The Pass of Caradhras

Everyone, including Korra, woke up early to set off.

The Avatar and the hobbits talked most of the way, asking each other an array of questions.

They soon found a place to take a break, where Boromir decided to teach Merry and Pippin how to use a sword.

Korra watched the man of Gondor as he attempted to show them how to hold their blades properly. She desperately tried to hold in her laughter at the sight.

"No, not like that, like this, see?" Boromir instructed, sounding as though he was restraining himself from strangling the Hobbits.

Unfortunately for the bender, the Gondorian had heard her poorly hidden snickers behind him and had turned to face her.

"What, you think you can do better?" Boromir challenged while his eye twitched.

At first, the man struggled to find a place where he could position his hands without appearing like a pouting maiden, but after some fumbling, he settled with crossing his arms over his chest.

Korra couldn't hold it in any longer. She burst into a fit of laughter, clutching her stomach all the while.

As her chuckles slowly subsided, the Avatar wiped a tear from her eye and shook her head in response to Boromir's question.

"No, no, no. I don't think I can do better, it's just funny that's all," Korra spoke quickly while she had her wits about her.

The man rolled his eyes and returned to teaching the Hobbits.

The bender sat next to Frodo and Sam, accepting the sausages and bacon which were offered.

'Sam's such a good cook!' she thought while she tried not to inhale her food.

"Good. Very good," Boromir praised during his mock battle with Pippin.

"Move your feet," Aragorn called out to him.

The Hobbit was quick to follow the man's instruction, his stance visibly improving.

"You look good, Pippin," Merry called out.

Said Hobbit turned around with a grin, "Thanks."

While Pippin was distracted, the Gondorian accidentally cut his hand.

"Ouch!" the Hobbit exclaimed causing the man to drop his sword and put up his hands apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

Boromir was cut off as Pippin and Merry tackled him to the ground, shouting "For the Shire!" and "Get 'im, Pippin! Get 'im!"

While Korra, Frodo, Sam and Aragorn continued to watch (and laugh at) the so-called sword lesson, Gimli and Gandalf discussed the path that they should take.

"If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note they are not, I'd say that we were taking the long way round. Gandalf, we could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome," the Dwarf grumbled, rolling his r's.

"No, Gimli, I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice," the wizard immediately rejected, face turning grim.

Just as Aragorn was about to break Boromir's little wrestling match apart, Korra pointed to the sky.

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

A dark mass seemed to be approaching them from the east.

Gimli waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry lass. Tis just a wisp of cloud," the Dwarf said, still brooding over the fact that Gandalf hadn't approved of his idea.

However, Legolas jumped onto a nearby rock, squinting his eyes in an attempt to see what the dark cloud was.

Boromir stood up from where he was on the ground and shook his head.

"...No, it is moving fast... against the wind," the Gondorian said, unsure of what he was seeing.

Legolas's eyes widened in realisation before he shouted out, "Crebain from Dunland!"

Korra reacted quickly, using her earth bending to surround herself and the Hobbits with rocks to blend in, while everyone else scrambled underneath the closest rock or shrub.

They waited until the sound of flapping wings disappeared before they came out from their hiding spots.

The Avatar glanced in the direction that the birds flew in.

'What the heck were those?' she thought

"Spies of Saruman," Gandalf unknowingly answered the bender. "The passage south is being watched. We must take the Pass of Caradhras."

Korra gave the old man a strange look.

"The pass of what?" she asked dumbly

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I. Hate. Snow!"

Korra chuckled as Pippin once again declared his newfound resentment.

The other members of the Fellowship couldn't help but agree with the Hobbit.

They had been hiking the wretched snow-covered mountain, otherwise known as Caradhras, for barely two days, and the cold temperatures were already becoming unbearable, even for the elf.

The Avatar, on the other hand, actually jumped for joy at the sight of snow, even appearing to enjoy the bitter cold temperatures.

Pippin looked up to Korra with a pouting expression.

"How do you do it?" the Hobbit whined.

"How do I do what?" the bender inquired, confused at what was being asked.

"How can you stand this cold? You have nothing but leggings, a sleeveless tunic and-and boots," Pippin said this with an incredulous tone, pointing at each piece of attire in turn.

Korra laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Well, Pippin. It snows year-round where I come from, so I'm used to freezing temperatures. Plus, I like it here. It reminds me of..." the Avatar trailed off, gaining a distant expression and continued in a much softer voice, "It reminds me of home."

The young woman sighed longingly.

She missed her world, her friends, her parents... Heck, she missed everything – even Verick, of all people.

This sentiment made her very aware of how incredibly lonely she felt here. She couldn't help it.

Pippin watched Korra sadly as a forlorn expression crossed her face and Merry, who was walking next to him, promptly stomped down on his foot... hard.

"Ouch!" the Hobbit yelped.

Pippin's cousin gave him a pointed look which clearly said 'shut up', causing the younger Hobbit to fall silent. This didn't last long however as he perked up once again and turned to Merry with a smile on his face.

The two began a hushed conversation, snickering now and then and casting the men of the Company mischievous glances.

While the Fellowship simply ignored them, Korra watched the troublesome pair suspiciously as they shovelled as much snow into their small hands as they could, before tossing it at the backs of Aragorn and Boromir.

The bender let out a snort of laughter but quickly muffled it with both hands. Both men slowly turned around and looked at her with identical accusatory glares.

The Avatar opened her mouth to say it wasn't her that hit them, but both Boromir and Aragorn had already thrown snowballs at her face.

Korra slowly dragged a hand from her forehead to her chin, removing all the snow, before a wicked grin appeared on her face

"Oh, it is so on," the woman growled.

The water-bender swiftly raised her arms, creating over fifty snowballs, and mercilessly hurled it at the two men.

"Ha! That'll teach you to never challenge a waterbender to a snowball fight," Korra yelled, a triumphant smirk donning her face

The others watched on with poorly hidden smirks as two of their members were assaulted by their new ally.

The amusing scene even brought a small smile to Frodo's face.

After the two unfortunate - and now very bruised - men finally managed to dig themselves out of their snowy graves, muttering apologies to Korra, they all continued to trudge on with newly renewed spirits.

Korra bent down and whispered in Merry and Pippen's ears, "Thanks, guys."

The two grinned happily at her.

"You are very welcome milady," they simultaneously mock-bowed, only to bump heads together.

The Avatar barked out a laugh. She looked up at the looming mountain and smiled.

'This should be a fun hike,' she thought optimistically.

...

Oh, how wrong she was.

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It had been two whole days since Merry and Pippin's little scheme, and the weather had only gotten worse.

The snow was so deep that Frodo was carried by Aragorn, Sam by Boromir, and Merry and Pippin, despite their constant protests, were carried by Korra.

How she could even walk with the two very heavy and very embarrassed Hobbits was beyond the others.

Boromir was going to carry Frodo at first, but ever since the incident when the Ring put Boromir into some sort of trance, the Ring-bearer was reluctant to go anywhere near him.

Meanwhile, Gimli absolutely refused to be carried by anyone.

"Dwarves are natural mountain climbers," he would say.

Legolas, of course, was able to walk on the snow as if he weighed as much as a feather. It took all of Korra's will power to not trip him.

Regardless of how many times the Avatar offered to make a clear a path or to create a dome around them to stop the snow from hitting them, Gandalf would always wave her off, saying, "You must save your strength. You're already carrying two hobbits."

While the rest of the Fellowship laboured onwards, Legolas started to run ahead before stopping a couple of metres in front of them.

Korra looked up to see what the Elf was doing. His ears twitched slightly before he turned around quickly with a panicked expression on his face.

"There is a fell voice in the air!" the Elf shouted.

Gandalf's head immediately shot up.

"It is Saruman!" the wizard yelled over the wind.

Large boulders fell from the mountain top.

Korra managed to stop them mid-air, the weight of them forcing her on one knee.

Merry and Pippin were quick to get off of her back.

"He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must turn back!" Aragorn urged.

The Istari shook his head and shouted back, "No! We must continue!"

The mountain shook violently, causing more boulders to fall.

The Avatar groaned under the added weight.

"These rocks aren't getting any lighter, you know?! So, whatever you're thinking of doing, you better do it quickly!" Korra strained to say.

Gandalf ignored her and the others and stepped near the edge with a determined look on his face. He began to chant something in elvish, trying to overpower Saruman.

However, the wizard's chanting was, drowned out by another voice, and lightning struck the side of the mountain, causing an avalanche.

After throwing the boulders over the side of the mountain, Korra managed to create a makeshift tent made of earth to protect everyone from getting buried.

After a few long seconds, the young woman let the earthen tent fall down and placed her hands on her knees, puffing loudly.

"Thank you," Gandalf said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She waved a dismissive hand, responding with a quick, "No problem."

"We must get off this mountain! We make for the Gap of Rohan and take the west road to my city!" Boromir called out to everyone.

"No! That route takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn shot down his idea almost instantly.

"Well then. If we cannot pass over this damned mountain, let us go under it!" Gimli spoke up with a firm voice. He paused and looked at the elderly wizard. "Let us pass through the Mines of Moria!"

Korra noted that a doubtful look crossed the Istari's face and the fearful one that crossed the Ranger's.

She tilted her head in a confused manner.

'What can be in these mines that would scare even Aragorn and Gandalf?' she wondered.

"Let the Ring-bearer decide," the old man said gravely.

"We cannot stay here! It'll be the death of the hobbits!" the Gondorian called out to the wizard with an incredulous tone.

Choosing to ignore the indignant man, Gandalf stared at the ring bearer and said, "Frodo?"

The Hobbit looked around with an unsure look on his face.

After a moment, he finally answered, "We go through the mines."

The aged man let out a long breath and nodded his head.

"So be it," was the wizard's short reply.

While they all trudged back down the mountain, Korra couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would happen in Moria... and that Gandalf knew it too.