Hello! I'm back!
Sorry it took me so long to update this chapter! Been really, really busy with school!
Anyway, reviews would be great, so you can let me know what you think of it!
It's not one of my better chapters, but hope you'll still like it!
"I suppose this is goodbye?"
Ori stood next to the pony he was going to share with Dori, Jerelee standing in front of him.
Her face flushed, slightly.
"Yes."
Ori caught sight of the folded paper, still in her hands.
"Goodbye, then," he said, finally, taking a step back towards the pony.
Jerelee opened her mouth as if to say something, and then shut it.
From atop the pony, Dori watched the two of them.
Then Jerelee darted forward, pressed her lips to his cheek, and stepped back, face red.
"Goodbye," she said.
And then she turned and hurried away.
And Ori stood a moment, a large, goofy smile beginning to spread across his face.
Fili wasn't very sure what to think, or do, or say.
He remembered how mortified and embarrassed Ella had looked the previous night, how she'd made him stay back, how she'd backed away from him, face flushing.
And then how Bofur and Gloin had led him from the room, and how they'd explained to him everything.
Yes, he could understand why she was so flustered and embarrassed.
But his face grew hot when he thought of how he'd probably made her feel about a hundred times worse.
"What about Ella?" Kili asked, when he saw his brother loading up his pony with more supplies. "She's not going to have space to ride with you."
"I think she might prefer that she didn't," Fili muttered, and had to turn away when he saw Ella come out of Beorn's house.
Ella couldn't ever remember feeling so miserable in her life before.
Well, there was that time she'd failed that history paper that she'd worked so hard on.
But that was a different matter entirely.
It had been bad enough that she'd ridden with Bilbo on the way to Mirkwood, that he'd somehow managed to put up with her growing temper, that it had taken both him and Bofur to get her to even smile, that she'd felt absolutely terrible for treating them like that but still couldn't stop herself from snapping at them.
And then they'd finally reached Mirkwood, a gloomy forest that felt so ill and sick and diseased Ella wondered how it'd even managed to survive.
And then of course Gandalf had to insist that he had other places to be, and had effectively abandoned them completely, as far as Ella was concerned.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg.
It was, naturally, expectedly, absolute misery to be having her time of the month at that particular time. In a company full of male dwarves and a hobbit. And trekking through a sickening forest, and being unable to leave the path.
It was, she thought, absolute torture and absolutely humiliating to keep having to wander back the Elven path slightly, away from the company, and find somewhere to hide a moment to change out quickly.
Ella doubted anyone could ever have learnt to change as quickly and as efficiently as her.
She'd had to get Bilbo to make sure none of the dwarfs strayed back the path by accident, and Bofur as well. They were both being very good-natured about it, and Ella was starting to feel slightly more comfortable about it, but she was still horribly embarrassed.
There were few places on the path where she could actually hide properly, and she really didn't want to think about what could be watching her.
After all, the whole company saw the eyes in the dark of the night, saw the eyes staring out at them.
She was grateful, though, that she was quite sure she'd finally reached her last day.
With a lack of water at the present, the cloths and other materials Jerelee had given her had remained completely stained and soaked through. Thank God Jerelee had packed more than enough; it was enough to last her two weeks at least. Jerelee always had been an efficient packer.
And she wasn't being as bad-tempered as before anymore, thank goodness. She'd stopped snapping at them so often, though her mood swings were still severe. Even with their supply of food steadily decreasing, Bilbo or one of the dwarfs always had some spare food on them, and had often forced her to bite into an apple or whatever food they had at the time in order to make sure she kept her strength.
This whole experience had to be one of the most uncomfortable, humiliating, awkward things she'd ever experienced in her life.
But having her time of the month wasn't the worst of it. Oh, no.
There was still the nightmares.
They hadn't come since their time in Beorn's house.
But now, night after night after night, she saw even worse things – a town on fire, screaming, gold coins clinking, packs of Orcs, a massive, magnificient red-gold dragon breathing fire. Every night, she'd curl up in between Bofur and Bombur and Bifur, and she was grateful for Bombur's bulk, that hid her shivering, muffled her whimpers.
And then there was her injury.
The Warg bite that Beorn had healed so expertly had been fine the first few days.
But ever since she'd woken up two days ago with a stinging pain in her leg, it had only gotten worse.
She applied Beorn's salve every morning and night, and tried to put as little weight on it as possible, but still it stung, up to the point where she'd had to slow down a great deal as she hobbled and limped along on her leg. Luckily, the dwarves were so intent on making sure they stayed on the path that they'd slowed their pace as well, and Ella had been able to limp along on it well enough, without any of the dwarves noticing.
It hurt like hell, even if it wasn't bleeding anymore, but Ella wasn't going to waste any more of the dwarves' time if necessary, and especially not in Mirkwood.
But that wasn't the worst part, either.
No, the worst part had to be Fili.
He wasn't talking to her anymore.
Not since the morning after he'd run into her, panicked that she was bleeding. He'd saddled up his pony, had stuck by Kili, had pranced around waiting for the rest of the company, and had only stopped by her to say "good morning" before moving off hurriedly.
Fili. Lovely Fili, wonderful Fili. Who'd always been there for her.
And now was avoiding her completely.
He wouldn't look at her, wouldn't talk to her, wouldn't even walk with her at the back of the group, leaving the rear guard to Nori and Bofur, with Bombur in front of Ella and Bilbo.
And Ella had never felt so upset in her whole life.
Bilbo was tactful enough not to say anything, but Bofur pestered her constantly about getting her to talk to Fili, telling her it was probably because she wasn't saying anything to him either that Fili wasn't talking t her.
Ella couldn't even remember the number of times she'd stormed away from Bofur, heart pounding and growing angrier by the second, before falling back to his side only a few hours later, mumbling apologies.
Every so often she'd glance up, and he'd be looking at her, before turning away.
Ella was so, so tempted to just go up and make him talk to her.
But her pride wouldn't let her.
If Fili wouldn't talk to her, then that was his problem, and she wasn't going to do anything about it.
Her pride, Ella thought, had always been her biggest flaw.
She could hear Jerelee and Addy and Tiffany in her head, nagging at her to just go up to him, to put aside her stupid, stupid pride for about five minutes.
And each time, she'd grit her teeth and continue on her way, trying desperately not to stare at the back of Fili's blond head, forcing herself to stay at the back with Bilbo and Bofur and Nori.
"Air," Fili heard Bofur say. "I need air."
Fili had to blink, glance at his brother's dark head in front of him.
Things were beginning to spin around him, swirling and whirling erratically.
"My head," Oin was saying. "It's spinning."
Fili glanced back, briefly.
Ella.
There she was, trekking along next to Bofur, her hand on his shoulder as she hobbled along –
Wait. Hobbled?
Was she limping?
She looked like she was. Or maybe it was just a side effect of what she was having?
She hadn't talked to him, not since that night.
He didn't know how to go about approaching her – she'd looked so embarrassed, so horrified that night. Like she wished he hadn't come, that he hadn't appeared.
He hadn't known how to react.
And so he'd chosen not to talk to her, not until she said something first. What if his presence was the last thing she wanted?
Lost in his thoughts, he nearly crashed into Kili.
"Why've we stopped?" he muttered, peering over his brother's shoulder, as Oin yelled out: "What's happening?"
"Keep moving," Thorin called. "Nori, why have we stopped?"
"The path," said Nori, looking dazed. "It's disappeared!"
"What's going on?"
"We've lost the path!"
Fili looked ahead of them, and suddenly felt himself growing cold as he saw the cliff before Nori, saw exactly how the path had disappeared and why they had come to an abrupt halt.
"Find it," Thorin barked, sharply, and he glanced around. "All of you look. Look for the path!"
When the spiders appeared from out of nowhere and started to wrap them up in their cobwebs, Fili had tried to scramble towards Ella.
He remembered how she'd told him how terrified she was of insects and how she disliked animals, how she'd always been afraid of spiders most of all.
And here they were, surrounded by giant spiders attempting to wrap them up in cocoons.
Mirkwood wasn't helping, either, twisting everything he saw, making everything spin around him, distorting everything.
He looked over at Ella, saw her slip and fall, saw her press her hands to her face as one of the spiders began wrapping her in a silky cocoon, shuddering.
"Ella," he mumbled, staggering towards her, before thin, fine white strands wrapped around him.
"Fili."
Fili, Ella knew, hated being trapped. Hated being helpless.
She wanted to stumble over to him, damn her pride and her stupid leg.
But the spiders, the spiders were crawling over her, were surrounding her, were wrapping her in their fine thin webs.
She dropped to the ground, pressed the palms of her hands into her face, shuddering, shivering.
"Fili," she muttered to herself.
Somehow, trapped inside the white webbing that now encased him, Fili regained control of himself.
Kili, he knew, was somewhere about, but Fili knew his younger brother could take care of himself – hadn't he proven it, time and time again, on this journey?
No, it wasn't Kili he was so worried about.
"Ella," he mumbled, and then he began thrashing, kicking about in the cobweb.
The next thing he knew, he was falling through the air, falling and falling – and then, with a loud thump, he hit the ground.
He tore himself out of the web almost instantly.
"Ella," he said, again, and then called out, louder: "Ella!"
Ella had still been shuddering, shivering, when she began to fall through the air.
She couldn't help it.
She began to swear, expletive after expletive spilling out from her mouth as she spun in the air in her stupid cobweb.
And then she landed on the ground, her right leg below her.
Her injured leg.
She nearly screamed.
Pain was ripping through her, hot and sharp and dulling her senses, and she couldn't focus on anything, not on anything at all, the only thing rushing through her mind was the stinging and the aching and the hurting, because it was hurting, hurting so, so badly –
"Ella!"
It was Balin who tore away the webs surrounding her, Balin who hauled her to her feet, Balin whose eyes widened when she fell heavily on him, when he saw her blood beginning to seep through her pants leg.
"Don't bother about me," she managed to say, through gritted teeth, squeezing her eyes shut before forcing them open again. "Just do me a favour – help them kill the spiders first, please?"
And Balin stared at her, wide-eyed, for a moment; and then, abruptly, he turned and began to slash at the spiders now beginning to surround them once more.
It was Bifur who saw Ella stagger out of the cocoon and onto Balin, who watched as she collapsed to the ground after Balin had let go of her to kill the nearest spider.
And it was Bifur who scampered over and scooped her up in his arms.
Her eyes flew open. "Bifur - !"
He merely shook his head at her and glanced pointedly at the other dwarves battling the spiders.
And then, still carrying her in his arms as she twisted about, trying to find Fili, Bifur stumbled after the other dwarves as they stabbed and hacked at the spiders.
Fili had lost sight of her.
He'd seen Bifur's back, had seen the older dwarf scramble along with them, with Ella in his arms.
Fili didn't even want to think about why he'd chosen to carry her, about why she wasn't running instead.
And then what with the spiders and the mess of dwarves and Mirkwood in general, he lost sight of Bifur and the girl in his arms.
And then the elves appeared.
"Help!"
Fili whirled around almost instantly, forgetting that the elves had surrounded them with their bows drawn, forgetting that he was in absolutely no position to provide any aid.
"Kili!"
Kili wondered if this was what Fili felt, every time he looked at Ella.
He stared at the red-headed elf in front of him, her weapons still in her hands, her face stone-cold, unmoving, not even flushed from her kills.
He could hardly drag his eyes away from her, not even when she gestured for another pair of elves to haul him over to where the rest of the company stood.
He wondered what her name was.
"Search them."
"He's too blond," Bifur heard Ella murmur, as she turned her head slightly to look at the elf standing before them, as the other elves began to search them. "Too pretty. Is he supposed to be male?"
Bifur couldn't help himself.
He let out a low chuckle.
"Hey! Give it back!" Gloin was snapping at the blond dwarf, who had pulled a picture frame out of the dwarf's pocket. "That's private!"
"Who is this?" the blond elf asked, ignoring him completely. "Your brother?"
"That is my wife!"
"And what is this horrid creature? A goblin mutant?"
"That's my wee lad, Gimli!"
And a picture flashed into Ella's mind – of the blond elf, with another dwarf, one who resembled Gloin greatly – laughing, talking, grinning at each other. Friends.
"Fili," she said to Bifur, who glanced down at her. "Where's Fili?"
"What have you done to this human girl?"
The blond elf was standing in front of Bifur and Ella now, looking with some slight concern at Ella, before sweeping a contemptuous gaze over the rest of the company.
"I knew dwarves could not be trusted, but I never realised to what extent. To harm a human girl in such a way – "
"Ella!"
Fili would trust any of the company with his life.
And Bifur, he knew, would take care of Ella, as much as he could.
He didn't know why she was being carried, but perhaps her wound had started to sting again? Beorn had said that it might, which was why he'd given her the salve, after all.
He wanted to be there, wanted to be there by her side, but he'd probably be severely injured from his efforts before he even got near her. Bifur would take care of her. Bifur would make sure she was all right.
And so he stood, glaring, at the elf searching him, as he pulled out daggers and knives from all over his person – from his hidden pocket as well, that even Kili hadn't been able to find.
And then he heard that arrogant-looking blond elf demand exactly what they'd done to 'the human girl'.
Fili spun around, ignoring the elf searching him.
He saw Ella's right leg hanging limply, saw the blood-stained pants leg, saw that stupid blond elf continue standing there instead of actually doing something.
Ella.
Saw part of her face over Bifur's arm, saw it scrunch up in pain.
She was losing blood.
"Ella!"
The blond elf's arrow was already notched and pointed at Fili when the dwarf finally scrambled to the front, next to Bifur.
"Don't you come any closer, dwarf. You've done enough to this girl – "
"Why don't you stop threatening us and help her, then?" Fili snapped back, and he was hardly aware of the blond dwarf blinking, lowering his bow and arrow, as Fili turned to Ella.
"He's too pretty, Fili," he heard her whisper, in a hoarse voice, as he ripped some of the fabric off his shirt, wrapped it around her wound, wincing every time he made her flinch in pain. "He's too blond."
"I'm blond," he said.
"But you're not so pretty."
"Is that an insult?"
"I don't like pretty boys."
"A compliment, then."
"Smart dwarf."
Legolas watched with narrowed eyes as the girl was passed gently to the blond dwarf, her arms circling his neck, as she buried her face in his chest. As his ears pricked up and took in every word of their conversation.
He still had his bow and arrow ready, but gestured for the others to continue searching the rest of the dwarves.
"It hurts, Fili," he heard the human girl whisper hoarsely. "It hurts so bad."
"It's okay, Ella." The dwarf's grip around her tightened, and he looked worriedly over at the bleeding leg. "It's going to be okay."