Guest: Thanks for letting me know!
Ohmicrofilm: I honestly feel spoiled myself! It's pretty rare that I'm able to write this many chapters so quickly. Usually, the inspiration flutters away after the third.
nemeisswan: Another wonderful long review! I love it when I get long ones. They make me feel so special. I've always liked Fili for the character traits that you mentioned. It just always seemed to me like he was trying to walk alongside his uncle but at the same time torn between the life that he had grown up with his brother and the one that his uncle was fighting for. But maybe that's me embellishing. I'm a writer so I like to do that quite a bit.
Jillian Baade: Close but no cigar! Half-elf half-dwarf.
Sweet Petit: Oh my god, I love you for reviewing!
Crystal-Wolf: Thank you! I feel like I've seen you around some of my other stories... Am I hallucinating?
Chapter 11: The Last Homely House East of the Sea...
Grasslands lay just beyond the forest hills, sprawling away from the mountains that we had just come from Few trees decorated the rolling hills that stuttered down into the valley below with a spackling of boulders that looked like they had been scattered there by accident.
To say that we were outnumbered and at a severe disadvantage would be an understatement. The terrain was hellish to navigate with little coverage and steep inclines that made it hard to run through. In other words-
"We're fucked," Nori said bluntly, his face blank as we hid behind an outcropping of rocks. In the distance, I could hear the manic chortle of the brown-robed wizard as his rabbits thumped along, diverting some of the attention from the rather large group of dwarves along with an over-sized wizard and a rather nimble hobbit.
Dori gasped, his hands flying to his mouth as he stared at our middle brother. "What kind of barbarian have you become?"
Nori's eyes were almost bored as he turned to our eldest brother, motioning around to the open fields around us. "Sorry, brother that my vocabulary isn't as big as your own."
I sighed, rolling my eyes as up ahead, I saw Dwalin send us a glare. We were by far the noisiest part of the group, in constant scabbles with each other. Not to mention that Ori kept overrunning, making us drag him back with a consistency that made me want to strangle him.
"Our mother would be very disappointed," Dori informed Nori, wagging a finger at him. Which only seemed to make my middle brother more defiant.
Nori's nose wrinkled as he gave Dori a sneer. "Well thank Mahal that you're here to do it for her, you prissy little-"
Gloin reeled around, nearly tackling Fili and I as he tried to tackle any one of my brothers. "Will you shut your gobs?!"
There was a moment of silence as all three of my brothers stared at the red-haired man before Dori gave an indignant sniff. "Well isn't someone's beard in a twist."
"Yeah, keep your beads in," Nori said childishly, sticking out his tongue as Gloin snarled, a vein in his face popping as he took a menacing step forward. Fili pressed me to the rock, his chest skimming mine as he kept a watchful eye on both Gloin and the front of the party where his uncle and brother were. Unwanted, my heart gave a flutter, giddiness only a short leap away as his familiar warmth and scent enveloped me like a welcome hug.
"Itkitî!" Thorin growled and immediately everyone shut their mouths, instead deciding to gesture emphatically at each other in iglishmêk.
"Your brother is right," Fili said, his voice deep and calm as he turned his head to stare down at me. His eyes twinkled as his chest skimmed along mine, making it hard to breathe. "We are fucked."
I rolled my eyes. "Charming and helpful."
He gave me a wink, smirking.
A howl rent the air, the sound of gnashing teeth echoing through the valley eerily.
"All of you, quickly," Gandalf bellowed, his eyes hooded as he gestured toward the next boulder that we needed to go to.
Fili's fingers curled through mine, his eyes shuttering, his face sobering as he all but towed me along. My breath sawed unevenly in and out, my lungs burning as I felt my stomach jolt uncomfortably. Normally, I was one of the fastest of the group, my slightness making me lighter on my feet than the others.
But my treatment had taken more than I had originally expected out of me, making my body wither with every dash to safety that we had to endure.
It was almost pathetic how FIli had to drag me along, my steps stumbling and clumsy as we stayed firmly in the middle of the pack. He noticed too. I could tell by the tightening of his jaw, the way that he kept looking back at me. He knew that I was weakening.
And he also knew that I couldn't do this for much longer.
"Other way," Dwalin snarled, forcibly turning Ori toward a different boulder as one of the Wargs and it's orc rider cut off from the group chasing after the brown-robed wizard. Quickly, we all skittered behind it.
Fili's grasp was firm but gentle as he pressed me to the rock, his body cocooning me in. His eyes ran over me quickly, catching on the sweat that was dampening my brow. At my side, his fingers flexed on the hilt of his blade, his head tipping closer so that he could whisper into my ear.
"Are you okay?"
Did I really look that worn out? That wasn't a good sign. My bandaged arm was throbbing dully, sweat collecting around the cloth and making my injuries sting softly.
I swallowed around a pant, giving him my best smile. "I can make it."
His eyes glimmered a sharp blue as they ran over my face. "That wasn't what I asked."
"Psst," a voice hissed, brows furrowing, Fili and I glanced to the side, catching sight of both Nori and Dori speaking quickly in iglishmêk, their hands almost blurring. Nori's brows were an angry slash across a thunderstorm expression as I focused in on what he was saying. Five feet apart. Five feet apart.
Dori, I assumed was saying a rendition of the same thing. Luckily I was saved from having to answer by the scrape of claws too close to be anything but terrifying. Fili's breath drew in quickly, his grip tightening even further on his sword as he pressed me closer to the rock. The furs around his collar tickled my face, the metal of his belt pressing into my abdomen. The district sound of a warg scenting the air reached my ears.
Up ahead, I saw Thorin turn, his hands moving quickly and silently as he turned to Kili. Fili's mouth thinned, his adam's apple bobbing as his eyes lasered in on the action. My breathing slowed to a crawl as Kili gently notched an arrow into his bow. It would take one call from either the rider or the beast for the rest of the pack to be on us. Fili's hand curled into mine, the callouses there from years of training and hard labor scraping along my own. His eyes searched mine out, the message clear. Kili wouldn't be able to completely mute both of them with only one shot like this. The next few moments would be a mad dash - I gulped, sudden fear gripping me. To where? Gandalf hadn't told us. Even Thorin didn't know.
He shook his head, his hand squeezing down on me, centering me for a moment. Those striking, sure eyes burned into mine. We would run as fast as we could and we would trust in the wizard. And we would survive. Because we had to. I took a long, calming breath as Fili let go of my hand, his fingers going up to grab ahold of a few tangled strands of my hair, bright and burning in the afternoon light. His eyes stayed locked on mine as he brought it to his lips, kissing it with a reverence that took my breath away. This man - my heart constricted - I could love this man, I realized with a blinding sort of clarity.
The dying shriek of the warg pierced the air as Kili's arrow sent both rider and beast to the ground, the call haunting in its shrillness. Even with the combined swiftness of three of the dwarves, the orc let out a scream before he slumped to the ground.
And then as if replying, there was a cacophony of howls, their voices combining and warping into a vengeful song.
"MOVE!" Gandalf roared. I didn't need to look where his gaze was turned to know that the full force of the orcs was bearing down on us. I could hear it. Fili's eyes met mine a moment before we were both sprinting in the opposite direction, taking the steep hills at a jarring pace. "RUN!"
I didn't have time to breathe. I didn't have time to look behind me at the mass of death that was slowly but surely creeping towards us. My arm throbbed steadily, sweat coating my back and neck like I had been running for days and not only a short amount of time. My legs sagged in exhaustion but in that exhaustion, there was comfort, the comfort of knowing that this wouldn't stop and that it wasn't an option to sit down and have a nap. I found a rhythm, one that wouldn't last long but was powerful in its agony. I dodged past the others, gaining ground as I let my body turn over to an automatic response.
"This way!" Gandalf yelled, veering sharply to the right as we went into the high, wheaty grass of the planes beyond. I was right behind him, my sides aching as behind me I heard the familiar stomping of the dwarves. The flash of dark hair and heavy armor caught my attention, my eyes catching on Thorin's as he gritted down, his eyes flashing around at the hills around, wargs dotting them like gruesome hallucinations.
His eyes drifted to my arm and then to my face, taking in the gray pallor for a moment before connecting with mine again. "I want you directly behind Gandalf, Tori. Don't fall back to fight."
I blinked, surprise making me momentarily forget about the oncoming threat and my own pain. The only reason he would have me in the back… I gritted down, nodding as I picked up my pace. It would be stupid to have me in the back when I didn't have weapons and my dominant hand was injured. In fact, it would be near suicidal and a detriment to the back defenses. Right now the only reason I was still going and was faster than even Kili was because of my elven blood - one of the only times I was happy for it if I were being honest with myself.
In a way - an odd, completely unexpected way - Thorin was trying to keep me alive.
I sprinted up ahead, catching up with Gandalf's earth-eating strides and passing him up as he skidded to a stop atop a crest in the valley, his eyes searching desperately along the area before landing on a crumble of rocks all clustered together as if leaning into each other for support.
"What are you looking for?" I asked, half desperate to be of some assistance as the others caught up, Fili's blonde hair glinting like gold as he took up a position at the edge. They had made a feeble circle around the rock that Gandalf had all but trapped us into.
The wizard searched desperately along the mossy rock, his staff tap, tap, tapping against the stone. His eyes flicked to me briefly before he shook his head, bending down and diving between two of them. "You wouldn't like the answer, Madame dwarf."
I snarled, almost yanking him back by the scruff of his hood as Thorin gave a cry and the sound of weapons being drawn filled the air. And then approaching quickly, the chomping of teeth and yells of black speech. "Your secrets will end us, you stubborn, old bat."
A voice stuttered out from deep between the rocks, harrumphing indignantly. "Old?"
"WE'RE SURROUNDED!" Fili screamed. I whipped around. I didn't have time to play his feeble games. If we were to die then I at least would do so with a blade in my hands.
"TORI!" Nori called and I turned just in time to catch a long, wickedly curved blade. I stared down at it dumbly for a moment. It was ridiculously light, barely a wisp of a thing with a whip of elven letters running from hilt to tip. I nearly dropped it right then and there.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" I screamed indignantly, adjusting my grip as I took a ready stance between Bofur and Gloin and feeling an answering zing of pain as I tightened my fingers around the hilt. The thing felt foreign in my hands, making me feel disjointed and awkward in a way that was highly unnerving considering that a snarling warg had just crested the hill in front of me.
"IT WAS ALL I COULD FIND!" Nori called back. Angry and unnerved, I yanked out the small dagger from my boot, feeling a fraction better to have two weapons in my grip, even if one was making my hand feel like it was being stomped on by a million horses.
Gloin gave a resentful roar as the warg stalked a bit closer, his ax slashing out with a brutality that nearly cut straight through its shoulder and into its chest. I lurched forward, finishing it off by driving my sword into the soft underside of its jaw. Blood splattered across my arm, soaking through my bandages as I jerked it free.
"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Thorin roared and there was a finality there that made my heart sink. For a moment, my eyes strayed to the side before I forced them back to the open plains in front of me. I resisted the overwhelming urge to look for my brothers or Fili. My jaw set against the agony of having to stay still, keeping my eyes where they needed to be.
"Baruk Khazâd!" Gloin roared, his hand reaching for a moment into his vest and clutching tight to something before he was steadying himself.
"Khazâd ai-mênu!" Bofur and I finished, a deep sense of dread sinking into my bones as I watched three more riders and their mounts stalk across the grass in front of me, somehow looking immensely smug as they neared.
The howling grew to a crescendo.
"THIS WAY, YOU FOOLS!" Gandalf roared from somewhere behind me. I gulped as the wargs in front of us stilled for a moment, catching sight of whatever Gandalf had found before leaping forward.
The sound of the rest of the others retreating filled my ears moments before the wargs were on me.
"Mahal," Bofur cursed softly as I rolled, biting down on a yell as I felt the brush of the wargs underbelly sailing over me moments before I slashed my sword up and held as it cut it's stomach clean open.
Beside me, two identical cries of wargs dying brutal deaths echoed.
"TORI!" Fili growled as I stumbled to my feet. Gloin and Bofur were already darting toward the rock entrance, the wargs creeping closer as they saw us disappearing quickly within the cave. Shakily, I slipped my sword into the belt at my back, starting for Fili.
Thorin stood just at the entrance, his sword drawn and his teeth flashing in a snarl as he took out any warg or orc that drifted a bit too close to the entryway. My legs almost gave out as I forced any remaining strength into my last, desperate dash. I didn't slow down, Fili's arms yanking me into his chest as we tumbled down, down into the dark, chill of a rock cave.
He gave a grunt as we slid down, slamming into a rock wall as he turned, taking the brunt of the stop in his back. I gulped in a breath, my legs tangled up in his. Slowly, his eyes blinked down at me, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "Hello."
A rush of relief and happiness burst through my chest - a completely irrational rush of emotion since I could still hear the wargs just above. But I couldn't help it, my fingers curling into the downy fur of his jacket. An irrational smile curled my lips. "Hello."
The moment was short-lived.
Someone's body slammed into my back, making Fili and I gasp as a thick layer of dust sprayed over us. Kili gave a grunt, his body all but on top of us as he shook out his curls and gave a goofy smile. "Nice to be alive, aye?"
Fili snarled, kicking at him. "Get off, you oaf."
Before he could, however, another body came rolling down the chute, slamming into Kili who in turn landed on top of us again. I groaned, my arm definitely screaming in agony as I waited for Thorin to get up, his face pulled into an expression of bored regality. Looking around imperiously, he straightened his coat.
"You two are cute," Kili whispered conspiratorially giving me a wink as he leveled himself off.
Fili almost tackled me again as he tried to strangle him, his teeth bared in a snarl that resembled Thorin's as he had faced down the wargs only moments before.
"Good." Fili helped me up with a practiced grace, his eyes still glued to his brother as they whispered violently to each other in khuzdul. Dori looked me over with a critical eye, straightening some of my braids. "You didn't do anything stupid."
I let out a huff, wincing as Ori fretted over my bandaged arm. "Are those the standards?"
"If we had high ones then they would be useless now wouldn't they?" Nori said matter of factly. A great roar broke through the air above, echoing down to us.
My eyes narrowed, my breath stalling for a moment as I turned my full attention to the daylight filtering down to us. "What-"
A horn blared moments before a warg and orc rider toppled through the entrance, landing in a tumble into the middle of the group. I gaped, catching sight of an arrow protruding crudely from its chest. Dead, obviously dead. But…
Thorin ripped it out, his eyes narrowing as he scanned over the arrowhead before he let out a disgusted snarl, his eyes immediately lasering in on where Gandalf stood. "Elves."
I slunk to the wall, my stomach turning as my brothers shuffled a bit closer, their expressions guarded. A step away, Fili's eyes tried to catch my eyes but I avoided him, dep insecurity rising up like a wave. I flinched back as Nori's eyes caught mine, his hand reaching out to squeeze my shoulder.
So many years ago, there had been a reason why I had left the Blue Mountains and over the time that I had been gone, I suppose that I had convinced myself that it was to see the wide world beyond. But now, standing in this small enclosure, staring down at an orc who had been killed by an elf - and know, dreading that that elf and I might meet and that they could know something, anything about my parents - I flinched, my stomach turning.
Cotton filled my longs, making it hard for me to breath, something like panic making my skin itch. Suddenly, all the things that made me different came roaring to the forefront. I could feel the frailty in my arms and legs. I remembered all those times that Dwalin had forced me to spar with other children, how easily they had knocked me down. I flinched away from Fili's stare. Even he had at one point - regardless on whatever madness had overtaken him in my absence.
"I cannot see where the pathway leads," Dwalin shouted and it was then that I realized that the cave had an exit, a thin little pathway cut out of the rocks that cut sharply out of sight. Sweat dampened my neck. "Do we follow it?"
Don't, my mind screamed.
"Tori, you don't look too well," Ori was murmuring to me, his fingers flitting along my sweaty nape, the lack of color seeping into my lips. I didn't answer him, my stomach giving a threatening roll as Bofur yelled for Dwalin to follow the bend and the others hurried after.
"This isn't a good idea," I heard Nori whispering urgently to Dori but I wasn't paying them any attention, my feet dragging along the stone pathway as if I was floating along within a dream. A deep sort of hatred beat hotly beneath my breast - the hatred that only someone who's been cut off from their heritage can only know. I felt it like the beat of a dozen birds, raging and pecking at my ribs. I hated them and yet I yearned to be with them. "She's only seen elves in passing - never spoken to one. She's not prepared-"
Daylight hit my face, soft and sure as I rounded the corner. My mind spun dully as my eyes caught on the gentle spires of stone, the graceful arches that made up the stone walls. Water streamed from the mountains surrounding it, the town snuggled into the curve of a great river. It was lovely and peaceful in a way that made angry tears prick at my eyes. Did they know about my parents? Was one of them right there, living quietly in that delicate beauty while I had been left to die on the outskirts of some mortal hovel? When I had been born had either of them struggled with the decision? Or had they agreed instantly?
"Lady Tori." I blinked, shocked at the feel of tears as they slid down my cheeks, the way that my lips trembled. Bilbo stood beside me, his face blurred but concerned. "My lady, do you - are you quite alright?"
I didn't answer him, feeling raw and ashamed as the others turned towards me. I hated them. I hated this place. I hated the reminder, the ache in my own skin as every breath of air against the points of my ears reminded me that I was different. And then there was Fili and Thorin - Oh Mahal, I couldn't look at them. Their faces were too open, too wide with pity like gaping holes that might swallow me.
"Why did you bring us here?" My voice rang, piercing across the massive expanse of air as I whirled to Gandalf, my teeth bare even as I felt more tears force their way out.
"Tori darling-" I shook off my brother's grip, taking a step toward the towering figure of the wizard, his eyes sad in a way that made me want to tear my skin off.
Slowly, his mouth opened but before he could say anything Thorin cut him off. "This was your plan. To seek refuge with our enemies."
I flinched, my breath hitching at the declaration. Yes. Enemy. All elves were enemies to Durin's folk.
"Stop," Fili snarled, suddenly, fiercely, his eyes blazing as he picked his way toward me. His face was pulled into an expression of rage, his brows drawing together. "You forget yourself."
A moment of stiff silence filled the air as the uncle and nephew stared at each other, both of them mighty in their own ways. Like a lion raising against a panther. Finally, Thorin relented, his head tipping down in a silent consent.
"I am sorry, Tori," Thorin murmured, his eyes considering as they ran over me. "I didn't think before I spoke." I blinked, taken aback. He - the king had just apologized… to me. I gaped. With barely more than a final nod, Thorin turned back to Gandalf. "Do you really think that they will give us their blessing? They will try to stop us."
Gandalf scoffed. "Of course they will but we have questions that need answered." My insides churned once more, my gaze darting between Thorin and Gandalf skittishly. For once, I wished that Thorin was correct. I wanted to stay in Rivendell even less than I wanted to see orcs again. "If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tact. And respect. And no small degree of charm." His eyes snapped between Thorin and I which was more of an honor than I thought I would be given. To think that I was a threat to our peaceful greeting and expulsion from the elves to the level of our king was high praise. "Which is why you will leave the talking to me."
And with a final haughty tip of his chin, Gandalf swung away.
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