Chapter 5! Hope you like! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and faved!


It seemed to Fili like an age before they finally reached the end of the tunnel, stepping out into the bright afternoon sun that shone over an open area that lay above a large valley. The dwarves' eyes widened as they beheld the sight before them.

"The Valley of Imladris," announced Gandalf loudly, feeling rather relieved that they had finally made it here. "In the common tongue, however, it is known by another name."

"Rivendell," breathed Bilbo beside him, awe filling his voice and eyes as he looked down at the Elven city that lay in the valley's midst.

"Here lies the last Homely House east of the sea," nodded Gandalf, making to move down the path that led down into the valley. He was stopped by Thorin's harsh voice behind him, making the wizard close his eyes shortly in frustration.

"This was your plan all along," the dwarf-king growled accusingly. "To seek refuge with our enemy."

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield," the wizard, now at the end of his patience, shot back. "The only ill will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself."

Thorin's eyes darkened in return. "You think the Elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us."

"Of course, they will," answered Gandalf easily but with a slight huff. "But we have friends that need help and questions that need answers. Arinna must be taken to the healers."

Again, Thorin couldn't argue with that, shooting a short glance at the unconscious woman in his nephew's arms. Her face was now ghostly pale. He nodded quickly, motioning for Gandalf to lead the way and following after him begrudgingly.

"Now, if we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tact and respect and no small degree of charm," Gandalf was explaining to them as they made their way down toward the city. "Which is why you will leave the talking to me."

They reached the city after another while over a long stone bridge, coming to stand in a beautiful courtyard as a tall Elf with long brown hair approached them swiftly. The dwarves were quick to form a protective circle, Fili suddenly finding himself standing in the middle of it with Arinna still unconscious in his arms, while Bilbo was pushed next to him.

"Mithrandir," the Elf greeted the wizard kindly, with only a small, questioning glance at the dwarves, and Gandalf was relieved to recognise his familiar face.

"Ah, Lindir!" He uttered amiably, nodding at something the other said in Elvish. "I must speak with Lord Elrond. We are in dire need of a healer."

Lindir's eyes followed Gandalf's hand as the wizard pointed out the injured woman among the dwarves. The Elf's expression changed to concern as he nodded at Gandalf. "My Lord Elrond is not here. But we will take care of your friend immediately. There is no time to lose."

He nodded toward two other Elves who stood behind him and they moved quickly to retrieve Arinna from the group, though Fili took a quick, instinctive step back as the dwarves formed a wall before him. None of them were comfortable just handing over their companion to strangers, Elves nonetheless.

"Fili," Gandalf scolded harshly, making the young dwarf flinch slightly at his angry tone. "This is no time for prejudice, Arinna must see a healer immediately."

The dwarf nodded quickly, knowing that the wizard was right and that he had merely reacted the way he had out of reflex, much like the others had. He cleared his throat and moved forward, his eyes darting between the Elves as he slowly made his way through the company.

"I will take her," he said then, shooting a small glance over his shoulder toward his uncle who merely nodded at him. Then he looked back at the Elves, who were watching him silently. "Lead the way."

Lindir nodded at the other two Elves and Fili followed them quickly as they walked up a set of stairs and led him into the city. He heard the sound of another Elvish horn rise from behind him, though he did not look around. Getting the druid to a healer was more important right now than whatever was going on back there. He was sure Gandalf could handle it.

The Elves led him down several long corridors and Fili had to jog slightly to keep up with their pace. It didn't take long for them to reach the healing wing and Fili listened as one of the Elves called out to someone, watching as another Elf approached them quickly, a long blond mane of hair flowing down his shoulders. The two guards turned and disappeared back the way they had brought him, while the blond Elf now spoke urgently.

"Lie her down over here, Master Dwarf," the Elf said to him and Fili did as he was told, setting Arinna down reluctantly on a nearby bed. He only realised how heavy his arms felt once she was not in them anymore. He watched as her blood began to stain the white Elven sheets. Fili stood back as the blond Elf proceeded to cut her tunic off her, leaving her in her undershirt and revealing the deep wound on her upper arm. Fili felt his stomach lurch at the sight. The warg had caught her by the elbow, teeth marks reaching all the way up to below her shoulder.

"What happened to her?" The Elf asked him as he began cleaning the wound and Fili watched for a moment as his long fingers moved carefully over the torn skin.

"Warg-bite," he replied through clenched teeth, feeling as though his stomach was twisting around itself as he kept watching the scene before him. He finally turned his face away, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

The blond Elf looked up at him for a moment, nodding at the dwarf. "Have any other members of your company been injured?"

Fili shook his head. The Elf inclined his in return, continuing his work. All the while, Fili's jaw clenched at every little groan he heard falling from Arinna's lips, though he supposed it was better than just the sound of her ragged breathing that he had heard in his ear all the way down here. Perhaps the groans meant that she was more conscious.

"What is your name, Master Dwarf?"

Fili was ripped out of his thoughts by the soft voice of the Elf. "Fili," he answered, clearing his throat and gathering himself to introduce himself properly. He straightened his back and gave the Elf the tiniest of bows. "Fili, son of Nili. At your service."

The Elf inclined his head, bringing one hand to his chest for a moment. "I am Tuilinnor," he replied, a kind look on his face. "Now, please, Master Fili, sit down. You don't look as though you intend to leave this woman's side anytime soon and I can assure you, this is going to take a while."

Fili wasn't quite sure how long he had been sat in the healing chambers, his mind feeling heavy as he had kept a watchful eye over Tuilinnor and Arinna. He had no doubt in his mind that the Elf was a capable healer and was doing the best he could, but he simply couldn't help himself. Arinna was a member of their company and he had a duty to look out for her. He had tried to do so before they had fought the trolls, which had backfired, and he had tried to do it when they were running from the wargs, as well. But he had lost sight of her in the chaos and had only seen her again when the warg was already upon her. And by then it had been too late to completely prevent the damage. He knew that they had done what they could, his uncle, Kili and himself, but he still wished that they had been there just a few moments sooner.

The dwarf was turning Arinna's leaf necklace over in his hands mindlessly, the Elf having taken it off her when he had begun to bandage her arm a little while earlier. His thumb traced over the strand of silver that formed the leaf.

"Your friend will be alright now, Master Fili," he suddenly heard the Elf healer say and Fili looked up sharply, ripped from his train of thought. He saw Tuilinnor finish wrapping a stark white bandage around the druid's arm and shoulder and nodded gratefully, relief washing over him and making him feel a little lighter than before. "What she now needs is a lot of rest and once she wakes, she will need to eat a good meal and drink a lot of water. She has lost a lot of blood, but she will recover."

Fili couldn't help but smile at the Elf. "Thank you!"

It was a few minutes later, as Tuilinnor was putting away his supplies and tools, that the door to the healing chambers flew open with a loud thud and both the Elf and Fili flinched at the sudden noise. In came marching three dwarves and a hobbit, looking around the chambers anxiously. Fili made a small noise in the back of his throat, catching their attention and he watched as Kili, Bofur, Dwalin and Bilbo moved towards him. Their eyes fell on the small woman that lay covered in blankets on the bed next to where Fili sat.

"Oh dear," exclaimed Bilbo, moving forward and grabbing Arinna's right hand from the mattress. He squeezed it gently, shaking his head. "The poor girl. Will she be alright? She'll be alright, won't she?"

"Yes, she'll be fine," answered Fili quietly, looking up to meet the Elven healer's eye across the room. "The Elves took good care of her."

Tuilinnor just smiled kindly before he bowed his head and ducked silently out of the room, leaving the dwarves to talk among themselves. Dwalin shook his head, while Bilbo kept gently patting Arinna's hand.

"She's lucky," the burly dwarf said as he beheld her pale face and the dark circles that had formed under her eyes. "That thing could have killed her."

They all remained silent for a moment, contemplating Dwalin's words. None of them wanted to imagine a scenario where it might have come to that. The druid had already begun to grow on them and they considered her part of the company as any of the rest of them.

"The Elves have summoned us to dinner, we'd better not delay in joining them," Dwalin continued then, clearing his throat slightly. His gruff tone was the same as usual. "Thorin just wanted to be sure that she was alright."

"I'm staying here," Fili spoke, shaking his head indifferently at Dwalin when he opened his mouth to speak. "I do not care if that might be rude, Dwalin, someone has to stay with her. She shouldn't wake up and find herself in a strange place without a friendly face nearby. And the Elves won't miss one dwarf at their table, be assured."

The others just nodded and Dwalin inclined his head, accepting the young prince's choice. He had known Fili ever since he had been a little dwarfling, and he knew when there was no use in arguing with the lad. He cleared his throat then and motioned for the rest to follow him. Kili stopped shortly behind the others at the door, shooting a worried look back at his older brother.

"Go on, Kili," Fili said with a small, reassuring smile. "I'll be fine."

"There wasn't anything else you could have done, Fee. You know that, right?" the younger dwarf sighed quietly, knowing his brother's mind. Fili said nothing in return and Kili gave a short nod. "I'll come back later and bring you something to eat, nadad."


It was dark around her when Arinna finally stirred and her eyes opened slowly, taking in the high ceiling above her. She felt the soft blankets that covered her, frowning slightly. She wasn't sure how she got to be here, the last thing she remembered was Fili carrying her down a long stone tunnel. She must have lost consciousness at some point, she thought.

She sat up slowly, using her right arm to get up, noticing at the same time that her left arm had been wrapped in fresh, white bandages and fixed to her side. Arinna sighed quietly to herself, glancing down at her injured arm. It still throbbed but the pain was now dull, nothing even close to how it had felt before.

As she let her gaze wandere around the room, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim moonlight that fell through the high windows, she saw a familiar blond dwarf slumped in a chair beside her bed. Fili's head had sunk down onto his chest, his arms crossed in front of him, and he was snoring quietly. The druid watched him sleep for a moment, seeing his chest rise and fall steadily with his deep breaths. He looked exhausted and she didn't particularly want to wake him, so she shuffled to the edge of the bed instead, reaching out for the pitcher of water that stood on a table next to it. She grabbed it firmly with her right hand, tilting it toward the cup that stood beside it, close to the edge of the table. Water flowed almost noiselessly into the cup, before her arm suddenly quivered slightly with the weight of the pitcher. She accidentally knocked it against the cup, which in turn slid off the table and landed on the floor with a loud clank.

Fili practically jumped out of his chair at the sudden noise, his hand flying instinctively to the hilt of his sword. "Who goes there!?" His loud voice demanded, sounding rough and tinged with sleep, as he stared into the darkness of the room.

"It's only me, Fili," he heard a familiar voice next to him and as his eyes adjusted to the dim light, his hand fell from his sword immediately. Arinna smiled sheepishly at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just needed some water."

"Thank Mahal you're awake," answered Fili, smiling at her in relief. "You had us worried there for a while. How are you feeling?"

She was still very pale, probably even more so because of the white moonlight filling the room, but it certainly made his heart lighter to see her sitting up and talking, smiling even. The others would be happy to hear that she had woken up, as well. Fili bent down to pick up the fallen cup from the floor, filling it up with fresh water again, before he handed it to her carefully. He watched as she took a few large sips and then set down the empty cup in her lap.

"I'm feeling alright… I think. What happened?" She then asked him, the fingers of her right hand tracing over the rim of the cup as she looked at him questioningly. "Where are we?"

"Rivendell," Fili said, watching as Arinna's eyes widened with wonder. "We're in the house of Lord Elrond. He's a friend of Gandalf's and has invited us to stay for a few days. The map that Thorin carries with him; we are going to need the Elf's help to read it, he says. It contains moon runes, which can only be read by the light of a moon of the same shape and season as the day on which they were written."

Arinna frowned at the dwarf's words, tilting her head slightly. Moon runes were a special way of concealment indeed, she thought. "And that will be soon?"

Fili nodded. "In three days, to be exact. We are going to stay here until then, which is good, as it gives you some time to recover."

The druid sighed quietly at his words, her right hand coming up to lightly touch the bandage that covered her shoulder. Fili watched her movements, seeing in her face that she felt frustrated, probably with herself. Her fingers slowly traced from her shoulder to her collarbones, where they came to an abrupt halt and Fili saw her eyes widen as she looked down, her hand running along the line where her necklace should have been. She looked up at him and his eyebrows drew together at the fearful look on her face.

"Here," he muttered, before she could say anything, keeping his eyes on her as he put his hand in the pocket of his coat and retrieved the silver chain. Fili saw Arinna's features relax with relief as he held the necklace out to her. "It was taken off you to bandage your wound."

"Thank you for keeping it safe, Fili," Arinna breathed, her fingers closing around the chain and holding it close to her chest. Her eyes were trained on her lap for a moment before she looked up at him with sad eyes. "I'm… it's very precious to me."

The blond dwarf nodded his understanding slowly, standing up and reaching out his hands. Arinna handed him the necklace hesitantly and held still, her breath faltering slightly, as he leaned closer and fastened it around her neck with deft fingers, knowing she couldn't have done it with only one arm. She smiled softly at him when he leaned back.

"Thank you," she murmured, hesitating for a moment as she looked at him, before she decided to continue talking. "It was my father's. He died when I was young, this necklace is the only thing I have left of him. Apart from Lithen."

Fili listened silently, watching as her eyes filled with sorrow at the thought of her pony, which was out there somewhere in the wild on its own now. Fili hoped that nothing had happened to it. The dwarf let out a deep breath.

"How did he die?" He asked quietly, his blue eyes focused on the small woman before him. It filled him with a foreign sort of grief that she should have suffered the loss of her father, as well.

"Orcs," the druid answered, returning his gaze. Fili's face fell as she continued, remembering the night on the cliff side a few weeks back. "They came at night. We're a peaceful people. No one was prepared for an attack and we couldn't defend ourselves. I remember my father grabbing me out of bed, telling me to run and hide and not come out until he came to get me. And I did; I ran away from our camp into the forest and I could… I could hear the screams for a long time, until eventually there was only silence. I stayed where I was for hours, I was so afraid… I kept waiting, but he never came. It was one of the surviving women of our colony who eventually found me the next day and took care of me."

A long silence stretched out between Fili and Arinna after her explanation, neither of them knowing what to say to each other. The young dwarf looked at her for a long time, his face set with sorrow at her horrific tale.

"That's why you fight then," he eventually muttered, understanding now why she carried and wielded her weapons despite being a druid. Arinna just nodded wordlessly, her fingers tracing over the silver leaf, and Fili inclined his head, feeling incredibly foolish. "What about your mother?"

"She died at my birth," answered the druid quietly. "I don't have any other family."

"I'm so sorry, Arinna."

The black-haired woman just shook her head, giving the dwarf a sad but kind smile. Fili reached out his hand then, grabbing hers that was still playing with the charm of her necklace. She let out a shaky breath as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, much as she had done to him when he had told her about the death of his own father.