I don't own The Hobbit, the book or the movie. This fic will be based on the movie, with some tidbits from the book. I do own Astrid and Nerys and their backgrounds, and Idhril, who makes an appearance for all of like, five minutes later on. Treasures is rated for violence mostly, and drinking and smoking. You know how dwarves are. This fic will be written in three parts, one for each of the movies. Please enjoy!
Treasures Lost and Found
—Rivendell
Astrid awoke to find herself in an airy room, surrounded by the clean and comforting smells of stone, trees, water, and sunlight. She closed her eyes and sighed happily, for though she was stiff and sore, she knew she was in Rivendell, healed and safe. Her initial panic at being somewhere strange faded and she settled back against the pillows, her eyes roving over the autumn trees visible through the windows, the gold and green and red filling the valley around the spindly structures Astrid knew made up Rivendell. She listened to the sounds of life and the waterfalls around her and smiled.
She had visited the elves there twice before, both times with her parents and never for longer than three days, so the opportunity to explore had been sadly limited. Even just the slightly sleep-blurred glimpse of what lay beyond the room had given her the itch to explore, and if her side hadn't hurt, she would have climbed out of bed then and begun to wander.
"It is good to see you awake," said a voice from the doorway.
Astrid gave a small start and pulled her eyes from the trees and waterfalls outside. The elf standing in the door was tall—though, with Astrid standing at just about five feet, everyone seemed tall—and lithe, like all his kin. His hair was dark and fell about his shoulders from under a thin silver circlet. The slight grin on his lips and in his brown eyes brought a smile to Astrid's face and she relaxed again, her side protesting at the sudden bursts of movement.
"Lindir," she said, grateful to see a familiar face. Astrid moved so she was in a more upright position, propped against the pillows and headboard. "It is good to see you. How long have I been asleep for?"
"Three nights. This is the fourth morning since you arrived in Imladris."
Astrid nodded absently as she searched her mind for some memory of what happened between the goblin's sword biting into her side and her waking up in Rivendell. She remembered riding hard, worried she was going to pass out from blood loss, worried the goblins would catch up, eat her alive. She thought she remembered slipping from the saddle, cool voices filling the air around her. Vague images of Lord Elrond's face floated around her head in a haze of white light and elvish words she couldn't understand. She shook her head and looked back to Lindir, who was watching her with an expression she would place somewhere between concerned and confused.
"Are you well?"
"I am fine. That is just… a lot of time to lose track of. I have some memories, though they may not be real," she added, tapping her temple lightly. "I assume I have Lord Elrond to thank for my still being among the living?"
Lindir nodded. "My Lord Elrond believes the goblin's blade left you with an illness, which rendered you unconscious. You awoke several times, but you were delirious and spoke nothing but nonsense."
"Then I must thank Lord Elrond for his effort and skill. I feel like myself now."
The elf gave her another small smile. "That is good to hear, Astrid. If you are feeling up to it, I will take you to see Lord Elrond."
Astrid paused a moment to think about the prospect of getting out of bed. She actually felt a little weak and shaky, but it was nothing some food would not cure, though she felt no hunger. Maybe some activity would awaken her appetite and loosen the stiffness in her injured side, and she very much wanted to see more of the elven house. "I would like that."
"Then I will leave you to change. I will await you outside your chamber."
Once she was alone, Astrid slowly slid out of the bed. She stood for a moment, wiggling her toes against the sun-warmed stone floor and waiting for a wave of dizziness to pass. Bracing herself for an influx of pain, she moved and twisted a bit, finding her current range of movement; the wound was well-healed and the only pain she experienced was from pulling around the scar. Astrid pulled the white garment she was wearing up to find two straight pink scars below her ribs on her left side. She didn't remember being struck twice, but the blade could have jumped. It wasn't as if the goblin had struck from sure ground.
Astrid found her saddlebags neatly lined up against the wall by the bedside table, the clothes she had been wearing, minus the ruined shirts, cleaned and folded atop them, and her lone remaining knife and belt tucked into the side of one of the bags. Moving carefully, she pulled on her black leggings and a dark green loose shirt from one of her bags. In favour of more freedom of movement and not causing herself more pain, she left her shirt flowing freely about her torso, the hem reaching the tops of her thighs, and left off her belt and arm bracers, anything that was unnecessary weight. She sat on the floor to lace her boots on and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to tame the mess three nights of sleep and apparently lots of tossing and turning had made of it. As she left the room to join Lindir, she decided braiding it over one shoulder would make her more presentable for the Lord Elrond.
As they walked, Astrid was struck by the beauty of the valley, just as she had been on both previous visits. She spent as much time looking around her as looking forward and nearly ran into several pillars and benches as Lindir led her through the halls of Rivendell, much to the elf's amusement. Walking did help loosen her stiff muscles, and by the time they reached Elrond's solar, her stomach was grumbling softly; she hoped none of the elves would notice.
Elrond smiled warmly at Astrid as she entered the room. "It is good to see you on your feet, Astrid. How are you feeling?"
Astrid returned the smile and gave a shallow curtsey, all she could manage with her side as it was. Elrond noticed her rigid movements and gestured to the table behind him. Astrid seated herself gratefully, and was even more pleased to find there was food laid out and waiting. The elf lord made another gesture and Astrid set to filling one of the small plates and nibbling at the delicious fruits and nuts until she felt a little more stable. His role complete in getting Astrid to Lord Elrond, Lindir left the room, though Astrid doubted he'd go far. On her previous visits to Rivendell, Lindir had seemed capable of being everywhere he was needed, exactly when he was needed. Maybe Elrond could communicate with the elves telepathically; by the look he cast after Lindir, Astrid would not have been surprised to learn that was the case.
"I am well," she answered, once the bizarre thoughts have left her head and she'd swallowed her current mouthful of food. Sitting made making eye contact much easier, even with the vast height difference between the elf and human, and it made the meeting much less formal, so she elaborated on her statement. "A little stiff, and perhaps a little weak, but nothing unbearable. Thank you for seeing me well, and for your hospitality."
"You are most welcome, and my hospitality will extend until you have recovered enough strength to continue your journey."
Astrid's eyes lit up at the thought and Elrond gave a soft laugh. "That would be wonderful, and most kind."
"I am not in the habit of turning away those in need, and your father has done me many favours through the years. I count him a friend. It would be remiss of me to send you on your way before you were well enough to travel. Besides," he added, a knowing grin on his face, "I seem to recall you expressing an interest in getting a better look at Rivendell when last you visited."
Astrid's smile only grew as she thanked him in earnest.
The Misty Mountains loomed ahead on the horizon, the foothills and trees a lush green surrounding the grey-blue peaks. From where the dwarves, hobbit, and wizard currently were the road appeared to vanish into a large copse of trees, though Thorin knew it wound up into the snow and through the narrow pass in the mountains. From there, they would head to the Greenwood—Mirkwood as it was now called—and on the other side of the vast forest land, Erebor.
With any luck, they would avoid Lake Town. Lake Town where Dain had said…
Thorin shook his head hard and tried to push the thoughts of Nerys away, but suddenly everything seemed to remind him of her. For so many years he had rarely thought of her. He had moved on with his life, and with a few simple words from Dain, it had all come back.
He shook his head again and tried to focus his thoughts elsewhere.
"You have spent much of the journey so far deep in thought," Dwalin said as he rode up beside Thorin. "Even your nephews have begun to notice. What is it that troubles you?"
Thorin looked sideways at Dwalin, the muscles in his jaw bunching as he continued the mental debate he'd been having on and off with himself pretty much since the company had left the Shire.
Balin and Dwalin were Nerys's older brothers, and they deserved to know what Dain had told Thorin at the meeting in Erid Luin, but Thorin wasn't sure he should—or could—tell them. The three of them had grieved for many years, and though they still occasionally shared memories of her when they were deep in their cups, they had learned to live with her death. Saying that she might be alive, that she had been alive all these years, would be cruel. Thorin could attest to that, finding it nearly impossible to put thoughts of his betrothed from his mind, to focus on the quest, and the more he tried to think of Erebor, of getting his people home, the more he dwelt on his memories of her, thoughts and feelings tied up with the kingdom under the mountain. And he did not want to put that on Balin and Dwalin.
And, he was ashamed to admit, there was part of him that wanted to keep the information to himself, even if he had no hope that it was true.
"It is nothing, Dwalin," he answered eventually, looking straight ahead to avoid making eye contact with his friend. "Only thoughts of the quest and of seeing the halls of Erebor again."
The larger dwarf scoffed, a noise saying he did not believe the dwarf prince, but he knew better than to push for an answer Thorin didn't want to give. He rode another moment beside Thorin, waiting to see if he would change his mind, before hanging back to once again ride with Balin. They would no doubt discuss what they thought was actually bothering Thorin. The leader of the company rolled his eyes and turned his gaze forward, to the hard-packed dirt of the road, winding along in front of them.
He made himself think of Erebor as it would be when the dragon was gone and he was king. He made himself think of the route they would take to Erebor, of how it would feel to bring Dis and the others from The Blue Mountains home. He made himself think of what it would mean for Fili and Kili to finally see the splendor of the Lonely Mountain. He made himself think of the future and ignore the past.
Astrid spent a restful week at Rivendell before anything of note happened.
She spent the first day and a half taking short walks and sleeping, and when she could rest no more, she went in search of something to read. Elrond permitted her access to the massive amounts of books stored within Rivendell and she took to them with a hunger; it had been a while since she'd stayed somewhere with such a range of literature. She read history and legend and tried to teach herself a little Sindarin beyond what she already knew, but didn't get very far before she found herself bored. Near the end of the week, she began to feel restless from all the sitting and, after watching some archers practice, decided her time amongst the elves would be a good time to try and teach herself archery. It was something she had wanted to do for quite some time.
It was during her first self-imposed lesson she heard the hunting horns echo through the valley. The noise was sudden and loud and Astrid nearly dropped the bow she was holding as she jumped in shock. Her heart pounding in her ears, she looked around and every elf she could see had turned their head towards the noise, though they went back to whatever they'd been doing after only a brief second of stillness; maybe they had been waiting to see if there were any further blasts, some sort of signal.
"Lindir!" she called out upon spotting the familiar face. She had spoken to, and quite liked, some of the other elves, and would have asked them, but Lindir seemed to always know what was going on. "What is going on?"
"An orc pack was sighted nearing our borders, Lord Elrond and his sons have ridden out with a hunting party to find them."
Astrid was not envious of hunting and killing orcs—the foul things scared her, though thankfully she had not encountered many of them in her life—but the thought of getting out riding filled her with joy. It was the same feeling to have sent her on her solo journey across Middle Earth in the first place, and since Midnight had recovered as well as her rider from the attack, Astrid could leave at any time.
"Do orcs normally venture so close to the Valley?" she asked, pushing all thoughts of leaving from her mind for the time being.
"They do not. They know to come so close almost certainly means death." Lindir gave a small sigh, a barely perceptible movement of his shoulder accompanying the faint exhale. "It is an odd occurrence, though I am sure Lord Elrond will have some answers upon his return."
Astrid returned the shooting range as Lindir took his leave, and resumed her attempts at finding the proper stance. She'd been attempting to mimic the elves on the field, and they had left her to it after a few declined offers of help. It didn't take long for anyone around her to realize Astrid would ask for help only when she admitted to herself she needed it and not a moment sooner. They two others using the archery range were standing at the other end as a precaution—a well-founded one as it turned out. The first arrow she tried to fire went far to the right, landing in the water behind the row of targets.
She attempted to fire a few more arrows, adjusting the stance each time, and was in the midst of collecting the spent shafts when she saw Lindir headed through the halls again, headed for the main entrance to the house and moving fast enough to tell her something was happening. Astrid, her curiosity getting the better of her, left the bow and quiver propped against the target she'd been firing at and hurried after the elf. He looked down at her with a small smile as she fell in step beside him, evidently unsurprised she'd followed him.
"Is Lord Elrond returning?" she asked.
"No. The horns will announce his return. We have some unexpected guests approaching."
Lindir gestured to his left and Astrid peered over the low wall to the mountain path leading down to the gates. She could make out fifteen figures walking in nearly single file, one much taller than the others and wearing a pointed hat. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to make out more detail of the others. They were, with the exception of one near the front of the line, all weighed down with heavy packs and weapons, and some of them were sporting quite elaborate hairstyles and beards.
"Dwarves?"
Lindir nodded.
Astrid gave a quick burst of laughter which faded into a smile. She pushed stray strands of her dark hair from her face and watched the figures make their way to Rivendell. "I spent some time with the dwarves in the Blue Mountains when I was little. It was twenty-five years ago though. I doubt I could tell if any of these dwarves were ones I met back then," she said, more to herself than Lindir. Astrid leaned on the low wall as Lindir walked down the steps to meet the dwarves and studied the faces of the newcomers, wishing her memory of that time wasn't so spotty.
Kili wasn't sure what he expected to find at Rivendell, but he knew the sight waiting in the valley was not it.
The complex of buildings and bridges and towers seemed stuck in a perpetual autumn, reds and orange and greens hanging in a golden glow. Waterfalls, ponds, and rivers surrounded Rivendell, the sounds filling the air, and Kili found it oddly calming. He had heard Thorin's stories of the elves of the Greenwood, but perhaps the elves of the Hidden Valley were different; he doubted anyone cold enough to leave two cities to burn without lifting a finger could live in a place so warm. He let himself look around in wonder, even share a smile with his brother—they had spent their whole lives in the Blue Mountains and the nearby villages of men, and they had never seen anything like this—but he kept his thoughts to himself.
He was surprised to see an elf already moving to greet them as the company filed in between two statues of elves in their ancient armour, but he guessed they had scouts stationed at all the entrances to the valley, to keep an eye on those coming and going. Gandalf moved forward to talk to the elf and Kili's eyes continued to wander. Even more surprising than the elf coming to greet them however, was the second face watching their approach: a short woman with freckles and bright eyes, her arms folded on the low wall in front of her where she leaned at the top of the stairs.
She found his eyes and smiled warmly, a welcoming gesture. Kili found she looked familiar when she smiled, something in that expression tugging at the back of his mind, a memory long since forgotten.
Just in case you were wondering, Nerys will be in each odd-numbered chapter, since she's not fully involved in the story yet. She will be though. Once we get there.
Also, Since Day One (the Thorin/Nerys prequel) is being posted now, and The Adventures of Tiny Astrid (the Astrid among the dwarves prequel) will be along shortly.
Also also, this fic is proving more difficult than I thought it would to write. It should get easier, once I get to the parts I want to write, i.e. Chapter Four, and maybe even the next chapter if it goes the way I want it to. Astrid is not a character who lends well to planning and Nerys is phenomenally stubborn, so this could get interesting.
Anyways, I hope you're enjoying this!
