Hi! I am so glad so many of you liked that last chapter, your reviews were amazing! Now for a quick catch up with Bilbo…
Oh, and asldj ajsnfasdjioksldajoifjwlkja lkmdfh! This story has been viewed over half a million times! I can't believe it, you guys are awesome! I never thought anything I wrote would be viewed that much so thank you :D
Unfortunately updates may be a little slower from now on as it is officially the work-your-socks off part of the Christmas holidays so I will only be able to write in the evenings but I will do my best. This is my only work in progress right now, so it is still high priority!
Forgive any mistakes :)
Read. Enjoy. Review.
Chapter Twenty Three # Isolation #
Bilbo crouched in the shadows like a common thief, terrified that the growling of his ravenous stomach would give him away to the elves passing by.
They had been trapped in Mirkwood for two days, and while the dwarves had received food and drink in their cells, Bilbo had not eaten a morsel for well over forty eight hours. For a hobbit who once believed himself starving after three hours without food, forty eight hours was more than enough time to really begin to waste away.
Too afraid to take off his ring, Bilbo slipped silently down the stairs towards the dwarf's cells. He was unsure what to do next. He could get over the shame of begging from his friends if it meant keeping his life, but he did not want to take of the ring in case an elven guard came around the corner. To the hobbit's immense frustration, the patrols of the Elvenking's dungeons were deliberately sporadic, making them impossible to predict.
Finding Kíli would be an option – Bilbo knew that he could rely on his son to keep quiet about the ring if he stressed the importance of the matter, but the hobbit also knew that Kíli would probably not react quietly to his initial appearance, especially if it were only his disembodied voice that the young dwarf could hear.
The first cell Bilbo crossed, however, held another option. Bofur was sitting in the very back of the cell with his feet up, playing a low, melancholy tune on his flute.
He stole it from you… a whiny voice in Bilbo's head hissed, but he was not in the mood. He was far too hungry to worry about why Bofur had possessed the ring.
Bofur had had the ring, and he had used it to hide during the spiders' attack, which meant that he would not be as surprised to see (or hear) the hobbit. There was still half a loaf of bread in Bofur's cell, and Bilbo's stomach growled aggressively.
Making up his mind with his stomach, Bilbo removed a button from his coat – there were many missing anyway – and rolled it into Bofur's cell. Though he jumped, the miner continued to play his flute as he stared at the button with narrowed eyes, slowly winding down the tune to a seemingly natural end. Bilbo looked around for any guards as Bofur came close to the bars of his cell and peered out.
"Bilbo?" Bofur whispered in a voice that was audible to none but the hobbit.
"It's me…" Bilbo confirmed almost silently, touching Bofur's hand briefly. "I'm trying to think of a way to get you out, but it's a little difficult."
"I trust you, Bilbo…" Bofur breathed back, looking around carefully.
"Good…" Bilbo returned, before closing his eyes. "Bofur, I hate to ask, I really do, but do you have any food? I haven't eaten since we got here…"
"What?" Bofur hissed. "How skinny are you now?"
Bilbo's weak chuckle was no louder than his words. "I don't know, I haven't seen myself."
Bofur swore quietly and retrieved the bread; passing it subtly through the bars and watching it disappear as Bilbo tucked it into his jacket.
"Bilbo?"
"Mm?"
"Why didn't you tell us about the ring?" Bilbo froze, and Bofur went on almost silently. "I mean a ring that turns you invisible, that's kind of a big deal…"
Bilbo sighed. "I found it in the goblin tunnels…It never seemed that important, what with Thorin and then Kíli and then imminent starvation to worry about… When did you…get it?"
"I found it in the river, kicked it up with me shoe. Bilbo, I think it's bad news…" Bofur's dark voice both frightened and offended Bilbo.
"Bad news?"
"I think it's dangerous." Bofur confirmed. "At the least…It's not natural gold, trust me on that, I'm a dwarf."
"Well just what do you think it is then?" Bilbo's volume almost rose with his annoyance.
"I don't know, it's just not right!" Bofur hissed.
"And how would you know that?" Bilbo hissed back, truly angry now. How dare Bofur offend his ring? His lovely, beautiful ring was holding the only hope they had of ever leaving this dreadful prison!
Bofur's voice was furious and his eyes as he seethed. "Because for a moment I wanted to kill you rather than given it back!"
Bilbo took a step away from the cage automatically as Bofur leant his head upon the bars and waited. Breathing heavily, the hobbit watched his friend rub his eyes and sigh.
Eventually, Bofur spoke again.
"Bilbo? Are you still there?"
Bilbo nodded, his throat still stuck, before remembering that Bofur could not see him. He stepped forward hesitantly and tapped Bofur's hand again.
"Bilbo, I'm sorry, I really am. I don't want to hurt you – you're my friend…That's why it scares me." Bofur sighed again. "Just be careful, Bilbo."
Bilbo swallowed, before replying weakly. "I'm a hobbit…I usually am."
Bofur smiled and held out his hand. Bilbo clenched it gratefully, leaning towards the bars.
"I'll have you out of here soon, I promise."
"I believe you." Bofur grinned. "Listen, if you come by here everyday, I'll save a bit of my dinner for you. It's the least I can do…"
"Thank you, Bofur." Bilbo all but quivered with relief as he smiled. "I'll see you soon."
Bofur nodded and Bilbo turned and ran back up the stairs, quickly finding a deserted corner where he could eat his bread in peace. It really was quite good bread, he decided as he tore a chunk off and threw it into his mouth with the same manners as a wild wolf. He wondered if everything tasted this good when the one eating was starving half to death…
All of a sudden footsteps came down the corridor, along with what sounded like chattering, and Bilbo shoved the rest of his bread into his mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly before automatically cowering away from the source of the noise.
"Why does the king want to speak with that one?"
"Tauriel says he speaks Sindarin, and the king is intrigued."
The first voice hummed before replying. "What does Thranduil expect to get out of him? The youngest member of the company will have no authority to make a deal…"
"I doubt very much that our king expects to get a deal out of this…child… More likely he wants a little entertainment. Aren't you interested by the idea of a dwarf with no hatred for our kind, one that knows our tongue?"
"It unnerves me, if I'm honest…"
Bilbo's blood boiled. The idea of anyone using his Kíli as 'a little entertainment', as if he were some poor freak of nature trapped in a circus, made Bilbo want to physically hit somebody. He had no idea that elves could be so cruel…
Instinctively Bilbo rose and followed the elves down to the prison and watched helplessly as they wrenched open the door to Kíli's cell.
"What's going on?" Kíli asked warily. Bilbo had to physically stop himself from running forward when his son was bodily dragged out without so much as a word from the guards, causing panic to flare in Kíli's cry. "Hey, get off me!"
"Kíli!" Fíli shouted as soon as Kíli cried out. "Kíli! Get off him, you-"
After that, Fíli inserted a word in Khuzdul that Bilbo was certain was a swear word, and all of the dwarves sprang to the doors of their cells.
"What are you doing?" Kíli's yells were a unique blend of anger and fear as he was suspended between the two elves, his legs kicking viciously at the empty air. "Thorin! Thorin, what do I do?"
Bilbo looked at Thorin, but despite the rage on his features the king appeared at a loss for what to do.
"Tell them nothing!" Thorin bellowed finally. "They know about the quest but tell them nothing more!"
Kíli paled and nodded shakily.
"Let him go!" Fíli roared, evidently unsatisfied by his uncle's orders as he smashed his fists into the bars of his cell. The sheer force managed to shake the bars, but other than that Fíli's desperate actions achieved nothing.
Kíli looked over his shoulder at Fíli one more time before he was dragged up the stairs. Bilbo heard the dwarves swearing and cursing and shouting, but they were not his focus now. He ran after the elves dragging his son away and once again slipped through their midst unnoticed so that he could walk alongside Kíli. His son may not know that he was there, but he would be damned if Kíli was ever truly alone.
Bilbo was proud of Kíli's defiant yet diplomatic face as he stared up at Thranduil.
"So…this is the dwarf that speaks as one of us?"
"I prefer to speak in the Common Tongue." Kíli said stiffly, before reverting to elvish. "But I can speak Sindarin well enough."
"Indeed," Thranduil raised his eyebrows. "So tell me, if you were raised by halflings, what business is it of yours to join such a folly quest to a dead city?"
Kíli lowered his eyes to the floor and shook his head and Bilbo held his breath. Evidently, Kíli planned on following Thorin's orders. Bilbo just prayed that it did not get him hurt - surely even these elves were not that barbaric.
"Thorin Oakenshield told him to say nothing." One of the guards informed Thranduil.
The Elvenking sat back in his throne. "Did he? Well, that's interesting. You know, a hundred years is a blink of an eye for an elf, Master Baggins, was it? It would mean little to me to lock you and your kin up for a century or two if you do not give me the answers I so desire. Would it hurt anyone to tell me your own personal motivation?"
"I am out of my depth," Kíli said quietly, "And so as not to drown I must listen to my elders telling me how to swim, and not heed the advice of the water itself."
Thranduil's eyebrows rose again. "You speak like a poet."
Kíli did not respond.
Thranduil's voice was as smooth as honey as he studied the young dwarf. "Your king refused to make a deal with me… You, however, are a very different dwarf. All I want to know is why you came along, how you planned on entering the mountain and where this interesting father of yours is, and in return I shall give you information I received at around noon today regarding a certain…dog…found in the woods."
Instantly Kíli's head snapped up and he blinked. "I…"
"The information I am asking for is not worth grieving yourself over, surely." Thranduil drawled. "I can wait a very long time."
Pride filled Bilbo's heart as Kíli kept his tongue, but all of a sudden the fiery haired guard accompanied the prince into the throne room.
Legolas bent down to whisper in his father's ear, and Thranduil stared at Legolas before looking to the female elf.
"Tauriel seems to believe that you respond better to gentleness and compassion than you do to forceful negotiation. That is not a trait common in such a barbaric race as yours…"
As Bilbo watched, Tauriel's jaw clenched a little and Kíli's fingernails dug into his fingers, but the Elvenking still got no rise from the dwarf.
"As you wish… Guards, lock him up away from the others – in fact, take him to the southern dungeons until he is ready to tell me what I wish to know."
Kíli looked from the King to Tauriel in panic. "No!"
"Are you going to tell me how to get into the mountain?"
"No, I can't-" Kíli started, and Bilbo noticed the fear growing in his eyes.
"Then you shall be kept in isolation from your kin, and news about your mutt shall be withheld." Thranduil declared, lazily waving his hand.
The guards began to drag Kíli away and Bilbo's hands curled to fists as the young dwarf yelled. "Please! It's not my choice, please!"
Thranduil ignored Kíli and turned to Legolas, who spared the occasional glance in the dwarf's direction as he was dragged away.
Tauriel's eyes were fixed on Kíli, and they glimmered with what Bilbo could only describe as guilt. Nevertheless, the hobbit was not there to ogle at some stuck-up, self-righteous elves, and he quickly followed the elves as they dragged Kíli away to a different dungeon on the other side of Mirkwood.
The cell was almost identical to the one Kíli had been trapped in before, but this time the adjoining cells were empty. There was no Fíli to call out to in the boredom and the loneliness. There were no conversations or curse words or songs to break the silence.
For the first time since leaving the Shire, Kíli was well and truly alone.
The guards left quickly and Bilbo looked around carefully. When he was certain that there was absolutely no one there, not even in any of the numerous other cells, he approached Kíli again.
Huddled in the back of the cell, Kíli's head was buried in his arms, which in turn were resting on his knees as his body shook slightly. The tremors were too small to be sobs, and Bilbo swallowed, removing the ring for the first time in days.
"Kíli…"
Kíli's head snapped up faster than an electrified stallion and his eyes widened. "B-Bilbo?"
Bilbo smiled softly, leaning against the bars of the cell. "I'm here."
"Bilbo!" instantly Kíli scrambled across the small cell and launched himself at the door, hugging the hobbit as well as he could through the bars. "You're here!"
"Yes, I am." Bilbo smiled, returning the hug awkwardly, before pulling away to hold Kíli's face in his hands. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" Kíli brushed off Bilbo's concern so that he could stare at the hobbit with horror. "You look awful, Bilbo!"
"I'm fine, I'm alright." Bilbo assured him. "I've found a way to get food daily now."
"How long did you go without?" Kíli cried, and Bilbo looked around.
"Shh! Kíli, I'm fine, really, but you have to be quiet, I can't get caught here!" He whispered desperately.
Kíli nodded, his face as pale as the moon. "Bilbo…"
Wondering how dreadful he looked, Bilbo smiled in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
Kíli put his shaking hand on Bilbo's shoulder. "How did you get in?"
Bilbo took a deep breath. This was going to be interesting… "I found something in the goblin tunnels. This…"
Kíli frowned at the ring Bilbo held in the palm of his hand. "What is it?"
"It's a ring that makes the wearer invisible." Bilbo explained. "I walked in with you."
"You did?" Kíli blinked, staring first at the ring, then at Bilbo's face. "You walked into Mirkwood with us?"
"With you, to be specific." Bilbo nodded, and Kíli reached out timidly to touch the ring. Bilbo quenched the desire to clench his palm and allowed his son to take the ring carefully.
"This little thing makes you invisible? Can I try?"
"No!" Bilbo said quickly, looking around. "Please Kíli, give it back, if the guards come back…"
The thought of something happening to Bilbo clearly scared Kíli, and he hastily dropped the ring back into the hobbit's palm.
"Bilbo… I might have made a mistake…" Kíli admitted. "I was speaking to Tauriel, the guard, and I told her quite a lot."
"How much is quite a lot?" Bilbo asked carefully.
"I told her about the Shire…about my friends – I didn't mention names, but I told her what I missed, what I didn't… I told her about you… I didn't tell her who you were but I told her about you, I was just so bored and a little bit scared and I just blabbered everything…"
"It's alright." Bilbo smiled softly, stroking Kíli's hair away from his face. "It's alright. I suppose that makes sense as to why it caught Thranduil's attention."
"How do you know…?"
"I was there." Bilbo smiled softly. "Standing beside you."
Kíli's mouth popped open slightly. "You were with me."
"Of course I was."
"I wasn't alone…" Kíli murmured in awe.
"No, you weren't." Bilbo confirmed gently.
"You were with me when I was talking to Thranduil…"
"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. I'll never leave you alone, not if I can help it." Bilbo promised.
Kíli laughed, his eyes shining. "I love you, Bilbo Baggins."
"I love you, too." Bilbo murmured to his son. "Now listen, you don't tell them anything, they have no information about me at all. Thorin said don't tell them anything so don't, I think that's the safest option. I'm working on a plan to get us all out of here but it's going a little slowly. Now that you're here and not there it will be a little more difficult, but-"
The sound of a door opening shocked Bilbo and he instantly slid the ring on.
Kíli gasped sharply and pressed his face up against the bars. "Bilbo?"
"I'm here." Bilbo pressed a kiss onto Kíli's forehead as if he were just a little boy. "I'm going to go and check on the others. If you hear me knocking twice that means I am here, if you hear me knocking three times it means I'm going, alright?"
"Bilbo!" Kíli whispered desperately. "What happens now?"
"You're going to be fine until I get us all out of here."
"Even me?" Kíli worried. "I'm a little out of the way, it would be easier-"
"Especially you." Bilbo glanced over his shoulder at the figure emerging through the hazy world. "It's Tauriel. Do you want me to stay?"
Kíli shook his head with a sigh. "You can go…"
"Alright." Bilbo tapped on Kíli's knuckles three times and slipped away, watching from a distance as Tauriel crouched down in front of Kíli's cell before slipping off into the night.
Kíli looked up at Tauriel with a small smile. "Afternoon."
"It is…" She smiled slightly, her eyes flickering to the floor before resting on Kíli. "Are you alright?"
"Never better," Kíli shook his head, flopping down on the floor of his cell and throwing a small rock from hand to hand. "I've been separated from my friends and family, I've lost my dog and I'm in prison for no good reason. Why wouldn't I be alright?"
Tauriel sighed. "I am sorry that you were brought here. Know that it was never my intention to have you separated from your kin."
"Oh? That makes me feel a little better." Kíli concentrated on the rock he was throwing, and Tauriel's voice took on a hard edge.
"I was being serious."
Kíli looked at her. "So was I."
The elf blinked her beautiful eyes and Kíli sighed.
"What do you need now?"
"Nothing," Tauriel assured him. "I merely came to ensure that you were still a dwarf and not a quivering wreck."
"Oh that's kind of you." Kíli nodded, though a grin did tug at the corners of his lips. "Well, I'm still whole, just about. I'm glad you came…I get lonely and bored very quickly."
Tauriel smiled carefully. "You know, you could return to your kin in the blink of an eye if you just answered the King's questions."
Kíli's face hardened. "If you are here to ask me questions I have already said I cannot answer I would rather you just left me alone."
"I am not here for that." Tauriel said quietly. "But it is my duty to try all the same."
"Just like it was your duty to tell your king all I told you. I understand." Kíli sighed heavily, weighed down by the truth of his statement. "To tell the truth, I'm not very good at this sort of thing."
"I only told my king what he needed to know." Tauriel corrected him. "I told him that you hailed from the Shire, that your father was a halfling and that it was he who taught you perfect Sindarin. That is all."
Kíli blinked. "Really? There's a lot more you could have told him…I never said anything in confidence…"
"I know, but he did not need to know anything else, and he asked me no further questions." Tauriel smiled slightly. "I sensed that you were telling me more than you should have."
Kíli shrugged. "I've always been a chatterbox. B- My father is always telling me I drive him crazy."
If the elf noticed the slip of his tongue, she chose not to comment. "I can imagine."
Kíli paused, gathering his courage. "Will you tell me about your family?"
Tauriel stared at him, before sighing and moving into a more comfortable position. "There is not very much to tell. My parents died in an orc attack when I was still a girl…"
Kíli's face fell. "I'm sorry…"
She smiled at him. "It was a long time ago…"
Kíli was silent for a moment, but the lull in the conversation did not last long and soon the dwarf and the elf began chattering again. The young dwarf was surprised by elf's high tolerance to his light teasing, and he was delighted when she teased him back. Kíli started to believe that under alternative circumstances they would have been firm friends already. Whether he could trust her or not was not important. All that mattered was that she was sacrificing her (admittedly bountiful) time to speak with him, and as they spoke on topics as trivial as dice games and as meaningful as the stars, Kíli could not help but relax a little.
And so it was that Kíli Baggins, heir of Durin, truly befriended the Captain of Thranduil's guard.
It would take a fiery battle and the iron taste of blood in his mouth for Kíli to realise how important that seemingly inconsequential friendship was.
So, I hope that was alright for you. While rereading this part of the book, I realised that the dwarves were more separate than I thought in Mirkwood, so it made sense that Thranduil has another dungeon which he sent poor old Kíli to. I hope this bit was believable!
Anyways, thanks for reading, leave a review if you fancy :)
