Dearest Readers,

Yes, I am alive.

Yes, I will continue to update.

Yes, life got in the way yet again.

Yes, my other stories will be updated as well.

Now that things are all cleared up, onto the story!

XOXO Ally Layne.

Into That Good Night

Chapter 7: Another Awkward Coincidence

It was three days until the dwarves realized they were being followed.

Varis and I had been following the company at a safe distance, knowing that as soon as any of those old geezers caught wind of us being there we would be sent back to Imladris. Alas, all good things must come to an end.

On the night which would have marked three weeks of secrecy, Varis stepped on a stick that lay strewn on the trail. The snapping sound echoed among the few trees that were left and into the open abyss below.

All the dwarves stopped in their spots, looking around for a possible predator stalking their heels.

Naturally, it was Thorin Oakenshield who called out, "Who goes there?"

Varis let out a low huff, making me snicker.

"Nice going," I mumbled, before letting out a harsh breath when she elbowed me in the stomach in response.

A sheet of white had fallen onto her face, and I didn't blame her. For all we knew, they would toss us off the side of the cliff.

"It's the dwarrowdam and the human woman!" a voice called out from our side, and I jumped when a dwarf with spiked up hair walked out of the brush to our left.

"What the-"

Varis ignored by blatant shock and shoved the dwarf into a trunk with her arm pressed into his throat. "Master Nori! What in Mahal do you think you're doing, spying on women like ourselves?"

A few other dwarves had backtracked and were walking up to us with grim looks on their faces. I noticed that Bilbo looked rather sheepish with the results of his warnings to Varis, which made me throw the poor guy a grin for good measure.

"What in Mahal's name do you think you are doing?" Thorin grumped, stalking forward. His glare seemed to deepen more and more with each step he took.

I scratched the back of my neck with a shrug. "We are… uhm.."

"I am going to visit my kin in the Iron Hills, Master Dwarf," Varis cordially claimed, grasping her ax at her side with a white-knuckled grip. "It seems that we are following the same path."

Obviously, he didn't seem to believe a word that came from her mouth.

"Why are you following us?" Dwalin demanded, stepping up to stand at Thorin's side.

Varis sighed. "I told you before-"

"So it just happens you got the idea in your head to visit your kin in the Iron Hills after a band of dwarves stopped in Imladris?" Thorin interrogated.

I looked at Varis and saw a hint of mischief in her eyes. I would bet my backside that the Oakendork noticed it too.

"I guess it is just good timing on our part," she continued. "How wonderful is it that we are able to take refuge with this large band of dwarves, Lady Persephone?"

I bit my lip to hide the laugh that dared to try and escape. "It is very wonderful, indeed."

One of the older dwarves snorted behind our interrogators, and I smiled at Balin as he walked over with a knowing grin on his face. "It is nice to see you once again, Lassies."

"You as well, Master Balin," Varis spoke.

"Why would you decide to follow us?" Fili, one of the younger dwarves, asked.

I took the moment to admire his golden hair, even though it didn't really have the same effect on me that a certain elf always seemed to arise.

"You're finding yourself on a very dangerous quest, Lass," the dwarf named Gloin, I think, said.

I snorted. "This is hardly something I would call a dangerous quest."

Varis coughed out a laugh. "Yes, nothing dangerous here. We are simply venturing-"

"To the Iron Hills?" Kili finished, eying the red-headed dwarrowdam with the precision of a marksman. "And who are you planning on visiting there? I believe you told us that you have never lived in dwarven halls?"

She pursed her lips, eyes flickering over to me. "We… we need to seek Lord Dain, I believe it is something about an urgent message that Lord Elrond has for him."

Thorin's eyebrows furrowed, molding into his scowl. "Whatever Lord Elrond needs to discuss with my cousin can be discussed with me. Once we take back Erebor-"

"It's a trade agreement between the Elves in Middle Earth and the eastern dwarven halls," I quickly spoke, later having to avoid clapping myself on the back and hiding a smile for my quick thinking.

"Dwarves would never trade with those tree shaggers," Dwalin spat.

Thorin, for his part, looked just as thunderous.

Maybe I said the wrong thing?

"Elves have betrayed us in the past, this shall be no different," Thorin declared. I nearly facepalmed. Boy, I definitely messed that one up.

"Well, I don't think-"

"The elves among Thranduil's Realm hold no bearing upon those in the other realms, King Thorin. I have seen it myself," Varis insisted. "Lord Elrond and the Lady Galadriel-"

"That Elf Witch?" Gloin spat, cuing a glare of my own.

"Oi! Careful who you're calling a witch, short stack!"

Varis rubbed her forehead and let out a long sigh. "We have no quarrel with the elves or with you, Master Dwarves."

Gloin let out a grunt. "Perhaps you should remind that human woman about where your priorities lie."

I rolled my eyes. Obviously, he was still salty from when Varis kicked his ass. "I'm not human, doofus."

The dwarves blinked. "What's a doofus?" Ori, a younger dwarf with honest eyes, asked.

I opened my mouth but was cut off by Varis smacking my shoulder. "I do not think you should answer that."

Gloin's face turned red at her words, and he turned to give me a stern glare. "Why I oughta-"

"What do you mean, not human?" Thorin's deep voice rumbled past Gloin's harsh words.

Varis placed a hand on my shoulder. "We should sit down and discuss this. In order for Lady Persephone to give you the entire story, it will take some time."

Thorin's glare turned icy. "Or you could give us the short version and explain why we should not send you both back."

I leaned back against the trunk of a tree. "I am half god, half mortal-"

"Impossible!"

I looked over to where Dori, the overprotective mother hen dwarf, was pulling Ori behind him with a firm glare. "Actually I like to think that it's kinda possible because, well, here I am."

"How do we know you are who you claim to be?" Balin asked with curiosity.

I shrugged, but Varis coughed at my side to gain my attention. "Lady Persephone could give you a display of her powers."

"Are these powers how you were able to best Lord Glorfindel?" Balin asked.

I pursed my lips. "Can we not talk about him? And no, I beat him with my awesome swordsmanship that… well, I suppose it does have to do with me being half god and quicker and stronger than a normal human, but-"

"What god created you?" Thorin interrupted.

I raised a brow. "Posiedon, the god of the seas."

Dwalin scoffed. "Never heard of him."

Varis choked out a laugh.

"Sucks to suck, I guess." I shrugged at the dwarf, who was now closer to fuming than before.

"Just show them what you can do," Varis insisted.

I threw her a look. "It's not like they'd actually believe the truth, you know."

"Maybe it will help you explain if they can see it for themselves."

I scoffed. "Stop talking sense, Varis. It's totally unbecoming of you."

"Do the two of you always act like this?" Kili asked, after following our conversation like one would a tennis match.

Varis glared at the young dwarf. "Are you always this irritating?"

Fili snickered behind Kili as the dark-haired dwarf smirked at Varis. "Of course, my dear Lady."

Thorin let out a hiss. "Why should I not make the two of you turn back?"

I grinned. "Because you don't want a dwarrowdam in the hands of the elves?"

He grit his teeth. "I can still force you to leave this company."

"As far as I know, Varis and I are not a part of the Company, which means there is no reason why you should have any say in what either of us does."

Dwalin let out a growl, but his brother grabbed his shoulder. "She is not wrong."

Varis crossed her arms at my side. "And would it not be safer if we have an entire company of brave dwarves to protect us the majority of our way to the Iron Hills?"

Oh yeah, and that too.

"We would still need to see a display of these powers you claim to have," Dwalin insisted, crossing his arms firmly.

I blinked.

Varis gave me a look. "Perhaps it would not be against our best interests if you were to show them what you can do."

"It will just make them want to kill me!"

"We are standing right here," Bofur deadpanned.

We ignored him. "And besides, it's not like there's any water around here, anyway!"

Ori raised his hand. "Actually, we are all carrying waterskins that have been recently filled with water, Lady Persephone."

"Aye, and dwarrow kind do not need to drink much to get by," Bofur said, before giving Varis a sly wink. "At least, we don't need to drink water to get by, right Lass?"

Varis rolled her eyes, but the twitch of her lips spoke of her addiction to ale well enough.

I decided that if I was going to join these dwarves on their wild adventure, then I might as well go all in. Well, not all in, because that would be awkward, but I suppose I could be a bit more forthcoming with my abilities and stuff. Hopefully, they'd trust me a bit more.

Or, they would decide to not trust me at all and think I was a threat to their very existence, but I decided to have higher hopes than that.

Varis, the very closed off dwarrowdam that lost her mother and home in one harsh blow ended up becoming one of my closest friends.

I let out a sigh and felt a familiar tug in my gut as I focused on the waterskin Bofur was now holding out with a curious look on his face. I guess it's time to blow their caps off.

Pun intended.

The cap of the waterskin was forcibly removed and burst off as I flicked my hand and the water came rushing out, making the unassuming dwarves all swear and watch in shock.

"Now take a close look, Master Dwarves," I announced, making the water move into different shapes as it flowed around their heads. "My father, Poseidon, has control over water and passed that trait down to me."

I let out a flow of energy to bring the water back to me, just as Bilbo's face was too white to be safe. Poor guy.

It formed a sword and I clasped it in my hand, grinning as their eyes were all bugging out of their heads. Varis, however, was standing cross-armed and watching with a rather smug grin on her face.

"Who is this Poseidon you speak of, Lass?" Balin inquired, his face weary but still alight with curiosity. "In all my years I have never heard of a god such as he."

I wordlessly let Bofur's water filter back into his waterskin and watched as the others followed its movements with awe.

Balin, Thorin, and Dwalin seemed to be the only ones with their eyes focused on me. I watched as the gears were turning behind their eyes, calculating, thinking over whether I was a threat.

I knew after many years of being treated harshly by those who look like me, it was likely they would assume the worst.

But luckily for me, Varis was here too.

"She's not from this world, Master Balin," Varis spoke, moving forward to stand at my side and place a firm hand up on my shoulder. "It is true, Tharkun and the High Elves have deemed it so."

Thorin's face turned into a sneer. "And why should we trust the words of the elves?"

She blinked. "You would not trust the wizard who has given you guidance on this quest?"

He became thunderous. "What do you know of this quest?"

Before we could save our hides from the Dwarven King's wrath, Balin chimed in, "And what exactly are you doing following us? We are not dumb enough to believe your lies, Lass."

I sighed. "Perhaps we can discuss this over some food. I'm starving."

"You're not in a position to be tellin' us what to do-"

I looked at Dwalin and let a wicked grin slowly seep over my features. "I'm afraid you're wrong, Master Dwarf. Besides, I'd like to explain how I will be able to assist you in your journey. This is not the first quest I've been on before, you see."

Varis nodded eagerly. "She's been through plenty of things before, even in the past few years-"

I let out a cough. "Maybe we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, mellon."

The dwarves, however, had moved to stand in a huddle and bickered amongst themselves of whether or not they would be willing to hear us out. Among the top refuters, I noticed, was Gloin and Dwalin.

They were going to be a rush, I just knew it.

"Even if you don't hear us out we're still gonna follow you," I called out, crossing my arms with a smirk. "It's not like we haven't done it before."

They broke apart, and for his part, Thorin let out a long-suffering sigh. "Very well then. But if we decide to make you go back to the elves after listening to you, then you must own your loss and leave our company."

Varis shifted at my side. This was her one shot, her one chance to prove herself to her kin, and if I blew it-

"We have an agreement, King Thorin," Varis spoke.

I looked at her in slight shock. "You're sure?"

She let out a low chuckle. "If you tell them even a fraction of what you've told me over these years, I'm sure they're going to be begging you to help."

We decidedly ignored the scoffs that came from a few unsavory dwarves.

"Looks like I have some explaining to do."

"They do have to feed us, too. At least you will be getting some food out of this deal, Persie."

I nodded, and we started to follow the still wary dwarves to their camp. "If it's pizza I think I'll marry the whole lot of them."

"Pizza?"

"You don't know what pizza is? For shame!"

Balin stayed behind, waiting for our small conversation to be done with all the politeness of one so close to a King. Well, at least the politeness of I assume one would need if they were in such a high position, but-

Oh, whatever.

Balin's polite, some other dwarves aren't, namely the greying dwarf's brother that resembled a brick shit house.

And a certain King, but I've learned not to be too choosy.

"Are you ready, Lady Persephone, Miss Varis?"

I nodded and walked forward into yet another group of people I was going to have to please.

Let's just hope this goes better than last time.