Author's Note: Karra actually does something semi-competent in this chapter. Watch out canon. (And I'm sorry it took me so long to update again…but you know, Christmas busyness.)
Chapter 26-Sneaking and Confrontations
"Here you are, miss." Karra felt something soft being pressed into her hands, and she looked down to see that it was a neatly folded dress. She smiled her thanks to Bard's younger daughter. "You can change in my bedroom in you'd like," the girl said.
"Thanks, and I will," Karra replied. "Where is it?"
The girl proceeded to give her directions, and she headed off, eager to get changed. She had been wearing these old clothes for months now, and they were a torn, dirty, bloody, slimy mess. She was half tempted to throw them out into the lake and let them rot.
The dress was well made and practical, though it wasn't exactly Karra's color—she had never much liked wearing brown. She slipped it on and made the annoying discovery that she had to lace it up the back.
It took her about ten minutes to figure out how the lacing even worked, and probably about fifteen minutes to actually do it, and even then she couldn't get it laced all the way up. She managed to tie a very awkward looking knot in the back to keep it from falling off her shoulders and hoped it stayed—and also hoped no one noticed what a terrible job she had done.
The skirt was a little long, so she rolled it up and hoped that stayed too. Tripping over it was inevitable, but it was the best she could do. She turned to her hair.
The only thing she could do was run her fingers through it yet again. She didn't see a comb sitting on the dresser, and even if she had, she wouldn't have wanted to dirty another person's comb with fish slime.
Her hair had begun to frizz out as it dried, making an unmanageable mess around her face. Figuring she was done with her old clothes, she tore a strip off the shirt and tied it back in a big, fluffy, messy ponytail. Smoothing her dress once more, she headed back down the hallway. The rest of the group was probably wondering where she was now.
She couldn't resist running her hand over her dress once again. She could never have dreamed how good it would feel to be wearing clean clothes. Her hair still had fish slime all over it, and without question, she needed a bath, but her dress was clean! She felt like she could just sit down and revel in the feeling.
There was a fire in the fireplace when she stepped into the main room again. The same young girl guided her to a spot next to the warm blaze and offered her a shawl, which she took gratefully. Maybe she could use it to cover up her terrible job of lacing in the back. She was offered a drink and the girl took her clothes to hang up by the fire. She gave a nod of thanks.
"You just missed the story," Bilbo said, coming over to sit by her.
"Story?" she questioned.
"Balin told how the city was attacked by the dragon years ago," Bilbo explained.
"Oh?" Karra had heard many of the tales of old during their travels, but she hadn't heard this one. She took a sip of her drink as Bilbo began to explain, and found it surprisingly good.
Without even seeming to notice that Bilbo and Karra were talking, Thorin stood, and interrupting their conversation, addressed Bard in a voice loud enough for all to hear. "You took our money," he said. "Where are the weapons?"
With barely a nod, Bard strode out of the room. Karra watched him go with a sigh. Of course, she couldn't even have a moment to relax here by the fire before being reminded of the danger that was before them. A moment later, Bard entered again and plopped a pile of something wrapped in cloth on the table in the center of the room. The dwarves congregated around the table and collectively pulled the cloth off of what was to be their weapons. Karra half hoped to find something like the little sword she had lost in Mirkwood, but…no such luck.
As soon as the weapons were visible, cries of surprise and disgust erupted from the dwarves. They looked more like tools than weapons! Huge, unwieldy, and crudely made, there was not a bit of elegance of any kind about them. Karra picked up one that looked slightly easier to handle than the others, and dropped it back on the table in surprise. It was heavier than it looked! Guess I didn't inherit the dwarven strength from my dad's side of the family.
"We paid for weapons," some of the dwarves insisted. They simply could not accept these things, these crude imitations of real weapons. Bard insisted that it was the best he could give them. All others were found in the city armory, and that was kept locked at all times, only to be entered by permission of the Master. After a bit of arguing amongst themselves, the dwarves seemed to have come to the conclusion that they should just take what Bard had offered them and go, only to be stopped by Bard. They couldn't leave until dark, he told them. There were spies watching. And with that, he turned and left the house.
Karra watched as the door slammed shut. "Well," she said, pulling her shawl closer around her and taking a sip of her drink, "I guess we can relax now."
"Relax?" Dwalin looked around at the other dwarves. "No, I do not think we can do that just yet."
"Karra. It's time to go." Karra felt someone shaking her by the shoulder and opened her eyes.
"What?" she said sleepily. "Go? Where are we—oh yeah!" She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "We're going now? It's dark and we know where the armory is?"
"Yes to both questions," Fili said with a grin. "Bilbo found the armory and figured out how to get in, and the sun is nearly set. Come on." He pulled her to her feet and she followed him, rubbing her eyes. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but evidently things had happened.
They joined the group just outside the door of the house. Seeing that everyone was with them, Thorin spoke. "We will split up," he ordered in a low voice. "I will lead the first group this way," he pointed, "and Bilbo will lead the second group that way. Meet at the armory. As soon as we have the weapons, we make straight for the mountain."
Karra found herself in Bilbo's group as they made their way through the darkened town. The sun had just sunk below the horizon, and a lingering afterglow remained. They snuck down alleys and through shortcuts, pausing every time they thought someone saw them. Finally they reached what Karra assumed to be the armory, and they came a stop, crouching behind a boat. The second group joined them a moment later.
The dwarves already seemed to have worked out a plan to get in. How much had they discussed while Karra was asleep? Obviously they didn't think she had good enough ideas to wake her up and actually ask for her input. Standing one on top of another's shoulders, they made a sort of human—or rather dwarven—ladder to a small window at the top of the building.
To Karra's dismay, she was inexplicably picked to be the first to enter. Not daring to protest, she hiked up her skirt as much as she dared, and, stepping on the dwarves' shoulders, she climbed carefully up to the window, opened it, nearly lost her balance standing on the last dwarf's shoulder, and fell in. She sent a thumbs up to the rest of the company still on the ground, and looked around her.
To her right, she saw a flight of steps that seemed to lead to more weapons. She climbed it carefully, trying to keep from stepping on her skirt, and began to pick through piles of weapons, trying to find something she could carry easily. She found a nice little short sword that seemed about her size, and started to slip it into her belt, only to realize that she didn't have her belt anymore.
A couple more dwarves popped through the window one at a time. Leaving about half the company outside to keep watch, they began to gather weapons. Karra piled about four swords in her arms and decided that was all she could carry. Kili was just starting down the steps, with a somewhat larger pile of weapons in his arms, and she followed him.
It was then that her foot caught on her long skirt and she tripped. Trying to catch herself, she grabbed onto Kili, and his legs buckled under him. With a crash, Karra, Kili and the two piles of weapons all tumbled down the stairs. The weapons clanged and smashed into each other as they fell, and Karra let out a little scream.
They landed at the bottom with a thump. Karra fell on top of Kili, who let out a grunt. Rolling over and off him, she got to her feet with a groan. I've ruined everything. Now they're going to come find us and throw us all in jail.
Kili remained sitting a moment longer. "You okay?" Karra finally asked.
"I'm fine," he said, and winced. He stood and limped over to Karra, awkwardly gathering up the weapons he had dropped. They stared at each other, both obviously thinking the same thing. There was a moment of silence. Then there was a noise outside the building.
"Well, why are we just standing here?" Karra said in a low voice. "Do something! Hide, or something!" Taking her own advice, she scrambled behind a pile of weapons as the noises came closer. Kili was just starting to do the same when a key turned in the lock. Karra ducked down and tried not to breathe as two guards entered with a torch.
"A thief, eh?" one of them said, seeing Kili standing there. "Any more of you here?" Kili just stared defiantly at the guards, as if willing them to take him. There was a noise upstairs. One of the guards glanced up. Karra held her breath.
"Up there!" the guard cried, and two more guards appeared in the door behind him. "Guard this one," he ordered, grabbing Kili and shoving him in the general direction of the other man. He motioned for the others to follow him upstairs. Pretty soon the rest of the dwarves were hustled down, protesting and cursing. Karra squirmed further into the corner, trying not to disturb any weapons and breathing as quietly as she could. The dwarves were led out the door, and from the noises outside, Karra guessed that a small squabble was going on.
The noises began to fade, and Karra wiggled into a more comfortable position, though still hidden, lest any stray guards come to search the area. She glanced around the shadowy, silent arsenal, and couldn't help wondering if anyone—or anything—else was hiding there.
After a while, she felt comfortable sitting up and poking her head over the pile of weapons. No one seemed to be coming back, at least not at the moment.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there, trying to formulate some sort of plan in her head. The rest of the company was probably in jail now, and the minute she stepped outside, she would be found by a guard or anyone else and thrown in jail too. As far as she knew, there was nothing she could do to help them. It wasn't like she could single-handedly free them all from jail, even if she knew where the jail was.
She must have drifted off to sleep at some point, for when she opened her eyes, it seemed lighter. She cautiously got to her feet and walked quietly over to a window. Standing on her tiptoes, she peeked out. It must have been early morning, for there was an orange glow on the horizon that spoke of the beginning of a sunrise. She had definitely fallen asleep. She felt a little silly. The rest of the company had just gotten captured and she was sleeping, doing nothing.
Careful not to bump anything or make any kind of noisy clatter, she tiptoed to the door and tried the knob. The door swung open, letting out a loud creak. Karra jumped and darted back into the armory. Seeing that no one seemed to be coming after a moment, she stepped back out, looking around cautiously. She didn't know where she was going or what she was doing, but she couldn't just stay in there forever.
An early morning mist rose off of the lake, making Karra shiver. Clouds were beginning to form overhead, foreboding a coming storm of some sort. She stood and looked around for a minute, wondering where to go, then headed back in the direction of Bard's house. They knew her there and maybe they could help.
She turned one corner after another, and slowly began to realize that she had no idea where she was going. She stopped and looked around. None of this looked familiar. And she couldn't stop and ask anyone for directions; she would surely be reported and thrown into jail with the rest of the company. She sat down in a corner to think.
It must have been at least ten minutes later when she saw the figure of a man approaching. She huddled back closer against the wall, hoping he would mistake her for a hobo or something and leave her. But as he walked past, she recognized him.
"Hey!" she cried, jumping to her feet. "Bard! Wait!" He didn't turn around, so she ran after him. "I need your help!" She finally caught up to him, out of breath and panting. It was then that he noticed her, stopped, and turned.
"What is it?" he asked, and he obviously had something else on his mind.
Karra suddenly realized that she didn't really know what to say to him, or even what exactly she needed his help with. But he was the only person she knew in this town, and maybe he knew where he was going and maybe he knew something she could do to help the dwarves.
"I…I got left behind," she fumbled, trying to think what she should say as she was saying it. "I mean, the guards didn't find me when they found the rest of the dwarves. I…you do know what happened, don't you?" she interrupted herself.
Just then it seemed to dawn on him who she was. "You're one of the dwarves!" he said.
Karra put her hands on her hips. "I thought you already knew that."
Bard didn't reply, only grabbed her by the arm. "Come with me," he said.
"Hey!" she cried, struggling against his grip. "Where are you taking me?" Surely he wasn't going to betray her and hand her over to the authorities!
"To the rest of your company," he said, pulling her along behind him firmly. "They're going before the Master now."
"W…what does that mean?" Karra said, panting as she tried to keep up with the man's long strides. "What's going to happen?"
"Do you think I know what's going to happen?" he said, and Karra wondered what had gotten him so grumpy. She almost said as much, but decided it would probably be better not to. "But whatever does happen," he continued, "you must not be allowed to enter that mountain."
Karra planted her feet firmly in the dock and refused to take another step. "What did you say?" she exclaimed angrily. "You can't stop us!"
"Oh, I can't?" He tugged at her arm. "If you wake the dragon, the entire city will be destroyed! It is hopeless, I tell you."
"No!" cried Karra, tugging back. "We're so close!" She desperately tried to think of something, anything to say that would make him change his mind. They were so close! They couldn't be stopped by some pessimistic little…Karra cut off that thought before it came out of her mouth. The worst thing she could do at the moment would be to insult him.
"Come with me," he said firmly. Karra jerked her arm out of his grip and stood there, staring at him defiantly. And idea popped into her head and she acted on it impulsively. "Maybe…" she began, speaking quickly lest he walk away and leave her behind, "maybe we were meant to enter the mountain." She paused, trying to formulate her thoughts. "You know, fate. We…we got this far, and through all sorts of obstacles." She grew more confident as she spoke. "Don't you think it's a bad idea to try to prevent fate? I mean, you might get in the middle of something you were never meant to be in the middle of." She bit her lip, realizing that she sounded much less convincing than she had meant to.
Bard stopped and turned. He narrowed his eyes and seemed to be thinking. You've gotta be kidding me! I actually stopped him! Did I hit on a prophecy or something?
A prophecy! The idea hit her so hard she nearly fell over. Without stopping to think it through, she plunged onward. If she was wrong, he would think she was crazy. But then again, she probably had nothing to lose in that area anyway. "And what about the prophecy?" she blurted out, hoping against hope she was right, and a prophecy really did exist. "Don't you think that trying to prevent a prophecy from happening would be like…um…" her voice trailed off as she tried to think of a fitting simile for the situation. "Like…well…trying to dry out Laketown?" Okay, that had sounded a little cheesy.
A look of something like amazement spread across his face, and he leaned down and grabbed her shoulder. "How do you know about the prophecy?" he said, his voice low and intense.
"I…" Karra stared up at him, her eyes wide. So there was a prophecy! "I just know," she said, thinking hard. "I've heard of it, I guess." She felt her credibility starting to slip, and tried hard to keep her face neutral.
"The prophecy has been forgotten for years," he said, as if to himself. "Some say it isn't even a prophecy at all, only a poem quoted by some old man claiming to be a sage." He turned back to her. "How do you know?" he asked again.
Karra blinked, bit her lip, and thought fast. "My father told me about it," she said, her heart beating wildly. "He was a dwarf. He hoped I would live to see the King Under the Mountain's return." She was just thinking up random stuff now, and she hoped she was hitting somewhere close to the actual thing.
Bard stared at her a moment more, obviously trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. Then he turned, grabbed her by the arm once again, and said, "Come with me."
Karra resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief. She had convinced him to do something. She didn't know what he was doing, but maybe he would help them now. Or at least leave them alone. And she hoped he didn't demand any further explanation from her, because she didn't have one. She didn't even know what this so-called prophecy was.
She followed him willingly through the streets of the town. She had to take two steps for every one of his, and pretty soon she was out of breath. She began to fall behind. She heard the noise of a very large crowd in the distance and walked faster, trying to catch back up to the man. He rounded a corner ahead of her and stopped, and she nearly ran into him. They were standing in the back of the city square. People were everywhere. A man who Karra assumed to be 'The Master' stood on the steps of a building in front of the crowd.
"…and I welcome you, Thorin Oakenshield, you and all your company!" he was saying. "Welcome to this city, and may you bring us all much prosperity!" The crowd let out a huge cheer. Karra added her voice to the noise. They had been accepted!
Bard looked down at her, and their eyes met. She gave him a little saucy grin.
Well, I'm not usually a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer, but I totally did that in this chapter. You would not have wanted to read my first draft—it was a mess. I literally had no idea where I wanted the chapter go. I only knew I didn't want her to get captured with the rest of the dwarves, and I wanted her to change a little something. The whole thing with the prophecy was a second-draft idea, and I had literally written up to the point when she got left behind in the armory before I actually thought of it! Ugh, writer's problems.