And chapter 15! Thanks again to amrawo and Little Bucky for your lovely reviews. I hope you enjoy this one, as well, as these next few will be focused on Fili and Arinna finding their way back to the others.
"We are going to have to find something to eat soon," Fili was saying as he marched ahead, using one of his swords to drudgingly cut a path through the thicket. "Our provisions will only hold us over for so much longer and there seems to be no end to this accursed forest."
Arinna couldn't disagree with the dwarf's words as she followed him slowly through the trees. She knew that they would run out of food soon and even though they had been heading North for several days now, they did not seem to be making any real progress. She let out a deep sigh instead of answering Fili.
"I think we should try and hunt something when we make camp tonight," the blond dwarf continued, his voice stern but he still shot a short look over his shoulder to see if she agreed with him. He waited for her to catch up with him completely, before he continued on their way.
"Everything in this forest is foul and rotten, Fili," the druid answered seriously behind him, making him tilt his head slightly as he concentrated on cutting down the branches before him. "I doubt we'll find anything edible here. And I have seen no signs of animals other than those bloody eyes that keep staring in the dark, have you?"
"No… but there must be something," Fili replied, though he couldn't be sure. But he was adamant. "And if not, then I will at least try. I will not watch you starve beside me."
The druid sighed again and remained silent for a little while. She thought about his words as they trudged along through the forest. "Fine," she finally conceded and the dwarf before her shot another short look over his shoulder at her words. She gave him a stern look. "But I won't let you go alone. Either we both go or neither of us. I didn't drag you out of that bloody river for you to get lost and die in the forest."
She heard Fili chuckle quietly to himself, a welcome sound in the heavy silence beneath the trees, before he nodded his head slightly. "Fair enough."
And so, once they had decided that they would go no further that day, and while they still had the light, the two of them stuck to their plan. While Fili walked ahead, further into the depths of the forest, Arinna trailed behind him, keeping the end of a thin rope held tightly in her hand. She normally used it to cut pieces from it for the bundling of herbs, but now she had tied the other end around the trunk of a large tree near the river and was letting it unroll from her wrist slowly as they walked ahead. She kept tugging at it every now and again, to reassure herself that it was still knotted tightly around the tree at its end.
They were both keeping their eyes and ears peeled for any movement or noise from potential prey, though the forest provided no sounds that the druid could have matched to an animal she knew. She stopped walking abruptly when she felt the end of the rope almost slip through her fingers.
"Fili, stop!" She whispered sharply at him, not needing or daring to be too loud in the quiet, darkening forest. Fili turned around to her with a question in his eyes, which Arinna answered by holding up the rope that had now unwound from her hand completely. "We can't go any further."
"But there must be something near," the dwarf answered, keeping his voice low, as well. He was sure that he had seen movement in the trees ahead not too long ago. If he could only track it down and kill it, whatever it was, they wouldn't have to worry about food for the next day or two. Arinna shook her head at him vehemently, her gaze set with a silent plea. Fili had an almost haunted look in his eyes, his pupils wide, and the druid had no doubt that the forest was working on his mind once more, trying to lure him further inside.
"We must turn back," she said, her voice turning more urgent as she saw his gaze drift toward the dark trees before him again. He was a few steps ahead of her and Arinna reached out her free hand toward him when he took another toward the trees. The gesture drew his attention back toward her momentarily. "Fili, if we go any further, we will be lost. We'll go back, try again tomorrow. Please. Take my hand and we'll go back."
Fili's eyes darted from her face down to her outstretched hand and back to the trees. He fought with himself for a moment, before he finally let his head drop and let out a defeated sigh. Then he slowly turned fully towards her and took her offered hand, feeling her give his own a grateful squeeze as she began to lead the way back to the river. His head slowly began to clear as he followed her, the warmth of her small hand in his sending small waves up his arm.
They reached their starting point after a little while and Fili sat down with a huff, letting his back fall against the large tree that the rope had been tied to. Arinna sat down close beside him, her shoulder grazing his, a habit that they had gotten into during the past few nights, as they slept snuggled up together for warmth.
"We'll try again tomorrow," Arinna repeated her earlier words, sensing the dwarf's frustration as it practically radiated off him in the growing darkness. She looked at him from the side with a reassuring expression but Fili's features remained hard.
"And what if we don't find any prey tomorrow either? Or the day after that, and the day after that? What then?"
Arinna sighed at the blond prince's exasperated words, though she didn't really know how to answer him. He had more than a valid point, after all. They both knew what would happen if they didn't find any food or reach the end of the forest soon. Instead of looking for some falsely comforting words, the druid just leaned her head against Fili's shoulder.
"Don't be so defeatist, Fili," she murmured. "It doesn't suit you."
She could feel him let out a small, amused breath as she repeated the words that he had once said to her. It wasn't a laugh, or even a chuckle, but it was something, Arinna thought. Though his small joy faded as quickly as it had appeared and she heard him sigh deeply.
"It's my fault."
The druid raised her head, frowning slightly at his words as she looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"It's my fault we're going hungry," Fili went on, his voice tense and quiet as he spoke guiltily. He avoided her gaze. "It's my fault we're in this situation. I caused the boat to tip over. If I had just kept rowing, we'd have made it to the other side safely and none of this would have happened. We'd still be on the path if not already out of this forest."
Arinna shook her head at him in the dim light of the evening, one hand coming up and squeezing his upper arm slightly. She felt his muscles twitch slightly beneath her touch, tough he said nothing else. "Stop that, Fili. The river carries a strong enchantment, none of this is your fault."
The blond dwarf remained silent for a few long moments, while the druid kept her hand firmly placed on his arm, trying to make him realise that he was not to blame. She certainly didn't blame him.
"I thought I saw my father," he finally muttered and Arinna's eyebrows rose in surprise as she listened to him. His pale blue eyes found hers as he went on quietly. "In the water. I saw his face. I thought I saw him in the trees sometimes when we were still on the path, but I was sure it was an illusion then. Just the forest playing tricks on me. But then I saw his face in the water and I don't know what I was thinking… I just… I had to get a closer look. I had almost forgotten the look of his face, it's been so long since I last saw it. I'm sorry, Arinna, I didn't think. I wasn't thinking. It's all my fault."
The druid felt her heart sink at the sound of his voice, desperately guilty and so full of sorrow at the same time. She leaned her head back against his shoulder in the growing darkness, thinking of what to say.
"The magic in this forest is cruel," she murmured quietly then, though Fili heard her perfectly well with how close she was. Her voice carried only kindness, and Fili felt his heart constrict slightly. He had not expected it. "It tries to lead you astray, that's what Gandalf said. And how could you not have strayed for your father? Believe me, Fili, if I was given the chance to see my father again, the slightest chance, I would look for as long as I could, try to get as close as I could. You are not to blame for what happened. And we'll find our way out of this forest one way or another."
She felt Fili release a shaky breath, and she squeezed his arm a little tighter in response, lifting her head slightly so that she could rest her chin on his shoulder, looking directly at him as she spoke quietly but seriously. "I don't want you to take risks like you were going to in the forest tonight because you feel guilty, Fili. There is nothing to feel guilty about and I would much, much rather go hungry for a few days than lose you in these woods."
She waited until Fili shot her a short look and an eventual small nod, before she turned her head away again and rested it against his shoulder comfortably once more. She felt his free hand move to cover hers, which was still on his upper arm, giving her fingers a gentle and grateful squeeze as they settled for the night.
"Do you ever miss the Hills of Evendim?"
"What?" Arinna shot a look over her shoulder at Fili's question. They had been walking in silence for a while, and she was surprised at the sudden sound of his voice cutting through the quiet noises of the forest. "Why are you asking me that?"
Fili shrugged slightly. "I was just wondering," he said thoughtfully. "You joined us to reclaim our homeland, yet you never really talk about your own. And, frankly, I'd rather listen to your voice instead of the rumbling of my own stomach. So, please, indulge my curiosity."
The druid smiled slightly, keeping her eyes to the front as she made her way through the foliage and began to answer his question. "To be honest, I don't think about it much. That place never really felt like home anymore after… after my father died. And even when he was still alive, he would always remind me that it was not where we belonged."
"What do you mean by that?" Fili asked and he watched as she came to a slow halt in front of him, frowning slightly at the strange look on her face when she turned around to him. He looked at her expectantly as she hesitated, her teeth shortly working on her lower lip, before she finally spoke.
"My family didn't come from Evendim, Fili," she explained quietly to him what she had only admitted to his uncle a few weeks ago. She looked up at him with thoughtful eyes as she spoke, taking in his reaction carefully. "Not originally, anyway. They sought refuge there. Before I was born, my parents lived in a village… East of Dale."
Fili's eyes widened in surprise. "Dale?" He repeated and Arinna nodded silently. His gaze drifted away from her for a short moment, as he tried to gather his thoughts. He looked back at her with a small frown. "But then… Why did you never say so?"
"I'm not sure," the druid sighed, studying the dwarf's face closely for his reaction. But Fili didn't seem angry at her secrecy, or disappointed. His face only showed incomprehension and surprise. She went on slowly. "Maybe I just thought that it was my own burden to carry. Gandalf asked me to join your quest, not just because he thought I might be useful to you, but because he knew that I had been planning to travel East for months already. He knew my father and that I wanted to see, to travel the lands where he came from. The lands where I come from. In fact, I told him this on his last visit to my colony. He knew that I wouldn't say no."
Fili looked at the druid silently, taking in her words as his eyes roamed over her face. He could tell that she was nervous, waiting for his reaction, but he didn't really know what to say. He had always wondered what her reason for joining them might have been, thinking that the wizard's invitation alone couldn't have been enough to make up a mind as strong as hers. And he had somehow always doubted that she was actually all that interested in the gold that her contract offered her upon fulfilment of the quest, never having heard her mention any plans for its use even once. And now he knew that her reason was much the same as his own, as his brother's and Thorin's and the others'. And he knew how she felt, wanting to look upon the lands of her ancestors, wanting to walk where they had walked. And it made him like her even more.
Arinna jumped slightly when Fili's hands suddenly came up and he put them on her cheeks, his palms pressing gently against her skin as he gave her a soft smile. "You'll walk the lands of your father before long, Arinna," he said quietly, yet she could hear that he meant every word. "I'll make sure of it. I am glad you told me."
The druid was lost for words and she could only stare at Fili, while he slowly removed his hands from her face, his gaze not breaking from hers. They stood silently facing each other, captured in each other's gaze, and he was about to say something else, when a loud crack suddenly sounded through the trees, ripping them both out of their stupor.
"We should keep moving," Arinna spoke, her voice quiet as she glanced along the tree line nervously. It was only now that she noticed how quiet the forest had gotten around them, unusually so, even for this place.
Fili nodded at the same time that the branches above them rustled and cracked again. "I think that would be wise," he agreed, slowly pulling one of his swords from its sheath and nodding for her to go ahead.
They increased their pace as the strange sounds grew louder and closer around them, and Arinna felt her heart constrict with a pang of fear as she realised that the noises were following them. She flinched at the sound of a branch snapping high up in the trees ahead of them, and then there was another loud crack, somewhere to their right, and suddenly a rustling in the thicket behind them.
"Fili," the druid breathed, realising that they were being surrounded, stopping and turning around to him with a wide-eyed look on her face. Fili's expression was tense as he returned her gaze.
"I know," he simply said, drawing his second sword as the sounds grew closer still. Arinna took a deep breath as she pulled her own sword, gripping it tightly in one hand as she looked around. She felt Fili's form brush against hers as they stood back to back, facing the tree line. She couldn't see anything past the dark trees, but she was absolutely certain that there was something there, staring straight back at her.
For a moment, the noise around them stopped altogether and the druid and dwarf stood in the silent forest, waiting, the only sound filling the air now that of their fast breathing. And then Arinna saw it, a dark shadow moving behind the trees and her eyes widened when a giant spider burst out of the darkness, scattering toward them with incredible speed and clicking its sharp pincers menacingly.
Her cry mixed with Fili's as they charged at the screeching beast, the dwarf's swords slicing at its legs, cutting off three of them at once, while Arinna used her opportunity as the creature stumbled and fell over to bury her own blade in its head. The spider screeched viciously as it sank down dead to the ground. Arinna grimaced in disgust as she pulled out her sword forcefully and a wet, sticky sound filled her ears.
"GET DOWN!"
Arinna barely had time to react, her body moving automatically at Fili's yell as she let herself drop to the ground quickly, one of the dwarf's daggers flying past her head and embedding itself in something behind her with a hard thunk. She looked around to see the hilt of Fili's dagger sticking out of another spider's head. She was breathing heavily when she felt Fili's arm around her shoulder, pulling her to her feet as the forest filled with the sound of more approaching spiders around them.
Fili pulled her along without a word, his breath now coming in short bursts as they ran as fast as they could, breaking through the thicket as their clothes got caught and twigs scratched across their faces. They could not beat a whole group of those beasts just the two of them, Fili knew, and so the only choice they had was to run and hope that they managed to lose them. He felt the druid stumble along behind him, his hand wrapped firmly around her arm as he slashed his way through a bunch of branches that were blocking the way. Screeches filled the air behind them but Fili did not look back, trying to keep his gaze on the path before him so he wouldn't fall. If they fell now, that would be the end of them.
It was then that a horn suddenly echoed through the forest, though Fili and Arinna did not stop running, not slowing until they heard the screeches and hisses of the spiders grow more distant behind them. They kept up their pace for another few minutes, before Fili was forced to slow when he felt the druid halt in her tracks behind him, her hand still in his and pulling him to a stop.
"I think we've lost them," she breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath, shooting a look over her shoulder toward the quiet trees. The dwarf shook his head at her.
"Did you not hear the horn sound?" He asked her, nodding toward where the noise of the spiders had now died down when she looked at him questioningly. "It's the Elves. We must keep going. I don't fancy being thrown in a cell for trespassing on their lands."
Understanding flashed over the druid's features as she followed his gaze. "Do you think they know we're here?"
Fili didn't know. But he wasn't keen to find out, either. He gave her hand a slight pull and she followed his gesture quickly, falling back into step with him. He wanted to put as much distance between themselves and the Wood-Elves as possible, whether they were aware of their presence or not. Though it seemed that luck was on their side for once, as they saw no further sign of Elves even during the next few hours. Perhaps they had only been there for the spiders, and not them.
"I think we're close to the Woodland Realm now," Arinna finally said, when she deemed it safe to speak again. Fili shot her a questioning look. "The air doesn't seem quite so heavy here. Don't you think?"
Fili took a deep breath, realising that he was indeed feeling much lighter than he had for days. He nodded, relief filling him at the thought. "You're right. Which means we're close to the Forest River."
They smiled at each other then, both of them feeling new hope fill them as they kept following the path North as they had done before, the quiet sound of the enchanted river flowing along somewhere to their left. They reached the river mouth that night, while the trees around them had grown more alive, vibrant colours covering the autumn leaves.
