The Elves of Mirkwood
I don't own Digimon or The Hobbit
While Daisuke was walking through Mirkwood looking for any sign of the Elves, the rest of the company were currently in a prison with two to a cell except a few like Balin and Thorin who were in their own cell. "Vee-headbutt!" Veemon shouted charging his and Bilbo's cell and he slammed his head into it and bounced off. "Ugh…too much Vee and not enough headbutt." He groaned before falling over with swirls in his eyes.
"At least you tried." Bilbo comforted him, looking across from his cell he could see Bombur and Bifur trying to bust the door down using the large Dwarf's weight as a battering ram.
"Leave it!" Balin shouted stopping their attempts. "This is no Orc dungeon, these are the halls of the Woodland Realm. No one leaves here but by the king's consent."
"Oh, that's just great." Veemon said punching the wall in frustration. "And while we're stuck in here Daisuke is out there alone with who knows what after her."
"You know her better then all of us, she's strong I bet she's on her way here to save us. Or she's gone to find Gandalf, he might be able to talk some sense into these Elves." Bilbo said optimistically.
"I doubt it lad, Thranduilis not the kind of person to listen to anyone not even a wizard could sway him." Balin replied as an Elf walked towards Bilbo and Veemon's cell and opened it.
"Halfling, the king wants to speak to you." He said in common tongue pulling Bilbo out of the cell and pushing him off before shutting the door leaving Veemon alone.
"Don't tell these knife-ears nothing Bilbo!" Fili shouted to him and Bilbo nodded as he was pushed off again and soon he stood before the king of the Woodland Realm.
"Strange to find a halfling so far from the Shire, I thought you folk fancied the comfort of your armchairs and gardens rather than adventure." Thranduil said as he walked around Bilbo.
"You can thank my mother for that, I get the sense of adventure from her." Bilbo replied with a small smile but it vanished when he saw Thranduil was not smiling.
"And just why are you and a company of Dwarves led by Oakenshield in my kingdom?" he asked the Hobbit.
"It was the fastest way I'm afraid, had we known you'd be hostile to us we'd have gone around your kingdom." Bilbo answered.
"Fastest way for what?" Thranduil asked and Bilbo went silent. "So, you are on a quest, to the Lonely Mountain, why else would Thorin Oakenshield risk entering the Woodland Realm. Some may imagine that a noble quest is at hand. A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. I myself suspect a more prosaic motive. Attempted burglary. Or something of that ilk."
"We've not stolen anything from you, no matter what you may think Lord Elrond gave Thorin permission to wield Orcrist when we were in Rivendell." Bilbo spoke up making Thranduil frown.
"What that fool does or says means little to me. He should know better than to allow Dwarves to use weapons that our smiths forged. The Dwarves have always been greedy, taking what they wish and expecting to get away with it." he said.
"Don't speak about them like that. I'll have you know that my friends are kind and are nothing like what you say they are, it is you and the Elves of Mirkwood who are in the wrong. You locked us up without a second thought. We meant no harm to you." Bilbo said.
"It seems those Dwarves have twisted you with their lies, once they reclaim Erebor they will return to their old selves. Trust me." Thranduil said looking Bilbo in the eyes. "You must have found a way into the mountain; the entrance was barred by Smaug when he claimed the mountain. And you seek that which would give Thorin the right to rule. The King's Jewel. The Arkenstone. It is precious to Thorin beyond measure. I understand his desire. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems of pure starlight. I offer you my help."
"I'm listening," Bilbo replied.
"I will let you go, if you but return what is mine." Thranduil offered and Bilbo stepped back.
"A favour for a favour?" he asked the Elven King.
"You have my word, I am sure Thorin will accept this offer from one king to another." Thranduil answered and Bilbo frowned.
"I doubt Thorin, nor any of us would trust Thranduil, the great king to honour his word should the end of all days be upon us!" he exclaimed making the company down below who could hear his words smile at the bravery their friend was showing.
"Seems travelling with us for almost a year has rubbed off on him." Thorin muttered.
"You who lack all honour!" Bilbo told Thranduil placing his hand on his heart. "I've heard how you've treated your friends. The Dwarves of Erebor came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help. But you turned your back! You turned away from the suffering of the Dwarves and the Inferno that destroyed them!"
"Do not talk to me of dragon fire." Thranduil hissed glaring at Bilbo before his face suddenly began to distort to show signs he had once been burnt by a dragon. "I know its wrath and ruin. I have faced the great serpents of the North, halfling." He stepped back and his face returned to normal. "I warned Thorin's grandfather of what his greed would summon. But he would not listen."
"So, you take it out on innocent people!? How many children, elderly and sick did you condemn to death that day by turning your back on them!?" Bilbo asked as two guards grabbed his arms.
"Your lives are no concern to me, you may all stay here and rot. A hundred years is but the blink of an eye to me. I am patient, I can wait." Thranduil said sitting back on his throne.
"And while you wait you can go kiss an orc! They're the only ones who'd like that pile of burnt meat you call a face!" Bilbo commented infuriating the King at the Hobbit's remark as the two guards dragged Bilbo off and threw him into his cell and locked the door.
"Did he offer you a deal?" Thorin called out to Bilbo.
"Oh yes, he wanted some special gems in the mountain, in exchange for letting us go. But I told him to kiss an orc." He answered and that brought silence to the company before the Dwarves broke out in cheers and laughter.
"Well said Bilbo, didn't expect that insult to come from you." Fili said.
"Well he was insulting you all, so I felt it fair to return the favour." Bilbo replied as Veemon patted him on the back with a grin.
"Well that's that. A deal was our only hope." Balin said sorrowfully.
"Not our only hope old friend." Thorin reminded him looking up. "Motomiya we're counting on you." He whispered.
Speaking of Daisuke, she was running through Mirkwood still with the ring on her finger rending her invisible to all eyes. "Almost there, I'm seeing more Elves around here." she thought as she slowed to a walk once she laid eyes upon Thranduil's kingdom. "Alright, the others are in there. Time to sneak in and find them." she walked off towards the door to the kingdom and saw two guards on watch, she hid behind a pillar and grabbed a rock and tossed it and it hit another pillar causing the two guards to rush over to investigate allowing her to push open the door and sneak in and she shut it behind her.
She walked through the halls of the kingdom making sure to avoid every Elf she came across, the last thing she needed was to bump into one and be caught if she lost her ring. "Okay, the prison must be on the lower levels. If I could just get there I can figure out a plan." She kept walking through the halls which seemingly looked like a maze. "At this rate Durin's Day will be long gone if I can't find the others in this maze." She thought.
"I know you're there." She heard as she walked into another room and saw Thranduil looking in her direction and she gulped. "Why do you linger in the shadows?"
"Did he somehow see through the ring's power?" she thought before a female Elf with red hair walked past her.
"I was coming to report to you." She told the king making Daisuke sigh in relief.
"I thought I ordered that nest to be destroyed not two moons past." Thranduil said.
"We cleared the forest as ordered, my lord. But more spiders keep coming up from the south," the Elf told him as Daisuke slowly walked away from the duo. "They are spawning in the ruins of Dol Guldur. If we could kill them at their source…"
"That fortress lies beyond our borders." Thranduil said silencing her. "Keep our lands clear of those foul creatures. That is your task."
"And if we drive them off, what then? Will they not spread to other lands?" the female elf asked.
"Other lands are not my concern." Thranduil answered making the Elf frown while Daisuke continued sneaking away. "The fortunes of the world will rise and fall. But here in this kingdom, we will endure." He continued before hearing something and he looked around but saw nothing, the Elf bowed slightly and began walking off. "Legolas said you fought well today. He has grown very fond of you." He told the Elf who stopped and looked at him.
"I assure you, my lord, Legolas thinks of me as no more than a captain of the guard." She replied.
"Perhaps he did once. Now I am not so sure." Thranduil said gently. "But I would not allow my son to pledge himself to a lowly Sylvan Elf, so do not give him hope where there is none." He added coldly and the Elf nodded and walked away.
"Just listening to that guy made me hate him more and more, I hope the others are alright." Daisuke thought as she walked down a corridor before nearly running into the female Elf from before and saw her walking away. "Hm…maybe she knows where to go." She thought as she began following the Elf down to the prison and she smiled upon seeing the rest of the company before she frowned upon seeing them all without their weapons or most of their clothes. "It's freezing down here, how dare they make my friends stay here with nothing to keep them warm." She thought.
"The stone in your hand, what is it?" she heard the Elf ask one of the company and she turned and saw her talking to Kili.
"It is a talisman. A powerful spell lies upon it. If any but a Dwarf reads the runes on this stone, they will be forever cursed." Kili said showing the stone to the Elf who flinched and began walking off. "Or not. Depending on whether you believe that kind of thing. It's just a token." He added with a grin and the Elf smiled slightly as well. "My mother gave it to me so I'd remember my promise."
"What promise?" the Elf asked him.
"That I would come back to her." he answered tossing the stone in the air before catching it. "She worries. She thinks I'm reckless."
"Are you?" the Elf asked.
"Nah," he answered tossing the stone into the air again but he dropped it and it slid out of his cell but the Elf stopped it with her foot before picking it up and looking at it. "Sounds like quite a party." He commented upon hearing laughter and Elves talking.
"It is the Feast of Starlight. All light is sacred to the Eldar. But Wood Elves love best the light of the stars." The Elf explained.
"I always thought it was a cold light. Remote and far away." Kili said.
"It is memory. Precious and pure, like your promise." The Elf said handing the stone back to him. "I have walked there sometimes. Beyond the forest and up into the night. I have seen the world fall away and the white light of forever fill the air."
"I saw a fire moon once. It rose over the pass near Dunland. Huge. Red and gold, it was. It filled the sky. We were an escort for some merchants from Ered Luin. They were trading in silverwork for furs. We took the Greenway south, keeping the mountain to our left. And then it appeared, this huge fire moon lighting our path." For some reason Daisuke couldn't listen to them talk anymore and she ran off.
"Why the heck is he talking to her like that!? He's in a cell yet he still finds time to flirt with someone…why the hell am I even thinking like this, I'm not jealous not even close." She thought rubbing her eyes which held unshed tears. "It's dusty in here, yeah that's it." she kept walking until she found a flight of stairs and walked down to find a cell full of wine and barrels.
"Galion, you old rouge, we're running out of drink." One Elf said to another as they moved empty barrels around as another walked down the stairs and Daisuke hid behind another barrel.
"These empty barrels should have been sent back to Esgaroth hours ago. The bargeman will be waiting for them." the Elf told the others.
"Say what you like about our ill-tempered king. He has an excellent taste in wine." An Elf said as he began drinking from another bottle of wine.
"Come, Elros, try it."
"I have the Dwarves in my charge." The Elf said and Daisuke saw him holding the keys to the cells and she smirked.
"They're locked up, where can they go?" the other Elf said handing him a cup of wine. "Besides even if they broke out somehow they'd have no means of fighting us. They're weapons are held in the armoury two levels up."
"Thanks for the information you idiots," Daisuke thought as she waited for the elves to get comfortable and begin drinking the wine and snuck off making sure to grab the keys along the way. She walked up the stairs and headed up past the cells and then another level and she waited for the guards to leave and she walked into the armour and removed the ring. "Ok, now to find everyone's stuff." She muttered looking around and she began grabbing all the weapons she knew belonged to the others, she then grabbed a large sack and emptied it and began filling it with the weapons. "Good, now to free the others." She thought.
"What're you doing in here?" she gulped and looked behind her to see the female Elf standing in the doorway.
The end of the chapter
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