be sleeping, there is no need for fear and it is safe.' Then he added: 'Mostly.'
Legolas shook his head, but laughed. 'You do not inspire much confidence in me, my friend - '
'Aye, sorry about that.'
' - But I do not wish to disappoint the Lord of Moria after all the tales you have told me of him.' The Elf smiled. 'It may be a chance to compare stories and see what exaggerations you've been saying behind our backs!'
'Oh, you wound me!'
'One that will heal . . . although, I am curious now. Curse you and your talk, friend!'
'So do you give and will come?' asked Gimli with a great twinkle in his eyes.
'I give!' he declared, throwing up his hands. 'If only to finish this conversation and be able to eat. This food has been cooling for a long while.' He motioned to the untouched bowls decorating the wood surface in front of them.
'Then we will order for fresh plates!' cried the Dwarf. 'For I am happy, Master Elf, that you will be finally able to see what Moria should be! Ai, order up more food!' With a wave of his arm he accidentally knocked over a servant carrying several mugs of drink and they landed on the floor in a loud splatter. 'A fine waste of beer,' he said remorsefully.
To Be Continued
Notes: So I made up a new Lord of Moria. Oh well, c'est la vie.
And thank-you Sundance! Blue Meanie? I, Four Sacred Streams, did some editing.