Riley didn't think that she would awake with a hangover for the second time in as many weeks, yet here she was, head throbbing, throat parched and hair still sticky with whatever condiment had been thrown at her during what escalated into a full food fight.

She groaned for the hundredth time as she sat next to Shayla in the grandstands, only somewhat prepared to watch Jessika in the next round of the tournament.

"I have no sympathy, Riley. You know it was all self-inflicted," Shayla commented lazily, pulling another apple from a leather bag that Bilbo kindly provided her. She turned her head to the side to smirk at her friend, though Riley was too preoccupied with her head in her palms to notice.

Riley groaned again.

"Well, I for one am glad that you had a good night, regardless of how you're feeling this morning." Shayla's tone was playful, and it caused Riley to slowly tilt her head and open her bleary eyes at her friend.

"Spit it out, Shayla." Shayla giggled, relieved that she wasn't currently being grilled about who she was spending her time with.

"I'm just happy for you Riley." Shayla leaned in a little closer now, all hints of mischief deserted. Her expression was honest, and she took one of Riley's hands within her own. "You deserve happiness."

Riley squeezed her hand in response but couldn't articulate the conflict she was feeling. She didn't know if Shayla's words were accurate, but she felt as though she had touched the edges of happiness with her fingertips, whether she deserved it or not.

She knew it was selfish, but she didn't want to let that go. Riley didn't know how to bring the words past her lips, those words that she knew would fracture their friendship.

There was no way she could tell Shayla that she didn't want to go back to their world.

Instead, Riley nodded and let her hands consume her face once more.

What did she have to gain by going back to their world? She would be jobless, very close to homeless and reeling from what had happened with Braxton. Riley knew that the pain was still there, and that it would take time to dissipate, but being in this place made the pain bearable. Being in this place made her feel like happiness was achievable, and not just some pipe dream.

But Shayla had her family, her culture and her land… How could she ever give that up?

Riley couldn't ask her to do that. She couldn't be selfish with her. Shayla was too innocent, too pure to deal with such a loss. Being separated from them like this had already shattered her.

She wouldn't let the world break Shayla like it had already obliterated her.

Riley would help her get home, regardless of the risks she knew they would face.

It felt like hours had passed before Jessika marched onto the field, though Riley knew the minutes only dragged because she would much rather be asleep. Regardless, her head perked up as Jessika's name was announced, eyes momentarily scanning the King's Box across the stadium for the rest of the company.

Shayla and Riley sat by themselves today as they rose later than they should have to join the others. Riley could see most of the Company in the King's Box or close by, though the face she was looking for was adorned with a hat that stuck out like a sore thumb.

It made it nice and easy for Riley to spot him, even from across the expansive arena.

Bofur was sitting with Bifur and Bombur several rows above the King's Box, speaking quietly to his family, his smile like a beacon, and Riley couldn't help the feeling of warmth that spread within her chest.

"Uh oh." Shayla whispered, and Riley's head whipped back to her friend so quickly she thought it might fall off.

"What?" Riley questioned, following Shayla's worried line of sight and realising immediately what the problem was.

"How can Ranar be paired with both Fain and Jessika?" Riley sputtered out, a thread of fear slivering up her spine for twin. They both knew how well that Jessika could handle herself, but after Fain's defeat yesterday, she wasn't so sure she would be able to defeat Ranar either.

"I didn't even realise that Ranar was competing in both contests?"

"Neither did I, but it's supposed to be random," Shayla muttered as she leaned forward in her seat.

"Doesn't feel very fucking random to me," Riley retorted, sitting upright a little further. She watched as Jessika closed the distance between herself and Ranar, bowing deeply to each other as they waited for the adjudicator to resume their place between them. Jessika's face looked worse than it had last night; the bruising was a swollen mix of black and purple flesh, and there was a cut across her nose that had been patched up.

She held herself with the same confidence she had the day before, though her knuckles, tinted purple, were still grasping the pommel of her blade as though it were her only lifeline. Ranar threw a small glance towards the King's Box as the adjudicator returned to his place between them.

Riley wondered if he was apprehensive about facing Jessika for the fact that she was a woman, or the fact that defeating not just one, but potentially two heirs to the throne would be a huge upset for the King of the home in which Ranar lived.

She was sure Ranar enjoyed where he lived enough to not warrant an upset, though Riley didn't imagine the King being one to coddle his children like that.

A harsh cry rung from below them, and like each battle thus far, the adjudicator took several steps backwards to avoid the inevitable flurry of steel.

Ranar didn't initiate the fight as Jessika's previous opponent had; instead, he moved around in a circle, as though stalking another meal. Jessika moved in the same anti-clockwise motion, eyes focusing on Ranar without so much as blinking.

Shayla held her breath amongst an inconsistent string of cheers and words thrown from the grandstands. Finally, without any preamble, Jessika spun on her heel and brought her sword down towards Ranar's head, meeting the blade he had thrown up to protect his own skull.

Pushing against the steel, Ranar threw Jessika off with several steps backwards, but Jessika was there again, throwing all she had into her movements. While her and Fain were twins, they had completely opposite fighting styles.

Ranar's apprehension seemed forgotten now, a fiery determination now replacing his movements. His sword met hers in each blow, each parry answered, the cheers within the space amplifying. Jessika was wasting no time and sparing no effort in making sure that this bout was over as quickly as possible.

Every blow was parried, until it wasn't.

Jessika swung towards Ranar in a move that looked to take him head on, but she fell to her knees and slid at the last moment, slicing her blade across Ranar's leg. He grunted, falling to his injured knee, but before he could lift himself from the ground, Jessika already had her blade to his throat. In the moment it took for her to smirk, Ranar had spun around on his injured knee, growling in pain as he did so, escaping from the tip of her blade and rolling across the dust. He jumped to his feet and in a move Shayla and Riley had only seen once before, a move Jessika had only just used yesterday, Ranar kicked Jessika's blade from her hand. The force spun her slightly on her toes, and before she had a chance to spin back on him or make for her blade, Ranar took his own blade and held it across her throat.

Jessika struggled against his grasp, a frustrated grunt sounding from her throat, but Ranar strengthened his grip until she spat out the words she so desperately fought to keep behind her tongue.

"I yield!"

A chorus of cries and cheers sounded from the audience, but it was much like Fain's defeat at the same hands; the applause was muted, almost dull compared to the raucous applause from the day prior.

Despite Ranar's obvious skill in combat, it seemed as though there was far more support for Jessika and Fain's first Durin's Tournament.

"I think this will work," whispered Shayla.

"What will work?" Riley groaned lowly, falling into the back of her chair in dismay for Jessika.

"I think I can convince Jessika and Fain to help us get to Lothlorien."

Will this current rate of determination and motivation for writing last? I damn hope so! I hope you're all having a great week and thank you to those of you who are still checking out this story, I really appreciate it! xx