(hehehehehehehehehe....)

(gotta charge up the iPod a bit, bbs!)

"Wait!" Markus held up his hand, his eyes wide. "I am not leading you to the dwarves!" He smacked his head in frustration. "I am leading you to your deaths. There is only one passage through the white mountains and that would be the Paths of the Dead. Only the most courageous or foolhardy take that route. The White Mountains are home to the Dunlendings..." He swallowed. "They were servants of Sauron..."

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(back, but gonna go soon...got drive home)
Her eyes grew wide. "Sauron?" she whispered, her face going white, then she fell into a pit of a flashback. Fire. Screaming. Pain. It flooded her, she couldn't speak.

Markus watched Luna, with his own eyes wide. He moved to stand behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders. "You are safe Luna. Do not fear. We shall take the longer route and walk around the mountains." He looked to Sirel. "Would you have any preference as to whether we go east or west? Personally, I think going east will take us too close to Mordor. Taking the west route will be long, but indeed safer."

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She slowly came back to the present. "Forgive me, I don't know what came over me." she said in a quiet, measures voice. She took comfort from the contact, but couldn't shake the feeling of dread.

Sirel frowned. From Luna's reaction, traveling close to Mordor seemed unwise. It was a dangerous enough path without one of her companions terrified out of her mind. "West seems the better choice. It will take longer, aye, but that is a small sacrifice for our safety."

"No! It's ok, we can take the quicker route." she just wanted to get to Lothlorien as soon as possible.

Luna had complicated motives, Sirel thought to herself. Whatever she was looking forward to in Lothlorien must certainly be excellent. "Why the hurry?" she questioned. "No disrespect intended, but I can see that you fear the name of Sauron very much, so why would you risk going so close to Mordor to get to Lothlorien faster?"

"I don't know what I risk, I am going to Lothlorien to find out about myself. I don't know who I am, who my parents are, or anything. Markus told me Lady Galadriel could help." she said quietly.

"Oh." Sirel's eyes were wide as saucers. That explained the hurry. "I'm sorry. However, I have met with Lady Galadriel on several occasions, and I am sure she will be able to help you."

"I hope so." she looked at the ground, her hands behind her back.

"Don't worry." She laid a comforting hand on Luna's shoulder. "You will regain your memory. Lothlorien is the right place to go - if anyone can help, it is the Lady Galadriel."

She nodded, silently. She didn't know what to say. She was a little nervous about what would happen.

"I do not want to pass by Mordor unless we have to." He looked to Luna. "I understand the hurry to find out about yourself, but if we take the longer route we at least guarantee that we will all make it to Lothlorien. There is too much activity in Mordor. I do not trust it." He hissed slightly, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "We shall pass through Rohan. Take the Gap of Rohan up to Edoras. From there we can perhaps cross through Fangorn forest to see the Ents. Although it is a dark forest...Who knows what could be hiding in there."

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She nodded at him, though her shoulders dropped slightly. "I understand..." she looked down, but then looked up, smiling "At least I'll get to see more of the country!"