A/N: Hello, dearest readers, my schedule with three teens at home is definitely NOT being kind to me, or to my ability to write. But here it goes, and a sugar cube to anyone who finds out the name of the charging horse…
More notes at the end of the chapter, especially for my lovely reviewers!
From Nightmare to Waking HellAlong most of the daily rides, Bilbo used to stay near to the ones closest to him. Not that he avoided the Rohirim or Dale folk, it was just… too much changes in his life in recent times had been straining his Baggins portion and he just needed some resemblance of control on his life. Riding after, a.k.a. hunting, a prince, and then a princess, and then an orc pack, was nothing like having any kind of control on his life. Moreover, when after gathering up courage to ask a dwarven princess for the honor of courting her, her insufferable brother starts to make advances he waited a decade to happen.
Or, maybe, he just didn't see it before?
What if Thorin's affection was there all along and he just didn't see it?
"Nah!" Thought Bilbo. "I'm just imagining things. It's not as if Thorin grabbed me at the top of the Carrock as if I were the best piece of cake in his life. Or as if he always stood between me and Beorn as if shielding me from that bear of a man. Or as if…"
He counted the many occasions when Thorin's actions, or even just his smile, were enough to make his knees to weaken. And yet only now, only when he found his courage to ask Dís, "And she agreed!", Bilbo pointed out to himself, did the unbearable dwarf show, dubiously as you could wish it, any kind of…
His musings were cut short by the sound of hooves on the dirt road. One of the scouts was coming back ahead of scheduled time, which could only mean news. Good or bad, was yet to be seen. It was the man of Dale who told the story of the fisherman and the fairy some nights before.
"There's a rider coming this way, my king!"
He declared to Bard, who was riding along his son-in-law Dunwine and Thorin in the forefront of the party. Bilbo watched both kings tensing, and looked at Dís, who rode at his side. The dwarrowdam's eyes narrowed to a slit and her hand reached for the axe fastened to her pony's saddle.
The hobbit swallowed dry and unsheathed Sting just an inch from its scabbard. No sign of blue, which was a relief, but then he almost kicked his own ass mentally when he considered no horse or pony would willingly bear an orc. No orc was it then, at least.
"Are you sure?" Demanded always doubtful Thorin.
"How far do you deem it?" Asked more pragmatic Bard.
Curiously enough, Dunwine just dismounted and put a bare hand on the ground, whilst holding the other up in a sign commanding silence.
A few minutes passed by, with the Rohirrim quiet as mice and signaling the others to keep quiet too. Bilbo was impressed on how the steeds of Rohan kept quiet as their masters, making him to compare the horses of Dale and even the ponies of Erebor to misbehaved fauntlings unable to follow their elders' biddings.
Dunwine turned his attention back from the ground to the ones nearby.
"There's no rider coming."
"Sorry, Lord Dunwine, but I'm sure I heard the hooves!" The man of Dale spluttered, indignant of his skill being put to question.
The Marshal of Rohan stood up to his six-feet five-inches of toned muscle and faced down the man.
"I'm sure you heard hooves, my good fellow, and I don't dispute it. Yet, what I'm saying is that there is no rider, not that there is no horse."
"What do you mean?" Asked Bard, unable to use the given information to quell his worries.
"The pattern is different." Explained Dunwine. "The stride of a horse is like a song. My people say it's Béma's part in the Song of Creation. A horse led by a rider has a certain kind of… rhythm, doesn't matter if trotting, cantering or galloping. A horse that rides free sounds… different." (1)
Not a moment passed from the explanation and the horses of his entourage took peculiar stances, as if waiting for something, or someone. Dunwine's stallion, more than the others, straightened up, nostrils flaring. Bilbo could only watch in disbelief of what he could only classify as consciousness of the strong equines.
"Ablinnan!" (2)
The leader of the Rohan riders shouted, and the neigh of a distraught horse was heard from the dark road before them. The searching party waited, expectantly, for what was to come.
It was a beautiful hazelnut horse.
And it was charging.
=^.^=
Kíli opened his eyes to a ton of grains of sand under his eyelids. His whole body ached, but his back ached more. A specific place in his back, more precisely. He couldn't recall hitting his back onto anything that could give him such pain, and yet…
"Tilda!"
His voice was muffled, but he only noticed it after calling her out irresponsibly. Several layers of soft silky thread around his head explained it. It explained also why he was unable to move, no matter how hard he tried. The dwarf recalled what happened to him, to them, and gritted his teeth to keep despair away.
They had been captured.
"Tilda…"
It was more a soft mutter now, eyes moving from side to side searching for the woman.
He found an elf instead.
"Legolas!"
Said elf opened his eyes, but he was not there. A drugged stare greeted the dwarf, the shadow of a smile haunting the corner of his lips that wasn't covered by spider web.
"Legolas, how can we escape?"
The elf looked from side to side, up and own, and side to side again. Sometimes a maniac smile crossed his stance, but alas! Elves. Kíli didn't expect much more than this, based on his prejudices.
"We're tied. How can we escape?"
Actually, Kíli did expect at least a bit more than this.
"Aye, that's what I asked. Anyway. Do you see Tilda?"
"Tilda…" The elf looked around as if seeing the spirits of the trees around them, or other beings unfathomable to mortal eyes. "The mortal is close to you. Stop struggling against what is inescapable and you'll know."
The talk about inescapable things didn't quite settle in his stomach, but Kíli relegated it as side effect of spider stings. He could tell he himself wasn't completely sane after the poisoning, so, knowing Legolas had been poisoned more than once… Yet, how to stop struggling if he didn't even know how he was struggling?
The elf seemed to know what disturbed the dwarf.
Breathing deep, focusing on being one with the stone under his feet… Doesn't matter how deep bellow the ground the stone really was…
She was there.
Just behind him.
Both cocoons of silken thread tied and hung as one from whatever Mordor-damned tree some orc or whatever creature could imagine.
"Would it be too hard to say she is just behind my back?"
"You claim to love her, was it really that hard to sense her so close to you?"
For once Kíli was glad he was trapped by spider web, else he would strangle the insufferable elf for sure.
"Is it too hard to skip all this chaperone thing and focus on all of us escaping this Mordor-damned spiders? You know, you'll have none to chaperone-pester if we're all dead."
"Oh."
The dwarf was almost sure it was a façade the elf was using to hide his own predicament, being caught by spiders twice in so a little time, but the faraway gaze in Legolas' eyes told of another story.
Kíli decided to act instead of talking to a stoned elf.
There wasn't much he could move, feeling more a worm than a dwarf, but being on the ground was better than the first time those spiders caught him and the whole Company, ten years before. Also, after sensing Tilda was just behind him, his efforts were more focused, even if all he could do was to wriggle inside his cocoon of silk trying to bang his head against Tilda's.
After some effort, a low moan was his prize.
"Tilda? Tilda!"
"Hmmm?"
"Tilda, can you talk to me?"
"What…? M'a sleepy…"
"Tilda, we were…"
The slap of an iron gloved hand to his face interrupted his explanation followed by a harsh voice.
"Now, now… Little birds are prone to chirp, huh? I'll have none of this!"
The orc (for an orc it was, undoubtedly) grabbed Kíli's head and forced it backwards to just bare of snapping.
"Burzurg and his cohort was a band of fools. M'a professional. Ye won't escape that easily again."
Kíli felt a snap just above his head, and fell to the ground. The thud of his body connecting to the layer of leaves on the soil was followed by two more, namely Legolas and Tilda.
"Kraag! Tooka!" The harsh voiced orc shouted out. "Free their legs. None will carry the immolation to their final destiny. Let the blood be bitter."
=^.^=
=^.^= =^.^= =^.^=
(1) Béma: Rohirrim word for Oromë, huntsman and horseman of the Valar.
(2) Old English for 'stop', according to "www dot majstro dot com" Old English Dictionary, in the absence of the practical Rohirrim-English (Westron) dictionary I wasn't able to find.
More Notes:
Blondiezhere, Bilbo is more unwilling to see the truth than really blind; our wayward children are just one step closer to doom, but I promise a happy end;
Mizz Alec Volturi, I'm really happy you liked it, there are more to come!
Jillian Baade, consider Legolas has been repeatedly poisoned, it makes all the difference in this plot; also, I'm sorry I didn't see your reviews had to be moderated, I think I lost them…
Celebrisilweth, on the way, der, on the way…Salwyn77, I'm updating as soon as I can, I swear!
Mustard Lady, I hope he won't take offense, it's just a way to say we want someone always close to us! And, about if things can possibly get any worse… consider my ability to make them suffer before the happy end might or might not be improving with time. Thranduil has his issues against dwarves, but I don't believe he is really that bad; ThatOtherWriterGirl, yep, life is a thing, isn't it? I can relate… Now, Legolas may simply being stubborn and not admitting his pain, side effects of his upbringing, I suppose, and his current situation definitely doesn't help; Tilda and Kíli deserve so much! Mess will be fixed, have faith! Dis Thrainsdotter, I'm so happy to hear from you again! Thank you so much for your patience! Legolas is currently more in need of aid than in condition to aid anyone, but remember Thranduil already found out his son is missing; Welcome on board and have a nice trip, .sneel! I'd love to hear from you, I try my best to answer all reviews, they make me really happy and motivated!