The group, beside's Veryan, Thorin and Gandalf sat at a long table, food being brought to them as Elvin maiden's played the harp. They weren't very pleased by the green food, finding no meat on the plates, but they shouldn't expect any either.
Veryan, Gandalf, Thorin and Elrond came walking in, taking their own place at a different table. As they sat down, plate's of food were placed in front of them, Veryan and Gandalf having no problem with the lack of meat.
Elrond was handed the sword Gandalf and Thorin had found in the Troll cave, Thorin have taken it for himself to use. "This is Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver. A famous blade forged by the High Elves of the West, my kin. May it serve you well" he finished as he handed Thorin back the sword.
Gandalf handed over his own sword "And this is Glamdring the Foehammer. Sword of the King of Gondolin. These were made for the Goblin Wars of the First Age. How did you come by these?" the Lord asked as he handed back the sword to Gandalf.
This time, Veryan was the one to speak "We found them in a Troll-hoard, on the Great East Road my Lord. Shortly after we were ambushed by Orcs"
Elrond turned to Veryan, puzzled "And what were you doing on the Great East Road?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The three explained as much as they could. Day quickly turned to night, as Gandalf, Elrond, Veryan, Thorin and now Bilbo along side Balin stood in the castle's halls.
"Our business is no concern of Elves" Thorin remarked as he eyed the Elvin king in front of him with the upmost distrust.
"For goodness sake, Thorin, show him the map" Gandalf replied, once again getting annoyed by the Dwarves stubbornness.
"It is the legacy of my people. It is mine to protect, as are it's secrets" he shot back, not listening to Gandalf one bit.
Veryan sighed and glanced at Gandalf, shaking his head when he got his attention. He turned to Thorin, leaning on one of the many pillars "I don't mean to bug, but your pride will be your downfall. Lord Elrond is one of the few in Middle-Earth who can figure out that map"
Thorin glared at him, not liking being told off by the latter, but soon reached for his inner pocket, and pulled out the map, handing it over to the Lord.
Elrond opened it up, looking through it's content "Erebor...What is your interest with this map?"
Thorin was about to answer, when Gandalf intervened, not really trusting Thorin to say the right thing at the moment "It's mainly academic. As you know, this sort of artifact sometimes contains hidden text...You still read ancient Dwarvish, do you not?"
Elrond didn't speak a word as he stopped in front of the moonlight, shining the map over it, trying to see something.
"Moon runes? Of course" he smiled in realization. Bilbo stared at him confused, and the older turned to smile at him "An easy thing to miss"
That did much to nothing in letting Bilbo understand. "Well, in this case, that is true. Moon runes can only be read by the light of a moon of the same shape and season as the day on which they were written"
Thorin glanced at Elrond, who just finished speaking "Can you read them?"
Elrond nodded and gestured for the group to follow. They walked through the castle ground's, and reached a carved out arch, leading right outside. There in front of them was a glass table, right at the edge of the rock hill they were standing on.
"These runes were written on a Midsummer's Eve by the light of a crescent moon nearly 200 years ago" Elrond explained as he walked up to the glass table, placing the map onto it.
"It would seem you were meant to come to Rivendell. Fate is with you, Thorin Oakenshield" Elrond spoke, turning to look at the Dwarven prince.
He looked confused as Elrond gestured up into the sky "The same moon shines upon us tonight"
With those words, the group watched in aw as the glass table lit up with the light of the crescent moon shining through the clouds, revealing the hided text written at the bottom of the map.
"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" Elrond read aloud to them.
"Durin's Day?" Bilbo asked Balin, confused by what it meant.
In stead of the old Dwarf, Gandalf turned to speak "It is the start of the Dwarves new year, when the last moon of autumn and the first sun of winter appear in the sky together"
Thorin rubbed his chin, not taking his eyes away from the map "This is i'll news. Summer is passing. Durin's Day will soon be upon us"
Balin walked up to him, shaking his head "We still have time?"
Bilbo raised up an eyebrow "Time? For what?"
Balin turned to him "To find the entrance" he replied, saying it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We have to be standing in exactly the right spot at exactly the right time. Then, and only then, can the door be opened"
Elrond look between the two Dwarves "So this is your purpose, to enter the mountain?"
Thorin turned to look at him, squinting his eye's at the Lord's tone "What of it?"
"There are some who would not deem it wise" he simply stated, and handed the map back to Thorin, which he took back quickly.
"What do you mean?" Gandalf asked his old friend.
Elrond turned to him "You are not the only guardian to stand watch over Middle-Earth" and with that the Lord was gone, walking back into the castle they came from.
Gandalf turned around to look at all of them, but no words were spoken.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn't long before Gandalf left their group to walk off after Lord Elrond. The other's made their way to the happy group, having found themselves some meat in the kitchen of the palace.
Bilbo and Veryan plopped themselves next to the fire as Balin went over to talk to Thorin.
"I don't think were staying long, so eat up" Veryan told Bilbo, grabbing a plate of food and handing it off to the Hobbit, before grabbing himself one.
Bilbo starred at the eating boy in confusion "What? What do you mean?"
Veryan chuckled and handed him a fork that was just lying around "You heard Thorin, Durin's Day isn't far. He'll want to travel as soon as possible. I say we'll be gone by sunrise"
Bilbo plunged his fork into the food, and took a bite of the sausage. He swallowed before speaking "But don't you want to stay longer? It seem's like your fond of this place"
Veryan smirked, remembering the moment everyone saw him hugging Elrond "You have a keen eye Bilbo. In fact, I do want to stay here longer. I grew up here, so it's only fit"
Bilbo's eye's shot open as his head turned to Veryan "You grew up here?"
Before Veryan could reply, Fili plopped down right next to him "What are you two discussing about?"
Veryan ruffled the other's hair "Oh, just some talk about home"
Fili smiled and called over Kili, the Dwarf making his way shortly to the group, plopping himself down next to his brother "I see I have made a crowd for myself" Veryan jokingly told them as he looked around.
Kili chuckled and leaned in forward "So, what's this about home?"
Veryan signed and leaned into Bilbo "Well, me and Bilbo here were just talking about how I grew up in Rivendell"
Fili and Kili's eye's sparkled "You grew up here?" they asked in sync.
The Heterochromia male snorted at this "I surely did"
The brother's leaned forward, as if to listen in, whilst Bilbo ate his food in silence, just listening to the three talk. Veryan coughed, setting himself in position, making the brother's chuckle.
"As you might or might not know, I wasn't born here. I was, for the lack of better words, born on a ship. My mother was a Sailor, whilst my father was a Wizard. On one of my mother's trip's, her crew's boat crashed, and my father was there to help out. By the end of it, they didn't want to separate because they have fallen in love, so my father chose to leave his old world behind to travel with my mother. Along the way they married and gave birth to me. I was about 6 when my parents tragically died at sea, being swept away by a huge wave. Being a child back then, I can't remember anything clearly, only their panicked voices, shouting that they loved me, before everything went silent. I woke up here, on the shore's of Rivendell where I was quickly found by Gandalf, and taken to live here. He said a lone violin had washed up with me,alongside a star shaped necklace, so he let me keep both"
Veryan pulled down his shirt to expose the necklace "I can only assume this was my mother's, whilst the violin might of been my fathers. I use the violin for bigger magic uses, like protective barriers, sleep spells and so forth. It also explains why i can speak Elvish, since i grew up with Elves themselves"
He took in a breath and glanced at the three with him, but they were silent, soaking in the story Veryan had told them. He took a look around, spotting some of the other's have also listened in, smiling at him as his eye's laid upon them. He smiled back and looked at his own little group, seeing Kili blink a couple of time's, before finally speaking "That is quite a sad childhood"
Veryan smiled at shook his head "Oh but it wasn't Kili. Although i never knew my real parents, Lord Elrond alongside Gandalf have become my parental figure's, and i wouldn't give that away for any riches offered to me"
Fili let out a breathy chuckle "You are quite something, Veryan"
The boy smirked and flipped his non-existent long hair "Oh I've heard"
Their chuckles of amusement were cut short by Thorin grabbing his sword "Pack up, we're moving"
Veryan glanced over at the sun, and in fact, it was about to rise. "I told you so" He whispered down to Bilbo as he jumped up and stretched, helping out the Dwarves pack whatever they needed.
When everything was safely packed and secure, Thorin took one last glance, and with that they swiftly moved out of the beautiful palace.
Veryan turned one last time to look at his home, and with a smiley sigh followed the other's.