Disclaimer: I do not own any Hobbit characters or songs used in this chapter and story. The song I reference below is Something Better from Muppet Treasure Island. I am going to be adding in a lot of popular songs as a part of my character, and I do not own any of them. If you do not like characters who sing, I apologize. Reviews are appreciated.

The elven city of Imladris was a city of white stone, a city of gold. The towers and walls, underneath the light strands of vine and flower, were circled in white, colored in gold, and topped with a deep red, matching the sunrise and sunset when the light shone through the misty spray of the waterfall. Imladris was a city of laughter and song. Lord Elrond had justly ruled the city for well over a century, and the elves in his council were happy, joyous and at peace. Imladris, the beautiful city of elves, was heaven on Middle-Earth, and everyone was blissful and free.

A day or two before the dwarves arrive in Rivendell

Standing out on her balcony, overlooking the courtyard fountain, Linnor sighed sadly. Everyone but me she thought. She turned and glided back into her room. Cell is more like it she frowned again. It was a bit of an exaggeration, she would admit.

Her bedroom was the size of the courtyard, and draped in gold, silver, and white. Her bed was large enough for six and the gold canopy reached all the way to the ceiling. There was a couch and sitting area on a lower platform, a large exquisite closet full of fine, light gowns and garments, an elegant bathroom half the size of her own room, and, her favorite feature, a library. Shelves and shelves of books: history, adventure, of far off places, places in the distant corners of Middle-Earth, and people of great importance, all things she had read over and over and come to love and yearn for.

But then again, that was all she could do: yearn for it. Linnor was otherwise trapped in her room, trapped in the walls of Imladris. That much remained true. Except she didn't even know why. Linnor had lived her whole life here, raised in Lord Elrond's court, though she was not elvish. Linnor was human. Her parents had died shortly after her birth. From that time, Rivendell was all she had known, the people here were her family, thus the elvish name.

But in all those decades, Linnor had barely ever stepped outside her room, barely exploring the glorious city, her home. She had never even been in the beautiful courtyard overlooked. And there was always someone watching her, as if she were a child they were afraid would run off (though given her situation and growing desire to see the world, that was not entirely false). But still, Linnor didn't appreciate the guard detail always outside her door, following her everywhere she went, never leaving her alone, but at the same time, keeping her isolated from the city. With the exception of an occasional visitor, sometimes Lord Elrond himself came to ask how she faired, but most of the time...it felt like she was being hidden. Like she, the only human in the city of elven-kind, she was a secret no one was supposed to know about. But every time she asked, she was brushed aside.

A light knock on the door broke into her thoughts.

"Enter."

A tall, graceful woman swept in. She had long black hairthat reached her waist, pulled back slightly to reveal her pointed ears. She wore a long, silver dress, with green and gold trim. She was slim, elegant and regal, a little imposing to Linnor, whose human figure left her a good two feet shorter than the elves in Rivendell, and her hair was a frizzy chestnut, not sleek black.

"Faolan!" Linnor greeted her friend, pushing her gloomy thoughts away.

Faolan was truely her only visitor, and her only friend, and they were very close. Faolan was the only person she really trusted and cared about, and she knew the She-Elf felt the same way.

"Reading again?" Faolan chuckled, gesturing to the books Linnor had absentmindly pulled from the shelves.

"Well, what else is there to do?" Linnor moaned.

It was true that she had already read those books a number of times. Not only because she was bored out of her mind every hour of every day, but becasue she never got it tired of the people, the places, the adventures.

"Sing." Faolan said simply, referring to the translation of Linnor's name.

"Ha ha, very funny. I do not sing and you know that, Faolan."

"Still," Faolan continued, making her way over to the couch to sit. "You are in the most beautiful city in Middle-Earth. Why should you be bored when everything you could wish for is right here."

"Maybe, but I never get to see it!" Linnor groaned.

Faolan was comfortable with her life here, and she got to move and see the world whenever she wished. She just didn't understand. Linnor moved closer to her friend, desperate to get through to her.

"I wake up each day, and I wonder...what for? Nothing new ever happens in this room, Faolan. No matter what you say, that everything is right here, it seems to me there must be something more."

"Something more?" Faolan looked at her in confusion.

"Yes, something more. More than the walls of Imladris, and walking this old floor. If I had my pick of wishes, I'd wish me out that door!" Linnor gestured to her bedroom door, getting up and moving as she continued.

"And you know why? Because I'm hungry for adventure! Adventure out in the world, a world I want to see thanks to these books. I am fed up with this grind. I swear, if i don't get some excitement soon, I'm going to lose my mind! Please do not misunderstand me, I love Imladris and my life here. But it's not the life that I want. I want a life that's filled with thrills and wild and free! Don't you understand that there has got to be something better than...than this for me."

"Linnor, what are you saying? You are in a beautiful place, and yet you talk of leaving? I do not understand." Faolan stood up and moved towards her, now greatly concerned.

"I'm sorry, Faolan. I love my home, but how can I be satisfied when I see these pictures," Linnor motioned at her library, "and know that there is a whole world out there I haven't yet seen? Then I look around here and I want to cry. It just...feels...like the world is passing me by. And...I just can't help but wonder, am I doomed to want to fly. Always dreaming, never going anywhere? Is it a curse I'm under to stay here until I die?" Linnor threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Well..." Faolan looked unsure. "Where would you rather be?"

A smile brightened Linnor's face at the thought.

"I could be an explorer, riding off to distant lands, like the Ettenmoors or the Shire or the lost kingdom of Erebor. Going anywhere would be quite better than spending every afternoon just getting quiet and sad. Oh Faolan, my future looks like nothing that I want to be. That's why I know that there's got to be something better than this," she gestured around her again, "for me."
"I can see myself out on a quest." Linnor started to walk around the room, envisioning it in her mind." Finding things that are weird and wild and crazy! To find new people and cities and find a place where I could stay, just for a little while."

"But what about Orcs? And Wargs? And all the other dark, dangerous creatures?" Faolan pointed out.

"Let danger call my name! And when it does, I won't hide!" Linnor shouted, jumping onto her bed. " I will put my courage to the test..." She trailed off. " If I ever get to try." Linnor sat down upon her bed, dejected.

Faolan came over and sat beside her, putting a gentle arm around her.

"Those are...interesting wishes, Linnor, but that is all they are. Wishes. You must understand that if you are ever to be happy. I must go now, but I will try to visit again soon." She got up and made her way to the door. Before she left, she turned one last time.

"I mean it about the singing. Just give it a try."

And Linnor was alone again. She sighed, and walked to her balcony. The sun was just setting over the mountain ridge, creating a reddish-golden glow. Singing...

Linnor gazed at the beautiful sight before her, so close, yet just out of her reach. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes and gave it a shot.

There's got to be something better than this
I know that there's so much out there to see
And I know this life I'm leading can't be my destiny
There's got to be something better
Something better
There's got to be something better than this for me.

Linnor opened her eyes to gaze longingly at the horizon before turning away.

There's got to be something waiting out there for me.