Chapter Three
Orc Camp
"Master! We found the Company of Dwarves, led by Oakenshield!" spoken an orc scout in Black Speech. "Good! We got them on our tail, we'll keep tracking them!" said Azog. "But they are not alone, Master! They have a wizard, a Halfling and a she-elf with them. This She-Elf, you know very well-the Dark Elf!" said the orc scout. "WHAT? You found her?!" exclaimed Azog, his voice echoing throughout the area. "Yes, my lord. What orders do you wish us to do?" said the orc scout. "Go after the She Elf, bring her to me alive!" demanded Azog. "Yes, sire." said the orc scout, and he left.
The Company
Later that evening, the Company stopped and make camp by orders of Thorin. After Neniel set up her bedroll, Neniel volunteered to go find some firewood. "Neniel, I highly suggest you should take someone with you! I don't want you wandering the night alone." said Thorin. "Thorin, I will be fine! I can handle myself." said Neniel. "Listen to me, Neniel. You are a member of my company now! If I were to lose you-I.." began Thorin, and he quickly stopped. "You what?" said Neniel.
"Never mind! Just go!" hissed Thorin, and he walked away. Neniel went ahead and hunt some firewood alone. "I still think someone should have went with her, Thorin." said Balin. "How could I convince her? She's stubborn as an oxen!" snapped Thorin. "Sounds like someone we know." grumbled Dwalin. "Maybe one of us can shadow her!" spoke up Kili. "Good idea! Kili, you will be the one to shadow her." said Thorin. "WHAT?! Why me?" snapped Kili. "You're our best tracker! Just follow her!" demanded Thorin. "Yes, Uncle." said Kili softly, as he left, following Neniel's path.
Meanwhile, Neniel found a stream nearby. She decided to take a break from hunting firewood, to stop and take a quick bath. She removed her clothing, as she stepped into the stream. I better make this quick before someone finds me, thought Neniel. Neniel had been busy washing her hair, she didn't hear the rustling of the leaves behind her as someone approached. Kili grumbled as he walked further into the forest, when he came to a nearby stream-until he saw something he wished he hadn't looked. He could see the Dark Elf bathing in the stream, with the water only reaching up to her buttocks. Kili gasped, as he kept looking at the naked body of the Dark Elf.
He also noticed the tattoos on her shoulder, and her lower back.
Just turn around and go back, Kili! Pretend that you didn't see anything! thought the young dwarf as he bolted back to the camp. As he entered the camp, his face flushed with embarrassment. "Well? Did you find her? And what is she doing? She shouldn't be taking this long to find firewood!" said Thorin. "Oh, I found her alright." grumbled Kili. "Enough with the games, Kili! Where is she?!" demanded Thorin, angrily. "She's taking a bath, Uncle! I'm sorry when I looked-I should have never looked!" cried out Kili, as he marched over to his brother, sitting down, avoiding eye contact with everyone.
Suddenly, Fili burst into laughter. "What are you laughing at?!" shouted Kili. "You, gazing at a naked she-elf!" grinned Fili. "SHUT UP!" bellowed Kili, angrily. "Lighten up, Kee! I was only joking!" Fili snapped back. "ENOUGH! I guess I have to go get her myself!" bellowed Thorin. "No! No! Thorin! I wouldn't-don't! She'll get angry if she sees you!" protested Kili, but Thorin ignored Kili's protests, and continued walking away from the camp. Balin walked over to Kili, placing his hand on the dwarf prince's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, lad. It was only an accident that you saw her. Luckily she hadn't seen you there! Just act like it never happened." said the older dwarf, gently. Kili nodded.
Meanwhile, just as Thorin was about to find Neniel, he didn't have to go far because he found Neniel heading towards the camp, and he stopped her. "Where were you, Neniel? How long does it take to find firewood?!" demanded Thorin, angrily. "I'm sorry, Thorin-I needed a bath, so I stopped and took a bath." said Neniel. "That could've waited until after you return with the firewood! And by the way, I already know about your bath!" hissed Thorin. "WHAT?!" exclaimed Neniel, her eyes widened in shock and horror.
"Just go back to camp!" demanded Thorin, and the two of them quietly walked back. All I done was take a bath, and he's getting angry with me over that?! Neniel thought as she took a seat by her bedroll, feeling very angry at Thorin's actions, and puzzled on what is going on. Bofur handed over a bowl of soup to Neniel. "Are you hungry, Neniel? Soup is ready?" asked Bofur. "I'm not hungry, Bofur. Thanks for the offer!" grumbled Neniel. As the night progressed, Neniel tried to sleep, but she couldn't.
Neniel stood up, decided she had to relieve herself. Just as she was about to walk into the forest, she could hear voices talking. One of them she recognized as Thorin's, and another was Dwalin's.
She realized she couldn't do her business there, because she could see Thorin and Dwalin decided to take their watch there. Just as she was about to turn to find another area, she stopped when she heard her name mentioned during the dwarves conversation, and she decided to stop and listen in, without getting noticed. "Thorin, its really a bad idea for Gandalf to bring this elf along with us! She has caused us nothing but trouble and delay since we first started." said Dwalin.
"You are right, Dwalin. Once we reach the next village, we will leave her behind." said Thorin. Anger clouded over Neniel as she listened in this conversation. She didn't want to hear this, and she angrily marched away, forgetting what she had been meaning to do. By the time she returned to the camp, she grabbed her belongings. "Neniel? What are you doing?" asked Gandalf. "I'm leaving." said Neniel angrily as she packed.
"Neniel, you can't just leave! Its dangerous out there! Besides that, you already signed the contract!" protested Balin.
"Balin's right, Neniel. You cannot just leave. What is going on?" demanded Gandalf. "Isn't it obvious that I'm not wanted here? Apparently it is! That's why I'm leaving!" hissed Neniel. "Neniel.." began Kili. "You're not going anywhere, Neniel! NENIEL! GET BACK HERE!" yelled Gandalf, as Neniel sprinted away.
"I'll go after her." said Fili, as he sprinted off, following Neniel. After Thorin and Dwalin finished their watch, they returned to camp, while another pair of dwarves took up their turn. "Thorin, a word with you." said Gandalf. "What's going on? Where is our newest member of the company? I don't see her." said Thorin. "She left. Apparently she is upset. She must have heard something-a conversation perhaps? Between you and Dwalin?" said Gandalf. Thorin closed his eyes.
"What was she doing eavesdropping?! She had no business hearing our conversation!" roared Thorin. "She was going to relief herself, Thorin, and she walked in at a bad moment, and she heard you two talk! What was said between you and Dwalin?!" demanded Gandalf, angrily. "Dwalin doesn't trust her, and I still don't trust her. Gandalf, at the next village, we wish to dismiss her from the Company." said Thorin. "You cannot do that, Thorin. She already signed the contract. Why do you still distrust her?" asked Gandalf.
"Gandalf, Kili accidently saw Neniel bathing, and he seen the tattoos on her shoulder and back. And it has proven to me that this woman is not what she appears. She can be a witch practicing dark magic." said Thorin.
"Thorin son of Thrain! Of all the outrageous things you have spoken to me, that one is the worst! How dare you have the odacity of accusing MY apprentice of dark magic?!" bellowed the wizard angrily. Thorin stood frozen, as a tense brief silence came between them. "Thorin, I know Neniel for a long time, and there is one thing that she is not-is one whom practices dark magic. She has odd powers yes, but she only uses it to help people, I assure you." said Gandalf, his voice more calmer.
Neniel's POV:
As I walked away from camp, fuming mad after listening to the conversation between Thorin and Dwalin. I felt betrayed, and taken advantage of, and I felt angry mostly at Gandalf for dragging me onto this quest. How can I join a quest among a company whom doesn't trust me? I wanted to leave the company, and return to Bree, and continue my job as a bar wrench. But unfortunately, I didn't go far however. It was Fili whom caught up with me and stopped me. "Neniel, you don't have to do this! You don't have to leave! Please come back." said Fili.
I turned to Fili. "Why should I return? Your people don't like me with them! All of you don't trust me!" said Neniel. "Kili and I trust you! Mister Balin, and Bilbo trusts you! Bilbo even asked for you and wondered why you left." said Fili.
"I'm sorry, Fili. I cannot come back! This isn't my quest." I said. "Neniel-just come back! They'll warm up to you eventually! Trust me." said Fili, gently. I turned away, my back towards Fili, as I closed my eyes and sighed. Why do you have to do this, you little shit? You remind me a lot of my brother! I thought to myself, as I slowly turned and looked upon the young prince. "Alright, I'll come back." I said. "Good! I was hoping you would say that!" said Fili, as the two of us walked back to the camp.
No one's POV:
The next morning, the Company continued to set out, and they had ridden non stop for hours. "Where did you take off to last night, Neniel? You seemed pretty upset last night!" asked Bilbo, as they ridden that day. "I accidently walked in on a conversation, I wasn't supposed to listen, and it had gotten me upset. It was something Thorin and Dwalin said about me." said Neniel. "They still don't trust you?" asked Bilbo. Neniel nodded. "Oh, I'm so sorry." said Bilbo, quietly.
Later that evening the Thorin called out to set up camp near a abandoned farm house. Neniel decided to sit alone, which she pretty much preferred, as she began making more arrows. "She's not going to sit with us?" asked Bofur.
"She's still upset about the other night-really this is all my fault. If I hadn't looked at her, none of this would have happened." said Kili, sadly, standing up preparing to go with his brother to watch the ponies. "Kili, don't blame yourself for this. You were told to go find her, because she took a while of returning." said Balin. "I know. But its, I'm worried with Uncle and his relationship with her. He doesn't like her, nor Mister Dwalin." said Kili.
"They'll warm up her, eventually. As for Dwalin, I will deal with him." said Balin. "Hey, Neniel! Aren't you going to eat?" called out Bofur. "No thank you, Bofur! I'm not really all that hungry." Neniel replied. "Neniel, you haven eaten in two days! You need your strength." said Thorin, before he headed away from the group to speak to Gandalf. "Haven't you people got it already?! I said I'm not hungry!" yelled Neniel, angrily. Thorin scowled and turned away. "What has gotten into your apprentice, Gandalf?" growled Thorin. "Maybe you should know what has gotten into her, Thorin!" shot back the wizard.
While Neniel sat and cleaned her weapons, she could hear Gandalf and Thorin arguing about elves. She knew they weren't talking about her, they were talking about Rivendell.
The thought of Rivendell excited her. Maybe if we do go to Rivendell, I can make a decision on whether to continue the quest or not, thought Neniel. Suddenly, she could see Gandalf storming past her. Great, Thorin must have ticked him off. Maybe I'll try and convince him, and see what that would do, thought Neniel, and she stood up. She marched over to Thorin. "Thorin, as a member of this company, I like to speak my opinion in regards to the conversation you had with Gandalf." Neniel spoke up.
"Neniel, it doesn't concern you, and I'm not going to discuss this any further. We're camping here for tonight, and that's my final decision!" grumbled Thorin.