So here it is, the last chapter of Ella's journey during 'An Unexpected Journey'!
Have added in some more jealous Ori as requested by Pergjithshme because I realised how Ori's jealousy is only mentioned here and there but never really expanded on! Poor Ori. I've got other plans for Ori, though, heh.
Anyway, school's starting again soon, so I won't have as much time to write and so it'll take longer for Ella's journey on 'The Desolation of Smaug'.
Okay, enough with this, here's the last chapter for you guys!
Ella didn't believe she'd ever run so much in her entire life.
Running and running and running – down the mountain, away from the Wargs, darting through the trees. The sun, she knew, had still been up when they had first started running.
Now it was long past nightfall.
Fili had kept her in front of him, making sure she didn't stumble or fall, Bofur and Ori running on either side of her. She felt terrible – not just physically exhausted from all the running, but because the three of them were still watching out for her when they should be watching out for themselves first.
Yes, she really needed to learn how to defend herself properly.
Right after they got away from the Orc pack chasing them.
The Wargs, she knew, were catching up. She could hear their growls coming ever closer, could hear them panting, their feet thudding nearer and nearer.
And then, abruptly, they reached a large outcropping of land with a steep drop off the mountain on the other side.
Oh god.
"Up into the trees, all of you!" Gandalf shouted, and immediately Fili was below her, boosting her up into the tree, Ori and Kili both scrambling up to lend her a hand. Once Fili was reassured she was high up enough, he leapt up into the tree himself, a branch just below Ella's. "Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb!"
"Bilbo!" Ella screamed, as she saw the hobbit try to yank his sword out of a dead Warg, with more Wargs running towards him. Heart pounding, Ella saw him finally get his sword out of the dead Warg, and, catching sight of the many more Wargs approaching him, clambered into the nearest tree.
The Wargs rushed below them, yelping, growling, circling the trees, turning their darkened eyes up at the company, teeth bared and glinting white in the moonlight.
They stopped and turned as another Warg approached them, a white one, with a large Orc on its back; a large, pale Orc missing a hand.
"Azog." The disbelief in Thorin's voice, not very far away from her, was clear.
The Warg growled, and Azog the Defiler moved his hand down to stroke it, his eyes never leaving Thorin's as he began speaking in a strange, guttural, coarse language, one that Thorin obviously understood, for after a moment, his eyes had widened, and Ella could hear the pain and grief in his voice as he said: "It cannot be."
The Orc's face twisted into an evil, crooked smile as he spoke again in his guttural language.
In a moment, the Wargs were yelping, leaping up at the trees, scrabbling at the trunks and gnashing their teeth, breaking the branches as they tried to reach the members of the company perched high in their branches. The trees began to shake violently, Ella shrieking slightly as she held on for dear life, struggling not to let go.
The next thing, she knew, Fili had hauled himself up onto the branch next to her, was grabbing hold of her hand.
"Fili – "
"I need to know you're safe and that you stay safe," he interrupted her, not allowing her a chance to protest as the tree began to tilt over wildly just at that moment, the force of the Wargs jumping up at them uprooting the tree.
Fili's hand tightened around hers, and Ella found herself squeezing his hand.
"Jump!" he yelled out, as the tree they were on crashed into another, and they leapt into the next tree, Fili twisting about wildly to make sure Kili had landed safely, Ella glancing around for Bilbo and Bofur and Ori.
Kili managed to clamber onto the branch next to Fili, just as that same tree began to topple.
Ella was reminded of dominoes as they leapt from tree to tree, jumping off each tree as the Wargs began to uproot it and jumping onto the next.
And then the unthinkable happened.
She stumbled while jumping to the next tree – her feet slipping, sliding, trying to get a grip on the branches – let go of Fili's hand to try and grab hold of something, anything –
She landed, painfully, on the back of a Warg.
With a loud shriek, Ella grabbed hold of the Warg's fur as it stopped jumping at the tree and tried to throw her off its back, only vaguely aware of Fili being held back, shouting her name.
A loud howl, another Warg crashing into the Warg she was grabbing hold of; and she flew across the outcropping, landing right at the bottom of the tree by the edge, as the trees continued to fall, Fili leaping from one tree to the next, trying to get to her as quickly as possible.
But before he could reach her, her screams reached his ears.
A Warg had grabbed hold of her leg, jaws clamped tightly around it, growling, trying to drag her away, as the other Wargs approached. He could see her hands flying, scrambling for her dagger weakly, face twisted in pain, trying to think, to find it, to use it –
Fili didn't even think.
With a loud yell, he jumped down onto the Warg, his blades flashing, as Ella stabbed the Warg in the snout.
The Warg let out a long, loud howl and abruptly let go of her leg, staggering backwards as Fili struck it again and again, stabbing and slashing, his weapons glinting as he kept the ever increasing Wargs at bay, hearing the other dwarfs helping Ella up behind him.
He could hear her swearing, expletives pouring out of her mouth, as Bilbo and the others dragged her up, until he risked a glance to see her safely perched on one of the higher branches, her face scrunched up in pain, winding cloth that had been torn from her sleeves around the wound as much as she could.
Fili jumped up onto the lowest branch as soon as he had an opening, clambering up as far as he could go.
Bofur kept one hand on Ella's shoulder as she balanced precariously on the branch, her back against the trunk, the dwarf on the other side of the tree, steadying her as she tried to staunch the bleeding, tear tracks glittering on her face.
She had never, never felt anything so painful. Sharp, jagged teeth clamped over her, biting into her leg, sharp and hot, dark, animal eyes staring at her hungrily, growls emitting from the creature's mouth. The pain had overwhelmed her, not leaving any room for any sense, except for one single thought: Kill it.
Ella hadn't any idea how she had managed to grab hold of the dagger and stab the Warg in the snout; she was aware only of the pain, the overwhelming pain, taking over her senses, enveloping her.
Even now, she could feel herself slipping away, trying to bite her lips to prevent herself from screaming, from whimpering, tugging at the cloths she'd wrapped around her right calf.
"Ella. Ella, listen to me, listen to me, stay awake, don't leave me – "
It was Fili, Fili trying to clamber up to her as the Wargs neared the tree, as the pale Orc Azog let out a cold, cruel laugh, wrapping his warm hands around her own shaking, shivering pale ones, holding the cloth, tying it into a knot.
"It hurts," she managed to whimper. "It hurts, Fili, it hurts so fucking bad – "
"Shh, it's okay, I've got you – "
"You stupid Fili," she mumbled, "you could have killed yourself when you jumped down – "
"I'm much too important to be killed by a Warg," Fili told her, and watched as the briefest of smiles flickered over her face before she let out another whimper, her face contorting in pain. "It's okay, it's okay, Ella, I'm here, I've got you."
And even though they were perched on the very last tree, right on the edge of the outcropping with the Wargs surrounding them and a steep drop on the other side, Ella felt slightly comforted.
Safe.
And then her head spun and she nearly slipped from the branch again, held up only by Bofur's hand still on her shoulder and Fili's hands around hers, pulling at the cloth around her wound still.
She was vaguely aware of something red and hot and orange being thrown down to the dwarfs, to the Wargs on the ground, something on fire – flaming pinecones? – flickering yellow and orange, landing in the middle of the Wargs, causing them to leap back and howl as the fire began to spread among them, flames licking.
More orange, more yellow, more red, more searing heat; Ella could see it in a midst of blackness, fading it and out, aware of Fili's face in front of hers, a familiar, comforting voice saying that she would be okay, that she would be all right.
And then, suddenly, what sounded like cheers; the yelping of the Wargs fading, the faintest flickers of a relieved smile breaking over Fili's face, growing ever more blurry in front of her despite her glasses.
She felt his hands tighten around hers slightly.
And the look on his face turn to panic as the tree began to tilt over.
She was vaguely aware of him shouting something – was it her name? – before the tree uprooted, bending over, and over, until it stopped, nearly horizontal, to balance over the edge.
Ori knew, perched on the edge of the branch near the top of the tree as he was, that he had much more important things to worry about than Ella, her face tight with pain, clutching at her leg, Fiii's face close to hers, talking to her, keeping her awake and alive.
But instead, even as the tree began to topple, he could only feel sorrow, an unimaginable sadness, that he hadn't talked to her more, hadn't gotten to know her more, that he wasn't the one sitting across her, trying to make her smile across the pain, taking care of her.
He'd felt something in him ache when she had clung onto Fili so desperately in the goblin tunnels, trying not to be too much of a burden on him as she slashed and stabbed, flung into a type of situation she had probably never imagined before.
He'd felt the same ache when they had been on the bridge skidding down the walls of the cavern, glancing slightly over at her to find her tightly wrapped in Fili's embrace. Even crashing down such a massive height, panicking for his life, he could only think that he wanted it to be him Ella wrapped her arms around.
And then he'd felt pain, a massive, heart-aching pain, when they'd finally landed and Ella had fallen on top of him, pressed so close together by the weight of the bridge.
And when she'd fallen from the tree, had gotten bitten by the Warg - he wanted to jump down, help her, but what good was his slingshot against a bloodthirsty Warg? He'd seen what little effect the slingshot had had on them, when they'd been running away the first time.
He'd have given anything to be a real, proper warrior at that moment, as Fili jumped down without a second thought, leaping and slashing at the Wargs, nearly getting himself killed as he defended Ella, buying her time for the other dwarfs to haul her up.
He knew it was stupid, irrational.
But he wanted to see that smile, that smile that seemed to light up her whole face, that smile that seemed to only ever be aimed at Fili; he wanted to see her smile like that at him.
When the tree first began to tilt over, both Bofur and Fili grabbed hold of Ella, scrambling to keep their grip as they hauled her up onto the trunk between them, her face turning pale, her eyelids fluttering as she tried to stay awake.
"Ella," Fili managed to say, inching closer, as much as he dared to, "can you hear me?"
"No," she groaned. "Don't shout."
He nearly felt himself smile, before panic overtook him. "I'm not shouting."
"Yes, you are," she mumbled.
They had let go of her wound as they scrambled up onto the trunk, and Fili could see the blood soaking the cloth, staining it red. Hurriedly, as much as he could, he tried to rewrap the cloth around her leg again.
And then he was suddenly aware of a figure rising from the tree, getting to his feet, walking down the leaning trunk, and suddenly hurtling through the outcropping, through the flames, at the pale Orc astride a white Warg.
Fili could only watch, his face draining, as Thorin ran towards the white Warg only for it to leap up at him, smashing his uncle to the ground. And up and again; and again smashed into the ground, this time by Azog, and Fili didn't know where to look, at his uncle or at the half-unconscious girl still fighting to hold on, to stay awake.
"Thorin!" Fili could hear the panic, the fear in Dwalin's voice, his anger at his helplessness, as the Warg clamped Thorin in his jaws – his whole body, as Thorin hit it in the head only to be flung away in the Warg's rage.
"Go, lad, go!" he heard Bofur say, and turned to see the older dwarf gesture for him, his face white, to go and help Thorin if he could. "You can help him better than I can – I'll hold onto the lass. Go!"
But before he could scramble to his feet, he saw another Orc approach Thorin's unmoving body, sword raised – and then Bilbo leaping in front of him, stabbing the Orc, killing it, trying to defend Thorin's body, keeping the Wargs and Orcs away.
With one last look at Ella, Bofur holding up her head, talking, trying to get her to stay awake, Fili managed to clamber out of the tree and thrust himself into the fray of Wargs and Orcs.
Feathers.
Large, soft, smooth feathers, beneath her, underneath her fingers, hands hurriedly working on retying the cloth around her wound. Gliding, the rush of wind, a soft yellow light through her eyelids. When had that happened? She could only remember darkness, shrieks, fierce yellow and orange and red flames, Fili's face disappearing from her vision, a voice prodding her awake, a short drop through the air with warm arms around her. She was vaguely aware of forcing her eyes to keep open, to bite her lip at the pain in her leg.
"Fili?" she managed to whisper.
"No, lass, it's me, Bofur," said a familiar voice, "don't fall asleep on me yet."
She blinked, tried to sit up.
The wound stung, painfully, biting, hot, but it felt better, just slightly better, and she could feel Bofur's hands behind her, supporting her as she tried to get into an upright position.
"Where are we?"
"On a giant eagle, lass. Friends of Gandalf's."
"Now I know I woke up from that stream into a dream," she mumbled. "Giant eagles flying me around."
She felt the strange, hysterical urge to laugh.
"Never knew eagles could be so comfortable," Bofur said, in an odd, falsely cheerful voice.
Ella winced and clutched at her leg.
"Between you and Thorin, I think Fili's head might end up spinning round and round his neck without stopping," said Bofur, once he was sure Ella was propped upright safely.
"Thorin?" she said, weakly. "What happened to Thorin?"
Bofur pointed.
She saw the large dwarf, unconscious, hanging from a giant eagle's talons.
"What happened?"
"Tried to take on Azog."
She saw Fili on an eagle right behind Thorin, Kili balanced behind him, getting a mouthful of blond hair in his mouth when Fili twisted around to look for Ella.
His face broke into a smile when he saw her sitting up, though leaning weakly against Bofur.
Partially relieved, he turned back to watch his uncle again, with worried eyes.
"Go, just go."
Bofur had tried to jump down with Ella in his arms onto the small rocky outcropping that the other dwarfs were leaping onto – but Ella, however, not being exactly very small or light despite shrinking in size, had proved to be heavier than he had imagined, causing him to stumble and her to land on her already injured leg. She had collapsed on the ground, wincing, Bofur looking over her, glancing from her to Thorin worriedly, until she waved him off. She knew how important Thorin was to all the dwarfs.
Bofur gave her a grateful smile and ran off to where the other dwarfs were gathered.
Ella knew Thorin would live. She didn't know how – she simply knew – but she did know, and it was no surprise to her when he grunted and got to his feet, raising his voice at Bilbo before finally pulling the bewildered hobbit into a hug.
It reminded her, slightly, of the insults she and Jerelee would throw at each other before pulling each other into a hug, of the days she and Delilah and Alison would laze around, insulting and making fun at each other until they burst into laughter.
Even in her dazed state, Ella couldn't help but smile.
"Ella!"
And there was Fili, that stupid, stupid blond dwarf, dashing over to her, crouching next to her, taking her hand in his. "Are you all right?"
"No," she said. "I haven't forgiven you yet." And she managed to drag herself upright into a proper sitting position, so that Fili was on her right, by her wounded leg, facing her completely.
His brow furrowed. "Forgiven me?"
"You stupid, stupid bloody dwarf," she managed to say. "What were you doing – in the tunnel with the whips – and then just now when I fell down off the tree – and then trying to help me when you could've fallen off the damn tree – "
"What, don't I get a thank you?"
"Not when you're nearly killing yourself!"
"You were going to die!"
"I had it sorted!"
"No, you didn't - "
"I would've figured something out – "
"I did what I had to do – "
"No, you didn't, you didn't have to do any of that – "
"Do you think I could have ever let anything happen to you?"
And then Fili's hands were on her shoulders, and she had grabbed the front of his coat, and he pulled her to him and captured her lips with his own.
Ella had never had much experience with boys. Hell, she'd never even dated anyone before. She'd always imagined she'd end up with a guy she'd known since forever, with both of them learning to care for each other as the years passed. Or something like that. And that they'd go out often, getting used to each other and knowing even more about each other, or something, before actually, well, kissing.
But she figured, sitting on the cold hard ground with a wounded leg on the top of a narrow rocky outcropping was not the worst place to have her first kiss, and especially not with a dwarf she had only really known for a while when it felt like she had known him forever.
Fili only pulled her nearer to him as she yanked him closer to her, a whirlwind of emotions rushing through his head, his lips never leaving hers, only one word repeating in his mind: Ella.
They were completely oblivious to the semi-circle of dwarfs around them, along with a slightly smiling Bilbo Baggins and a chuckling Gandalf.
Ori's hand tightened around his book that had somehow survived the goblins, his other hand clenched into a fist.
He felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder, felt it squeeze him comfortingly.
He turned to see Dori, Nori just behind him, sad smiles on their faces.
"I never had a chance, did I?" Ori asked them, feeling as if he were years younger, feeling even more like their youngest brother, like the little kid, the last to grow up, always looking to his older brothers for comfort, for advice, for reassurance and help.
"No," said Dori, his voice soft. "No, I don't think you did."
Ori shut his eyes, looked away, relaxed his hand.
Fili and Ella had finally parted, Fili still crouched next to her, Ella nearly completely forgetting about the raging pain in her leg, her hands still on his coat, his hands on her shoulders.
They rested their foreheads against each other's, looking at each other through the glass in front of Ella's eyes.
"The braids on your moustache are very annoying," she murmured, moving her arms to wrap around his neck as he lowered his hands to her waist.
"Well, I'm sure you'll get used to it soon enough."
And this time, it was her lips that sought his.
Oin had treated her wound, chattering non-stop as he did so, trying to entertain her and educate her, not seeing her turn paler and paler, biting her lip every once in while, scolding her for not coming to him the moment they had landed.
He'd only stopped talking after her face had turned green when she'd glanced down at her wound, turning to bury her face in Fili's shoulder, Thorin's oldest nephew never leaving her side, Oin fixing up the wound as best as he could before declaring himself done. Ella had been relieved to hear that it hadn't needed stitches nor anything similar – the wound, he reassured her, was deep, but not that deep. The monster's jaws hadn't gone in very deep, something she was extremely grateful for, remembering the one instance her sister, her Emma, had hurt herself so badly that she'd needed stitches to fix up the wound, remembering how she'd screamed in pain after waking up from the anaesthetic.
"Come on, I want to show you something."
Fili had reappeared at her side after leaving her for a short moment, bending down to wrap one hand around her waist and draping her hand around his shoulder as he managed to lift her up, supporting her to the edge of the rock.
"There," he said, proudly, pointing into the distance as he lowered her onto the ground, settling himself next to her. "The Lonely Mountain."
Raising her eyes, ignoring the pain that had exploded in her leg from hobbling over, Ella saw a single, solitary peak in the distance on the horizon.
"Your home," she said. "And your kingdom, one day."
"Mmm." Fili lifted a hand, ran it through her now non-existent braids. "I told you not to mess up the braids unless you were dead."
"Well, thank you, Fili, I know I had plenty of time to take care of them."
"I suppose you're forgiven, with that nasty bite on your leg," he said, chuckling, using his hand to turn her head to face him, making her drag her eyes away from the Lonely Mountain.
And he pressed his lips to hers again, and there they stayed, unaware of Ori and Bofur behind them, Bofur smiling as he puffed on his pipe, Ori forcing himself to look away, hands clenched, as they finally broke apart and Ella rested her head on Fili's shoulder, him taking her hands in his.