Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit!
A/N: Hey, everyone!
XD Okay, I'm having too much fun with this! I have today and tomorrow off and I just couldn't stop writing!
Enjoy! Please review!
Vacating and Vigilant
Four days passed. Four days during which Legolas and Tauriel watched the Crown of Durin circle round and round Erebor. The smallest Jewel, as it was called by the Dwarves, drew closer and closer to her sisters. By the end of the third day there were only fourteen days left until Durin's Day. Both Tauriel and Legolas spent every waking minute they weren't working trying to plan an escape for the Dwarves. Each would make a plan then confront the other only to have it shot down.
The Dwarves couldn't steal a ship because Thranduil would land-lock before they left the atmosphere.
They couldn't pass the Dwarves off as laundry because the Dwarves just wouldn't like it.
They couldn't sneak the Dwarves onto a ship and take it themselves because Thranduil had grounded Tauriel.
Several times Tauriel had to stop Legolas before he pulled his hair out. She would remind them of their task and they would return to planning. Their efforts were futile and by the evening of the fourth day Legolas was ready to give up. The Government would arrive on the Woodland Realm the next day and Bilbo would be taken away. They had failed.
"There is nothing we can do," Legolas said, fisting his hair. Tauriel carefully unwove his fingers from the locks before he could make himself any balder. They had decided to meet outside the kitchens this time. Both their quarters were being watched and they couldn't go near the guard's rooms without being called out.
"We will think of something," Tauriel assured her friend, and Legolas glared at her.
"How?" he demanded. "The Government's ship will come tomorrow and we still do not have a plan. Bilbo and Kili were counting on us."
"And we still have one day," Tauriel pointed out. Legolas' glare deepened. "Do not look at me like that. I have contacted a friend on Lake-Town he owes me for the time I took his children for a ride on the ship."
"The bowman?" Legolas asked in disbelief. "What can he do?"
"One of their pilots owes him a debt," Tauriel told her friend with a smug smirk. "We are both cashing our debts in. Bard the Bowman will get a hold of a ship for the Dwarves to use once we reach Lake-Town."
"First we need to figure out how the Dwarves are getting to Lake-Town," Legolas said. He leaned against the wall and sighed. "Tonight is our last chance at a direct route to Lake-Town. The moon will spin on its axis and we will have to wait another twenty-four hours. This is impossible." Tauriel didn't respond to that. A silence fell the two friends during which several canons shot off. Tauriel and Legolas watched the empty food-caskets rocket off into space. Tauriel's eyes lit up with the familiar look of trouble. Legolas' heart sank. He looked between his friend and the caskets.
"You have got to be kidding," he said. Tauriel turned to him, the mad glint growing in her eyes. Legolas straightened up, shaking his head vigorously. "No, absolutely not. The Dwarves will never agree to it."
"They have no other choice," Tauriel said excitedly. "This is our last chance, Legolas. Lord Thranduil will never see it coming. Those Dwarves would be halfway to Lake-Town before he even suspected anything."
"And how do you propose we convince the Dwarves this will work?" Legolas asked his friend, crossing his arms. Tauriel smirked at him before winking.
"We do not have to," she told him. "All we need to do is give the keys to Bilbo and let him work with the Dwarves. They will listen to anything he says." Legolas hesitated, chewing his lip, and Tauriel fell into a pout as she grabbed at his arm. "Please, Legolas. This plan will work. I know it!"
"Alright," Legolas said, throwing his arms up in surrender. Tauriel whooped and trotted off down the path. "You get the keys! We will meet later tonight by the door!"
O.o.O
One day on the Station and four days on the Woodland Realm. Bilbo did the math in his head. They only had thirteen days until Durin's Day. Bilbo ticked each day off using a small stone he had found, engraving lines in the wall. By the second day he had begun completely drawing on the walls out of sheer boredom. He drew circles and lines meaning nothing, entire blueprints of both Bagend and the Arkenstone, and wrote the alphabets of Khuzdul, Rohirric, Sindarin, Quenya, Hobbitish, and Westron along the walls. They were a complete mess by the time he had ran out of room. A search for more space led him under the bed where he found carvings already there. One name in particular caught his attention.
Bainrîn Took
The name, as it clearly was, rang a bell in Bilbo's mind. He couldn't remember where he had heard it nor place it amongst his family tree. A further investigation brought him several dates carved into the wall. They were initialed with D.O.B, D.O.A, D.O.D, and so on. D.O.B Bilbo recognized as "Date of Birth" and he knew D.O.A to mean "Date of Adoption". He had seen the acronym on plenty official forms back on Hobbiton. What the rest of the letters meant he didn't know. The most recent date fell back over sixteen hundred years ago. It left Bilbo wondering who Bainrîn was.
Cold hands closed around Bilbo's ankles and yanked him backward out from under the bed, jerking him out of his thoughts. He gave a great squeal of surprise. His fingers clawed at the floorboards helplessly. His attacker easily dragged him out, dumping his legs back on the floor. His arms were seized in tight grips before he could make a daring escape.
"Let me go!" Bilbo snapped, twisting in the grips. "I'm not going to eat the food! I don't even like cashews!"
"Well that is a pity," a voice said, and Bilbo froze. He didn't recognize it as one of the guard's. Opening one eye, he found himself face to face with Tauriel the red-headed Elf. She smiled at him. "Neither do I. They leave me feeling sick to my stomach."
"Everything leaves you feeling sick to your stomach," Legolas commented from somewhere behind Bilbo. The Hobbit tilted his head back to see the Elf with his arms crossed.
"Give me a break," Tauriel said, glaring at her friend. "I am lactose intolerant."
"And allergic to gluten," Legolas pointed out. "And yet you continue to eat both."
"They taste good!"
"That does not mean you eat it!"
Bilbo sighed and let his head fall back to the floor. It appeared nothing ever got done between these two Elves. He had long since given up the pretense of being a five year-old after the guards had given him blank stares. They knew what he really was. Bilbo sighed again when Tauriel and Legolas' argument switched into Sindarin.
"Either of you know who Bainrîn is?" he asked. Neither Elf noticed him as they continued their argument. He switched to Sindarin. "Who is Bainrîn?" The bickering finally ceased and the two Elves turned their attention on him.
"I have never heard the name," Tauriel said.
"My father says it occasionally," Legolas said, walking around to stand beside his friend. Tauriel straightened up and together they towered over Bilbo. "I believe it was a friend of his. He does not speak of her awesome."
"Well blast it," Bilbo said with a sigh. "I had hoped to have found something interesting." Legolas frowned in confusion and Tauriel giggled, not even bothering to hide it. "What are you two even doing here? I haven't seen you since the Station."
"Kili asked us to help you and the crew escape," Tauriel said. "Legolas is just angry enough with his father ("I am not!" Legolas indignantly) to help you."
"Then you found a way for us to get out of here?" Bilbo asked hopefully. Tauriel nodded happily. Legolas, on the other hand, seemed slightly dubious about the whole idea. "Is it something I'm not going to like?"
"Barrels," Legolas said in a hesitant voice.
"I beg your pardon?" Bilbo said, frowning.
"Barrels," Legolas repeated. "We send barrels out to Lake-Town to stock our stores with fish and vegetables. The Space Station up there has aqua farms where they breed fish and grow crops. Tauriel and I thought up a plan in which you and the Dwarves take barrels up to Lake-Town. You should be able to sneak there easily enough. We have a friend up there waiting for you."
"I have already hailed Bard," Tauriel said. "He is expecting you and the Dwarves with his barge."
"And how exactly am I supposed to know where to go?" Bilbo asked. "I've been stuck in this room the entire time." Tauriel smirked at his question and withdrew a thin stick from her pocket. She handed it to Bilbo.
"Access, blueprint," she said in a clear voice.
"Accessing," answered a computer voice. Bilbo's eyebrows shot up when a holographic screen dropped down from the stick. It showed him a direct blueprint of the building's layout, including where the barrels were kept.
"You will want to take this route," Legolas said, running his finger down a particular hall. "The guards will have already searched it. They will not go down that way again for another few hours."
"Got it?" Tauriel asked. Bilbo nodded and Tauriel took the stick from him. The holographic screen slipped shut. She jammed it into her pocket. "Do you remember the way?" Closing his eyes, Bilbo brought up the image of the screen in his mind. He nodded again. "Excellent. Legolas and I are going to sneak into the hanger to steal a ship. We need you to get the Dwarves down to the barrel room. There you will load them each into the available barrels. You will have exactly thirty minutes before the last shipment is fired off."
"Thirty minutes, got it," Bilbo said. "How long will it take to free the Dwarves?" he asked the Elves.
"Depends on how quickly you move," Tauriel said. She flashed a ring under Bilbo's nose. "Press this against the keypads and the doors will unlock."
"Good luck," Legolas said. He held up a small device. A red 30:00 flashed on it. "Your count begins the minute you leave this room. We timed our visit with the barrel loading." Tauriel straightened up and the two of them hurried to the door.
"Better hurry," Tauriel said over her shoulder as they vanished down the hall. "Godspeed."
"Godspeed," Bilbo murmured to himself before rocketing upright. He clutched the ring in the one hand while his other hand dove into his pocket. His special ring slipped onto his finger and he felt himself go invisible.
Hurrying to the door, Bilbo peeked back and forth. He drew back when a guard marched past. The Elf completely ignored the fact his door way open. A quick glance down showed Bilbo why. A small holographic projector had been set up – most likely courtesy of Tauriel – to display the vision of a door over the open space. The Elven guard disappeared around the corner. Bilbo darted from his room and turned right down the hall. His footsteps were silent as he crossed the several yards in only two and a half minutes. He gripped the ring in his sweaty palms, pressing the flat head of it against a keypad. A green line scanned it and the keypad flashed entirely green. The door slid open.
"Who's there?" Bilbo's heart leapt at the familiar sound of Kili's voice.
"It's me, Bilbo," the Hobbit hissed, peeking into the room. Kili had already thrown himself from the large bed and was racing toward him. He pulled back just in time, narrowly escaping the barreling Dwarf.
"Are you wearing your ring?" Kili asked excitedly. "Did Tauriel and Legolas come up with a plan?"
"Yes and yes," Bilbo said. "But we need to stay quiet. Help me free the others." Kili kept a lookout for guards while Bilbo unlocked the other doors. Some of the Dwarves – Oin and Dwalin mainly – had to be convinced to leave their rooms while others – Bofur and Nori – were willing to trust the invisible voice of Bilbo Baggins.
"Who asked the pointy-eared bastards for help?" Dwalin demanded. "They're the ones who did this to us in the first place." Bilbo ignored him as he finally released Bifur from his room. The addled Dwarf had to be reminded four times by his cousins to be quiet.
"It was our only chance at an escape," Kili hissed. Dwalin growled something Bilbo didn't hear and the two fell into a ferocious yet quiet argument. Thorin and Balin both joined in. Bilbo rounded on all four of them just as Thorin called Kili "a shame-faced nephew of my hellion sister".
"Would you all stop?" he demanded. Kili paused in the action of yanking his uncle's hair out of his head. Dwalin froze where he had hooked his arms under Kili's armpits. Balin just shook his head at the fight going on. "We only have twenty minutes left."
"Twenty minutes 'til what?" Bofur asked curiously.
"Until our escape fails," Bilbo said. "Legolas and Tauriel worked hard to come up with this plan. They're depending on it to go well." Dwalin released Kili who regretfully let go of Thorin's hair. The three Dwarves straightened up sheepishly.
"Lead the way," Thorin said gruffly.
"This way," Bilbo said, forgetting for a moment the Dwarves could not see him. When they looked around in confusion he yanked the ring off. Ori leapt sideways in surprise when he suddenly appeared beside him. "Sorry," Bilbo said before gesturing down the hall. "This way," he said again.
The hike down the hall took fifteen minutes. Bilbo's heart pounded in his throat with every obstacle they ran into. There was one point when a guard marched past the hallway they were exiting. Dori managed to grab Fili at the last minute before the Dwarf could be spotted. They waited quietly for the guard to march away then continued on their way. Bilbo led them through the twisting turns of halls and stairs until at last they were in the barrel.
"I thought you were leadin' us out," Bofur said as he looked around the stock room they stood in. "Not further in."
"Trust me," Bilbo said quietly. He peeked around the stock room. The only Elves in the room were passed out at the table, seemingly too inebriated to work. "This will work."
Crossing the stockroom floor, Bilbo searched the shelves until he found what he was looking for. Fourteen pristine casket – or barrels, as Tauriel had called them – were lined up in harnesses. They were silver, slender cases that resembled pea pods. Both ends sloped outward to a near point, rounding just at the tips to prevent any harm. Dwalin took one look at the barrels and rounded on Bilbo.
"You have got to be kiddin'," he growled, already having figured out what was happening. Bilbo glared at him. "I'm not gettin' in those."
"This could be fun," Kili said hopefully. Nori, Bombur, and Gloin all glared at him. "Or not," he said sheepishly.
"You have to listen to me," Bilbo said in a pleading voice. He checked his internal counter just to be sure. "We have three minutes before these barrels blast off. It's our only chance to get out of this place." When this did little to convince the crew he turned to Thorin. The captain stared at him for a second before nodding.
"Do as he says," he ordered. Dwalin groaned but made his way toward a barrel. The rounded covers ran lengthwise down the barrels. They were easily slid open and the Dwarves clambered in before pulling the door shut after them. Bilbo and Thorin worked to latch the doors after them.
"It smells like apples," Fili commented about his barrel, wrinkling his nose. His uncle just shoved him into the barrel and locked the door.
"Get in," Thorin ordered to Bilbo. The Hobbit opened his mouth to argue then found himself man-handled into the barrel. He barely had a moment to voice his anger when the door slammed shut. The click of the lock echoed through the empty space. Thorin's footsteps faded away from the barrel. Bilbo checked his internal stopwatch.
Thirty-seven . . . thirty-six . . . thirty-five . . . Thorin wouldn't be able to latch the door of his barrel . . . thirty-three . . . How would he survive a jaunt in space? . . . thirty-one . . . Bilbo chewed his lip as he thought. There was no way for him to open his barrel and help Thorin with his. The Dwarf captain would have to help himself. Would he even be able to stay in the barrel? What if it opened while they were in space and the captain was sucked out? Bofur had once explained what being 'spaced' meant. Bilbo hadn't liked the thought of it one bit.
Three . . . two . . . one. Bilbo sucked in a breath and waited. Nothing happened for several seconds. He heard the muffled voices of the Dwarves shouting to one another. Pounding feet approached the barrels. And then something clicked. A hissing sound filled Bilbo's ears and suddenly the barrel rocketed downward. Bilbo flew upward, his head colliding hard with the flat ceiling. They were upside down . . . in ricocheting barrels . . . flying through space . . . wonderful.
O.o.O
Tauriel paused at the sound of canons going off. Legolas nodded to her. The Dwarves had either made it to the barrels or they hadn't. One way or the other, the two Elves needed to leave the Woodland Realm immediately. Tauriel returned to picking the lock of the hanger while Legolas kept watch.
"Got it," Tauriel whispered. Straightening up, she removed the lock from and slid the hanger doors open. Legolas winced at the screech they released upon sliding along the rails. Tauriel stepped into the hanger, a smile growing across her face.
"Your majesty," Tauriel said breathlessly. "You truly are brilliant." Legolas leaned around his friend to see the ship resting on the bridge. It was a prototype his father had designed for the next generation of ships. Memories, he called them. They were a complex ship made of two parts. The first part was the sphere-shaped cockpit in the center, large enough to hold two people: a pilot and a passenger. Four rods extended off the sphere in pair. Each pair supported large crescent-shaped wings. They encircled the almost completely, their tips just barely brushing each other.
"What beauties," Tauriel said. She hurried forward, eagerly leaping onto a rounded wing. Legolas followed her quickly. Never before had he seen a ship quite like this. Once Tauriel reached the top of the large sphere, petals panels curled back to allow her entrance. She leaped down into the cockpit. Legolas fell in after her.
Within the cockpit there was only one padded chair. Its back curved along the shape of a spine. Both footrest and armrests were positioned for comfort. Two crystal spheres had been screwed into the very end of the armrests. A pair of curved beams ran out from the headrest. They stopped just bare of one's peripheral vision. There was no console to be found. The inside of the cockpit was bare but for the wires and chair.
"Prepare yourself," Tauriel told Legolas as she seated herself in the chair. She laid her hands carefully on the spheres. "For the ride of your life." Lights within the cockpit flashed on from the floor up. The spheres glowed green and the bars of the headrest followed suit. Holographic screens flashed on all around Tauriel in her vision. Metal covers slid back to reveal windows all around the ship.
"Amazing," Legolas breathed. "To think my father designed this."
"Hold on," Tauriel warned him. She drummed her fingers against the controls. "I want to see how fast this baby can fly." The whir of the engine below them filled the cockpit with a buzz. Legolas gripped the back of the headrest, wishing for a moment he had his own seat.
"Completely mind-linked," Tauriel murmured. "Your father has advanced farther than any other has."
"Telepathic control," Legolas sighed. "Perhaps my father needs to find a new hobby." Tauriel chortled as the ship hovered off its stands. It inched its way toward the hanger doors.
"Now, as I said before. Hold on!"
Legolas had never scream so loudly in all his life.
A/N: I'M RUNNING OUT OF LETTERS FOR THE CHAPTERS!
Oh, right. What did you think?! Toodles!
Pollux of the Gemini Twins
