"Her condition isn't much better. The idiot went to see it again the next day. Please enjoy!" - Emilie Brandybuck
It was a maze of root-like bridges stretching between and around a forest of pillars stretching up into the roof of the endless caverns. Thousands of glowing amber lanterns hung from fixtures, illuminating the paths, which were not touched by the wafting rays of sunlight through the stone roof.
Emi, however, got to enjoy none of it. It was nothing but a gray, winding maze of elf-infested pathways. The lanterns brought no light. The serene stillness was lost in the ever-drifting realm that she walked through.
It seemed an impossible task to find the rest of the company in the endless paths. And the elves keen hearing made everything harder. She had almost been discovered many times. But narrowly escaping seemed to have become a skill of hers.
The hobbit held her breath as two elves walked past silently, chatting quietly to each other. Once they were gone, Emi let out a sigh of relief and sunk to the ground, a shadowed wall at her back. She was trembling like a leaf as she sat there. It had felt like days since the gates had last swung shut behind her. Days of gray silence save for the dreadful pounding of her heart hammering away against the inside of her chest. She was shocked the elves had not found her yet; her heartbeat alone could probably be heard all the way from Erebor.
She missed her pipe. And the rest of her home, of course. Her oven, baking fresh bread. Her garden, hopefully Hamfast was tending to her poor daisies in her absence. Her bed, and the goodnight's sleep that came with it.
But she missed her pipe the most. She appeared to have lost it somewhere before Rivendell, when the ponies bolted. The company had lost most of their supplies then. It really was a shame. That had been her favorite pipe too. I suppose it serves me right, after all. What on earth compelled me to take my favorite pipe? I should have brought along my spare.
Her eyes drifted closed. Maybe, just maybe she could catch a quick wink of sleep without any elves coming along. Just maybe…
"I would not trust Thranduil," Emi's eyes shot open like bowstring. Had she really just heard… "The great king, to honor his word should the end of all days be upon us!" It was! Thorin, his powerful voice echoed around the vast caverns. "YOU LACK ALL HONOR!" Just keep talking! Please. "I've seen how you treat your friends. We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help, but you turned you back." Where is he? He must be nearby! "You turned away from the suffering of MY PEOPLE and the Inferno that destroyed us! IMRID AMRAD URSUL!" There! Emi skidded to a halt at the edge of a railingless path. And there, over a vast cavern, was Thorin.
"Do not speak to me of dragon fire!" A tall, crowned elf swooped at the dwarf lord. Emi strained her ears to hear the sound. But it was too far away. The elf stood again, still speaking. Then he turned, giving a motion to his guards who seized Thorin and began dragging him down the stairs. Emi started forward angrily to stop again before she dropped off the edge. She had to find somewhere over there.
"Stay here if you will, and rot." The elf, Thranduil spoke again, his voice raising as Thorin was dragged further and further away. "A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an elf. I am patient. I can wait." Emi started rushing down pathways, hoping, praying, that she would not encounter any more elves on her way.
The iron gate of Thorin's cell was slammed roughly shut, echoing through the cavern as the jingle of keys moved away again, the elf who processed them heading lower into the maze of stairs.
"Did he offer you a deal?" Balin asked anxiously from another cell.
"He did." Thorin nodded to himself. "I told him he could go 'Ish kakhfê ai'd dur rugnu!' him and all his kin!" The dwarven yells echoed before disappearing into silence.
"Well… that's it then. A deal was our only hope." Balin sighed disappearing back into the depths of his cell. Thorin walked slowly to the front of his own cell and grasped the bars, peering up into the ground above. Then he whispered, almost to himself.
"Not our only hope."
And this was true. For, after what seemed days of grayness, Emi finally had something going her way. She had found the dwarves, and the keys. Now she just had to find a way out.
But her luck and patience wore thin. And the days stretched on. But the hobbit got no nearer to finding an escape, and much closer to starvation. Everything seemed surreal. It was gray, and quiet, and starving. There was little to see, or hear, it was just empty. And she was soooo hungry. It was only the numerous waterfalls that managed to keep her from dying of thirst. After several days of desperate searching, her hope ran thin. She needed to eat, something, anything.
Emi dozed quietly in a dark corner of the wine cellar. Slipping in and out of consciousness when two elves entered the stairs at the far end. Her moment of peace was gone. Her feet shifted almost silently across the stone floor and she uncurled, in an attempt to forget the gray haze that had become her world.
"We're running out of drink." One elf said to the other. The other sounded rather annoyed.
"These empty barrels should have been sent back to Esgarrouth hours ago." He groaned. "The bargeman will be waiting for them." Empty barrels? Emi slowly stood. How did they get rid of them?
"Say what you like about our ill tempered king, but he has an excellent taste in wine. Come, Elros, try it." There, a lever! And plenty of barrels for all the dwarves.
"I have dwarves in my charge." Emi's attention was turned quickly to the two elves. One had the key ring! How had she not noticed that before?
"They're locked up! Where can they go?" Emi didn't dare breath as the laughing elf took the keys from the others hands and hung them on the wall. It seemed to take forever for the two to finally drink themselves into unconsciousness, but when they did, the keys quickly disappeared and the scuffing of feet sounded all the way up the stairs.
The days passed in unbearable slowness for the dwarves. They sat silently in their cells, every once in awhile calling to the others. They only made noise when elves came to feed them. And then, they spoke only in insults.
Thorin was completely silent. They had spent far to long. And not even a whisper of… the hobbit. Probably eaten by spiders at this point. Her tiny body obscured by thick webbing, hanging limp in the spiders' nest until the bones withered away to nothing. No… mustn't think of that. Think of something else. Anything else.
"I'll wager the sun is on the rise." Bofur commented sadly "It must be nearly dawn."
"We're never going to reach the mountain, are we?" Ori asked to no one in particular. Thorin's head dropped. They weren't. He'd been such a fool. Why… why did he trust that wizard? They should have never gone through Mirkwood. Now they would never make it to the mountain.
"Well not stuck in here, you won't!"
Thorin could not believe his ears, and then his eyes as the exhausted, worn, beaming face off Emi appeared on the other side of the bars. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming, but the jangle of keys as the hobbit moved to the cell door.
"Emi!" Balin cried in joy. The rest of the dwarves started calling as well, asking what was going on and such.
"Quiet! There are still elves around." Emi shushed them. At last she twisted the lock open and hurried off to the next. But before she could go more than a few steps, firm hands turned her back around and warm lips crashed into hers. The life that seemed to flow her was incredible. After the gray chill of the ring's shadow world, the warmth and feeling seemed to just vanish.
Then she realized what had just happened. Thorin had kissed her. Again.
At last, Emi broke off the kiss and took a step back pulling out of Thorin's arms.
"Are you going to do that every time I save your hide?" she frowned.
"Depends on how many times you save me." The dwarf lord replied, a grin of complete relief on his face.
"Thorin…" Emi started, but after a moment of consideration, she shut her mouth again and hurried to open the rest of the cells.
The staircases were quickly filled with rejoicing dwarves, patting each other fondly on the back before hurrying to the stairs leading up.
"The stairs. You first. Ori!"
"No, not that way!" Emi stopped them from another passage. "Come on, follow me." The hobbit did not stop crossing her fingers the entire way through the halls. It was hard enough moving around by herself when she could not be seen. Now there was fourteen visible escapees and thirteen of them where dwarves, which are not, generally, known for their stealth. To her surprise, they did actually make it to the wine cellar without being spotted. Emi froze for only an instant when the two dozing elves stirred momentarily. But once the resumed snoring, she continued forward. "This way." She motioned to the others.
"I don't believe it; we're in the cellars!" Kili hissed from behind her.
"You're supposed to be leading us out!" Bofur stressed. "Not further in!"
"I know what I'm doing!" Emi snapped back.
"Shh!" the hatted dwarf replied walking passed her quietly. Emi clenched her jaw but hurried quickly to the front and ushered them all into the small space between the empty barrels and a wall of wine.
"Everyone, get into the barrels. Now." She whispered.
"Are you mad?" Dwalin growled. "They'll find us!"
"No they won't!" Emi replied, trying to whisper over the voices. It wasn't working. "Please, all of you, you must trust me on this!" No one did. Emi threw up her hands in frustration before looking to Thorin for some sort of help. Thorin searched the hobbit's for a moment before quickly glancing at the dwarves.
"Do as she says!" The dwarves glanced at Thorin before quickly setting about the task of climbing in the barrels. Thorin looked back at Emi to see slight relief come over her features before looking back at him.
"You too." She nodded. Thorin took a deep breath before hurrying over to an empty barrel. It smelled strongly of wine. Emi hurriedly counted the filled barrels, making sure everyone was accounted for before hurrying over to the lever.
"What now?" She turned in surprise to see Bofur sticking his head out, then everyone else following suit. Emi took a deep breath before grasping the lever with both hands.
"Hold your breath." She said simply.
"Hold my breath? What do you mean?" But the dwarf's words were cut off as the ground beneath them began to shift and tilt. And then, they all rolled off one or two at a time, plunging into the icy river below. Thorin came up sputtering as his barrel bobbed over the water, the current pushing it along. The rest of the splashes followed.
"Where's Emi?" He turned around quickly at his nephew's question. The hobbit was nowhere to be seen.
"Review if you have a few moments! Thank you!" - Emilie Brandybuck