A/N: Hey! So this is my first Hobbit story, I hope you all like it.
I just want to note that this story will differ from the book and films, as I want to do something different from following the familiar storyline. I hope it works and that you enjoy it!
I fear the first bit is a bit boring but relevant, so bare with it! All constructive comments and reviews are welcome!
"It's not use," one of the Elven healers snapped sharply from behind the closed doors, "she'll be dead by morning."
"You must try!" another voice yelled.
"I have tried everything!"
A long pause filled the air as Adaline sat with her back against the wall of the hallway, her heart beating furiously and her entire body shaking.
She flinched as she heard a loud 'CLANG', followed by her brother screaming, and what only she could assume was him falling to his knees and crying.
She pressed her eyes together as more tears gathered in her eyes, slowly rolling down her cheeks. She rocked back and forth with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, listening to her brother sob furiously from the other side of the wall.
She thought back to the first day they had arrived in Rivendell, her, her brother and mother. They had arrived with a group of other broken families, exhausted from travelling far from Arnor after many years of war and destruction had brought it to its knees.
Adaline's father had been murdered amongst the many brave men descended from those of Númenóreans, fighting to save the last of the Dúnedain's lands. Finding refuge in Rivendell, Adaline and her family settled amongst the elves and other few widowed families of Arnor.
Adaline hated it. Hated it from the moment she came here.
Don't get her wrong, Rivendell was beautiful, and many of the elves treated her with such a level of royalty that she did not deserve, but it had always been such a struggle for her to settle in amongst them.
To begin with she put it down to the heartbreak of losing her father for the reason she did not make friends. However, as she grew older, and less heartbroken, she could not help but begin to realise that the elves she lived amongst did not take kindly to her.
Her mother and brother on the other hand, fit in perfectly. Her mother found many friends, especially amongst the other widows who had lost their husbands the same way Adaline had lost her father. And her brother seemed to settle in amongst the male elves, practising their methods of swordsmanship and warfare daily.
She could not blame the elves for not taking warmly to her. Grief-stricken from losing her father, Adaline never made an effort with the female elves, subsequently, shunning herself as an outcast.
"Adaline," a soft voice spoke from beside her, causing her to flinch.
She lifted her head to find the soft eyes of Elrond, a grim look washed upon his face.
"I am sorry," he said quietly.
"Don't be," she sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "We knew this was to happen."
Elrond smiled sympathetically at Adaline, then took a seat beside her on the floor. She could still hear Deonynn crying next door where her mother's lifeless body lay.
"She was a wonderful woman," Elrond finally spoke, "they tried everything they could to save her."
"You do not need to explain yourself," Adaline said bitterly, this was not his problem her mother had grown ill.
Elrond had been beyond amazing to Adaline and her family when arriving in Rivendell. He had watched over them and cared for them with such care that they could have been mistaken for his own family.
"What do we do?" she asked him, her voice breaking.
Elrond turned to her with a frown.
"What do you mean?"
Adaline winced and shook her head, trying hard not to cry.
"I can't stay here," she whispered, tears swarming her eyes and her throat sore. "I cannot."
Elrond took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly.
"You always have a home here, Adaline," he said seriously. "You know that."
Adaline nodded quickly.
"I know," she sighed.
She took a deep breath and sighed heavily, turning her head to Elrond.
"I cannot stay here though," she told him. "I cannot live in these walls that have caused me so much sorrow over the last year."
Elrond gave her hand another light squeeze, and brushed the top of it lightly with his thumb.
"I understand," he said softly, "and I will help you."
Adaline drummed her fingers on the dark, sticky oak table before her, her chin resting lightly on her other hand which was clenched into a fist for support. She gazed at her twin brother who crossed the tavern, two empty ale tankards in hand.
She felt tired. The journey from Rivendell had taken its toll over the last few days and was beginning to show upon her face. She remembered the many nights where they were too far from an inn or any sort of shelter and slept upon the uneven ground beneath the open sky; her back throbbed to further remind her of the discomfort she and her brother had endured.
She was, however, happy to finally reach Bree after a good twenty days of travelling. Her brother had been ruthless with the number of times they stopped to rest. At the time, Adaline cursed her brother for not letting them stop, ignoring the fact their legs and backs ached, and their stomachs growled of hunger. But, now they were sat in the comfortable tavern in Bree, with relief of knowing they had a proper bed for the night, she felt guilty for previously thinking such begrudging thoughts towards him.
"Here you are," he said excitedly as he sat before her, pushing a large tankard towards her. "The barman said this one is five percent stronger than the usual ale."
Adaline grinned at her brother's enthusiasm; she loved how excited he got over the simplest of things. Her smile shortly faded and she grimaced after bringing the tankard to her lips and taking a large sip. It was a strong ale and the only way she could describe it was that it tasted...well...brown?
"You don't like it," her brother, Deonynn, observed as the muddy taste stuck in her mouth.
"No," Adaline lied quickly, knowing her brother wouldn't rest easy until she had a drink she was happy with. "It's just stronger than I am used to."
"Five percent stronger," he winked. "Are you sure I cannot get you something else?"
"Deonynn, it's fine," she assured him with a soft smile.
She loved her brother dearly, but he didn't half worry much.
"We're doing great time," Deonynn stated.
Adaline was too busy thinking of ways to dispose of the ale quickly to notice him pull his map from the inside pocket of his cloak.
"How much further until we reach Lindon?" Adaline asked curiously, eyeing the map.
"Hard to say," her brother sighed. "It will depend on how kind the terrain will be, I hope another twenty five days ride if we can keep up the good pace."
"Are you sure we cannot stay here another night?" Adaline asked hopefully; Bree was very welcoming to her. It was nice to be around men instead of elves, and drinking real ale as opposed to fine wine.
"I wish I could say yes," Deonynn said with a sympathetic smile.
Adaline sighed and looked down at her hands. Although Elrond had been certain Lindon was the best place for them to travel – and she trusted his judgement completely – she could help question whether she would be happy there.
Adaline's eyes crossed the room where a loud group of four men had caught her attention, laughing obnoxiously amongst themselves.
"I will make a deal with you though," Deonynn said, drawing her attention from the four drunk men. "We can stop for the night in Hobbiton."
"Hobbiton?" Adaline frowned. "With the hobbits?"
"No with the trolls," her brother grinned sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.
Adaline laughed lightly, feeling embarrassed at her own stupidity.
"I'm sure we can find somewhere to stay there," Deonynn said as he gazed at the map.
"I have heard they are welcoming folk," Adaline added.
Deonynn looked at her from the map with a raised eyebrow.
"I have heard otherwise," he sighed. "Until then dear sister –" he took the map and folded it neatly, before placing it back in his cloak pocket, then taking his tankard and finishing the end of his ale, "- it's your round!"
Adaline slowly broke into a laugh and shook her head.
"Here," she said, pushing her more than half full tankard towards him as she stood up, "you can finish mine too."
"I knew you didn't like it!" Deonynn laughed as she passed him and made her way towards the bar.
As she crossed the tavern with Deonynn's back to her, she couldn't help but notice the group of four men again, this time they were wolf whistling and yelling crudely at a poor barmaid who had passed them with a tray full of ale.
"What can I get you, lass?" the barman asked with a strong, Northern accent. He was a short, sweaty man with an obvious receding hairline.
Adaline placed her order, this time ordering a softer ale for herself as the sickly taste of the one Deonynn had bought her lingered in the back of her throat.
She stood silently as the short barman wondered off to pour two fresh ales for her. Her eyes glanced around her, curiously looking at the men and women stood at the bar, drinking and laughing merrily. She smiled softly to herself at the sight. One of the women, stood a few feet away from her with two gentlemen, lifted her tankard at Adaline and winked at her. Adaline nodded back, suppressing a large smile.
Yes, Rivendell was filled with drinking, chatter and much laughter, but she had never been a part of it. She had never understood the jokes they told, neither was she invited to talk or 'hang' with anyone. Here in Bree however, it just felt much simpler to fit in with everyone heartedly enjoying themselves.
Adaline turned her head away from the jolly woman to notice that one of the four drunken men she had spotted previously, now stood beside her. For reasons unknown to herself, she suddenly tensed, feeling very uneasy.
"'ere, Ibarwen, get us a pint darlin'," he slurred to one of the barmaids, "and why don't you give us a kiss whilst you're at it?"
He laughed loudly and clasped his large hand down on the bar, the barmaid humoured him with a small grin and set about to pour him a drink.
"Here you are, lass," the short barman said to Adaline as he placed two full ales before her.
"Thank you," she said quietly, handing him some money in exchange.
Adaline grabbed the two ales quickly, hoping to get away before the drunk could notice her, but she was too late.
"Well hello there," he suddenly said as Adaline took the tankards from the bar and turned to head back to her seat. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a tavern like this?"
Adaline, completely ignorant in what to do in this sort of situation (having never been in one), simply stared at him like a deer in headlights.
The man laughed loudly at her shocked expression.
"What's your name beautiful?" the man asked, leaning one arm against the bar, slipping as his did so.
"Adaline," she simply stated, before taking a foot forward to walk back to her brother.
"Ah, now don't leave me so quickly," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. "Come talk to me."
He took a small piece of her long auburn hair and ran it through his fingers delicately.
"No, thank you," Adaline said uncomfortably, "I need to return to my brother."
"Who's your brother?" the man slurred, letting go of her hair.
Adaline nodded towards Deonynn who sat alone, finishing the end of the ale she had given him.
"Him?" the man snorted. "He's not as handsome as me."
Adaline frowned and stuttered.
"...well. He's my brother?" she said slowly.
"Come on, what can I buy you?" the drunk man asked, ignoring his previous ludicrous comment.
"Nothing," Adaline said sternly. "Now please, excuse me."
This time she had managed to take a good three steps towards her brother before the drunk grabbed her arm for a second time, and pulled her towards him.
"Now you're just being rude," he said through gritted teeth.
Adaline began to feel incredibly nervous. Nobody around her seemed to notice the man's behaviour and Deonynn had his back turned towards her, completely oblivious to the situation unfolding.
"I do not like when people are rude to me," the man said, now grinning.
He lowered his hand towards her behind and gave it a rough squeeze. Adaline let out a shriek of disgust, dropping the two full tankards in her hand and slapping the man harshly across the cheek.
The sound of the tankards falling to the ground seemed to grab some attention as the man held her wrist tightly in his hand, still near where it had slapped him.
He stared at her with wild eyes, his nostrils flaring furiously.
Adaline glanced to where her brother was sat, too far away to have heard the sound of the tankards dropping within the bustling tavern to be concerned.
"You're going to pay for –"
Adaline jumped as a loud 'THWAP' filled the air as a staff smashed down upon the man's head, knocking him unconscious. He fell to the floor with a great thud, revealing a very tall man dressed in grey.
"Disgusting drunk," he grimaced, hitting the man once more roughly with the bottom of his staff. "Are you OK, my dear?"
Adaline was too shocked to speak.
"Thank you," she finally managed to splutter. "Really, thank you."
"Do not thank me, Miss Durnen," the man dressed in grey smiled politely, bowing his head gently. "It is not by chance we meet here tonight."