Amara was angry, hurt and devastated all at the same time. It had been weeks since her departure from Rivendell but nonetheless her emotions continued to fester and corrupt her. She no longer shimmered like thousands of tiny diamonds in the sunlight, her eyes were no longer irresistible gold orbs, and her tail no longer bore an arrangement of alluring gold scales. She was broken, damaged by the words and actions of a certain Dwarf King. His words hung over her like a storm cloud and as a result she was weakened. Her tail had whole scales missing (which she kept in her bag), and no longer resembled liquid gold when she moved, instead her tail had dulled to a pale greeny, blue and each one of her remaining scales had gone soft and started to peal. Her skin was burning hot to the touch, completely polar from what a cold blooded creature should be, and was a pale, nauseous orange colour. The sort of pale orange with makes you squirm and gag just at the sight of it. She no longer shone, and her eyes were no longer enthralling, instead they were empty pits of black. Her hair was dull and unkempt, grubby and slightly matted in places. Needless to say she was very ill, and wept regularly. A crying Mermaid is a bad omen, and every tear that left her eye would roll down her cheek and harden into droplets of a glass like substance of blue or green.
She thought often of the Company, praying that they were safe and well, but cursing their leader at the same time. Amara didn't know much about love and friendships, but from what she'd read in her small amount of time on land she was suffering from heartbreak, she knew this, but wasn't entirely sure why. The truth was, and although she refused to make the connection, she missed Thorin the most, she missed the one creature that hurt her the most.
"When you care about someone so deeply sometimes they do things that can hurt you."
Thorin's words plagued her thoughts, her head was a mess, she didn't understand and the harder she thought the more she cried. She missed him dearly, but he hurt her so much, and yet at the same time she wanted to be near him, be around him, have him laugh and pick her up like he did when she drew him a picture.
But she could be more stubborn than a Dwarf and refused to let herself fall in to what was undoubtedly a snare for emotions. Every day she hurt more and more and she knew her end was coming, however she knew why it was taking her so long to die and that was because she'd made a promise to protect Fili and Kili, and that sort of promise was not something Mermaid's did lightly. She had a commitment to the pair, and she was unable to just let that go, as a result she knew her death would be a slow and most certainly a painful one.
.
.
.
It wasn't every day you get chased out a cave network by goblins, nor is it that you are taken in the jaws of a warg and live to tell the tale.
That night on Carrock Thorin spent most the night thinking about Amara, he wished dearly that she was there with them, with him. He sat facing the Lonely Mountain and in his mind he imagined she was sitting next to him, yakking away about nonsense. If she was there he'd tell her about the goblins, he'd tell her about the Pale Orc, and he was sure she'd find the idea of giant Eagles simply wonderful. He imaged the way her eyes would light up at the mention of something new, and the way she'd stick her tongue out a little as she concentrated on listening. He imagined her laughing and grinning at him, and he imagined that when he'd tell her about his near death experience that she would be upset, he imagined her inner light would blow out and her dainty frown would grace her features. But then he'd hold her close, and watch as she lit back up and smile up at him. However, of course that was just his imagination.
It wasn't until then, it wasn't until her absence was really set in stone to Thorin that he realised just how much she had meant to him.
.
.
.
It was night time and Amara sat upon a large rock about hundred metres from the shore. She was basking in the moonlight, not that it was replenishing as it used to be. She was playing with her assortment of possessions, the ones she kept in the bag Lord Elrond had given her upon her departure. Everything was lined out along the rock and she was busy organising them, not that there was many.
She scratched at her itching tail and sighed when she felt one of the scales dislodge and loosen. With a slight frown she drew her attention to it, pulling at it and wiggling it like a loose tooth. With a quiet yelp the scale slipped free and Amara's slight frown turned into a full blown scowl. She added the scale to her ever growing collection that was neatly stacked on the rock and sighed again. Her possessions consisted of several pebbles, all in a variety of sizes and extraordinary colours, each equally beautiful. She also had her brush that she had taken from Rivendell, alongside a small matching hand mirror, the salt water had done the silver no favours however and even though it had been only several months it was beginning to tarnish. She also had several pieces of cutlery (mainly teaspoons which were her favourite), a piece of pink ribbon, a few pairs of trousers (again Lord Elrond had advised her to carry some), a pair of shoes and Thorin's whetstone which she'd stolen from him.
Slowly she reached for the whetstone, picking it up and rubbing her thumb over the indentations on it. Something in her heart fluttered at the thought that this was once Thorin's, even though she was still angry and upset with him.
She sighed again and fell back against the rock. Holding the whetstone close to her chest she looked up at the moon and stars above her. She couldn't help but wonder if Thorin was somewhere looking up at them too.
.
.
.
Unfortunately that night he wasn't. He had looked up at the stars every single night since the company's departure from Rivendell and this was the first night he was unable to due to the thick, dense and intoxicating canopy above them. It was their first night within the Mirkwood forest and within several hours of being within the borders he and everyone else understood why it came to bare that name.
But murk was an understatement to how the reality of the forest actually was. Everywhere you looked something darted around in the corner of your eye, and when you turned to look again it would vanish away, leaving only a trail of disturbed foliage in its wake. It was disorienting, and when you walked there was a constant itching on your back, as if hundreds of tiny eyes were boring into you, but the source was never anywhere to be found. It brought terror to every member of the company, whether they showed it or not they were scared of what lurked in the shadows, what dwelled in the unknown. There was no way to relax in the forest and within hours everyone was exhausted from having to be on constant alert. Even when sleep was offered only a few took it, and those who did had restless slumber and were plagued with nightmares. The air in the forest was like poison and the more of it you inhaled the more tainted your mind would become. Already the company had fallen into numerous predicaments due to its intoxicating effect.
Thorin knew most of the Company were awake, a few were pottering around, but he knew even more were just laying still and silent. The Dwarf rolled the sword over on his lap and ran his hand over the flat, cool surface. He was pleased to find it was still sharp, not that it would blunt particularly easily or quickly, nevertheless he missed the comfort his whetstone would give him, an emotional outlet of sort. But he had no idea where it had gone, he had an inkling he must have left it in Goblin Town, but even the weeks before that he couldn't find it and he hated to think that he'd left such a thing at Rivendell. While thinking of the whetstone his thoughts eventually trailed back to Amara, for the first time in what felt like days. Just the thought of her lightened his mood just a smidge and her memory somehow gave him more purpose. He hadn't thought about her recently, having his mind reoccupied by other thoughts and his miserable brooding about having to travel through Mirkwood had ticked away at him time.
But now he made a mental note to think of her often, as she spurred him on.
.
.
.
Amara was laying on the beach and staring up at the sky, watching the clouds drift past. It was about midday, and the female was actually the most content she'd felt in months, having previously been plagued by misery. But now the sun was brightly shinning, and she was indulging herself in its warmth.
She tug her fingers and toes into the soft sand of the shore, sighing pleasantly at the feeling. She'd given up on her tail for the day, as the sight of it made her feel even worse. Not that her legs were much better, coated in cracked and peeling skin wasn't exactly the nicest sight, but it wasn't as painful.
Not only had she given up her tail but she'd also given up her search for her kin, but not because she couldn't find them but because it dawned on her that she and her sister were left in the caves for safety, and even when the war was over and the waters were safe again (according to Lord Elrond) no one had come to find them. No one had bothered to collect them. Why would she want to be a part of that? Why should she, after all this time, go and search for them and ask to be accepted by them? She didn't want to be involved with such heartless creatures who forgot about her and her sibling.
Realising all this, however, had pulled on her heart strings even harder when she recognised her true feelings for the company. In truth, she wanted to be with them more than her own race. She liked the company of Dwarves, a Hobbit and a Wizard far more than the idea of her own kind.
.
.
.
Thorin Oakenshield was pacing up and down, throwing the occasional punch at the wall of his cell. It had been several weeks since being captured by the Mirkwood Elves and time was very painfully eating away. He was waiting on Bilbo to show up and deliver the past day's events, not that it would change much. They were no step closer to escaping now than when they were first thrown into these cells.
The Dwarf was angry for a number of reasons, the first being that they were stuck in here with no way out. The second was that they in fact were captured for no factual reason and held on no real grounds, and Thranduil had no right to keep them there. The third was he and his kin had been captured by Elves and the humiliation was getting the better of him. There was also the fact that Durin's day was fast approaching, and with no obvious route of escape they could well miss it.
Also, the more apparent it became that they were stuck in these cells for good, the more it hit home that he may never see Amara again.
"I think I have a plan!" A voice whispered excitedly and Thorin turned to find Bilbo standing there, grinning broadly from ear to ear and bobbing slightly with joy.
Thorin strode the short distance to his cell door, "Pray tell?" He inquired, his voice raspy and rumbling.
"There is a feast in a few nights time, I think then will be our chance to escape as all the Elves will be too preoccupied with their festivities to notice us." Bilbo explained, his grin never faulting.
Thorin leant against his cell, and barely displayed a smile of appreciated, "Good. Then we will seize our chance."
.
.
.
Amara was picking at her scales again, even though she knew it was only making it worse. However she was in a lot of pain, and the only way to relieve this was to itch, scratch and pull at the irritating scale, which would eventually lead to it coming out and resulting in even more pain. But that was a future problem and not yet worth worrying about in her eyes.
It was nearly dusk, and the sun was casting an orange glow over the water before the Mermaid who sat in the shallow waters of the shore. She'd spend the majority of the day on the beach with legs, which she'd been doing a lot of recently. It seemed that at that moment she spent more time with legs than a tail, simply because it reminded her of being with the company. Having legs made her feel as though she was one of them again, and she missed them dearly. Often she found herself imagining that they were all there with her and she would instantly perk up, but when she turned around to find herself alone her mood dampen again.
It wasn't until the sun was just about to disappear bellow the horizon when something dreadful washed over her. She stopped mid scale wiggle and blinked, her gut wrenching and her heart racing. Something was wrong, something was very wrong.
Something in her chest began to pull North-East and she knew instantly what was going on, it was what she had been begging the Gods for months not to let happen, it was what had been plaguing her thoughts and fearing most of all.
Without even a second though she pushed away from the shore, heading straight towards were Fili and Kili were undoubtedly in danger.
.
.
.
"Kili!"
"Kili?!"
Fili was yelling out hysterically to his brother, eyes filled with horror as he watched helplessly as Kili fell to the ground, withering in pain.
Thorin heard the chaos and turned, unable to do anything also as he was pressed up against the shut water gates. Within seconds all anarchy broke loose, Elves appeared out of nowhere and further Orcs began to swarm them.
Fili tried desperately to get to his brother but to no prevail; Kili was injured, and both Fili and Thorin were unable to do anything about it. Kili, with a cry of pain, pulled himself up off the ground, barely dodging an Orc as it went tumbling over the side and into the water, a knife protruding from his back. With his last strength and another cry he dropped his weight down upon the lever, within moment the gates swung open and the Dwarves began to be swept away by the fast flowing water. Thorin had just enough time to glance back over his shoulder to see Kili fall into a passing barrel before he too was rushed down a rolling water fall.
The scene that unfolded over the next few minutes was total mayhem, Orcs pursued the Dwarves wildly, and the Elves followed; more concerned about the invading Orcs than the escaping Dwarves.
Thorin tried desperately to get hold of a weapon, and managed to grab one off an Orc as it fell into the water. Just as he did an Orc jumped at him, but he was prepared and with one harsh swing he struck the Orc straight the face. The creature fell into the water with a large splash and instantly Thorin swung round.
"Dwalin!" He yelled and followed by throwing the club to the bald Dwarf. Instantly Dwalin caught it, taking a swing at another Orc that made a jump for him before passing it on himself.
Thorin turned back to the front, gritting his teeth in anger when he saw an upcoming fallen tree. The tree was over the river and subsequently a small band of Orcs had used it as bridge to gain advantage, positioning themselves right over the river and readying themselves to attack any Dwarf that sailed beneath them (which they all would).
Completely defenceless Thorin braced himself when the middle of the three Orcs pulled out a bow and reached behind him for an arrow, making his aim straight for Thorin.
Thorin drew closer, preparing to jump from his barrel at any moment and away from the firing line, and the Orc looked as though he was about to let the arrow fly. However the Orc never did, for out from the water shot a blur of blue and a strange sickly orange coloured object, the creature hissed loudly and twisted itself, taking the dim-witted Orcs by surprise and drawing back its tail, smacking into the trio with full force. All four creature fell into the water with a hard splash.
.
.
.
Okay, I am fully aware this is more or less a filler chapter, but I felt as though I couldn't not have it, as it has some very important elements weaved into it and it is an essential bridge for the following chapters. And I KNOW Amara has missed out a great deal of the quest, but I needed her to leave and I didn't know when to bring her back anywhere else, also I would have just been rambling on in the other chapters with nothing particularly exciting to write because this was always supposed to be Amara's 'moment', Thorin's realisation and a vital landmark for the following chapters. Plenty of Thorin and Amara to come though! I apologise for any errors or anything but I am sooooooooooooo tired ): waaaah
I have also decided that I probably have about 10 chapters left of this story, BUT I've gotten way ahead of myself and have already started planning the sequel hehehe, which will be quite funny I think with Amara in Erebor.
But thank you so much for all your kind reviews, you're all so lovely! I wasn't actually planning on writing today but I saw your wonderful reviews and couldn't not write another chapter! (:
Hearing your thoughts really mean a lot to me, so please keep telling me what you think! And thank you to all those who have favourited and followed! Love you all! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
