Chapter 4: Lost and half dead.
"Unsaddle the ponies, let them return to their master." Gandalf said, I was staring at the trees, knowing what was coming to us in a few days and hours.
"This forest... Feels sick." Bilbo observed, I wanted to follow, but felt butterflies growing stronger and stronger. I watched as Gandalf began to look around the forest entrance, pausing as he found the statue of the Queen, with the red eye of Sauron painted on it.
"Not my horse, I need it!" The Wizard called, striding over to his mount and pulling himself onto it. "No matter what happens, stay on the path." He called, riding off into the distance as rain pattered, clinking off the Dwarves weapons.
"Come on, Durin's day will soon be upon us." Thorin shouted, beginning the convoy into the forest, I was at the back behind Bilbo, who also didn't look too happy about going in.
Along the way, I think I began to realise that simply hitting the ground with axes wasn't going to keep us on the path for very long. I sat down on one of the tree roots and shed my socks and boots, allowing the cold of the stone to permeate my feet. It felt good after hours of blindly following Dwarves, Bilbo looked down at my feet before shaking his head.
"That isn't going to work, I can't feel anything on my feet." He said, I shrugged and took a few step, feeling the difference between the hard, cold of the stone and the soft, wetness of the ground.
"My feet are a little more sensitive." I replied, he nodded and allowed me to go ahead of him, following me rather than the Dwarves. "Shouldn't they be following us?" I asked, he shrugged this time and jabbed Dori in the shoulder, the Dwarf gave him a dazed look.
"The path goes this way." He said, Dori nodded and told the others, who then began to follow behind me.
"We stop here for the night." Thorin said, his eyes glazed over with the poison of the forest. I nodded and sat down on the path, eyes still wide open as I tried to keep myself awake. "Get some rest, all of you... I shall keep watch."
Something about that didn't reassure me in the slightest.
It felt like minutes later when Dwalin kicked me awake, saying that we were ready to go. I rubbed my eyes and got up, Looking around and seeing that they were indeed ready to go, but we're waiting for me to lead them. With a yawn, I began to walk again, feeling stones and loose bits of the path digging into and cutting my feet, no one noticed and no one stopped me.
"This way." Nori said, having hit his boot against so!e stone, thinking it was the path. Without looking back at me, the others followed him without question, I hadn't noticed this and had kept walking, stopping when I heard no one else's footsteps behind me.
"Guys?" I called, a frown marring my face. "Guys where did you all go?" No response. I sighed and sat down, taking in the disgusting sight of my feet with a roll of my eyes and a sigh. "Thanks for listening you morons." I stayed sat down for a few more hours... Minutes? I don't know, but however long I waited, the Dwarves and Bilbo didn't come back... They had truly abandoned me.
In my chest, I felt panic, but it wasn't my panic I was feeling, it was Fili's. He was scared about something and there was jack squat I could do about it, a part of me blamed Nori for leading them away, the rest blamed me for not stopping them and for not paying more attention. The panic began to rise as my own added to it, something was coming closer and closer to me, footsteps hitting the ground softly as they approached. I heard speech, I didn't recognise it as Khuzdul or common, it must have been Elvish then, it must have been Sindarin.
"Girl? Are you alone?" A strong male voice asked, a bow in the blonde's hand, a quiver on his back.
"Why have you got brother Kili's weapon?" I replied weakly, he looked around and the frowned.
"Who?"
"My friends are somewhere in here, a company of thirteen Dwarves and a Hobbit. Gandalf told us to stay on the path and we were until they stopped listening to me and wandered off." I answered, he nodded and spoke lowly to another male, who took some of the Elves and left us. Strong arms lifted me up, long legs carrying both of us back in the direction the Elf had come, a woman's voice telling him something I didn't understand.
"This woman needs help Tauriel, she needs healing before we question her." He snapped, giving the red head a filthy look as he moved.
I woke up in a clean, light room with the same blonde Elf standing in the corner, his thumb caught between his teeth, an almost identical blonde Elf stood beside him with a funky looking crown on his head.
"Ah, you're awake at last." The second male said loftily, I said up and nodded once, noticing that I was wearing a white night dress.
"Who redressed me?" I asked with a frown, the Elves looked at each other before the familiar blonde smiled.
"Two of the Healers did, they were very respectful of your privacy." He answered calmly, he other rolling his eyes. "They even made your hair look presentable." I gasped and immediately moved my hands to where I knew the braid was, my heart racing as I felt around, a deep breath being taken as I felt the cold of the head still there.
"You should not have allowed anyone to touch my hair." I hissed, they both looked confused. "When there is a bead in a woman's hair that is a universal sign for 'if you touch my hair, I'm going to tear your fucking arms off and beat you to death with them.' " I sighed, kicking my legs out of the bed and feeling my head spin like a top.
"You should rest, the forest poison is still in your system."
"Who are you?" I asked, blinking against the fatigue.
"I am Legolas and this is my father, King Thranduil."