Chapter Thirteen

Arirua lay on her side, staring at the cave wall, praying for sleep. The star had woken from her slumber several minutes ago, and could not return to the land of dreams. Not sure what to do, the star just laid there, staring. She would have gotten up, but in the middle of the night, Kili had pulled her across the small distance between them into his arms. The young woman knew that she couldn't get up without waking him up, and being in his arms was just so comforting, she decided to stay.

As she laid there, the star let her mind drift off, trying to remember happy, pleasant memories that may help lull her to sleep. Arirua smiled as she thought about the times her and Arwen had made flower crowns with the flowers in the garden near the young elf's room. Arirua laughed quietly as she remember how Arwen had proceeded to make Aragorn wear the flower crown she had made him, even though he had argued against it. They were so young and naïve back then. She smiled at the memories that began to surface after the first one.

Just as sleep was slowly coming back to the star, Arirua heard a small scuffling noise.

The pale haired girl instantly sat up, causing Kili's arm to fall back to his side. Arirua could see his eyes starting to open slightly.

"Time… to… wake… up…?" Kili asked, his voice still gruff from sleep.

"No." Arirua told him softly. "Go back to sleep. You need your beauty sleep."

Arirua laughed at the face that Kili gave her. He opened his mouth to argue but Arirua simply placed her finger on his lips. "Shhh. Go to sleep." The young dwarf nodded and closed his eyes. Arirua smiled at him. He is so very handsome. She thought to herself.

"Where do you think you're going?" Arirua's attention was quickly pulled away from the dwarf prince and towards Bofur, who was put in charge of first watch. And standing next to him was Bilbo.

"Bilbo." Arirua said softly, but loud enough to grab the attention of the hobbit and dwarf.

"Miss. Arirua." Bilbo said, nodding slightly towards the star. "I am going back to Rivendell."

"No, no, you can't turn back now, you're part of the Company. You're one of us." Bofur said as he jumped up from his seat near the entrance to the cave.

"I'm not though, am I?" Bilbo questioned him. "Thorin said I should never have come, and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door."

"But Thorin was wrong!" Arirua told him, trying to comfort the poor, sad hobbit.

"You're homesick. I understand." Bofur said.

"No, you don't, you don't understand!" Bilbo said, raising from the whisper that they had all been using. "None of you do - you're dwarves. You're used to - to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere."

The cave fell silent, even the sleeping dwarves seemed to stop breathing. From where Arirua was sitting on her bedroll, she could see the smile that was usually on Bofur's face fall away.

"Bilbo." Arirua said, using her soft tone to grab the hobbit's attention. "Bilbo, we all know what is like to be far away from our homes. Bofur, Balin, Thorin, you, and even myself. We all know."

Bilbo looked at Arirua and then back at Bofur, realization slowly crossing his face as he realized that he had said had been truly hurtful.

"I am sorry, I didn't..." Bilbo stammered.

"No, you're right. We don't belong anywhere." Arirua opened her mouth to argue with him, but he raised his hand slightly before he continued, "I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do." Bofur smiled as he placed his hand on the hobbit's shoulder.

Arirua smiled. "Good bye my friend. Be safe, please. Tell Elrond and Sythralen that I say I love and miss them very much."

"Goodbye Miss Arirua. Don't worry, I will tell them." Bilbo turned away from them, Arirua's eyes were instantly drawn to the sword that was resting on his side.

"What's that?" Bofur asked, concern creeping into his voice.

Bilbo frowned at him, but glanced down, following his line of vision to where his sword was resting. He slowly pulled the sword out of its sheath. As the blue light began to shine its light into the cave, all three pairs of eyes slowly got bigger. Arirua instantly jumped into action, using the instincts that Sythralen had drilled into her head all those years ago.

"Thorin!" she yelled. "Thorin! Something is wrong!"

Suddenly, Arirua could hear creaking underneath her. "THORIN!" She yelled, eyes growing wider than they already were, as she saw the line in the sand began to start.

"Wake up!" Thorin shouted as he sat up. "Wake up!"

"Kili, come on." Arirua said, giving her dwarf prince a shove. "You have to wake up."

"Five… more… minutes." Kili murmured, grabbing Arirua's hand, trying to gently pull Arirua down to lay next to him. "Time to sleep. You said so earlier."

"And now I am saying wake up!" Arirua said sternly. "Please."

"Fine…" he grumbled. Just as the younger prince began to sit up, their section of the floor gave way to black nothingness. Arirua tried to reach up, grasping for anything that could save her from the nothingness, but her fingers only grasped at air as her and the dwarves began to fall into the blackness.

"Are they going to be okay?" Eldarion asked Arwen, leaning forward, once again pushing back the covers she had pulled around him. Arwen, who was secretly regretting choosing this story to tell her son, as it was already very late into the night, nearly morning, gave her son yet another smile.

"But of course." she said with a small laugh. "Do you think that the mighty dwarf company would be easily defeated by a black pit?"

"No…" the young boy said hesitantly. "What happened next?"

"Well… they continued to fall down this crude and dark tunnel that was only lit by a few torches that were bolted to the stone wall. The walls were covered with sharp, jagged edges that cut and tugged at clothes and their faces. Finally they came to the end of the tunnel."

Arirua was never truly able to remember exactly what happened while falling down the tunnel, but she always remembered the light at the end of the fall and the huge bowl shaped structure that was waiting for them when they landed.

Arirua was one of the first of the Company to land on the hard ground, because she had been one of the first to fall. Upon landing, the star quickly rolled to the edge of the bowl like structure to avoid being landed on by her falling comrades. She lucky was missed by most of them, only have Ori and Fili land on her.

"Get off!" she grunted, giving them a good shove each. Fili and Ori quickly got up the best they could, trying not to trip and fall on any others, and allowed her to crawl away and stand up.

She dusted herself off watching as the dwarves began to figure out ways to stand up in the small confined space. As she did so, she also looked around, wondering where they had fallen. She knew they were deep in the Misty Mountains, and she knew of the horrible evil tales the stars told of the things that lived under the mountains, away from the sun and fresh air.

"Goblins." she whispered, feeling shudders run down her back at the thought of the grotesque creatures. Just as the word left her mouth, the star's sharp ears picked up on a scuffling noise over the complaints and loud comments of the dwarves. Though she did not have the hearing of the elves, she had been trained by them, and she knew that something was coming.

"Something is coming!" she tried to yell out, but her warning was drowned out by the dwarves.

Suddenly, appearing out of nowhere, a large malignity of goblins fell upon the group, with weapons at the ready. Many of the dwarves were unprepared, weapons still sheathed or hidden away.

Confusion and chaos quickly over took the group as the dwarves swung their fists at air and goblins, trying their best to defend themselves. Arirua itched to pull Lalar from its sheath. Since the troll incident, Arirua had taken to sleeping with Lalar strapped to her side. No longer was it hidden under the blankets. Knowing that it would be dangerous for both her and her companions to use Lalar, she opted for her daggers that were hidden in her boots. While in Rivendell, she had taken everything with her, except her bow.

The pale haired star tried her best to fend off the attacking goblins, but when she would take down one, two more goblins would take its place. They seemed to have no limits to their numbers.

As she fought, Arirua let her eyes wonder occasionally, looking for her dark haired prince. "KILI!" she yelled as she watched one of the goblins land on top of him. "KILI!" she screamed again as she stabbed a goblin in its eye. The star quickly began pushing bodies out of the way, stabbing at goblins as she went. She soon found her way to Kili's side, and, even though they were in a grim situation, she let a smile cross her face. "Thank the stars you are safe."

"How am I supposed to keep saving you if I'm dead?" Kili asked with a grunt as he fought a goblin.

"Now is not really the time for jokes!" Fili yelled as he stabbed at a goblin with a dagger he must have had hidden on his person. Arirua just rolled her eyes at his comment as she stabbed a goblin's hand as it reached for her.

Though the company fought as hard as they could, they were quickly overrun by the goblins, due to their sheer numbers.

Three or four goblins each grabbed a hold of the star and her companions and began to lead them away. The company fought back, and Arirua heard rude comments coming from the dwarves, but the goblins never let go and were never scared off. This was their territory and Arirua knew they would not go down without a fight. She struggled against the hands that held her arms and her neck, but every time she did, the biggest of the four that was leading her would grab a handful of her long silvery blonde hair and yank very hard. Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming, Arirua was led on.

The goblins lead, or shoved if you prefer, the Company through the caverns beneath the Misty Mountains. They crossed over several rickety bridges that sagged under the weight of the group. As they crossed over the bridges, a great number of bats would fly out from their hiding place underneath them, flying at the goblins and Company's faces to defend their homes. This did not bother Arirua that much, for the bats seemed to avoid her. It was the sheer drop down that the star could see through the thin creaky bridges. A sheer drop down into a black abyss.

After a long walk through the mountain, the company was lead into a huge cavern, larger than any of the ones they had seen yet.

The cavern was massive. The walls of the cavern had crudely built platforms on them that seemed to lean against the wall rather than be attached, and in the middle of the cavern was a large rock, that jutted out. The bridge that passed over the blackness that their captors were leading them across went directly to the jutted out rock and the platform that was built next to it.

The cavern was well lit by torches and crudely built chandler looking things that were hung from the ceiling to hold more torches. When Arirua got a closer look at one, she realized that they were made out of some kind of bone.

As they entered the cavern, the cavern began to fill with hideous music created by the hundreds of goblins that lined the walls of the cavern. The hideous and grotesque creatures banged on poorly built instruments, calling it music.

As they crossed the bridge and got closer to the platform in the middle of the cavern, the space was suddenly filled with terrible singing. And as they got closer, Arirua realized that it was the creature sitting on the hideous throne in the middle of the platform. The goblins pushed the Company in front of them so that they were standing before what Arirua could only assume was their king.

The creature that was before them was just as hideous and revolting as the creatures around them, if not more. It was very fat, stomach hanging over the dirty fabric that was around his waist that was supposed to symbolize clothing. He had short stubby legs and long arms that were just as fat as the rest of his body. He had long thin, stringy 'hair' that was pale, almost white, but because there was so little of it, Arirua wasn't sure what color it truly was. He had yellowed teeth that looked as though they were rotten and infected. His entire body was covered with sores and boils and he was covered from head to toe in dirt and blacked soot. On his head he wore a crown made of bone that looked as if he, himself, had made it when he announced himself King of the Goblins. He also carried a staff that was topped by some sort of animal skull and dangling from the animal skull was shriveled up heads. Arirua shuddered at the sight of them. But what was most noticeable about this thing was his chin. He had a large double chin that moved around as he moved. And just underneath the skin was something else, that moved around on its own accord.

As the music quieted down and the Goblin King finished his song, he turned to them and almost smiled as he climbed back on his throne using a pile of goblins to do so.

"Catchy isn't it?" he asked them. "It's one of my own compositions."

"That's not a song!" Balin yelled over the crowd. "It's an abomination!" The goblins, hearing the insult, all began to make noise in protest, defending their king's 'song.'

"Abominations. Mutations. Deviations. That's all your going to find down here." the Goblin King remarked, motioning to the walls around him.

After that comment from their king, the goblins began to take the weapons that belonged to the company and throwing them onto the floor where the creature that they called their king could see. Arirua angrily reached for Lalar as it was pulled from her side; she had lost her daggers during the capture due to the confusion. As she tried to reach for Lalar, in order to rip it out of the filthy hands that held it and continue to slice as many of these abomination's throats as she could, one of the taller goblins reached out, grabbed a handful of her hair again, and pulled down hard. The star instantly let out a scream of pain.

"Arirua!" She heard Kili yelling for her, but she couldn't move. The young woman saw him pushing through the other dwarves to get closer to her but the dwarf prince couldn't seem to get through. Arirua slowly brought her hand down, putting it next to her side, allowing her to take her precious gift with them to lay before the king. Upon seeing this, the large goblin released her hair, allowing her to rush towards Kili who was still pushing through the crowd of dwarves and goblins. But before they could reach each other, Arirua could hear the King's voice.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" the Goblin King shrieked at the sight of the weapons. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, Your Malevolence." a goblin said. Arirua felt a frown cover her face, but kept her mouth shut. It was best that they did not know what she was, both the Company and the goblins.

"Dwarves?" the Goblin King asked,

"We found them on the front porch." replied the goblin.

"Well, don't just stand there; search them!" the fat goblin yelled. "Every crack, every crevice."

The goblins quickly got to work, picking at the group, taking their packs and other assorted items they had on their person. The star saw one of the goblins grab Oin's ear trumpet, threw it to the ground, and proceeded to smash it with its foot. Arirua, who was now very angry with their captors, turned around and grabbed the wrist of the goblin who enjoyed pulling on her hair so much and twisted just the way Sythralen had taught her. The cracking sound, followed by a wail of pain, was Arirua sign that she had done enough damage. She quickly darted away, not wanting another goblin to get smart and do the same thing the other did.

Chaos surrounded her, until the sound of metal hitting metal rang through the cavern, causing all the chaos to come to a grinding halt. Arirua quickly turned around, away from the two goblins she was trying to keep away from her, to see a huge pile of precious things, made of gold and silver and glass. Arirua knew that those things could only come from Rivendell.

"It is MY belief, your great protuberance, that they are in league with Elves." the goblin from earlier informs the Goblin King, holding up a candlestick holder. The king took the candlestick holder and flipped it over.

"Made in Rivendell." he said, squinting at the bottom of the holder. "Ah. Second Age. Couldn't give it away." He then proceeded to throw the beautiful piece of work off the edge into the blackness below. Arirua watched it go and then turned back, now glaring at the huge creature that stood before her.

The dwarves all go quiet and turn to look at one particular dwarf. Arirua, confused, follows Thorin's gaze, which was on Nori. Under Dori's accusing gaze, Nori quickly says, "Just a couple of keepsakes…"

"What are you doing in these parts?" the Goblin King questioned. Thorin, being the leader of the Company, was the first to step up, but Oin quickly intervened.

"Don't worry lads." he informed the Company as he stepped forward. "I'll handle this."

"No tricks." the hideous king demanded as he returned to his 'throne'. "I want the truth, warts and all."

"You're going to have to speak up." Oin shouted at the king. "Your boys flattened my trumpet."

"I'll flatten more than your trumpet!" the Goblin King snarled as he climbed off his throne again. As the King began stomping towards them, shoving things off the edge of the platform, Bofur jumped to the front of the group.

"If it's more information you want," Bofur said hurridly, "I'm the one you should speak to."

"Mm-hmm." the King said, stopping to listen to Bofur.

"We were on the road," Bofur started after a moment of silence. "Well, it's not so much a road as a path. It's not even that, come to think of it. More like a track. Anyway, the point is, we were on this road, like a path, like a track. And then we weren't, which is a problem because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday."

"Visiting distant relations." Dori said, jumping in to keep their cover story going.

"Some inbreds on me mother's side." Bofur informed the King with a nodded, which made the ears of his hat flap around.

"SHUT UP!" the King yells, causing all the goblins to cower in fear. "If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk!"

"Bring out the mangler!" he shouted over the growing roar of the goblins. "Bring out the bone breaker!" The cheers now filled the cavern. The Goblin King turned and looked straight at Ori. "Start with the youngest!" he said pointing a menacing finger at the scared dwarf.

"Wait!" came a shout that stopped all the noise. Looking over, Arirua watched Thorin push his way to the front of the Company, right into the Goblin King's sight.

"No." Arirua whispered.

"Well, well, well." the Goblin King said, a wicked smile growing on his face. "Look who it is. Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain." He then did a little mock bow to Thorin. "Oh," the King said, looking up from his 'honorable' bow, "I'm forgetting. You don't have a mountain. And you're not a king, which makes you nobody, really."

Silence filled the cavern, excluding from a couple of snickers coming from the goblins that sat on the platforms on the walls.

"I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head." the Goblin King said in a very serious voice. "Just a head. Nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours. A pale Orc, astride a white Warg."

"Azog the Defiler was destroyed." Thorin said darkly. "He was slain in battle long ago!"

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" the Goblin King questioned. He laughed darkly and turned to a small goblin who had a piece of parchment in hand and a quill. "Send word to the pale orc. Tell him I have found his prize!" The small goblin pushed off, sitting in a basket-like contraption, into the darkness on one side of the cave to deliver the message. Seizing the moment, Arirua quickly pushed through the crowd of dwarves and goblins.

"And what makes you think that monster will pay you a single cent?" she demanded, quickly grabbing the King's attention away from Thorin. "At best, he will take his prize and then take your head as yet another prize. The Pale Orc is not a gentle soul."

"And what have we here?" the Goblin King questioned, moving his large head down near Arirua's face. The star stood straight, staring back, no matter how much she wanted to turn away from his rancid breath.

"I am Arirua Silverstar of Rivendell." she lied.

"Ah, we have a female in our presence. Best mind our manners!" the King said loudly. The goblins around the company and all over the cavern walls began to laugh in their wicked sounding way.

"Do not worry." Arirua assured them. "That is not needed. You have already shown your true colors. No need to change them for me."

"Thank you." the King remarked sarcastically. "You are to kind."

"But what I say still stands." Arirua commented, redirecting the conversation in the direction she wished it to go. "Azog the Defiler is not kind. He will slay you for having his prize in the first place, even though you have offered it to him."

"And how do you know this?" the large goblin questioned. "You are too young to know of Azog's reign over the land."

"I have seen much." Arirua replied, never taking her eyes off the King. "I have seen things would make you cringe ulunn." She saw something pass across his face. Suddenly his face changed from the comical face he had been giving her earlier to a far more serious one.

"Grab her!" he shouted suddenly.

Arirua quickly looked around; trying to find the stack of weapons, but two large goblins grabbed a hold of her arms before she could find or reach it.

"Release me!" she demanding loudly, pulling against her captors.

"Tell me what you are." the King growled, looking her in the eye. Arirua could hear noise coming from the Company, but she didn't look at them. This was her fight, not theirs.

"I have already told you. I am Arirua Silverstar of Rivendell."

"You LIE!" he yelled. "You lack pointy ears. YOU shine too bright to be an elf. What are you?"

Arirua just stared at him, draining all emotion away from her face. A wicked smile crossed his face. Suddenly, Arirua's hair was grabbed, causing her lean her head back, exposing her throat to a crude blade that was pressed against it.

"ARIRUA!"

"Kili." she whispered back, to scared to shout back. She was desperately trying to remember all the things that Sythralen had taught her about how to defend herself, but they all slipped away as fear began to take over.

"A lover." the King growled happily. "Take him." Arirua could hear scuffling and strings of curse words. She tried to fight to get free but the knife remained on her neck. "Look girl."

The knife was taken away from her throat and the goblin holding her hair pushed her head forward so that she was looking straight at Kili, in the arms of two goblins and one that was holding a sword to her neck. Her sword, she realized. Lalar. Of course hers' would be the one they threatened to kill him with. Arirua could see Fili and Thorin in the crowd, having to be restrained by various members of the company.

"Kili." she whispered, eyes welling with tears. She never wanted this to happen. She wanted them safe. She wanted to tell them differently.

"Tell me what you are, or he will die."

"NO!" Arirua cried, pulling against her captors, no longer feeling their nails that scratched at her arms or the pulling on her hair. "Leave him be!"

"The truth!" he demanded. "Or your company will lose a member."

Arirua looked at Kili and swallowed.

"I am Arirua Silverstar." she said quietly, praying the dwarves couldn't hear her. Her eyes locked onto Kili's before she continued. "I have seen the world begin and one day will see the end of this world and turn to watch another's lifetime. I have been sent through fire and death. I have been branded and been made an outcast. I have fallen, destined to walk on land until I am deemed worthy to return home. I am the Heart of the Dragon Constellation. I am the Daughter of Amlugon, King of the Skies. I am a star."

The cavern became deadly silent. The star could see the leering grin that grew on the face of the Goblin King, but she didn't care. What made her cry was the look on Kili's face. She could almost read his thoughts. Why didn't she tell him? Why had she lied to him?

"And I am a liar." the star whispered, allowing her head to hang so that she was staring at her muddy boots. "And I am so sorry."

A/N: HEY! Guess who's back... again. I know, I was gone again... and I'm super sorry, I really am. I've just been so busy with work and I had rehearsals and shows on top of that (sense I'm an actress and all). But I'm back, hopefully for good. I'm hoping to get some more of the story out before the end of August because rehearsals and school will be going on at the same time which will make it harder to write. Anywho, here's the newest chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Please, feel free to leave comments asking questions, pointing out mistakes, or just saying that you liked it. Feedback really makes my heart soar!

And don't forget, YOU NEED TO READ THE GREAT ASSASSIN BY LokisGeneral! HER CHARACTER SYTHRALEN IS A HUGE PART OF ARIRUA'S STORY! Plus if you don't read it, you'll be confused about a lot of stuff that's coming up in future chapters. So I suggest you go catch up on your reading :D

Love you all TONS!