If you can catch the reference in this chapter, you get a cookie!
As the group left the downs, they traveled quickly and found themselves in Bree before nightfall.
It was raining, as it always seemed to in Bree. The company stopped at The Prancing Pony inn. The company took the night to rest and have a good time. Kili, Fili and Thorin were all followed around and crowded, because apparently, they were supposed to be dead. Lulyn listened in on the story of how Kili died, and found herself tearing up. Though, as he repeated the story more and more, he had more to drink, which led to a not-so-sober Kili. By the end of the night, he had told a very extravagant and embellished version of the story. It somehow turned into how Kili defeated Smaug single-handedly and died trying to escape the orcs, whom Smaug had allied himself with. Lulyn rolled her eyes and chuckled. She decided to go off to bed. She lay there awake for a little while, deep in thought. She thought about how long it had been since she'd had a nice feather bed to sleep in. She got lost in her thoughts and soon found herself fast asleep, dreaming of the days when she had family.
The next morning, Lulyn was the first one awake, and she sat in the main room speaking to Mr. Butterbur about Gandalf. Lulyn listened intently to the stories of Gandalf's doings, and his fantastic fireworks every New Year's Eve. As more guests began to wake, Butterbur broke away to start taking breakfast orders. Lulyn sat in a corner, watching as many people crowded Thorin, asking him about the defeat of Azog the Defiler. He wouldn't say much, and by this point, she'd noticed Thorin didn't like much attention. He told the basic yea-I-killed-an-evil-Orc-that-was-supposed-to-be-dead-ages-ago story, but then managed to escape to his room, to study some maps with notes scribbled all over them, possibly clues to where the orcs were hiding. He eventually got the company together and they left the inn.
A few days and orc attacks later, the Company made it to the trollshaws. They camped in the shadow of three great stone trolls. The company told her the story of the trolls, and how Gandalf had saved the dwarves from being skinned alive. She found herself giggling about how they had to insist they had parasites. The company each broke away, a few slept, others recounted their journey to reclaim Erebor. Lulyn stood staring at one of the trolls. She reached out and touched one of the troll's faces, just to prove to herself it was dead. She sighed and smiled, laughing at herself for thinking otherwise.
"Arrrrrggghhhh!" Kili growled from behind Lulyn, imitating a troll.
Lulyn gasped and whipped around, drawing her dagger and swinging it. Kili managed to parry it with his sword, eyes wide. Lulyn's eyes were equally as wide, if not wider. She sheathed her sword, breathing heavily.
"Wow, sorry...I didn't mean to scare you that bad..." Kili laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.
Lulyn gave Kili a small smile, still recovering. She managed to find her voice. "It's...fine." She laughed slightly. "Heh, I guess I don't do trolls." She joked.
Kili smiled. "Then let's just hope we don't run into any." He winked.
Several days later, the group arrived in Rivendell.
Gandalf stood in a courtyard almost as if he were expecting them to show up at this moment.
"Ah, there you are!" Gandalf said. "I have spoken with Lord Elrond and he may have a hunch as to where the orcs are coming from. He is away at the moment, but will return later this evening. Until then, I suppose you can roam Rivendell freely."
The dwarves broke away and explored Rivendell. Though they had been there before, there were things that were unfamiliar to the dwarves, perhaps because last time, they weren't there to wander.
Lulyn stood awkwardly in the courtyard with Gandalf. He asked about her bandages, so she told the story of how she nearly fell over a cliff. He ended up healing her hands, of course it didn't sting any less than what it did before, when he healed her side.
"Uh, thanks." She said eventually, staring at her scarred hands. The lines were strange, and made her hands bend weirdly.
"You're welcome. My guess is, that won't be the last time you'll come to me with an injury. You seem to be drawn to dangerous situations." He laughed. Lulyn smiled. "Now go, explore. Make yourself at home."
Lulyn nodded and left.
Rivendell was quite beautiful, Lulyn sat in a tree, staring at one of the distant waterfalls. She felt so comfortable and at home here, she never wanted to leave. She glanced over her shoulder and saw some elf maidens setting a table, most likely for the company. She slid down from the tree and approached them. She saw a harp, and plucked a few of the strings as she passed it. The elf maidens looked up to Lulyn and smiled. "Mae Govannen." One of them said warmly. Lulyn smiled and nodded to the elf maiden, watching her graceful movements as she set porcelain plates on the table. Lulyn's guess was all fourteen of those plates wouldn't make it through supper. She offered to help the elf maidens and began setting out very delicious looking foods in beautiful baskets and bowls.
That evening, after dinner, Lulyn found herself wandering a courtyard where there were many fountains and trees that were still bearing beautiful fruit in late autumn. Lulyn found herself tempted to pick one of the rather unusual fruits.
"Go on. They're here for eating." A voice said from behind Lulyn.
She whipped around and reached for her sword. She found it wasn't there and was quickly falling into a panic. She looked up and saw it was only Elrond.
The elf smiled. "Mae govannen, Lulyn." He greeted in elvish.
"Suilon, my lord Elrond." Lulyn said with a slight bow. Lulyn went to rest her hand on her sword, but it wasn't there.
" I must have dropped it over the edge of the cliff." Lulyn muttered to herself.
"I may have a sword that would be fit for you. Follow me." Elrond said.
Elrond led Lulyn to the armory. The walls were covered with swords and many other elvish weapons of every kind. Elrond scanned the wall and took down a short sword in it's scabbard.
He handed it to Lulyn. She took the sword out of the scabbard and looked at the elvish runes. She translated them in her head; they translated to warrior.
"Hannon le." She thanked.
"You'll need a sword if you are to slay orcs." Elrond smiled.
That night, Lulyn stood out on a balcony with Kor. He preened his feathers as Lulyn stared out into the night. There was little movement throughout Rivendell, though there were a few elf guards walking around, keeping watch over Rivendell. Lulyn decided to head off to bed and changed into a pale blue night gown with long droopy sleeves. The elf maidens gave it to her and insisted she wear it.
Later on, Lulyn tried to sleep, but it didn't work. She got up and wandered the halls of Rivendell. Her bare feet made no sound as she crept through the halls. She strolled past Kili's room. The door was half open, and on the balcony stood a rather sad looking Kili. She turned around and silently pushed the door open. She leaned in the doorway, unsure what to say. Lulyn cleared her throat, and Kili quickly turned around, his eyes were slightly red and puffy and he was clutching a white wad of fabric, probably a handkerchief.
"Hey. You okay?" Lulyn said from the doorway.
Kili turned away to face the night again. "Yea, I'm fine."
Lulyn stood next to Kili. "I don't buy that. There's obviously something wrong."
Kili half smiled. "Nothing gets past you."
"You're doing a pretty terrible job at hiding this one." Lulyn smiled gently..
Kili sighed. "I uh, just received word that my mother was killed…by orcs."
Lulyn gasped. "I...I'm sorry...if it helps at all, I know the feeling."
Kili looked at Lulyn and raised an eyebrow. "You do?"
Lulyn nodded. "My family…they uh, were killed by orcs. We were ambushed." She said, tearing up. She sniffled.
Kili took Lulyn by the arm and they sat on the bed. Lulyn took in a shaky breath.
"At least we have something in common." Kili said, trying to lighten the mood.
"What's that?" Lulyn said, wiping her eyes.
"We both have a reason for revenge on the orcs."
Lulyn smiled. "I wish it was that simple...I don't think revenge is a strong enough word. Orcs ruined my life...you could say. We had huge plans to go visit every city and village in Middle Earth. We were going to do it together—as a family." Lulyn's eyes stung with tears. "But it's the past now. It doesn't matter anymore."
Kili stared at the ground.
"But hey, Kili, you may not have reclaimed Erebor, you may not have a family, aside from Fili and Thorin, and things may look bad now, but just think, when we defeat the orcs, we can build a new mountain home. You may have a better chance. You've got the company...they're there for you when you need them. Things will get better. I just know it. Even if we may have lost a lot to the orcs." Lulyn said. She sniffled and realized she was getting all teary-eyed again.
Kili took Lulyn's hand and opened it. He placed the handkerchief in it. "Here. You need it more than I do."
Lulyn un-crumpled the handkerchief and looked at it. On one of the corners, Kili's name was embroidered in purple. "I never thought you were one to carry a handkerchief."
"Oh, I'm not. It was a gift from Bilbo. I never use it though." Kili chuckled.
Lulyn smiled and sniffled again. "I suppose I should head off to bed. Goodnight, Kili."
Kili smiled and watched Lu leave the room. Then he decided to go to bed himself. As Lulyn left the room, she felt eyes on her. She turned and saw the dark shape of Thorin down the hall, walking to his room. He stopped and looked at her. She couldn't see his face that well, but she didn't have to to know that his eyes were tear stained. But, hey, she knew what it felt like to lose a sister. She continued to bed and quickly fell asleep.
Did you catch it? If you did…*gives you a cookie*