Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my original character. Everything else is property of New Line Cinema, Peter Jackson, etc.
Author's Note: I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter up. Real life has been crazy with classes and work, I had a hard time finding time to write. And when I did find time to write, it was an outline for another story! The main character of that story kind of grabbed my by the roots of my hair, and wouldn't let me go until she was satisfied with the outline for her story. Don't worry though, I won't abandon Gwyn's journey! I'm not even going to let myself write anything other than outlines for other stories until I finish this one.
Now without further ado, let us jump back into our tale!
The Company stayed in Rivendell only long enough for Thorin to receive Lord Elrond's guidance on his grandfather's map. Within days of that meeting, the Company set out once more, this time though, Gandalf would be meeting up with them. He had said that he still had business to attend to in Rivendell, but that the rest of the Company should set out without him.
Gwyn was relieved that the time spent in Rivendell had better prepared her for the second leg of the journey. In her pack she carried several rations of dried meat as well as dried fruit; a satchel that Lord Elrond had filled with plants, pastes, and creams, all with healing purposes; and a long length of rope, which she recognized as hithlain from the land of Lothlorien. She surmised by the presence of the hithlain that the Lady Galadriel was in Rivendell, and had given Gwyn the rope. Gwyn anticipated its usefulness, and was forever grateful to the elf-lady for her gift. Gwyn's pack also carried spare arrowheads, and other supplies necessary for crafting arrows, as well as several maps of the lands they would be crossing on their journey to Erebor.
Gwyn was certain that only Fili was more armed than she was, with secret knives stashed everywhere on his person, but she was surprisingly comfortable at the fact that she was no longer helpless in the face of danger. The other members of the Company also seemed relieved that Gwyn could use her new weapons quite skillfully in case things went crossways. Fili and Kili seemed especially pleased at Gwyn's new confidence that came with being able to defend herself and her friends. This newfound confidence frequently resulted in a cheekiness that rivaled Bofur's, much to the delight of the rest of the Company.
After several nights of crossing flat terrain, the Company began climbing a gentle slope into the passes of the Misty Mountains. True to their name, within hours of entering the mountains, the air quickly chilled and grew damp with mist. The Company had to slow their pace to compensate for the decreased visibility and increasingly treacherous terrain. The higher the Company climbed, the worse the weather got, until finally everyone was soaked to the bone with cold rain. When Gwyn muttered under her breath about the chill the dwarves began laughing at her misery.
"I thought rain like this was a mild spring shower in your homeland?" Dori remarked with a small smirk.
"It does rain a great deal where I come from, but that doesn't mean I can't complain about being cold and wet," Gwyn retorted, dark hair clinging to her face in wet strings, even though she wore the leather coat and cloak that Lord Elrond had gifted to her, and the hood of the cloak was pulled up to cover her head. "Although I suppose we should all be glad it is only raining and not snowing as is common in the mountain passes near my home," Gwyn said. The rest of the Company nodded in agreement that indeed, their situation could be worse.
Soon though, the Company's situation did, in fact, grow worse, and they were stuck in the middle of a thunderstorm while crossing the High Pass of the Misty Mountains. The wind whipped around the Company as they struggled to see where they were going through the driving rain along a ledge that was barely wide enough for one person to pass unhindered. Thorin called out to the rest of the members of the Company that they needed to find shelter quickly.
"No shit," Gwyn muttered, before parts of the mountain began raining down on the Company. Everyone cowered against the side of the mountain, and Fili and Kili both tried to shield Gwyn in her position between the two brothers. Balin shouted that they were in the middle of a thunder battle, rather than a thunderstorm. As Bofur realized that the combatants were stone giants, Gwyn grabbed the back of his coat, just in time to haul him back away from the edge of the ledge they were on as more rocks rained down on the Company.
Suddenly, the "mountain" they were on began shifting and standing up, and Gwyn and the rest of the Company realized they were perched on the knees of a third stone giant. The stone giant's legs began to move apart as the thing moved to join the fray. From her position between Fili and Kili, Gwyn found that she was straddling the growing space between the giant's legs. Her eyes grew wide and just as the was about to lose her balance and plunge to the foot of the mountains Kili grabbed her hands and Fili pushed on her shoulders, sending her sprawling straight into Kili. The two landed hard against the side of the mountain, but luckily did not lose their balance enough to send them over the cliff. However, they had to watch, helpless, as the stone giant that the second half of the Company was riding collapsed against the mountain, felled by a boulder thrown by another giant. Kili let out a hoarse shout when the giant fell to the base of the mountain, no evidence of the hitchhikers on its knees. The remaining members of the Company surged forward, relieved when they saw their kin leaning against the side of the mountain, relatively unharmed.
"Where's Bilbo?" Bofur asked. While everyone was looking for the hobbit, Gwyn fetched the hithlain from her pack. Just as she was unwinding the rope, she heard Bilbo's shout from over the edge of the cliff. Thinking quickly, Gwyn threw one end of the rope down to him, and the other end she passed along the line of dwarves, and working together they pulled the hobbit to safety, although Thorin had jumped down to give the Halfling a boost over the edge. Bilbo quickly released his end of the rope, which Gwyn tossed to Thorin, and the Company repeated the process to haul Thorin back.
The Company soon took shelter in a cave they found. Gwyn was quite nervous, realizing that this cave was the Front Porch to Goblin Town. Without divulging that information, Gwyn urged the dwarves to keep searching for a different cave to shelter in. Thorin silenced her, saying that he would not risk the lives of the Company again, simply because a young girl was uneasy. Gwyn swallowed any further protestations, knowing that Thorin would continue to ignore her. Gwyn settled into a corner of the cave, placed where she could see both the back of the cave and the entrance.
Since the Company was no longer moving, they quickly grew even more chilled than they had been trudging through the rain. Gwyn, in her corner, began to shiver quite violently. Fili and Kili heard the girl's teeth chattering loudly, and began to help Gloin prepare a fire, until Thorin declared that there was not to be a fire that night. Not wanting to argue, the brothers went over to where Gwyn was huddled up trying not to freeze. They sat closely on either side of her, lending her their warmth. Gwyn smiled at them and muttered her gratitude through the chattering of her teeth.
"Well, we wouldn't want our princess to catch cold," Kili said with a grin, while Fili smiled at her. The other members of the Company heard this exchange, and they all traded significant glances with each other, but none of them questioned the young dwarf's particular word choice. Gradually though, the dwarves began to drift off to sleep, and Gwyn herself grew drowsy nestled between the warm bodies of Fili and Kili. She was vaguely aware of movement across the cave and a conversation between Bofur and Bilbo. When she heard Bofur ask the hobbit why his sword was glowing, though, Gwyn snapped to alertness, jostling her guardians on either side of her. Within moments of Gwyn's abrupt awakening, Thorin noticed the sandy floor of the cave falling away and yelled for the others to wake up. When the floor fully collapsed, it sent the Company tumbling arse over tea kettle, before landing on a rickety platform, surrounded by goblins. Gwyn caught Thorin's eye and flashed him a look that clearly said "I warned you we should have sheltered in another cave." The dwarf huffed, irritated at the fact that the girl was proven right, again.
The Company was vastly outnumbered, but that didn't stop them from fighting against the goblins herding them along a path. Eventually, the Company was stopped before a massive, crudely made throne. Atop the throne sat the biggest, ugliest goblin any of the Company had ever seen. He was singing a horrible song, dreadfully off key, accompanied by discordant bunch of "musical" instruments. When Gwyn looked at the creature though, she was intensely reminded of a particularly odious ex-boyfriend of hers, and these thoughts made her snicker. Her laughter had the unintended consequence of drawing the attention of the Great Goblin to the girl.
"What do we have here? A girl traveling with dwarves? And it looks as though she's the youngest member of the rag-tag bunch. Bring her here!" the Great Goblin called to his minions. Several hands grabbed at Gwyn from her position in the middle of the group. While the dwarves fought against the hands holding them back from getting between Gwyn and the Great Goblin, Gwyn went along relatively willingly, knowing that she would only make the situation worse for herself and her friends.
With a raised eyebrow, Gwyn addressed the Great Goblin, "So what are you planning on doing to me? Are you going to make me squawk, so that the others talk? Are you going to use the Bone Breaker on me? Or what about the Mangler? Are you going to use that?" The dwarves behind her began shouting at the goblins not to touch a hair on her head, but the Great Goblin was noticeably becoming angry at the lack of fear in the face of this tiny little girl. Gwyn smirked at the Goblin, enjoying his frustration.
The Great Goblin turned to address the dwarves. "Tell me why you came into my kingdom armed as you were, and I might let the bitch live." At this, the goblins holding Gwyn tightened their grips on her, and the goblins holding Fili and Kili struggled to maintain their grips on the princes. Gwyn looked at the dwarves and shook her head minutely. They remembered her quick thinking with the wargs before, sending them off in different directions, and the dwarves knew that Gwyn's mind was busily churning through different ways to free the Company. When the goblins noticed Thorin's sword, Orcrist, however, everything went to hell.
The goblins cried out in fear at the elven blade, and they began beating the dwarves. Thinking faster than she ever had before, Gwyn remembered how the Great Goblin's voice had echoed on the last notes of his "song," and a rough plan formed. She quickly took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and released the loudest, longest scream of her life, which echoed painfully shrilly around the cavern. The goblins all released their holds on the dwarves, the girl, and their weapons in favor of clapping their hands over their ears. Just as Gwyn was about to run out of air, Gandalf appeared in a blinding flash of light, further dazing the goblins. The dwarves took up arms, and began fighting their way to freedom.
As the Company began making their escape, Gwyn unsheathed her twin swords and gracefully cut down goblins in the way. Dwalin and Thorin led the way, clearing the path of goblins, but all members of the Company were engaged in battle against the enemies that vastly outnumbered them. At one point, the Company's way was blocked by more goblins than could be cut down. Thinking quickly once again, Gwyn grabbed one of the torches lighting the way, and approached Nori.
"I've seen you drinking something from that hip flask of yours along this journey. Is it alcohol of some kind?" she asked.
"It is, but I'd wager it's stronger than you're used to," the thief answered warily, holding out the aforementioned flask.
"That's perfect. I don't plan on drinking it!"
Just as the dwarf was about to protest, Gwyn took a mouthful of the liquor, and facing the goblins, held the torch out in front of her and sprayed the liquor through the flames of the torch, burning the goblins barring the path. The way cleared, the Company took off running again, until the Great Goblin himself stood in their way. Once Gandalf had dispatched the foul creature, the rickety bridge the Company was standing on collapsed underneath the strain. Everyone was jostled about painfully, until the structure hit the floor of the cave with a crash.
"Well that could've been worse," Bofur said, cheerfully. As he finished saying that, the corpse of the Great Goblin fell on top of the dwarves.
"Speak for yourself, Bofur. You're not stuck underneath everyone!" Gwyn snapped, voice rough from her scream and then the burning alcohol she had taken from Nori. Sure enough, as the dwarves began freeing themselves, Gwyn was still trapped.
"If you lot intend for me to save your arses again, I'm going to need some help here…I can't move!" Gwyn was wriggling about, trying to loosen the rubble trapping her, but it wouldn't budge. Fili and Kili rushed forward, and working together with Gwyn, Bofur, Dwalin, and Gloin, they managed to pull Gwyn free.
Looking up, Kili noticed the goblins swarming down to continue the fight with the dwarves. He drew the others' attention to the goblins, and the Company began running again, this time heading for the literal light at the end of the tunnel. Once the Company reached the fresh air, they slowed to a stop. Gwyn was coughing harshly, still winded from being trapped underneath rubble, dwarves, and a dead goblin king. She sat down, and Fili handed her his waterskin, which she took gratefully. After a few mouthfuls of the cool water soothed her burning throat, she turned to Nori.
"What the hell was in that flask of yours? It was worse than the moonshine my mother made me try once!" Gwyn's voice was still rough, and her throat still burned, but it was further calmed by another drink of water.
"Oh that? It's my special recipe. I distill the spirits myself," Nori said with a sly smirk.
"So, basically it's dwarvish moonshine. Remind me to NEVER drink that again!" The dwarves laughed at her reaction, until Gandalf noticed that Bilbo was missing. Looking around, no one could see any sign of the hobbit.
"I'll you where he's gone. The Halfling has gone back to the Shire. He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and warm hearth since he left home. He's long gone by now," Thorin stated with a sneer.
"You underestimate Bilbo. He'll be back. I know it," Gwyn argued. Just then, Bilbo himself appeared, and Gwyn tossed another I told you so look at Thorin. Gwyn smiled when Bilbo explained why he came back and gave him a hug.
"I'm glad you came back, Bilbo, I never doubted that you would," Gwyn said.
"What's wrong with your voice? You sound like you've swallowed nails and they're stuck and rattling around in your throat," the hobbit said, concerned.
"Yeah, that might have been because I was screaming to distract the goblins so that we could try and escape," the girl said, with one of her now characteristic smirks.
"That was you? I heard that down at the roots of the mountain!" Bilbo was amazed at the volume the girl's voice had reached him at.
The dwarves began laughing and complaining that their ears were still ringing, to which Gwyn responded, "Well it worked, didn't it? We are free of the goblins now!" and as she said that, the Company heard the howls of wargs.
"Out of the frying pan," Thorin said.
"And into the fire, run. RUN!" Gandalf shouted.
The Company quickly scrambled up into the trees clinging to the cliff that the wargs had chased them to. Holding herself steady against the trunk of the pine she, Fili, Kili, Thorin, and Bilbo were hidden in, Gwyn watched as an orc, none other than Azog the Defiler, began taunting Thorin. Gwyn could see the disbelief, fear, loathing, and anger Thorin felt cross his face. Looking at the orc, Gwyn felt her stomach drop at the cruelty in his face. His warg too, looked just as cruel as its master.
The rest of the warg pack were throwing their weight against the trunks of the trees the Company were hiding in, trying to knock them down. Gandalf came up with the idea of tossing flaming pinecones to the ground around the trees, forming a barrier to block the wargs. He began to distribute the projectiles to the dwarves and Bilbo, all of whom began to throw the pinecones as hard as they could. Looking at the situation, and seeing Azog and his white warg watching the scene before them, Gwyn had an idea. She drew an arrow from her quiver and asked Gandalf to light it from the pinecone in his hands. The wizard raised his eyebrows at the request, but he acquiesced nonetheless. Putting the now flaming arrow to her bow, Gwyn drew back past the usual release point, overdrawing the bow. Taking aim, Gwyn loosed the arrow and gave a triumphant shout when it hit its target – the chest of Azog's warg. The beast began to panic as the flames licked at its fur, unseating the pale orc.
The orc roared a challenge at the warg, which cowered before its master's fury. The beast dropped to the ground, allowing Azog to re-mount the warg, and extinguishing the flames simultaneously. Gwyn was rather pleased to see that the warg's chest was badly burned, weakening it. As the trees, first weakened by the wargs, and further weakened by the fire at their bases began to topple, the members of the Company began leaping from tree to tree, until all 16 members were clinging to one tree on the very edge of the cliff. As that tree began to slant over the cliff, Thorin stood tall and drew Orcrist from its sheath. Grabbing his oak shield with his left hand, the dwarf began striding towards the pale orc, who grinned malevolently. Thorin picked up his pace until he was sprinting to meet his enemy. Azog urged his warg into a leap that caught Thorin mid-air. The beast knocked the dwarf off his feet and turned as Thorin began to stand to meet the charge again. This time, the warg clamped its jaws around Thorin, drawing a pained cry from his lips. The stoic dwarf cried out every time the warg bit down around his body, until the beast finally tossed him aside.
As Azog ordered one of the other orcs to decapitate Thorin, Bilbo charged to protect the leader of the Company. Gwyn smiled at the ferocity of Bilbo's attack on the orc about to kill Thorin. Encouraged by the Halfling's bravery, the rest of the Company raced to face their enemies. As she ran, Gwyn unsheathed her twin swords, deciding to use them separately in this battle. Gwyn began twirling her swords around, cutting down orcs and wargs with every pass of her blades. One opponent though, did manage to land a hit on Gwyn, which sent her reeling momentarily, though she quickly recovered enough to kill the offender.
Soon, great eagles began swooping in on the Company and their enemies. The eagles kicked up the flames with their wings, they tossed the wargs over the cliffs, and when the enemies were on the run, the eagles began scooping up the dwarves before flying away. Gwyn somehow found herself on the back of the same eagle with Fili and Kili, and the three quickly fell asleep huddled together on the back of the great eagle. Too soon though, the eagles began landing on top of a Carrock.