Chapter 25: The Way We Came (Part 3)
She had to find the white stag.
Her legs burned with exhaustion, her breath coming out in fits and gasps, but she never stopped tracking. She would rest occasionally, sleeping for only a couple hours at best. The notion of sleep worried her. For every moment of rest she took, the stag got further away. She vaguely understood that she was in a lot of trouble. She had no food left, her water-skin was only a quarter full and she was alone in an unfamiliar territory. Her stomach, now exposed from her shirt snagging on branches, was covered in tiny cuts and bruises from the bramble. Everything about this scenario was directly conflicting with what she had learned with Aragorn. She should be trying to find the way out, not going further in. Every time this thought occurred to her, however, she would stumble across another clue to its whereabouts; new tracks, fresh droppings, or even a rustle in the foliage would catch her attention. Instantly, her need for the stag overshadowed all other thoughts.
She could hear the company talking sometimes, the sound muffled and muted. They were not far – she was really just off the elvish road – but to her they sounded miles away. She tried to drown the sounds out of her mind and out of her thoughts. All thoughts but that of the hunt would distract her. She could not be distracted, she had decided one day before settling in for a nap, for once in her life she could not afford to lose track. So for days, she was unsure of the time really but it felt like days, she weaved in and out of trees. She would set traps and sniff branches and scout out for that coat that was as white as a newly fallen snow.
"THAT SELF-SERVING, ROTTEN WHELP OF A GIRL!" Thorin's voice thundered through the woods.
Brili frowned, her body shifting towards the sound; torn between going towards it and finding the stag. They were close, closer than in the past few days. She could not see them though; no matter which way she turned there was always a thick cluster of trees. So where could they be?
"Well you had her last!" she heard Bofur bellow. She winced without thinking; no one talked to Thorin like that and got away with it. Well, maybe she could but she was family. "You can't blame me! She was safe the last time I had her!"
"Safe?" she murmured, taking in her surroundings. There was no immediate danger that she could see. "I am safe."
"You took her from me and now she's lost! Who knows how long she's been gone or where she is?!"
"I'm sure she's fine…" Ori interrupted. "Brili… Brili's a really tough girl… I think."
She blinked back the sudden surge of pride she felt. At least someone in that company saw her for what she was! But, more importantly, if she could hear Ori and his mild voice speak then that meant that she was close to the company. Had she been following the path this whole time? No, that didn't make sense, she wasn't thinking about the path. She was looking for the stag. A rustle sounded in the woods beside her. She crouched low, hoping with every fiber in her being that it would be him.
"We need to take a rest," Nori urged, grunting underneath the heavy weight of Bombur.
Kili turned his head to scour the tree line; he could have sworn that just a moment ago he saw a flash of golden hair. Gandalf warned that if they lost the path they would never find it again. Brili was probably lost. She must have taken a wrong turn at some point and gotten lost. He tentatively crept over to the edge of the path. If he stepped off, he could find her. He was certain he would know the way back.
Everyone was tired, beyond tired. They were irritable and volatile in this state. He was not irritable per se. He was mostly just exhausted from carrying Bombur and his stretcher over his back for the past couple of days. He so longed to find his sister and get out of this mess so that he could find a soft, comfortable bed.
Thorin's voice surrounded him. "I hear nothing. No wind. No birdsong. What hour is it?"
Kili shrugged his shoulders in response to his uncle's question. Luckily, Dwalin was quick to answer with: "I do not know. I do not even know what day it is."
"This is taking too long," Thorin rambled, his hands curled into fists at his sides before he stood to his full height. "Is there no end to this accursed forest?!"
Kili bit his lip in contemplation. Was there an end?
"None that I can see," Gloin confirmed his deepest fears. "Only trees and more trees."
Thorin's head snapped up as another rustle was heard from the trees and a tiny whimsical laugh was heard across the path. It tinkled through the air like a bell in song. It filled his heart with strength and joy while practically begging him to follow. Kili almost dropped Bombur in all his excitement.
"There," Thorin called, propelling his body forward. "This way!"
"But Gandalf said…"
"MOVE!" he bellowed, shoving Ori to the side like a ragdoll. "Do as I say! Follow me!"
They gathered up their strength, Kili passing his side of the stretcher to Gloin, and started walking towards the giggle. Bilbo stayed behind, sitting on the root of a particularly large tree. He toyed with the cobwebs that smothered the branches.
"Wait! Stop! We can't… leave the pa– We must stay on the path!" Bilbo shouted, waving his arms about like a frantic lunatic. If Kili wasn't so distracted he would have found the sight to be amusing.
Briefly, though it was gone in an instant, he wondered where his sister could have wandered off to.
~o~
Kili passed through the marketplace morosely, his feet dragging across the ground with each step he took .It seemed that morose was the only fitting word to use in this case or at least the only one he could think of. Brili had been gone for over a month now and he was worried. He had been so certain that she would be back by now, even if not by her own will. No, he stopped hoping that she would return of her own accord after the first two weeks. Now he was just praying to every ancestor he had that she would be found still alive. He was still struggling to understand what had possessed her to run off in the first place. She should be home. She should be wandering these markets like she always did. The two had usually been the inseparable pair that terrorized the candy stall ever since Brili had discovered its location. Now, he was by himself.
The marketplace mirrored his thoughts. Normally full of laughter and cheer, the patrons shuffled about like Kili with fierce frowns set into place and worried glances at their children. Brili, it seemed, had started a trend amongst some of the younger girls in the mountains. They all seemed to think it a brilliant idea that she had run off to avoid her unwanted marriage. The stall vendors, thinking only of their coin, tried their best to keep up with the cheer but it was not a battle easily won. He frowned and bit back a scowl. He hadn't even wanted to go out today, forget mingle with every living soul in Ered Luin. For just a brief moment he let himself be angry with Thorin for sending him out for food. He didn't want to pick up fresh groceries, he wanted to find Brili.
"I hear she's gone off to marry that dwarrow she fancied ten years ago! Joined the army of the Iron Hills he did! What was his name?" a hushed voice whispered behind him.
He leaned his head and pursed his lips. He hadn't thought of that. It actually wasn't a terrible thought; Brili had liked Jorah a lot. It was a shame uncle had never really approved of him, something about stature and a warrior's heart. Thorin had not thought him to be a good match for Brili. Last he heard, Jorah was running a small battalion of specialty troops for Dain in the Iron Hills; an honorable position indeed. Kili had always suspected that his uncle had some hand in that incentive to leave the Blue Mountains. But they had checked the roads to Iron Hills already. Dain had set up troops to check the gates and streets regularly, even the most common paths to get there. If Brili was to go to the Iron Hills they would know.
"No, I hear she's been kidnapped and held for ransom! Princess under the mountain, kidnapped… Only, Thorin won't pay!"
Kili's hands clenched at his sides.
"That's not true!" he shouted, turning on the gossipers without giving himself a chance to think. They had been fair acquaintances of Brili's. She hadn't many friends in the village; her oddities and naturally shy nature keeping her from truly connecting with anyone in particular, save Jorah. He winced when he noticed the dwarrowdam he fancied in the fold of girls. Her name was Zula, she had dark hair, green eyes and a beard that she kept modestly trimmed. He thought her a nice girl, with a nice family and Thorin had promised to make arrangements with her father to begin courting her. Now, he glared at her in disgust. "She's not been kidnapped, she ran away. We're going to find her."
Zula looked at him sympathetically. "That's not what everyone is saying."
"I don't care what they are saying!" Kili argued, his temper flaring. "She's going to be fine! I'm going to find her."
All three maidens peered at each other with questioning glances. One girl, Moira, piped up. "I think what she did was so brave! She's run off to find true love! I bet she's gone to the Iron Hills to marry that boy she loves! It's about time princesses got to choose just like the rest of us!"
That was not the right thing to say. Kili's eyes darkened and he towered over the mousy, tiny Moira. Her mossy eyes widened and she squeaked at the sight of him. Zula tried to pull him back but with a fiery glare and a low growl, Kili had her shrinking back.
"You think her brave?" he snarled. "Look at you now, Moira. Even I scare you and you know I would do you no harm. You confuse bravery for stupidity! She's likely to get hurt travelling so far from here. Or sick. Right now the weather is nice and warm but winter will soon be upon us. If we don't find her before then where do you think she will be when the weather freezes? In the wild? How brave do you think that to be, Moira?!"
The dwarrowdam shrunk back a little more, torn between sympathy and fear. Zula was finally able to step between the two and wrapped a comforting arm around the dame. Her eyes narrowed at Kili coldly.
"There, there, Moira, darling," she soothed. "Don't take offense; I'm sure the prince is just worried for his sister. Even if we think her to be brave…"
Kili scoffed, eyes narrowing as he turned around, "She's not brave. She's stupid and cowardly."
Needless to say, things between him and Zula did not work out after that.
~o~
Brili never liked being away from her family. If she could have things her way, she would have spent the rest of her life snuggled deep in the mountainside with her brothers and mother. She always left because she thought she had to. It made her a little like Fili, she reckoned. He was a firm believer in doing what must be done, especially if one did not want to do it. She didn't run away because she had wanted to; she thought it was the only option left to her. Even now, she could feel the fact that she was lonely. But even though she missed them she knew she could not turn around. There was a calling in her to find the stag. She snuggled a little deeper into the cold ground, hoping to prolong her nap for just a little longer, knowing that her time for rest was almost over. She had a task to complete after all.
Brili opened her eyes to the sound of feet approaching. No… not feet. Feet or the stag would have been a welcome sound. This was no foot coming towards her it was several… she had no words to describe what it sounded like. It was almost like a scuttling noise but such a sound was unknown to her. She sat up and looked ahead of her. Nothing. She looked behind, a hand lingering over her belt where her knives lay in wait. Nothing. Beginning to panic, she looked to her left and right. Still nothing. That only left…
She looked up to see a mass of legs and a bulbous body lowering itself directly above her; eight legs that twitched and jerked as they waited to reach the ground. She blinked in confusion for the briefest of moments, her body freezing up immediately. A spider… A spider larger than her was planning on landing atop her head. A sound like a blade running across a stone floor ran throughout the trees, burning her throat as it emerged from her lips. This did nothing to deter the grey body from floating down in an ethereal fashion ever closer to her. With a start, barely enough time, she rolled forward to tumble out of the way. She grasped her largest throwing blade and braced her stance to attack. That was as far as she got though, her body automatically crippling in fear. Her fear of arachnids was embarrassing enough when they were normal sized, this larger than life menace had her frozen with fear.
Of course it had to be a spider. She wanted to stay and fight. Words alone could not describe how badly she wanted to face her childlike fears and fight this terror away. For the first time since entering the forest, her mind was sharp and clear; every sense in her body zeroing in on the danger in front of her. So she did what was most logical: she turned and ran as fast as her little legs would take her.
She dodged branches and trees, trying to escape the fell beast that was obviously intending on devouring her. She could hear it closing in on her, its fangs dripping with venom. She could hear their sticky click as they writhed in front of its body. Ahead of her was a clearing, which made her more nervous than before. She had, so far, been able to use the rough terrain to gain extra momentum by pushing off of fallen trees or branches. But on smoother ground the spider would surely catch up. She had no choice but to turn around and fight. Just as she looked behind her to reevaluate her decision, she collided into something hard. No, it was actually surprisingly soft. It was a body.
She looked up to find crystalline blue eyes peering at her in an utterly unimpressed fashion. It was a man, his hard chest and broad shoulders gave that away. His pulled back hair was so blonde that it looked white and peeking out beside that pale coif were two pointed ears. Normally, she would have been so taken back by such a fair sight but she had more pressing matters to tend to. With a wail that would have impressed even the most squeamish of dames she flung herself behind the elf and clung to his hips so fiercely that even Mahal himself could not have pried her off him.
"HELP ME!" she howled, burying her face into his lower back. The way she cringed had her right cheek pressed into his buttocks but she neither noticed nor cared.
With a grunt – for the elf was very much aware of where the dwarf's head rested – he pulled a blade from in between his shoulders, crouching to gain some speed behind his attack. Brili remained exactly where she was, clinging to his hips like a greedy lover, and she would surely suffer the embarrassment from it later. With a graceful thrust he stabbed the spider underneath its protective shell, killing it effortlessly. For a few moments, all was silent.
"Is it dead yet?" she asked meekly, her face still uncomfortably close to his backside.
Instead of answering, the elf turned in her grasp and wrenched her off of him. He lifted his blade so that it lifted her chin to face him. Brili's look of relief quickly lapsed into a scowl. "Who are you?"
Brili bit her lip in thought. She had to answer this carefully. If he had not found the others there was a good chance they might be able to get out of the forest alive, assuming they had all stayed on the path. Speaking of paths… Why wasn't she on it?! She peered up at the elf and his hair triggered the image of a white stag. Oh yeah, the king's deer. She was chasing after a white buck.
Steadying herself, trying not to press the knife into her chin, she stated through grit teeth, "I think the question is who are you and why do you have a knife pressed to the face of a ranger of Rivendell?"
"You?" the elf scoffed. "A ranger? You are a naught but a dwarf."
"A dwarrowdam, actually," she corrected smugly. "I have been training in Rivendell for five years to earn my title. I'll not let an impudent little priss like you take it from me."
That knife shifted towards her neck, threatening to break the skin. She blinked up at him, cocking her brow just enough to display confidence. He scowled and went to remove her belt and with it the knives she carried when he suddenly looked past her. A small platoon of elves had suddenly burst from the trees, heading in the direction she had run from. With a mumbled curse in Sindarian, the elf grasped her by the shoulders and steered her after the group.
"If you are a ranger," he sneered. "Now would be the time to test your skills. There are more of these spiders in our realm."
Brili blanched but was unable to stop the elf from careening forward, pulling her by the hand. She began babbling in between breaths of air, wordlessly pleading to be spared from the spiders. Anything but the spiders really! She was petrified of the stupid things even when they were no bigger than her pinky toe! What was she to do against one that rivaled her stature?!
She tried in vain to dig her heels into the ground but her captor lifted her up and tossed her over his shoulder before leaping into a tree. It was either cling to him or fall off of him at this point so when the next spider came into view she was rendered unable to do anything but cling to the elf's neck like it would save her life. Though, her fear did not keep her from screeching like a wild animal at the sight of the humongous spider. He came sliding into view of the now flustered company, deftly tossing her off his shoulders before he landed to attack the spider. With a yelp, she landed in front of Thorin who quickly scooped her up and behind him where she clung to his coat and pointed at the already dead creature.
"SOMEBODY KILL IT!" was mingled with "Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf. It would be my pleasure."
Brili kept her head buried in her uncle's coat, her fear exacerbated by the volatility of the forest around them. Spiders. Why in name of Aule did it have to be spiders in these woods?! With a whimper, she decided that Thorin was not a big enough guard against such foul things and instantly turned around to find Dwalin. Yes, big and muscled Dwalin could take down the spider! In the distance she heard a rather comical thump and imagined that one of their captors, the elves that had come racing out of the trees, had lost their footing and fallen.
"HELP!"
That was not an elf, she realized. She stiffened and noticed with a start that Kili was nowhere near her. Fili had already desperately turned around in a full circle, searching for his younger brother. Brili froze mere steps away from the safety of Dwalin's hulking form. Kili?! Why was he not with the rest?!
"KILI?!" Fili cried out frantically, daring to hope that his brother was playing a nasty prank on them all.
There was a scuffle in the distance, she could hear blades slashing. Brili put her hand over her mouth, her hands trembling with worry. Kili could die in this very moment and she didn't even remember seeing him inside these woods… The only thing she remembered of her brother was arguing with him outside Beorn's home. She began to pray to every god she knew that he would survive whatever encounter he was faced with.
"Throw me a dagger!" his voice bellowed in the distance. "Quick!"
Brili frowned; this meant he had some sort of assistance, but from whom?
"If you think I'm giving you a weapon, dwarf, you're mistaken!"
She heard the sound of something solid hitting the ground. A few moments later, Kili was being dragged into view by another elf. Brili exhaled loudly and began to lurch towards him when an arrow being held to her face stopped her. She glared up at the offending elf with a snarl as Kili was quickly thrown into the fold. Fortunately he was close enough to her for her step back and toss her arms around him without making too much of a fuss. She didn't really care if she did at all. She just preferred the idea of not being shot over hugging her brother. Kili let out an 'oomph' sound as she pressed herself into him, obviously not expecting the sudden display of affection.
"You're alive!" she whispered happily. "I thought those rotten spiders got to you!"
"Not the time, Bri," he said in the same tones distractedly, trying to nudge her off of him. That pretty elf was going to think she was his lover or something! What kind of impression would that make?! It was bad enough she had to save his life, now his sister was clinging to him like a snuggle-bug?! "Really not a good time!"
She didn't budge. It was only when the head elf, that prat who found her in the first place, ordered them to be searched was someone able to peel her from Kili's waist. Even then it took a fair amount of effort to do so. She snarled a bit over being jostled but didn't put up too much more of a fight. All of her weapons were carried on her belt save the one tucked in her boot, but that was a more of a last-attempt-at-life kind of weapon. Of course, all were found. Kili, she noted, was busy staring at the red-headed female elf that had helped save him. Behind her, she could hear the sound of Fili's array of knives being found and pilfered. Fili took the longest to search and before long they were being herded like a flock of sheep back into the center of the forest.
She looked around her, her hand clinging to Bofur's coat involuntarily. She hardly remembered being in the forest, forget reaching this point in her journey. She remembered the first day… if she struggled over the thought until her brain hurt but it came in fleeting bits and bursts. She wasn't sure what disturbed her the most: the fact that she didn't know where she was going or how she got there in the first place.
Brili had no idea where this road was going or where it would lead her but she supposed that was the nature of destiny.
Yay! We're off to meet the wizard! Or the king... but you get the idea!
I loved the fact that I made Brili afraid of spiders. I think it's adorable, and so freakishly down-to-earth that it's not even funny! I also loved her interaction with Legolas. SO. MUCH. FUN. TO. WRITE! I hope you guys do too!
I'm not sure if and when I'm going to do a flashback for Thorin. What do you guys think? I'm really happy with the three that I've done but I'm not entirely sure what to do with Thorin. Any thoughts?
I'm also trying something new with my reviews. I'm going to start responding to them personally rather than in my ANs. (Thanks EquusGold for the tip!) Hopefully you guys are a little more enticed to get back to me! Let me know what you think!
Special thanks to: Oliviaisabelxox, Wolf-Cry-Night, blackprincess2466, KHB123, Illusion of Maya, and EquusGold! Y'all rock my socks off! I adore each and every one of you! Thanks! :)
As always, feel free to leave some feedback of what you like to see or not. I take a lot of requests seriously and let them shift my original plans! So don't be afraid to give a shout!
Until next time! Lots of love! :)
- Kim