Back again! Sorry I took so long, I had finals and stuff. I am back now, and will be getting chapters up regularly now that summer is here. Please enjoy!
To Snowy Wolf: Thanks! I cannot wait to see how you drew my characters!
I have one of my great friends, who is using the name Snowy Wolf, drawing Eliauna and Elriauna for me! I will try to put the pics up under this story once she finished them.
Disclaimer: I still, sadly, do not own any of Tolkien's amazing characters. I only own my OC's.
When the company reached the first camp sight, the twins and Bilbo sighed in relief.
"Finally, I can get off this pony!" Elriauna exclaimed, as she slowly got off its back. The pony whinnied, and Eliauna frowned at her sister.
"He didn't like that." She said, and Elriauna scoffed. "He wants you to know that he is in as much pain as you." Elriauna rolled her eyes, and Kili looked at Eliauna a bit strangely.
"You understood him?" Eliauna went slightly pale as she realized what she had done, and she busied herself with unpacking so that she wouldn't have to look at his face.
"Uh, no. I was just saying what I thought he might say to her. If I was a pony, I would say the same thing, so I just kind of guessed. I guess." He slowly nodded, and then went to unpack his own things.
"Ok, if you say so." She waited until he was out of earshot before sighing loudly.
"That, was close." Elriauna said as she finished tying her pony's reigns to a tree. Eliauna nodded, and walked over to her sister with her bag slung over her shoulder.
"Where shall we sleep tonight?" Elriauna looked around, and finally pointed to the back of the small cave that was at the back of the camp.
"How about in there? The fire is close enough that it will keep us warm throughout the night." Eliauna nodded, and they went to put their stuff at the back. Once they had finished rolling out their bed rolls, Fili and Kili had come over to set up on either side of them.
"Master Baggins, do you know how to cook?" Thorin asked the hobbit as he set up near the edge of camp. Bilbo nodded, and pointed to Eliauna.
"She can cook too. Her pasta is to die for." They all looked at him in alarm, and he realized that they didn't understand he was joking. "Well, I don't mean literally. I just mean that it is really good." They all relaxed, and Bomber started to light a fire. When it wouldn't work, Elriauna came over.
"Here, let me help you." She took the rock and stick from the large dwarf, and started to slowly rub them together. She saw Bomber look away for a second, and took her chance. She made a light spark of fire jump from her hand, and it lit the stick. "There," She said as she threw the stick into the pile of logs. Bomber nodded his thanks, and went to start getting out the ingredients.
"Miss Eliauna, Master Baggins, would you like to help me?" Bomber asked, and the two in question nodded with smiles.
"Of course, uh, Bomber is it?" He nodded at Eliauna, and she smiled triumphantly. The three then set to work cutting up and mixing the ingredients. When they had finished cooking everything, and had handed out bowls to everyone, they put all of the stuff away.
"That," Bofur said through a mouthful, "Is amazing. I say we're mighty blessed to have not just one, but three amazing cooks on this journey." Everyone grunted in agreement, and Dwalin nodded.
"That sure is the truth." He said before putting another huge spoonful in his mouth. They all finished their meals in comfortable silence, and as each one finished they set their bowls aside and proceeded to get ready to lay down.
"Elli, I am going to go further into the woods to change, would you like to come with me?" Elriauna asked as she gathered her clothes. Eliauna nodded, and finished the last bite of her soup.
"Sure, just wait for me." She hurriedly got her own clothes, and then followed her sister into the trees. "So, Auna, I wanted to ask you a question." Elriauna looked at her sister as they began to change.
"Is it about Kili?" she asked, knowing full well the answer. Eliauna blushed, and Elriauna nodded. "Yup." she said with a smirk.
"I wanted to know what you thought about him." Eliauna asked as she finished pulling on her sleeping clothes. They gathered their things, and then sat on a fallen tree log.
"I like him." Elriauna said with a nod, and she smiled at her sister. "You made a good choice." Eliauna smiled happily, and hugged her sister.
"Thank you. I was hoping you would say that. Also, I was wondering if you could cover for me. I wanted to take a run in the woods, and I would like you to say that I went down to the river to get some food. Could you do that for me please?" Elriauna thought for a moment.
"Sure! Of course. What form?" Eliauna stood with a slightly wicked grin.
"Bear." Elriauna nodded, and picked up both of their bundles of stuff.
"Come back before nightfall, ok?" Elriauna called over her shoulder, and she got a low growling grunt in response. She smiled, and when she heard heavy footsteps running in the direction of the river, she turned just in time to catch a faint glimpse of dark brown bear fur. She chuckled to herself, and started back to the camp. When she arrived, everyone was sitting around the campfire and talking. She placed her and her sister's stuff back in their bags, and went to sit in between the two brothers she had come to befriend.
"Where is Eliauna?" Kili asked with concern as she sat down.
"She's uh, getting some fish at the river." She hesitated, and Kili raised an eyebrow.
"By herself?" he asked, and Elriauna glanced around nervously. When she caught Thorin's eyes, she gave him a nervous nod.
"I'm sure she will be fine Kili. If she is as skilled with her weapons as she says she is, I believe she will be able to defend herself." The brunette nodded at his uncle, and Elriauna gave him a short thank you nod. He nodded back, and she smiled faintly.
"So," she said after a moment of silence, "What are we talking about?" Bofur grinned at her, and swept his hand out.
"We, were just telling funny stories. Do you have any?" Elriauna thought for a moment.
"Does it have to be about me, or can it be about someone else?" she asked, and Bofur shook his head.
"It can be about anyone you like." He answered.
"Ok," she said with a nod, and then she gave a mischievous smirk. "I'll tell you guys about the time when Eliauna hit herself in the head with an arrow." Kili furrowed his brow.
"How do you do that?!" he asked with disbelief.
"Just wait. I'll get there eventually." He frowned, but then smiled and shook his head.
"Go on then." He said, and she smiled.
As Eliauna walked back to the camp in human form, she heard them laughing. She adjusted the full bag of fish on her shoulder, and huffed.
"I hope they aren't talking about me." She said to herself.
"We are." She yelped when she heard her sister's voice in her head, and then scowled. As she entered the camp, she was greeted with laughter.
"What happened to you?!" Kili suddenly sounded concerned when he saw her dripping wet.
"I went to get fish- didn't Auna tell you?" He nodded with wide eyes.
"She did, but I never dreamed you would actually get in the river." She shrugged, but before she could answer him, she was cut off by a still laughing Bofur.
"Did you get- did you get hit in the head with a- with an arrow and fall in?!" The company, minus Thorin, Kili and Eliauna, started laughing again. Eliauna glared at Elriauna, and plopped down on the other side of Kili.
"Thanks." She said gruffly to her sister.
"Oh, you're so welcome!" Elriauna replied with sarcasm. Eliauna then got up and stomped over to her stuff and sat down with her back against the stone. With a glare, Kili got up and went to sit next to her.
"Sorry about that. If I had known it would have upset you I would have stopped her from telling the story." He said with sincerity. She gave him a thankful smile, and he got up and moved over to his and Fili's bags.
Later that evening, after most of the dwarves had gone to sleep, Fili, Kili, Bilbo, Thorin, Gandalf and the twins were still awake. They sat in silence until they suddenly heard fowl orcish screams coming from the valley below. Eliauna tensed in fear as memories of that fateful night, five years before, came flooding back. Elriauna jumped up with her sword in hand.
"What was that?" Bilbo asked in fear. Kili and Fili perked up slightly, but also looked a little afraid.
"Orcs," Kili answered.
"Orcs?" Bilbo asked as he ran over to the group.
"Throat cutters." Fili said with a thoughtful look on his face. "There'll be dozens of 'em out there." Bilbo looked really scared now, and Elriauna walked to the edge of the cliff to look down.
"The low lands are crawling with them. They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone is asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." Bilbo looked horrified now, and Elriauna came back over.
"That's not how I remember it." She said, and Fili furrowed his brow slightly. Suddenly, Kili started laughing, and Fili joined in.
"You think that's funny?" Thorin asked with a hint of rage. "You think that a night raid by orcs is a joke?" Kili and Fili looked slightly ashamed of themselves, and Kili tried to defend them.
"We didn't mean anything by it." He said quietly.
"No you didn't." Thorin said angrily. "You know nothing of the world." He walked away to stand at the edge of the cliff.
"Don't mind him laddie." Balin said as he came from around the side of a rock. "Thorin has more cause than most, to hate orcs." Elriauna scoffed. "After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria." He paused, and looked at Thorin's turned back before continuing. "But our enemy, had got there first. Moria, had been taken by legions of Orcs. Led by the most vile, of all their race. Azog, the Defiler. The giant, Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin." Bilbo looked over at Thorin with sadness in his eyes. "He began, by beheading the king." Eliauna took a sharp breath in, and she and her sister looked at each other. "Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless, defeat and death were upon us. That is when, I saw him. A young dwarf prince, facing down the pale orc. He stood alone, against this most terrible foe. His armor wrent, he wielded nothing more than an oaken branch as a shield." Eliauna imagined a younger Thorin holding up an oaken branch to protect himself as Azog beat down on him. He grabbed a sword that was nearby him and cut off the orc's arm, and Azog screamed in pain. "Azog, the Defiler, learned that day, that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied, and drove the orcs back." Balin was beginning to sound a little happier as he spoke. "Our enemy, had been defeated." His smile slowly faded as he kept talking. "But there was no feast, no song that night. For our dead, were beyond the count of grief. We few, had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one, who I could follow." He looked proudly at his King standing at the edge of the camp. "There is one," He continued, "I could call king." By then, the rest of the dwarves had awoken, and were all standing and looking at Thorin. He turned, and with faint tears in his eyes walked back to the center.
"But the Pale Orc, what happened to him?" Bilbo asked, and Elriauna was going to answer, but was cut off by Thorin.
"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." Balin and Gandalf shared a look, as did the twins. As everyone began to get comfortable again, Kili turned to Elriauna.
"What did you mean when you said, 'That's not how I remember it'?" Elriauna sighed, and looked to her sister.
"Should I tell them?" Eliauna gave a nod, and Elriauna turned back to the group.
"When we were- younger, our clan was informed that Azog was coming to attack us. Everyone immediately prepared for the attack, all children who were old enough had weapons stored in hiding places in their rooms, and they doubled the guard. A few weeks later, he arrived in the middle of the night. He told his people to kill the leader's family, our family, and to bring us to him for- certain reasons," she glanced at Thorin, and he gave a small nod. "Our older brother, Eliotar, took us to the edge of the woods so that we could escape. Before we could say goodbye completely though, a small group of orcs attacked us. Elli and I ran, but not before we watched out brother get shot three times with poison arrows. He killed the rest before he died, and as we ran away, Elli watched his eyes close." She paused before continuing so that she could take a few shaky breaths. "We ran all the way to Hobbiton, where we met Bilbo and began to live with him, hoping that one day we could find our Mom and younger brother, Eliestar. Our father had died in the attack. Unfortunately, three years later we found out that- that-" She had to stop for a moment to keep from crying. After a few moments she finished. "We found out that our Mother and brother had been caught by a group of orcs and- and beheaded." Everyone was silent when she finished. The fragile silence was broken however when Eliauna let out a faint sob. Everyone looked to her, and saw that she had tears streaming down her face. Elriauna went to hold her, and the dwarves looked slightly unsure of what to do.
"I am- so sorry. I- I shouldn't of asked." Kili said with a shake of his head.
"No, no it's fine. I needed to tell someone. It feels good to have finally gotten that out. Thank you." Kili smiled sadly at her, and then looked at Eliauna who had stopped crying and fallen asleep of her sister lap. He smiled softly, and then laid down completely on his bedroll to get some sleep. As everyone began to fall back asleep, Gandalf nodded to himself.
'I am glad I brought them along.' He thought to himself before also laying down to sleep.
I am so sorry again for taking so long. I couldn't find this scene on YouTube, but then my dad bout me the extended versions for AUJ and DoS! I was so happy, and still am! Love you all, R&R, and I will see you next time!
P.S.: I will not be able to update for a while again because my parents have banned me from fanfiction for a while. (I have no idea why) I will still continue to type however, and as soon as I get my privileges back I will start uploading. So sorry, and I hope to be back soon!