Perhaps I should stop writing at 3 AM because lordy lou, I made plenty of mistakes in this chapter. I've revised it. Additionally, I changed the final paragraph for effect. Sorry about that guys! :* :*
-The timeline of the second and third paragraphs clear: the second is in the past, while the third is in the present.
-For future reference: the name "Jan" and "Janovol," the J is pronounced like a Y. (Yah-n/Yahn-oh-val)
Chapter 7: Good Night, Aia.
11 days had passed in Mirkwood. Aia was in and out of consciousness. It had taken a day and a half for Aia to awaken from her initial stupor.
She had awoken in Kili's arms upon hearing a weak sigh escape Bilbo's mouth. The girl looked up to Kili's refreshing smile. His lips moved and a sound resonated in her ears but she couldn't fit it to make sense. Aia abruptly felt uncomfortably warm so she squirmed from Kili's arms onto the ground, where her legs marginally gave out. Bilbo offered her his hand but she denied it as politely as she could, for she wished to prove to herself that she could overcome the necromancer's plight. Aia placed her palms to the ground and shoved down as firmly as she could. She stumbled to her feet and flexed her legs. Kili's shoulder was right by her side the moment she began to sway. As quickly as she had lost her balance, Aia calibrated herself and proceeded to perform normally. The dwarves shared curious glances between each other before Thorin ordered they continue. The voyage persisted without difficulty for the next nine days.
In the afternoon of the eleventh day in Mirkwood Forest, Aia was accompanying Thorin in the front of the Caravan. The girl still wore Kili's coat with pride. She had been admiring the aroma of plants and earth that Kili's coat released when she heard a trickling. She turned to the Hobbit aft herself to verify that he heard it as well. Bilbo was looking at Aia with an identically befuddled expression. She turned her head back to face forward, she halted in her steps. Thorin, however, continued walking.
"Thorin!" Aia plunged forward, grasped Thorin's belt and yanked him back. The king stumbled somewhat. He shook himself off and looked up to Aia with a deep scowl.
"What in Durin's name are you doing?" Aia furrowed her brows and pointed to a stream of stagnant black, viscous liquid that resembled Goblin's blood in front of Thorin's feet.
"This is the enchanted river my brother warned you of. Do not touch it. My apologies for thrusting you aside." Thorin turned his head to face the river. His eyes widened.
"Can you see how far across it is?"
"It cannot be more than mmm.." Aia trailed off in concentration.
"Twelve feet." Bilbo finished her sentence. Thorin nodded.
"It is far too wide to jump across." Aia looked to Thorin and changed into a bird. The feeling was particularly awkward in that she felt stiff and heavy. Possibly from being in her human form for eleven days. Thorin looked to Aia, who blinked as a way of communicating, "get on my back. I will fly you across the river." The king nodded and mounted her back. The minute Aia took off, a compilation of distorted whispers permeated Aia's ears.
Drop him, you don't need to carry him. He will hurt you. The whispers repeatedand echoed in Aia's mind.
With an effort, she transported Thrain's son to the other side of the river. He dismounted her and she immediately flew to the other side to transport each dwarf. With each dwarf, the whispers expanded.
Listen to us. We are here to help you, Aia. Let us help you.
Bombur was the final dwarf to be shipped across.
Drop him, Aia. Or we will punish you.
Struggling to obstruct the sounds and transport the fat dwarf across the river, Aia gradually aviated their way across when a twinkle of silver flashed beside them. Aia lost her balance from the sudden exposure of light and she slipped into her human form, releasing poor Bombur. Fortunately, The speed at which Aia had been flying caused the dwarf to collide into the dwarves on the shore like a bowling ball.
The girl, however, barely managed to land on the shore.
You failed to drop those brutes. You did not listen to us, Aia. Poor girl. So confused in this world. She belongs to no kin. She possesses no mate. Poor girl.
She stumbled back towards the water in a delirium. The whispers were abruptly silenced when her right arm was caught by a dwarf. A familiar pain shot through her limb, causing her to tighten her grip on the hand that held her. She sealed her eyes solidly. The dwarf's grip let up slightly when Aia was pulled closer to a warm body. Aia's hands met the nape of the dwarf's neck as he pulled her into his arms.
"Thank you." Aia whispered to the dwarf's chest. She soon succumbed to exhaustion.
Aia began to stir after an unknown quantity of time. Her ashen eyes met those of brilliant pale blue. They displayed a consolatory, soothing expression.
"Thorin?" She asked. He smiled at her. "Did you rescue me?"
"I've simply returned a favor." He bid, maintaining his soft smile.
"Thank you, Thorin." Aia smiled to him as he let her back onto the ground. He nodded and continued walking.
After a few hours without affliction, her luck changed for the worse. Aia's eyelids and legs seemed to have tripled in weight. Her ordinarily precise eyesight became futile, for it developed into an irrevocable blur. Gradually, out of the addled, disheveled blackness of her mind, Aia materialized a recollection. She turned her droopy head to where she thought Thorin would be and used her peripheral vision to see his outline.
"Thorrrin?" Aia slurred. She made out the King's head rotate to face the sound of her voice.
"Yes, Aia? What is it?" He asked with a tinge of a concern in his tone. Aia's mind swirled. "Aia?" She felt a hand on her shoulder. The girl swung her head back to Thorin's silhouette. Somehow her noggin pivoted to face the dingy, fungoid forest floor.
"Hmm? Oh, yessss. I was wonderrrr..innng.. How did... you... erm.." Aia frowned. She tapped a finger on her chin as her foggy brain was racked for the words to finish her reminiscence. "cease the... whhhhisp... nmm" She trailed off and mentally finished her sentence. Thorin raised an eyebrow. Kili took note of Aia's queer condition and looked to Thorin. He rested his right hand across her waist and pulled her closer to himself.
"Aia, are you alright?" Kili's uneasy tone was apparent. Aia smiled blissfully and rested her head on the side of the dwarf's. He felt the friction of Aia's cheek and temple as her head bobbed in a nod.
"Mhmm. I'm certainly al.. Mmm alright." Aia sighed the last word. "So long as..." She leaned so her lips were brushing against Kili's ear. "So long as your caress maintains on me." Aia's warm breath sent a tingling down Kili's spine. She ended with a peck on his ear. Her words melted like butter into his thoughts; a pretty damsel asks him to continue holding her. Of course he'd happily oblige. Yet, a deviating sensation lingered about: perhaps Beorn was right about the forest. Perhaps Aia was being possessed by the Necromancer's curse. He closed his eyes tightly and tightened his grip on Aia's waist. He couldn't lose her like this. Aia returned her cheek back to the side of Kili's head.
Bilbo's advanced hearing barely picked up what Aia was discussing with Thorin and Kili. His intention wasn't that of eavesdropping, but supervising his closest friend in the present Company. With furrowed brows and a theory, Bilbo made his way to Aia and Kili. A petite Hobbit hand met a thick, muscular shoulder. Kili turned to make out Bilbo's outline. With a raised brow, he scanned the Hobbit as best as he could in the darkness.
"What can I do for ya, Mr. Boggins?" Kili inquired.
"H-how's Aia doing?"
"She's alright, why?" Kili asked, feigning ignorance of Aia's ailment. Bilbo furrowed his eyes further.
"Er.. Mind if I have a word with her?" He asked, holding out his unseen arm.
With hesitation, Kili invisibly shook his head. "Go on. But be gentle, eh?" Bilbo added an invisible nod of his own and replaced Kili's hand on the girl's waist. She slightly moaned in annoyance.
Noticing the substitution of thin, dainty hands from dense, warm hands, Aia inquired."What is it? Where did my Kili go?" Fili snickered before his gut met Kili's elbow. Bilbo smiled sadly at the girl's innocence as he slowed their pace. Once behind all the dwarves, Bilbo slid his hand onto Aia's ribcage. "Ow! Why are you doing that Jan? That hurts!" Durin's youngest heir spun around at the sound of Aia's detest.
"Oi, what the hell are you doing to her?" Kili asked Bilbo as a threat. Bilbo shook his head.
"I believe I've figured out what ails Aia." Kili's eyes widened. "But I'll need to inspect it further. Next we rest, I will analyze." Bilbo reassured. He then walked away with a quick squeeze to Aia's hand. She giggled in response. Kili took her waist and continued walking as she molded back into her resting position aside the dwarf's head.
"'s the lass alright?" A new voice asked. Kili identified the voice as Bofur's and soon answered.
"I hope, Bofur. I truly do." With that, further discussion was ceased save occasional gibberish from Aia's delusion-riddled mouth.
Some-five hours afterwards, the caravan was allowed rest for the "night" (based on the darker atmosphere.) Aia remained beside Kili the entire time, mumbling about a character called "Janovol." At some points during the night, Aia undertook several attempts to kiss Kili. As much as he would have loved to accept and return the kisses, he couldn't take advantage of the girl's state of mind. He did, however, allow her to sleep in his lap for the night. He reasoned it with "she needs a pillow. I suggest you find a dwarf's lap to sleep in yourself" to his curious snickering comrades. Kili began stroking Aia's silky hair. Bilbo took the opportunity to check her wounds.
"Erm, Kili?" Bilbo approached Kili and Aia. Kili looked up from Aia's hair to Bilbo's concerned expression.
"She's fine, Bilbo." Kili assured as he returned his gaze to the dark-amber sheet on his lap.
"I'd like to confirm that. Please." Bilbo's statement made Kili raise not only his head, but his eyebrows as well.
"How do you mean? Just look at her. Sleeping like a baby." Bilbo reached down to touch her forehead. He wiped some sweat from her brow and brought it to Kili.
"Like a baby in a furnace. Please, bring her over here for privacy." Kili looked from Bilbo's hand to the dreaming damsel in his lap several times before scooping Aia up and following Bilbo. The Hobbit guided the two a few trees from the other dwarves, who were all presumed to be sleeping. "Before you sit, will you lay her on her left side?" Kili conformed and Bilbo proceeded to raise her shirt.
"Oi! What the hell are you doing?" Kili asked as he returned Aia's blouse to its original place.
"Fine. I shall examine her arm first then." The dwarf raised an eyebrow and reluctantly followed Bilbo's instructions to hoist Aia's right arm into the air. The hobbit nudged her sleeve down to her shoulder to analyze Aia's two-week old gash.
"Ah. There's the answer. It's infected. Rather greatly, at that. She needs to be treated soon. Now, I must inspect the wound on her ribs." Kili placed her arm down and furrowed his brows.
"What wound?" Bilbo met Kili's bewildered eyes.
"You were not aware of the additional gash on her ribs?" Kili shook his head as Bilbo lifted her tunic to reveal four bloody gashes. Each laceration was riddled with pus and discharge. A cream-colored coating encircled each rouge-tinted gash. Kili drew in a sharp breath. His emotions were hazy. Disorientation, pity, anxiety, and disappointment all fought to dominate Kili's mind. Why didn't she tell him? Why didn't she treat herself? His rambling speculations were halted when Aia moaned.
"Nnnug.. What.. what are you.. Bil...o...?" Aia slurred.
"Aia, I need you to lie back down please." Aia looked to her gashes. She saw an infectious clot on her ribs. Her eyes shot from her ribs to Kili to Bilbo. Vertigo soon overthrew Aia's sight and perception.
"M-my bag.. Kingsfoil.. it's in my bag.." She swooned once again.
Bilbo abruptly stood.
"I need to retrieve that kingsfoil. You stay here, Kili. Keep an eye on her." Kili nodded. He was mortified: was she losing consciousness from her infections? Was it this bloody forest? Kili brought her face to his.
"Aia.. Don't leave me. Please, Aia. Not now. I need you." Kili pleaded into her bloodied hair.
Bilbo sprinted as fast as his hairy feet could take him. He passed familiar trees but he found no signs of the dwarves. The hobbit ceased running to listen for the Company. Nothing. He resumed his sprint for another five minutes. "Come on, Bilbo. Aia will die if you don't think of something." Another five minutes with no result. Bilbo became frantic and desperate. He opened his mouth to holler but the action was interrupted by the poor hobbit faltering on a stone. A grunt escaped his mouth upon impact. He raised his distressed head to come face-to-face with a shrub of kingsfoil. "Bilbo Baggins, you are a lucky Hobbit!" He told himself as he snatched the weed and darted back to Kili and Aia.
"Kili! Aia!" Bilbo shrieked after a few minutes. The hobbit returned to the tree he left the two. The kingsfoil fell from Bilbo's grasp. Bilbo slumped to the ground. "A-Aia?" Bilbo strained his eyes to verify what he saw: Aia's dull, paled body curled into a fetal mass. Her blouse was slashed in half from her right arm to her left hip. Crimson plasma puddled around her pallid neck and face. Hair that was normally a lovely, sleek sheet was tangled and riddled with blood and dirt. Bilbo rang his head to steady himself. He placed a trembling hand on the girl's exposed hip. "Aia? Can you h-hear me? It's Bilbo." The battered girl shifted in the slightest of manners. A delicate whimper escaped her ceacked, blanched lips. Bilbo pulled himself to put his ear to Aia's ghastly mouth.
"Kili.. they've taken.. -ili.."
