Answers to reviews:
Lil Bop: It's going to STRICTLY be OC x Arwen x Shelob.
Lilspooky221: Thing of the Zar'roc blade from the Eragon movie, that's his sword. For his dagger, it's the Archan dagger from Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. Does this help?
jaychristiansmith23: I won't.
death444: Glad you're loving it.
chungorion15: well, since he's the spawn of Morgoth and Ungoliant, shapeshifting into a spider is one of his abilities, inherited from his mother along with the senses and reflexes of a spider, and it also makes him quite stealthy and sneaky, which is perfect for assassination. From his father's side, he got the power of domination, kinda like the wraith power from the Shadow of Mordor and War games. I won't go into it too much because that will just spoil it.
Artorias78: Thanks.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. I only own the OC Liante.
Liante wasn't sure how long they were walking through the winding tunnel, but at a guess, He would say it was at least an hour. Every now and then little snippets of conversation would meet his ears, but it was never enough for him to piece together what exactly was being said. Most of the trek was made in a relative quiet, the only sounds being the sound of footsteps and the occasional grunt or curse whenever someone (usually Bombur) got stuck in a particularly narrow section of the tunnel.
Eventually, a shout from Dwalin informed them all that they had reached the end of the path, and each of them automatically sped up to meet the sun.
Being at the very back of the line, Liante was the last to meet the sun, and the last to lay eyes on the place that had become home to him.
Rivendell.
"The valley of Imladris," Gandalf announced. "In the common tongue, it is known by another name."
"Rivendell," Bilbo murmured, obviously in response to the wizard's words, but he spoke it absently, as if he wasn't quite listening.
Thorin whirled on Gandalf, his eyes furious. "This was your plan all along." He growled. "To seek refuge with our enemy."
"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield." Gandalf said calmly.
"You think the Elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us." Thorin pointed out.
"Of course they will, but we have questions that need to be answered." Gandalf said meaningfully. "If we are to be successful this will need to be handled with tact, and respect, and no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me."
With that, Gandalf led the way down to the city, crossing a bridge reached an open courtyard, the Dwarves forming a tight circle and eyeing their surroundings with suspicion, while Liante kept away from the rest and came to lean upon one of the many stone columns that acted as a border for it.
"Mithrandir." A familiar voice said, causing Liante to look up and see Lindir coming down the steps.
"Ah Lindir." Gandalf said as he approached.
"We heard you had crossed into the valley." Lindir said in elfish.
"I must speak with lord Elrond." Gandalf said seriously.
"My lord Elron is not here." Lindir said, slipping back to the common tongue.
"Not here? Where is he?" Gandalf asked.
Suddenly they heard a familiar war horn. The Dwarves spun at once, nervous hands grasping tightly at their weapons. All at once they formed a hurried circle, pulling Bilbo into the centre of the formation.
A hunting party on horseback arrived, and neatly surrounded and circled the Dwarves. The horses snorted and stomping their hooves in response to the dwarves' weapons being brandished in their direction. The expressions on the faces of the elves were cautious, but not openly aggressive.
"Gandalf! Liante!" A familiar voice said as an Elf dismounted his horse, revealing it to be Elrond. The Elf Lord greeted his two old friends warmly, and they did the same in return. "Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders. Something, or someone, has drawn them near."
"Ah, that may have been us." Gandalf said with an apologetic smile.
Thorin suddenly stepped forward. Elrond looked calmly down at him. "Welcome, Thorin, son of Thrain."
Thorin's eyes narrowed slightly. "I do not believe we have met."
The elf smiled. "You have your grandfather's bearing. I knew Thror when he ruled under the mountain."
"Indeed? He made no mention of you."
Elrond then spoke in elvish, which Liante and Gandalf understood and knew what he was saying. But the Dwarves did not and took it the wrong way.
"What is he saying? Does he offer us insult?!" Gloin demanded as the Dwarves started getting riled up.
"No, he's offering you food, Master Dwarf." Liante said with a roll of his eyes.
The Dwarves whispered to each other about this before Gloin spoke to Elrond. "In that case, lead on then."
After spending so long in his armour, it felt... different to be in normal clothing. Liante had gone to the room he always had when visiting Rivendell, the room that was basically his and has been since he first came to the city so many years ago. He had gotten dressed in fine, elven clothing that fit him well. Every time he came to Rivendell, it felt like peace enveloped his being, like the place just gave off this sense of comfort that one would never want to leave.
Sadly, Liante knew he would end up leaving again, but he didn't know how long the Company will be staying here. It could be for a few days, and if so that suited Liante well.
He may see her again...
Leaving his room, Liante made his way to where dinner was being held, which was on the main balcony. it didn't take him long to arrive there and he walked over to the table where Gandalf, Elrond and Thorin were sitting and he took his seat. He did notice a spare chair left there beside him.
"Are we to be joined by another?" Liante asked.
Elrond smirked just as Lindir appeared and announced. "The Lady Arwen."
Liante froze and slowly turned his gaze to the doorway as Elrond's only daughter, the beautiful Arwen, appeared. She was clad in a breathtaking, beautiful white dress that hugged her body quite nicely, it was modest but displayed a near scandalous neckline that drew attention to a white gem that hung between the valley of her breasts. Her hair hung down like a waterfall of shadow and was decorated with several small white sparkling gems that made it seem as if the night sky was upon her head.
Liante was frozen as he stared at her. Even some of the Dwarves had paused to stare at her in amazement. Arwen came to the table and smiled at her father.
"Father." She greeted him warmly in elvish and he nodded back at her, greeting her in the same tongue. Arwen gave a polite nod to Gandalf and Thorin as she sat down next to Liante, who she gave a gentle, warm smile to. "Hello Liante."
"Lady Arwen." Liante greeted her after managing to get past his stunned state at seeing her dress so beautifully. "You look beautiful tonight."
"Thank you." Arwen said, her smile growing, before she started to dine on her food, as did everyone else, well except the Dwarves who weren't used to elven food or the dishes Elves serve.
As they eat, Elrodn took the time to examine the swords Gandalf and Thorin had on them, looking at Thorin's first. "This is Orcrist, the Goblin-Cleaver. A famous blade, forged by the High Elves of the West, my kin." He handed the sword back to Thorin. "May it serve you well."
Thorin inclined his head and then Elrond took Glamdring from Gandalf.
"This is Glamdring, the Foe-Hammer. Sword of the King of Gondolin. These swords were made for the Goblin Wars of the First Age." Elrond said. He looked at Gandalf and handed him the sword back. "How did you come by these?"
"We found them in a Troll hoard on the Great East Road. Shortly before we were ambushed by Orcs." Gandalf said.
"And what were you doing on the Great East Road?" Elrond asked, tone suspicious as he looked between Gandalf and Liante.
"Excuse me." Thorin muttered, taking his cup before getting up and walking to the edge of the balcony to stare out at the setting sun.
"I must say, Liante, I never though you would be present in such company." Arwen said softly, her voice as gentle and beautiful as always to Liante's ears.
"Indeed." Elrond agreed with his daughter, his eyes going to the Company. "Thirteen Dwarves and a Halfling. Strange travelling companions."
"It's... quite a long story." Liante said with a small smile, throwing Gandalf a look to explain it.
"These are the descendants of the House of Durin." The grey wizard began. "Their noble, descent folk. And their surprisingly cultured. They have a deep love of the arts-"
"Change the tune, why don't you." Nori complained about the music, picking his ear. "I feel like I'm at a funeral."
"Did somebody die?" Oin asked, confused.
"Alright lads, there's only one thing for it." Bofur said before he stood, getting everyone's attention as he climbed onto the table and began to sing.
"There is an inn, a merry old inn
beneath an old grey hill,
And there they brew a beer so brown
That the Man in the Moon himself came down
One night to drink his fill."
"The ostler has a tipsy cat
that plays a five-stringed fiddle;
And up and down he runs his bow,
Now squeaking high, now purring low,
Now sawing in the middle."
"So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,
a jig that would wake the dead:
He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,
While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:
'It's after three!' he said."
Liante shook his head in amusement as the Dwarves cheered and started throwing food at each other, nearly hitting several of the Elves who looked disgusted. Gandalf looked embarrassed and slightly angered at the Dwarves' manners, Elrond just sighed, knowing what Dwarves are like. Arwen seemed amused as she lightly giggled while eating.
Liante lifted a plate up, stopping a piece of food from hitting her. She gave him a grateful smile and he nodded.
"I hope we can continue my training." Arwen said with a sense of hopefulness in her tone.
Liante looked at her. The last time he was here, he had offered to start training her on how to use a sword in case she ever needed to defend herself against Orcs, Goblins, or other creatures of the wilds.
He looked at Gandalf. "I assume we'll be here for a few days at least?"
Gandalf nodded. "No need for us to rush and leave right away."
Liante looked at Arwen. "Your training will continue early morning tomorrow."
"I'll be there." Arwen said with a soft smile as she stared into his eyes and he stared into hers, always so captivated. He felt his heart beat faster than it should, something that always happened when he was around her and for good reason.
He was in love after all...
And that's it for this chapter. I gotta say, I always love Bofur's song in the extended version of An Unexpected Journey. It always seems to be the Hobbits or Dwarves who have the best songs in the trilogies of LOTR/The Hobbit.