Hey! I totally forgot that I had a FanFiction account (lol sorry), so that's why I didn't update. Plus, I've been working a lot on NaNoWriMo, and it is SAPPING ALL OF MY TIME *cries quietly in background*. I apologize for not updating, but as you see I have an excuse (even though it may not be a good one).

BUT! I also come bearing good news! Remember the friends I talked to you about who never watched the Hobbit? We finished it with them, and one of them loves Legolas as much as I do (just in a different way lol. They just think he's really cool and great at archery and has amazing stunts).

We're onto The Two Towers now and the friend is still holding to their belief!

And now it's on to special shoutout time! I would like to thank BaconBabe for leaving a review on every chapter I've ever put out (you have no idea how much it encourages me!) and to Filisgirl251 for being one of the first to review (and for getting some fics in there with people who get rarely shipped. I've seen yours with Dwalin and Nori; you're a braver woman than me. ;) ).

Chapter Five

Rîn grabbed the tallest dwarf, the one she knew must be Thorin Oakenshield, and hauled him to the King's throne room. She didn't know why Thranduil would want to talk to a dwarf, but it wasn't her job to question the elf king, only to do as he commanded her, so she led Oakenshield to the guards standing by the door. Her curiosity had been piqued, so once the guards disappeared inside the room, she snuck behind a corner to listen. She knew she could get in big trouble for this - just imagine what would happen if Legolas found her - but she was keeping her ear out for footsteps.

She heard King Thranduil's voice. "By all appearances it seems that a noble quest is at hand," he said. "A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon, while I suspect a more prosaic motive. Attempted burglary, or something of that ilk."

Rîn frowned. What?

"You are looking for that which would bestow upon you the right to rule," the elf continued. "The Arkenstone."

Rîn had heard of the Arkenstone before. She'd heard that it was called the King's jewel, because Thror, Thorin's grandfather, found it in the heart of the mountain and took it as his divine right to rule. She re-focused on the conversation before her mind had a chance to wander, wanting to get all the information before she began to make any theories.

"It is precious to you beyond measure." She could picture Thranduil's cunning smile. "I understand that. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire." If he had, indeed, been smiling, this would have been the moment it would've disappeared. "White gems of pure starlight. And for them I will offer my help."

She heard the dwarf's voice now. "I'm listening."

"I will release you and your friends if you but return what is mine."

"A favor for a favor," Oakenshield said.

"One King to the other."

Oakenshield laughed mockingly, angrily. "I would not trust Thranduil, the great King, to honor his word..." his voice escalated in volume as he spoke "...should the end of all days be upon us!" He was shouting now.

There was silence on Thranduil's part, but Oakenshield wasn't done.

"You, who lacks all honor! I have seen how you treat your 'friends'. We came to you once. We were starving, homeless. We sought your help." He sounded bitter, as Rîn had expected. "But you turned your back. You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us!"

Rîn was shocked. He must be mad! Thranduil had just offered him a way out. All he had needed to do was accept, regardless of his feelings the King, and he'd be out of Mirkwood. He didn't even have to carry out on his side of the bargain, if he really wanted to be spiteful. What was he doing?

Thorin shouted something in a language Rîn didn't recognize - probably some form of Dwarvish - and the King answered immediately, angry.

"Do not speak to me of dragon fire," Thranduil hissed. "I know its wrath and ruin. I have faced the great serpents of the North." Rîn had heard of his encounters with dragons in the past, but she never knew they were true. She had always though they were just propaganda to increase his popularity.

There was a short pause before the elf spoke again. "I told your grandfather what his greed would summon, but he would not listen. And you are just like him."

Rîn knew the conversation would be over very soon, so she jogged away, mind reeling.

Rîn had been ordered to go with Tauriel to check on the prisoners, so she followed Tauriel as she surveyed the cells. Rîn started on one side, and Tauriel on the other. Thankfully, it was just the dwarves they'd been ordered to check on, so it wouldn't take as long as she'd originally thought. The dwarves murmured curses at her as she passed, but she ignored it.

After passing and double-securing two cells, which took much longer than it should, she heard Tauriel's voice from the other side of the thirteen cells. "What is the stone in your hand?" she asked.

"It is a talisman." Rîn didn't know which dwarf Tauriel was talking with, but she quickened her pace so she could get her fellow elf. They weren't supposed to be having conversations with the prisoners.

"A powerful spell lies upon it. If any but a dwarf reads what is written on this stone," the dwarf continued. "They will be forever cursed!"

Rîn spared a quick glance and saw Tauriel about to walk away when the dwarf spoke again. "Or not. It depends on what you believe, and I happen to think it's just a token." She heard a quiet laugh. "My mother gave me it to me so I'd remember my promise."

"What promise?"

"That I would come back to her. She worries. She thinks I'm reckless."

"And are you?" Tauriel had attained by now what Rîn thought was a slightly flirtatious tone, and she worked even faster. She was almost done.

"Nah." There was a clattering noise, and a moment of silence, but Rîn didn't stop working to look and see what had happened.

The dwarf spoke again as Rîn checked the last cell on her side (thankfully Tauriel had finished all hers before she started talking with the dwarf). "Sounds like quite a party you're having up there."

"It is Mereth Nuin Giliath. The Feast of Starlight."

"I always thought starlight was a cold light, so...remote, so far away."

Tauriel sounded shocked. "It is memory! Precious and pure." Rîn could hear the smile in her voice. "Like your promise."

Finally Rîn finished, and she looked up to see Legolas standing on a rock overhanging above them with his arms crossed, watching Tauriel. Rîn quickly grabbed Tauriel's arm just as the latter handed the dwarf his stone back. "Come, Tauriel," Rîn said. "Let's go."