Chapter 2

Ariadne felt a little sick as she ran back to the cavern and through the tunnels towards her father's chambers. She could not see herself and that was quite disconcerting, but not as disquieting than when she brushed past other elves who did not even notice that someone was there. She was invisible to all! Pushing full barrels of wine back into the river, stealing elves's hats and all other kinds of mischief were now easily accessible! For the time being, however she had to alert the king about that little hobbit she had tricked. She was sure he was the missing companion of the company of dwarves they had locked up in cells.

She ran through the winding tunnels, turning left and right here and there, catching her breath when she had to pause and let other elves pass without smashing into them. That would have put an end to her discretion. Finally, as the dark tunnel sloped upwards steeply, Ariadne knew she had arrived. She slowed down as she reached the top, creeping past the royal guards, smirking as they stared straight through her without blinking. Suddenly, the carved corridor stopped and she stumbled into a thick wooden door, complete with a gold doorknob. Her father's room. As she twisted the handle and pushed the door open, she could not help but turn her head back to see the guards's eyes bulge before the self-opening door. She had to fight back a giggle, overjoyed to trouble the guards ho constantly kept her out of the king's room even though he was her father.
"That will show them, she thought."

As the elfgirl entered the room, she saw her father writing away at his desk. His head was bent over his work, his eyes screwed to his page, squinting to make out the words he was scratching onto the paper. He had always had such a bad eyesight when reading or writing. Now she would have a little fun with her father.
"Hello! she boomed in a loud, deep voice".

The king's head shot upwards and he scanned the empty room, surprised and nervous.
"Where and who are you? he answered, perplexed when he could see no-one." Ariadne glided to the other side of the floor and tiptoed to behind Thranduil's large wooden chair. She picked up a pair of scissors on a shelf and, biting her lips so as not to burst out laughing, she clipped off half of the king's hair at once! This time he turned around brutally, snarling with rage.
"How dare you play games with me, whoever you are! Reveal yourself immediately or I shall call for my guards." As he shook with anger, Ariadne noticed his half chopped of hair jumping about on his scalpand that was too much to the laughter-prone girl. She shrieked and howled, upsetting the confused Elf King even further.

When she saw he was nearly having convulsions, standing there in an empty room with an invisible person obviously mocking him, she took off the ring and placed it on the desk, exposing herself. Thranduil jumped back as Ariadne appeared out of thin air, then composed himself and a jaded look settled on his face. He was used to his daughter's pranks.
"You! he shouted, I should have guessed. What is the matter now? Apart from the fact that you can BECOME INVISIBLE! How did you do that?"
His eyes were round and shocked at the sudden realisation that Ariadne had really turned invisible. This was not like the time she hung from the cieling to play her pranks, this time it was pure magic.

"Yes father, she said, I was invisible. I think you should like to hear what I have to say. But let us hurry, for that hobbit could be running off right now." She then rapidly summarised the situation.

Meanwhile, Bilbo was alone in the forest with no cover except for the trees. Those, however, were treacherous more than helpful because he would get easily lost if he walked too far off, but the elves would quickly find him, since they knew the forest well. He did not know what to do. If he entered the cavern without his ring, he would be instantly captured. If he set off into the forest, he would die of hunger (he already felt like he was) or be caught, too. In the end, as he shivered in the cold and his stomach grumbled loudly, he was attracted by the cover of the grotto and the tasty food he had seen enter it some minutes ago.

There were no guards, for they had gone back in after being distracted by Ariadne. Oh, that mean elfgirl! She had stolen his precious ring and left him stranded at the mercy of the elves when she had promised not to do both! He gritted his teeth and cursed her as he inched towards the entrance, careful not to make a sound. He quickly crossed the space between the edge of the trees and the cavern, then kept close to the rock as he sneaked along the facade towards the door. Then, the small hobbit slipped through the opening. He was in.

His eyes were already adjusted to the gloomy tunnels after having stayed in the sombre forest for so long. All he could see were the outline of other tunnels branching out. His first thought was to go downwards to find the cells he imagined the dwarves were in, for he knew prisons were usually set below ground level to avoid easy escapes. He wormed along the corridors, feeling with his hand those who descended and then following them. He made his way for more than an hour in the dimness of the tunnels, never finding more than empty rooms behind closed doors. That was not too bad as it made it easy for the hobbit not to be seen.

At this point, however, Bilbo was starving. It had been two days since he had had a single meal, apart from a handful of berries from a bush which had done very little to calm his hunger. His pace slowed down, and he dragged himself for another hour along the tunnels, despairing about ever finding the dwarves. Suddenly, as he was about to drop to the ground just before a turn in the corridor, Bilbo heard voices having a conversation, only a few meters away.

"I don't think he would have actually down here, you know. We have been tracking that nasty hobbit for hours now and we have not found a trace of him!" said the first voice, a woman.
"Now, Tauriel, I know he is here! His footprints clearly led to the cavern, such a successful Captain as you should have seen that."

It was Ariadne! Bilbo instantly recognised that silky voice teasing Tauriel.

"I know, I saw them, replied Tauriel. I just believe he could not have found his way through those twisty tunnels RIGHT near the dwarves' cells! He is probably still lurking avove ground and will shortly be caught by my guard."
The hobbit gasped : next to the dwarves' cell? He had managed to reach them after all!
His joy was short-lived, however. He heard the elves fall abruptly silent at his gasp and damned himself for having let it escape. Would they come around the bend and find him? The Captain of the Guard and the King's daughter... There was no way to escape them... except running. It was his only chance, he realised. He gathered all his strength and pushed himself up, then set off stealthily in the other direction. He thought he was being silent, but his fatigue and hunger made him stumble a little at each footstep. These noises combined with his rhasping breath soon became heard by the two elves.

"Is it him? asked Ariadne."
"I do not know, but we should follow him quickly, said Tauriel, already breaking into a run"

Bilbo heard them and his hope failed him. They were surely in much better shape than him and he could not outrun them. Even then he would soon get lost in the tunnels. The exausted hobbit dropped to the floor, nearly crying. He had been so close to finding the dwarves. Oh, that dreadful Ariadne, he cursed her again as he heard the two elves come running up to him.
"There, you are, Bilbo... We were looking for you, sniggered Ariadne as Tauriel bound him up with a rope. You were trickier to find than I thought, but we have you now..."

Still to be continued, thank you for reviews again, I would like to know what you think of my FIRST fan fic!"