Was Gawain taking notes from Scooby Doo and Shaggy now? What with the way he was clinging, she could have sworn he'd seen a g-g-g-ghost. It was cold, though... so she allowed it. In front of the entire fellowship. It even helped warm her cheeks.

Scene shift. That was fast. It took her a good minute before she let go of Gawain, though. By the time she had, the group had already disembarked.

"Tell them what?" She asked, still holding onto his hand. Her eyes drifted to the group. Was he talking about Gandalf's oncoming 'demise', or the things lurking, or the gate, or...

"Um... all of it?"

There was so much to tell, he didn't even know where to start. That is why he asked. When in doubt, ask your girlfriend. No one has ever gone wrong with that.

"I thought Gandalf might wanna hear this stuff from you." he added with a smirk. Not like he was jealous of her new bff, but it was kind of amusing.

Water rippled. Gawain pushed Ami back from the shore and notched an arrow. The rest of the group's attention was divided between Gandalf's puzzle and the lake.

"How about we start with the thing in the water." he glanced over at the wizard "The password's mellon, get us inside now. Hurry."

Because a wizard is never late, but sometimes they come pretty darn close.

And suddenly, Gawain thought she was cool with Gandalf.

"Yes," Amelia stated briskly. "Gandalf and I are bros." Buds. Drinking buddies. That was a hilarious presumption. "You realize he's not of this world and already suspects something about us, right? We haven't given him much beyond spoiler upon spoiler to explain how we know what we know. It could end badly." It could. "But what the hell?"

Her grip tightened on his hand as she pulled them forward, over the cold stone, away from the water, towards the now-opened mountain-side door. The mountain loomed high overhead, and the darkness was thick and enclosing, but they had light, and Gimli knew the way. Before they got too deep in the mountain, she caught the group's attention. "Gandalf! Gimli!"

The dwarf and the wizard turned, both concerned.

Gimli's words conveyed confusion mixed with a hint of worry and a dash of pride. "What is it, Lass? This is Moria. I know it well." His family had helped build it. He had not understood Gandalf's hesitancy regarding their entry.

The hobbits glanced back, as did the humans and the elf, but Gandalf held up a hand. "Wait here. We'll handle this." In private. "What is it?" He asked, when it was just Gimli and him waiting on her and Gawain's words.

Her eyes shifted to the dwarf first. Short in stature (and temper), she knew he wouldn't like these words. But they needed to be given, all the same. "Moria isn't how you remember it. Something happened," her voice was quiet, tone restrained. She wanted him to get the seriousness of the situation, not to be blinded by that pride of his, or unbelieving. She didn't want him to rush off and find a tomb. "Many lost their lives. I'm sorry, Gimli. Wait a second while I explain."

The look in Gimli's eyes was hard to explain, but shock, rage, and a lacking of understanding all blended together fairly well... and did a wearied attempt at patience. Gandalf put a hand on his shoulder. It helped.

"You aren't from this world," the wizard said. "That's how you know this information." Gandalf was way too clever for his own good. "How else could you know the future, just as well as the past?" Amelia opened her mouth. He tapped his ears. "Elves aren't the only ones with keen senses. What was it you needed to tell us? Aside from about Moria..."

Crap. A defiant smile tightened her features. If Gandalf had called them on it, she could work with that. "We aren't of this world, true." She said boldly. "Where we come from, your tales are long-told stories. That's how we know what we know, and what is to come. We must tread carefully here, or the fellowship will break. The strongest links will shatter, and the chain will break apart. There will still be hope, but..." She shook her head gravely. "I think we can do better than replaying the past." What with YOUR history, you should believe me, Gandalf. Her look seemed to say.

Gimli rolled his eyes. "Who gave them ale?"

"I believe her," Gandalf silenced him. "We must tread carefully. The dwarves did, in fact, delve too deep. And----" He was cut off, by idiocy. Gandalf spun on the spot. Down the corridor, there was no sight of the group. Those fools! They'd entered a side chamber! And the echoing of the well seemed endless. Then, the drums. "We must make haste!" He hauled Gimli along by the wrist. Dwarves, it appeared, loathed this feat most of all.

"If we fight a troll, I'm shooting it with my arrows..." Amelia grumbled wearily as they trailed behind the wizard and his beard.

>>"Yes, Gandalf and I are bros. You realize he's not of this world and already suspects something about us, right? We haven't given him much beyond spoiler upon spoiler to explain how we know what we know. It could end badly. But what the hell?"

"Well, on the bright side, this ain't gonna change anything once we're out of the movie" Gawain noted with a sigh. This movie had never seemed this long from the outside. Or this real. What the hell.

Ami, being... well, Ami, managed to get a private talk session with Gimli and Gandalf. Spoiler time. Gawain let her explain the situation the best she could, and was extremely relieved when Gandalf decided to believe them.

>>"You aren't from this world. That's how you know this information. How else could you know the future, just as well as the past? Elves aren't the only ones with keen senses. What was it you needed to tell us? Aside from about Moria..."

Not from this world was a relative term. Gawain opened his mouth to answer, but caught Ami's smile once again, and let her talk. He found himself quite proud of his girlfriend.

>>"Who gave them ale?"

Once again the young knight opened his mouth to answer, but this time the wizard was faster.

>>"I believe her. We must tread carefully. The dwarves did, in fact, delve too deep. And----"

And the hobbit had to go and push the skeleton down the well.

"Can I throw him down the well?" Gawain inquired, bolting after Gandalf and Gimli. He so wanted to do that ever since he first saw the movie.

>>"If we fight a troll, I'm shooting it with my arrows..."

"When we fight a troll, ya're staying the hell behind me, Ami." he was not going to argue about that, not in freaking Moria. They ran after the group that was moving on and looking for a place to make a stand. In the dark, Gawain tripped and fell behind, bracing himself against the stone wall.

"Well... sh*t." Maya's voice came from the dark a few moments later "I guess it's just past midnight, if anyone's interested..."

>>"When we fight a troll, ya're staying the hell behind me, Ami."

A devil-may-care smirk slid on over the look of weary annoyance with hobbits. "I'll let Frodo tank," she smiled.

Into the room, they went. At some point, she lost her grip on his hand. She heard Gawain tumble. Her eyes snapped to where he'd fallen, narrowed seriously. He was not usually the sort to fall all over himself in battle. Well. Actually, sometimes he was. But dammit, usually that was her effect on him, not the effect of trolls!

Speaking of...

Thankfully, the troll hadn't stomped into the room yet. No blood-curdling roars. No bone-jarring thwacks. No--

Gawain swore. Her eyes went right to the spot in the darkness. Correction. Not Gawain. Well, damn. The teen hadn't considered this as a factor. As she moved to kneel beside her, she got Gandalf's attention. "Gandalf!"

He was at their side quicker than she'd have pegged an old man to move. He rested the butt of his staff against the stone as he crouched by them, by the wall. His eyes fell on Maya, and his expression shifted. Uncertainty, curiosity, mild worry. "And who, pray tell, is this?" He asked, his grandfatherly air coming on strong.

Amelia's hair moved in front of her eyes annoyingly as she turned her head towards him. She brushed a few stray hairs free. "Gawain. The same one we've been traveling with all this time. He transforms... at nightfall."

"We've had nightfalls before..." Gandalf reasoned.

"Never on-camera," Amelia muttered. Her eyes snapped to Maya. "You going to be alright?" Her fingers fumbled the bow free from her back and notched an arrow in preparation. If anything came, she wanted to be ready. He'd been making jokes, so she was probably fine. A little louder, as if announcing it to the entire party and smoothing over the whole ordeal with shifting genders, she added "Everyone, Frodo has Mythril mail. He can take a few blows from a troll if we let him, but we probably shouldn't let it squash his head."

Frodo squeaked, hand reaching up to pat the top of his head, just to be sure it was still safe. Sam's eyes focused on him worriedly. "Mr. Frodo..." He frowned.

>>"Gandalf!"

"Don't..."

Too late, the wizard was already next to them, giving Maya a look she knew all too well from a world other than this.

>>"And who, pray tell, is this?"

Ami looked annoyed at the question. Maya just sighed and dot back to her feet. She seriously needed to practice shifting while running.

>>"Gawain. The same one we've been traveling with all this time. He transforms... at nightfall."

>>"We've had nightfalls before..."

>>"Never on-camera,"

"Actually, it's midnight." Maya interjected, for good measure.

>>"You going to be alright?"

"Yeah I'm f..."

>>"Everyone, Frodo has Mythril mail. He can take a few blows from a troll if we let him, but we probably shouldn't let it squash his head."

There was a yelp from the hobbits, and Maya unhooked her bow from her shoulder too.

"Queen of spoilers" she grinned at her girlfriend before she turned to the others "Yes there is a troll. And something much worse. My vote goes for gettin' the hell outta here. This place will be crawling with orcs in ten... nine..."

The countdown didn't even need finishing. The troll burst through the door with his club, interrupting it as if it pained him to let it go on. Everyone spun on it. Legolas started unloading arrows.

"Go for the eyes, and lets just get out of here. We don't need to beat it! Just slow it down and escape!" 'We really don't need the experience or loot!' She did not add, as it'd only confuse them. Turning, she lined a shot up, then sent it sailing, straight into an eye. The thing wailed, smashing a wall into rubble in its blind rage. Her brows raised. Dang. Lucky shot. Probably better than that other battle strategy she'd contemplated for all of a second, involving trolls and battle-pantsing. Nobody needed to see that.

"Go! Go! Go!" She directed with a few waves of her arms. "Move!" There was at least one exit to the room, and if everyone stopped trying to kill the troll or cut off its ankles, they could duck under it or slip around it and escape Scot-free. Up until they started fleeing from the numerous orcs, that was. Hooray for that...

>>"Go for the eyes, and lets just get out of here. We don't need to beat it! Just slow it down and escape!"

Maya's eyes poppen when she watched the arrow hit the troll straight in the eye. She contemplated for a few seconds wether that was Hollywood movie mechanics, or Ami had a talent she did not even know about. However, this was not the time for quiet contemplation. Maya set a few arrows loose before the group finally got the memo of moving out.

"Next time" she yelled as they ducked and ran through the entrance "I'm pickin' the movie!"

Through the door, down some stairs, more drums. Maya tried doing a head count as they ran, and made sure Ami was always by her side. Last thing she needed was losing her in the darkness of Moria.

"What's next?"

>>"Next time" she yelled as they ducked and ran through the entrance "I'm pickin' the movie!"

A ragged chuckle escaped her as they moved. "Yeah, yeah. Ladies choice. Just so long as you don't pick something gross." Women could be so weird at times...

The troll continued thrashing things, long after they were gone.

What was next? Amelia pulled Gandalf aside as they ran, keeping pace with the rest of the group as she muttered something to him. "There's a Balrog in these mines. If you see it, don't fight it. Run. Even if it's to keep us alive..."

Gandalf's face sagged. "You know of all these things from stories..." He said slowly.

"Yeah," she said. "You could say that." One of her notched arrows flew as they ran, hitting a pillar. It ricocheted off and stabbed an orc in the butt. He lost his grip and fell to his death. Movie effects or not, it wasn't bad.

"What exactly do your people think of changing the past?" He shouted.

"What?"

"The past!"

A Doctor Who quote bubbled to the forefront of her mind unbidden, and she didn't smash it down. "Time can be rewritten. Time can be changed." But this wasn't about time. "It really isn't about history, Gandalf..." She insisted, annoyance wearing his voice thin as she aimed another shot as they went.

"I cannot let you alter history..." The wizard muttered. "It goes against the laws of magic."

"Shut up, Harry Dresden." Amelia sighed. "I didn't even realize LoTR wizards had codes."

>>"Yeah, yeah. Ladies choice. Just so long as you don't pick something gross."

"Define gross" Maya laughed a short laugh, punctuated by an arrow that hit an orc in the face. She had a point though. Orcs were still better than romantic comedy.

>>"There's a Balrog in these mines. If you see it, don't fight it. Run. Even if it's to keep us alive..."

"Rather, kill it in one shot and then run" Maya supplied, ducking out of the way as Ami presented another movie-grade overkill. Legolas was starting to get green in the face.
Maya only half listened to the banter between Gandalf and Ami; since grandpa was obviously preoccupied with laws of magic, Maya took it on herself to keep a headcount. It was not always easy to keep an eye on the hobbits scurrying around.

>>"Shut up, Harry Dresden. I didn't even realize LoTR wizards had codes."

"Too much information, Ami!" Maya yelled, jumping from one rock to the next, the group running ahead a wave of orcs "Keep moving!"

She wondered what would happen if they... checked out of the movie ahead of time. She definitely did not feel like finding out just yet. The sea of orcs grew around them in the darkness. Maya reached for her quiver and grasped air.

"Legolas! Arrow!"

Instead of the elf, Aragorn's full quiver flew out of the darkness and Maya snatched it out of the air. The king of Gondor had always preferred using his sword anyway. The arrows were less elegant and heavier than Maya's... but they should do, for now.

The ground shook. Maya shot an arrow then grabbed on to Ami and pulled her behind her.

"Here it comes..."

Man, they were coming out of the walls and ceiling. Good sweet space butterfly above, this was a riduclous scene. Claws, skittering, arrows flying, Gandalf... being obstinate. He did not seem to get this whole 'you're dying' thing. Or maybe he did, and was being a jerk.

"Come on!" Amelia shouted. "Don't be an idiot!"

"Whatever it is your history books say... they must continue to say. I cannot alter that."

"Yet basing your course of actions on prophecy is totally okay?"

"I will not argue with a child on topics above her level," Gandalf turned his staff on a group of orcs. He let loose a ball of light that sent them scattering. Amelia rolled her eyes. With Gandalf this stubborn, it was a wonder he'd accepted Maya and Gawain, and even more wondrous that the whole group hadn't hit the brakes.

She turned, and fired an arrow into a crowd. An orc dodged it easily... and right into another orc's path. The orc bashed him out of the way with a sickening crunch. He gnashed his jaws hungrily. The ground shook. He stopped, looked thoughtfully towards the ceiling. Some orcs reacted similarly. And then a massive whip of fire crashed through them, sweeping countless into the dark depths.

A hand that had no right grabbing her to protect her reached out to grab and protect her, pulling her behind Maya. Amelia shoved the arms aside and stepped to one side, drawing an arrow and notching it. "Here it comes, yourself." She muttered. She was starting to get tired of the whole 'overprotective' thing.

>>"Here it comes, yourself."

Adrenaline pumping in great quantities, Maya swore as Ami stepped out from behind her. The girl was impossible sometimes. Facing the Balrog head on even though she knew the freaking story. Gandalf did not seem to listen better than she did either. Those two really were alike.

"Goddammit, Ami, get back!" she yelled as the group seemed to come to their senses and started running for the bridge. Grabbing onto her girlfriend's hand again she pulled her along with Aragorn, Boromir, the hobbits, while legolas was dragging Gimli and Gandalf was bringin up the rear. If the odl geezer wanted to die, he could be her guest, but she did not feel like finding out what happened to them if they kicked the bucked in a movie.

So. Bridge.

Oh, there would be talking about this later.

She could retreat on her own, that sexist pig. Could one call their boyfriend a Chauvinist if he was also a she? This was a very important question. It deserved an answer. For now, she didn't dwell too much on the question. She ran. Because that had been her plan. But she'd wanted to at least throw out a few staggering shots first. So yeah, bridge.

As they crossed the bridge. The very wobbly, falling apart bridge. She recalled this part. With the dramatic falling and all it brought on. Oh yeah. They needed to be fast. Frick. And not overdo the balance.

She let go of Maya's hand long enough to jump a chasm, just as Gandalf turned and stamped his staff down. Amelia spun and saw it. Her heart sank. Frickin' Gandalf.

"Maya, jump." She said. Because if he wanted to keep the whole thing canon, he could. She'd let him come back for the sequel.

>>"Maya, jump."

She jumped. She was running on pure instinct at this point, and only turned to look once she was on the other side, the safer side, with the rest of the group. Gandalf wanted to do this the heroic way, that was one thing. He could go to Balrog hell for all she cared, he would come back anyway. No spoilers. Ami, well, she was another question.

They all met his eyes. It was the classic scene. The classic, classy, dramatic scene.

"You shall not pass!" His staff's butt crashed down. Hearts were moved. Goosebumps rose. Then... the moment before the fall came. "Run, fools."

Frodo screamed. With a sigh, Amelia helped the others drag him off as their spirits sank into oblivion. The despair of loss. She would not spoil this scene. She knew she could. But now it was Gandalf's turn to fight a battle against a Balrog in an infinite pit, battling for the rest of this, and most of the next, movie... one insanely long clash of fire and light.

The rest of the scene was a blur. They made it out of the mines. She hadn't been able to break sequence with the wizard. As she stepped onto the ground outside the mines, her eyes rose to set on the shield on Boromir's back. Her lips drew a thin line of resolve. She could still save one more.

She shook her eyes away from the shield, onto the rest of the group. They settled on Maya. She shot him a dirty look, but didn't say anything.