Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 9 of The Second Daughter. We are one chapter now away from the long-awaited Rivendell chaptersThank you to all of those who have reviewed this story so far. All of your reviews have made me want to continue with this story and have made me smile at every turn. This is a good thing seeing the fact that I don't smile often unless I am reading reviews and writing my fanfics. I couldn't wait to write this chapter. I know that some of you are curious if Aranduriel knows Radagast. Well, I have to admit that it was kind of hard for me to figure out if she should know Radagast personally or should only know of him from stories that Gandalf had told her about the Brown Wizard. This is what I came up with for that idea. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I have to admit that this chapter was also fun to write even though there is going to be some chasing and running involved in this chapter. Also, stubborn dwarves have Aranduriel being checked out to make sure that she is not injured badly by the trolls. There will be some worrying Fili in this chapter and Oin being well the healer that he is. There will be some drama in this chapter that is for sure. Thorin and Aranduriel will have a verbal disagreement in this chapter. I hope that you all enjoy it and hopefully, I will get reviews to tell me how well I am doing. Without further ado Chapter 9.
Chapter 9
Of Wargs and Wizards
Thorin looked at Aranduriel. "What you did was dangerous," Thorin yelled at the elf maiden.
Aranduriel looked at Thorin. "Why does it matter to you, Thorin?" She questioned him. "It's not like you want to be my friend anymore. So what difference would it have made if I died."
Thorin glared at her. "You are part of this company. You should have known better and not protected the burglar with your life."
"What I do with my life Thorin is none of your concern. At least I am willing to protect Bilbo." She told him. She was tired of Thorin becoming more and more of an arse to her. Aranduriel fell behind the company holding onto the reins of her horse as they began to look for the troll hoard. She breathed through her nose trying to ignore the pain that she felt in her ribs.
Fili looked behind and saw that Aranduriel wasn't keeping up with them. He saw that one hand was around her middle and the other that was holding to the reins of her horse was fairly tight making her knuckles turn white. He was concerned that she was more hurt than what she had told him earlier.
Gandalf was the first one to find the cave.
"Oh, what is that stench?" Nori asked as he and some of the company members went inside of the troll hoard.
"It's a troll hoard. Be careful of what you touch." Gandalf told them.
Fili saw Aranduriel petting her horse on the nose. He looked over at Kili. He didn't want to leave his little brother and have Thorin yell at him for talking to Aranduriel. He still wasn't sure why Thorin was still being so harsh towards Aranduriel, but he was sure that he would find out why Thorin didn't want the friendship between them to ever come back into the light.
"Go," Kili told his brother.
Fili nodded his head as he began to walk towards her. He was concerned about how she had hurt herself. "Ara."
Aranduriel turned her head. She wasn't expecting Fili to come and check on her. "Yes, Master Fili?" She asked as she stopped petting her horse's nose. It neighed at her for the loss of attention.
"Are you sure that you are alright?" He asked as his voice was laced over with concern.
Aranduriel moved to face him better. Her ribs protested at the movement. She winced a little bit.
"You aren't alright." He said to her, His hand shot out towards her midsection. His hand brushed up against her middle.
She gasped out in pain, trying to move away from his hand that brushed against her middle.
"You're hurt. Why didn't you tell me? You lied about being hurt." Fili said, almost scolding her. Sometimes she reminded him of his younger brother Kili. "Oin!" He called out to the hard-hearing healer.
The old healer looked over at Fili.
"We need a little help over here." He called out loudly.
Kili looked over at his brother. "Fee what is wrong?"
Fili just simply nodded his head curtly at his brother, not giving his younger brother an answer.
Oin came over to them. He still wasn't sure why the 82-year-old prince was calling him over. "What is it, laddie?"
"Ara got hurt," Fili said, answering the old healer's question. His voice was still filled with concern. He couldn't believe that she had lied to him about being hurt. Maybe it was because of his uncle being mean to her and not showing that he cared about her. He wasn't even sure if Thorin was still capable of being friends with Aranduriel. He knew that she had proven a point to his uncle before, but it wasn't fair to her that Thorin was being stubborn to become friends with her again.
Oin looked over at her. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He saw the look of pain that was on her face when Fili pressed his hand on Aranduriel's side. He shook his head. "Remove your coat and vest." He ordered the elf maiden.
Aranduriel's eyes widened. She couldn't believe that Oin was ordering her to do such a thing. But she knew that she needed to. She slipped off her coat first and unbuttoned her vest. She put them down on the ground.
Oin came up to her and began to check on her ribs. He pressed lightly on her middle and he felt her trying to pull away from him. "You most likely bruised them, but I cannot be sure due to the corset that you wear lassie."
Aranduriel looked down at the ground. She knew that Oin was going to be a stubborn healer like he was most likely going to be. She knew that Oin was going to give her a lecture about this.
"You should have told us that you were in some kind of pain lassie. We may hate elves, but we wouldn't let one of our run around being hurt. You just need to be careful." He told her. Oin moved away from her.
Aranduriel knew that was true. "I will." She said softly. She looked over at Fili.
Fili looked at her. "You shouldn't have lied to me. You would have gotten help a lot sooner."
Aranduriel looked away from Fili. "I didn't want anyone to worry. Thorin will just make me stay behind if I say I got hurt. I am just a lowly elf, aren't I? So why should it matter if I got hurt or not?"
"You would rather risk yourself being injured and not care to tell us when you could cause more damage?" He demanded. His blue eyes were ablaze. He couldn't believe that she allowed herself to do such a thing or even think of such a thing. He of course hadn't told her that some of the dwarves began to care for her. One of them happened to be himself and he wouldn't dare tell her. He was afraid to tell her due to how much his uncle hated elves. He wasn't so sure if he could hate Aranduriel as his uncle did.
Aranduriel put her vest back on over top of her white tunic. She wasn't going to be treated like a child. Not by someone younger than her. "I would have been fine." She said, as her ribs protested again as she grabbed her coat. She looked over her shoulder at Fili. "If I wanted someone to be like a father to me. I wouldn't have left home." She said walking away from him. She went to where Bilbo stood.
Bilbo looked at her. "Ara?" He asked, confused.
Aranduriel looked at Bilbo. "Yes, Master Hobbit?"
"Bilbo please." He told her softly.
"Of course." She bowed her head slightly. "Yes, Bilbo, it looks like you want to know something."
Bilbo's face flushed. He had to admit that he was still fairly curious about what Aranduriel and Thorin's friendship was like, but he was afraid to ask about it due to what had happened the last time when he had asked about it. He seriously thought that Thorin was going to kill him when he had asked about it before. And he thought that Aranduriel was going to cry about what he had asked. "It's nothing," Bilbo said, rubbing the back of his head.
Aranduriel crossed her arms. "You are still very curious about the friendship that I had with Thorin Oakenshield do you not?"
Bilbo shyly looked at her and slowly nodded his head. He just didn't want to harm her in a way that would ruin the friendship that they had budding between the two of them.
Aranduriel let out a sigh. "It's a story that I am not ready to tell yet." She saw Thorin come out of the hoard carrying something in his hands. She tilted her head to the side. She couldn't believe what she saw in his hands. It was a sword from the first age, but she wasn't sure which one it was.
Gandalf came up to Bilbo. "Bilbo."
"Hm?" Bilbo looked over at Gandalf confused.
"Here." He said, handing the small dagger to Bilbo. "This is about your size."
"I can't take this," Bilbo said, looking at the sword that was now laid in his hands. He couldn't believe that Gandalf would give him something so sharp like this.
"It is of elvish make," Gandalf said, as he looked at Aranduriel out of the corner of his eyes.
Aranduriel nodded her head letting him know that she was not going to interrupt him.
"Which means that the blade will glow blue whenever orcs or goblins are nearby."
Bilbo looked up at Gandalf. "But I have never used a sword in my life."
"And I pray you'll never have to. But if you do, remember this. True courage is about knowing when not to take a life, but to spare one."
Bilbo let out a sigh. He could only hope that he could be able to save someone's life if he needed to, but he could only hope that it would not come down to that.
Aranduriel's head shot over to the side. She moved forward quickly. She had heard someone coming and they were coming very fast.
"Something's coming," Thorin shouted.
"Gandalf…" Bilbo said softly.
"Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves." Gandalf shouted at the dwarves.
A sled flew past them.
"THIEVES! FIRE! MURDER!" The man yelled.
Aranduriel put her sword down letting out a soft breath as she saw the Brown Wizard come into view.
"Radagast. Radagast the Brown." Gandalf said as he put his sword away. "What on earth are you doing here?"
Radagast got off of his sled and walked up to Gandalf. "I was looking for you Gandalf." He said, sounding slightly out of breath. "Something's wrong. Something's wrong."
Aranduriel looked over at the two wizards. What could have been so wrong? She knew that Radagast was supposed to be in the woods keeping an eye on them. The Greenwood more in fact.
"Yes?" Gandalf asked, looking at his friend, confused.
Radagast tried to start speaking but couldn't remember what he was going to say at that moment. "Oh… just give me a moment. Oh… I had a thought and it was on the tip of my tongue… and now I've lost it." He stopped talking and felt something on his tongue. "Oh, it's not a thought at all…"
Gandalf pulled a stick insect off of Radagast's tongue.
Aranduriel shook her head.
"It was just a silly stick insect," Radagast said.
The two wizards went to talk in privacy.
"I don't like this," Kili said to his brother.
Fili looked at his brother. "I don't either."
"The wizard must have something important to tell Gandalf. I can't help, but wonder what it is."
"Kili we can't always find out what is going on in the world. It is none of our business." Fili told Kili, patting his brother on the shoulder.
Aranduriel tried her best not to listen in on the conversation between the two wizards. She gasped. Greenwood was sick? That meant that Thranduil was not keeping true to his word at all. That made her nervous. Why would Thranduil allow his forest to become sick so badly that it drew Radagast the Brown from the forest? That meant that something bigger was at work and it was a dangerous thing. She was going to have to talk to her father about this if they ever made it to Rivendell.
There was a howl in the air.
Aranduriel looked around. She knew that sound. It was no wolf. That meant orcs were most likely on their trail. It meant that it was bad. They were probably being hunted.
"Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out here?" Bilbo asked, scared.
"No, that wasn't a wolf," Bofur said to the burglar.
Just then a warg jumped down taking one of the dwarves with it.
Thorin quickly sliced at it, killing it with his new blade.
Another warg jumped down.
Kili shot an arrow, but it was not a killing shot.
Dwalin moved forward, killing it.
"Warg-scouts. That means there is an orc pack not that far behind it." Thorin said, pulling his sword from the warg he had killed.
"Orc Pack?" Bilbo asked. He didn't like that idea.
"Who did you tell?" Gandalf asked Thorin.
"No one."
"Who did you tell beyond your kin?"
"No one. I swear. What in Durin's name is going on?"
"You are being hunted."
"We gotta get out of here," Dwalin said.
"We can't," Ori said, coming back down to them. "We have no ponies they bolted."
"I'll draw them off," Radagast said, coming up to them.
"These are Gundabad wargs. You can't outrun them."
"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits. I would like to see them try." Radagast said, getting onto his sleigh.
Aranduriel looked at Gandalf. "We don't have much of a choice, Gandalf." She told him.
Thorin glared at her. It was as if Aranduriel was hiding something from them. And whatever it was was not fair. He didn't want to trust her or Gandalf at the moment. They were hiding something from the company and whatever it was he wanted his company to know what it was.
Radagast left them to confuse the wargs.
Aranduriel looked at Gandalf.
Gandalf nodded his head. He led them out of the forest. He looked from behind a rock and saw that Radagast had indeed gotten their attention. "Come on."
The company moved across the rocky path.
"Gandalf," Aranduriel said when she noticed that the wargs were too close.
They hid behind the rocks.
"Stay together," Gandalf told them. He could only hope that the company would stay together. This was dire and he wanted to make sure that they all made it out of there alive and well.
"Move," Thorin told them.
They continued to move across the field.
Thorin stopped when he realized that the wargs were too close.
Ori was about to run out.
"Ori no. Come back." Thorin called out to the young dwarf.
Aranduriel's hand shot out grabbing onto Ori's shirt. She pulled him back to the company. Her heart was beating loudly in her ears. She had saved Ori's life. That was something that she wasn't planning on, but Dori and Nori would at least be able to keep their little brother a little while longer. She closed her eyes in worry, knowing that they needed to find a safe place to go and they weren't too far away from her home. She just hoped that she wouldn't be scolded for being gone and helping the dwarves.
Ori looked at Aranduriel with a thankful look on his face. He thought that he was going to be warg food if Aranduriel hadn't grabbed onto him.
Aranduriel just simply nodded her head. She knew that Ori was thankful that she had saved his life.
"Come on quick," Gandalf told them.
The dwarves began to move again.
"Where are you leading us?" Thorin asked Gandalf. He wanted to know where Gandalf was leading his company. He didn't like what Gandalf was doing by not telling them where they were going.
Gandalf looked at Aranduriel who brushed past the both of them. Gandalf looked at Thorin and didn't say a single word.
Thorin didn't like the fact that he was ignored. He followed Gandalf knowing that he had no choice. Not when the company was in so much danger at that moment. He didn't want anyone to become harmed due to a warg attack. He at least wanted to make it home.
They hid behind another rock, but an orc and his warg were on top of the very rock that they were hiding behind.
Thorin looked at Kili and nodded his head.
Kili felt his mind racing. He couldn't miss this shot. Not with the entire company watching him. Not with the chance that they would die. Kili knocked one of his arrows and took a small breath before moving and firing.
The warg shrieked out in pain, collapsing to where they were and taking his rider with him.
The dwarves jumped into action, killing the warg and its rider.
Aranduriel looked at Gandalf. Fear was written in her blue-gray eyes. "Gandalf."
Gandalf nodded his head. "Move. Run!"
The company began to run for their lives. The wargs were no longer after Radagast but after them. They didn't even think it all the way through when they had killed the warg and its rider that the orcs would find them. Not this fast, but with the screams it gave them away.
"There they are," Gloin yelled.
"This way! Quickly!" Gandalf ordered them. He was going to get them to the safe place that he had in mind.
They continued to run only to find out that they were surrounded.
Aranduriel pulled an arrow out of her quiver and knocked it into her bow. She was more than prepared to kill any warg that got too close. Sadly she would have to most likely resort to using her sword.
"There are more coming!" Kili yelled.
"Kili. Aranduriel shoot them!" Thorin ordered them.
Aranduriel and Kili did what they were asked to. They began to shoot at the wargs as best as they could. But they would not be able to keep up with it for too long.
Gandalf looked around and found what he was looking for. He went towards it.
"We're surrounded!" Fili yelled.
Kili shot some more of them. "Where's Gandalf?" He yelled as he fired another arrow.
"He has abandoned us," Dwalin yelled.
Aranduriel pulled out her sword. She was not about to let her arrows run out. She would have to be better at close range.
They were so close to the rock where Gandalf had disappeared.
"Hold your ground," Thorin yelled at them. He was hoping that Gandalf would soon appear to save them. If not then there was going to be a problem.
"This way you fools!" Gandalf yelled from where he was looking from.
"Go," Thorin demanded them as he scrambled up to the rock.
The company moved quickly towards where Gandalf was going down the hole that Gandalf was in. They could only hope that this would keep them safe from the orcs.
Aranduriel killed a warg that got too close to her. She saw one was getting too close to Fili. He wasn't paying attention. She rushed towards him and shoved him out of the way.
Fili turned and saw Aranduriel getting her shoulder bitten by the warg.
"Elf-scum." The orc hissed at her in black speech.
The warg knocked Aranduriel to the ground.
Fili moved forward to kill both Warg and Orc. He moved quickly stabbing at both warg and orc.
Aranduriel was pulled out from underneath the warg.
"Why did you…" Fili asked, looking at her.
"No time for that." She told him to grab onto his arm. "We got to move."
The two of them ran towards the entrance.
"KILI!" Thorin yelled to his youngest nephew.
Kili ran towards them. He slid down first then Aranduriel and Fili. Lastly Thorin.
Fili looked at Aranduriel. "Why did you do that?"
Aranduriel looked a little bit paler than usual. "Would you rather lose your head?" She asked as she held onto her wounded shoulder.
An elvish horn was heard.
"Thank Valar." She said softly in elvish. She was glad that they had come. She knew that it was most likely her father and brothers along with the guards of Rivendell that had saved their lives.
An orc fell into the hole with them.
Thorin went over and pulled out the arrow that was embedded into the orc. "Elves." He spat out, as he threw the arrow down onto the orc.
"I do not see where this pathway leads. Should we follow it?" Dwalin yelled back to the rest of the company.
"Follow it of course," Bofur said, moving towards Dwalin.
"I think that would be wise," Gandalf said, as he looked over at Aranduriel. "Are you alright?"
Aranduriel bit her lip and knew that she wasn't alright. She was going to need to be seen by a healer and that healer would most likely be her father. She already knew how much trouble she was going to be in once her father saw her again. She had been gone for months doing something that her father would most likely frown upon. "No, Gandalf, I am not alright." She told him softly.
Gandalf knew that he was going to have to get her to a healer. He wouldn't be able to do that if Thorin was not going to allow them to be in the place that they were going. And he knew that Aranduriel was going to be scolded when she got to this place. He was returning her home and he would also be taking her away from it as well. He knew that Lord Elrond would not be pleased with this. His daughter had an injury due to her saving someone else.
They began to walk towards the path.
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This is the end of Chapter 9 of The Second Daughter. The next chapter I can't wait to write. It might be a few chapters in Rivendell due to what I want to try to put into it. Most likely it will be around three chapters. I am hoping that part of this chapter isn't choppy. I tried my best with it and it was giving me a little bit of trouble which caused it to take me the whole week to get this typed out. But I think I like how this turned out. I mean it was a good thing that I did get this chapter finished. I was happy that I had enough time and got it right the way that I wanted. I hope that you have enjoyed the chapter. Now also a question to my wonderful readers: should Lord Elrond and Aranduriel have a little talk while she is getting healed or should words between Gandalf and Lord Elrond commence? How many of you would like to see a little Estel come back into this story being as cute as he is? And Aranduriel and Thorin will have another interaction. Should Thorin forget that he has met Lord Elrond? I will try to keep up with my updates as best I can. I will try to keep it to once a week, or if I feel like treating you to my lovely readers earlier than I plan. Until next time.