Miril didn't know how long she'd slept. The endless night of Moria made timekeeping difficult. Based on how she felt, it had been awhile. She felt refreshed, which was an old feeling considering her circumstances.

"No matter." She shrugged. "Time to get moving."

She slung on her pack and cloak, deciding against using a torch for now. She was heading into new territory and didn't want to announce her presence. Who knew what was down here with her?

Miril left the Barracks room she'd slept in and went into the main corridor. The reason she'd stopped when she had last night was because now the hall went off in three directions. Straight ahead continued downwards while left and right went out and up.

"Down we go."

She walked forward and began the slow, careful march down the stairs and hallway. Eventually she halted. There was something up ahead. She wrapped her cloak of Lorien in front of her and stood where she was, trying to catch a glimpse or hear again what she'd picked up on.

"Never any fishes, precious. No fishes!"

Gollum. She couldn't believe her luck. But she was not ready to catch him. She hadn't been expecting to come upon him so early on in her journey through Moria. Her rope and sack were in her backpack. Any movement would surely alert the little fiend to her presence.

So she decided to simply listen and watch where he would go.

"Just orcses, precious. Nasty little orcses. We wants fishes!" The grey diminutive figure pounded the rock with his hands. "We could go deeper, precious. Deeper to where the water is."

That didn't sound good, Miril decided. She had no desire to keep going down so far that there was water. Surely that would be the far reaches of Moria.

Gollum heaved and coughed. "Don't be stupid. Too many orcses down there! And other things."

Miril breathed a silent sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't go that deep.

"Maybe the precious is down there?" Gollum said in a hopeful voice before coughing and berating himself. "The precious isn't here! The precious is with the nasty little Bagginses!"

Miril sighed. So Gollum had an idea where the Ring was. Though she supposed he could be thinking about Bilbo, not Frodo.

"We hates him, precious. Hates him!" Gollum coughed and snarled. "Quiet! You'll attract the nasty orcses."

Gollum paused before perking up. "I know! We will go west to where water is near the gate! No orcses there, precious! Just fishes!"

She was frankly quite surprised that Gollum could distinguish East from West, but she supposed it was a simple enough concept that was necessary for navigation. And he'd lived here at least a month based on the evidence in Mirkwood.

Miril caught of glimpse of Gollum running down the corridor and taking the first left. After a few moments, Miril followed in his footsteps. She watched him from down the hall, counting the number of passages he went by until he finally turned left again.

"Left it is." She whispered to no one but herself.

She followed him closely before suddenly she turned left.

And ran straight into a handful of orcs.

"What's this?" One of em grinned. "A she-elf? In our home?"

Miril didn't give him time to continue. She drew her sword and skewered the orc where he stood. But by now the other four had armed themselves. They began circling her, Miril having to turn left and right to face them head on. Each time she found herself facing one, one was behind her and one on either flank.

She heard, rather than saw, movement behind her as an orc went to pounce. Swinging her sword, she caught him and another in the stomach, managing to kill one. In retaliation, a different orc slashed his sword against her arm. She restrained herself from screaming in agony as the serrated blade tore through her flesh.

She stabbed that orc in the abdomen and kicked it away. Finally, with the strongest swing she could muster, Miril beheaded one of the two remaining orcs before pouncing on the last who was clutching his torso on the ground.

Just as she was beginning to breathe again, she felt something coming up behind her. Turning towards the movement, she found Gollum snarling at her.

"It's the half-elf," he spat before coughing. "You! You want to take us from precious!"

"You, Gollum," Miril spat back, "are a worthless creature who doesn't deserve the life he's been allowed."

Gollum growled like an animal.

"And you'll never get the precious."

Gollum howled angrily and leapt at her. Miril didn't have time to react before she was pushed backwards and suddenly was really quite afraid for her life. Her sword fell from her grasp onto the cold stone of the passage and she realized that, in the dark, she had missed the fact that one "wall" was actually empty space. There was a drop. She couldn't see the bottom from where she was in the dark.

"We. Will. Get. Precious," Gollum growled as he pushed her back again.

It was then that she slipped on broken rocks and fell. Managing to catch herself on the ledge, Gollum crawled to the edge and looked down at her with his big, pale eyes. He used his fingernails to claw at her hands before finally she was forced to let go. Her fingertips were bloody and her strength from her bleeding arm failed her. The blackness engulfed her as she fell from safety into the dark abyss.

She was very surprised when something broke her fall not too far from the ledge. Maybe a ten foot drop before she hit her back on the rock. The wind was completely knocked out of her. She couldn't breathe for several moments of terror. She began to wonder if she was in fact simply dead.

But no, soon, Miril regained her breathing. And then she regained the ability to feel. And all she felt was pain. She released a small moan as she finally forced herself to sit up and take stock.

First things first. Miril undid her pack and took out her water, cloth, and bandages. She cleaned her arm wound with a tiny bit of water before wiping it dry and wrapping it in bandages. The cut looked rather nasty but wasn't, fortunately, very deep.

Next thing she had to worry about was where she was. It was, in fact, part of another passage just below the one she'd been on. It continues back into the rock as a grand hallway. Overall, she'd been really quite lucky.

Her final problem was her lack of sword. She still had her long hunter's knife which she supposed would have to do. It was about the length of her forearm and very sharp. Good for stabbing, not so much for slashing.

"Well, Miril. You certainly got yourself in quite a bind," she muttered to herself.

Finally standing up, she realized how painful that simple movement was. Her back may not have broken from the fall, but it was certainly bruised. Miril walked forward into the dark passage and continued until, at last, she found a side passage that went upwards.

"That's the one," she said with a nod. "Please be the right one."

She walked along it and, finding a small guard room, decided it was time for a rest. She had been walking for many long hours, more than she knew was good for her.

And so she slept. Despite the pain, despite the worry and darkness, she allowed herself to sleep.