Wargs howled in the distance as they tracked down their prey. Orcs yelled as they saw Radagast break through the trees on his sleigh, leading the orcs away from the company. Gandalf peered from behind a rock, watching the chase.
"Come on!" he told the group, leading them through the rocks. They could hear the wargs howling. The company ran as fast as they could, but stopped when they saw Radagast cross in front of them.
"Stay together" Gandalf whispered.
"Move!" Thorin yelled, running the way they just came.
Hiding between rocks, Gandalf ushered the dwarves and hobbits forward. When the orc pack passed, Gandalf moved them forward.
"All of you, come on! Come on! Quick!"
Thorin looked to the gray wizard and asked "Where are you leading us?". Gandalf didn't respond, only looking at the dwarf and rushing forward with the others. Thorin rolled his eyes and followed.
Everyone had to quickly hide behind a large rock as the orcs passed in front of them again. They hushed when they heard sniffing and snarling above them. An orc atop a warg was close. Thorin looked to Kili, who looked right back, having a silent conversation. Kili notched one of his arrows in his bow, quickly running from his hiding stop, and shot the warg. It let out a snarl and growled, the orc riding him preparing his weapon. Kili shot the orc and the two fell from the rock next to the group. It let out a squeal and snarl, alerting the other orcs to their whereabouts. Dwalin attacked the orc with his axe, and it let out more and more grunts of pain. Gandalf watched for a moment before yelling.
"Move! RUN!!"
Everybody ran. (Y/n) stayed close to Bilbo, not wanting to lose him. Kili looked back after her to make sure she was still with them. They heard the howls and barks of the wargs. Gloin pointed and shouted.
"There they are!"
In front of them was the pack, gaining on them.
"This way! Quickly!!"Gandalf yelled.
Soon Thorin stopped as they saw the leader of the pack in front of them. (Y/n) turned around to try and find a way out, but wargs were coming from all sides.
"There's more coming!!" Kili shouted.
"Kili!! Shoot them!!" Thorin yelled to him. Kili began to fire his arrows at the orcs, delaying their attack.
"We're surrounded!" Fili exclaimed.
The group came closer together as the orc pack closed in on them.
"Where's Gandalf?!" Dori yelled.
"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin declared.
The wargs kept coming, eyes fixed on the company, ready to kill. (Y/n) unsheathed her sword, ready to protect herself. Bilbo followed suit.
"Hold your ground!" Thorin shouted, readying his sword.
"This way, you fools!" Gandalf declared from behind a short rock.
"Come on! Move!"
Gandalf disappeared behind the rock.
"Quickly! All of you!" Thorin yelled. As the dwarves all jumped, they discovered a slide down to a passageway. Thorin quickly killed a warg that was about to attack (Y/n). She turned around and nodded her thanks, but saw Kili still firing arrows at the orcs.
"KILI!!" both Thorin and (Y/n) shouted at the same time "RUN!!"
Thorin then grabbed her arm and pulled her into the cave. Sliding down, she quickly stood up but was knocked down again when Kili landed on top of her. "Sorry" he mumbled. Looking down at her, he got up and offered his hand to her. She took it and was pulled up into his chest. They looked at each other, still holding hands, but then a horn blared from above. (Y/n) stepped back from Kili and let go of his hand, looking up at where the entrance was. They couldn't see what was happening, but heard the firing of arrows and the shrieks and growls of orcs and wargs. Soon, an orc came tumbling down the rock slide with an arrow embedded in its neck. Everyone pointed their weapons at it, only to find it dead. Thorin ripped the arrow out and examined it.
"Elves," he spat, throwing the shaft away.
"I cannot see where the pathway leads! Do we follow it or no?!" Dwalin yelled from farther down the cave.
"Follow it, of course!" Bofur answered quickly, rushing towards the path. The rest of the dwarves followed.
"I think that would be wise" (Y/n) heard Gandalf mutter as she followed Kili. Bilbo looked at Gandalf for a moment before following his younger sister.
~~~~~~~~~~
Some of the pathway was a tight fit, and they had to push Bombur through some tighter portions. (Y/n) looked up to see the sun shining through the top of the chasm. Kili looked back at her, admiring the way the sunlight reflected off her (h/l) (h/c) hair. He looked back in front of him, thinkin about the feeling of her hand in his. He wanted that warm feeling back. It sent jolts of lightning through his body when he touched her. Looking into her beautiful (e/c) eyes made him melt inside. He didn't know what he was feeling.
Bilbo followed suit in looking around the chasm, feeling something powerful surrounding him. Powerful, but light.
"Gandalf, where are we?" he asked.
"You can feel it?" Gandalf asked the hobbits.
"Yes. It feels like-" Bilbo started "well, like-"
"Magic" (Y/n) finished, looking up at the wizard. Bilbo nodded in agreement.
"That's exactly what it is. A very powerful magic" Gandalf told them.
"There's light ahead" they heard Dwalin say.
The company made it out of the chasm and stood on a cliff. (Y/n) looked in awe at the sight before them. There was a beautiful city, with waterfalls and the sun shining down, making it seem like it was glowing. Everyone stared at the city, marveling at the beauty of it.
"The Valley of Imladris!" Gandalf said, coming up behind Bilbo "In the common tongue, it's known by another name"
"Rivendell" the hobbits said, still starstruck.
"Here lies the last homely house east of the sea," Gandalf told the company.
"This was your plan all along. To seek refuge with our enemy" Thorin said, facing the wizard.
"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield. The only ill will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself" Gandalf said, looking down at Thorin.
(Y/n) slightly smirked but looked away to hide it.
"You think the elves will give our quest their blessing?" Thorin asked "They will try to stop us"
"Of course they will. But we have questions that need to be answered" Gandalf shot back. Thorin sighed, losing the argument.
"If we are to be successful," Gandalf continued "this will need to be handled with tact. And respect. And no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me"
~~~~~~~~~~
Gandalf led the group down the cliff and onto a stone bridge that would lead them into Rivendell. (Y/n) looked up at two tall statues of elven warriors surrounding the entrance to the elf city. They stopped in a courtyard of sorts and looked around more. The dwarves talked among themselves, wary of the surroundings. (Y/n) saw a brown haired, elegantly dressed elf walking down a stairway.
"Mithrandir!" he called.
"Ah, Lindir!" Gandalf replied, smiling at the elf.
Lindir began speaking in Elvish, which (Y/n) could not understand.
"I must speak with Lord Elrond," Gandalf told Lindir.
"My Lord Elrond is not here" the elf replied, regrettably.
"Not here? Where is he?" the wizard asked.
Right after he spoke, the same horn the company heard before blared behind them. They turned around to see multiple elves on horses running on the bridge towards them. Thorin shouted something in dwarvish and the group huddled together, pulling Bilbo and (Y/n) in the middle. Kili put his arm in front of (Y/n) shielding her. The elves began circling them like sharks. They stopped, and one elf dressed in armor atop a brown horse spoke.
"Gandalf!" he said.
"Lord Elrond," the wizard said, smiling. He started speaking in Elvish to Elrond, putting his hand over his heart and slightly bowing, removing his hand. Elrond spoke back, getting off his horse and hugging Gandalf. He then spoke again, but in English.
"Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders. Something or someone has drawn them near"
"That may have been us," Gandalf said. Thorin stepped forward to confront Elrond. The elf looked at him and spoke.
"Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain"
"I do not believe we have met" Thorin said, an edge to his voice.
"You have your grandfather's bearing. I knew Thror when he ruled under the mountain" Elrond told him.
"Indeed. He made no mention of you" Thorin spat.
Elrond looked at Thorin for a moment, before speaking Elvish.
"Nartho i noer, toltho i viruvor. Boe i annam vann a nethail vin" he said, though the company couldn't understand it.
"What is he sayin'? Does he offer us insult!?" Gloin shouted, ready to attack the elven lord.
"No, Master Gloin, he is offering you food" Gandalf said, exasperated.
The dwarves talked amongst themselves for a moment, debating whether to accept. Turning back to Gandalf and Elrond, Gloin said "Ah, well, in that case, lead on". The other dwarves nodded their agreement before following Elrond inside.
~~~~~~~~~~
The company sat at a long table, elves playing music around them. Thorin, Elrond and Gandalf sat near the head of the table. (Y/n) sat next to Bilbo, eating the food. Around her, the dwarves looked at the vegetables and fruits in disgust.
"Try it. Just a mouthful" Dori said to Ori, who was eying a piece of lettuce.
"I don't like green food," Ori told him, setting the lettuce back down.
Dwalin grabbed a fist full of saland from his bowl, then threw it back, asking"Where's the meat?"
"Have they got any chips?" Ori asked hopefully.
(Y/n) glanced at Kili, who was eying an elvish maiden playing the harp. He winked at her and smirked. (Y/n) couldn't help but feel a strange discomfort at this. Kili looked at Dwalin, who was watching him with an unamused look on his face. Kili immediately dropped the smirk, and spoke.
"Can't say I fancy elf maids myself, too thin. They're all high cheekbones and creamy skin" he said, turning to Bofur, who agreed "Not enough facial hair for me" he stopped and nodded his head to the elf behind him "Although, that one there is not bad"
(Y/n)'s feeling went away, and she couldn't contain a snort of laughter at seeing the "elf maid" . Kili looked at her in confusion as she kept laughing.
"What?" he asked.
"Tha-That's not an elf maid, Kili!" she managed out.
The others started laughing with her at Kili's embarrassment.
"That's funny" he said sarcastically.
(Y/n) looked at his flustered face, and couldn't help but think how adorable he looked. Realizing what she was thinking, she shook off the thought and began to eat, every once and a while glancing at Kili to see him eying her now, more discretely. Lindir, the handsome elf from the courtyard, came up behind her, and spoke.
"Excuse me, but, would you like to dance?" he asked, holding out a hand. She hesitated at first, but remembered Kili's charade with the elf harpist. She smiled and, taking his hand, nodded a yes.
Kili's face turned from red from embarrassment, to anger at the sight of the elf dancing with (Y/n). He stabbed a piece of food with his knife. He set it down next to him, and Bofur, seeing this, took his knife and hid it under a napkin. Kili saw her smiling face and the butterflies in his stomach caused a hurricane of emotions flowing through him. He never felt this way before. A thought suddenly popped into his head.
Could she be my One?
His thoughts were interrupted when (Y/n) sat back down, smiling and laughing. She started eating again, and Kili looked down at his plate, his appetite suddenly gone.
Oin got tired of listening to the flute being played by an elf maiden, so he stuffed a napkin in his trumpet, put it back up to his ear, and nodded in satisfaction.
(Y/n) looked to the head table, where Lord Elrond was identifying the blades Gandalf and Thorin got from the troll's cave.
"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 said to Thorin, handing him the sword. Elrond then took Gandalf's blade.
"And this is Glamdring, the FoeHammer, sword of the king of Gondolin. These swords were made for the Goblin Wars of the First Age" he said.
(Y/n) saw Bilbo looking at his own sword, so she slightly glazed at her own blade.
"I wouldn't bother" (Y/n) heard Balin say from next to Bilbo "Swords are named for the great deeds they do in war"
"What are you saying, our swords haven't seen battle?" (Y/n) asked.
"I'm not actually sure they are swords. More of a letter opener, really" Balin told her.
The hobbits looked at their weapons. (Y/n) and Bilbo were small, so it did make sense that they wouldn't have seen battle.
"How did you come by these?" Elrond asked Gandalf.
"We found them in a troll-hoard on the Great East Road shortly before we were attacked by orcs" the wizard answered.
"And what were you doing on the Great East Road?" Elrond asked.
Thorin got up from his seat, uttering an "excuse me" to get out of the conversation before Elrond asked too many questions. Elrond looked back to Gandalf.
"Thirteen dwarves and two halflings. Strange traveling companions, Gandalf" Elrond stated.
"These are the descendants of the house of Durin! They're noble, decent folk" Gandalf said as Nori snuck a pepper shaker into his coat and Bombur choked down more food "And they're surprisingly cultured. They've got a deep love of the arts"
"Change the tune, why don't you? I feel like I'm at a funeral!" Nori said, looking back at the harpist.
"Did somebody die?" Oin asked, looking at everyone.
"All right, lads. There's only one thing for it!" Bofur said. He got up from the table and stood on a short column in between the tables. The elves all looked confused and stopped playing their instruments as Bofur started singing.
There's an inn, there's an inn
There's a merry old inn
Beneath an old grey hill
And there they brew a beer so brown
The Man in the Moon himself
Came down one night to drink his fill!
Oh, the ostler has a tipsy cat
That plays a five-string fiddle
And up and down he saws his bow
Now squeaking high!
Now purring low...
Now sawing in the middle
Oh, the cat on the fiddle
Played Hey-Diddle-Diddle
A drink that'll wake the dead
He squeaked and he sawed
And he quickened the tune
And the landlord shook the Man in the Moon
'Its after three he said!'
The dwarves all laughed and cheered and threw food in the air, much to the distain of the elves and Gandalf. (Y/n) was laughing along with them, and saw Kili throw something right next to Lindir's head. She covered her mouth to hide her snort of laughter at his face. She wasn't sure if he meant to throw it at Lindir or if he was just cheering with his kin. Kili looked at her, and they both laughed along with the rest of the company. Both turning a shade of red, they looked away from each other, but Kili was happy that this time, it was him who made her laugh.