(?-?)

Night had long since fallen and a white chill settled in the air. Autumn was definitely in full swing, wicking away the sweet warmth of summer. He knew he wasn't wearing the best attire for a midnight stroll. In fact he was in his bed clothes. Thin flowing trousers and a simple tunic. Thankfully, he had the mind to don his robe so others would not question him. Not that they ever would. He tightened his robe around him to try and stave off the cold.

He did not want to be here. In fact he had outright refused to step foot near this place.

His son had run to him. Out of breath and full of nervous energy.

"Adar, I must speak with you."

He had been pouring over documents in his own quarters at the time. Even though he should have been sleeping at that hour, he could not bring himself to.

"Is something wrong?" he was immediately alert, dropping the paper in his hand back onto the desk.

"No, no. At least I don't think so," his son said hurriedly.

He arched his brow waiting for his son to clarify. His son then looked to the ground, refusing to make eye contact. He was hiding something and was nervous to speak it.

"I was in the garden," his son said "Li-Liriel's garden."

For a second he felt like he could not breathe. A sharp pain spread across his chest when he heard that name.

"You know it is forbidden," he said through gritted teeth. He grabbed the desk to steady himself. Trying desperately not to show weakness in front of his son.

"I know Adar but-"

"You should not have been there," he looked away, willing the ache to cease.

"Adar… It's growing," his son's voice was full of astonishment.

He froze. For a brief moment it felt like time was suspended, holding him over a precipice.

"What?" he wheeled back to his son.

"I saw it with my own two eyes. A plant has sprung up from the soil. The first one in over 1500 years," said his son "Let me take you there, I can show you."

"No!"

He could not go there, refusing to see the death that lingered. His son could not be speaking the truth; nothing could grow in such a barren place. Not anymore.

"No?"

"No, it cannot be. Nothing can grow there. Nothing can ever grow," his voice was cold.

Hurt bloomed in his son's eyes "Do you not trust me Adar?"

Of course he trusted his son. He knew that his son believed in what he saw. "Of course I do."

"Then please, let me show you," His son was pouring his heart out to him, begging him to listen.

"I cannot. I will not," It was his own fear, his own cowardice, that prevented him from following his son. He dared not risk the consequences of false hope. If he went and there was nothing he would fall once more. Falling back into that pit he hung from everyday with bloodied fingers, barely clinging onto the edge. It was not a thing he would ever surface from. He knew he would never break free of the yawning emptiness below, but he could hold on and maybe inch his way up little by little. It had taken so much to get him this far, falling again would be disastrous.

Disappointment shone on his son's face as he left his chambers. He closed his eyes and clung desperately to the desk. In an attempt not to slide to the ground. He was not enough for his son, he knew this. But how could he ever hope to be enough for him when he was barely enough for himself.

Weeks passed and still he refused to go. His son had thrown him pleading looks every now and again but he had pretended not to see them. What a terrible Adar he was.

Tonight he had been lying in his bed, sleep a distant dream. The darkness was oppressive, bearing down on him from all sides. A sharp dagger of loneliness had rooted itself deep within him and out of desperation he had gotten up, flung a robe around him and left his chambers. He had not realised where he was walking until his bare feet touched soft grass.

When he had conceived of where he was he froze. Legs refusing to take him any further.

So close. He had already travelled so close to that dreaded garden.

He could simply walk away, as if his body had never carried him here.

But that was a coward's way out. He had not realised how desperately he wanted his son to be right until that moment, standing mere metres away from the very place he swore he would never return to.

It took so much effort to take those steps, but he did it. He forged a path towards the wrought iron gates that once held his daughter's beloved garden. They had long rusted and thick, twining vines blocked any view inside. However the lock was no longer there. How long had his son been sneaking into there? And for what purpose, other than to despair at the cruelties of the world?

He closed his eyes as he pushed the gate open. Refusing to open them back up again at first. Until he had walked a few feet into the garden. His bare foot brushed up against something. It was light and soft, like a young leaf. The feeling made him gasp and his eyes wretched open.

His knees buckled beneath him at what he saw.

It was not a desolate wasteland. Not anymore. His son had said that a single plant had grown from the barren ground. That was what he had been expecting. Not this.

The entire garden had regrown.

Plants, healthy and green, stretched up towards the sky. So many flowers bloomed, even though they were no longer in season. Liriel's garden had been brought back to life.

A chip of ice fell away and hope clawed its way into his long, frozen heart. It was so much more painful than the cold comfort of despair.

A pained sob left his body before he could stop it.

What did this mean? The Valar must know that he would do anything to see them again. To feel his beloved Elinneth once more. But he was painfully aware of the tattered edges of his damaged Fëa. She was not there. Why would they mock him by bringing the garden back but not them?

Was it supposed to be a comfort? Or was it simply a cruel punishment?

The sickness of hope would only poison his heart further, he knew. When it eventually withered away to nothing, he would still be empty and they would still be gone.

Leah

The journey was a lot harder now we no longer had ponies. If I still had my human body I would be a gelatinous blob on the ground by now. Even now my legs ached with the exertion. Bilbo was faring the worst. I could tell that he desperately wished to rest but he was determined not to slow us down. I walked next to him and kept him company. We shared stories about home to keep our spirits up.

"Was there truly no other races in that other world?" he asked, quite breathless "Only men?"

"Yes, only humans. No dwarves or elves or anything," I said "Though there were other species thousands of years ago. Like neanderthals and stuff. But they went extinct."

"What does extinct mean?" Bilbo panted.

"It means they don't exist anymore. They died out," I said

"Oh that's quite sad," said Bilbo, holding his chest as he breathed harder.

"We had hobbits, I think," I quipped "Or something similar at least."

There had been remains found in a cave somewhere–I'd forgotten where–but they'd found a bunch of skeletons that were about 3.5 ft tall. They weren't child skeletons either, they were fully grown. It made people speculate that they had been another subspecies of early humans.

"Oh how wonderful," he said with a smile.

The path we were on became increasingly steeper and a stream of water cascaded down the rocks. It made the way dangerously slippery in places. Bilbo stood on a rock to haul himself up. Only the rock wasn't as sturdy as he had thought and it jostled in the mud. The movement tripped Bilbo up and sent him sprawling backwards. I grabbed onto Bilbo's arm but it wasn't necessary.

Thorin caught Bilbo underneath his arms, trust fall style. For one wild second it looked like an embrace and then Thorin, not so gently, placed Bilbo back on his feet. "Keep up Master Baggins we don't need you falling behind," said Thorin as he made his way forward.

"Obstinate dwarf," said Bilbo under his breath.

Thorin half turned "What was that Master Baggins?"

"I–I said thank you," said Bilbo quickly. "Thank you, Thorin."

Thorin simply hummed non committedly and started making his way to the front of the company. As soon as he was out of earshot, I let out a laugh. Bilbo also let out a nervous laugh next to me.

"Nice save."

That first day was gruelling. Mainly because we hadn't done much moving for two weeks. We'd been a bit too sedentary. It also didn't help that we now had to carry all our supplies on our backs. When we finally decided to camp for the night everyone was groaning about something or other.

I set up my bedroll and sat down heavily.. My bag thunked loudly against the ground as I peeled it off my back. Rolling my shoulder, I felt a few cracks from my spine. I sighed deeply when I cracked a particularly stubborn one. The bag was definitely heavier than it had been.

Curious, I reached for my bag and unbuckled the flap. My eyebrows raised at what I saw.

They were new.

Gingerly, I removed them from the bag. There were two of them, made from thick leather and vaguely resembled a tube. Laces hung from the bottom and the top seemed to be reinforced with some kind of metal under the surface.

I had an idea of what they were but I couldn't be sure. "What are these?" I asked the person closest to me. That turned out to be Dori.

He looked down at me, puzzled for a moment, before recognition lit his eyes. "Oh those appear to be vambraces. They're a kind of armour that goes on your arms."

My inclination was correct.

"Where did you get them from then?" said Nori from beside him "Have you been as light-fingered as I have?" He wiggled his perfectly braided eyebrows at me, his black eye long since faded.

"No," I said with an amused grin "The elves must have given them to me."

"Oh 'given' were they? Don't worry your secret's safe with me," Nori tapped the side of his nose.

"Don't disgrace Lady Leah with your insinuations Nori. Not everyone is as criminally inclined as you are," Dori came to my defence.

"If you say so brother," said Nori, setting up his own bedroll.

It turned out that Rehtinde had also packed another piece of armour for me to wear. A leather bodice that would cover my torso, where all the important bits were. Still flexible and light enough that I could run if I needed to. I felt safer knowing that I now had armour to protect me.

The bag also contained my old clothes as well as a new set of elven ones. My old underwear had disappeared though, leaving me with elven ones. They were a little longer than what I was used to but I wasn't going to complain. Their version of bra was a million times more comfy than mine anyway.

I nearly cheered out loud when I came across my toiletries bag. It was now filled with new soap and a green paste used for cleaning teeth. A small pouch at the bottom of my bag also contained some dried fruit and a few leaves of lembas bread that I really wanted to try. But I refrained, knowing that we would need it more later.

Dwalin helped me to tie the armour on when I went to train with him. He made a comment about the sturdiness of the armour but refused to compliment it further. It was elven made after all. I looked badass, if I do say so myself. Fully embodying the elf warrior spirit.

Dwalin put me through my paces once more. Now that we were back on the road he wasn't going easy on me. Fili and Kili kept me company as well. Though I think they were just looking for an excuse to spar with one another. I also made Bilbo join us. Now that he had his own sword he had no excuse. He wasn't the most impressed when I dragged him over.

Dwalin crossed his arms, looking particularly fierce. "So, Mister Baggins. What do ye know about sword fighting?"

"Oh well, I guess the general gist of it is to just sort of," Bilbo poked his sword forward "Jab at them."

"Stick 'em with the pointy end," I added, helpful as ever.

Dwalin gave me a 'look' suggesting that he wasn't impressed with my input. "Aye, that's the 'gist' of it. But do you even know how to hold one?"

"Ah, that would be a no," Bilbo said looking down at his sword.

So the first thing Dwalin did was correct Bilbo's grip on his sword. Then he began the lesson.

"Having a longer sword does not always mean that you'll win a fight," said Dwalin

I heard Fili and Kili start giggling at the phrase 'longer sword'. Boys were the same in any world, it seemed. I shoved Fili with my shoulder but he simply laughed harder.

Dwalin shut them down with a glare before he continued. "Longer swords," glare, "require a longer swing which will take more time. Short swords are quicker."

"Also," he moved Bilbo's left hand off the pommel "As this is a smaller weapon you can use it with one hand. You can use your offhand to punch or block. If you're not using the other hand you're best keeping it close to your chest. A cut down the inside of your arm can be deadly."

Bilbo held his arm very close to his chest as if just thinking it would cause his arm to be damaged.

Dwalin set us all up with our own drills, starting Bilbo off easy and giving me something slightly harder. Fili and Kili battled along beside us, fighting to their heart's content. Dwalin had to tell them to calm down more than once.

But they did not take heed of Dwalin's warnings and a few minutes later one of them cried out. Fili stumbled backwards, clinging to his nose. A stream of blood leaked out of the left nostril and the bridge of his nose was now slightly crooked.

"What did I tell you?" said Dwalin, clipping Fili and Kili around the head.

"It s'not my Bault, he caught me wiv 'is elbow," Fili pinched his nose and pointed to Kili accusingly. A line of red dripped down his chin and got matted into his beard.

"That's only because you were trying to trip me up," argued Kili.

"I'll go and get Oin," said Bilbo, before scampering off towards the centre of camp.

Except I was certain this was something I could help with. After spending just over two weeks learning healing magic with Elrond I was kind of eager to show off my new skill set.

I approached Fili, nose wrinkling slightly at the blood dribbling down his face and wiggled my fingers. "Do you want me to give it a go?"

Fili pondered for a moment, questioning the idea of being my test dummy, and nodded "A guess i' couldn' 'urt."

"I mean it might," I joked.

I readied my magic first, pooling it into the palms of my hands. Once that pale glow bled through, I brought my hands up to Fili's face. It was easier to heal if the point of contact was closer to the wound, but there was no way I was getting my hands needlessly dirty, so I placed them on the side of his head to avoid the blood.

When my fingers made contact, my magic snaked its way under his skin. With a little push, I willed it to go towards his nose. I could feel where the cartilage had been bent and where the blood vessels had burst. The cells began to reform and Fili's nose shifted back into place with an audible crack.

I removed my hands from his face and took a few deep breaths. The more I used my magic the easier it became. Soon I felt like I could heal simple cuts without even losing my breath.

Fili wrinkled his nose a few times. Moving it this way and that. "Would you look at that? Good as new," he said, though he was still covered in blood. "That really tickled you know?"

"Good. You idiot," I said

"It seems my services will not be needed" came a voice from behind me.

When I turned I saw Oin and Bilbo. Oin had his medical bag ready in his hand.

"Not today, no" I said, a proud smile was pulling at the corners of my mouth.

The movies made it seem instantaneous but, after a week of walking, the misty mountains lay stubbornly in the distance. It would probably take another week to get there. However, even though the misty mountains were far away, their namesake had already descended onto our path in thick white clouds.

Surprisingly, it was Bifur who handled it the worst. I could hear him swearing in khuzdul at the back of the company. His hands strayed to his head and he groaned in pain.

"Are you okay Bifur?" I asked, concerned.

Bifur spewed out a whole lot of khuzdul all at once. Bofur very kindly jumped in to help. "It's the cold, Lass. It's not good for his head. The axe gets cold and it gives him dreadful headaches."

Oh god that must be awful. Being in pain whenever it got cold sounded like a nightmare. Especially as the seasons changed. How long had he lived like this? Thoughts of Bifur lay heavily on my mind throughout the rest of the day.

When we set up camp a freezing drizzle began to fall. We managed to find some shelter under a rocky overhang but it did not stop the chill. Everyone began setting up camp around us but Bifur tucked himself as close to the rock wall as he could get. Bofur tried to make light conversation with him but he was mainly focusing on setting up the fire. It was difficult to do with all of the damp.

The guy looked like he needed some comfort, or some company. So once I was sure there was no further need for me, I made my over and sat beside him. He babbled along next to me, more talking to himself than anything. Bofur would occasionally reply to something he said.

Bifur's eyes squeezed together again and I realised that he was in pain. I took one his hands in mine, hoping that the touch was at least comforting. He looked at me, gave me a weak smile, then he resumed his khuzdul rant.

I looked up at Bifur, zeroing in on the axe in his head. That thing was the reason that he was in pain. It was also the reason for a lot of Bifurs frustrations.

Could I...could I help him? My healing record had been sporadic at best and something like this, a years old injury, would require incredible power and precision. But if I didn't at least try I would feel awful knowing that he was hurting and I could have helped. I debated for a moment before cementing my decision.

The magic moved down my arms with simply a thought, getting easier and easier everyday. With a sweep of my eyes I noticed nobody looking my way. I don't know why I felt self-conscious about having an audience but I did. With the knowledge that no one was looking in my direction I pushed the magic into Bifur's hand.

Bifur didn't even react when I did it. Too preoccupied with whatever he was saying. As my hands were so far away from his head, I had to use more energy to push the magic up there. When my magic reached his head, I had to bite my tongue to not make a sound out loud. The feel of someone's brain below my magic was the strangest thing. A sprawling complexity of firing neurons that I could get lost in if I wasn't careful.

I forced my mind not to get swept up in the dance of Bifur's brain and moved my magic to the front of Bifur's head. The axe was just wrong. His brain had tried to reform around it but it was in the way. No new connections could form while it was stuck there.

My breath came in short pants as I willed the surrounding brain tissue to reform. To push out the foreign object. I could feel it working. Millimetre by millimetre. Until…

"Ozodl b-bahd, I can't deal with this fucking weather Bofur I just can't"

The axe fell out of Bifur's forehead and landed on his lap.

I quickly let go of Bifur''s hand, releasing my hold on my magic. It snaked back into my core and I was left feeling strangely hollow and floaty, like I had used up more energy than I really should. A tiredness burrowed down into my bones and I slumped against the rock wall.

I did it! I can't believe I actually did it!

Bofur whirled around with amazing speed, eyes wide, mouth hanging open. "Bi-Bifur your axe" Bofur pointed.

Bifur looked down at the broken axehead in his lap. He picked it up, tentatively like it might bite back.

"I don't understand," his voice had the same irish-style lilt that Bofur's had. It was rather startling after hearing his more German-like Khuzdul accent.

"You're speaking common," whispered Bofur.

I felt eyes turn to me. "It was you," said Bifur "You healed me."

"I thought I would be a bad friend if I didn't give it a go," I said shyly.

Bifur stared at me with a mixture of wonder and astonishment. A watery smile spread across his face and he leaned over, enveloping me in a hug. I would have returned the gesture if my arms didn't feel like jelly.

"I feel like I can think straight for the first time in 60 years," he mumbled into my shoulder "Thank you, thank you, thank you"

When Bifur let me go I realised that everyone else had now noticed and were pressing forward to get a look at the dwarf with a new lease on life

"I owe you a debt, Lass. Name you price I'll give ye anything" said Bifur

"You don't owe me anything Bifur," I shook my head, my eyes closing sleepily for a few moments before I opened them back up again.

A pair of arms wrapped around me from behind. "I think you need to rest, amrâlimê" said Kili softly. I was inclined to agree.

People crowded around Bifur, offering words of congratulations and amazement. I let Kili lead me away from the crowd and half carry me to my bedroll. I lay my head against Kili's chest as he leaned against the rock wall, his heartbeat a comfort against my ear. It would lull me to sleep if I stopped fighting it.

"I can't believe you did that. Well, I can actually. You're amazing Leah," Kili said, his voice sounding deeper with my ear against his chest.

"I am pretty cool," I said jokingly.

"I'm serious," Kili said "You're one of the most amazing people I've ever met."

I smiled into his shirt. His hand moved a strand of hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. The skin tingled where he brushed it. "Sleep Leah. I'll wake you when there's food."

"You better," I mumbled "I'm starving."

The misty mountains were...miserable, for lack of a better word. Cold and wet and wretched. The rocks below us were slick from the rain and we had to catch ourselves to stop from falling. Just keeping your balance was a task in itself. Climbing was even harder work and we had to take many breaks to conserve our strength. We helped lift each other over difficult ledges as the path became more treacherous.

I told them that they had to keep an eye out for goblins as we made our way through the mountains. Everyone took my words as truth thankfully and kept a wary eye out. Each night we would try and find a cave to rest in. I would always search thoroughly for any kind of cracks in the walls or floor before I would let myself settle down. The mountain had me constantly on edge.

Kili, thankfully, was always there to lean on. Sometimes literally as I passed through some tricky obstacles. I slept close to him at night. Other than the occasional look the older dwarves seemed okay with it. I guess dying has its privileges if they were letting Kili have some slack.

Kili was still a cuddler. That had remained the same from the first time we'd slept next to each other. I'd often wake to his arm tightly wrapped around me. But dwarves seemed to run hot and his tremendous body heat was a blessing against the bitter cold.

We woke up one morning and I swear we never saw the sun. The clouds were so thick and dark it was like night had never lifted. Torrential rain attacked us from every angle and we had to cling to the side of the mountain to stop ourselves from falling.

The only way you could tell that night had truly fallen was because the vague light we had before completely vanished. Only the sporadic cracks of lightning illuminated our way and chances of slipping to our death increased ten fold.

It was only after a tap on my shoulder and Ori saying shyly, "Miss Leah, don't your hands glow?" that I realised I was an idiot and could have been helping the whole time. I thanked Ori for the reminder and pushed the magic into my hands. There were a few shocked exclamations due to my lack of warning but the general consensus was one of appreciation.

I was cajoled into the front of the path to illuminate the way. A position I was not the happiest to be in, if there were any hazards I would be the first to know and the first to panic.

The near constant flow of magic would tire me out eventually, but thankfully It didn't take much to simply hold it in my hands. I could hold it there for a considerable amount of time.

However, even with my magic, it was still difficult to see. The rain was almost sharp and blinding. The rumble from the thunder vibrated through the very mountain itself, louder and more violent than any storm I had ever been swept up in

"Look out!" yelled Dwalin. Though the sound was nearly drowned out by the racing wind.

I snapped my head to look behind me. Dwalin was frantically pointing to something in the air beyond our path. I followed his finger and was met with the sight of a huge boulder, the size of a house, careening towards us at unfathomable speed. My first instinct told me to freeze, the fear binding my muscles as I watched the shadow of death fly our way. It was only the shouts of the others that drove me to throw myself against the wall, covering my head with my hands.

Sharp, jagged chunks of rock rained down on us, catching on my hands, my arms. I let out a scream as a particularly heavy one landed between my shoulder blades. It knocked the wind out of me and I fell out of my crouch. I caught myself with my hands before I could slip over the edge.

"We need shelter!" I heard someone shout, I think it was Thorin but my ears were ringing.

I clambered unsteadily to my feet, shaking bits of rock and detritus from my clothes. The light sputtered out when I got hit so I made a conscious effort to bring it back out. Blood rushed to my head, in great whooshing bursts, and my arms shook with the strain but I pushed on. People flinched back when the brightness returned in full force.

"This is no thunderstorm, it's a thunder battle!"

In the distance the lumbering form of a mountain shifted. With a crash of grinding stone the whole rock face moved until a humanoid shape stood tall. I could barely comprehend the sheer magnitude of it, like a skyscraper had suddenly sprung legs.

And it was angry.

It launched another attack on the same mountain we were standing on, hurling another devastatingly large boulder our way. We didn't have to be told to run, as one we charged forwards, desperate to be off the cliff face. Rock projectiles rained down on us and we had to dodge out of the way. Gloin, behind me, pulled me out of the way of a particularly nasty one that lodged into the wall where my head had just been.

When it seemed like we would finally be able to make it across, the path beneath us shifted. My stomach dropped like I was on a rollercoaster and the entire mountain tipped forward.

We were on one of the giants!

Why did I forget that would happen?

A gap yawned in front of us where the path had previously been. The drop was hundreds of feet to the unrelenting ground below. We needed to jump if we were to make it across.

Thorin jumped across first. His foot almost slipped but he caught himself in time. Then the rest of us made an attempt. The height of the two sides wavered as the giant moved. I waited until it was nearly level and with bounding steps, I launched myself across the gap. My legs had more power than I thought and I crashed into the wall opposite, making my teeth rattle.

Only half of the company made it across before the giant moved too far away. Blood froze in my veins when I saw Kili among them.

The giant started stomping its way in front of us and I could almost reach the people trapped on its leg. But, too fast, it sped away and my hand hung uselessly in the air. Balin yanked my arm back as a wall of rock shot past where it had just been.

We still needed to move. Thorin pushed on, chasing after the other company members.

I tried to follow, desperate to ensure their safety. Only for a giant's fist to crash down into the path a mere metre away from me. The sheer speed and power of the blow sucked all the air from my body and I let out a strangled rattle. It pulverised the rock beneath it, turning the ledge into dust. Deep cracks spread outwards from the fist, running across the wall and underneath my feet. I pressed myself as tightly to the wall as I physically could. The crumbling rock began to break apart and disappear into the void below. Gloin scrambled next to me, barely hanging on to the side.

We might have been safe if the rock was allowed to settle, if the giant hand remained where it was. Except, it didn't. The giant yanked its hand free and the force of it destroyed whatever remained of the ledge. My eyes made contact with Thorin's before the rock beneath my feet completely disappeared.

Gloin and I fell, screaming into the void below.

Ozodl b'badh - Vile Breeze

Leah really can't catch a break can she lol