Okay, people. Still don't own the hobbit. But here is the chapter I promised you, and I really hope you enjoy it. I think it's improved a great deal, but you'll have to let me know what you think. Thank you for all the reviews. They were great! I am sorry I left you hanging so long on a cliffie like that. On a different note, I think I'm going to declare Sunday my day of rest. It is nice to be able to relax with my family without feeling the pressure. However, I should be done entirely within a week or two, so it shouldn't really be a problem, hopefully. Anyway, thanks again. You guys are great!
Glorfindel found himself scowling and pacing as he waited impatiently for the sun to rise. This would have surprised most of those who knew him well, as he was usually full of mischief and good cheer. He rarely allowed anything to phase him, and he was the first to find humor in almost any situation.
However, he'd never been faced with anything like the situation he found himself in now. Truthfully, he was starting to get extremely tired of all the shocks, surprises, and obstacles he'd had thrown at him lately.
The truths he'd learned about his wife had been shocking on a deep, emotional level. To then learn he had a child he'd never seen had been a surprise, if an extremely pleasant one. To then learn that said daughter was traveling through treacherous territory at the urging of a wizard and Thorin Oakenshield was enough to cause him anger such as he'd never truly felt before. So he'd set out to save his daughter and let those who had convinced her to take such foolhardy risks know exactly how much of a bad idea it had been.
He should have been able to catch up within a few days, even with all of the elves Elrond had insisted he take. Unfortunately for his temper, it hadn't worked out that way. He'd made good time getting out of Rivendell, but his group had found nothing but trouble in the mountains.
Besides many of the paths being destroyed by a stone giant battle, most of those that were left were swarming with too many goblins to fight every nightfall. They found that out the hard way. They didn't lose anyone, but they were chased almost back Rivendell before they managed to lose their pursuers.
To make things even worse, the higher passes had been closed by an early blizzard and they were forced to go further and further south in search of a crossing. When they finally found one, they crossed swiftly but were then forced to cast around for the dwarves trail.
Which led to his current position. They'd finally found faint traces of a trail and followed it, only to discover a rather surly bear-man. He had reluctantly allowed them to stay at his home to rest for the night (at the twin's insistence), but he had declared that if they wanted any information on the dwarves, they would first have to share the story of their travels.
In spite of Glorfindel's protests, Elladan had agreed that this was a fair exchange. Beorn, as he was called, had become much more welcoming when he discovered that they counted Luin's father in their number. He had also taken to staring at Glorfindel with a thoughtful expression on his face, hence the pacing outside.
Glorfindel felt his scowl deepen as he heard the surprisingly quiet steps of his host. Any of his company would have been almost silent, and they had all stopped trying to speak to him a week ago, besides. Even the twins had taken to avoiding him.
"So you are Luin's father."
As he debated with himself on whether he should respond, the skin-changer continued.
"She's had a father before, you know. He seems to have raised his children well."
As Glorfindel whirled to face the taller male, the angry retort that had started to form on his tongue was stilled by the extremely serious look in the man's eyes. He found himself unable to speak as Beorn continued.
"It would be a shame if she was never able to fully connect to the father of her blood because he alienated her by treating her like a mindless infant."
He felt the breath leave him all at once, as if he'd been hit in the gut. Something that had been niggling at the back of his mind, never acknowledged, took the opportunity to roar forward. Fear. He was so afraid.
Afraid that his daughter didn't want him. She'd left telling him about her to a practical stranger, after all.
Afraid that he wouldn't be a good father. He'd never thought he'd ever have the chance to be a father, and he'd been told many times that he had the maturity of an elfling.
Most of all, he was afraid that he would do something that would cause her to hate him and reject having anything to do with him.
He'd managed to shove all of it into the back of his mind and focus all of his emotion on those who had endangered his daughter, but as he stared into the brown eyes of this complete stranger, he was forced to face it.
He didn't have a clue what he was doing.
As he tried to find words, Beorn nodded sharply, once.
"You've a fine girl there. Just remember that she has those she cares about, and that she isn't helpless. Take things slow and don't push too hard for more than she's willing to give you."
As Glorfindel gaped in astonishment, the bear-man turned and left without another word, apparently having said all he wanted to say. The elf lord stared after him, then found himself following him. As they entered the large structure, he made his way to his bedroll deep in thought, unmindful of the astonished glances the others were giving them.
He stared at the beams of the ceiling, unseeing, until the light of dawn finally came over the horizon and peeked into the windows. He was extremely grateful to his friends for insisting that they stop and rest for the night. He had finally been able to find some semblance of balance.
He realized now that he'd never really thought much about Luin other than to think 'she's my daughter?!' and to react to her situation. He'd somehow thought of her as a blank slate, just waiting for him to swoop in and take up his parental duties.
He had never really taken the time to think about the fact that his child had had a family outside of him. That she had friends, and opinions, and had faced challenges he'd never truly thought about.
As the dawnlight started to wake the others, he finally acknowledged a final truth to himself. If he wanted to truly connect with his daughter, he couldn't just show up and attack her companions and expect to drag her back to Rivendell.
He wasn't sure what he would do, but that was right out. If he just burst into her life trying to tell her who she could and couldn't associate with while turning up his nose at those she obviously considered friends, she was far more likely to either fight him out right or flee and avoid him for the rest of her life.
He shuddered, swiping at his eyes. He couldn't bear to lose his last link to his lost love, and the horror of never truly connecting with his child...he was glad their host had spoken up. No matter how blunt he may have been. He'd needed it.
He was up and giving his horses gear a final going over before the others had even finished their breakfasts. They were swift to finish their own preparations, however, so he couldn't really complain. Not that he would. He was aware he owed each and every one of them a rather sincere and fervent apology for his behavior of late.
Still, his eyes yearned towards the east and the distant line of Mirkwood. He had spoken once more with Beorn as he'd eaten a hasty breakfast, and discovered that the dwarves had left almost two weeks before. If they wanted to catch them before they entered the mountain, they would have to hurry.
He was a little reassured that Luin did not intend to enter the mountain herself, but he knew better than anyone that you can't plan for everything life throws at you. He was extremely pleased, therefore, when Elladan announced that they were ready to leave. He threw the younger elf a smile, that caused the entire company to relax almost imperceptibly.
Doing his best to ignore this (and mentally upgrading his future apology by several magnitudes), he gave Beorn a truly thankful bow of respect. As the bear-man returned it with a silent nod, he sent his horse charging swiftly to the trees. There would be no swift travels there.
They were pleased to find signs of dwarves in the woods, though they found themselves growing concerned as the signs led off of the path. As they tracked them through circles and spiders, Glorfindel's face started to turn frantic.
He struggled to maintain his focus, but found it difficult. It had been obvious that something was wrong with Luin from the beginning, though there had been a great deal of sign that she was being tended to quite zealously. Now, however, it was easy to see that the dwarves had lost the ability to tend to themselves, let alone anyone else.
The spiders were the last straw. He found himself racing along as fast as his horse was willing to go, faster than was truly safe, really. As his eyes darted from sign to sign, he read the struggles of the company easily.
He did find one anomaly...the spiders seemed to have missed one of the group. A hobbit, if the tracks of bare feet were anything to go by. As he passed a dead spider, he slowed to truly understand what the sign was saying. The hobbit must be of unusual strength and courage to have killed such a creature all on his own.
Pushing on, he found the spot the dwarves had hung, suspended from the trees. Here he had to slow, to avoid missing anything. Much of the sign was disturbed, but he was able to make out enough to know that he could be extremely proud of his daughter.
Freeing her friends, hiding from elves, attacking a patrol leader in defense of her friends...it was amazing. The fact that she was obviously still sick made it even more so.
He was glad the elves had found them. They would make sure she saw a healer. Of course, he would likely be forced to argue for the dwarven company's release once he arrived, but it might help him with his daughter...so it would be worth it.
He signaled the others forward from the edge of the clearing, where they had stopped to allow him to search. The sign was only a few days old. With a bit of good fortune, they should be able to reach the elven halls within a few hours. He would be facing his daughter for the very first time tonight. He still didn't know what he was going to say, but just being able to see her would be enough...hopefully the rest would come later.
They wasted no more time, heading along the trail left behind straight to the home of the Elven King. He was not amused when they finally arrived as the sun started to descend towards the horizon to find the doors sealed.
He'd had enough dealings with Thranduil to know that the gate was only sealed if something had gone gravely wrong for the haughty king, or there was a danger of an iminent attack.
As they had seen no signs of an attack, that left something going gravely wrong. On one of the nights of Thranduil's most important feasts. While his daughter was within said walls. His face started to turn thunderous. If anything had happened to his daughter...well, subtlety might not be the best approach.
He knew that the gate guards would be close enough to hear him, so he marched forward and banged his mailed fist several times against the door.
"Tell Thranduil that Glorfindel is here to see him, and that if he has allowed anything to happen to my daughter I'll have his ears!"
There was dead silence, then the sound of panicked steps running away extremely quickly.
Thranduil felt his opulent robes sweep around him as he glided swiftly through his halls. He found himself in the unwelcome position of greeting a guest at his gate instead of his throne room. However, considering the notoriety and nobility of said guest and the fact that he had lost said guest's daughter (since when did Glorfindel have a daughter?!) , he felt it was a necessary gesture.
Glorfindel was not appeased as the doors opened to the sight of the Elven King himself, waiting to welcome them into his home. His daughter was not with Thranduil, which meant the reason he was here was to apologize and spare himself some pain. He snorted.
"Where is she, Thranduil?! I know she came here with her Company."
Thranduil gave the slightest of grimaces at Glorfindel's obvious ire. Better just to get it over with.
"I assure you, Lord Glorfindel, that I treated your daughter with the utmost respect, even sitting her at my table. Her...companions I kept locked away until they agreed to share their reasons for entering my woods, but you know the stubborness of dwarves. They would still be there, had someone not helped them escape.I am fairly sure it was not your daughter, as she was not reported with them at the time. However, they were attacked as they left and one of them was shot with a poisoned arrow. After we had wrung that information out of one of the orcs, my Guard Captain left to pursue them with a hooded female accompanying her. As I have not been able to find your daughter since and my kingdom is missing no elleths, I can only assume her companion was your daughter. My son left to join them after he found out. You have missed them by a few hours."
He met Glorfindel's glare, outwardly unfazed.
"I understand your worry, but I must recommend that you spend the night. The path by the river is treacherous at night, and there may still be orcs about. You should be able to catch up to them in Laketown."
Glorfindel wanted to ignore his advice, he really did, but he didn't want to lose any of his companions to his foolishness, either. He nodded reluctant acceptance. As Thranduil waved an elegant hand to welcome them into his kingdom, he turned, allowing Glorfindel to fall into step beside him. He glanced obliquely at the scowling elf, then decided he should do something to take his mind off of things.
"I should have known she was your daughter, you know."
At Glorfindel's questioning look, he continued.
"The first clue should really have been the pranks and chaos. Do you know, it got so bad that my guards were willing to take any form of punishment duty just to avoid being forced to be assigned to her? She seemed to have an especially vindictive streak when it came to my son."
He gave the noble elf a small, reserved smile. Glorfindel found himself smiling against his will. So she didn't fall too far from the tree, huh? As well as driving the Prince to distraction. 'That's my girl.'
His last thought that night as he pondered his day was one of worry, however. Come first light, he would be leaving to find his daughter...and nothing would be stopping him, this time.
Luin growled to herself. She had not been pleased when Tauriel had stopped and told her they were taking a quick break, but she had assumed it was to drink a bit of water and take the time to decipher the orc's trail.
She hadn't been happy at all when the Prince showed up. Tauriel's acknowledgment that she had known he would follow had her whipping around to glare at the older elleth. It didn't have any effect. In fact, after a small smirk from Legolas, they completely ignored her as they spoke seriously, about the security of their kingdom and other weighty matters.
She put the knowledge of growing darkness aside to look at later, with all the other signs she'd seen on this trip. Her focus at the moment was reaching Kili in time, and she didn't appreciate the others apparent lack of concern over the time they were wasting.
Especially since the princeling didn't want to go at all, and was doing his level best to convince Tauriel to desert her friends as well. Just when she'd thought her judgment of him might have been a bit hasty...he'd proved her wrong.
Tauriel was standing firm, and doing her best to convince him to join them, but it was taking too much time...they didn't really need him, anyway. Let him go back to his Daddy. But Tauriel didn't seem to think so, and as she was forced to wait for her...actually, let them argue all they wanted.
She didn't owe them anything.
Well, she owed Tauriel assistance with healing Kili, but as she was heading to do that anyway, she'd just be doing it a bit more swiftly. She was pretty sure she had the directions down, anyway. Follow the dwarves down the river. Easy.
As the Prince started to look a little conflicted, she set off, not looking back at their angry commands to stop. They would follow, or they wouldn't. She had more important things to worry about than an arrogant Prince and his flirtatious Captain.
She stretched her legs, reaching rather reckless speeds. She finally slowed as the river came to an end. She was grateful to see signs of dwarves, but was worried to discover signs of orcs as well.
As she came to the relieving conclusion that the dwarves had found an ally to take them across the lake, Legolas burst from the trees further down on a white horse and Tauriel almost flew out of the brush behind her. Before either of them could say anything, she glared and pointed along the lake's edge.
"My Company has traveled across the lake with a Man, and the orcs have sped off in pursuit. Stay or go as you choose, but I'm going to find my friends."
Without another word, she took off the same way as the orcs. She desperately hoped they wouldn't follow, or would choose a different path. This would be so much faster if she could fly!
Though that did run the risk of attracting unwanted attention...she didn't know if Smaug would be able to sense her out here, but the elves and men might have something to say about a strange Dragon. Particularly if one was close enough to see her transform.
The choice was taken from her anyway, as she heard the others starting to catch up. She was so focused on ignoring them that it came as quite a shock when she felt herself dragged into the air and twisted, coming to rest on the back of Legolas' saddle.
As she scowled and prepared to argue, Tauriel raced next to them and gave her a Look. She closed her mouth. She got it. 'Shut up and accept the ride. Do you want to get there as fast as you can or not?'
As they started to pull away from the older elleth, she turned her head to look back at her in an agony of indecision. Get to Kili faster, or leave Tauriel on her own without protection? As Legolas made his own decision and started to slow the horse, Tauriel scowled and smacked it sharply to speed it up again.
As he looked back at her, he seemed to get his own private message. He allowed her to fall further and further behind, face grim. She had been out of sight for at least five minutes by the time the town came into view.
Unfortunately, they didn't see any orcs. Which meant they had gone into the town themselves, considering the signs.
"Stay here and wait for Tauriel. I will try to find your friends."
This was said in extremely dismissive tones. Luin felt herself bristle immediately.
"I don't think so. I'm going to find my friends and warn them, and you can come or not as you choose."
As he scowled and raised his hand to stop her, she gracefully slipped from the horses far side and slipped away into the shadows. He had to hurry to catch up.
As Tauriel arrived a few moments later, she eyed the horse. As she led it into shelter to prevent it from being spotted and killed by an orc, she commiserated with it.
"So they left you behind to take care of yourself, too, huh? I mean, I see their point. They'd have to protect the townsfolk from the orcs, but not even taking the time to take care of you...Legolas must be more frustrated than I thought."
With that, she turned and headed for the middle of town, sure that there would be a disturbance to let her know where they were eventually.