Chapter 9

It was the sound of yelling and hooves on hard ground that pulled Arirua from the shroud of darkness that she had fallen into. As she opened her eyes, Arirua could see that they were no longer on the plain but in Rivendell.

Upon realizing where they were, Arirua forced herself to sit straighter in the saddle, no matter how much her head and muscles screamed out in pain. She could not let Thorin see her in a weakened state. She did not want the company thinking that she was a weakling.

As the cavalry tightened the two circles around the dwarves, Sythralen halted her horse close to where Kili was standing in the tightly knit group. He immediately pointed his arrow at Sythralen's head. Arirua flinched, knowing that this was not going to go well. Sythralen had never taken threats of any kind lightly.

"Release her!" Kili yelled over the curses and mutterings of the other dwarves. The company became quiet, all turning their gazes upon Arirua. Arirua shifted uncomfortably in the saddle. "She is no enemy of yours! Release her to our company!"

The pale haired woman could hear the general chuckling slightly at Kili's boldness.

She has made quite the impression on him. Sythralen thought to herself as she laughed. Though, I am not surprised. It is difficult to meet a star and not like them.

"Calm yourself, Master Dwarf." the dark haired woman said. "Who better to protect her than the Great Assassin?" Arirua watched as Kili lowered his bow upon hearing the name. The name that was known and feared throughout the land. Many children had grown up on the tales of the Great Assassin and her many victories.

"The Great Assassin rides with you?" Fili asked, stepping forward.

"She stands before you." Sythralen said, dismounting as she did. Arirua gripped the horn of the saddle when Sythralen dismounted, trying to stay as steady as she could. "Do not worry. She is among friends here." She then helped Arirua out of the saddle as gently as she could. The star only cried out once, when Sythralen made the mistake of grabbing her upper arm. As the woman apologized, Arirua looked to see what damage may had been done, she saw that the upper part of her sleeve had been torn, showing off the burns to the outside world. Arirua looked back at the company to see many eyes flick away from her. The star could feel the tears welling up from both the pain and the humiliation.

They had seen them.

"Here." Sythralen said, seeing that something was wrong. She led Arirua a couple of steps away, into the hands of a few other elves, ones that Arirua knew to be healers. As they began leading her away, she could hear another voice call out.

"Where are they taking her?" Arirua turned to see Bilbo pushing his way to the outside of the circle. He stood in front of Sythralen, looking up at her. Compared to the Great Assassin, Bilbo was very small; he looked like a beetle being compared to eagle.

"A hobbit?" Sythralen asked in shock. The healers tried to herd Arirua away, but she shooed them aside for a moment. She wanted to stay just a few moments longer.

"You know my kind?" the hobbit asked, slightly surprised that he did.

"I know all kinds." she told him. There was truth to this. Arirua knew that Sythralen had traveled more than most did and she had seen more than most. "They are taking her to the infirmary to make sure there are no further injuries."

"I will be fine." Arirua said, grabbing their attention immediately. "This is my home. I will be in good hands, as will you." She smiled softly at Kili, whose worried look seemed to ease away when she told them that she would be okay. Arirua then allowed the healers to begin to lead her to the infirmary. As she passed Lindir, she smiled weakly at him.

"Lady Arirua, it is good to have you home." the tall dark haired elf said.

"It is good to be home Lindir." she told him.

The dwarves, after a discussion between the dark haired she-elf, Thorin, and Elrond, were lead to the banquet hall. Sythralen laughed at the expressions of the dwarves faces when they realized that elves did not eat the flesh of animals but of things that grew from the ground. Many of them dug through the bowls, looking for the meat, and then finally giving up when there was none to be found. She heard one say that he didn't like green food. As she watched them pick through their food like children did, Sythralen began to prepare a plate for Arirua who was confined to her cot in the infirmary.

As she was leaving the banquet hall, she saw one of the dwarves, Kili she believed his name was, got up from the table to meet her.

"Are you going to see Arirua?" he asked her.

"I am bringing this to her yes." Sythralen told him. She tried to made an attempt to reach to door, but Kili stepped in front of her, blocking her.

"Could I join you?" the dark haired prince questioned.

"Forgive me for asking," Sythralen inquired, "but why do you care so much for her well being? It is uncommon for a dwarf to care for those of our kind." Even though Arirua was not an elf, she had lived with them all her life. She had learned their ways and learned their secrets. To Sythralen, Arirua was just as much as an elf as herself and Lord Elrond.

"Not all dwarves are that way. Just as I imagine not all elves are like the ones that turned their backs on our kind. She went out of her way to protect us and be sure that we made it to safety and I was forced to leave her behind. I thought that she might have been…" Kili stopped, not being able to finish the sentence that he had started. Sythralen knew what he had been going to say.

"I am afraid that I cannot let you come with me, Master Dwarf. Arirua needs rest, not distracting company." Sythralen could see heartbreak cross over the young dwarf's face. "But I will tell her of your concern." This seemed to sooth him a little. He thanked her and returned to his seat next to the fair haired dwarf that Sythralen knew was called Fili.

The Great Assassin quickly made her way to the infirmary with Arirua's food. When she arrived Arirua was laying on her side, face pointed away from the door.

"The wound was on her head as we believed," the healer explained, "but she has no concussion. No other injuries have revealed themselves at this point. Now she just needs some rest."

"Thank you." Sythralen said as the healer left. She walked across the room to where Arirua was laying on a cot. The infirmary was fairly large, with a high ceiling and walls that were a great distance apart from each other. Like many other rooms in Rivendell, air was allowed to flow freely through it, giving the room a fresh feeling along with the clean feeling that was already there.

"I brought you some food." Sythralen told Arirua. The star turned over and smiled at the assassin. She had known that Sythralen would not be fooled into thinking that she was asleep. Arirua had told her all about the stars and how they lived, so she knew that stars did not sleep as elves and others did. Arirua sat up and took the plate of food from her hands, beginning to eat almost immediately. It had been so long sense she had had good decant vegetables and not ones that had been sitting in a stew with meat.

"Kili seems to have his heart set on coming to see you." Sythralen told her. "This relationship between you worries me." Arirua stopped eating for a moment, scared of what the other might say. She began eating again, pretending that she had not noticed what her friend had said. "You being with the company worries me."

"There is no need for concern." Arirua said, still munching on a piece of fruit.

"Your head injury begs to differ."

"I knew the risks when I first set out on this journey." There was silence between them for a few moments.

"Did the thought of Lord Elrond's concern ever make you think of not going?" she asked.

Arirua shook her head. "No. Nothing ever stopped me. Not even my pain stopped me." More silence filled the room.

"Do they know?" Sythralen asked cautiously, knowing that her past was a difficult topic for the star, much like her own. Syth watched as Arirua put the plate on the table next to her bed, food still on it. She had lost her appetite.

"I have not yet told them. They… they have seen the marks. They saw them in the courtyard today, but they do not what they are or where they are from."

"I see."

"I do not know how they will react." Arirua told her. She blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears back. It was rare for her to let her walls down but she felt comfortable around Sythralen, who was much like an older sister to her.

"Are you afraid they will treat you differently?" Sythralen asked. Arirua just looked her in the eyes, knowing that she could read her answer there. "I understand that. You must find the right time to tell them, but I do think you should do it soon." Arirua nodded in agreement. The star looked up and smiled at her friend.

She and Sythralen had a great deal in common. Both had been away from home for a great deal of time. Sythralen had been kidnapped as a young child and kept in the darkness of the dark elves. They had feed her lies and drove her deeper into the darkness. Then they used her. Sythralen became their pawn, doing as they told her, killing those they told her to kill. Syth killed many elves in her days of darkness. But then she returned home, under orders to kill. She tried to hide her darkness away, but Lord Elrond saw it. Syth underwent spells and teachings to get rid of it. It took many years and Arirua had been there for a great many of them. She had stayed by the elf's side, helping her in ways that others could not. And she did eventually break free of it, during her time with Galadriel. Sythralen and she had been through fire and back and that was what brought them close together, watching each other's backs.

"I am proud of you, Arirua." Sythralen said, grabbing her attention. "Whatever reason Mithrandir had for asking you on this trip, he was right to do it." Arirua smiled brightly and flung herself at the elf, engulfing her in a hug. Sythralen gladly returned the hug, happy their relationship was just as strong as it had always been, even though she had been gone so often.

"It lifts my heart to hear you say that. The Great Elf Assassin has gifted me with kind words." Arirua said overdramatically, pretending to fall back on her pillow swooning. Sythralen laughed, knowing that she was making a joke of how many elves below the general acted when she was around.

"The Great Elf shall leave you to rest, but you must try and get some real sleep so that Lord Elrond will allow to you to leave Imladris."

"Orders well received." Arirua stated, giving a weak little mock salute. She then laid down, back turned to the door. As Sythralen was about to go out the door, she was stopped by a small voice.

"Sythralen, will you tell Kili to come visit me later? I do miss his company."

"Yes, I shall tell him." Sythralen told her. She was not meet with a thank you but a soft humming. Sythralen instantly as the lullaby Arwen sometimes used to sing to her when she was going through one of her fits.

The lullaby about returning home after a long journey.

"Is she awake?" Arirua heard a regal voice ask. Her eyes cracked open, not sure whether she wanted to be awake to see yet another visitor or pretend to be asleep.

"I am not sure my lord." one of the doctors said, "She was awake earlier. Check if you wish, though I ask that if she is asleep that you allow her to remain as such."

Arirua heard footsteps getting closer and closer until she heard the first voice again.

"I know that you are awake." Lord Elrond said. Arirua rolled back onto her back, then sitting up so she could see Elrond, who was now sitting at the end of the bed.

"I could never fool you, Lord Elrond." Arirua said with a small laugh."

"This is true." he said with a smile. Arirua realized that his smile was forced, like he did not smile as often as he once had. Elrond seemed different to her in a way. He was distant, like something was bothering him and he could not put it to rest in his mind.

"I know you have come to visit me, but there is something else that is bothering you. Please, ask of me anything you wish. I know that you will not be at ease until you ask." Elrond looked at her.

"You always knew us better than we knew ourselves sometimes." he paused, trying to figure out how to ask her. "The dwarves… they are treating you fine are they not?"

"Is that what worries you my lord? They treat me fine. To some I am an equal, to others I am still a stranger and therefore cannot be trusted but I am no longer the dirt beneath their shoes." Arirua explained to him. Elrond nodded, understanding that that was just how dwarves treated the other races of Middle Earth.

"The journey is not to hard?" he asked.

"No. We have fought a few times but we have not had a hard journey." There was silence. Arirua knew that the idea of being a father was sometimes harder for Elrond, especially to a young woman who was not his daughter but yet was treated like she was.

"I missed you." Arirua said quietly. Emotions were not her strong suit, and neither were they his.

"And I you." Elrond whispered softly. "I was not sure that you would stop and say hello. Once you had a chance at freedom, you were gone. Imladris has not been the same sense you left."

"And I am afraid that it must stay that way until I finish this journey. Sythralen and I agree that I was asked to join the company for a reason that has yet to show itself. Fate is working and, though I wish I could stay home, I have learned one thing. Never tempt fate, for fate will always win." Arirua stated simply. "I wish to stay home with you and Arwen though. And I shall leave with a heavy heart."

"I have seen something similar. Arwen and I believe the same thing." Elrond said as he stood up. "You must promise me that you will stay safe. For my sake and for Arwen's. The poor girl was beside herself when she heard that you were in the infirmary."

"I promised you when I left that I would not let anything make me fall. So far, I have broken that promise. But this time, when I leave the halls of Rivendell, I plan to keep that promise." Arirua told him gently. Elrond kissed the top of her head.

"Be safe then little star. I hope we will see each other…" Before Lord Elrond could finish what he was saying, Kili burst through the door of the infirmary like a madman. Elrond found at him, trying to figure out why a dwarf was standing before him.

"Lord Kili, you must have gotten my message from Lady Sythralen." Arirua said, trying to give Kili a pointed look that Elrond could not see. Kili frowned at her. "You are here to dicuss things with me are you not?"

"Ah, yes. Yes of course. Thorin wished me to go over the plans for the departure." Kili said, trying to figure out what Arirua was still hinting at. His eyebrows scrunched closer together. Arirua could see that he was thinking about it.

"Of course." Arirua said, "I am sorry that I must cut our visit short Lord Elrond, but this is very important. I must apologize."

"It is fine, my dear. I must attend to other things as well." Elrond said, walking towards the door as he did, passing Kili who was standing as if he was frozen in place. "Goodbye Arirua."

"Goodbye Lord Elrond." Arirua called after him as he left. Once they were both sure he was down that hallway, the breath that they both had been holding left their lungs.

"It is good…" Arirua started to say, but before she could get a word out, Kili was across the room to her cot and had enveloped her into a hug, pulling her closer.

"Don't ever do anything like that again."Kili whispered into her shoulder. His hug grew tighter, like he was afraid that she would float away or disappear. "I thought that you were… you were… And I just couldn't bear the thought of losing you." He released her from the hug and looked her in the eyes. Arirua could see the dark browns and the light browns mix together in his eyes. "Promise me that you will never do something like that again. I… I just can't bare the thought of… of…"

"I promise." Arirua whispered to him. A sad smile crossed his face and he embraced her again.

This time, Arirua hugged him back, just as hard as he hugged her. She didn't want to lose him either.

A/N: It's here... It's finally here lol :D This will be short because I am typing this in a hurry so, here it goes. Thanks for all the lovely comments (I won't be responding to them in this chapter because like I said, I'm kinda in a hurry) but I love all the comments and little points y'all say :D Don't forget to go and read Sythralen's story. It's called The Great Assassin in the Lord of the Rings section. It's by the amazingly talented Loki's General :D Anyways, I'll be working on chapter 10 in my free time and hopefully it will be out soon. Love you all and I can't wait to see what you think of this chapter. :D

Oh and I forgot to mention, my friend came up with a ship name for Kili and Arirua... and the name is: Kirua :D What do y'all think? I'd love to hear from you ;)