A/N: I feel like this chapter might need a bit of trigger warning but mainly because I'd prefer to be cautious about it. Jenna's dream sequence contains mentions of death/murder but it doesn't go into much detail. Thanks as always DreamingGalaxies for checking this over for me, it's always very much appreciated.
Under The Eaves Of Mirkwood
Thorin's POV
By the morning of the fourth day of the ride the dwarves could see the eaves of Mirkwood rising up in front of them like a large dark wall. They rode harder than ever now, wanting to get under the cover of the trees as soon as they could. Their journey from Beorn's had been uneventful but still they didn't want to stay out in the open any longer than they had to. Beorn's warnings had put them all on edge and Thorin had made sure there had been two on watch each night. Thankfully though their caution had been unwarranted. They stopped shortly before midday to fill their water skins at a river, remembering all too well the warning Beorn had given them about not drinking from the streams in Mirkwood. After a small lunch they continued on as swiftly as they could.
By late afternoon they had arrived at the edge of Mirkwood. Once it had been called the Greenwood and now that they were close enough Thorin could see why they had changed the name. The trees were dark and ominous looking and there was no sound of birds nor animals scurrying about as one would expect in a large forest. It somehow felt wrong. Mirkwood looked, for the want of a better word, sick.
"Well here we are at last." sighed Gandalf. "And I am afraid here is where I must leave you all."
The company instantly began to complain and grumble about losing their wizard on the edge of such a dark, dank forest. A wizard's help would be needed in these parts they insisted but Gandalf would hear none of it.
"Now, now. This is not my quest I'll have you remember. Indeed I have come much farther with you than I had originally intended and I have pressing business that I must see to now. We may meet again before your journey's end and then we may not but good luck to you all."
"Well if that's as much help as you're going to be, be off with you!" Thorin snapped. He felt as desperate as the others now that he knew the wizard would be leaving them. Turning his back on the wizard he instructed his nephews. "Release the ponies, let them return to their master!"
A few of the dwarves grumbled at this, not at all looking forward to carrying their heavy packs through the horrible forest that stretched out in front of them. Thorin however knew better than to take Beorn's ponies into the forest. He was a formidable enemy and Thorin would not cross him if he could help it.
"No doubt you will all be complaining of our packs being too light by the time we reach the other side of this accursed forest!" he snapped. "Release them!"
They did so albeit begrudgingly as Thorin turned back to see Gandalf still standing there speaking to Bilbo. The wizard looked concerned but not as concerned as Bilbo looked to be losing the wizard.
"Are you still here!?" Thorin grouched.
"I am." replied the wizard "Now though I really must leave you to it. Take care, all of you."
Mounting his horse the wizard took off in the direction they had just come from along with Beorn's ponies. As he rode away he stopped just before he was out of earshot and shouted back to them. "Remember, do NOT leave the path!"
"This forest doesn't feel right." Thorin turned to find Jenna standing beside him looking back at the immense wall of trees. "It feels like it's dying."
"Yet through it our path leads and so through it we must go." sighed Thorin.
She nodded and made to walk away but he caught her by the arm. "Are you alright?"
Jenna frowned at him. "Why do you ask?"
"You have not been sleeping well. Is there anything…"
"I'm perfectly fine!" she snapped at him.
Thorin didn't believe her but he decided it was best to let it go for now. The last thing he needed was any sort of animosity in the company when they had to face into the deep dark of Mirkwood. Instead he simply nodded. She turned away from him but he caught her by the arm again and walked her towards the trees and away from the company.
"Here." he said as he handed her a small package. She looked at him slightly bewildered before unwrapping it slowly. She lifted out the small dagger that was inside, confusion etched on her face before her eyes suddenly widened in realisation.
"You remembered my birthday!" she gasped.
Thorin cleared his throat. "Erm, yes. I mean it isn't much. It's one of my own that I managed to hold on to after the goblin tunnels. There wasn't really time to get you anything else."
Suddenly she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Thank you! Thank you so much Thorin. You really don't know how much this means to me. It's beautiful."
She seemed to suddenly realise what she had done and quickly took a step back away from him, a slight blush dusting her cheeks.
"You are welcome." he managed to whisper, fully sure that his own cheeks currently matched the light pink colour of hers.
Turning back to the rest of the company he announced that they would have lunch where they were before they made their way into the forest. He knew that he was only delaying the inevitable but he simply couldn't face going into that blasted forest yet. Judging by the relieved looks on everyone's faces they were all of the same mind.
They sat down where they were and had a meal of honey cakes, nuts and fruit. It wasn't much but they would have to get used to light rations from now on if they were ever to see the other side of the forest. Thorin was just tucking into his own when Kili plonked himself down beside him smiling his usual broad smile.
"Is all well Kili?" he questioned.
His nephew smiled excitedly and nodded at him. "Oh yes, everything is fine. Just I saw you with Miss Jenna and I…"
Thorin rolled his eyes. Of course Kili would have noticed and of course he would jump to conclusions because that's what Kili did best.
"She was simply thanking me, Kili. There is nothing more to it." He insisted. The last thing he needed was for Nori to overhear and think that there was something going on between himself and Jenna. He knew the thief well enough to know that he was not an enemy he wanted. The last thing he needed was to have someone attempt to slash his throat in the middle of the night while he slept.
"Thanking you? For what?"
Thorin shrugged. "She mentioned the other day that today was her birthday. I was simply wishing her a good day."
He deliberately didn't mention giving her the dagger, knowing that Kili would take it all out of context and assume it was a courting gift.
Kili nodded. "I like her. She seems really nice, don't you think?"
Thorin sighed internally. He knew exactly where this was going before it even started and he could already feel a headache starting.
"She seems nice enough, yes. I'm sure she and Nori will be very happy together." he said pointedly.
"What if she and Nori are just friends though?" Kili asked.
"Then I am sure she will meet someone else eventually." Thorin stated matter of factly, hoping that his nephew would drop the subject.
"Do you want to meet someone?"
Thorin was taken aback by Kili's question. "I have a kingdom to reclaim Kili. I have no time for relationships."
"After we reclaim the mountain though, you'll have time then." His nephew insisted. "Maybe you could…"
"Enough Kili." Thorin stated firmly.
With that he stood up and called to the others. "Alright, everyone get your packs. Let's go!"
With that they all plunged into the deep dark of Mirkwood.
Jenna's POV
The fourth day of their journey found Jenna in a foul mood. Thorin had insisted they wake just before dawn as he was anxious to reach the looming forest quickly. She was painfully aware of the fact that today was her birthday, her 30th birthday. It should have been a special day. She should have been waking up to a breakfast of freshly cooked pancakes like she usually did on her birthday. She would normally have been looking forward to going out later and enjoying herself, having dinner and a few drinks just like she had planned too. Instead here she was stuck riding a pony in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of grouchy dwarves. To make it worse nobody had even wished her a happy birthday. Not that the dwarves could be expected to know it was her birthday, she reminded herself. Esme shouldn't have forgotten it though, she thought sullenly.
"Are you ok?" Nori asked from where he was riding his pony beside her.
"Just thinking about how things could have been." She smiled wistfully.
Nori eyes her quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"I was thinking about all the things I would be doing if I was at home right now." she smiled. "It's my birthday today."
"It is? Why didn't you say? Happy birthday! So tell me about all these exciting things you would be doing if you were at home then." Nori grinned.
"Not sure I'd call it exciting as such, just dinner and a few drinks. Honestly the part I'm missing most is a breakfast of hot pancakes."
"Well not much I can do about that I'm afraid but I promise you as soon as we have a kitchen again I will make you the best pancakes you have ever had." the thief smiled at her.
"I'll hold you to that Nori!" she smiled.
The thief fished something out of his pocket. "Until then this will have to do."
He handed her a package that she recognised as the honey cakes Beorn had given them. She smiled widely as she took the package from him.
"Thank you. This is the best birthday present I've got all day!" she joked, getting a laugh from Nori and a frown from Thorin. Clearly he would prefer if everyone was as miserable as he looked this morning. Deciding it was best not to irk their broody leader this early in the morning she fell silent again as they trudged along.
The closer they got to the forest, the more uneasy she felt. Something didn't feel right but she wasn't sure what.
By the time they stopped under the eaves of the outermost trees she realised what it was. The forest just felt wrong.
"This forest doesn't feel right." She said quietly as she approached Thorin. "It feels like it's dying."
"Yet through it our path leads and so through it we must go." Thorin sighed.
She nodded, there was no point in arguing with him about finding another way around. Beorn had said this was the only safe path. She turned to go back to where Esme stood talking to Bilbo but he caught her by the arm.
"Are you alright?" he quizzed.
Jenna felt her stomach drop. Could he have noticed she wasn't sleeping?
"Why do you ask?"
"You have not been sleeping well. Is there anything…" He'd noticed. Of course he had.
"I'm perfectly fine!" she snapped at him.
Thorin eyed her suspiciously but he didn't question her instead he just nodded. Relieved, Jenna turned to walk away but again he caught her by the arm, pulling her away from the company.
"Here."
Thorin pushed a small package into her hands. She was confused at first but as soon as she opened it and saw the dagger she realised what he was doing. It was a birthday present. He'd remembered!
"You remembered my birthday!" she gasped.
"Erm, yes. I mean it isn't much. It's one of my own that I managed to hold on to after the goblin tunnels. There wasn't really time to get you anything else." Thorin said awkwardly.
Before she even knew what she was doing, Jenna was hugging him tightly. She couldn't believe he had remembered, even Esme had forgotten and she never forgot her birthday. Surely the king had enough on his mind that remembering her birthday wasn't going to be his top priority but here he was handing her a gift.
"Thank you! Thank you so much Thorin. You really don't know how much this means to me. It's beautiful."
Suddenly realising that she was in fact tightly hugging a very tense feeling dwarf she quickly took a step back away from him.
"You are welcome." he all but whispered, a slight blush dusting his cheeks.
Jenna had never been in a forest like this before. It was so dense that they could only see a few feet off to either side of the path. The trees were covered in cobwebs and yet the path that they followed remained clear. She wasn't sure whether the elves kept it this way or whether there was some sort of enchantment on the path that prevented the webs from spreading across it. The path was winding and difficult to follow as it was hidden beneath a thick layer of rotting leaves and so their going was slow. Jenna hated everything about this place from the second she set foot in it. Nothing about it felt right.
"How long will it take us to get out the other side?" She asked nobody in particular.
"A few weeks at least." Nori replied from behind her.
She sighed heavily, the thoughts of being in this place any longer than a minute were agonising. A few weeks of it would surely have them all gone completely crazy. Little did she know that the worst of it was yet to come. That night, when the sun set, they found themselves plunged into a darkness so complete that Jenna couldn't even see her own hand if she held it up in front of her face. The worst part of it was that the darkness felt watchful, as if some sort of hideous creature was hiding just out of view watching their every move.
They tried to light a fire but it only attracted dozens of huge black moths that whirled in and around them so they soon put it out again. She wasn't sure how she was going to sleep in this place. Her sleep had been bad enough on their journey to the forest. The nightmares had started to get worse and she couldn't close her eyes now without being brought back to that moment so long ago. The only way she knew of calming herself down after them was sitting up and looking around at the rest of the camp sleeping soundly. Seeing them all lying there and listening to them snoring, grounded her in the present and chased away the demons that haunted her dreams. In this place however, she couldn't even see her own hand, how was she going to snap out of the nightmares when she was currently sitting in one? She absolutely hated this miserable place.
She tossed and turned on the hard ground for much of the night before sleep finally claimed her. Instead of finding solace in her sleep however, she found him instead. He was always waiting for her. Standing there sneering down at her as she began to cry. She saw the knife gleaming in his hand as he towered over her, and felt the pain as it began to dig into her stomach. She watched in horror as he began to laugh and then stopped abruptly as a blade pushed through him from behind. It was when the light in his eyes went out that she woke up with a start grasping for something, anything that would protect her, someone who would save her.
At first she thought she hadn't opened her eyes because the darkness was so deep around her. Suddenly she felt arms wrap around her from behind and an awful panic took over her. Was she still sleeping? She began to struggle against her assailant, scratching and clawing at him but he was too strong. Suddenly he was on top of her, pinning her to the ground. She whimpered, knowing that she couldn't get away.
"Stop." a voice whispered. It was a voice she knew from somewhere but she couldn't place it right now. "It's OK. You're safe. I have you. Stop."
While she couldn't grasp who the voice belonged to she still somehow trusted it. A feeling of calmness washed over her and she stopped struggling. The grip on her arms slackened almost immediately and she felt a hand brush along her cheek, wiping the tears she hadn't realised were falling. Then she felt him lift himself off of her before pulling her into his arms. She clung tightly to him as he ran his hands up and down her back. For the first time in weeks she felt safe. Her breathing began to slow down and she soon found herself drifting off to sleep again. This time there were no dreams. She finally slept peacefully.
Esme's POV
Esme woke up and wondered for a moment where she was before she remembered the forest. It was still night time judging by the complete darkness that engulfed them. Something had woken her but she wasn't sure what it was. She lay there in the dark for a second listening for any sound that might alert her as to what was going on. Suddenly she heard someone whimper quietly. Not just anybody, Jenna. Was she ok? She sat up immediately, her eyes searching vainly for her friend in the darkness, when she heard a voice.
"Stop. It's OK. You're safe. I have you. Stop."
Esme made to get up onto her feet but a hand on her arm stopped her.
"She's ok. Go back to sleep." her husband mumbled.
Begrudgingly she lay back down and tried to close her eyes again. She would need all her strength for the following day. Thorin was pushing them all hard, not wanting to remain in the forest any longer than was strictly necessary. This was unlike any forest Esme had ever seen. There were no signs of wildlife or at least not the edible kind. There seemed to be plenty of insects and judging by the amount of cobwebs there were definitely plenty of spiders. If they ran out of food in here then they would have no way of hunting anything and none of them would make it out the other side.
Eventually she must have drifted off to sleep as when she opened her eyes next she could see again, well only slightly but it was certainly better than the darkness that came at night in this place. Looking around she spotted Jenna across the path from her sitting crossed legged and tucking into some breakfast. She made her way over and sat down beside her friend.
"Are you ok Jen?" she asked quietly.
Jenna sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I'm not sleeping too well."
"I noticed." Jenna eyed her questioningly so she continued. "I heard you last night. You must have been having a nightmare."
Jenna nodded but remained quiet and Esme knew better than to push her. If she wanted to talk she would but most of the time Jenna preferred to work through things on her own. Esme had learned over the years that pushing her to talk when she wasn't ready just made things worse. Instead she opted for a change of subject.
"What are you eating?"
Jenna held out her hand so she could see the half-eaten honey cake that she had been tucking into but still didn't speak.
"So what's going on with Thorin? I saw him hugging you." she teased.
Jenna sighed. "Nothing is going on! I was just thanking him. He gave me a birthday present."
Esme's stomach dropped, she felt awful. For the first time ever she had forgotten her friend's birthday! Her 30th birthday at that. Even Thorin had thought of it but she hadn't.
"Oh Jen, I'm so sorry. I didn't realise the date."
"It's ok. Hard to keep track of the days out in the wilds. Besides, it's not like we could have celebrated out here, is it?" Jenna smiled but it seemed strained. "Is everything ok with you? You seem really quiet since we left Beorn's."
Esme shrugged. "I've just had a lot to think about. It's no excuse for forgetting your birthday though. I really am so sorry and I'll make it up to you I promise."
Jenna nodded. "I know Ez. Don't worry about it, really. What have you been thinking about?"
Esme pulled her knees up towards her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I hate this place and part of me wants to get out of here quickly. The other part though wants to prolong it for as long as possible. The closer we come to Laketown the more nervous I get. I'm going to meet a father I never knew existed. One my mother ran away from. I'm scared that I'm making a mistake." she sighed heavily, "What if he's horrid Jen?"
Her friend gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. "He won't be. Thorin wouldn't take you to him if he was horrid, you know that. But if he is then I promise I'll kick him in the shins and we can make a run for it, OK?"
Esme couldn't help but laugh. "Sounds like a plan. Thanks Jen, you're right. Thorin wouldn't take me to him if he didn't think I'd be safe. He's really quite sweet don't you think?"
Jenna raised an eyebrow at her. "Sweet? Not exactly a word I would have chosen for him, no."
"Well he did look after you when you were hurt, that was sweet. And he gave you a birthday present and…"
Jenna cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "What exactly are you getting at Esme?"
"I just think he's really nice is all." Esme shrugged. "Maybe if you just gave him a chance…"
"A chance!? A chance at what exactly?" Jenna snapped.
Esme bit her lip, this wasn't going the way she had planned. "I just think he'd be good for you if you just gave him a chance. He might be what you need to fix…"
Jenna interrupted her again. "I don't need fixing! I'm not broken! I'm just not going to fall for the first dwarf that is in any way nice to me! I'm not foolish like you! I don't want a relationship! Not with anyone, and you used to know that!"
With that Jenna stood and stomped off to where Nori was sitting with Dori on the other side of the camp. Esme was shocked at Jenna's outburst. She had only been trying to nudge her in the right direction. She was sure Thorin would be good for her friend. She thought about following her and apologising but she was more than a little angry at the insinuation that Esme's marriage was a result of her just blindly falling for the first person that was nice to her.
As Thorin called out to everyone that it was time to get moving again she pulled herself to her feet and made her way over to her husband. She tried not to feel hurt that Jenna looked away as she passed her. It was going to be a long day.
Dwalin's POV
As soon as they stepped foot in Mirkwood, Dwalin had felt uneasy and the further along they trudged the more his uneasiness had grown. This wasn't like the Mirkwood of old, a green, bright forest Dwalin had often travelled through in his youth. Something was dreadfully wrong here.
"We shouldn't have come this way Thorin. We don't know these paths. The old road…"
"Is full of orcs and goblins if Beorn is to be believed. This is the only safe path left in this accursed forest." Thorin snapped.
Thorin had never liked Mirkwood, or any forest really, and his temper was fraying easier than usual.
"Is it safe though? Doesn't feel like it. I feel like some growing threat is watching us just waiting for the right time to strike. I can't shake the feeling." Dwalin eyed the surrounding trees wearily as he spoke.
Thorin nodded as he too scanned the trees at the edge of the pathway. "I know, I feel it too, but what would you have me do? Turn around and go back to the old road only to be waylaid by orcs? Even if we were lucky enough to avoid them we can't afford the delay. We must reach the mountain by Durin's day."
Dwalin frowned as he watched Esme stumble on a piece of root which was sticking out of the ground up ahead, she would have fallen had it not been for Dori's quick reflexes. Thorin sighed beside him. "You think I should have left them behind."
It was a statement rather than a question so Dwalin simply grunted in reply.
"They would have followed us anyway. They are safer with us than trailing behind us." Thorin pointed out.
Dwalin frowned, he knew Thorin was right, the lasses were stubborn enough to try following them alone. He also knew that wasn't why Thorin had decided to bring them with him though. He watched as Nori helped Jenna to climb over a particularly large root. Things would have been far simpler had they left her behind in Rivendell.
"You don't like her." Thorin observed.
Dwalin sighed, he really didn't want to get involved in this at all. "She's more trouble than she's worth Thorin. I know Nori better than most. Stay clear of her or this won't end well."
He had been expecting Thorin to argue, to deny his feelings for the lass like he usually did but instead he simply nodded in agreement.
"What did you say to Esme back at Beorn's?"
Thorin seemed surprised by the change of subject. He had probably been expecting a lecture from Dwalin about his feelings for the lass but Dwalin knew all too well that you couldn't just stop those feelings no matter how much you wanted to.
"I told her I was sending word to Borak to meet us in Laketown, why do you ask?" Thorin answered.
Dwalin nodded. That explained a lot. "Esme hasn't been herself since. She has been awfully quiet, I thought maybe I'd done something wrong. She doesn't want to meet him then?"
"I think it has more to do with the fact that she doesn't want to leave you." Thorin sighed heavily, "Dwalin, you could still…"
"We've been over this. I ain't leaving ya Thorin. Not for anything."
Thorin was about to reply when a shout went up from up ahead.
"The road is blocked by a river. There's no way across!"
Rounding the corner they saw that a dark, quick flowing stream cut straight across the path they were following. There did not seem to be any way across it and it was far too fast flowing to consider wading across.
"What do we do now?" Bofur questioned from where he stood at the bank of the river.
"We should go back Thorin. I'm telling you I've had a bad feeling about this from the start. There's no way to cross this bloody stream anyway…"
Dwalin found himself cut off in mid-sentence as Bilbo shouted excitedly from where he was standing with Bofur.
"There's a boat! I can see it, it's been pulled up onto the other bank but I don't think it's tied." The hobbit exclaimed excitedly.
"Not exactly any use to us when it's on the opposite shore laddie." Balin smiled kindly at the hobbit.
Thorin stepped forward to see if he could see the boat that Bilbo was talking about but he couldn't. The others had no luck seeing it either. The hobbit had the keenest eyes among them it seemed.
"Are you sure it isn't tied?" Thorin questioned.
"I don't believe so, no, it looks as though it's just been pulled up onto the other bank, mind you I can't be certain in this light."
Thorin nodded. "Fili, come see if you can see this boat Mr. Baggins is talking about."
Fili came forward and after a few moments of staring into the darkness he nodded. "I think I can see it."
Thorin handed him a length of rope with a hook tied on the end. "We'll have to try to get the hook into the boat and pull it over to this shore. Do you think you can make the shot?"
Fili shrugged. "Only one way to find out."
After three attempts the hook eventually landed in the boat and the rope went tight. Fili pulled and the boat slowly slipped into the water and came drifting back towards the shore they stood on. The company cheered but Dwalin was far from happy. His uneasiness was growing by the second.
"Thorin, I don't think we should cross the river. Something isn't right. I can feel it."
Thorin frowned as he looked back over his shoulder and then back to the boat. "What other choice do we have?"
"We still have time, we can go back." Dwalin repeated his earlier idea.
"We'll be set upon by orcs. We can't go back!" Turning away from Dwalin, Thorin continued to bark orders. "The boat isn't big enough for us all to go at once. Fili, Kili, Mr. Baggins, Oin, Gloin and Bofur, you will travel across first, then Balin, Bifur, Dwalin, Esmeralda, Jenna and Nori. Dori, Ori and Bombur you will all travel with me in the last boat load."
Dwalin sighed. "Nothing good will come of this, mark my words."
Soon though the first two loads were across the river safely and the last boat load was on the way. Dwalin stood on high alert, waiting for anything that might go wrong.
"Are you alright?" Esme asked as she watched Dwalin frowning.
"Something just feels off. I've learnt over the years not to ignore it when I feel like this." He scanned the trees surrounding them as he answered her.
Emse shifted uncomfortably and gazed at the trees. "Are we not safe here? Beorn said this road was safe, didn't he?"
The last boatload had arrived safely and Thorin, Dori and Ori were already out when suddenly on the road up ahead they heard hooves fast approaching. Dwalin and Thorin both drew the bows Beorn had given them as a large stag galloped into view, they took aim and shot at it but the stag kept running and cleared the river with one leap. The dwarves were just lowering their bows when there came a shout from the river.
"Bombur! Bombur is drowning! Quick, help!" The hobbit was jumping up and down at the edge of the river where the boat had somehow overturned, knocking Bombur into the stream.
Running forward Dwalin grabbed the rope they had used to pull the boat along and threw it quickly to Bombur. He caught it and they slowly pulled him out of the river only to find that when they did he was sound asleep, still clutching the rope in one hand. Try as they might, nothing that they did could wake him.
"What are we going to do!?" Bofur cried, "We can't just leave him here, I won't leave him!"
Thorin nodded. "No, we can't leave him but we also can't wake him. So we're going to have to carry him."
That elicited a number of groans from the company. Nobody relished the thoughts of having to carry Bombur anywhere.
Dwalin glared at Thorin. "I told you something bad was going to happen!"
Thorin sighed. "Well at least it can't get any worse, right?"
TBC