Hello! I'm back with chapter 7. I hope you enjoy it, and this chapter we will be getting on with the journey! (Just in case I hadn't said it enough.) So this may sound weird at first, but in order to understand part of this chapter, you may have to go back and read the conversation between Thorin and Elriauna in the last chapter. I just added something to it, and it makes more sense for this chapter if you read it again. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I still don't own any of Tolkien's fab people, just my OC's.
When the twins entered the room, Gandalf was helping the hobbit sit up in his chair. Eliauna handed him the cup of tea, and Bilbo accepted it with a grateful smile. Gandalf and Eliauna sat down, while Elriauna remained standing.
"Are you going to be ok?' Gandalf asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"I'll be fine. Just, let me sit quietly for a moment." Bilbo answered, also sounding annoyed.
"You've been sitting quietly for far too long," Gandalf said as he got up and began to pace. "Tell me, when did doilies, and your mother's dishes become so important to you? I remember a young hobbit who was always running off in search of elves in the woods. You'd stay out late, and come home after dark trailing mud and twigs and fireflies. A young hobbit that would like nothing more than to see what was beyond the borders of the Shire." Gandalf turned to Bilbo, who was starting to look as if he was mad at the wizard. "The world, is not in your books, and maps." He pointed to the window, and the three looked towards it. "It's out there." The sisters waited for their brother's reply, and were slightly startled when he began to talk.
"I can't just go running off into the blue. I am a Baggins, of Bag End." He sounded as if he were going to cry, and Eliauna got up and sat next to Bilbo on the floor.
"You are also, a Took." Gandalf said with a glance at Elriauna, who was leaning on the doorframe. Bilbo sighed with defeat and plopped back in his chair. Elriauna pushed herself off the wall, and came to sit in the chair across from Bilbo.
"He is right, you know. And I remember when we first came, and you would sometimes come with us to the woods to explore. I was disappointed when you stopped coming, but I let it go, thinking it was because you just didn't have enough time. I never realized it was because you becoming more of a 'respectable Baggins' like your father wanted you to be." Bilbo just sat quietly, not sure what to say.
"Did you know that you're great, great, great, great uncle, Bullroarer Took, was so large he could ride a real horse?" Elriauna looked at the wizard with a confused and irritated look.
"What does that even have to do with the conversation?" He gave her a wink, and continued on.
"In the battle of green field, as he charged the goblin ranks, he swung his club so hard it knocked the goblin king's head clean off and it sailed a hundred yards through the air, and went down a rabbit hole." Bilbo was getting more and more irritated as the wizard spoke, but did not say anything. "Thus the battle was won," Gandalf continued, "And the game of golf invented at the same time."
"I do believe you made that up." Bilbo finally said, but he sounded a lot calmer than he looked.
"Well, all good stories deserve embellishment." Gandalf said as he sat down on another chair. "You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back." Bilbo scoffed quietly, but then his face changed a little.
"Can you promise that I will come back?" He asked with slight fear in his otherwise calm voice. Gandalf opened his mouth, then closed it again, and looked at the hobbit fondly.
"No, and if you do, you will not be the same." He answered truthfully, and Bilbo nodded.
"That's what I thought." Elriauna looked at Bilbo with pleading eyes.
"Please Bilbo. Do it for us. Do it for those dwarves, they don't have a home. Do it- do it for me." Bilbo stood, and looked at the three.
"Sorry, Gandalf, Auna. I can't sign this." He walked towards the door, then turned back. "You've got the wrong hobbit." As he left, he felt his heart clench at the look of betrayal and hurt that was on his sister's faces.
As Bilbo walked by Thorin and Balin, The older dwarf sighed.
"It appears, we have lost our burglar." Thorin looked with slight sadness at the hobbit walking away, and looked back to Balin as the dwarf continued to speak. "Probably for the best. The odds were always against us. After all, what are we? Merchants, miners, tinkers, toymakers. Hardly the stuff of legend." He laughed slightly, and Thorin gave a small smile at the white haired dwarf.
"There are a few warriors amongst us." Balin shook his head.
"Old, warriors." Thorin's smile dropped, and he became serious.
"I would take each and every one of these dwarves over an army from the Iron Hills. For when I called upon them, they answered. Loyalty, honor, a willing heart. I could ask no more than that." Thorin spoke in almost a whisper.
"You don't have to do this," Balin argued as he stood, in a last minute attempt to get Thorin to call off the quest. As he continued to speak, Thorin took on a slightly confused face. "You have a choice. You've done honorably, by our people. You have built a new life for us in the Blue Mountains. A life of peace, and plenty. A life that is worth more than all the gold, in Erebor."
"From my grandfather, to my father, this," Thorin held up the key, "Has come to me." Balin sighed as he realized that his attempts had failed. "They dreamt of the day that the dwarves of Erebor would reclaim their homeland." Thorin's confused expression was gone, and in its place was a look of hope. "There is no choice, Balin." The older dwarf sat back down and sighed once more. "Not for me." Thorin added, and Balin nodded in understanding.
"Then we are with you, laddie." Balin stood again and patted his king on the arm. "We will see it done." They heard a muffled shout come from the study Bilbo had just left, and they looked just in time to see Elriauna come storming out looking infuriated. Her sister and Gandalf followed, and she turned to speak to her twin.
"I am going, and you can come if you wish. If not, you and Bilbo can stay here in this boring place while I go." Eliauna nodded, and looked as if she were about to cry.
"May I still sleep in your room tonight so that Fili and Kili can have mine?" Thorin smiled slightly at the fact that she was going to give his beloved nephews her room. Elriauna took a deep breath before nodding.
"Yes, you may. I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that." Eliauna stepped forward and gave her sister a hug.
"It's ok. I understand that you want Bilbo and me to come. And I will, I just wanted to see how you would feel if I decided to stay behind, if only to not leave Bilbo by himself." They pulled apart, and Eliauna smiled.
"Will you come with me to ask the brothers if they want my room?" Elriauna nodded, and as they began to walk away, she caught sight of Thorin watching them. She waved at him, and gave him a smile before she disappeared around the corner.
"I see that you and the lass are on good terms now." Balin said with a smile, and Thorin nodded.
"Yes, she apologized to me earlier about what she said when I first arrived. I sort of apologized too, and-"
"You apologized?" Balin asked with amazement, and Thorin gave him a small glare.
"Yes I did, and we came to an agreement- well understanding." He said quickly, almost forgetting that Elriauna hadn't wanted him to tell the others of their powers just yet. Balin gave him a confused look, but it quickly left as Thorin walked away.
"Fili? Kili, where are you?!" Eliauna called, as she and her sister searched for the dwarf brothers.
"Wait," Elriauna said, holding her hand up, signaling for her sister to stop moving. They stood in silence until they heard the faint clinking of metal. "Fili!" Elriauna whispered in happiness as she jumped around the corner, startling the two brothers. "Ha! I found you!" She yelled, and Kili raised an eyebrow while Fili held his hands up.
"Were we missing?" Kili asked in confusion, as Eliauna came around the corner.
"No, we were just looking to ask you something. Auna heard your mustache braid thingy's clinking together, and we found you here." Fili gave her a soft glare, and absentmindedly reached his hand up to touch his right bead.
"They are called hair beads, thank you very much." Eliauna rolled her eyes at him.
"Sorry, hair beads." She said sarcastically, and he scoffed. "Any way, we came to ask you two if you wanted to use my room to sleep in tonight." Kili nodded enthusiastically, and Fili put his hand on Kili's forehead to stop him, earning him a glare.
"Where will you sleep? I may be tired, but I will not use your room if you do not have somewhere decent to sleep. That would be very rude of us." He said the last part with an elbow to his brother's side.
"Don't worry Fili, she will be staying with me." Elriauna reassured the blonde dwarf, and he nodded with a smile.
"Ok then! We will take it, thank you very much-" he hesitated, not knowing what to call her.
"You can call me Elli for now." Eliauna said with a smile of her own.
"Ok, thank you very much Elli." Fili said, and Kili turned to Elriauna.
"What about you?" She opened her mouth to speak, but Fili cut her off.
"Can't we call you Auna?" She shook her head, and gave playful smirk.
"Only people close to me can call me that." Just at that moment, Thorin came around the corner.
"Ah, there you are Auna." Fili's mouth dropped open, and Elriauna held back a laugh. "Gandalf has been looking for you and Eliauna. He is still in the study." She gave him a nod, and he left with a short nod back.
"How come he gets to call you that?!" Fili said in exasperation.
"Maybe cause I like him better." Elriauna answered, and she and Eliauna left with identical smiles.
When they entered the study, Gandalf was sitting in the same chair he had been sitting in before.
"Did you even move?" Elriauna asked with a smile as she sat in the chair across from him.
"Maybe," He answered with an almost sassy look on his face. Elriauna shook her head with a smile.
"What did you need?" Gandalf immediately turned serious, and looked at each girl.
"You know, I was telling the truth when I said I couldn't promise that Bilbo would come back. And that goes for you two also." The Girls sat in silence, and didn't realize when Fili and Kili came to stand by the door.
"We understand." Eliauna said softly, and Elriauna nodded.
"Yes, we really do, we know we might not come back. But if we at least make it to the mountain, to Erebor, and manage to take it back before we die, then it will be completely worth it. I have always admired Thorin in a way, and what he did for his people to be able to start a life for them in the Blue Mountains was truly amazing. And I believe that with enough courage, and enough heart, we can take back what was stolen from them. Even if it is the last thing I do, then so be it." Gandalf nodded, and looked to where the brothers were standing and gave them a smile and wink. They smiled back, but when Elriauna turned to look where they were they quickly hurried off.
"Well, in that case, ok. I will do what I can to make sure that you do come back alive and well, but that may not happen. But as for now, I think you should be getting to bed, it is late. And you will need your rest, believe me. This very well may be the last night of sleep that you will get in a real bed for a long time." The twins nodded, and got up to leave. "Goodnight Auna, Elli." They both smiled at him.
"Goodnight Gandalf." They said in unison, before leaving.
The girls entered the living room, where all the dwarves had gathered. Elriauna prepared to speak, but was cut off as they all began to hum. She decided not to interrupt, and instead she and her sister sat down on the steps. When Thorin began to sing, Elriauna felt like crying as his deep voice began to tell of the quest, and what they were doing it for.
"Far over, the misty mountains cold.
To dungeons deep, and caverns old.
We must away, ere break of day.
To find our long, forgotten gold.
The pines were roaring, on the height.
The winds were moaning, in the night.
The fire was red, it flaming spread.
The trees like torches, blazed with light."
By the end of the song, all of the dwarves were singing, and Elriauna was near to tears. Eliauna had fallen asleep resting on Kili's leg, and he tried not to wake her as he stood.
"Would you like me to carry her?" He asked Elriauna in a whisper, and she nodded with a smile.
"Sure, be my guest, but if she wakes up on the way there and slaps you, it will be your problem." He smiled as he picked Eliauna up.
"I will take full responsibility." Fili offered his hand to Elriauna, and she took it gratefully.
"Thank you Fili. I don't think I could have gotten up without you!" He gave her a nod, and she turned to the rest of the company.
"Goodnight everyone." She looked at Thorin and smiled. "See you at dawn?" He nodded.
"See you at dawn. Goodnight Auna." She nodded, and turned to follow the brothers out of the room.
"Where is your room?" Kili asked, still whispering.
"This way," Elriauna whispered back with a big smile on her face. When they reached her door, she opened it to reveal two beds on either side of the room.
"You can put her in the one on the right." She and Fili stood at the door and watched as Kili carefully pulled back the covers and placed Eliauna gently in the bed. He arranged the pillow underneath her head so that she would be comfortable, and pulled the covers back up around her. He then stood and just looked at her, almost forgetting that the other two were there.
"Um, hello? Kili, would you like me to show you to your room now?" Elriauna whispered, and he spun around with red cheeks.
"Um, Sure. Go ahead." She turned and smiled at Fili, giving him a wink before walking off twords the end of the hallway they were in. When they reached the room two doors down, she stopped and opened it to reveal a room identical to hers.
"Here you go! Choose whichever bed you want although, Kili, Her bed is the one on the left if you want that one." He blushed again, and Fili couldn't help but laugh.
"Good night Eliauna." Kili said gruffly, and he stormed into the bathroom.
"Don't worry, he'll come around. He's not one to hold a grudge, I'm sure he will have completely forgotten about it by tomorrow." Fili said with another laugh, and Elriauna smiled. They looked at each other and just stood staring until they were interrupted by Kili.
"Well Fee, would you like to tuck her in too?" Fili blushed deeply, and Elriauna did too.
"Shut up." Fili said, and Elriauna laughed.
"Goodnight Fili. See you tomorrow." She kissed him on the cheek, which made him blush more, and then she turned and walked away. "Goodnight Kili," She called behind her just before the door closed. When she entered her own room, her sister was still sleeping. She just smiled sleepily, and crawled into her own bed. She blew out the candle on her night stand, and went immediately to sleep.
Ok, I admit it. I am horrible at keeping promises. As you could probably tell, we are still at Bilbo's, and have not yet left as I "promised". So sorry, and I will (not) promise that we will be leaving next chapter. I will simply say that we might. R&R, and I will hopefully be seeing you again soon!