Part 3 of More to The Story. It's about a family that are the key-holders and Gatekeepers between our world/Wizarding World and Middle Earth. Adventure, friendships, and love. Part 3 picks up at the beginning of The Battle of the Five Armies, with equal parts of books and movies with the crossovers. OC's and real characters.
The Company and Gatekeepers are divided. Some of the company remain in Laketown with the younger members of the Gatekeeper family. The parents and grandparents are still missing. The danger of the dragon, orcs, and greed were on everyone's minds. What would become of them? Erébor? The Wizard and Muggle world? Nothing was certain.
I do not own anything from the Hobbit or Harry Potter; only the OC's and their story. All Harry Potter/Hobbit references and characters belong to J.K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Peter Jackson.
Chapter 9
Karah had been tossing clothes over her shoulder for at least a half hour trying to decide on what to wear for her date with Kili. Nothing was looking good on her! She tried on three different outfits and they just were not working. He had not given her any clues on what they were going to be doing, so that made her decision-making process even more difficult. Just when she was about to scream in frustration, she spotted one of her favorite tops he had not seen her in yet. It was a champaign colored tank top with beaded and sequence embroidery. She paired it with her cardigan, best jeans, and her riding boots. Only she was missing one boot! Every time she thought she had it, she was just picking up the original one she found.
A knock on the door sounded and she gave permission to enter. She assumed it was Jordan as it was too early for Kili to be there. "Thank goodness you're here, I can't find my," Karah turned around and lost her voice at seeing him leaning against the door frame.
Kili smiled at the state of her room, "what happened here? Are you ready?"
She was mortified he was seeing her kneeling on the floor in this disaster. "Um, not yet. I can't find my boot!"
He thought her distress was rather cute. "It's fine, just wear a different pair of shoes."
"But the boots complete my outfit! I didn't know what you had planned for us, but I wanted to look nice for you." She explained while she continued to throw articles of clothing around in her search.
"You will look beautiful in anything you wear." He insisted. His eyes fixed on one piece of clothing that Karah had throne. It was small, black, and lacy with some kind of straps holding two triangle shapes together. "What's this?" He asked, holding it up in front of him by the straps.
"What's what?" Karah glanced over her shoulder quickly, but did a double take at him. "Wait! Put that down!"
He looked at the fabric more closely. "Do you wear this over your ears?" He asked innocently as he examined it closer.
"Ears? No!" She got up from the floor and tried to take it from him. "Just give it to me."
He held it out of her reach, playing like he did when he stole her wand. "Tell me what it's for."
"No!" She had to fight to keep her smile at bay, and it was not working. He continued to switch hands, so she was forced to back him into a corner. "Kili, give it back!"
"I'll give it back if you tell me what it's used for," he conditioned. He was holding it over their heads so she grabbed his arms and pinned him to the wall. He grinned down at her, liking their current position. "It seems we are at a stalemate. Come on, Karah, just tell me."
She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her laughter and embarrassment at bay. "It's called a bra."
While she was distracted trying to figure out what to say, Kili grabbed her wrists and spun around to change places. Now she was pinned between him and the wall. "What does it do?"
She did not hear him. Her eyes became glass and she stilled. Her vision showed Fili first, in her arms with a huge hole in his chest. Kili taken off in anger to fight off oncoming orcs. Tauriel had tried to help him, but he too was stabbed. Thorin was screaming in pain from a knife stabbing through his foot, forcing him to remain attached to sheet of ice, then Azog sprung up from underneath it. And last, Jordan disappearing behind some kind of wall. Karah was all alone to care for her friends and family who were falling apart by the sight of the battle all around them.
"Karah? Karah? Can you hear me?" Kili's playful smile lowered when he realized the atmosphere changed. "Did you have a vision?"
She nodded, not wanting to tell him just yet what she saw. "Can I have my bra back, now?"
"What did you see?"
"I promise to tell you later. Now give me my bra back." She made another attempt at grabbing it.
"I will if you tell me what the bra's for."
Karah rolled her eyes, thinking how absurd the conversation was. "It's for support."
"Supporting what?" He leaned in really close, loving this moment of playfulness.
"What do females have that males don't?" She asked.
"I think that's a set-up question that will get me into trouble…" Kili guessed carefully.
Her jaw shifted to the side in humorous irritation. "Something physical." To help him along, she glanced downward.
Kili's eyes followed hers. "Oh. Um…" He would be lying through his teeth if he said he had never thought about all of Karah's assets, and with this frilly little garment his imagination was going to go places he did not even know were possible. Yet another wonderful mystery from Karah's world.
"Hey! That's enough looking!"
"See! A set-up!" He was still thinking about what Karah looked like in the bra. He could not help it! "Maybe we should go." He let her wrists go and headed for the door.
"Um, Kili?" She called sweetly. She had tilted her head to one side and her hair fell down. "I think you're forgetting something."
"What?" He stopped but did not turn around.
"My bra." She prompted. Holding out her hand for him to come back to her.
Looking down at his hand where he still clutched the lingerie. "Right." He refused to turn around and instead held out his hand.
Karah grinned at his embarrassment. Relenting, she walked over, took his hand and spun him around. She kissed him on his lips quickly and took the bra away from him. With her free hand on his chest, she gently pushed him backward out the door. "Now get out."
"Are you angry with me?" Kili asked worriedly.
"No!" She assured him. "But I still can't find my boot and I can't have you going through any more of my things."
"Do you have more bra's like that?" He playfully inquired.
"Get out!" She shut the door with a loud thud and a giggle.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Kili was covering Karah's eyes with his hands, steering her to where he wanted to go. "Are you ready to see?"
"I've been ready for a while." Karah answered. "We've been walking for forever!"
"Well if you had just changed your shoes and not insisted on finding the boot, we would have been here earlier."
It took another twenty minutes for her to find her boots; not that he was complaining, she looked amazing. When Thorin finally relented and let the company rest for the night, the nephews disappeared with Bombur to pack some food to take for their time with the witches. Bifur had showed up and given them explicit instructions to be on their best behavior. To have them back in their rooms by midnight because he would be checking. Fili and Kili promised they would, even informing him where they were going.
Kili did not cover her eyes until they were at the entrance of their final destination. When his hands feel away she was in awe of the beautiful hall.
The Silver Fountains were magnificent all on their own. Unfortunately, Smaug did destroy the plumbing in this part of the mountain, therefore there was no water running through them. The little bit pooled water was green with algae and mold. The silver was also coated in dust. But to take in the craftsmanship and engineering behind the construction of the intricate fountains was enough to make a hasty person pause. Considering there was no flowing water, they studied the art carved and pressed into the silver. It told stories of the dwarves. Some were historically accurate, confirmed by Kili. Others were myth, left to the imagination.
"You dwarves never cease to amaze," Karah sighed as she studied a scene of what appeared to be a feast. "Do you know what this one is about?"
Kili stood next to her, taking her hand and looked over the carving. "No. I don't know what any of these tell. I could venture a guess but we'd need to confirm them with the records in the library. Or ask Balin. I'm not sure which would be quicker though."
"He does have a tendency to drag on sometimes." She laughed. "Well, they seem to be enjoying themselves. I imagine they're one big family, celebrating a special occasion together." She was pointing to each dwarf sitting at the table. "He must be the head of the family. There is his wife and matriarch. It looks like their children are having a difficult time wrangling the little grandchildren to sit and eat dinner." Without realizing, her cherry attitude began to fall.
"What's on your mind" he noticed her change in demeanor.
"A lot."
"Is it the vision?"
"Yeah, and other stuff too."
"What other stuff? Your family? Me? Thorin?"
"It's everything." Karah smile was sad. "I am so happy to have met you and that you want me. I want to be with you too. I only worry about the upcoming future. Tomor-,"
Kili cut her off, "Let's not talk about tomorrow." He did not want to ruin their time talking about the dismal future.
"But we must!" She insisted. "Kili, my vision was not good. You, Fili, and Thorin are all in danger. You all are badly wounded, and I have no idea if you survive."
"Do you ever have any happy visions?" Kili groaned and rubbed his face.
"I don't want you to go out there. Please don't go."
"Karah, I must. The whole company is expected to be there and ready for when Dain arrives to fight the elves and the people of Lake Town."
"But it's not just them. My family is out there too. You'll be fighting against them. And if we all survive this battle, I don't want to us to be fighting about this during Christmas dinner!"
"What's Christmas?"
Karah continued like she did not hear the question. "One of you, or more, will get hurt or worse killed. Please, we must find another way!"
Kili took both her hands and pulled her close. Touching his forehead to hers, "I hear you. I don't want to fight your family. I don't want innocent people to be caught in the crossfire. Maybe Thorin will have calmed down some now that your sister is here. He is different when she is around. In a lot of ways, she brings out the best in him. He's more compassionate. I think he will have changed his mind some by morning."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Let's not worry about it right now. Please just be with me, in this moment, in the quiet and this once beautiful place. I need you. I love you. And I don't want to waste another minute worrying about tomorrow."
He led her to bench where the food was waiting for them. Pulling out their meal, they ate and drank, shared more ideas on their interpretation of all the carvings in the silver. They each took turns talking about their family friends. Sharing stories about their childhoods and education. Both fascinated and enthralled by the differences. Hours later, it was getting close to midnight and they both knew they needed to leave.
Karah pulled the rune stone Kili gave her and handed it back to him. "I hope it's okay, but I snagged a small piece of gold, used magic to melt it and set it into the engravings. I know your mother gave it to you, and I did not want to do anything that would permanently alter it, especially if you hated it."
Kili smiled over the addition, rubbing his thumb over the gold carvings. "It's wonderful. But I gave it to you as a gift." He held it out for her to take back.
Karah nodded and closed his fingers around the stone, "I know you did. Please don't be upset that I'm giving it back to you. I could never take away your mother's love for you, but I want you to know that I will add to it. I love you and want to be with you always. And I thought by returning the stone with my added love, you would promise me the same as your mother. Please come back to me, come back so we can spend the rest of our lives together."
"Are you saying you want to marry me?"
"Yes. If you will have me."
He grinned as he suddenly pulled her into him and kissed her. There were many quick kisses on her lips until he pulled back and grinned. "I thought you didn't know much about my culture and here you are proposing to me like a dwarf maid."
Karah laughed and kissed him again. "I've got a lot to learn if I ever want to be a proper dwarf maid. At this rate, I just hope your family likes me. Well, besides Thorin and your brother. I think I've won them over."
"You defiantly have." He brought her kinds to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "And I wish I could marry you right now, My One."
"Well, I may have proposed to you, but you still have to ask my father for permission!" Karah smirked.
Kili paused, "I have to what, now?"
"I may have told you that I'll spend the rest of my life with you. But you still have to ask my father for my hand in marriage."
"Oh, well yes of course. I still need to meet your parents. Then we need to tell our families we found we are One and begin the courting process."
"Ones, huh? Thorin told me a little about those. Are dwarf maids the ones who do the proposing?"
"In some ways. If it's obvious to her that she's met her One, she will probably talk to her family about it, then talk to the lucky dwarf who is her other half."
"So, do you mean each dwarf is a half and they are One once they've married?" Karah asked.
"It's their perfect other half. You are my perfect other half, Karah. I love you and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I wish I could give you the courting and engagement beads to put in your braided hair. I want to tell the world they we have found each other. But there has been no time to make them."
"That's the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me. But honestly, I don't know what you are talking about with braids and beads."
"They are how dwarves show what family they belong to, what their status is, or what accomplishments they've made. I will make beads for you, and I will braid your hair and secure them with my beads."
"I can't wait."
"Will you settle for something else for now?" Kili let go of her hands and pulled out a ring. "I found it while we were digging through the treasury for the Arkenstone. I thought of you and wanted you to have it."
"It's beautiful. Thank you!" She kissed him this time and looked down at her hands. "Well, in my culture, when a couple becomes engaged, the man gives the woman a ring to wear on the fourth finger on the left hand."
"You said that's what you do when a couple is married."
"Well yes, I did say that back at Béorn's house. But many people start with giving the woman an engagement ring, and enhance it with a second ring on their wedding day. The man gets one ring on their wedding day."
"So, by me giving you this ring, we are telling all the humans we are engaged?"
"Exactly. You putting it on my finger signifies you have asked me to marry you and I said yes."
He wasted no time in putting it on her figure. It was rose gold with a large pink stone on top, haloed with tiny diamonds to make it really sparkle, and they wrapped around the entire band. There was no problem putting the ring on her finger, as it was at least two sizes too big. It spun around and the large stone pointed straight down to the ground. They both busted out laughing.
Kili was the first to calm himself, "well, considering I have yet to meet your parents, perhaps it's best you can't wear it on your finger yet.
"I'll settle for a chain and wear it around my neck until you do." Karah suggested and leaned over to kiss him some more. "I love you."
"I love you too."
