Chapter 20: Thunder Surprise

NerdyLittlePrincess: Heyyy guys! Long time no see! Have you missed us? We sure miss you! Please enjoy this next installment of the story! And keep on coming with comments and feedback! Thanks for sticking with us!

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Italics = Sign language

Bold + Italics = Sign and spoken

The next night came with rolling grey skies and as the sun started to set so the rain began to fall. At first it was a gentle spray though swiftly did it turn violent, forcing all of them to draw their hoods high over their heads and their pace to slow to little better than a crawl as Balin lead the way though Meril stood behind him, helping to guide him every now and then as her elven sight granted her a distinct advantage in this situation.

It wasn't long before the heavy rains picked up even more, and soon enough the very ground beneath them began to shake. What was happening now? Directly ahead, the stone walls had started moving suddenly. Each person had grabbed onto another to keep their balance. Then Bofur exclaimed as he was able to recognize just what exactly was actually moving. "Oh bless me. The legends are true! Giants! Stone giants!"

The battle up in the sky only got rougher and rougher, and eventually the terrain started to break and separate the group as the giant the Company's path led over awoke and stood. Fili and Kili tried reaching out to one another, but a jump across would have been costly to either of them. This also had Sera and Emma split apart from each other, Sera with Fili and Emma with Kili.

Emma's eyes were wide with fear, and Kili took immediate notice of it. He gently linked her arm with his and spoke out. "Just hold on, okay?" And she then gave him a silent nod as her answer.

Audrey gasped in fear as she saw her two friends on the other side of the rift. She truly hoped they wouldn't meet their demise here, not when they had so much farther to go. With Megan already clinging to both Bilbo and Bofur, that left Audrey being forced to grab onto the arm of Ori in order to steady herself as well though quickly did Bofur reach out to grip onto Audrey's elbow so he might aide her. The giants were hardly the surest upon their feet and their gaits were not smooth, each step jolting the path and the Company.

Stones were being hurled through the air, making the crossing even more perilous and soon the call was going out to find shelter, but that was not found before the giant that Kili, Emma, Bofur, Bilbo, Megan, Audrey, and Ori was struck in such a way that it lost its head. Falling, the group was forced to act quickly or else be killed as stone collided against stone. Once the giant fell away they were revealed to the others and there was relief for a heartbeat until Bofur spoke up, asking a rather important question, "Where's Bilbo? Where's the hobbit?"

The answer was that he was dangling off the cliff, barely holding on to the wet stone with one hand. The rush to save him was immediate yet it was not until Thorin jumped down to help him up and then was helped up himself by Dwalin. It was Meril though who kept them moving when Thorin was clearly about to make some comment about how the hobbit did not belong among them, her silver eyes glinting in the flashes of lightning as she issued a silent warning to the Company that they were not safe yet.

When at last a cave was found, while Dwalin and the others searched it, she settled in up towards the front and took a calming breath. Grabbing a small bag from within her pack, she withdrew a silver necklace of a thin, fine chain with a simple charm at the center. The pendant was a single star of a gleaming crystal with six points and a silver overlay as well to add in the four rays holding it to a large circular ruby, making it so much more than just a star. This was the necklace that her mother had worn, the necklace that was one of the few heirlooms her family still possessed. That star was the star of Fëanor, and a marker of her birthright. Yet when she noticed Thorin staring she was swift to hide it away again, a challenge in her gaze that dared him to speak of what he had seen though she doubted he knew just what it was she had withdrawn.

"Right then! Let's get a fire going." Gloin stated as he dropped what little wood he had managed to bring with him. That served as a distraction and Thorin soon turned his attention to him and off of the elleth in their Company.

"No. No fires. Not in this place. Get some rest. We start at first light." Those were his orders, causing Balin to stop what he was doing and look to their leader as he spoke.

"We were to wait in the mountains until Gandalf joined us. That was the plan."

"Plans change. Bofur take first watch." After that reply, Thorin just walked away to prepare for the evening.

The girls gathered near Meril for the evening, and she was swift to do what she could to warm and dry them without asking them to disrobe for that was the least she could spare them. With so many males around it would have been highly indecent for such a thing to have occurred, not to mention that it likely would have offended the girls.

"We shan't work on your fighting this night. There will be too little light for most if not all of the night. Rest for you shall need it upon the morrow. The path that shall be coming is not one that will be welcoming to you as you are unused to such terrain. The path through the mountains was hard enough when it was complete, now it is in pieces and shall take us along a harder route. Rest."

With that, Meril again left them for the entrance of the cave as she debated just what she ought do next. Looking back into the cave, she lifted the hood of her cloak up over her head and stepped back out into the rain. Scaling the mountain slowly, she found herself a perch above the entrance of the cave that was somewhat sheltered and settled down there for the night.