I do not own anything written by J.R.R. Tolkien, and anything Araceil came up with in Fate be Changed belongs to her.
Sakura shrieked as she fell into the dimness of the pit, half in fear and half in pure anger. She could not believe Thorin had just dropped her like a sack of turnips! She twisted frantically to get her feet underneath her, to face into the coming roll instead taking it on her back — and Gandalf's long arms snatched her out of the air, swinging with her momentum to deposit her safely on her feet.
She clung to him for a moment as she caught her balance. He's stronger than he looks, she thought, feeling the hard muscles of his forearms through the sleeves of his robe, then shook away the thought as unimportant at the moment. She released him and stepped away to quickly glance around the small cavern she found herself in, then focus on the hole she'd been so peremptorily dropped through as she renotched arrow to bowstring. There were still two Dwarves up on the surface, but no guarantee that it would be a Dwarf that dropped through next — there was no way that the Orcs had missed the rapidly diminishing number of prey for them to catch, or where they'd been disappearing...
But the next one to drop down was a broadly grinning Kili, the overly handsome Dwarf's eyes seeming to almost sparkle with excitement in the dim light of the cavern, followed by Thorin. She ignored the Dwarf that had manhandled her — there'd be later to deal with that, there'd be Orcs following them any moment — turning toward Kili instead only for Dwalin to beat her to it. The burly warrior shouted, "Kili, get an arrow to that bowstring! They'll be right behind —"
A horn sounded, cutting across the Dwarf warrior, and he fell silent as that echoing call was followed by both harsh Orc and high liquid battle cries, skirling steel against steel and shrieks of pain, apparently surrounding the hole in the small cavern's ceiling. In the midst of the cacophony, a gray Orc appeared to teeter on the hole's edge, then plummeted down to slam into the lower incline and roll across the stony floor to lie twitching at Thorin's feet for several beats before going limp with a sigh even as two arrows, from Kili and Sakura both, perforated chest and throat.
But those weren't the first arrows, and Thorin stooped to grab hold of the broken shaft of another arrow protruding from the Orc's eye and yank it out. He examined the arrowhead, then threw it aside in disgust to clatter across stone. "Elves," he ground out, glaring up at the ceiling as if he could see through the stone to the battle above by sheer force of will.
For a moment the cavern was silent, then Gandalf sighed and motioned toward a tunnel entrance in the back wall that Sakura hadn't noticed before. He quietly said, "We should be on our way."
Thorin transferred his glare from the ceiling to the Wizard, but after a long, fulminating moment jerked a nod and stalked past him toward the tunnel. "Let's go," he ordered.
The other Dwarves exchanged uneasy glances, then Dwalin hastened to push ahead of his king as the rest fell into line behind. Gandalf and Sakura brought up the rear with the Hobbit all but backing up as she kept an arrow nocked and her attention on the tunnel behind them.
/\
Sakura stumbled as something swept around her: fluid, caressing, welcoming, but like nothing she'd ever felt. Recovering her balance, she hastily glanced around to find herself still in the tunnel. Only ... the light was much too bright for a tunnel. For that matter, how was it lighted at all? She glanced around at the rough stone walls on each side that clearly had never been touched by human tools — or Hobbit, Dwarven, Elven, or whatever other sentient races were out there. Which meant no sconces for torches or lamps. She looked up — and froze in place, so suddenly that Gandalf behind her almost knocked her over.
The tunnel was no longer a tunnel, it was a crevice; she could see cloudless blue sky directly overhead. It was as if something — or someone — had simply reached down and pulled the surface apart, just enough for a party to walk along in single file. But the light — It's not possible. The angle of the sun ... it's not directly overhead, it's like an invisible mirror is reflecting the light straight down. She glanced around ... no shadows, though the light was somewhat dim, soft.
She looked up at the gray-bearded Wizard standing behind her, one hand on her shoulder, smiling gently down at her.
Wait, behind her? But she had been last, guarding —
She twisted under Gandalf's hand, desperate to look back along the crevice behind him. "Gandalf, the Orcs — !"
"— Cannot follow us here," he assured her. "No creature touched by Darkness can find the entrance to this path. Not that there are likely to be any survivors of that Orc band able to search for it ... any left will be fleeing for their lives."
Her shoulders slumped with relief, and she unstrung her bow then reached up over her shoulder to slip it back into its sheath. (She was happy to still have it, somewhere along the way she'd dropped the arrow she'd had nocked.) That done, she looked around as she resumed walking after the file of Dwarves. Something was different ... she was different. She felt lighter ... her mind felt clearer. In fact, she hadn't felt this good since ... Since we left the Shire, or at least since Bree. What is going on? She whispered, "Gandalf, where are we?"
She could hear his smile in his voice from behind her as he murmured, "You can feel it?"
"Well, yes, it feels like ... well ... I've never felt anything like it before, I don't know what it's like. But it feels like ... home?"
Gandalf softly chuckled. "What you are feeling, my dear Master Piper, is magic — a very powerful magic of Elrond's upon the land. It isn't from the same source as the Shire, but I believe the effect is somewhat the same."
"The Shire?" Sakura whirled to face the Wizard, walking backwards as she demanded, "What effect are you — ?"
Dwalin's voice echoed from the head of the line: "There's sunlight ahead!"
Glaring at Gandalf for a moment to let him know their discussion wasn't over but merely postponed, Sakura turned around and broke into a jog to catch up. A few moments later she exited the crevice and froze in place as she stared: the Company was standing on a ledge high up a canyon wall, and she gazed across lush trees — beech and oak, not the pines like where they'd encountered the Trolls — and flowering undergrowth covering the canyon floor and climbing both sides. There were scattered buildings too spread out to be called a town but too many to be anything else, their architecture all smooth curves, open rooms and covered walkways to complement the flora when they didn't simply vanish into it. And water everywhere, running down the canyon walls in rivulets, streams, even small rivers. She felt tears prickling in the corner of her eyes at the sheer beauty of the scene and the peace that seemed to settle over her like the soft, plush, warm blanket fresh from the dryer that her mother had wrapped her in before tucking her into bed on cold winter nights.
Still behind her, Gandalf softly called out, "Here lies the last Homely House east of the Sea, the valley of Imladris! In the Westron tongue it is known by another name."
She breathed, "Rivendell..."
But apparently that same feeling of peace didn't extend to everyone. Sakura was jarred from her rapt contemplation of the view when Thorin brushed against her as he stomped past, fists clenched, and she turned to watch the confrontation.
"This was your plan all along ... to seek refuge with our enemy," Thorin snarled up at Gandalf as soon as he reached him.
"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield," Gandalf replied with a sigh. "The only ill will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself."
"You think the Elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us."
Gandalf, by his tone clearly exasperated, snapped back, "Of course they will. But we have questions that need to be answered." He stared down at Thorin until he grudgingly nodded, then swept past him, Sakura and the rest of the Dwarves to take the lead on the path down the side of the canyon wall. He called back over his shoulder, "If this is to be successful, it will need to be handled with tact ... and respect ... and no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me."
Sakura fought to keep from giggling as she followed Thorin, finding herself in the middle of the company as the Dwarves parted at his gruff command to let him pass then followed after.
The walk down was rather pleasant, with the gorgeous view of the valley, songbirds singing their calls, and the scent wafting up from the flowers that lined the path, and Sakura actually found herself enjoying the day right up to the point that the path ended on a cobblestoned road ... one that led over a stone bridge without side walls or railing. The opposite end of the bridge was flanked by massive stone statues of what she guessed were Elven warriors; it was hard to tell since the figures were wearing some kind of segmented armor and helmets that reminded her of Greek hoplites (though the spears they held upright were much too short for the Greeks). Beyond the statues lay a semi-circular stone platform whose only exit she could see was a stairway leading up to the closest building.
And then she made the mistake of looking over the edge and froze at the sight of the river rushing underneath, a score of paces below. She froze, heart suddenly hammering in her chest.
"Sakura?"
She jerked at the sound of her name and looked up to find Balin beside her.
The white-haired counselor glanced over the edge of the bridge, then back up at her. "Afraid of heights, laddie? Just stay to the middle of the bridge and look straight ahead and you'll be fine. Like Bofur." He pointed at the toymaker now crossing the bridge, walking stiffly and staring straight ahead. Balin continued, "I'll be right behind you."
"I am not afraid of heights," Sakura huffed, then when Balin simply smiled knowingly she reluctantly added, "It's deep water I ... have a problem with."
"Easily fixed!" Fili cheerily announced from behind her. "The next lake we come across, we'll just have to teach you how to swim."
She turned to glare at the handsome young Dwarf. "I'll have you know I can swim like a fish, when I have to," she announced. "Almost drowning as a child just takes all the fun out of it, that's all."
Kili stepped alongside his older brother and arched an eyebrow while struggling to suppress a grin. "And when was that exactly, yesterday?" He yelped exaggeratedly when she punched his arm with a half-hearted growl.
Turning back around with a sigh, she stepped over to place herself exactly in the middle of the span's width, fixed her eyes on the stairway on the far side of the large cobblestone semi-circle the bridge ended at, took a deep breath, and started to walk.
It was the work of only a few beats to cross, though it seemed to take forever. As soon as she reached the end of the bridge she darted to the middle of the circular paved area and blew out the breath she only then realized she'd been holding. Someday I'm going to have to get over that, she thought. Maybe daily laps if I ever find a decent pool?
As Balin and a chuckling Kili caught up with her, motion out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned to see an Elf walking down another set of stairs toward the newcomers. He was dressed in a sky-blue robe with a crimson cape and a silver circlet vaguely resembling Celtic knot-work resting on his honey-blond hair, and moved with unhurried grace. She frowned thoughtfully. Is that Elrond? He doesn't seem much like the peaceful warrior the rangers described — peaceful, certainly, but a warrior? Then the Elf nodded acknowledgement to Gandalf and began to speak.
And she was promptly lost in the flow of words, stunned by the liquid speech and mellifluous tone of the Elf. He was speaking the same Quenya she had learned from the rangers, she knew he was — word after familiar word was leaping out at her — but she was so focused on the sheer beauty of his voice that she wasn't able to put the words together into coherent sentences. Though she did pick up enough to know that no, this Elf wasn't Elrond and she thought they were going to have to wait for him to arrive. The spell was broken when Gandalf replied, his voice suddenly sounding as weathered as his face, asking where Elrond was. Wow, she thought, that man could sell ice cubes to Eskimos!
The sudden clattering sound of horseshoes on stone yanked her attention away from Gandalf and the Elf, and she turned to see a cavalcade of mounted warriors in single file riding down the cliffside road toward the bridge the Company had just crossed, and she blanched as they trotted across the bridge without hesitation. How can they do that?!
Suddenly hands were grabbing her shoulders and backpack to yank her toward the center of the platform, and Thorin and Dwalin stepped in front of her with sword and hammer at the ready while the other Dwarves closed in around her on all sides.
"What — ? You idiots! Let me out!" When the Dwarves ignored her, Sakura angrily tried to shove through the mob only to be pushed back. Okay, now it's on! she thought, fuming. She slid down to her hands and knees and thrust herself forward, actually knocking one Dwarf off his feet to tumble over her back (Bofur, from the fur cap that landed on her), and then she was through the ring of bodies! And barely managed to keep from tumbling into an outer ring of horses circling the Dwarves, oops...
She pushed herself to her feet next to Thorin just in time to see a dark-haired Elf in steel segmented armor like the statues spring from his horse in front of the Wizard and handed his reins to another Elf as he happily call out, "Gandalf!"
"My Lord Elrond," Gandalf replied, then continued in Quenya, "My friend. Where have you been?"
Oh, right, dark hair, Half-Elven ... this is Elrond. Sakura had forgotten that part of her friends' description. At least his voice didn't have the same mellifluous quality as the first, so she wasn't getting lost in the music. That effect had to be deliberate.
Elrond embraced Gandalf before stepping back and hefting his sword. "We've been hunting a pack of Orcs that came over the mountains from Gundabad. We slew a number near the Hidden Pass. Strange for Orcs to come so close to our borders, something — or someone — has drawn them near."
Gandalf motioned to the company still bunched up in the center of the platform, though they had relaxed at the obviously friendly welcome. "That may have been us," Gandalf said in the common Westron.
Well, most of the Dwarves had relaxed. Thorin was still taut as a bowstring as he stepped forward.
Elrond inclined his head. "Welcome, Thorin son of Thrain."
Thorin raised an eyebrow at the greeting. "I do not believe we have met."
"You have your grandfather's bearing," Elrond replied. "I knew Thror, when he ruled under the Mountain."
"Indeed! He made no mention of you."
Sakura winced at the rude response, but Elrond ignored the brush-off, instead shifting his attention to the entire Company and spreading his arms. "Welcome, guests, to my house and table."
"What is he sayin'? Is he offering insult!?"
Sakura rolled her eyes at the outburst as she glanced over her shoulder at the axe-hefting Dwarf behind her. "No, Master Gloin, he is offering food," she replied tartly, "don't be rude."
"Ah, well ..." It was all she could do not to laugh at the red-bearded miner's clear embarrassment. "In that case, lead on!"
Elrond's lips twitched, but he only motioned over the first Elf that greeted them and whispered something to him, then waved invitingly to an archway to one side. "Come this way."
Gandalf immediately followed, Thorin reluctantly behind him and the rest of the Dwarves falling into line with Sakura again in the middle.
The walk to the offered meal was as pleasant as the walk down the canyon trail had been, the seamless mix of wild and garden, the flowers' perfume and she suspected even the birdsong all formed a harmonious whole. She suspected that the Dwarves didn't care for it (so she thought from the mutterings she overheard of crude stonework and shoddy craftsmanship, and wonderings of how it couldn't possibly last a century), but for her not even the small traditional Japanese rock garden her mother had created in memory of her lost home had ever been as soothing — however much family loyalty demanded she deny it, she just had to admit that having several millennia to perfect their Art just gave the Elves too much of an edge. Combined with the sense of peace that seemed to rest over the valley, it was just what she needed to settle her soul after the whiplashing her emotions had taken that day.
And then Thorin had to go and spoil it.
As Elrond and Gandalf broke off their conversation in Quenya as they walked through an archway opening into an open-air pavilion where a long table was set up with servants still laying out plates and utensils, Thorin stepped aside and waited as Balin, Dwalin and Bifur passed by. Then it was Sakura's turn, and he caught her arm and pulled her aside. "I do not trust these Elves," he murmured (as if that was supposed to be a surprise). "Stay close — go nowhere alone."
And just like that, her sense of contentment vanished as all the accumulated grievances that the long day had simply heightened came roaring back.
"Stay close? Stay close!?" she shrieked. "You mean like when you push one of your best fighters into the middle of a pack of stinking Dwarves where s-he can hardly breathe, much less see what's going on? You mean like throwing away the only archer available while your nephew still needs covering fire while he's running for the rallying point? You mean like charging to a rescue I didn't need with every Dwarf in the company instead of packing up so we wouldn't have to abandon badly needed supplies? You mean like not allowing me to hunt even though we need to stretch out those supplies? You don't like Elves? I would never have guessed, it's not like you didn't offer insult after insult to an honest greeting from our host! You're supposed to be a king, what the hell is wrong with you!?" She whirled away from the stunned Dwarf, then turned back. "And one more thing — I am a Hobbit, not a Dwarfling, you can't just drop me down a hole and expect me to bounce when I hit the bottom!"
With her high-shrieked diatribe finished, she turned her back on him again and strode away, passing the Dwarves still on the walkway. She wished for once that she was wearing boots — the tough skin and fur-like hair on her feet might render footwear unnecessary, but they also precluded a decent stomp. Reaching Fili and Kili at the back of the pack, she paused to shrug off her backpack, bow and quiver and thrust them at them. "Here, watch these for me," she growled, then strode off. She could almost feel the two Dwarves' astonished gaze boring into her back.
"Where are you going?" Kili called after her.
"Anywhere but here!" she yelled back over her shoulder. Reaching a stairway leading down to the valley floor they'd passed a few minutes before, she practically ran down the steps and stalked off through the garden at the bottom.
