Happy thunder
The dwarves had made a good hour start ahead of me. I made my way up the mountain on the thin gnarled path into the onslaught of rain that came down with such force that it stung my hands and any place that was bare. The pain was only slight but the constant barrage served to fuel my anger and drive me forward in my pursuit. Occasionally as the path followed the furrows and bows of the mountain side I was able to catch glimpses of the party as they clung to its face. By the time noon came the wind was constant flowing gust which served to push me back hampering my progress, which seemed non existent and was continuously slowed by my indecision on whether to turn back or plow ahead.
The evening soon came and was quickly followed by the storms thunder and lightning that I had smelt in the summer air. Now a new threat that was quite unexpected began to awaken; the mountain trembled ever so slightly, a ripple of what was beginning to move further in the pass. This was no time for indecision. I had no doubt that those ahead were completely unaware of the trouble that they had now placed themselves in. There was a reason that lord Elrond had suffered their raiding of the kitchens and general tomfoolery, which was to allow enough time for this storm to pass by in case of what was happening right now : a thunder battle. The giants were stirring from their deep slumber with a store of energy that would allow them to compete in a battle of hurling boulders that could crush an oliphant.
So I ran faster. Faster and faster. The speed tempted me to engage my body fully and let loose in order to reach them but I held back just enough, aided by memories of the young elves I lived with commenting on my form;' how lithe your body becomes when you run Daenal, surprising for one so sturdy.' I had always had more muscle on my body than the female elves and received indelicate slight pointing it out. Elrond had said my strength would rival the strongest Elven warrior, and I worked to reach that peak by training with the males in combat rather than the women in the healing arts, yet that too learnt, on a basic level enough to aid my comrades in the thick of battle.
In the midst of thought it took the shouts and shrieks from those ahead to make me realise that they were but 30 ft in front . It was at this moment that boulders began to fly from the giants hands, launching them with great force towards each other, hitting and missing but always the rain was mixed with the shards of shattered rocks. Now I was a mere few feet from the nearest dwarf as they cowered under meager shelter in the rock face. It was at this moment that a quake struck the rock reverberating all around as a great behemoth of stone tore away from the mountain readying to wade into the battle. The troublesome adventurers found themselves separated as half swung away atop of one knee and the others were pivoted on the other all in the thick of it as if it was their mission to fall into such situations. At the sight of them teetering on the edges barely managing to cling to the rock I sprung into action. On instinct I leapt towards the closest of the giant's legs and gripped onto the sharp holdings of rock. My hands bled from where freshly splintered rock had been brought to the world, slicing through my fingertips. I imagined that I was just below the knee were the dwarves were huddled as I came upon them rather quickly. Meanwhile the other section of the group had managed to leap back onto the crumbling path, but more importantly as I reached the dwarves our predicament seemed to have take a turn for the worse as it seemed that our particular had just lost this fight and his head. None of them had noticed my presence beside them till I shouted as loud as possible so as to overcome the storms rage.
"We're going down!- we have to jump!'' Frightened faces quickly turned to my direction followed by dreading shaking heads and cries of ''no''- "We won't make it!"
I ignored all of them as I took in the oncoming collision that was about to occur between us and the unyielding mountain. I pushed most of them towards the far edge of our perch grabbing two, including the blonde dwarf from my room. Again my voice strained to be heard "We must jump sideways to avoid the crash - NOW!" With that I simultaneously pulled the blonde and Mr Baggins whilst shoving the ones ahead of me to make their leap.
The crash of rock was almost deafening, yet in the pause of thunder and lightning a grieved scream rose above the clattering of falling debris.
Then the giant fell wholly to the far off basin beneath us, a rush of energy cascaded towards the heavens as it's soul escaped. But there was no time to contemplate being in such close proximity to death.
Once vision had cleared the group harked to one another, cheering in triumph over their peril and soon we were joined by the group led by Thorin. Yips rose from their reunion and we made haste towards the proper shelter of a cave that could be seen near another bend in the path. It was quite a large cave with what could be considered a primitive porch, as soon as we were in Thorin ordered Dwalin to check the cave for signs of occupancy, which I had to admit was wise for many nasty creatures will make homes in such caves especially in a storm.
A few moments of calm and relieved sighs passed before Thorin spun and marched towards me. His chest was puffed out and his face set in a grim determination readying for another battle.
"What are you doing here elf?! You have no place here" He declared loudly calling the attention of all in the cave.
I was determined that I would not set a precedent of being talked down to by this man king or no.
"Now listen hear you obstinate dwarf I am here for one reason only and that is to get you safely through these mountains - and unless you haven't realised it yet, you actually need me as you clearly know nothing if you blindly charge off into a thunder battle" I finished my rant panting at the release of my pent up aggression after having chased them for a whole day in the sodding rain.
I huffed rather impudently turned my head and waited for a lurid response to rush out of Thorin. I was left waiting for quite a while actually, unfortunately the pause had given me time to regain my composure and recognise that I had spoken rudely to a king even if he wasn't my king. Looking back to meet his gaze I felt like an impulsive child arguing with a saint- silly and wrong. I shouldn't have allowed for my emotions to boil over and instead I should be thankful that I was able to help them. And I was going to say just that, be the bigger person, till I met with his gaze. A pair of blue piercing eyes seemed to bore into me, vaguely on the outskirts of my vision I saw the others faces of twist with worry and some with anger at my disrespect. I was going to right the situation. I was going to make the effort to co-operate with them, to help us act as a positively moving force for however long we were together. But no, no I couldn't say anything after being caught by those eyes. They were set so sternly that I thought of my daggers to be used to block the swing of his great sword. And then suddenly they weren't. They crinkled as a boar like snort erupted from thorin followed by a guttural laughter. It was... shocking. I had only known him for so long but I had always been able to develop a sense for people within a short period of time; Mr Baggins, i felt would come to show bravery that was hidden even to him. And even if this skill was closed off to me I think that it would seem obvious that the young king was not one to simply snort and guffaw as others would. Yet on he went, losing his breath then choking to reclaim it. Meanwhile those around me had also shifted their moods to an eased confusion due to Thorin's behaviour. Now panting Thorin walked over to the cave wall to steady himself, eventually able to speak.
"That is the first time in my- my life that an elf has actually spoken what they meant, rather than dance around in riddles and pleasantries" he was smirking as he slid to the cave floor. My expression on the other hand was probably drop jawed as I whispered "you do realise I'm only half elf..." Balintore chirped that Elrond's name 'half-elf' was an indication of his kin heritage. I was too tired to go into it.
"Ho, well we may as well get some rest here before we move on. Oh and I apologise and thank you for before, my lady please make yourself comfortable in our drab shelter" he said turning to me with the shadows of something hidden beneath his smiles; perhaps sad memories of the past. In any case I looked around at their faces and saw that all were worn out by the days trek. "I'll take first watch"
I turned and walked to the entrance, turning back I wasn't at all surprised to find that most had already curled into nooks and crannies to find makeshift beds. Thorin had already fallen to slumber. With that I set up just outside of the cave and stared out into the now silent rain. They will need all the help that they canHappy thunder
The dwarves had made a good hour start ahead of me. I made my way up the mountain on the thin gnarled path into the onslaught of rain that came down with such force that it stung my hands and any place that was bare. The pain was only slight but the constant barrage served to fuel my anger and drive me forward in my pursuit. Occasionally as the path followed the furrows and bows of the mountain side I was able to catch glimpses of the party as they clung to its face. By the time noon came the wind was constant flowing gust which served to push me back hampering my progress, which seemed non existent and was continuously slowed by my indecision on whether to turn back or plow ahead.
The evening soon came and was quickly followed by the storms thunder and lightning that I had smelt in the summer air. Now a new threat that was quite unexpected began to awaken; the mountain trembled ever so slightly, a ripple of what was beginning to move further in the pass. This was no time for indecision. I had no doubt that those ahead were completely unaware of the trouble that they had now placed themselves in. There was a reason that lord Elrond had suffered their raiding of the kitchens and general tomfoolery, which was to allow enough time for this storm to pass by in case of what was happening right now : a thunder battle. The giants were stirring from their deep slumber with a store of energy that would allow them to compete in a battle of hurling boulders that could crush an oliphant.
So I ran faster. Faster and faster. The speed tempted me to engage my body fully and let loose in order to reach them but I held back just enough, aided by memories of the young elves I lived with commenting on my form;' how lithe your body becomes when you run Daenal, surprising for one so sturdy.' I had always had more muscle on my body than the female elves and received indelicate slight pointing it out. Elrond had said my strength would rival the strongest Elven warrior, and I worked to reach that peak by training with the males in combat rather than the women in the healing arts, yet that too learnt, on a basic level enough to aid my comrades in the thick of battle.
In the midst of thought it took the shouts and shrieks from those ahead to make me realise that they were but 30 ft in front . It was at this moment that boulders began to fly from the giants hands, launching them with great force towards each other, hitting and missing but always the rain was mixed with the shards of shattered rocks. Now I was a mere few feet from the nearest dwarf as they cowered under meager shelter in the rock face. It was at this moment that a quake struck the rock reverberating all around as a great behemoth of stone tore away from the mountain readying to wade into the battle. The troublesome adventurers found themselves separated as half swung away atop of one knee and the others were pivoted on the other all in the thick of it as if it was their mission to fall into such situations. At the sight of them teetering on the edges barely managing to cling to the rock I sprung into action. On instinct I leapt towards the closest of the giant's legs and gripped onto the sharp holdings of rock. My hands bled from where freshly splintered rock had been brought to the world, slicing through my fingertips. I imagined that I was just below the knee were the dwarves were huddled as I came upon them rather quickly. Meanwhile the other section of the group had managed to leap back onto the crumbling path, but more importantly as I reached the dwarves our predicament seemed to have take a turn for the worse as it seemed that our particular had just lost this fight and his head. None of them had noticed my presence beside them till I shouted as loud as possible so as to overcome the storms rage.
"We're going down!- we have to jump!'' Frightened faces quickly turned to my direction followed by dreading shaking heads and cries of ''no''- "We won't make it!"
I ignored all of them as I took in the oncoming collision that was about to occur between us and the unyielding mountain. I pushed most of them towards the far edge of our perch grabbing two, including the blonde dwarf from my room. Again my voice strained to be heard "We must jump sideways to avoid the crash - NOW!" With that I simultaneously pulled the blonde and Mr Baggins whilst shoving the ones ahead of me to make their leap.
The crash of rock was almost deafening, yet in the pause of thunder and lightning a grieved scream rose above the clattering of falling debris.
Then the giant fell wholly to the far off basin beneath us, a rush of energy cascaded towards the heavens as it's soul escaped. But there was no time to contemplate being in such close proximity to death.
Once vision had cleared the group harked to one another, cheering in triumph over their peril and soon we were joined by the group led by Thorin. Yips rose from their reunion and we made haste towards the proper shelter of a cave that could be seen near another bend in the path. It was quite a large cave with what could be considered a primitive porch, as soon as we were in Thorin ordered Dwalin to check the cave for signs of occupancy, which I had to admit was wise for many nasty creatures will make homes in such caves especially in a storm.
A few moments of calm and relieved sighs passed before Thorin spun and marched towards me. His chest was puffed out and his face set in a grim determination readying for another battle.
"What are you doing here elf?! You have no place here" He declared loudly calling the attention of all in the cave.
I was determined that I would not set a precedent of being talked down to by this man king or no.
"Now listen hear you obstinate dwarf I am here for one reason only and that is to get you safely through these mountains - and unless you haven't realised it yet, you actually need me as you clearly know nothing if you blindly charge off into a thunder battle" I finished my rant panting at the release of my pent up aggression after having chased them for a whole day in the sodding rain.
I huffed rather impudently turned my head and waited for a lurid response to rush out of Thorin. I was left waiting for quite a while actually, unfortunately the pause had given me time to regain my composure and recognise that I had spoken rudely to a king even if he wasn't my king. Looking back to meet his gaze I felt like an impulsive child arguing with a saint- silly and wrong. I shouldn't have allowed for my emotions to boil over and instead I should be thankful that I was able to help them. And I was going to say just that, be the bigger person, till I met with his gaze. A pair of blue piercing eyes seemed to bore into me, vaguely on the outskirts of my vision I saw the others faces of twist with worry and some with anger at my disrespect. I was going to right the situation. I was going to make the effort to co-operate with them, to help us act as a positively moving force for however long we were together. But no, no I couldn't say anything after being caught by those eyes. They were set so sternly that I thought of my daggers to be used to block the swing of his great sword. And then suddenly they weren't. They crinkled as a boar like snort erupted from thorin followed by a guttural laughter. It was... shocking. I had only known him for so long but I had always been able to develop a sense for people within a short period of time; Mr Baggins, i felt would come to show bravery that was hidden even to him. And even if this skill was closed off to me I think that it would seem obvious that the young king was not one to simply snort and guffaw as others would. Yet on he went, losing his breath then choking to reclaim it. Meanwhile those around me had also shifted their moods to an eased confusion due to Thorin's behaviour. Now panting Thorin walked over to the cave wall to steady himself, eventually able to speak.
"That is the first time in my- my life that an elf has actually spoken what they meant, rather than dance around in riddles and pleasantries" he was smirking as he slid to the cave floor. My expression on the other hand was probably drop jawed as I whispered "you do realise I'm only half elf..." Balintore chirped that Elrond's name 'half-elf' was an indication of his kin heritage. I was too tired to go into it.
"Ho, well we may as well get some rest here before we move on. Oh and I apologise and thank you for before, my lady please make yourself comfortable in our drab shelter" he said turning to me with the shadows of something hidden beneath his smiles; perhaps sad memories of the past. In any case I looked around at their faces and saw that all were worn out by the days trek. "I'll take first watch"
I turned and walked to the entrance, turning back I wasn't at all surprised to find that most had already curled into nooks and crannies to find makeshift beds. Thorin had already fallen to slumber. With that I set up just outside of the cave and stared out into the now silent rain. They will need all the help that they can get.