Artemis led Tracey to the low building and stopped her just before the door. "Ok, I don't know if Thorin is going to be conscious or not but they're all very weak, whatever brought them back didn't seem able to bring them back totally whole."
"Kinda reminds me of Jonah Hex type deal no?" Tracey pointed out with a half smile. "Hopefully they will be conscious enough to at least eat a little. I did pack some soft foods for them and tea as well so hopefully they'll have a little appetite."
She shifted the basket in her arms. Right before she and Artemis left the main lodgings, they had visited the cooks in their kitchen and snagged a few choice items of the normal kind. Broth, tea, cheese, bread, and fresh fruit from the orchards. Tracey was a little giddy to meet the Dwarves, but she held back her excitement and allowed her wings to flutter instead, taking her off the ground a little ways before she realized what was going on. She smiled a little sheepishly and landed again. Artemis rolled her eyes and smiled before she opened the door and walked into the building. She moved so Tracey could enter as well then shut the door and surveyed the dwarves who were staring at Tracey. Thorin was awake and looking generally pissed off about his physical condition but Kili and Fili had dopey smiles on their faces at the sight of Tracey's wings.
"Kili, Fili and Thorin, meet Tracey." Artemis said moving to look at Thorin more closely.
"What is she?" Thorin asked shortly and Artemis raised an eyebrow at him.
"My friend." She replied a little acerbically.
Tracey saw that all three dwarves were gaunt and looked haggard but Kili and Fili's eyes were bright and they at least looked rested. Thorin looked sick and his hands shook where they lay on the thick fur covering his legs.
"Just as gruff and ill-mannered as I expected you to be Lord Thorin, but I guess it couldn't be helped." Tracey answered, shuffling her wings in slight irritation and put the basket down on the table. "The pleasure is mine, Kili and Fili. I hope you're hungry, unfortunately there isn't any meat but there are other things to eat."
She opened the basket and started to pull out the edibles. Going to the cabinet, she took down plates and placed a little of everything on them before carrying them to each of the Dwarves in turn, smiling kindly to Fili and Kili. Tracey plucked three cups from the cabinet upon her return and unstoppered a flask from the basket as well. Pouring the hot liquid into the tea cups, she took a small pouch from the basket and divided it into each of the cups before stirring in a spoonful of golden honey.
"This will help you regain your strength a little faster and with a little more rest you all could be back on our feet." She said with another smile and directed the cups away from her with a flick of her wrist in a dismissive manner.
The teacups floated off the table and floated before the Dwarves. Tracey couldn't help but tilt her head to study them in silence, her wings opening and closing behind her while she sat on the table.
Artemis smiled slightly watching them eat with a ravenous appetite. "I'll have to find them some meat." She mused to herself. "It's the best thing for rebuilding muscle mass."
Thorin was watching Artemis a strange look on his face. "I understand I have you to thank for my retrieval from death."
Artemis snorted. "No. I didn't bring any of you back to life. I just kept death from reclaiming you Thorin."
"So we were dead?" Kili asked looking a little queasy.
"Oh yeah. Very dead. Make no mistake you three, your sudden return to life was a stunning surprise to Gandalf. And it poses some very concerning problems." Artemis sat next to a table and set her journal down and drumming her fingernails on the dark leather.
"Eat while you think about your situation, you won't recover if you can't do both." Tracey said, pointing to their plates that rested in their laps. "It has us all stumped, but Artemis and I are really good at solving riddles and problems of this nature... this one is just a little more of a challenge."
She stretched upward until she felt her shoulders pop and smiled in satisfaction. "It's a lot to take in, that we can understand."
Kili and Fili were gladly stuffing their faces. Thorin was more reticent disliking being told to do anything but he too had to acknowledge the wisdom in eating. Artemis had flipped open her journal and was reading an entry she'd made. "The conundrum goes deeper than just your resurrection. Tracey and I are not of Middle Earth, we were brought here by a Force we don't understand because you three are supposed to be dead. Your being alive is going to damage the course of future events and could quite possibly spell the end of Middle Earth."
Kili and Fili stopped eating and stared at her, Thorin set his fork and empty plate aside and folded his arms. "And what exactly do you think we should do to set things right? I think you will find us harder to kill than you might expect."
Artemis barked out a laugh. "With all of you weak as kittens I could kill you with one arm tied behind my back. No, no;" She held up a hand to forestall their protests. "I don't mean to kill you. We'd like you three to considering crossing the sea to Gray Haven."
Tracey pushed her black hair out of her face and rolled her eyes, muttering some things in the Elvish tongue before shaking her head and pointing to their tea cups that they had already drank from.
"Firstly what would be the point of killing you when we're trying to help you? And secondly the pouch I put in your tea could have been poison and you would never have known it. You drank the tea without a second thought as to what could be in it, from a creature you know nothing about... Perhaps Balin was right..." Tracey started crossing her arms under her chest. "Perhaps not the brightest... But that's beside our point, we're not here to kill you three, actively trying to avoid it as a matter of fact. We don't take pleasure in that sort of thing."
Her wings fluttered a bit more until she could cross her legs and lean back on her hands.
"We're trying to come up with other answers... your assistance in finding a solution would be helpful and unfortunately returning to Erebor isn't an option."
Thorin's face turned an interesting shade of red and she could see his jaw tightening. Kili and Fili started yelling at first in the dwarven tongue then in common demanding to know why they couldn't return to a home they'd fought for. Artemis rubbed her temples and Tracey saw her shadow doing something strange. It was expanding just like Gandalf's did sometimes. "Well this wasn't quite the way I wanted my first meeting to be like... but hey I don't think it would go any other way." She muttered to herself, not getting as riled up as Artemis was. "Firefly, take a breath and you three should take a breather before things get worse."
She pointed to the darkening room as Artemis's form grew and seemed to make the room shrink. Tracey looked at the lanterns around on the walls and outstretched her hand to it. Just as her fingers brushed over the space before them they went out and the room was doused in darkness. Taking a deep breath, Tracey opened her hand to reveal the flames in her hand, illuminating the room again.
"Allow us to explain as much as we can and wait until we've finished before asking any questions."
Artemis took a deep breath and the darkness faded back. She gestured and the lamps relit showing the dwarves staring at her open mouthed. "I thought Gandalf said there were only 7 Wizards. He never mentioned a female wizard." Fili said, his voice squeezed down.
Artemis gave a tight smile. "I'm one of a kind. And like Gandalf my patience is in short supply."
Thorin had managed to get halfway out of bed before he ran out of strength. "We will try to remember that. Now why can we not return to Erebor as is our right?"
Artemis motioned for Tracey to answer him as she poured herself a cup of tea. Letting go of the flames by closing her fingers around them again, Tracey gently brought her hands together and made a lifting motion. Invisible strands of air seemed to pick Thorin up and gently deposit him back in his bed, turning down the covers until he was comfortable again and drawing them up over his legs.
"All the Dwarves from your company and Bilbo think you three are dead. They have grieved and your royal lineage has passed on to the next king under the mountain. To go back now... the results wouldn't be unfavorable." Tracey replied softly. "I'm sorry. Please try to understand, if there was a way for you all to return to Erebor than we would send you on your way as soon as you were ready to travel, but it isn't possible."
Digging around in the basket again, Tracey produced some fine pastries and levitated them to Kili, Fili, and Thorin before taking one for herself and setting the plate of them down beside the tea flask for later consumption.
Artemis raised an eyebrow at her use of power but kept her comments to herself. She looked at the three dwarves. "Tracey and I come from a world where all this;" She motioned in an all encompassing motion. "Has already happened. We've seen the history of Middle Earth in nearly its entirety. And you three died at the Battle of Five Armies. Future events cannot unfold as they must with you ruling Erebor Thorin."
He scowled down at his hands as they trembled on his lap before he clenched them into fists. "Then the future will need to be rewritten because I am going to take my rightful place."
Artemis sighed. "Stubborn, mule headed…" She ran her hands through her hair before looking at Kili and Fili. "And what of you two. You have as much a choice in all this as he does."
Kili and Fili looked at each other and she saw something pass between them, much the same way she and Tracey could communicate without words. Kili spoke slowly and without looking at his uncle. "I left someone I care deeply for when I died." He winced when he said the word 'died'. "I… would like the chance to be with her if she would have me… if it will not upset the future."
Thorin started to protest and Artemis pointed a finger at him her eyes black steel. "You will keep silent Thorin Oakenshield or so help me…" She trailed off and let his own mind supply the threat.
She looked at Kili her face gentle and her eyes understanding. "So far as I know Tauriel is not integral to the future of Middle Earth so it should be safe."
Fili avoided his Uncles angry stare. "I don't have anyone that I left behind… I devoted my life to my Uncles quest, and I would follow him wherever he chose to go." He hesitated and glanced at Thorin then back at Artemis and Tracey. "I will go where he does." He finished and Artemis sighed and nodded.
"Very well. None of you are well enough to go anywhere any time soon so no decisions need to be made." She got up and went to Kili putting a hand on his shoulder and Thorin was shocked by the gentleness in her face. "Do you want me to send a message to Tauriel that she should come to Lothlorien?"
Kili swallowed hope blooming in his eyes and he reached up to grip her hand. "You would do that?"
Artemis smiled and looked over at Tracey for a second then back at Kili. "Love is precious. You deserve a chance to have it, even if it's only for a little while."
He kissed the back of her hand surprising her and Tracey. "Please, I want to see her again."
Artemis patted his hand and stepped back then looked at Thorin. "I'm not going to hammer at you. Neither of us will but I want you to think about something. If you change the future are you willing to accept all the lives that you will have changed just to satisfy your pride? Are you willing to accept all the death and loss of love, of family, of potential because you just have to be King? Because it's not just your life in the balance anymore, it never was but it's even less so now."
She motioned for Tracey to follow her out of the building and closed the door gently when Tracey stood outside with her. She rubbed her forehead and slung an arm around Tracey. "Please tell me I'm not making a huge mistake."
Patting her arm, Tracey's wings fluttered a little bit before she spoke, shaking her head.
"You aren't making a mistake here my precious firefly." Tracey replied, rubbing her arm. "You have given them much to think about and I hope they will make the right choice and do what is best for the future of Middle Earth, like I have done for our reality..."
Looking at Kili through the window and smiled kindly at him.
"I will deliver the message to Tauriel myself if it will help them to come to a final verdict. But there is no need for haste, there is a festival to enjoy and I believe that through all our travels that things that we have seen and done, WE deserve a chance to relax."
Artemis smiled and glanced back through the window too. "Hark, what is this? You saying we don't need to rush? Ms. Live life in the fast lane." She teased and started walking away from the building.
"How much faster can two women go through to worlds which are not their own?" Tracey questioned in return, poking Artemis in the side. "Every time we pass through a portal to a new place, my head swims and I would like to enjoy my time here a little bit longer... who knows when we'll get this chance again..."
She turned her face to look at all the Woods around them and swept her hand out to everything they saw in front of them.
"If I could I would live here... with Legolas forever. We should enjoy this peace before we go to another world to fix it, don't you agree?"
Artemis smiled and tucked her hands into her pockets and looked around. "Yeah, we should. I wonder if I can get an elf to play kissy face with me?"
Tracey laughed and shook her head. Fluttering her wings lightly, she started to hovered a few inches off the ground and then looked to the gardens. She gave Artemis a smile, gave her a hug and whispered in her ear.
"I'm pretty sure you could my sweet, but it wouldn't be the same and you know it... Rest well, I'm going to fly around a little bit and hang out in the gardens for a while." She said softly, pushing back her hair and sighing lightly. "I think gardening has been something Adessa has encouraged that side of me, just another side of me to get used to. Even if it isn't light enough to do anything productive tonight, I can still enjoy their scents. Good night Artemis, rest well and may you have pleasant dreams."
Artemis watched her go her eyes contemplative, she knew Tracey was right of course and she hadn't been serious about paying kissy face with an elf, she still felt a little guilty about kissing Raph but she'd been so hurt, so desperate to ease the pain of having to leave Iolaus and Raph hadn't asked for love, just physical affection. She looked at the journal tucked under her arm and sighed before heading back to her quarters. She had a letter to write.