[Amanaduial the archer]

Durelin's post - Jordo

“Some get eaten, some do not..." those words were all Jordo's brain could handle for many moments after they were spoken. And the man who spoke them were all his eyes could see. He stared at this man named Grash, the one whom he had obeyed when the creaking of metal had announced his freedom. But now his eyes could not acknowledge the man as someone to be obeyed. His mind cringed in terror as it realized what his eyes were doing. They were defying! Only his soul was interested in what was seen. His mind disregarded it as foolishness, and a dangerous foolishness, at that. But then the movement around him brought his eyes away, and he felt his mind relax, though it remained on the alert.

He watched Grash enter this tunnel, somehow ignoring his own words completely, and entering this pit of darkness - a pit of darkness even standing so close to the fires of Mordor - which he may not exit, which no one was guaranteed to exit. Jordo of course could not see this as something to admire, if courage it was. But he would not see courage or any other trait in someone, either. Another man followed him immediately, carrying a torch. Jordo almost followed this man, carrying precious light, but then he looked at those he stood with, who he found security in obeying.

The male elf spoke in a voice that made Jordo flinch, wanting the elf to command him so that he could show that he would be good. He felt as if all the spite in Morgoroth's voice was directed to him, and it frightened him to no end. Even that man Grash did not frighten him as much as this elf with the dark hair. He missed the elf's first words, but the rest were enough. They stung him like no orc whip had ever done, choked him like no ash ridden air ever had, and chilled him so deeply, deeper than any screams of the dying. "The Tunnel awaits us, and She will welcome our presence. We should not...disappoint Her." She...he wanted to scream at the knowledge that he found in his mind, memories of orc's speaking about a 'she' who was more than a nuisance even to orc kind.

Morgoroth entered and Jordo of course followed, almost bumping into Raeis as he did. He quickly muttered an apology, and looked up from the ground into the female elf's eyes only to see her smile at him. He smiled back, recognizing those eyes. But then the recognition faded as he saw himself back in his cell, alone. Raeis was making her way into the Tunnel now, as well, and so Jordo followed. In his first few steps he already had the feeling that something was watching him, and he felt little better knowing that others were slowly finding their own reasons to enter the Tunnel.

~*~*~

Amanaduial's post - Raeis

Raeis glanced over her shoulder at Men as she hesitated on the edge of the tunnel. Despite her apparent voluntary distance from them, Raeis did not mean to deliberately alienate herself - she was not afraid, but they made her wary. There were few now who didn't, and besides, it was evident that they didn't trust her. The fear that flashed in the dark man's blue eyes and the resentment in Aldor's told the elf that much.

Turning to Jordo, she smiled slightly at the man-child. He hung back at the edge of the tunnel, fear showing unrestrainedly on his childish features as he gazed warily into the tunnel. She held out a hand tenatively to him, gesturing for him to come. After a pause of only a second, he obediently came, darting close to Raeis's side where she stood on the edge of the tunnel. She smiled at him and touched him lightly on the arm in some awkward gesture of comfort, unsure of how to reassure him - unsure even of why she felt she should reassure him, for what business did she have with him? He was a Man, like those others who hung back away from the elves, the distant mortals... But Jordo was different, obviously. His simple trust in Raeis, although he knew nothing about her, made that very clear, and it somehow reassured Raeis as well: not everything in the world automatically turned it's back on her.

"Don't speak," she whispered to him, using the Common Tongue rather haphazardly - she had begun in Sindarin, then realised he would not understand. Usually it would have been a slight to her pride to use a different tongue for the convenience of others, but she barely noticed, seeking only to make Jordo understand. Ignorance is bliss had never proved right for Raeis, certainly not in the last few years - knowledge of what you were up against was far more useful. "Keep close to the group, stay quiet. Hush hush." She held a finger to her lips like a small child's nanny and Jordo subconciously copied the gesture, bringing a stumpy digit in front of his mouth and smiling tentatively at the elf.

She nodded, then turned back to the gaping maw of the tunnel. Steeling herself and holding herself straight and proud, the young female elf took a deep breath and stepped in, feeling as if she was going underwater - and the world into which she walked was so alien that it may as well have been underwater. Cobwebs floated with eerie lightness all around them, lit ethereally at this stage by what little light filtered in from the tunnel entrance. Huge rocks lay scattered, as if merely pebbles, knocked by a careless foot, before seperating into a rat run of caves and tunnels, a weaving mouse run, a warren. But no warren was ever on such a huge scale, no cobweb ever so large, no carelessly knocked 'pebble' large enough to crush a man.

It was like stepping into a giant's lair, and suddenly, Raeis felt smaller than she ever had before, dwarfed by what was in front of her. Her eyes peered through the gloom more easily than the others, allowing her a little more vision than their poor, weak eyes afforded them, but little help it did her; for once, Raeis was quite prepared to say that knowledge made her feel no better: she suddenly wished she had no idea of what was further on in the tunnel.

The group subconciously clumped closer together, men, dwarves and elves moving slowly and fearfully, each not admitting that they needed the others but taking solace from the prescence of the others.

Like it would help when She came.