"This cannot be fucking happening!" cried Riley for the fifteenth time, as she paced up and down the living space within the King's Chambers. Her leg had started to ache, but she was determined to ignore it. If not for Bilbo, she would have already been racing through whatever tunnels required to catch up to Shayla.

To drag her back into Erebor by the ears if needed.

Riley had never been one for panicking, at least not visibly, but right now she was beside herself. She clenched and released her fists sporadically, digging her nails into the palms of her hands as she did so, profanities streaming from her lips.

"I can't believe she has done this. I cannot fucking believe she could be so selfish! Fuck!" A thousand thoughts were racing through her mind so quickly it was hard to grasp onto a single strand, but there was one that became clearer to her as she paced.

"How does she think she is going to get there by herself?!" Bilbo had dropped himself onto one of the couches in the living room, eyes wide with fear, and with guilt.

"She has the maps…" Riley spun on her heel to face him, mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"How the fuck did she get the maps from you?"

"I…" Bilbo stopped halfway, biting his lip in a vain attempt to stop himself from crying. "Last night when Shayla came back to the chambers, she asked for the maps… She said she wanted to study them, to prepare herself further for the journey…"

Riley wanted to yell, she wanted to scream at Bilbo, but it wasn't his fault. Shayla had never been one for lying, so it made sense that Bilbo would take her at her word.

Riley, on the other hand, was furious with herself for not seeing the lie earlier. Shayla was the most honest person she knew, but if Riley was honest with herself, she knew that the way that her friend had conceded defeat during their argument, and agreed to stay within Erebor, was completely out of character.

She should have known it didn't feel right.

She should have pushed it with her.

She should have done something, anything.

Now, because she hadn't given it more than a moment's thought, her best friend was alone in this god forsaken world. Riley knew that she was capable, but she had heard stories of the creatures that had chased them when she was in the dark abyss of her sepsis fever.

Riley closed her eyes and buried her fingernails into her palms. She willed the images of Shayla, all alone, facing the monsters of this world, from her mind.

Riley could not let this happen.

"We need to go and get her back." Riley deadpanned, opening her eyes, and suddenly moving for her room. Bilbo followed after a moment, hot on her heels.

"Wait, Miss Riley! We need to think through exactly how we are going to do this!" Riley spun on her heel, and Bilbo almost crashed into her in her sudden change of course.

"We? There is no 'we', Bilbo. The only reason she has gone by herself is because I convinced her that risking you and your siblings was selfish of her! I sure as hell won't be the one to do exactly that!" Riley's voice became angrier and more furious, and she just hoped that there was truly no one else in the chambers as Bilbo had confirmed.

"It is my fault she is out there right now! If I hadn't given her the maps, or if I had just known… I will travel with you to find her, or I will just follow you. Either way, I will be there with you. I am going to right this whether you want me there or not." The volume of Bilbo's shouting almost stunned Riley more than the substance of his words.

Almost.

"You are infuriating, Bilbo!" she shouted back at him, her teeth grinding themselves to dust in her fury and anxiety. Bilbo took a deep breath and stood himself upright just that little bit further.

"I am stubborn when I need to be." Bilbo replied curtly, his voice returning to its normal level.

They glared at each other for several moments, before Riley relented. She couldn't do this alone. She wouldn't survive more than half a day by herself.

How was this a fool-proof alternative though? She went with Bilbo, and then what? Neither of them were skilled enough with their weapons, and besides the fact, they also didn't have the maps.

"We should tell your father about this." Riley verbalised the idea, but as soon as it left her lips, she thought the better of it. Bilbo echoed her sentiments.

"No! We cannot tell him; he will be furious that we had planned to take you to the Elves…" The fear and guilt in Bilbo's eyes solidified an alternate route that didn't involve telling the King.

"But the two of us can't do this by ourselves… And surely they will know we are gone?" Riley groaned, despondent. They were running out of feasible options, and they were falling further behind Shayla with every moment they deliberated.

Bilbo wracked his brain, thinking so hard Riley could almost hear the cogs moving within his skull.

"I will go and find Fain, Jessika and Ori. They have prepared to leave on this journey, they will just need to leave with us today." Riley sighed impatiently, cutting nails into her palms once more.

"And how do we get past everyone? How do we explain our disappearance?" Riley implored Bilbo's ocean eyes as the walls around her heart begun to crumble. Her soul was on full display, each splinter a relic to observe and dissect.

She didn't think she could stop herself from imploding.

"Let me figure that part of the plan. Miss Riley, prepare your things with haste, and with stealth. The tournament will continue for several more hours, so there should be no one around while you work." Determination filled Bilbo's eyes, as well as the empathy she knew Shayla had found within him.

"We will get her back." Bilbo affirmed. A strangled sob escaped Riley's throat as she tried to respond, and her voice cracked as she voiced a fear she had only subconsciously considered.

"But will she want to come back?" Riley whispered dejectedly, her eyes dropping to the floor between them both.

"We still need to try." Bilbo squeezed Riley's wrist gently, before moving with haste from the King's Chambers.

Riley finally let the tears fall freely without another soul to witness. Her heart had finally broken. How did Shayla think that Riley would be better off here, if she had to spend the rest of her life worrying about Shayla?

Wondering if she had found her way through to their world?

Wondering if she was finally within the embrace of her family once more?

Wondering if she had even survived a day in the dangerous wilderness?

How was Riley supposed to live with the happiness and peace Shayla so desperately wanted for her, if those questions plagued her until she the day she died?

Hello lovelies, I hope you're having a great week!

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