Disclaimer: I don't own any familiar characters, and or anything pertaining to the world of the Hobbit. All, but my ocs, are owned by J.R.R Tolkien

Chapter Four

Pleasant Dreams and Dull Realities

Claudia

Her name floated in the air. She felt weightless in the void. Black swallowed her whole, leaving her alone.

Claudia

The warmth of a voice curled in the shell of her ear sending a shiver down her spine. She gasped, icy vines intertwining between her ribs crushing them together. Her brows furrowed with confusion as she tried to find the outline of someone in the darkness.

"Hello?" Claudia called out to the abyss.

The silence was deafening, painfully ringing in her ears. A gentle breeze passed behind her, causing her to spin, directionless, in place.

"It's been far too long, Claudia." The voice felt more solid this time as it spoke.

Desperately searching for some sense, Claudia called out.

"Who are you?"

From the void, a deep velvety chuckle came. Squinting her eyes, Claudia could make out a phantom smile in the shadows. "I know it's been a while, but surely you haven't forgotten your first friend?" Icy fingers brushed her shoulder.

An unseen light revealed a familiar cloaked figure. Eyes the color of the river of gold that flowed through her mountain, pierced through the darkness first. Like prey being watched by a predator Claudia froze. She knew those eyes, and had been all too familiar with the voice. A strong ring covered hand reached just above the golden eyes, pulling away the darkness to reveal the rest of the strangers face. His features, unlike the dwarven men she knew, were long and thin. His nose was straight and determined. Thick eyebrows set over his playful eyes. His tawny skin reminded Claudia of the tiger eye gem that was pulled from deep within the mines. A thin golden ring sat perched on his lower lip. Mischief and mystery radiated from him in waves. He was just as he had been when Claudia first met him sixteen years ago.

"Thallian." Claudia gasped backing away from the imposing creature.

A smile curled on his lips, the golden ring splitting his full lip. "I am glad you've not forgotten me completely my dear." His hand caught hers, he bent down pressing his lips to her skin, the lip ring grazing the top of her hand.

The memory of a young Claudia left crying by herself as her siblings earned the unabashed affection of everyone they encountered, and a cloaked figure coming to comfort her came rushing back. Thallian had been there at every low point in her short life. Though she had once brushed him off as a daydream- created as a result of her childhood loneliness- the figure before her said otherwise.

"Why are you here?' Claudia questioned, still defensive with the dream-man before her.

Clicking his tongue, Thallian shook his head. He looked younger than she remembered. The last time Claudia had seen him it had been after her grandmother's funeral. She had finally escaped the clutches of her family and fellow mourners. Claudia sat quietly under her mother's willow tree, staring up at the midnight sky wondering for the millionth time what life outside of their mountain was like. Tears she thought had dried up, once again renewed as she cried for what she had lost. Dis had been the only person she felt like understood her, and Claudia was once again left alone.

He hadn't shown himself that night, but she had felt his presence. Closing her eyes she had been reassured by his words and stories that had breathed happiness into her sadness. Though he didn't seem real, it didn't matter to Claudia.

"I told you that I'd come back when you needed me too. And from what I've seen you need me." He confessed.

Claudia crossed her arms, her chin held up with damaged pride. "And what exactly have you seen?"

"You have so much potential, and they don't see any of it. Pity, really." His finger hooked her chin forcing her to look into the ever-shifting shadows that covered him.

"You aren't real, this is a dream. " Claudia snapped, pulling away from the phantom's touch.

Thallian held up his hands in defense. "Perhaps I am merely a dream, little bird," he leaned in, the strange warmth of his body invading her space, "but aren't I a sweet dream."

Claudia's eyes widened, her cheeks flushed at his claim. She looked away from the golden eye man.

A chuckle shook the phantom's wide shoulders. "I am here to help, little bird."

He turned from Claudia the waves of his short ebony hair flowing behind him. Glancing at her, he motioned for her to follow him. Though uncertainty rang through her, Claudia followed. Waving his hand in a half-circle motion above his head, sparks gold fell from his hands sticking to the black creating the outline of a door. Thallian had used magic around her in her younger years, creating shows of furry little critters. It had reminded her of the show of lights Gandalf had given to Rowan on her fifteenth birthday, though this was more controlled and intense.

Reaching forward Thallian pulled on the door, a dim light touched Claudia's eyes. Claudia turned away from the light, giving herself time to adjust. The sound of rushing water filled the silence around them. Opening her eyes, Claudia was welcomed by the flora and fauna of an unknown forest. She gasped, taken back by the intense greenery that surrounded them. In the heart of a small valley, they were surrounded by jagged and misshapen stone, vibrant moss clothed the stone. A well-sized water fell into the grotto below, murky water moving into still waters at the edges.

Now bathed in the full light, Claudia took in the full figure of Thallian. His worn cloak was the color of the void that had once consumed them, its edges unraveling slowly but surely. The curls of his hair were glossy and neatly kept.

"What is that place?" Claudia inquired and examined the world around her. It was unlike anything she had seen before. It was far too bright to be the forest of Mirkwood, and trees were far too bright to belong to the ones surrounding Dale and Erebor.

Raising his hand, a long stone-colored staff appeared in Thanllian's open palm.

"Do you know why I choose you, little bird?" Thallian asked, bringing the tip of the staff to the surface of the water. Slowly he traced strange sigils over the water without touching it. Claudia, curious, stood on the balls of her feet and tried to make out what the strange man was doing. Golden eyes looked up to meet her grey ones.

"I saw something in you, I have never seen in another soul before. The moment I found you, I knew you were special." He smiled.

Claudia snorted. The brows framing his face rose in surprise. "Don't believe me? I thought we agreed a long time ago that we would always tell each other the truth?" There was no mirth in his voice.

If you wanted special, you picked the wrong sister. Claudia thought, her eyes focused on the ground. His palm reached forward, closing the gap between them. The skin of his palm, rough and calloused, rubbed against the roundness of her cheek. His finger traced the length of her jawbone before caught her chin between the lengths of his fingers. Forcing her to look at him.

"You're nothing compared to your sisters, you know it's true." He tapped her chin lightly.

"But to me, you are everything. You have a destiny." He released her, motioning toward the water.

To her amazement, the water flickered as images appeared and disappeared. Moments of her life passed by in seconds. She watched her first time training with a sword with Dwalin. The days she spent in Thorin's study reading. Her sisters' sweet laughter as Kili embarrassed Theo. Long walks with Dag after a fight with her mother. Her first kiss with Brand. A blonde-haired elf kissing her hand. The moments of her life faded into unfamiliar scenes; a battle passing in a bloody shower, a black dagger raised to a darkened sky, the embers of campfire floating toward the heavens, as six faceless strangers sat around it laughing and rejoicing in each other's company.

The light squeeze of her shoulder broke her focus. She raised a hand to her cheek realizing a single tear rolled down it. She looked up, finding that the gold eyes were glowing, mesmerized by the sight Claudia failed to notice that the world around her began to darken again. Thallian held her shoulders, shaking her lightly as she spoke.

"I chose you for a reason, Claudia. It is so bright in you, compared to your sisters. That's why it has to be you. Glory is your destiny, little bird. Go to Rivendell. That's where your journey will begin." The voice reverberated in her ear and struck her soul. Her mouth dried and no words came to mind. She nodded.

"Trust no one, little bird."

She blinked and Thallian was gone.