"It should," Larael said breathlessly, riding up behind Meldawen. She stared down at the walls of Moria in amazement. How different they looked in real life, more regal she thought. If they waited til the right moment... ah, there it is. The moonlight shown down upon the wall illuminating the doors entrance in a blue, ethereal light.
No worries now, except maybe that Watcher in the water. As long as no one disturbed it everything should be alright.

Melda grinned widely. "Oh! It's the ithildin!" she gasped, saying the word almost reverently. "I must have a closer look!" She impulsively urged Artemis forward, failing to notice one of the horse's hooves splash in the still water. Melda dismounted faster than she ever had before and hesitantly touched a finger to the glittering ithildin. "Oh, oh, oh," she breathed. "And there's the seven stars - and the anvil - and the star of the house of Feanor -" she turned to the others, eyes shining. "I never dreamed I'd see it for real!"

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Brego dismounted. "Should we take the horses inside or set them free?" She asked taking of the bridle and stroking Prince's face. Tears started to fall down her face. Then at the slap she know that the watcher would becoming hoply not now.

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The Quiet A-U Gentlewomen

Darrell looked with awe at the walls, and the ithildin which marked the doors of Durin. His ankle still pained him, but over the time they had been riding he had got used to it. When he walked, he limped, and he suspected he always would, as the break was healing now, but probably not in the right place.

He turned to Brego, "Don't worry, we aren't going in. If the fellowship haven't gone in, which I think they haven't as the door is still intact, then there is still a Balrog in there. I don't know about you, but I don't fancy a run in with that. We're just having a look around, then heading off to Rohan through the Gap of Rohan by Isengard" He turned back to the doors to inspect them more closely, amazed at their beauty, and he saw, out of the corner of his eye a ripple in the water, but thought nothing of it.

Luthien moved after Melda, and ran her finger along the magical runes. Tearing her gaze away for a moment, she nodded to Darrell, "I believe that would be wise. Never mind the Balrog, what about the goblins and trolls and...what about the Watcher?" She backed closer to the wall, "I completely forgot about it...has anyone disturbed the water?"

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Thanks Haldir and Gil!
"You said: I know that this will hurt, but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse..."

Melda shook her head. "I don't think so," she said, looking uneasy. "Though we made no effort to lower our voices..." a tinge of fear crept into her tone as she, too, caught sight of ripples. "You don't think...?

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She but the bridle back on. She mounted. "Let's go please and hurry. I don't think I am ready to met the watcher,yet" She said her voice uneasy.

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The Quiet A-U Gentlewomen

[Ack! Apologies for my absence! I'm back! And methinks another life-threatening situation would suit well right about now.]

Gwen's heart leapt as she dismounted and walked closer to the wall. She, too, placed her hand against the cool surface and smiled breathlessly.
"I can't believe I'm actually here," she said quietly to herself. How many nights she had spent, dreaming of a moment such as this.
She glanced over at the others and saw Luthien and Darrell shoot a glance at the water. And with a shiver of fear, she remembered what lurked beneath the surface. Gwen froze instinctively, but than recalled thankfully that no one had yet disturbed the water...they would be safe until that happened.
A couple of minute later, after admiring the wall from all angles, Gwen felt very hungry [not to mention cold] and decided to grab a snack from Thalion's saddle bags. But she had pushed their luck too far. Thalion was much too close to the water's edge for her to go unnoticed.

With a sudden splash, Gwen hardly had time to whirl around before something caught her at the ankle. With a thud that blurred her vision for a split-second, she fell to the uneven ground. She screamed with terror, kicking and thrashing about in attempt to free herself, but as she was dragged across the rocks, she knew it was all in vain.

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^Thanks Gily!
<By Bubble Black

"Gwen!" yelled Melda in shock. Hardly knowing what it was she did, she sprang forward and hacked wildly at the tentacle holding Gwen with her small sword, nearly severing it. Something cold and slimy suddenly wound itself around her arm and yanked - and her sword fell, forgotten.

Melda tried to scream as she dangled high over the water but somehow it wouldn't come and she just shut her eyes and hoped it wouldn't hurt too much, wishing vaguely that she were back home.

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Luthien screamed, her heart and head captured by terror. Pressing her back against the rock wall, she watched helplessly as the slimy tentacles grew dramatically in size and number. One thought raced through her mind as she watched Melda pulled off of her feet-Help Gwen. Tearing her nearly frozen body away from the wall, Luth ran towards her friend. Her legs felt like lead, and her heart was pounding in her ears. Gwen was somewhat smaller than her, but it still took some effort to half-carry her to relative safety.
Patting Gwen's cheek, she called out; "Gwen? Gwen, can you hear me?" She felt a tear roll off of her chin. She had to be okay, she just had to!

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Thanks Haldir and Gil!
"You said: I know that this will hurt, but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse..."

At Gwen's scream, Darrell whirled sharply around. He saw the tentacle around Gwen's leg, dragging her into the water. He dismounted as fast as he could. He landed heavily on his bad ankle, causing him to stagger, and almost fall over. By the time he recovered Melda and Luth and freed Gwen, Melda was in the grasp of the Watcher, high above the lake.

Drawing his sword, he charged into the water, disregarding the pain, and was soon in amongst the flailing tentacles. He slashed at the one holding Melda up, severing it, but two others caught her in mid air. Several other tentacles lashed out at Darrell, and he was forced back under the pressure. He turned briefly, hoping to see someone else coming to help...

Melda could hardly breath, as tentacles tossed her roughly about. She saw Darrell dimly and with a surge of terror screamed breathlessly, "Look out!" as a tentacle crept slowly, inexorably, toward his leg, underwater. She hung motionless for a minute, enough to catch her breath, and pushed vainly at the tentacle now wrapped tightly around her waist.

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Larael screamed as Gwen was pulled backward by the Watcher's tentacle around her ankle. Immediately, she reached for a sword that was not there. Oh Lord, what was she supposed to do now? Darrell ran forward in attempt to free Gwen. Larael stared in wide disbelief, as a tentacle slid through the murky water towards Darrell, and heard Melda scream. Turning she saw Melda vainly struggling against the weight of a tentacle around her waist.
She was alone on the shore standing dumbly at the scene unfolding before her. If she didn't do something they'd die.

[Erm... I kinda don't have a sword, and I don't know how I'll save all of you without one.]

As soon as Gwen was fully pulled into the water, her air-filled lungs were replaced with thick, murky water. She wildly thrashed at the tentacle around her leg, her ears ringing, head spinning, lungs crying out for air. Another tentacle had slipped it's way around her waist. Gwen's vision blurred as her last moments of conciousness were squeezed out...and then everything went black.
[Yeah, I know, incredibly cheesey, don't you love it? ]
[Do you have a bow, Larael?]

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^Thanks Gily!
<By Bubble Black

[Woo. A chance to play the hero Oh, and Gwen, didn't Luth pull you out of the water? I guess you could have been pulled back in...]

Darrell battled on valiantly, slashing left and right, trying to free Melda from the grip of the Watcher. He did not notice the tentacle creeping towards his foot, and did not hear Melda's warning shout.

He cut down another of the tentacles holding Melda up, but almost simultaneously he felt something wrap around his ankle. His broken one. The grip tightened, and he felt the bone where the break had begun to heal splinter again. He swore loudly as his leg gave way under the pressure, and the pain, and he disappeared under the water. But was back up almost straight away. He drove his sword down into the tentacle around his ankle, causing it to let go.

Still from sitting he slashed out at the remaining tentacle holding Melda, and she fell down into the water. Trusting that Melda would be able to get herself out of the lake, he turned to see where Gwen was, but could not see her on the shore...

Melda hit the water with a splash and it seemed an age before she surfaced, spluttering and shaking the water out of her eyes. Her glasses were, not surprisingly, gone; therefore the shore was quite blurry and she felt with rising apprehension that she had no way of knowing when a tentacle might come up from under and drag her down.

Splashing ungracefully (Melda had never been a particularly good swimmer) she managed to keep her head above water enough to make out that the Watcher was currently otherwise occupied, a fact which relieved her slightly, but she could see that the rest of the group were having no such luck, and Gwen was still nowhere to be seen.

Melda treaded water indecisively. She had no wish to return to shore, for most of it was blocked by the Watcher, but every instant she remained in the pool meant that the watcher might notice her.

She made a decision. Clutching a rocky outcrop on the cliff wall, Melda yelled, "Oi! Over here!" at the top of her voice, hoping that the Watcher would take notice so that the others could get themselves to safety. It seemed to, at least partly, but Melda was already underwater, knowing that was poor defence against a creature that spent its life there but hoping she could make it to shore before it saw where she was going.

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