The Girl Who Dreamt of Mountains

By UnlimitedShadow

Summary: Ever since she was a kid, Eleanor has had the same recurring dream, where she finds herself wandering along an enormous and ancient mountain hall, filled with echoes of songs sung in even more ancient tongues.

In these dreams, she befriends a young dwarrow prince who struggles to sleep while his father is away. One night, a teenaged Eleanor finds herself in that mountain hall just before it is attacked by an enormous dragon and the young dwarrow prince finds himself on the run.

Years pass, and Eleanor thinks she's outgrown those strange dreams, except one night when she finds herself, not in a mountain, but in the home (or more specifically the fireplace) of a Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End. Except this time, Eleanor isn't so sure it's a dream at all.

A/N: Hello, I'm back with a fic. This time, it's quite different from what I've written before, and it's not a part of my AU Universe "Castaways". For those of you reading Millie and the King, don't worry I WILL finish it, my writer's block has been a little excruciating this time around is all.

Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy the first chapter of TGWDOM.

Prologue

It always happens so suddenly, which of course is usually the way with sleep. One moment you're awake and then next thing you know, you're woken up to your alarm or the sound of your dad yelling from downstairs telling you to get out of bed.

When I was a kid, I used to wonder if other people remember their dreams so clearly and if they too had the same dreams. Back then, people used to tell me that I'd read too much of the same books or watched the same movies which influenced the way my brain processed the reality around me and I wanted to believe them, but deep down I always knew. Every part of me could just tell that that mountain wasn't like any other mountain. For one thing, it was old and not just old like we see time, but old in a way that I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around.

Then there was the singing. It was always as if the singing came from deep within the mountain and belonged to voices as old as those halls. Considering how young I was the first time I found myself in that place, I was never really scared, but that's also because I was never really alone. I had a friend, even if I didn't know then just how that friendship would change my life.

XXXXX

15 Years ago.

Eleanor had never been inside a mountain quite like this one before. Truthfully, she hadn't been inside any mountain, but somehow she just knew this one was truly special. She could tell by the giant pillars of stone looming over her and the long hallway stretching out into unknown darkness. It wasn't really dark, though, the hallway was lit up by torches hanging on the wall and Eleanor was surprised they hadn't gone out, because a chilly wind blew past her and ruffled her dark and unruly curls.

Every cell inside her body told Eleanor that she ought to be frightened. This wasn't her home and somehow she felt as though she didn't really belong there, but couldn't quite make sense of why. Yet, she wasn't afraid at all. After all, it was just a dream and dreams couldn't possibly hurt you.

Someone lived in that mountain, Eleanor knew, because why else would the corridors be lit? Not to mention the giant iron doors that she walked past, that seemed too purposely built for someone to not live there.

Eleanor wasn't sure how long she'd been walking before she stumbled upon a great library. Its entrance was guarded by two enormous iron gates, with strange markings and symbols of a language Eleanor had never seen before. She clutched one of the heavy iron rings and pulled the door open, led by a curiosity that she herself could not understand. Inside, there were shelves upon shelves of books and rolled up parchment, some of them dustier than others. From further within the library, a roaring fireplace spread a much welcomed warmth for the first time since she'd found herself in that mountain. There were also tables and reading corners spread out, almost like at the university where her dad worked, but the thing that caught her eyes the most was a giant mural painted across the wall on the right hand side. It portrayed a tall man, or a giant of sorts, swinging a hammer and beneath him were other creatures, much smaller and bearded. The creatures were cowering before the giant and the scene seemed to take place in a mountain quite like this one.

"You're not supposed to be here." came a voice from further ahead.

"Oh yeah? Why not?"

"Because this mountain isn't for your kind."

"What do you mean my kind?"

"I mean people. Humans."

The way the stranger said the word humans struck Eleanor as strange. Of course she was human, what else would she be? Carefully, she took a few steps forward with a determined curiosity and a need to see who was hiding by the fireplace.

He stepped out from the shadows before she did and for a moment Eleanor stood there staring. Something about him was different. For one thing, he was much hairier than any other boy she'd ever met. He had thick, dark raven hair that fell below his shoulders and several braids decorated with colourful beads that seemed to be carved from some kind of gemstone. His eyes were ice-blue and something about him gave Eleanor the feeling that he was tremendously important. He seemed to be around her age, maybe ten or so years old, but somehow there was something about him that seemed older. Nevertheless, he was just a boy and who was he to tell her where she could or couldn't go in her dream. It was terribly rude of him.

"And what are you, if not human?" Eleanor asked as she crossed her chest.

"You mean, you do not know?" replied the boy.

He raised an eyebrow as he sized her up and down, almost as if he was trying to decide whether or not she was pulling his leg.

"If I knew, I wouldn't have asked, would I?" Eleanor sassed and stuck out her tongue, but the strange boy didn't react. "Well, are you going to tell me what you are?"

"I'm a dwarf of course." said he, "My name is Thorin. Thorin Oakenshield and this is my mountain."

"A...dwarf? That can't be true, you're as tall as I am. And anyway, what do you mean it's your mountain? Mountains don't belong to anyone, they kind of just are."

At this, Thorin Oakenshield chuckled and Eleanor's chest burned with equal parts annoyance and another feeling that was new to her. She knew about dwarves, of course, because she'd seen Snowhite more times than she could count, but Thorin wasn't like any dwarf she had seen on TV or read about in books.

"I am indeed a dwarf, as are the rest of my family and this is my mountain because my father is its king. Have you truly never seen a dwarf before? I thought all people of Dale knew about us."

"What's Dale?" Eleanor wondered, "And if your father is the king then does that mean that you're...a prince?"

"Dale is the city in the valley between he south-western and south-eastern arms of the Lonely Mountain, which is this mountain. Although, it is also known as Erebor. If you're not from Dale then how did you come to be here?"

"I...don't know."

Eleanor thought about it for a while and realised she wasn't sure how long she had been in the mountain. One moment she was falling asleep and the next she woke up in this dream, but even for a dream it was more vivid than anything she'd experienced before. As she stood there, figuring out what to say, Eleanor began to feel very cold suddenly and even though she knew Thorin was talking to her, she couldn't reply and then it was as if everything around her vanished and a loud, vibrating alarm rang. When she opened her eyes again, Eleanor was back in her bedroom, on a Monday morning on the first day of the new school year.

Little did she know that this school year would be unlike any other.

To be continued..

A new fic! A very short introduction, I'm aware, but I hope you like it nonetheless!