Title: A tale about friendship, Part 22?

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

E-mail: Overall rating: M, for violence and orctorment. This chapter: K+

Summary: A group of children are told the tale of their friendship with the dwarves in general and the Folk of Durin in particular.

Warnings: The overall rating of this fic is M, as parts of it deals with violent battle and torment. There are also Original Characters in the fic, but no Mary Sues. Unbetaed, all mistakes belong to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own any one of Tolkien's characters, never have, and never will. The only ones I own are the people you have never met before.

Chapter 22, The journey from the Blue Mountains

Melian said, "When Thórin and his companions came to the guesthouse they were smiling. Thórin introduced me to his sister sons Fili and Kili, and to Bilbo Baggins whom he described as a Hobbit from a land to the west. I had never seen a Hobbit before and felt amazed to see him. I asked them if they were well and Thórin said that while he had been bumped and thumped Fili and Kili were unscathed. But Bilbo said that he didn't feel well at all. I examined him and found that he had caught a cold. When I told him he said that it was because he had been floating in the river while holding on to a barrel and had been soaked. ´At this time of year?´ I asked and he agreed that it hadn't been nice at all in the cold water but he hadn't had any choice. I treated his cold and Thórins bump- and thump-marks. Then I asked Fili and Kili if I could examine them also and when I did I found that they were quite well.

That night all of them slept in the largest bedroom that had 20 beds. But none of them slept peacefully save Bilbo. While he slept as a log the others twisted and turned in their beds. When they woke they would say a few words and from what they said, together with the old whip marks I had seen on their backs, I pieced together a picture of what had happened to them. There was mentioning of Orcs, Wargs, Eagles and Spiders; and I understood from the shudders that their encounter with the Eagles had been nice but their encounters with the others hadn't been pleasant. But I also heard them speak about Elves in general and the Elvenking in particular, and what they said didn't give me a nice picture of what had happened. Particularly when they spoke about not knowing where Thórin was and Thórin spoke about not knowing where his companions were. It made me feel quite angry."

Balin said, "I woke up in the middle of the night shivering and there you were. You held my hands and said ´it's all right, they wouldn't get you´ and then you embraced me. I relaxed and went back to sleep."

"The following morning" Melian said "mother came to enable me to get medicines from our store shack on the shore side and to buy food, drink and cloth for clothing. They were delivered to the guesthouse while I was away. I told mother what I had heard and as I suspected the Raft elves of eavesdropping I told her in the only language I was sure of that they wouldn't understand. When I left the house I met the Raft elves in the market square and they tried to make me tell them if I had heard anything but I said that the only thing I had heard was words about dark dungeons. I completed all my errands and went back. When I came back to the guesthouse mother told me that Thórin wanted to speak with me and we went to a room where Thórin was waiting for us."

Balin said "Thórin listened to you while you were speaking about us and understood that he needed to tell you all that had happened. He said to us that he needed to tell you everything and he was sure that you would understand what we had been through."

Melian nodded. "He asked me what I meant when I said that you were lucky to see me and I answered that had I had my own way I would have been on my way to Dol Guldur the previous evening. ´The fortress of the Necromancer´ he said ´why on earth would you go there?´ And I answered that in a dream I had seen his father there and would go there to rescue him. Thórin was amazed when he heard that and answered sadly ´you can give him no aid. Gandalf the Wizard found him there and he was dying.´ ´I have heard about Gandalf´ I said and then I asked him what had caused him and his companions to come to Esgaroth. Thórin told us that he had met you," she said looking at Gandalf "in Bree and that he had invited you to his home. When you came there you had a plan that involved a Hobbit and he didn't understand why at the time. But he and his companions had gone with you to the Shire, to a house called Bag End and there he had met Bilbo Baggins. It was in his house you told them about how you had found Thráin in Dol Guldur. ´Gandalf told us that father was witless and wandering´ Thórin said ´and when we asked him what he was doing there he answered that he was finding things out. He had been given a map and a key, and told to give them to me and he did that. That evening I decided to let Bilbo come with us and we left the Shire the following morning.´

Mother and I wept when we heard what had happened to Thráin and mother said ´if only we had been more thorough´ but Thórin said ´I am sure that all of you did as much as you could.´ Mother remembered that some kinsmen and kinswomen had gone missing during the years that had passed and Thórin said ´I believe that they gave the Necromancer something to think about.´ I agreed with him."

Gandalf nodded. "It was a nasty business and I hardly escaped with my life. I did find him with the injuries that you described and it was clear that he had been tormented. I don't know for how long the torment had lasted but he was in a dreadful shape. If the Necromancer caught your kin he would have been very amazed to hear that there were Men willing to search for a Dwarf. When I met Thórin he said that he felt that he was told to seek me and we discussed many things when we met in the Blue Mountains. It took some doing to persuade Thórin and also Bilbo but finally we were on our way. And what a journey it turned out to be."

TBC