Arwen lead the trio through the halls of Rivendell, touring them of the best places. Kara was awestruck at the designs, the pillars, the intricate details in every little object...all of it was amazing. She had been raised to hate elves purely for what happened between them and her uncle, but these ones seemed harmless and not how the tales described them to be.
"This is amazing." She breathed.
"It's our world." Arwen answered with a small smile.
"We should go outside." Elrohir suggested, running over to the four with his brother behind him. "We looked; Thorin and those other two dwarves, the white bearded one and his brother, are out near the lake."
"What's the lake?" Fili asked.
"We'll show you." Elladen chimed in. "It's a good area because Thorin is sat near the lake against the wall to the hall so we can grab a bucket from the plank and fill it up there, and then go round the back and climb up."
"You've done this before." Kili said with a smirk, raising an eyebrow as the twins vigorously nodded in unison.
"We have." They simultaneously declared before sending a snigger to one another at their echoed response.
Kara clapped her hands in excitement. "Let's do this thing."
They followed Arwen out of a large archway that two of Gandalf probably wouldn't even reach the height of and around the outside of the kingdom which in all honesty was even more beautiful. She wasn't sure whether it was the waterfalls, the bridges or just being able to see everything from one viewpoint by the time they made it to the edge of a large drop that Arwen had led them up, but whatever it was she didn't want to go back to looking at grimy caves and rain all day.
"So how do we get down there?" Kara asked, narrowing her eyes skeptically as she peered over the edge at the beautiful lake. She could see from up top that it was a mix of turquoise and light blue. She was jealous that not in a million years would she be able to get a pool to look that good back home. There was a large plank of wood floating in the middle of the water too, presumably tied to something under the lake to stay there but it looked like it contained items. She supposed thats where Elladan meant for them to get the bucket from.
"Well there's a path that leads down the side and to the bottom." She explained before Elladan and Elrohir both sprinted forward and leapt off of the edge. Kara could see the splashes that the water produced when they landed in there. "Or you can go that way." Their sister laughed, turning back to the trio with her hands on her hips.
Fili and Kili sent a glance to one another, speaking in the brainwaves that they always seemed to before simultaneously running and doing exactly what the twins did not seconds earlier.
Arwen smiled at Kara. "We can take the path if you're afraid of heights."
"What are you waiting for?" Fili yelled up.
"It's amazing!" Kili shouted in addition, falling back into the water to soak his hair and Kara shook her head.
"I'm not afraid of heights." She decided, sending a grin to the elf before the two girls jumped off of the edge and whooped as they fell through the air. When Kara hit the water she was surprised at how warm it was immediately surrounded by bubbles. She kicked to the surface, flailing out her arms into a cheer as the others laughed and decided to splash one another.
They began to swim over to the plank of wood and messily clambered on, water dripping from her clothes. She removed her shoes, grimacing at how much they would be uncomfortable to wear unless she dried them and dumped them in the middle as the others did the same.
They continued the enjoyment, Kara pushing her youngest brother in who scowled and splashed at her as Elrohir fell sideways in after him from a push from Arwen. The two older brothers got their revenge and pulled the two girls in by the leg as Fili and Elladen chuckled and leapt in once again after them.
There was a moment where the six held hands, ran and jumped, whooping before they hit the water. Kara adored the feeling of being surrounded by bubbles as her hair floated beside her, for once not in the neat braids that her uncle liked to see her in.
They began to dive in too, making sure all six ended up in the water before they got back on the plank, a rule that they made because it involved pushing in and splashing and most of all, fun. They floated in a circle, savouring the luxurious feeling of the blue on their skin.
Elladen began to soak his hair out, Arwen falling into him as both laughed. Kara bent over when she felt Fili's arms throw themselves around her neck in enjoyment and she grinned. In the next moment all six hung their legs over the edge of the plank, feet dipping into the water as they continued to throw splashes at one another to the side. Kara, taking the moment to relieve her mind from all calamities, leant over and rested her head on Kili's shoulder whose hands were against the wood so he was leant back slightly and could throw his head back to flick away the water. It was one of those treasurable minutes where she wished that she could freeze time.
Kara held up the tooth in her hands in the direction of the sunlight, squinting her eyes to study it properly before smiling and handing it back to Elrohir who tucked it in his soaking wet pocket.
"That is so cool." She commented, not moving from the comfortable position lying down on the plank. The sun rays were in her direction at this moment and she was savouring the warmth.
"Look at all this stuff." Kili observed, emptying some of the buckets as he searched around and pulled out a mask. "Woah. That's a lot of scuba gear."
"That's all of the equipment that we use when we dive down into the caves." Arwen told him as she sat up from her position lying next to Kara, propping herself onto her elbows.
"There are caves here?" Fili questioned.
"Many." Arwen pointed to the water. "Under this lake, anyway. When you guys are done on the quest you should come back here and we can check it out."
"So you've been?"
"I only went as far as the first cave. It's dangerous and pretty insane down there."
"But it's really cool." Elladan declared with a smirk.
"Before I came here I didn't think elves had a life." Kara stated with a smile.
"Before dwarves came here I thought all they cared about was mining in caves." Arwen said after. "I guess we have both been proven wrong."
Elrohir tipped a bucket upside down, a bunch of tangled masks falling into a pile so there was a free bucket. "We should do it before they leave."
The other five murmured their agreements and slid back into the water, swimming to the edge where Elrohir handed the bucket to Kili who scooped up enough water that it was full to nearly the brim, knowing as they walked they would spill a lot.
"Did you say we're going to climb up round the back?" Kara asked for conformation.
"Yes. You and Arwen will watch around the wall and tell Fili and Kili when to tip it."
"Oh, and what will you be doing?" Arwen hissed to her brother.
"We'll be making sure Fili and Kili don't fall." He muttered with a shrug as Arwen rolled her eyes at his antics and lead the way around the back. Kara could see Thorin sat against the wall, looking more stressed than ever as Balin and Dwalin stood in front with their arms crossed. Kara hoped, if part of it was because he was guilty about what happened to her, this would let him know that she was back to normal.
"Up there." Arwen pointed once they made it around the back of the shed to the ladder that lead to the flat roof. Kili began to climb, Fili following with his hand at the bottom of the bucket to balance it until they finally made it to the top.
Kara's fingers wrapped around the edge of the wall and she tried to listen to the conversation occuring. She made out a couple of words:
"Kara...idiot...Dis will kill..."
She rolled her eyes at him and casually strolled around the wall. He immediately stopped talking when he noticed her approaching. "Hey uncle. Would you like to come and swim in the lake? It's really warm!"
Thorin smiled at her but shook his head. "No thank you, Kara. I really don't want to get we..." He could hear the water falling above him before actually feeling it smack onto his head, dripping down his hair to make him look like a drowned cat.
Arwen rounded the corner open mouthed as Kara clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound of laughing, peering up at her brothers.
Thorin glared angrily above him. "Kili! Get down here now!" he screamed as the archer closed his eyes tightly and placed a hand on the side of his face as he grinned. "Fili! If you are up there too come forth!"
"You're getting the blame." Fili declared as they rounded the corner side by side.
"Don't I always?" Kili asked with a sigh. "You'd better not say it was me."
Fili nodded and the duo moved to stand by their sister against the wall, as far back from Thorin as possible who turned his eyes that lacked impress off of his niece and onto his nephews.
Fili quickly spoke, not enjoying the pressure. "It was Kili."
"Fili!" Kili hissed, elbowing his brother hard in the stomach.
Thorin turned his eyes onto each of them, noticing that behind the faces that were trying not to burst out laughing was pure exhaustion and the desperation for a little bit of fun. And so he turned to Balin and Dwalin who flickered their eyes to the top in question as Thorin dipped his head slightly, trying not to seem too obvious. For today, for this moment, he would let them and himself feel some enjoyment.
Fili, Kili and Kara gulped, presuming that Thorin was going to give them a 'we are in the middle of an elven kingdom which you know for a fact that I hate, after one of you has just been mortally injured, can you not get tied up in Kili's reckless schemes?' talk, some of which happened on the daily but instead they felt a smack of water land on their own heads, soaking them even more than they were.
Kara opened her mouth and looked up at Balin and Dwalin who offered a wave from over the edge. "I'm too old for this." Balin grumbled.
"Where did you get that water from?!" She yelled as she squeezed some water from her heavy locks.
Dwalin head gestured to Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen who peeped around the wall in unison, one head on top of the other as Kara blinked in hurt.
"Betrayers!" She shouted before chasing after them when they sprinted away in the direction of the lake. "You're so dead!"
Thorin, Fili and Kili followed quickly and jumped back in the lake where they began to try and overpower one another. Thorin had never thought that he would willingly splash an elf but at the feeling of his muscles relaxing he honestly didn't mind. Kara embraced the feeling of freedom that she knew her uncle felt and was happy that their prank had gone in that direction instead of how they usually ended up, which was never this enjoyable.
The next day Thorin Oakenshield demanded that they sneak away early, although he was shattered from his lack of sleep but he didn't tell anybody of this fact. He wanted to get out of Rivendell and that was that...what more was there to say?
Kara was quite sad when she exited through the doors though, and tightened an arm around her stomach. "I'm gonna miss this place." She admitted out loud which wasn't supposed to happen and the company around her all glanced at her simultaneously.
"Why?" Dwalin scoffed. "Have you tasted the food?"
"It's green!" Ori exclaimed in disgust. "They didn't even have any chips!"
"Not the food." Kara argued. "The elves."
Gloin scoffed. "Elves? You're going to miss the elves?"
"They're not as bad as you think."
"No. They're worse." Bofur grumbled. Kara laughed and nudged him playfully as the toymaker took his hat off and bowed, making her roll her eyes and purposely run away from him though he knew it was his friend being playful.
"Do you think I'm protective?" Fili asked his brother as the two walked side by side at the back of the company.
"Let me answer your question with a question. Do you count how many hours of sleep Kara has every night?"
Fili frowned. "That's not being protective, that's just good health sense."
Kili threw his hands in the air. "And my role in this conversation ends now."
They made it to the pile of newly sharpened, almost immaculate weapons that Thorin has laid out where he told them to meet him and watched their sister delve into the pile and pull out her dagger that she was shocked to find had a broken hilt. "Oh no!" She exclaimed. "My knife!"
Kili laughed. "See this is why we love you Kara. All the girls back home are like 'oh no, my makeup!'"
Fili nudged his brother who abruptly shut up as Kara rolled her eyes and shoved it into her little sheath attached to her belt. "Looks like I don't have a dagger."
"Kara you have like twenty." Fili told her.
"Twenty knives, not daggers."
"Here lass, have mine." Bofur threw her a dagger and she tilted her head.
"No. It's yours."
"I broke yours by accident. I used it to kill an orc because you dropped it after you were un...uh, in your condition, so I picked it up and I'm not sure I should explain how it broke because I really don't want to be taking that trip down memory lane."
Kara tilted her head, narrowing her eyes skeptically as Bofur awkwardly looked to the side. She chuckled and slid it into her belt. "You have another one right?"
"Aye."
"Ok. Thanks Bofur."
Once her uncle arrived, dressed in his usual furs as Orcist shined brightly from inside his sheath he declared it time to leave and she followed not as eagerly as everyone else. With one final look behind her shoulder to the beautiful city of Rivendell, guilt gnawing at her heat for just packing up and leaving with no announcement, she turned around and didn't dare give any more peers over her shoulder and followed the company to where, she did not know.
A violent storm came to pass as the company continued their drooling journey across many different horizons, the one at that current moment happening to be the edge of a cliff that her uncle insisted they should brave, but now he was beginning to regret it.
Kara looked to the side when she heard a crack and cringed as the force of the hammering sent a large chunk of the stone that they were carefully hurrying across plummeting down the drop. What worried her was that if someone fell nobody would even question whether they were a goner, for it was fairly obvious - the bottom was unseeable for mahals sake!
The vigorous storm knocked Bilbo off of his balance and Kara's thought trail about the earlier matter was barely ended in time for her to lunge forward and grab hold of his sleeve before yanking him back. He shot her a grateful smile which she didn't return for she was waiting impatiently to hear of her uncle's next move.
"We must find shelter!" He called back to his companions.
If there was a stating the obvious sport uncle you would win a gold medal Kara thought with a scoff as she wiped some damp hair away from her blurry eyes. Maybe pouring water over their heads hadn't been such a good idea, for surely this was what it felt like.
"Look out!" Dwalin suddenly yelled, sending her into high alert and she watched in horror as a large stone bolder flew from out of nowhere in their direction and it hit the mountain above them, shattering bits of stone over everyone's heads.
"This is no thunderstorm!" Balin informed them frantically. "It's a thunder battle! Look!"
She did said order and watched a giant stone figure break another of his kind furiously and she grimaced, cowering against the back of the mountain for everyone had paused now. There wasn't exactly anywhere to walk to though.
"Well bless me..." Bofur began as he ambled forward and watched the giant calamities in awe. "The legends are true. Giants! Stone giants!"
"Take cover you fool!" Thorin yelled as he looked worriedly around for his nephews and niece whilst the stone giants began hurling gigantic rocks towards one another.
Kara looked down, noticing the crack that was forming in between her and Kili and she panicked. "What's happening?" The brunette asked, glancing around in confusion at the crumbling ground beneath them.
"Kili!" Kara exclaimed in a panic as she reached forward desperately, Fili's hand wrapping around her wrist from behind her to stop her from falling forward. "Grab my hand!"
Her brother attempted to do so but it was vain and he stumbled back before he fell trying to reach for his little sister. She stared in horror as her brother was dragged further and further away from her with the moving ground, the exact same expression mirrored on his face.
Fili grabbed her and shoved her behind him so she was uncomfortably sandwiched between the mountain and him which she wasn't particularly enjoying for she wanted to see what was happening to Kili and the others but also logically realised that if she shoved him away he would fall so she kept herself in the helpless position and restrained doing so, although it was rather tempting.
The mountain that they were stood on suddenly came to life and arose from his position lying back before attacking the other one that stood high in front of him. The screams emitting from the company bombarded her ears but no sound arose from her own throat, for she was too shocked to even move. Not that she could for Fili was so stubborn the lock he had her in seemed to be made of steel.
The knee she appeared to be stood on crashed into the mountain side and the company openly seized that opportunity and hastily made their way off and onto the other thin mountain ledge where they continued to run, hoping with everything that they were in fact not stood atop a moving limb but that idea was dropped when they carried on moving higher and lower with the rhythm of the giants. Fili's iron grip had transformed onto Kara's wrist as he yanked her along, and she was starting to feel a little like a ragdoll.
The stone creatures began to destroy each other as one swung a fist and knocked a head off before his own head got knocked off because of a bolder hurled in his direction by the third one. All Kara knew was that the others were alive as they swung in front of them before her group was suddenly face to face with the side of the mountain, moving at an alarming speed towards it and she began to panic that they would get crushed. She could visibly see a ledge that everybody began to leap onto and she followed suit after a panicked shout from Fili. She collapsed to the ground in relief as the company landed in a messy pile.
Thorin's distant screams for her and Fili rung in her ears and she sighed in relief when he rounded the corner, a gesture he reflected when he saw them alive and he briefly closed his eyes to allow the solace to wash over him.
"Are you ok?" Kili asked as he helped Kara to her feet.
"I'm fine. You?"
"I'm good. You're shivering."
"Of course I am!" She exclaimed. "It's freezing!"
"We'll get you wrapped up." Fili spoke up from behind her.
"Will you two worry about yourselves for once? I'm ok!" She stressed. "You're both so protective!"
"Both?" Fili asked with a slight smirk.
Kili raised an eyebrow. "At least I don't count how many times she chews each mouthful." Kara raised her eyebrows. "Or how many times she pisses a day."
"Say what?"
"Nothing." Fili hissed bitterly. "Come and join us inside and get warm. Your stomach can't be completely healed so it's fair enough if we worry about you." The elven magic had healed her stomach completely and she felt absolutely fine but didn't have the energy to argue, her body still slightly in shock from the events of less than a minute ago.
Kara looked at her raven-haired brother questioningly who was smiling, trying to hide his brewing laughter as they strolled side by side into the cave.
"Where's Bilbo?" The voice from behind her caught her attention and she spun back around on her toes, followed closely by the dwarves in front of her. "Where's the hobbit?"
They whipped their heads back and forth looking for him until they noticed the pair of hands clinging on for dear life and the hobbit dangling off of the edge of the cliff with a calm yet shocked expression plastered on his innocent face. Panicked shouts and reaches for him began until Thorin hopped off of the edge and helped haul him up. Kara reached down and with the combined efforts of her and Dwalin yanked her uncle up and he angily brushed himself off.
"I thought we'd lost our burglar." Dwalin declared, a rare show of relief shining in his eyes.
"He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us." Thorin grumbled with a bitter glare towards Bilbo who looked visibly struck by this comment.
Kara frowned at the look of hurt on Bilbo's face and the way his arms unconfidently dropped and she shifted. "That's harsh, uncle. Take that back! He got us out of the troll incident; something you couldn't do!"
"And who got us into that mess?" Thorin snapped as he shifted to face her. "Whose side are you on? You know, I have gone out of my way to drag your lazy butt into this company, so don't make me sorry I did so. I can reverse it; send yo..."
"Thorin!" Kili hissed, stopping him in his rant and he turned to his nephew. "Stop it! Just...leave her alone." Thorin stared at Kili in shock before turning to Kara and noticing her expression of utter hurt. Regret and guilt mixed together and immediately made themselves welcome in different areas throughout his body.
"I'm sorry, niece." He murmured as she swallowed and looked up from the floor though she didn't meet his gaze when he tried to find it. "I didn't mean that. I'm just stressed. I don't know what's going to happen." Nobody made to move and he shook his head in annoyance. The exiled king put an arm around Kara, leading her into the cave. "Can we just go? Please?"
Fili and Kili glanced at each other in sympathy before following as the rest of the company trailed behind, nobody sure what to say.
The situation seemed unfixable in that one moment.
Okay! Thorin, you meanie! I nearly made this chapter the length of until half way through goblin town but then I split the really long chapter in half and I'll post the next one way sooner than this one. Like in a few days. College started up again so I'm more busy now which is kinda sad!
Did you like the prank? At least Thorin took it well hehe.
What do you think? Goodbye for now devils... ;)
Hope you enjoyed! :)