A/N: I'm so sorry it's been so long! I honestly can't say anything other than I sort of ran out of inspiration. To those of you who have stuck with this story, I really can't thank you enough! Thanks especially to jayjay0815 and Guest for the kind reviews and support! You guys really have no idea how much it means to us to know that this story might actually mean something to someone. :) Thanks also to anyone who's' favorited/followed, and really anyone who's made it this far. I know that the past couple chapters have been a little bit confusing, but I promise we'll go back and revisit some of the details we've neglected to write. Sometimes it's hard to look at it from the perspective of the reader, so your reviews really do help us, whatever they may be about. I hope you guys like the chapter!

A note about the chapter's title: Yes, we know that the Hunger Games doesn't exist in Middle-earth. The title is just playing off of one of their arguments; the Hunger Games aren't actually mentioned. Oh, by the way, we don't own that either...

Disclaimer: I own a copy of The Hobbit… Unfortunately, I don't actually own it, just more copies of any Middle-earth related than is probably necessary... And the movies. And what's probably an unhealthy amount of anything else Tolkien related. And... Well, you get the idea. :)


Chapter Seven

Happy Hunger Games

As it turned out, finding Mithrandir was quite a bit harder than they had expected it to be. They hadn't even made it out of the forest before Kiron and Koran decided that they had had enough of the "adventure". It was at that point that Ash decided that it would be a good idea to force them to continue at knifepoint, something which Aneare encouraged and Silan chose to turn a blind eye to, much to the brothers' dismay.

Eventually it was decided that, for the safety of all of them, they would at least continue on to the nearest village. Kiron and Koran quickly learned that escape attempts were futile, after each being on the receiving end of a tackle, executed by (not surprisingly) Ash and Aneare. Silan quickly learned not to get involved in such escape attempts, as evidently siding with either party was potentially life threatening.

Another task that had been underestimated was that of navigating through the dark forest of Mirkwood. The trees creaked and loomed above them, blocking out the light. Occasionally, one of them would trip on a stray root while going down one of the hills that made up the winding path, and consequently all of them would end up in a pile at the bottom of said hill. It was lonely, even with the others so near, walking without their usual banter. The silence that had fallen upon the forest seemed to fight against the fleeting laughter or attempts at conversation made by the children, and it made a surprisingly capable enemy.

Even so, they weren't the stealthiest of groups, either. Every step taken echoed on the lonely path, footsteps fading to nothing in the forest.

Kiron glanced around almost nervously before speaking. "Um... Do we even know the name of the nearest village?"

Ash glared at him. "No. No, we do not. And I'm assuming you remember why."

Kiron put his hands up in a gesture of defeat, but Ash wasn't quite ready to let it go. "But just in case you don't, it's because some idiot somehow dropped our only map in the Enchanted River!" She yelled, effectively shattering any silence was well as peace that had remained after the initial outburst.

Kiron glared, "Well, it was a better alternative than falling in!"

Aneare smirked. "Next time we should let you..."

Ash, who had still not quite gotten over her initial dislike of the girl, glared in return. "Or maybe we sacrifice the newest," she suggested, "Which would be you."

"I'll help," Koran volunteered.

"Hey," Aneare protested, "I'm your sister!"

Koran nodded. "Which gives me the right to throw you into the river."

"Not the Enchanted River."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that -" Aneare was cut off by Silan.

"Stop! I can deal with all of you trying to kill each other. But all of you trying to kill each other while arguing like drunk dwarves, that's something else entirely."

"I hate dwarves...," muttered Aneare in response.

Ash grinned. "But I bet drunk ones are really fun to mess with."

Silan glared at their response to his statement, but his resolve was short-lived, falling victim to a fit of laughter after Koran declared that he intended to test this theory before journey's end by leaving his brother in an enclosed room with a drunken dwarf. They proceeded for a while with their usual banter, although it was more to hold back the menacing silence of the forest than anything else. This point was only addressed in concerned glances directed at the trees that seemed from where they stood to be so very alive until Ash spoke up.

"Do any of you get the feeling that they," Ash motioned towards the trees that loomed around them, "Can almost...hear us? Or just that, I don't know, maybe we're not quite alone?"

Koran turned to glare at her. "You had to say it," he groaned.

"Say what?" Ash asked, taking pleasure in the fearful glanced that were being directed towards the trees after her statement.

"That! That the trees are watching us, or whatever your theory was. Now it'll happen," Koran complained.

"I was just wondering if any of my fellow adventurers were getting the same feeling," Ash defended, although more amusedly than defensively.

"And now we all are," Silan sighed, glancing at the trees warily.

Ash shrugged. "Hey, if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me," she declared.

Kiron shook his head. "'Down' meaning down to insanity, I take it?"

Aneare shrugged. "Let's face it; we're all already halfway there."

Silan shook his head, grinning. "Yeah; I guess that we're pretty lucky," he said sarcastically.

Ash grinned. "Truer words have never been spoken."

. . .

They proceeded in relatively the same fashion for quite a while, that was until they stumbled upon a river. Which was curious, considering the fact that there was only one river in that particular area of Mirkwood and, according to Kiron and Koran's navigating, they were nowhere near that river.

Kiron glanced nervously at Ash, who looked to be contemplating something. "Oh, look at that... We've discovered a new river," he said with a nervous laugh.

Koran attempted to hide behind his brother. "I'm too young to die!" he wailed, never taking his eyes off of Ash.

Kiron, though unsurprised, did not look particularly happy with the betrayal. So it was that he found himself resorting to the same tactics. "Kill him first! He's older!" He said shoving behind his brother.

The situation eventually escalated to Kiron and Koran each trying to sacrifice the other by pushing them to Ash, who in turn had to fight her way through Silan while Aneare stood on the sidelines, bow drawn... just in case, she later explained when asked.

By the time the fight was broken up, the sun was beginning to fall to the horizon, and the many colors of dawn shone very faintly through the thick blanket of branches that ruled the skies of Mirkwood. They decided to proceed as long as the sun cooperated a little longer, although it was not the most relaxing of journeys. Silan and Aneare had to stand between the brothers and Ash, none of which had yet forgiven the others after the fight. They walked in a relative silence, though commonly broken by a small scuffle or kick breaking out between the travelers. Ash very nearly missed falling down a sink-hole just off the path after being pushed by Koran in an attempt to trip him, and it was at that point that she vowed to never trust either of the brothers again, something to which they all mutually agreed.

The vow had been completely forgotten by the time the sun went down.

. . .

They decided that the night might be made more bearable by lighting a fire, however that, too, was easier said than done. Kiron (who was once again trusted enough to participate in group affairs) was first tasked with lighting it, however, upon the discovery that all the wood in the forest was damp from the mist that seemed to cover most of the forest floor, they soon resorted to magic.

Their attempt at "magic" consisted of each trying to recall what little they new of magic to find a spell that would work to light a fire. This resulted in Ash chasing Koran around with burning hands (the one spell she had mastered) while Kiron tried to find a way to fix his singed eyebrows after a failed attempt at the brogallach en' templa spell, which, if performed correctly, would create an explosion just large enough to light a small fire. Needless to say, it was not performed correctly.

Eventually, Aneare successfully performed the ram en' naur spell, although it resulted in a fire that was a bit larger than desirable. Seeing as none of them were exactly sure which plants were safe to eat, and Silan had not let the rest of them use Kiron to see which were poisonous, they ate what little they had thought to bring with them.

As they sat by the fire, which, not particularly good to begin with, was fast fading to coals, the topic which none of them wanted to talk about was finally addressed. "So..." Silan started nervously, "How are we going to get out of here?"

Ash glared at him. "Way to ruin the moment," she pouted.

Koran sighed. "Just when I was actually starting to be okay with this situation, you had to remind me that we're probably going to die here," he complained.

Silan put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Sorry, but we have to talk about the fact that we might die here if we can't figure out how to get out of this place," he pointed out.

Ash glanced around with a fake shudder. "Yeah, because the creepy forest is slowly draining our life force," she said sarcastically.

Aneare shook her head. "Let's just give it a couple more days, then start deciding who's going to be eaten first," she joked.

"I call last!" Koran yelled, glancing around with fake concern.

Silan rolled his eyes. "We'll be sure to put that into consideration."

Koran nodded. "Good."

Silan shook his head with a grin. "In that case, the rest of you better watch your backs," he joked.

"Same to you," Ash said as she sharpened her small knife against a rock.

"I always do," he assured her, eyes trained on the knife in her hands. "But that doesn't change the fact that we need to come up with a plan, in case we can't find Mithrandir."

"We have a plan," Kiron pointed out.

"Okay. So what's the plan?"

Koran grinned. "Every man for himself."

Silan nodded. "Thought so. Great plan. Let's start now, see how many of us make it out alive."

Ash laughed, standing up. "Starting now... Koran, I challenge you to a fight to the death. Winner takes the supplies."

"What supplies? We're sorely lacking in supplies."

"Okay, winner takes whatever was previously the loser's, then," Ash decided.

"Don't weapons count as supplies, too?" Aneare pointed out with a wicked grin.

"Yep," Ash nodded.

"Count me in, then," Aneare grinned.

Silan raised an eyebrow. "Well, count me out."

Ash pouted. "Aw, c'mon. It'll be fun."

"No one's fighting to the death," Silan said decisively.

"Well, what about unconsciousness?" Aneare asked, still grinning.

Silan sighed. "I just can't win..."

Kiron and Koran went up to pat him on the back. "Don't take it personally. You don't stand a chance against either of them when they're on different sides. When they've teamed up... Been nice knowing you," Kiron said solemnly.

"Yeah," Koran nodded. "If it makes you feel better, no one expected you to win, anyway," he assured him.

Silan shook his head with a grin. "Thanks for that, guys. You really know how to boost someone's self-confidence."

Ash and Aneare walked over to join them, still grinning from their apparent victory.

Ash looked at the forest around them, reflecting on their so far ill-fated adventure. She gave a cheeky grin. "Hey, at least we're not in class. I'd take this over getting scolded by Argot any day."

"Yeah, but I was sort of looking forward to starting training. It'd give us the chance to show off some of the skill we've acquired from all those years of sneaking off to go with on the orc hunts..." Kiron said smiling wryly. "But I guess that we'll have even more experience if we get out of this alive."

Ash rolled her eyes. "Quit being dramatic. We're gonna make it out of the forest."

Aneare raised an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?"

Silan held up a hand. "Wait," he demanded. "Don't answer yet. I know what she's going to say."

"Oh, really?" Ash demanded. "What was I gonna say, then?"

"You're gonna say that it's 'instinct'," Silan said smugly.

"Wrong!" Ash yelled gleefully. "I was going to say that we have to last long enough to at least die interesting deaths, but I like your answer better."

Silan sighed. "See? I can't win," he said with a laugh.

"No, you can win, just not when your opponent's Ash," Kiron stated solemnly.

Koran nodded. "It's a proven fact."

"Proven how?" Aneare asked curiously.

"Proven by experience," Ash said plainly.

Silan shook his head. "I'd argue that point, but I apparently can't win."

Ash nodded. "Wise decision," she assured him. "Anyone want to come with me to gather more firewood?"

There was a collective "No..." from the group.

"Fine," she sighed dramatically. "But if I'm killed trying to get the wood, it's on you."

They all just laughed as she walked to the river, where they had discovered a dead tree that was being put to use as firewood. They all began to settle down for the night, although not looking forward to the night in the forest. So it was that Kiron had already fallen asleep, Aneare was trying to make herself comfortable up in a tree, Koran was swatting at a swarm of bugs that seemed to have taken a liking to his cloak, and Silan was standing guard when they heard the startled scream come from the river.

They were all up faster than they would have thought possible, however breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Ash's voice. "Um... Guys? You might want to come see this..."

They made it to the river relatively uneventfully, aside from spotting a pair if eyes watching from the trees, and stopped short when they got there. Nothing appeared to be out of place. In fact, everything was silent. Too silent...

Ash greeted them with a perplexed expression on her face. "I was collecting wood and sort of slipped when I saw a spider - a pretty big one too, the Mirkwood breed. Dead now, though - and I sort of fell in the river. Except... I didn't," She said, nervously motioning toward the river.

There was a collective gasp. There was no noise; the roaring of the river had been silenced.

The river was frozen.


A/N: Thanks for reading! Once again, we're so sorry it's been so long since we updated! We hope you liked it, though. :) I'm sorry if this was mostly just a lot of banter between the characters, but the next chapter will be very different. Thank you for anyone who has stuck with this story, as well as anyone who just discovered it. It really means a lot to know that you guys like it. :) Feel free to leave a review, because any feedback (even negative) is appreciated. Thank you!

Until the very end,

CarverEdlundtheLast