kiiblade

Hobbit-LOTR: Quests, Curses, And Guardians { Angel & Polarize }

Alfrid's eyes widened slightly as the threats were made, and he raised one hand. “Stop.” The soldiers returned the barrels to their place while Alfrid glowered at Saeril from where he stood. "I do not know who you are...but you would do well to watch yourself. I am the eyes and ears of this town. The Master will not be pleased."

The gates were raised, and Bard was permitted entry. From underneath the fish, Kili sighed in relief, but he tried not to breathe too deeply. The fish smelled horrible.
After what felt a lifetime, he felt the barrels begin to tip over. Thorin and the others were exiting from their hiding places, for Bard had gotten them to the dock.

Kili climbed out, grimacing as he brushed a dead fish from his shoulder. At least they hadn't been spotted. Yet. "What are we supposed to do now?" The youngest was cold, wet, and tired, as were they all.

Hobbit-LOTR: Quests, Curses, And Guardians { Angel & Polarize }

"You?" Alfrid gave an incredulous sort of scoff. "Well, that is unfortunate. These fish are illegal.” To the soldiers, he gestured towards the boat, his hateful gaze on both Bard and Saeril. “Empty the barrels over the side.” Revenge on Bard was what Alfird sought out the most, and he knew for a fact that Laketown's master would praise him for causing him trouble.

“You heard him. Into the canal. Come on, get a move on." Two of the soldiers moved forward, and Kili's eyes widened as he felt the barrel he was in start to tip. Fish started to pour out, and both he and Bilbo were mere seconds away from being revealed from their hiding places.

(No problem!! It's at a difficult spot right now since not much happened in this scene lol).

A Land of Wonder and Nightmare

Oh no, I am so sorry you're not feeling well! :'( I hope you get well soon! Are you feeling better today?

I absolutely love that idea! :D Yes! I am so excited to see how that plays out in the story. Considering how things have been going, I have a feeling he'll find out by accident. x'D

A Land of Wonder and Nightmare

“I don’t need your pity."
This was not at all the reaction Ghent had expected. There was no winning with this girl. Rather than risk further confrontation, Ghent didn't respond. With this glimpse into Elayra's past, he could start to better understand where her stubborn, prideful-to-a-fault attitude stemmed from. Losing a parent would have been the worst kind of pain, and she'd shouldered that loss for most of her life. Drust must have been the closest thing to a 'parent' as Elayra had. Considering how unstable the guy was, Elayra turned out well, if not hotheaded and impossible.
While the two decided their next course of action, Ghent decided that he had to survive two separate components: the dangers of Wonderland, and his comrades. When it came to Drust, the less said, the better. Ghent wasn't fond of agreeing for the sake of appeasing, but when it came to Drust he'd have to, or risk his blade. Elayra was a little more complicated; reading her was difficult, and Ghent wondered how many eggshells he'd have to step around before breaking them. The Wonderlanders were starting to make Mrs. Saxon seem easy to deal with.
Ghent was in his own world until the pack was tossed. The action snapped him out of his mental planning, and he was thankful to have caught the last bits of dialog as he pocketed his phone. "Food...and shelter. Right." Food shouldn't have been a problem; thanks to William, they had plenty of cash. Finding shelter was going to take some planning.
"Shelter's no problem. I know plenty of places." What a lie. "Follow me."
Feigning his confidence, Ghent lead them out of the alley, all while inwardly panicking. Hopefully he could come up with a place nearby; if he was tired, he couldn't imagine how they felt.
After a few yards, Ghent slowed to meet Elayra's pace and nodded towards her pack. "Hey, um...want me to take any of that? Looks kind of heavy. Uh..." He stopped, wondering if he'd unintentionally offend her by the offer. If his pity hadn't been wanted, he doubted his assist would have been accepted either. "Not that I don't think you're capable. I just don't see the point in you carrying all of that by yourself."

Hobbit-LOTR: Quests, Curses, And Guardians { Angel & Polarize }

Before Bard had a chance to proceed, a slightly hunched over, horrible man clad in all black snatched the papers away. “Not so fast.” With a sneer, he looked the written text over, then to the barrels and Saeril. Underneath the fish, Kili sneezed, and Alfrid's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm. Only, they’re not empty, are they, Bard?” With two guards at his side, Alfrid was more gutsy than he would have been normally. “If I recall correctly, you’re licensed as a bargeman, not a fisherman..." Upon his inspection, he picked up a fish, then dropped it back in place. "And who is this female supposed to be?”

- - -

As Legolas started to leave, one of the guards approached him. “Man os Tauriel? (What about Tauriel?)
Edevín eb enedhor na gû a megil. En ú-nandollen. (She went into the forest armed with her bow and blade. She has not returned.)"

Hobbit-LOTR: Quests, Curses, And Guardians { Angel & Polarize }

There were plenty of protests, but finally the company listened to reason. One by one, they hid in the barrels on the barge. Kili found it impossible to sit comfortably; while in hiding, he tried to get a look at the gash on his leg. The way Saeril had acted was indeed worrisome.
Without any visual, Kili grew uneasy. "What’s he doing?”

Bilbo peered through the hole in the barrel. “He’s talking to someone. And he’s...pointing right at us! Now they’re shaking hands.”
Thorin's eyes narrowed. “What?”
Dwalin was ready to fight if necessary. “That villain! He’s selling us out.”
Just then, each and every barrel was filled to the brim with dead fish.

- - -

“It means they intend to unleash a weapon so great it will destroy all before it.”
Thranduil responded evenly, and then he looked to the guards arriving. “I want the watch doubled at all our borders. All roads, all rivers. Nothing moves but I hear of it. No one enters this kingdom, and no one leaves it.”

Hobbit-LOTR: Quests, Curses, And Guardians { Angel & Polarize }

“I have had enough of this lippy lakeman." Dwalin snarled to his kin, his arms folded across his cheast. "I say we throw him over the side and be done with him.”
Bilbo turned towards Dwalin, shaking his head lightly. “Bard, his name’s Bard.”
Bofur blinked in surprise. “How do you know?”
Bilbo sat down, still hugging himself for warmth. “Uh, I asked him.” Dwavres could be so infuriating.
Dwalin frowned, then moved towards Thorin. “I don’t care what he calls himself, I don’t like him.”
Balin was busy counting what gold they had left. “We do not have to like him, we simply have to pay him. Come on now, lads, turn out your pockets.”
Hotheaded as ever, Dwalin remained skeptical. “How do we know he won’t betray us?”
Thorin glanced towards his nephews and Saeril, then back to tattooed dwarf. “We don’t.”
Balin counted once, then twice. Then three times. They hadn't enough. “There’s, um, just a problem: we’re ten coins short.”
Thorin instructed Gloin to give up what coin he had, and in that same moment, the Lonely Mountain came into view. The company was breathless, and each member rose just to catch a glimpse of their homeland.

"Only alright?" Kili attempted to read her features, but he did not have to. "I won't let you blame yourself," he sat himself up a bit more in order to keep better alert, and then he too caught a glimpse of the mountain. This was the mountain he and Fili had only heard stories of, seeing it firsthand was nothing short of breathtaking.

- - -

Thranduil was far from apologetic. “And I did. I freed his wretched head from his miserable shoulders.” In passing, he kicked the orc's corpse to stop the legs from shaking. “There was nothing more he could tell me...the dwarves are of no concern to me. Not anymore.”

Hobbit-LOTR: Quests, Curses, And Guardians { Angel & Polarize }

Kili's leg never ceased to hurt, but he'd managed to keep perfectly silent. If Thorin realized how badly off the injury was, he may have seen the youngest as a burden to the group rather than an asset.
"Yes...f-fine," Kili stammered a little, still cold, yet warming more thanks to the cloak. The fog around them was thick, and without a clear visual of their surroundings, he allowed himself to lean against her shoulder, eyes half-lidded as sleep begged to claim him.
Slowly, he turned his head to look at her. "What about you? Are you alright?"

Large rock formations seemed to appear out of nowhere throughout the fog, yet they'd sailed past effortlessly. “What are you trying to do, drown us?” Thorin demanded, turning to face Bard. "You nearly got us killed!"

- - -

Tauriel whipped out a knife, “You like killing things, orc? You like death? Then let me give it to you!”

Thranduil interfered before the redhead might take matters into her own hands. Legolas was correct in his way of thought; oftentimes, Tauriel had little self control and could react on impulse if not corrected. “Farn! Tauriel, ego! Gwao hi! (Enough! Tauriel, leave! Go now.)"

The orc snarled towards her, but Tauriel turned sharply, sheathed her blade, and left the room as told.
With Tauriel gone, Thranduil continued with the interrogation. “I do not care about one dead dwarf. Answer the question. You have nothing to fear. Tell us what you know and I will set you free...”

The orc spat on the ground. “You know nothing! Your world will burn! Our time has come again. My master serves the One. Do you understand now? Death is upon you. The flames of war are upon you-”

Thranduil's eyes widened, and he decided to put an end to this before the orc may continue with his threat. Without warning, the king whipped out his sword and beheaded the foul creature even as Legolas still held his head.

Hobbit-LOTR: Quests, Curses, And Guardians { Angel & Polarize }

With Bard's permission, the company boarded the barge. The temperature had dropped considerably; ice littered the water and it had begun to snow very lightly. Bilbo hugged himself while pacing in an attempt not to freeze. Some dwarves sat, others counted what gold they had left. Thorin remained near the front, his eyes on the lake.
Kili sat near Fili and Saeril, completely silent and paler than usual.

Thranduil walked past their hostage, his eerily blue eyes landing towards the orc. “Such is the nature of evil. Out there in the vast ignorance of the world it festers and spreads, a shadow that grows in the dark. A sleepless malice as black as the oncoming wall of night. So it ever was; so will it always be. In time, all foul things come forth.”

The orc only smirked in response. “Not thirteen; not any more. The young one, the black-haired archer, we stuck him with a Morgul shaft. The poison’s is in his blood. He’ll be choking on it soon.”

Tauriel frowned, for she remembered witnessing the attack. Saeril had made short work of Bolg. “Answer the question, filth.”

The orc growled lowly, resisting their questioning. “Sha hakhtiz khunai-go, Golgi! (I do not answer to dogs, She-Elf!)"

A Land of Wonder and Nightmare

Ghent's bitterness faded and he was left with an odd feeling of guilt. Up until now, he'd come to the conclusion that his father hadn't cared enough to come or even search for him.
"So...he didn't just dump me off with you two." The taller of the two was humbled into silence, his gaze lowering towards the ground as Elayra spoke about the people who had died, and the people who remained. Hatter wasn't the only one Ghent had misjudged. Elayra had been misjudged as well.
"That's rough...I'm sorry," he apologized, feeling sympathy towards her. With a fuller explanation regarding the reality behind Wonderland's downfall, Ghent could see the bigger picture. He'd gotten off easy: he got to grow up with two parents, Elayra lost hers. Elayra had been trapped in a world so nightmarish that he could barely envision such a place to be real.
After a long, heavy pause, he sighed in defeat and lifted his head to resume eye contact. "Alright...we can forget about the twenty-four hours."
In his heart, Ghent knew that going home wasn't possible. If he had a target on his back, he couldn't risk his parents being caught in the crossfire. The longer the trio remained in the city, the more the world was put at risk. There was no choice left, he had to go.
"My mind's made up...I'll come with you. I owe you guys that much." Ghent didn't believe himself a hero, but he could not turn a blind eye to what he'd learned. Aside from the risks involved in staying, he felt obligated to help. Wonderland was a part of him, and they were desperate enough to need him. Things must have been really bad.