~The Mountain and the Wood~ A Hobbit Fanfic
~Chapter One~
"I see fire…"
You cannot be her…she is far away.
She is far, far away from me…she walks in starlight, in another world…
…
Do you think she could have loved me?
She couldn't remember whether or not she had told him she loved him. She couldn't even say if maybe he knew, regardless. But she could feel it. She could feel his heart beating long after it had stopped. Tauriel kicked her heel against the mountain wall and watched the pebbles come loose and tumble to the icy waters below. Tauriel sat against the side of a cliff where a great battle had just taken place. A battle that would only be remembered by herself, her dear friend Legolas, and a hobbit who had taken a seat next to her, letting his own legs dangle over the side of the ledge. She didn't turn to look at him or even grunt to acknowledge he was there beside her for she felt there wasn't much point to it, or anything, anymore. However, it seemed the hobbit felt differently. He raised a tiny fist to his mouth and loudly cleared his throat.
"I don't believe we've been properly introduced…" he muttered. Tauriel continued to stare out into nothingness, ignoring him completely. He twiddled his thumbs. He leaned over a little. "I'm Bilbo Baggins." He said politely. Suddenly, a thought came upon Tauriel.
"Thank you." She said solemnly. Pure confusion filled Bilbo's expression.
"Than-?"
"For what you said in Dale…telling me where he was." She mumbled. Bilbo sat quietly for a moment, thinking back to what he could have said to her, not remembering ever speaking to her before. They sat quietly for a good long while. Finally, Tauriel broke the silence.
"I believe a gray clad wizard was with you." And then Bilbo remembered when two elves had rode up to him and Gandalf back in Dale.
"And wasn't your friend with you? The blonde chap?"
"Legolas." Tauriel informed him.
"Yes, that's the one." Bilbo said nodding. Bilbo could hear his words ringing clearly through his mind.
Thorin's up there! And Fili and Kili!
It was then that he realized that this elf shared in his sorrow and pain. Again, they commenced to sit in silence. The wind wisped across their faces, quickly drying any tears that happen to escape from their eyes. Tauriel felt that all that filled her now were tears; tears that were forced from her by regret and sorrow.
"I suppose Erebor shall pass to Dain now." Bilbo said after several minutes. Tauriel supposed the passing of kingdoms worked quite similar between dwarves as it did with elves, but something told her that the kingdom under the mountain would not be Dain's to rule for very long.
"Will you attend the burials?" Tauriel asked gently, still not looking at Bilbo. He sighed, but said nothing. Part of her desired greatly to attend and pay tribute to the lost line of Durin, but the thought of seeing the lifeless face of her dwarvin love again was something she could not bear.
"If you don't mind me asking…" Bilbo said, interrupting her thoughts. "Have you any idea why it took the rest of the company almost a week to arrive to Erebor after the dragon had already been vanquished? I haven't quite been able to piece it together myself…"
Tauriel tapped the cliff side again with her heel and watched the resulting rubble fall into the water that lay so far down belong them. Through all her sadness and hopelessness, she couldn't help but grin to herself.
"Because they would not leave one of their own behind." She said, a flicker of admiration in her voice.
"And who was it they stayed behind for?" Bilbo asked. This time Tauriel looked right at him. She grinned.
~oOo~
"He hit it! He hit the dragon!" Kili shouted amongst the roar of the flames. Tauriel's eyes were wide.
"No." she breathed.
"He did! He hit his mark! I saw!" Kili yelled, insistently. Tauriel continued to stare at the desolation that was befalling Esgaroth.
"His arrows cannot pierce its hide. I fear nothing will…" she replied. They did not dwell on this for long for they knew if all else failed, they must get themselves out of the town at all cost. Shifting and steering between several boats attempting to escape the city proved difficult for Tauriel and she was becoming frustrated, although none would know it for elves were quite adept at maintaining composure, even during a crisis. Their boat felt as if it was only getting heavier and heavier each moment and Tauriel was becoming uncertain whether they would escape the town in time. Suddenly, without warning, Bain, Bard's son, leapt out of the boat and onto a nearby dock. His sisters, Sigrid and Tilda, yelled after him and attempted to follow, or convince Tauriel to go back. The dwarves also attempt to bring the boy back to safety, but Tauriel knew better.
"Leave him! We cannot go back." She demanded. Tauriel took one last glance at the boy and could see that he was determined to make it to a small fishing boat that was harbored in front of a rather ugly looking statue. Before she looked away she noticed him pull a long, black arrow from the inside the boat. She felt excitement rise within her.
Perhaps there is hope. She thought. However, she did not linger to watch the outcome of the endeavors of father and son, for there was still the safety of the daughters to think about, as well as the dwarves. And with their help, they managed to make it through the now dangerous waters of Esgaroth.
Before long, a loud and terrible roar filled the air and all paused to catch glimpse of the once mighty Smaug plummet to his death that lay waiting for him in the deep blue abyss of the lake. All in the boat that was being led by Tauriel also stopped to bear witness to the demise of Smaug, figuring they were a good distance away from where he fell. They were wrong, however. The power of Smaug's great scaly body sent a great force upon the water and sent ensuing powerful waves after all the boats in the water. Several boats were overturned, where boats that lay close to where Smaug fell were therefore dragged down with him. Regardless, of the distance between Tauriel's boat from the focal point of the waves, they were nevertheless powerful enough to overturn her boat as well once they reached them. With a great clatter and a splash, human, dwarf, and elf were plunged into the icy lake. The wave's mighty force split the group from each other as they continued to tumble through freezing waters. Tauriel's breath was taken away from her and forced pushed her against her control, through the rough waters. Unable to move of her own will, she was soon swept into a boulder and lost consciousness.
~oOo~
Despite his healing leg, Kili was the first one to reach the surface after the boat was knocked into the lake. His breath burst from him as he pierced the surface and he immediately set out to find his boat fellows. Sloshing amongst the waves, he noticed that he had been driven close to land, however on the opposing shore from the dock that led towards Erebor. Squinting, he could see Bard's daughters, Bofur, Oin, and his brother reach the surface close to the part of the land that he needed to get to. However, he soon realized that Tauriel had not surfaced yet and he immediately dove back underwater to look for her.
The water was icy and dark, but this did not stop Kili and although his leg throbbed in the freezing waters he continued to kick through them until he found Tauriel. After Kili's third pause for breath he saw the reflection of the rising sun glitter upon Tauriel's red hair floating through the water. Immediately, he dove and upon reaching the lake floor, wrapped his arms around Tauriel and kick off to bring them to the surface. The cold air hit his face relentlessly as he kicked for the shore, which wasn't as difficult as he anticipated, being that elves are very light creatures.
Finally they reached the shore and Kili noticed that Tauriel was not breathing.
"Tauriel? Tauriel?!" he called out to her, his voice trembling. She did not stir. "Tauriel no!" he screamed out, but she did not wake. Kili's hope was fading until he remembered an accident that had happened to him as a child, when he had almost drowned in the great water that lay close by his home in the Blue Mountains. His uncle, Thorin, had forced his own breath into him, filling his lungs and bringing him back. Wasting no time, Kili lifted Tauriel's lips to his own, and after taking a great breath, pushed air into her lungs. He did this fiercely and after a couple tries, Tauriel came to and began to cough out water. After many sharp breaths and much coughing, she regained her composure.
"Kili? Where are we?" she asked as she looked at her surroundings.
"On the south banks outside Esgaroth…or, what is left of it." Kili said solemnly.
"Where are the others?" Tauriel asked. Kili removed his left boot and shook the water from it.
"They are on the north side."
Tauriel looked across the lake and could make out the small company of dwarves and the two human girls gathering themselves on the opposing shore. She sighed.
"It is far." Tauriel said gravely. Kili had just finished emptying the water out of his right boot when she said this and let out a groan of pain. She turned sharply to look at him.
"You are still healing." She said. Kili grinned.
"I can make it." He said enthusiastically. Tauriel gave him a small grin, but shook her head. She let out a small cough.
"We cannot cross the lake without a boat. We will have to walk." She said in a serious tone. Kili gave her a dubious look.
"To walk around lake, even staying by the shoreline, would take a week!" he said.
"Yes, it would, but we cannot risk anymore harm to your leg and the chance of you ultimately losing it. So, yes, we must go around." Tauriel said and Kili could tell from the tone in her voice her decision was final. He sighed, but Tauriel simply grinned at him.
"Come. There is an old Elvin stronghold at the far end of the south shore. We can stay there for the night." Tauriel led the way into the forest and Kili followed. He reached into his trousers and pulled out his runestone. He traced his finger over the letters and glanced at Tauriel. It had to be soon.