Bella left about a month before the dwarves arrived at her door

Bella hummed absently as she wandered through Rivendell. She was glad for a place to rest, after being rained upon for several days and then coming across the ruins of a house that had been recently burned down, she was positively drained and ready for a respite. Sure, she was used to adventuring more than the other hobbits, especially now, but that didn't mean she could ever get used to seeing the loss in other places of the world.

She had stayed nearby the farmhouse for a couple hours during the day, healing the land around it as it cried out, but then the hum of the earth changed to something more frantic and had started to reject her magic. Bella had only had that happen to her once before, and she knew she would only waste her energy if she continued trying to heal the land. She then heard whispers of danger, get out, they're coming, and sent another pulse of her magic down, letting the land know she understood before hustling out of there.

When the earth spoke, she listened.

As it was, she had still had a couple of hours of sunlight left so she made the most of it and continued on her way, hiking her way over plains before finally finding the road that would lead her to Rivendell, the Last Homely House East of the Sea. Once she had arrived and paid homage to Lord Elrond himself, she was shown to the room she always stayed in during her visits to clean up in.

Bella had no idea how long she had stayed in the bathtub, scrubbing herself clean and then just soaking. She certainly stayed in until the water went cold before dragging herself out and lying down on her bed to pass out.

That was the day before, and now Bella was admiring the sights of Rivendell. She was taking the day to rest and restock supplies before leaving the next morning. Already, there were elves who were kind enough to offer gathering foods and extra clothing for her and Bella certainly wasn't going to turn them down.

"Bella, might I have a word with you?" She blinked up at Lord Elrond in minor confusion before smiling graciously at him. She had apparently been so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed him come up to her.

"Of course, my Lord." She bowed her head before following him to his study.

"Welcome in." He held the door open for her and she smiled up at him in thanks. Once they were seated, Lord Elrond spoke again. "My friend, I am glad to see you alive and in good spirits, as always. When you first arrived yesterday, I was curious as to what drew you away from the Shire this time. You have already healed much of the lands this side of the Misty Mountains; what is it that has called you from your home again?" His eyes were kind, as always, yet they were also troubled in concern for his friend.

"I do not know what has called me. Not entirely, at least. It is farther from the Shire than I have ever been, on the other side of the Misty Mountains. I heard it crying out for me while I was digging in my garden, but it was weak. It was barely strong enough to gather my attention while I was already connected to the earth in my garden, but even doing that must've weakened it considerably. When I stretched my magic out to follow it, I could barely feel it, and when I did…" Bella shuddered and a shadow seemed to cast upon her eyes as she looked up at Elrond. "There was so much darkness there, and pure evil that had permeated through the earth that it nearly overwhelmed me. But there is still hope there, I could feel it, faint though it was. And if there is still some hope to be had… Lord Elrond, I have to try. It would be going against everything I stand for as a hobbit and a child of Yavanna if I just ignored it. I packed and left immediately, hoping to get there as soon as I can to help it." While she spoke, Elrond had clasped his hands together on the desk and furrowed his brow in thought. It was a few moments after she finished that he took a deep breath and spoke.

"The land that you speak of, there is only one place that I can think of that it could be. You are heading towards Erebor, where the dragon Smaug has taken up residence and let evil seep into the lands around it. The Greenwood of old has been affected and is now Mirkwood, thanks to the evil that has been festering there, and it troubles me greatly that you have been called to help it when no one else has even tried."

"I was worried that might be the case. I know Erebor is the more likely reason, especially since it is more East, but why couldn't it be Mordor?" Elrond sighed again, and his voice took on the tone of someone who had seen too much sorrow when he responded.

"The land of Mordor is dead. Even if the entire population of the Shire moved and settled down there, the land would do its best to corrupt them and I imagine that it would succeed against most of the hobbits. Any who survived would be dull and lifeless, merely shells of who they once were, for there is no sunlight there, and nothing green and growing." As he spoke, Bella could feel her gut clenching at the fate of the hobbits if any tried to help the dead land. "And if, by some chance, there was a sliver of life left in the land for the hobbits to latch onto, it would take several years - decades, centuries, or even an entire Age - before they had any effect on it. No, the only place to the East that has even the slightest chance of being healed from that kind of evil is Erebor. It would take longer, but you may even be able to help Mirkwood turn Green again."

Elrond patted her hand where it was set on the desk, and waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts again.

"Right, so I'm being called to help heal the land of Erebor, and possibly Mirkwood. Sure, no problem. Except…" Here, Bella hesitated as she looked back into Elrond's eyes, "didn't you just say there was a dragon currently living there?" At his grave nod, she sighed resignedly. "Right, so, dragon. Gotta figure out a way to get rid of the dragon first. Shouldn't be a problem, right? And that's assuming I make it all the way to the mountain without running into trouble and dying on the way." She groaned and flopped her head on the desk.

"Cheer up, my friend. I will not let you travel for so long through dangerous territories on your own." Bella raised her head up and looked at him in confusion. Elrond smiled at her serenely, but his eyes filled with mirth ruined the facade. "I will be sending a small company of warriors with you to help get through the mountains all the way to Mirkwood, where you will be met with the elves of that region. They will help you through the rest of the way to Erebor."

Bella perked up significantly at that, and thanked him profusely as she left his study to go check on the status of her supplies.

The next morning, she was packed and ready to go as the small company of elven warriors Elrond had promised readied their horses. She herself had a small pony, and while she wasn't thrilled at the idea, she knew it was necessary for speed. She turned to say her thanks and goodbyes to the elven lord before they headed off, only to return who-knows-when. She dipped into a graceful curtsy (even though she was in her traveling trousers she could still be a lady, thank you very much), bowing her head as she did so before rising again.

"Thank you, my Lord, for helping me. I appreciate all of what you've done for me, and continue to do for me." She gestured to the elves around her. "They will be a huge help, I know it. I do not know when I will see you again, but I look forward to it." Elrond knelt in front of her as she spoke, and he placed a warm hand on her shoulder.

"I look forward to our next meeting, Bella Baggins of the Shire. May your travels be swift and painless." At this, Bella stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug as best as she could. Elrond's arms slipped behind her and tightened for a moment, as he whispered in her ear, "Nai Anar caluva tielyanna, Bella." Then he released her and she mounted her pony to start the part of her journey to the Lonely Mountain.

"Tenn' omentielva enta, Lord Elrond." She whispered in response as they rode out of Imladris, towards the Misty Mountains.

The dwarves groaned as they slid off their ponies to set up camp by the ruins they'd found. Thorin and Dwalin immediately set about to check the perimeter and watch for dangers, but ultimately they found nothing. Their check revealing nothing beyond an extraordinarily lush landscape all around, Dwalin went back over to help his brother, the wizard quickly taking his spot near the King-in-exile.

"A farmer and his family used to live here." The wizard began to warn Thorin to move on, when something on the ground caught their eyes.

"What the…" Thorin couldn't believe what he was seeing, while the wizard merely rubbed his chin with a muttered, "interesting". Thorin called Dwalin back over, something in his voice causing the warrior to quicken his steps.

"What's going on?" A few of the other dwarves had trailed after Dwalin, curiosity getting the better of them, but all of them stopped in surprise at what they saw.

What they thought had been an unusually green landscape around fresh ruins turned out to lead into something much more impressive. There was a veritable sea of grass back behind the building, with only boulders to break it up like islands peaking out. Somehow, the grass had grown taller and wilder back here than anywhere else along the way so far, reaching up to the dwarves' waists, and in the distance they could see bushes as tall as trees, and trees even taller still. The gentle slope behind the farmhouse had hidden most of it from sight as they had approached from the front. They could see enormous flowers everywhere, and as Thorin stepped closer to the grass, several animals sprung out from the tall grass to run off. Birds, rabbits, even a fox or two were there.

"What has happened? Why is the land so different here than everywhere else?" Thorin directed his questions to Gandalf, only to see him assessing the land with narrowed eyes and a noncommittal hum.

"It seems we are not the only ones to have been here." He finally replied, but it did little to stem the confusion from the Company. The rest had finally wandered over after seeing what was taking everyone so long, and the awed mutterings and suspicions from the others only seemed to increase as they all voiced their opinions over the matter. The noise grew as Thorin stared hard at the wizard, until he could finally take no more.

"Enough! Gandalf, explain. What do you mean we are not the only ones to have been here?" Gandalf hummed and rubbed his chin some more in thought before turning back to Thorin and the Company.

"I mean that someone else was here before us, healing the land. All of this land around us has been healed of any evil and disease, allowing it to grow unhindered and wild. And truly, this is not the only place where the land has been purged." The dwarrow were now muttering to themselves in confusion, and Gandalf barely restrained huffing in annoyance. "Didn't you happen to notice, as we've been traveling, that the trails have been more lush and green than any others?" The muttering grew louder and Gandalf sighed. "It means that the path we are following has been traveled by someone, fairly recently it would seem too, who has the ability to heal the land around them."

"Someone has been following our trail, step for step? What is the meaning of this, wizard?" Wizards don't roll their eyes, but it was a very near thing for Gandalf at the demand of Gloin.

Honestly, dwarves.

"It would appear, master dwarf, that you are the ones following their trail, step for step. Although, I do not think they mean anyone any harm, judging by the healed land around us. Nevertheless," he stared hard at Thorin, "I do not think we should stay here. I think it would be wiser to move on towards the Hidden Pass." Thorin glared balefully at him as the other dwarves grumbled and moved away back towards their various assignments around the camp. "We have a map we cannot read; the elves could help us. I know Lord Elrond would be willing to host us for a few days as needed to rest and replenish our supplies."

"I told you already, I will not go there. The elves did not help us when the dragon Smaug came. We will continue on our own as we always have, and when we retake the mountain and the elves come to us claiming friendship, we will give them the same courtesy they gave us."

Gandalf huffed and stormed off, someone calling after him about where he was going, in which he responded about the only one having sense being himself. "I've had enough of dwarrow for one day." Then he was gone, and the dwarves were left to their own devices.

Everything was going well, up until Fili came running back to camp yelling about trolls and horses and Kili, and the dwarves were suddenly up in arms and rushing off to save their wayward foolish prince.

Everything really was going great for the dwarves, so, naturally, it shouldn't have been a surprise that everything went downhill so fast. Both Ori and Kili had gotten captured, and it took a combined effort of Thorin, Dwalin, and Bifur to keep Dori and Nori from attacking the trolls again. Fili was nearly there as well, but Ballin was there to hold him back. Everyone was seething inside as they were tied to a spit or stuffed in sacks. When the trolls started arguing about daylight coming, that's when Bofur had the bright idea to stall for time.

"Wait! You don't want to cook us!"

"You what?" The lead troll came uncomfortably close to the dwarves on the spit, pausing as he did which unfortunately put Bofur directly over the fire to get all sorts of toasty.

"Well I can't very well tell you if I'm stuck in one spot now, can I?" He called over to the trolls, which at least served to get them spinning the spit again. "That's better. Now," he said as soon as he was away from the fire, "you don't want to cook us!"

The troll - Bert - was confused.

"And why not? Dwarves taste lovely when they're cooked and seasoned just right." He sighed dreamily in anticipation for his soon-to-be meal.

"Oh, normally I would agree with ye there; y'see, me brother's a cook and," he paused as he was turned over the fire again, waiting until he was back upright to start speaking again. "And so I know all about how well we dwarves can taste, but that there's the issue." He went over the fire again and came around just in time to see another troll, Tom, pick up Bombur to eat.

"I bet this one's all kinds o' juicy." He licked his lips and Bombur wriggled viciously in his grasp as he was lowered closer to his mouth.

"Especially not that one!" Tom paused and glanced over to where Bofur was still turning around the spit. "He's infected!" He didn't pause this time as he went over the fire, just yelled louder so the trolls could hear him easier. "We all are!" Tom dropped Bombur back to the ground in disgust and the other trolls backed up. Conveniently, this left Bofur on the topside of the spit as it stopped so he had a clear view of the trolls, and an easier time speaking to them. "We've all ate so many other dwarves because we taste so good that we've become riddled with parasites. That's why we're on our own - we were kicked out so we wouldn't infect anybody else. I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't." The others had caught on to his game and called out about their parasites, how big they were, how many, and how badly they would taste.

"So what would you have us do, then? Let you go so you can go eat more dwarves and we're left without any?" The final troll spoke up, getting up close to Bofur and poking him in the chest. Whether that was to emphasize a point or just to test how squishy they still were was anyone's guess, but he continued on, ignoring the yells of the others. "I know what you're up to. The rodent means to take us for fools!"

"Rodent?" Bofur asked, offended.

"Fools?" Ah, it seemed Tom won the competition of who could get the most offended. Darn.

"The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf appeared on a rock just then, splitting it apart to let the sunlight through and turn the trolls to stone. The dwarves cheered and Bofur sighed in relief. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to stall for much longer.

Once all the dwarves were free and the two princes had gotten a stern talking-to, and Bofur got the stink eye from a few of the others, they all went off in search of the troll's horde. There, they found a veritable treasure mine of weapons, gold, and various other bits. Bones were scattered amongst it all and those who had braved the smell and ventured inside the cave were equal parts disgusted and saddened by it.

Then another wizard appeared, seeming even crazier than Gandalf, and then they were running for their lives away from a hunting party of orcs and wargs. The hidden cave in the rocks was a blessing, but it did make the dwarves wary as soon as the elves showed up to take care of the pack. Thorin glared at the wizard as soon as the path opened up to the sight of Rivendell. He knew there was something the wizard was hiding.

Their stay in the elven city was a good respite, although Thorin would ever deny that it had been pleasant. The elves were being particularly poncy and stuck up, and although Lord Elrond was willing to read their map for them, he was anxiously waiting for their chance to leave.

"Erebor…" Lord Elrond looked over at Thorin and Balin with curiosity in his eyes. "What is your interest in this map?" Before they could come up with a plausible excuse, however, Gandalf spoke up.

"It's mainly academic. These old maps, they sometimes contain hidden text. You do still read ancient Dwarvish, do you not?" Elrond looked over at Gandalf, clearly not convinced, but nevertheless held it up to the light. It shimmered and the ancient moon runes appeared.

"Fate is with you, Thorin, son of Thrain. These runes can only be read by the light of the same moon as when they were written. That is in a few day's time. We will reconvene then and I will be able to read the runes for you." He handed the map back to Thorin, eyeing him with some hidden emotion before taking his leave, Gandalf trailing behind him. Thorin and Balin looked at each other in confusion before making their way back to the rest of their companions.

By the time they met again to read the map, their supplies had been restocked and the entire Company was anxious to get underway. Elrond placed the map on his crystal table right as the moonlight shone down, illuminating it, and he read the runes as they appeared.

"'Stand by the gray stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's day will shine upon the keyhole.'" He looked over sharply when Thorin and Balin started discussing how much time they had. "So this is your purpose. To enter the mountain and defeat the dragon Smaug." Thorin shook his head.

"We do not plan to face the wyrm yet, not on our own." Elrond gazed coolly at him, eyes unreadable.

"There are those who would try to stop you in this venture," Thorin began to protest, but Elrond continued speaking, "and there are those who would help you. Whether you are aware of them or not." He spoke cryptically and Thorin narrowed his eyes at the cryptic message. "If you would excuse me, gentlemen, I must be off. There is a meeting of the White Council tonight to discuss the dark happenings of late. We will be occupied for some time." He looked knowingly at the dwarves before leaving. Gandalf looked at them.

"You must sneak out while we are in our meeting if you want to go unnoticed. I will meet you before the Misty Mountains. Do not enter them without me." He warned, before he too left.

Thorin and Balin looked at each other in mild confusion before they went to grab the others. They would be leaving shortly for the Misty Mountains, and everybody needed to be prepared.

Cryptic riddles and answers aside, they only had so much time before Durin's Day. They were on a deadline for this one chance, and they would not miss it.

Nai Anar caluva tielyanna - may the sun shine on your path

Tenn' omentielva enta - until our next meeting.