THE WOODLAND REALM

Jeanne gestured her fingers over to Bilbo and they both quickly hid behind the surrounding trees. The Elves lead the Dwarves across the bridge into the Woodland Realms, home to King Thranduil. This...was the last place she wanted to be. It wasn't like Rivendell, these Elves, especially Thranduil wasn't all that keen on her existence and was in favor of just executing Jeanne instead of letting her live. Gandalf and Lady Galadriel wouldn't have it though so the demands of the Woodland Realms went without action and bad blood formed between her and the Elven king.

"The gates going to close, Jeanne," Bilbo whispered to her and watched the Dwarves cross the bridge of no return. Once it closed, it would be impossible for them to escape back through it again. They would have to find another way out.

Jeanne bit down on her lip and looked around and below her. "For the time being, follow them. I'll find another way inside and try to find a way for all of them to escape." Bilbo nodded. Jeanne quickly carried off down an opposite path of the trail and disappeared below the bridge of the gate.

The Hobbit took in a deep breath and waited for Jeanne to disappear down the lower trail. He pulled something out from his pocket, a golden ring that glimmers like molten fire in his hand. He stared dreamily at the band before slowly slipping it onto his finger...and disappeared.

Legolas stopped at the gate and looked over his shoulder at the path they just came down from but saw nothing. "Close the gate," he said before passing the doors that shut tight behind him.


Like all Elves, Thranduil was beautiful, but he carried himself very differently. His profound voice was intimidating and mysterious. He spoke as he already knew why Thorin was here and what his purpose was. "Some may imagine that a noble quest is a hand. A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. I myself suspect a more prosaic motive: attempted burglary, or something of that like." He started down at Thorin who was stone silent. "You have a way in. You seek that which would bestow upon you the right to rule the King's jewel, the Arkenstone. It is precious to you beyond measure. I understand that. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems of pure starlight. I offer you my help."

Thorin's voice was cold. "I'm listening."

"I will let you go if you but return what is mine." Thranduil offered but Thorin turned away.

He scoffed at the offer. "A favor for a favor."

"You have my word. One king to another."

That made Thorin's blood boil a bit. He spoke as his voice got louder and louder while his words flew from his mouth. "I would not trust Thranduil, the great king, to honor his words should the end of days be upon us! You...!" He spun around and roughly pointed to the great Elven king. "lack honor! I've seen how you treat your friends. We came to you once, starving and homeless, seeking your help, but you turned your back. You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us!"

Thranduil suddenly got in Thorin's face and hissed the deadly venom at him. "Do not talk to me of dragon fire. I know its wrath and ruin...but..." his words suddenly took a darker turn. Thranduil's body shook with seething anger and rage as his face began to shift. It took a hideous shape and was covered in old burns and scars. "Nothing...absolutely nothing compares to the fires of the woman who was born in them..."

Thorin could feel his heart began to speed up immediately. He knew who this mad king was talking about and only knew of one person who could ever be born in fires that could rival a dragon, who could cause the whole world to fall into ruin at the mention of her unique features. Hair as red as fire and eyes as destructive as lava.


The freshly born Jeanne stood before the Elven King with Gandalf at her side. Her skin was as pale as pure starlight, her long scarlet hair ran down her back like lava, and her eyes were as lovely and vibrant as cornflowers...but flat. Her facial expression matched and appeared completely emotionless, void of any kind of life despite the innocence that adapted to her young-looking features. This brought a great deal of confusion to Thranduil as Jeanne only looked to be in her mid-'20s.

"This is..." Thranduil shook his head and turned away from Jeanne. She tilted her head in confusion when he spoke. "...nonsense!" he snapped harshly and made the young looking girl jump. The king whipped his head back around. "You can't expect me to accept this, do you? This is beyond dangerous and you know it."

"She's young," Gandalf exclaimed on Jeanne's behalf. "It hasn't been long since she was created so...theoretically...she's just a child and had nothing to do with Sauron."

Thranduil's face began to contort the longer he had to stare into Jeanne's void-eyes. "Just a child...I can understand how you can be tricked by her innocent face, but...I can't allow this to carry on..." he turned his body away and reached his hand slowly up to his sword. "And I won't," he spoke coldly and spun his body around, drawing his blade out. He saw Jeanne's once empty eyes change for the first time and became terrified, like a scared child. That was the last thing he saw through until fires flared out from the palms of her hands when she brought them up instinctively to defend herself.

Indeed, Thranduil has no doubt that Jeanne was still merely a child who had never seen the world, but that day he knew that an evil was still attached to that body of hers. This wasn't supposed to happen, she wasn't supposed to exist. Jeanne...was no less dangerous than Sauron, he was sure of it.


Thorin said nothing and kept his face flat and unreadable so Thranduil wouldn't pick up on it. The king pulled away and his face turned back to normal.

"I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon, but he would not listen." he hissed and turned around to step up to his throne. "Stay here if you will, and rot. A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an Elf. I am patient." he spoke as Thorin was taken away by the guards. "I can wait."


Thorin was thrown into a small jail cell where the rest of his kin were scattered throughout the halls.

Balin called out to him upon his return with Thranduil. "Did he offer you a deal?" he asked.

"He did." Thorin huffed and nodded his head. "I told him he could go 'ish kakhfĂȘ ai'd dur rugun!'-him and all his kin!"

Balin sighed deeply and dropped his head. "Well...that's it, then. A deal was our only hope."

Thorin smirked and walked over to the bars of his cell door. "Not our only hope."


Time seemed to have passed on very slowly for them and Bofur was sure that the sun had already risen. "It must be nearly dawn," he said.

"We're never going to reach the mountain, are we?" Orin groaned.

"Which is why I brought these along." Thorin's eyes widen and he snapped his head up to the door. He saw Jeanne standing in front of his jail cell with a smile on her face while jangling the keys in her hand.

The Dwarves then suddenly exclaimed in enthusiasm for their Miss Jeanne who they haven't seen since she suddenly disappeared in Mirkwood a couple of hours ago. No words could describe how good it felt to see that scarlet hair once more.

"Jeanne...!" Thorin rushed to the door and pushed against them but of course, they won't budge. He reached his hand out and brushed it against her face. Jeanne froze in her spot at the unusual gesture while her heart tightened up along with this weird sensation that made her stomach flutter too. "Are you alright?" he asked urgently.

"Yes, yes. I am just fine-"

"But the spiders."

"I delt with them. Thorin," she grabbed his hand to pull it off her face but he kept an iron grip on her small wrist. "I'm fine. I swear." she began to feel him relax a bit and he released her hand. "I've met up with Bilbo too. He and I found a way out of this place." she urged them while unlocking all their doors.

They all followed Jeanne deeper into the Woodland Realms, across the twisted halls and into what looked to be the wine cellar. It was the place where Jeanne was able to find another way in and meet up with Bilbo, who was currently waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. His arms were crossed and he was impatiently tapping his foot against the ground.

"Is that everyone?" Bilbo asked.

Jeanne nodded. "Yes."

The Hobbit did a quick count of all the Dwarves before leading them down the stairs. There were several empty wine barrels stacked sideways down the middle of the room. "Everyone, climb into the barrels, quickly!" He insisted.

Dwalin gave him a look. "Are you mad!? They'll find us!"

"No, no, they won't, I promise you. Please, please, you must trust me!"

The Dwarves pondered on it and turned to each other and began to decide what to do. Thorin cut in quickly though and hissed at all them.

"Do as he says!"

Against their better judgment, they did as they were all told and climbed into the open barrels. Jeanne helped Bilbo into one and stepped back. She counted all the barrels to make sure that there were enough for all them, including herself.

"What do we do now?" Bofur asked as all the Dwarves stuck their heads out to see what Jeanne was doing. "Aren't you getting in?"

Jeanne smiled at all of them. "In a moment." She walked over to a lever on the ground and pulled it. The ground below the barrels began to tip and the barrel-o-Dwarves began to roll out into the open where a river waited at the bottom. The trap door closed up and Jeanne smiled to herself. "There now..." She stopped herself when she began to hear the shouting of Elves coming down the stairs with loud footsteps. She snapped her head around and found out that she been spotted.

"An intruder!" A woman Elf shouted.

"Ah..." Jeanne gave an awkward smile and backed up over the trap door. "I know how this may look but I can assure...you?" Her words fell short when the floor below her slowly began to tilt. "Ah!" she cried when her legs slipped up and she landed on her back. Jeanne slid across the floor and crashed into the water below the trap door.


Author's Note:

Man...this was a speed write. I wrote it, slept on it, and just posted it the next day. I hope you all are ready for for the barrel ride the next chapter! And I do hope you liked that mini flashback of Jeanne's past. I hope you all are enjoying the sequel so far!