AN: Man, I love how I've been able to tie my own storyline in with the events of the Hobbit films. It has been challenging, but I think it has also been well worth the effort and time. Please tell me what you guys think of how I've been tying the two stories together.
*A rushing white river spat water up in the air. A cool wind rocketed water up the sides of the ground and slipped down again. The cycle was interrupted when thirteen barrels came tearing through. In each of the barrels was a dwarf, all of which containing the dwarves that had been locked away in Thranduil's dungeon. Clinging onto one of the barrels was a Halfling soaked from head to toe, spitting out water and gasping for breath.
Cries of Orcs stabbed through the air, accompanied by the rallying signal from a horn.
Barad was making sure to stay close enough to Tauriel without making it look too obvious that he was watching over her. He stabbed an Orc deep in the gut with his dagger and hacked at another Orc's exposed stomach. Legolas and Tauriel, along with a group of Wood-Elf rangers were slaying an ambush of Orcs that were trying to kill the escaping dwarves. It bewildered Barad to think that he and the Elves were actually fighting to protect the dwarves.
At the same time, the dwarves seemed to be doing a fine job holding their own as well. From a bunch of dead Orcs that fell into the water, the dwarves managed to take their weapons and use them against any other attackers.
One of the dwarves, the same tall one that Tauriel had saved from spiders earlier, had gotten to raise the portcullis to allow the other dwarves to continue down the river, but not before taking an arrow to the knee. The dwarf had survived and moved on with the others, but he wouldn't have made it had Tauriel not swooped in just in time to save him. Again.
It made Barad wonder if Tauriel might have something for this dwarf.
Barad climbed up onto a tree to see things better. He saw Tauriel following close to Legolas, cutting down any Orcs that were in her path. Barad shot Orcs from above with arrows to get his way closer to Tauriel without having any enemies shoot him from behind. It was utter mayhem around the river.
And the worst thing about it was that Thranduil had done nothing to prevent this. Barad wondered where he was now.
One of his arrows flew straight through an Orc's head, tearing through the front and getting spit out through the back. He then leaped down from the tree, knocking an Orc from below down and stabbing through its neck. He disposed of a second Orc that was standing right by him by removing an arrow from his quiver and sticking it in its stomach.
"Go back to the shadows," Barad cried out. He was taken by surprise when an Orc bashed itself into his throat, knocking him back and forcing his dagger from his hand. When the Orc attempted to hack his sword down on Barad's head, Barad took up his bow, slung his arrow in, and fired at close range. The Orc fell, dropping his sword along the way.
Barad looked around for more. He realized then that the rest of the Orcs were continuing to pursue the dwarves down the river. The dwarves had been able to get away.
Perhaps now that meant he can talk to Tauriel. He needed to convince her to leave. With the dwarves gone, things were less complicated than they already were.**
*During the fight down the river, Tauriel had taken one of the Orcs hostage. A filthy creature with yellow glowing eyes that stared up at her with a hatred that Tauriel had only seen a few times before.
Legolas had the Orc on its knees with his dagger at its neck. Thranduil stood behind them with his arms folded while his son interrogated the Orc.
"You were tracking the company of thirteen dwarves. Why?" Legolas asked.
"Not thirteen. Not anymore. The young one…"
Tauriel stopped pacing.
"The black-haired archer. We stuck him with a Morgul shaft. The poison's in his blood…"
Tauriel gulped, but her anger rose dangerously high. She remembered watching Kili get the arrow in his knee, but she didn't know there was poison involved.
"…He'll be choking on it soon," the Orc declared.
"Answer the question, filth," Tauriel demanded, though her voice didn't sound confident enough to be intimidating. The Orc instead cursed at her in the Black Speech. Enraged, Tauriel took up her dagger and twirled it in her hand to show off.
"I would not antagonize her," Legolas warned.
"You like killing things Orc. You like death?"
The Orc smiled, sticking its black tongue out to show that it was enjoying this.
"Then let me give it to you!" Tauriel screamed. She bolted forward at the Orc with her dagger aimed for his neck to slice his head clean off.
"Enough!" Thranduil screamed. Tauriel froze. Her knife was just several inches away from carving into the Orc's flesh.
"Tauriel, leave. Go now," the king commanded. Tauriel felt heat burst across her face in humiliation. She looked down at the Orc, who growled up at her. Spittle flew from its lips. Repulsed, Tauriel walked away. She could still feel the heat in her cheeks growing worse. She felt shaken. She had embarassed herself in front of king, and she had learned that Kili was in danger. She knew there was no way the dwarves would find someone that could heal Kili wherever they were at. For something like poison from a Morgul arrow, it needed special treatment. A kind of treatment that only someone like Tauriel could give.
She decided that she didn't care how the king would feel about this. She was going to leave, and find Kili to heal him.
She knew that Legolas was going to follow her. She was counting on it. This unquestioning obedience to the king had to stop. For both of them.**
*Barad watched as the front gates to the kingdom got closed and sealed. Something that was rarely done. He stopped Elros, who was passing by him.
"What's going on? Why are the gates being sealed?" He asked.
"It is the king's orders. He did not explain why," Elros replied. Barad almost turned around to find the king, but spotted Legolas instead, who was on his way to the gates.
"My lord Legolas, where are you going? Where's Tauriel?" Barad asked. Legolas kept walking as if he didn't hear him. Not wanting to be humiliated like that, Barad rushed over to the prince and stood in front of him.
"Get out of my way," Legolas warned.
"Where is Tauriel?" Barad asked again.
"She left the Woodland Realm. I'm going now to find her," Legolas replied.
"Let me go with you."
"I'm going alone," Legolas insisted.
"Why do you think she left?" Barad asked. Legolas reached out and gripped Barad's collar.
"Why do you care so much? What has caused this sudden change of heart? You've barely spoken to her for over hundreds of years," he said.
"That was not my fault. I need to see her now," Barad insisted. Legolas shoved him back, his eyes blazing with a fierce anger.
"I'm going alone to find her, and you will not go with me. If you want to know, I believe she left to help that dwarf," he said.
"The taller one?" Barad asked for confirmation. Legolas silently nodded.
"Why?"
Legolas didn't speak for several seconds. His anger had somewhat melted away to reveal a hint of sadness.
"I think Tauriel feels something for that dwarf. My father would never approve," he said. Barad felt as though some of his insides were collapsing in on themselves. Tauriel had feelings for a dwarf?
"Let me go alone, please," Legolas pleaded. For a moment, the only sounds were the crackling fires from the torches on the walls. Barad had to pull back and rethink his options. He was going to get Tauriel to leave this place and travel to the Old Forest, one way or another.
It was then that he thought up a new strategy.
"Alright, go. Be careful," Barad said. Legolas silently nodded and walked past him to leave. Barad stared after him, his mind working furiously to put all the pieces of his plan together.
What he came up with felt too clever to work, but he knew he had to try.**
*Tauriel reached a cliff that overlooked the river, which would lead to Lake-Town, the small town that she gotten to go to not long after being accepted into the Woodland Realm.
She knew the risks when she left. She was willing to play with them.
Her ears twitched when she heard slight movement from behind her. She reached for an arrow in her quiver, then spun around with it in her bow. Standing a few feet away from her was Legolas, who was also aiming an arrow at her.
Tauriel smiled. "I thought you were an Orc."
"If I were an Orc, you would be dead," Legolas joked. Tauriel returned the arrow to her quiver and put away her bow. She looked out at the river again. A sense of longing she had not felt in a long time came back over her. She wanted to leave the forest, and honestly never come back. She had grown tired of staying holed up in the Woodland Realm without being able to explore the world outside. Chasing after Kili to help him was giving her that opportunity.
"Tauriel, you cannot hunt thirty Orcs on your own," Legolas claimed. Tauriel smiled again and glanced at him.
"But I'm not on my own."
Legolas grinned. "You knew I would come."
Tauriel nodded, but her gaze fell away from the prince again. She wasn't ashamed of what she was doing, but she was afraid that Legolas wouldn't understand. He was the king's son after all, and the prince of Thranduil's kingdom. He served his father faithfully even though their relationship was strained, and he had the same mindset as his father. They both believed that isolation from the rest of the world and not getting involved in its affairs was the best option for them.
"The king is angry Tauriel. For six hundred years, my father has protected you, favored you. You defied his orders, you betrayed his trust," Legolas said.
A brief second of guilt washed over Tauriel. It wasn't for betraying the king's trust, it was the realization that she was betraying Legolas's trust by not telling him about the black gem. Of all people in the Woodland Realm now, she knew that Legolas would be the best one to talk about it with.
"Come back with me, he will forgive you," Legolas promised.
Tauriel shook her head. "I will not go back. If I go back I will never forgive myself. The king will never allow Orc filth roam our lands, yet he will allow this Orc pack to cross our lands and kill our prisoners," she pointed out in disgust.
"It is not our fight," Legolas said.
"It is our fight. It will not end here. With every victory, this evil will grow. If your father has his way, we will do nothing. We will hide within our walls, live our lives away from the light, and let darkness descend."
Legolas was then speechless. He instead looked at Tauriel hopelessly. He knew at that point that there was no changing Tauriel's mind. Tauriel then thought of something. It was a phrase that she had heard Legolas's mother herself say according to Thranduil.
"Are we not part of this world?" She asked. Legolas's defenses then lowered down even more and his shoulders rose higher as he began to breath harder. Tauriel knew Legolas would not turn back now.
"Tell me, mellon, when did we let evil become stronger than us?"
Legolas finally nodded. He took inhaled long and let out a deep sigh. He smiled. "My father will be furious."
"Then you have no problem doing this," Tauriel said.
"No. I do not," Legolas admitted. Tauriel turned to look out at the river one last time. They had to keep going before it was too late.
"Tauriel," Legolas spoke up. Tauriel turned to look at him again.
"If we are doing this, I want you to swear upon something."
"What is it?" Tauriel asked.
"Don't use your special abilities."
"What?"
"I mean it. I fear that you are growing more powerful, and you may do more harm then good. Am I understood?" Legolas asked. Tauriel felt as though she had no choice but to obey the prince. After all, she was grateful that Legolas agreed to help her, so it was only fair to keep going under that one condition.**
*Barad found Thranduil standing in front of his throne staring at it. He was like a statue, not even so much as twitching at the Elf's arrival.
"What is it?" The king asked.
"My lord, I feel it is time for Tauriel to take a journey to the Old Forest. She will learn about who her parents were and where she came from," Barad explained.
"You are referring to the two that she will find there. Tom Bombadil and Goldberry," Thranduil replied.
"Yes my lord. It is not just me that believes she must do this. Radagast the Brown himself believes it is time."
"She has held on to the black gem without knowing its purpose long enough," Thranduil said. Barad's eyebrows shot up in shock. Thranduil knew all this time that Tauriel had it?
"Yes, I know she has it," Thranduil answered before Barad could ask the question out loud.
"The problem of course, is that she has strayed away from the Woodland Realm," Barad pointed out.
"I trust that Legolas would find her, and bring her back. But what you are asking is a complicated request. She will not leave this place for good until it is cured. You have failed to find a way to reverse the darkness that has covered this forest."
"I'm trying my lord. Might I suggest an option?" Barad asked.
"Go on."
"Banish her from the Woodland Realm."
"Banish her?"
"Yes, but make it seem as though you are doing it because of her interest in the dwarf."
"Legolas told me about Tauriel's exchange with the dwarf while he was in his cell. I find this event…concerning."
"Banish her, my lord, and I will take it from there," Barad promised. Thranduil sighed.
"She is one of my best. It will be difficult to let go."
"You know it is good for her," Barad pointed out.
Thranduil reluctantly nodded. "I do. Very well, I will send Feren to deliver the message. Tauriel is now banished from the Woodland Realm."**
