Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter One
Bella shuffled uneasily again and Elrond finally put down the book he had been reading, leaving the room with a sigh. Bella watched him go, frowning. She knew she had annoyed him with her fidgeting but she could not relax this morning. Something felt different, out of place, wrong. Bella shifted again, moving so she could look out of the window this time.
Bella was shocked when Elrond stepped back into the room only a short while later. She looked up to see him hold her bow and arrows. Bella raised an eyebrow in question. "You cannot relax, dear one. Go, do a patrol of our boarders. That usually calms you down." Bella smiled. She jumped up and took the arrows and bow, swiftly leaving the room.
A short while later saw Bella padding silently through the trees. Her bow was gripped firmly in her hand and her muscle were tense, ready to grab a bow at a moment's notice. Bella tilted her head to the side listening hard, she thought she had heard a growl on the wind. It was then that Bella heard the voices. "That is not from the world of the living," she heard an unfamiliar voice say quietly. She must have strayed closer to strangers passing by Rivendell.
Then Bella heard it again, clear and distinct this time. A warg howl. She didn't hesitate to draw an arrow and load it ready. Bella moved silently so she could see the party, but so she remained hidden from them. Thirteen Dwarfs, two wizards and a Hobbit. What an odd gathering. "Was that a wolf?" The Hobbit asked the wizard Bella recognised as Gandalf. "Are there wolves out there?"
"Wolves? No, that is not a wolf," one of the Dwarves, who was wearing an interesting hat, answered. Bella watched a Warg appear behind them and she didn't hesitate to jump from her hiding place, draw back her arrow and let it loose, killing the creature. The Warg fell, landing with a thud in the clearing. Sixteen sets of eye, looked up from the dead Warg to where she stood.
Bella effortlessly jumped into the clearing. The Dwarves looked stunned at the young female Dwarf that had just saved them. Kili froze, his mouth dropping open. "Gandalf," she said with a smile, but that was all she had chance to say before another Warg appeared over a ledge.
"Kili, get your bow," shouted Thorin, shaking his head the young dwarf broke himself from his trance. Bella dove at the Hobbit, knocking him to the side out of the path of the warg as it fell. Multiple Dwarves instantly surrounded it, hacking at it with their weapons until it was dead.
"Warg scouts," Bella stated, standing and pulling Bilbo with her.
"Which means an Orc pack is not far behind," Thorin stated.
"Orc pack?" Bilbo questioned, horrified.
"Who did you tell about your quest beyond your kin?"
"No one," Thorin told Gandalf.
"Who did you tell?" Gandalf questioned more forcefully.
"No one, I swear," Thorin responded. "What in Durin's name in going on?"
"You are being hunted," Gandalf said gravely.
"We have to get out of here," stated Dwalin.
"We can't. We have no ponies," Ori announced, coming down the hill. "They bolted."
"I'll draw them off," said Radagast.
"These are Gundobad Wargs. They will outrun you," Gandalf told him, spinning around.
"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits, I'd like to see them try," Radagast responded.
Bella led Gandalf and the others out of the woods and onto open land, Radagast appeared from a different part of the woods leading the Wargs away. The Dwarves and the Hobbit were extremely curious as to why a young female Dwarf was out in the wood alone and far away from any Dwarf settlement, but those questions would have to wait to be answered. Bella could hear Radagast laughing as they used rocks for cover, moving swiftly across the landscape. Gandalf peered around the rock above Bella, watching Radagast lead the Wargs further away. "Come on," Gandalf said, stepping out. Bella seized Bilbo's shoulder and pushed him in front of her as they headed for the next rock. Bella ran behind him swiftly, trying to keep up with Gandalf.
Thorin, who was now leading, stopped dead when Radagast led the Orc's across the path they had been planning to take. "Stay together," Gandalf told everyone.
"Move," Thorin ordered, pointing everyone back in the direction they had just come, away from the Wargs. They took cover behind another rock but a Ori attempted to continue running. "Ori, no! Get back." Thorin grabbed hold of his shirt just in time and pulled him back.
"All of you! Quick, come on!" Gandalf told them urgently, moving them on to find new cover.
"Where are you leading us?" Thorin asked, stubbornly not moving. Gandalf stepped past him and Thorin followed with a roll of his eyes. They veered off the left when Radagast led the Orc's in front of them again.
The sixteen of them were stood with their backs pressed against a boulder when they heard the Orc astride a Warg moving across the top. Thorin looked to Kili and nodded at his bow to tell him to shoot it. Bella was half a second faster and had already shot the Warg in the throat before Kili could finish pulling his arrow. All hell broke loose then, the Warg let out a cry and the Orc made enough noise of his own as they killed him.
They froze as the other Wargs snarled and howled moving closer across the open land. "Move!" Gandalf shouted. "Run!" And then they were running again, the land quickly turned a little hilly. Rocks and trees also provided good cover for them.
"There they are!" Gloin yelled, pointing as the Wargs and their riders came into view.
"This way! Quickly!" No one stopped to question Gandalf, they followed him instantly. They ran a good distance further until they were forced to stop in a clearing. The Wargs had surrounded them, trapping them.
"There's more coming!" Kili cried.
"Kili! Shoot them!" Thorin ordered, spinning around looking for a way out. Gandalf also spun round wildly, but he seemed to find what he was looking for. His gaze settled on a large rock which he instantly made his way towards before disappearing.
"We're surrounded," Fili stated, as the Wargs pushed them back into a smaller circle. Kili let loose another arrow knocking an Orc off his Warg.
"Where is Gandalf?" Kili shouted.
"He has abandoned us," Dwalin answered. Ori was stood furthest away from the group, he loaded a stone into his sling shot and aimed it at the lead Orc. It bounced harmlessly off his Warg's face, the Orc smirked and continued to advance on the young Dwarf. Thorin pulled out his sword about to go to Ori's aid when Bella appeared from nowhere, skidding to a stop in front of the terrified Dwarf. She let go the arrow she had already loaded, it found the Orc's shoulder and his Warg stopped but he did not fall. Bella grabbed Ori's hand and pulled him quickly back to his kin.
"Hold your ground!" Thorin ordered.
"This way you fools!" Gandalf called out, his head appearing back over a rock. Everyone looked round stunned and made toward him except for Bella and Kili who were covering them because they had bows.
"Come on, you two!" Thorin called out once everyone else was safe in the hole. Kili and Bella both launched themselves over the edge, and came to stop at the bottom in an awkward position. Bella landed on top of Kili, laid across him. She pushed herself up to apologise, and that was the first time she truly laid her eyes on him. His dark hair falling in his face, his brown eyes pierced her bright green ones and Bella was entranced. He was beautiful. Was it appropriate to think of a Dwarf as beautiful? Most Dwarves that she remembered from being a child had been much hairier. Her hand instinctively rose so she could touch his face.
Her fingers were inches from his jaw when the sound of familiar horns broke her from her trance. Bella jerked back embarrassed, quickly pulling herself up. She stepped away from the group turning her back as an Orc slid down the slope landing at her feet. She did not see Kili's disappointed expression and Fili smirking at his brother as he helped him up.
Thorin leaned down, pulling an arrow from the Orc's body. "Elves," he said, casting the arrow aside.
"I cannot see where the pathway leads," Dwalin called back from the end of the cavern. "Do we follow it or no?"
Bella, who knew exactly where it led, looked up at Gandalf confused. Gandalf shook his head minutely, he did not want her to reveal to the Dwarves where it lead.
"Follow it of course," Bofur said, making his way to where Dwalin stood.
"I think that would be wise," Gandalf murmured.
Bella did as Gandalf had requested and followed the Dwarves along the passage. She could not see the Dwarf from before in front of her, so he was obviously behind. She wondered why he had so suddenly invaded her thoughts and refused to leave. The passage opened out at the end, stone steps led them down onto a platform looking out.
Bella smiled as she spied her home sitting in the valley. "The Valley of Imladris," Bella stated quietly, but just loud enough for everyone to hear her.
"In the common tongue, it's known by another name," Gandalf told them.
"Rivendell," Bilbo said, his voice full of wonder as he gazed upon the beautiful elf home, its river and waterfalls intertwining with the architecture.
"Here lies the Last Homely House East of the Sea," Gandalf said.
"This was your plan all along," Thorin accused. "To seek refuge with our enemy."
"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield," Bella told him turning around to face him and Gandalf. The company turned their attention away from the view and to Thorin and Bella.
"I do not believe we got the chance to inquire as to your name?" Thorin addressed Bella.
"I am Isabella, adopted daughter of Lord Elrond."
"A Dwarf adopted by an Elf?"
"I do not know who my family were, nor where they came from. They were hunted down and killed by Azog, the Pale Orc, on the borders of Rivendell. I was half dead when Lord Elrond found me." The Dwarves looked shocked at Bella's story, Thorin could sympathize with losing his own family to Azog as well. Kili turned away to hide his expression. The thought of her dying, before he ever had chance to meet her filled him with a feeling that was foreign to him.
"The only ill will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself," Gandalf told Thorin, drawing attention away from Bella and for that she was thankful.
"You think the Elves will gives our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us." Thorin told Gandalf. Bella was curious as to what kind of quest they were on, but she sensed it was not a wise question to ask even if she was a Dwarf and not an Elf.
"Of course they will," Gandalf responded. "But we have questions that need to be answered. If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tact. And respect. And no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me."
Bella let out a laugh before she made her way passed the Dwarves who had gone back to overlooking her home and made her way slowly down the side of the mountain. From the brief period of time she had spent in Thorin Oakenshield's company she had already established that being charming was not his strong point.
A/N: Posted on 10/05/2015. All outfits are on my profile. Had this idea rattling around in my head ever since I saw the first Hobbit film. So love it? Hate it? Let me know! I do promised I will try to update my other stories, I've just hit major writers block with both of them. Violet x.