Story [The Hobbit, LOTR]: A Hobbit in Ered Luin Dear Diary 2014

Thorin has always been portrayed as a harsh character, which in reality I don't think he really is. He's had a lot of grief to deal with and I think he hides his true self from others because of it.

 

*Looks a bit shifty* I told you to watch out for some stuff concerning our innocent dwarven scribe, who isn't as innocent as we thought. Part of the blame for this is my own take on the character. Nerds do have a dark side....mostly it's not that bad, but... (Oh a word of warning, one of the Ori rp accounts on twitter is worse than this, and I dedicate this to his writer.) Personally, I blame Nori's influence...

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Hilda Greenhill's Diary

7th Rethe, 2940

It was a nice, clear morning the next day and I decided that it would be nice to take first breakfast in the beer garden. I noticed the day before that the snowdrops were out and the daffodil's were well on their way to flowering. I was hoping that Kili had not eaten yet, but when I went into the common room, I found that I was disappointed. I glanced out of the round window and saw that Thorin, Fili and Kili were having what appeared to be an intense conversation.

"Ah wouldn't go out there, just yet, lass," Bofur said.

"Why ever not?" I enquired.

"Just gi' 'em some time t' talk," Bofur replied.

"Alright," I said, sitting down at the table with him. There was a teapot that was still warm and a plate of scones. I decided to pour myself a cup and tackle a couple of the scones while I waited - I could always take second breakfast outside with Kili later.

"Oh, tha might be interested in reading this," Bofur said, passing me a copy of Ori's Ered Luin Chronicle. Part of me was pleased that he had finally succeeded in getting the printing press to work. I looked clueless at the runes printed on it. They didn't mean anything to me because I can't read dwarven runes and said so. Bofur read it out to me.

"Is this what they are discussing out there?" I asked.

"Aye," Bofur replied.

Some how, the notion of having second breakfast left me completely and I lost my appetite for the first. Ignoring Bofur's advice, I went out into the beer garden.

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Kili's Journal

7th Rethe, 2940

At breakfast, I saw Bofur looking at a large sheet of printed paper with runes on it.

"Is that Ori's Chronicle?" I asked.

"Yep. T' innkeeper seys it comes b' raven every week."

It was printed on both sides. "Want t' 'ave a look?"

"Sure," I said. This edition of the Ered Luin Chronicle had details about the recent attack by orcs on Thorin's Gate, and the efforts to rebuild. Quite boring, really, if you'd been there, so I skipped it. Dwalin had a column. "I didn't know Mister Dwalin contributed to this," I said.

"Oh aye, he usually does the weekly court round up section. Ori refuses to do it, 'cos Nori's in it almost every week." And he was in it again in this edition.

Another surprise - Mam, with Bild, did a dwarf women's fashion column. I didn't even know she was interested in dwarf women's fashion. This week it was about beard braiding. (Ironic, since neither of them had grown beards for years.) The druid woman had an astrology column which predicted doom and gloom for just about everyone's star sign except for mine and Hilda's, which predicted love. I suspect someone had inside information - no one ever takes such things seriously and they are never that accurate. I turned it over to read the other side, which was taken up by Ori's gossip column and sports results.

"It says here that Bombur recently won a pie eating contest at the Cabbage, but that must have been weeks ago."

"There's not allus room t' fit everything in, so Ori puts old stuff in on a slow week," Bofur replied.

"I thought Ori had only just started doing this," I said.

"Oh he used to hand write it an' t' distribution wasn't wide, 'cos it took so long to make copies that way. It didn't have a wide distribution, and that was why he and Lofnheid were keen on gettin' the printing press built. Ah'm surprised tha' didn't know that. Ori's best customer is the human who runs the local chippy. He uses it to wrap the chips up in."

I was inclined not to bother with reading the gossip column, but something caught my eye. It was then that I noticed the headline for the gossip column. 'Dwarf prince's secret love nest.' It was an account of the night Hilda and I had spent in the hayloft. I think I must have went bright red.

"The gossip column's allus my favourite, though," Bofur was saying.

"Have you read this edition's?" I asked.

"I hadn't got round to it yet," Bofur said, taking it back from me. He laughed.

"I'm gonna kill Ori the next time I see him."

"It's true, isn't it?"

I figured that I couldn't really lie about it, as it would be blindingly obvious if I did. No wonder why the hobbits had been acting very strangely towards Hilda and it wasn't just the normal hobbit customs getting in the way.

"What else has he been saying?" I asked.

"Ah don't think tha wants t' know."

I took the paper back. There were lots of lies nd half-truths in the article and innuendo. The problem was, depending on how one chose to view it, the article could be seen as true, because that was how our behaviour could be seen to outsiders. I just hoped that Uncle Thorin hadn't read it, but that hope was soon dashed when he came in from the beer garden. I attempted to fold it up so that he wouldn't see it.

"I've already seen it," Uncle Thorin said, in that tone he used when he was really ticked off about something. "A word, please, Kili?" He indicated that we should go outside.

It was more than just a word.

We spoke in a quiet area of the beer garden and I saw that he had already spoken to Fili, because my brother was there already.

"You have brought shame down onto the line of Durin," my Uncle began. "Both of you. Fili's lying to cover up your misdeeds, you sneaking around with that hobbit girl, not to mention the shirking of your responsibilities."

"Uncle -"

Uncle Thorin cut me off before I could say anything more. "I am deeply disappointed in the pair of you, but you especially, Kili. Your father would be turning in his grave."

Fili attempted to fix things, but our Uncle wouldn't have it.

"Your actions reflect badly on your mother and I," Uncle Thorin said. "After your father died, I made an oath to bring you up as my own. Did I not teach you both the importance of conducting yourselves with honour? And now this filth is being read in all the corners of Middle-earth. Goodness knows what your cousin Dain thinks. The elves in Rivendell, Lorien and beyond will be taking delight in our shame, and the men of Rohan and Gondor will look upon our house as one of ill repute. Worse, though, is what you have done to your mother."

I opened my mouth to blame Ori for the spread of rumours, but that only made things worse.

"Don't even think of blaming Ori for this. If you had conducted yourself better, Kili, then there would have been nothing for him to write. And Hilda, did you even stop to think about her in all of this? Her life was already in tatters and you have made her situation worse."

"It's not like that at all,' I said.

"You've acted in a selfish manner and must make things right by her."

"That's what I intend to do."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Uncle, may I ask a question?" Fili asked.

"Go ahead."

"Why did you not speak to Kili about this before? It was quite clear that something was going on between them."

"I thought, as your mother did, that it was nothing more than a courtly romance. I didn't bring it up because I thought your brother would behave accordingly and with discretion. I had not realised just how far it had gone."

"I thought I'd almost lost her, Uncle," I said, thinking that perhaps if I explained why I'd done what I had, it would at least help him understand. "I had been falling in love with her for some time, but I wanted to wait to tell her because she was still recovering from her loss. I didn't think it was right to bring it up with her so soon. Then the orcs attacked, and I wanted her to know how I felt."

"There's a big difference between telling her, lad, and what you did."

"I know that, Uncle, and I'd never intended it to happen that way." It was only partly the truth. If I had been more sure about things, if I'd known that my family and the other dwarves would have accepted Hilda as my wife, then I might have been more patient.

The discussion was cut short with the arrival of Hilda. When she found out about the article, she was very upset about it (and placed the blame squarely on Ori's shoulders). It took Fili and myself ages to calm her down. Uncle Thorin spent the afternoon writing a stern letter to Ori and Skafid over the article and paid a hobbit to deliver it to them.

Bofur thought the whole thing was a big joke (he would) and ran the risk of getting his teeth knocked out. By whom, I'm not certain because it got to the point where Uncle Thorn, Dwalin, Fili and myself all wanted to deck him. I think we were all glad when we left the inn behind.

 

Excellent post here. Very believable reactions from all concerned. You never think or want to that something you do in private and out of love and wanting to make sure your commitment is mutual and known to the one you care for is going to become grist for the rumor mill. Because they can and do make things up out of literal thin air, besides taking what's true and exaggerating and/or adding to it.

 

Ori will get his comeuppance! Every nerd, as far as I can tell, as a dark side because they secretly want to be more popular/have more confidence, etc, than they actually have, which is Ori's problem. In the book he is supposed to be much older than Fili and Kili, but I like the idea of him being a teenager. There is some speculation that dwarven puberty lasts for 40 years and we thought we had it bad.... I'd hate to know how long elves have to suffer with their lifespan. As for a wedding, well, I'm not going to comment on that. It would spoil what is to come if I did.The update after this one needs working on because I've changed it around a lot and I was in the middle of doing it when I became ill.
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Hilda's Diary

9th - 12th Rethe

Now that we had left wilder country behind, there was a more relaxed atmosphere to the travelling as we passed through fields, farms, villages consisting of rows of hobbit houses, markets and inns. We could have bought everything we needed in the Shire, but we would get better prices for the tools in Bree and Thorin said that we could purchase what we needed on the way back. Those days were pleasant and it wasn't long before we reached Hobbiton.

I was beginning to think that it wouldn't be such a bad place to live after all, and it is easier to get to from Ered Luin than I thought it would have been. I mentioned as much to Kili and Dwalin must have overheard Kili's reply because he gave him a hard look. I would have liked Kili's company in the cart but because of the article, we both thought it would be best to stay apart for a while. It was difficult to do so, and even more so because we were so near each other.

It was cold at night because it was early spring, but other than that it was pleasant to be out doors. Spring was far more advanced here than in the north, where it came more slowly, partly because of its northern location and in part because of the mountains.

My grandparents and aunt on my father's side and my uncle, and cousin on my mother's side lived at Frog Morten and we stopped off to see them along the way. It took some doing to find out where they lived, mainly because I had last been here as a child and those memories are very distant now. A neighbour of my grandparents' recognised my story about living near the mountains and it seemed that my parents' leaving the Shire to make a farm there still caused quite a scandal amongst the local hobbits. The neighbour asked why I was here now and Thorin explained briefly what had happened. For once, even Bofur kept his mouth shut - there are some things that you just can't joke about. Kili came to stand at my side and entwined the fingers of his left hand with my right and I am grateful of his quiet presence. The neighbour was quite sympathetic and offered to take us to my uncle's farm. However, a passing hobbit who over heard the conversation was not.

"That what comes of leaving the Shire. Serves them right, if you ask me," he said.

"Get back to Hobbiton, Sackville-Baggins, and bother your cousin," the neighour replied.

"What would you know of things, hobbit?" Thorin asked.

"I know enough that dwarves should stay out of the affairs of hobbits," Sackville-Baggins replied.

Dwalin looked like he wanted to chop the hobbit's head off with one of his axes, and Bofur shook his head.

"When orcs attack people in my domain, hobbit, it is made my business," Thorin replied. "And you need to learn not to be rude to kings. It's unhealthy for you."

"You're a king? You look like a bunch of travelling vagabonds to me, sir dwarf," Sackville-Baggins replied, rather insultingly.

Thorin nodded to Dwalin and the warrior dwarf did an excellent job at intimidating the hobbit just by moving towards him and looming over him. The hobbit muttered an apology, more to save his skin, I am sure, than out of respect for a king, and quickly left.

"Well met, Dwalin," Thorin said. Bofur laughed. Of course, he would find it funny. He finds everything funny, accept when it is something really serious. Our guide was a Brandybuck and he gladly led us to my uncle's farm. The farm was now run by my cousin, but my uncle still lived there and worked on it with his son.

I felt like they needed to know what had happened to my parents and brothers, as I am not sure if they knew. My aunt had never married and lived with my grandparents and cared for them in their advancing years. My cousin, Callum, was about the same age of my brother Siegfried would have been, and he had a wife called Deidre. They had three children, Rosie, who was the eldest daughter, who was seven and five year old twins (non-identical) called Jimmy and Tom. All three seemed to love Thorin, who had a good way with them. Bofur, (much to the brothers' embarrassment), said that they reminded Thorin of Fili and Kili when they were nippers.

We stayed there for a few days and although what had brought me there was probably the saddest news that I could ever bring them, it was a happy time. The dwarves are excellent musicians, even if some of them have more talent than others and it was quite merry in the evenings. I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to, though, because being surrounded by family reminded me more of what I had lost than seeing the farm empty and derelict. It is a rather difficult thing to explain if you've not experienced it yourself. The loss of one or two would not have been so bad, but all of them? If my marriage to Kili went ahead, there would be a gaping hole where my parents and my brothers should have been.

During the first evening, it was just too much for me and I went outside to look at the stars. I could hear Bofur and his brother and cousin singing loudly. While occupied looking at the stars, my mind on my lost family, I heard heavy footsteps behind me. Initially, I thought that it was Kili come out to find me, but when I turned to see who it was, I saw that it was Thorin. I expected him to say something, but he didn't. He just offered me one of the mugs of ale he carried with him and sat down beside me. I accepted it gratefully. You can't afford to refuse a gift from a king. We drank the ale in silence and just as I thought he wasn't going to speak, he did.

"You've made quite an impression on my youngest nephew, lass," he said. Was I in trouble about that article? It seemed like I was… "Yes, I am angry about what has occurred between you and Kili. Choosing a wife is serious business for dwarves, even more so when one a heir of the Royal Line. We don't choose a partner lightly." Was he going to withdraw his permission, I wondered? He explained to me the situation with Bild, how he had loved her when he was younger, in the days before the war with the orcs. She had chosen his brother over him and that would not have been a problem if he'd not been killed in the war. The problem was, Bild would never be is wife because she felt like she was betraying Frerin's memory if she did. Thorin told me a lot about the losses his family had suffered since Smaug had driven them out of Erebor. A long and sad tale, to say the least. I think he understood my loss more than anyone else could have done and in some ways, it gave me some strength to find that someone as strong as the dwarf king could be laid as low as myself in the face of loss. It did make me wonder though if I had the strength to deal with it. I doubted that I did, even now.

He also made it clear to me that he would continue to support me if I chose to stay with the dwarves.

"Hey Kili, have you -" it was Bofur come looking for Thorin and we turned to see Kili and Bofur in the garden behind us. I wondered how long Kili had been there, listening to our conversation? Thorin and I walked back into the house with them. I was glad we'd spoken.

Hobbit homes, especially those in the Shire, are usually quite large when they have been built to house a family. The farm house of my parents was quite modest in comparison and there was no trouble at all in accommodating us. Deirdre put me up in a bedroom near her and Callum, incase I needed anything in the night. Once again I had trouble sleeping and I wondered if it would always be this way but instead of worrying about it, I decided to take advantage of it and write in my diary. It does help, writing out some of my sadness, but I don't think I would ever have the strength in the future to come back and look at what I have written. Who would want to read it?

There was a knock at the door as I sat at the table writing out the events of the day. A moment later, Kili poked his head around the door. He left the door open, so that if anyone passed, they would see that we weren't doing anything. I got to my feet and a moment later I was in his arms and he kissed me. Oh how I had missed him kissing me! The sound of a cough forced us to break apart, and in the doorway stood Fili. I think we were both relieved to see that it was Fili who caught us. Fili wanted to talk about what had happened with Ravauvial. I didn't know that he was still hurting about that, and neither did Kili. We discussed it for a few minutes, but were interrupted when Rosie, Jimmy and Tom came in. My little cousins were excited to meet me and they were too wound up to be able to sleep, and they wanted a story. Kili obliged by telling them a tall tale about Durin the Deathless battling a dragon single-handedly and winning. I am sure it was complete rubbish, but it entertained them.

After a while, a rather annoyed Dwalin looked in. "Go to bed or keep it down, would you?" He thought he was just addressing Fili, Kili and myself, but when he saw the wide awake children…. "Telling them stories of dragons is hardly going to get them to go to sleep, young Kili."

"What do you propose, Mr Dwalin?"

Dwalin laughed softly. "Leave it to me," he said. "I'm good at getting young 'uns to go to sleep. I practiced enough on you two, young Ori, Gimli and my own."

Dwalin made the three young hobbits lay down on my bed and started to softly sing to them. His singing made me yawn and sleepy, and I noticed it had that effect on Kili and Fili as well. The children dropped off first, and then I did. I'm not sure what order Kili and Fili fell asleep in, but when I woke up the next morning, they were sleeping on the floor beside me, and the young hobbits were still deeply asleep.

Little Rosie, Tom and Jimmy combined did a lot to ease my grief. They brought the light back even where the dwarves themselves, Kili included, had failed. It made me think of my future with Kili. Would we ever have children of our own? Was it even possible, with me being a hobbit and him a dwarf. Callum and Deirdre were so lucky.

But all too quickly it was time to leave again.

My grandmother really did want me to stay with them and it was extremely difficult for me to turn her down. I know some of the dwarves wanted me to stay behind, not out of malice but because they thought it was the best thing for me. But my heart belongs to Kili and I could not stay. My cousin now ran the farm that my uncle had run. (It had belonged to my grandparents on my mother's side, but they had long passed on). It was tempting to want to live on a farm again, and if it had not been for Kili, I would have. I promised that I would visit them as soon as I could.

 

Your attention to detail of history and place is super. Thorin's story does make him more understanding and compassionate I think. Hilda's extended family seem warm and I think under other circs, she could find some measure of contentment there. But her path now lies elsewhere.

 

Must get on with the next update of this. I've been a bit distracted recently and didn't realise just how much time had passed since I last updated!
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Kili's Journal

13th Rethe - Night

While the Company slept, I took the opportunity to go off on my own and went to the top of the hill in which we camped on. The moon was full and bright, and the sky was clear of clouds so that the stars could clearly be seen. It is on a night like this that I felt like I should give thanks to Mahal for my good fortune at finding Hilda. It is difficult for dwarf men to find a woman. Mam tells me that the reason why there are so few of them is that they were the first to battle Smaug when he attacked Erebor, and later they suffered heavy losses in the War with the Orcs. It was not out of weakness why they died, which is often thought by other races, but because they were too brave… The reason why they are not mentioned in our recent histories is because the sorrow at their loss is too great for the men of my people to bear. And as finding Hilda is such a rare treasure, I wanted to thank Mahal and his lovely wife for putting her in my path so that I would have a lass to spend my life with.

The ritual is simple. I made a fire, and spoke blessings in Khuzdul as I sacrificed mead to them. Towards the end, I heard footsteps and turned to see who it was, expecting it to be Dwalin who was due to relieve me, but it was Hilda instead. Trotter had led her to me.

"Hello, love," I said.

"I was wondering where you had got to, Kili," she said. "What are you doing?"

I made sure that there was no one around to over hear our conversation, but it was rather difficult to do in the darkness. I told her about Mahal, and some of the legends surrounding him, about how he had made the vessels to carry the sun and the moon. We sat down in front of the fire, Hilda in front of me and I told her more, my arms wrapped protectively around her. I probably told her far more than I should have done. Dwarves tend to keep our culture and traditions secret to outsiders, but if Hilda was to be my One, and live with us, I really saw no harm in telling her things we wouldn't readily discuss with outsiders. We watched the embers of the fire die away and I was even tempted to tell her my dwarven name, but Dwalin interrupted us. I really don't think that he was pleased finding us like he did. I hoped this did not get back to my Uncle!

 

Beautiful moment and legend. The tone is gentle and sweet.

 

I have not forgotten about this. The next bit of the story is going to be their time at Bree. I need to work on piecing it together though, on the bits that I have got and I need to have the time and concentration to do it, which I don't seem to have at the moment.

 

Here it is. Because of my illness back in May, I've been having trouble with my diabetes medication as they were too strong and making me sleepy all the time, and I also had some after effects of the virus to deal with. In someways, it has improved my health because I lost a lot of weight which I was having trouble shifting, but it's not the way I wanted it to happen at all! I also share the computer and don't have a lot of time for long, uninterrupted sessions on it to do a lot of writing (maybe in November, I can go mad with it and use NaNo as an excuse....) I also didn't realise how long it had been between updates as well. Almost a month...Not good, really.
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Kili's Journal

25th Rethe

The day we arrived in Bree was marked by heavy rain, which I think just about suited the place. It is grim! The buildings hung over the street, which was barely wide enough for the cart to get through. Uncle Thorin narrowly missed being drenched with the contents of a chamber pot someone was throwing out of an upstairs window. It was difficult for Fili and I not to laugh. Clearly, unlike the Shire, Bree had not heard of plumbing. I didn't want to know what filth was mixed in with the water we were stepping in, but it stank.

Fili and I were given the task of caring for the ponies while Uncle Thorin organised rooms for us. It was getting quite late in the afternoon and we were in luck - apart from the rooms already taken by Hilda, Bofur, Bifur and Bombur, the hobbit wing of the Prancing Pony was empty.

Aside from Uncle Thorin, who said that he would eat later, we had a meal, and while we were eating, Bofur, Bifur and Bombur joined us. Afterwards, Bofur, Bifur and Bombur went out into the village for the evening, and they persuaded Uncle Thorin to allow them to take Fili with them. Uncle Thorin warned Fili to be careful. Dwalin and Gloin, tired from the journey, reluctantly retired. It was unlikely that anything would happen in a busy inn, Uncle Thorin assured us. One of the ponies had picked up a sharp stone in its hoof, and Uncle Thorin said he was heading out to see the local farrier and ask him to take a look at it in the morning.

So Hilda and I were left alone in the common room together. It was quite tempting to take the opportunity to go back to her room and be alone together. Who would know? But I think we've had enough complications, so we stayed in the common room instead.

Hilda and I found a quite corner in the common room to play Hnefetafl for the evening - no one could complain about that, could they? Hilda was still hungry, something I was used to with her being a hobbit, especially in a place with plenty of food and she asked the bar wench to get her some stew and some mead for us both. It was probably just as well that we didn't sneak off - Uncle Thorin arrived back before her meal had arrived. He spoke to the same serving wench and sat down at a table in front of the fire. Just as he was doing so, Dwalin came back into the common room and stationed himself so that he could keep an eye on my Uncle. It was still raining heavily outside.

While Hilda and I had been looking for a quiet corner, a pair of unsavory looking characters eyed my Uncle rather intently, as if they recognised him. My hand hovered over the hilt of my sword. I glanced at Dwalin, and he had clocked them as well. Hilda's meal, and that of my Uncle Thorin arrived.

"Hilda, get ready to cause a distraction," I said, quietly, but there was no need to.

An old man dressed in grey and wearing a pointed hat sat himself down at the table across from my Uncle.

"Who is that?" Hilda asked.

"I have no idea," I said, relaxing. I don't recall ever seeing the old man before.

He and Uncle Thorin seemed to be having a very intense conversation, and it got the interest of several of the inn's patrons, including the men who had been staring at Uncle Thorin since he sat down. The old man seemed to notice this, and broke off the conversation. Uncle Thorin and the old man got up so they could go finish their conversation in private. Now that got my curiosity. I quickly gathered up the gaming pieces and put them away.

"What are you doing?" Hilda asked.

"I want to find out what my Uncle and the old man are talking about," I replied.

I noticed that Hilda didn't leave her stew behind, nor the mug of mead. I left mine, as I wasn't that hungry.

Trotter, who was very good at following scent trails, tracked Uncle Thorin to another part of the inn. It wasn't in the hobbit wing, either. We could hear Uncle Thorin and the old man talking behind a door which Trotter led us to, but we couldn't make out any of the words as they were too muffled. I crouched and put my ear to the door, and still holding her bowl of stew, Hilda did the same.

"Can you make anything out?" I mouthed to Hilda.

Trotter, with a sigh, laid down at my feet, and I casually stroked his head.

"I can't," Hilda replied.

"Just a moment, Thorin," I heard the old man say. "We seem to have picked up a pair of eavesdroppers."

The door opened inward and Hilda and I, leaning on the door, fell forward into the room. Hilda lost her stew as it spilled everywhere.

"Kili!" Uncle Thorin growled.

"Do you make an habit of listening at doors, son of Dis?" the old man asked.

"Not really, no," I replied, as I got to my feet. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage."

"Nephew, this is Gandalf the Grey," Uncle Thorin said.

"And you must be Hilda," Gandalf said as he regarded her with a smile. "I've read all about you two."

It was then that I noticed a copy of the Ered Luin Chronicle on the table and I wondered just how far the distribution for that blasted fish wrapper had gone. It did amuse me somewhat, though to think that Ori ate his favourite food out of his own rag.

"An exaggeration, I'm sure," I said, in an attempt to hide my chagrin. I glanced at Hilda and she had gone bright red.

"The Chronicle keeps me up to date with everything that's happening in your part of the world," Gandalf went on. "I especially like the gossip column. Very well written. I would like to meet the dwarf that writes it."

It was at that moment that I decided that it was better not to know just how far reaching Ori's fish wrapper was.

"Close the door, Kili," Uncle Thorin said. "I was going to wait until we were back in the mountains before breaking the news to anyone, but as you and Hilda are here, you may as well know, but you must keep this to yourself for now. The time to retake Erebor draws near."

 

Space_Wolf - sorry to hear about your lingering medical problems, but wow, when you come back you do it by having Gandalf appear! Buya on that! Looks like the action is about to ramp up Doesn't it always when he arrives? LOL

 

Well, Gandalf has turned up to start helping them to plan the retaking of Erebor. It's still a year away before the actual journey. I have lots of stuff planned for Kili, Fili, Ori, Nori and Bofur to do in the mean time...

 

Hilda Greenhill's Diary


25th Rethe

The news, I think, surprised Kili. I have not recorded what was discussed in that meeting with Gandalf. If this diary ever got into the wrong hands, too much details about the plan to retake Erebor would prove disastrous. It is said that many look to the mountain to gain control over the treasure of the dwarves and only the dragon Smaug's presence stops people from raiding the place. All I can say is that it sounds like a reckless proposition to me. Have I found my love only to have to loose him?

There is one other thing that bothers me. It appears that someone has put a price on the King's head, and on that of his nephews as well. Someone seeks to end the line of Durin.

Why had Thorin been willing to go to Dunland? Perhaps is it what my parents and my brothers died for. Their deaths and that of others, and the attacks in the mountains, were all to draw Thorin and his heirs out.

I suppose that though I don't like the idea of Kili facing a dragon, he lives a dangerous life anyway on account of who he is. It is not good, either way.

 

Oh I can so sympathize with Hilda's worry. The upcoming great adventure is put in a somber light when she put together the earlier seemingly unconnected attacks.

 

To be honest, I don't know if I'm going to keep to the canon or not. Sometimes I want to drop it and at other times I want to keep it. I may end up doing to versions to satisfy my ideas.

 

I've split this next entry into two parts because it is quite a long one. I didn't realise how long it was until I started typing up my notes and I need to post something.

Kili's Journal

25th - 26th Rethe

Fili failed to return to the Prancing Pony that night and I don't think Bofur, Bifur and Bombur did, either. I doubted that Uncle Thorin was pleased that they stayed out since it wasted what limited funds we had, and put them in danger if they came across those hunting for us. That was my fear, you see, that something had happened to Fili. I wish they had stayed at the Prancing Pony. I found sleep elusive that night, in part because I was concerned about Fili. Bree has an unsavory atmosphere about it and as the night worn on, my worry that something had happened to him grew. After tossing and turning for quite sometime, I gave up trying to sleep, got out of bed, dressed, and slipped out into the corridor. Before I'd even registered what I was doing, I found myself at Hilda's door. Was she awake, I wondered?

Trotter was laid down in front of her door and he thumped his tail at me as I approached. Seeing him always brings a smile to my face, because it was finding him that led me to find my hobbit lass. My Âzyungâl.

I bent and stroked his head as I passed. I tried Hilda's door and found it unlocked and went inside. To my disappointment, she was sleeping. I was hoping that she'd be awake so we could talk, and I didn't have the heart to wake her, especially as sleep often eludes her. The blankets were hanging dangerously close to the edge of her bed, and she was sleeping in thin clothing. Even though spring was here at last, it still got bitterly cold at night. I didn't want her getting chilled, so I readjusted them so that she was properly covered. I kissed her forehead as I did so.

Trotter had followed me into the room. "At least you're awake," I said in a quiet whisper. I briefly considered the wisdom of taking him for a walk around the village. It was risky - back home a midnight stroll wouldn't have phased me. Wild animals like wolves and bears know to keep away from the settlement because they would be quickly hunted if they strayed too close. Occasionally you would see something like a fox or a badger, but they are relatively harmless and if they didn't prey on livestock or we needed furs to survive the cold of the mountains, we left the animals alone.

Here, it was animals of the two-legged variety that concerned me. I retrieved my sword from the room I should have been sharing with Fili, and took a lamp to light my way.

Dwalin was going back into his room and saw me. "Where are you off to, lad?"

"I'm just taking Trotter out," I replied. "Fili's not back yet. I was hoping that I'd see him."

"You shouldn't worry, lad. Bofur and the others won't let anything happen to him. Though I think your Uncle will want a word with them when he sees them."

Of course, I did trust Bofur, Bifur and Bombur to guard him. They did a good job guarding my Uncle, after all. Still, they didn't know about Gandalf's news… I hoped that they were alert for trouble. "Aye," I replied.

"Don't be too long, lad," Dwalin said. "I come look for you if you're gone too long."

I nodded, silently. Dwalin was more like an uncle to Fili and myself, than a cousin and very protective of us, but he didn't crowd us. I found it reassuring that he would come looking for me if it was needed. Trotter was at my heels the whole time and I went out into the darkness.

Bree had an even more ill-favoured look about it in the dark than it had during the day. The streets between the buildings were either made up of cobbles or were just dirt tracks, both were equally filthy and puddles were everywhere because of the rain from earlier. The night was clear though, and there was a frostiness in the air. The moon was about half way full.

We passed through the market place, deserted at this hour of the night apart from the odd broken down cart which could still be used by a merchant to display their goods, but just about useless for anything else.

Trotter seemed to like the walk as he followed the scent trails of rats and other creatures that sparked his interest. We did have hounds back in Ered Luin that we used to track deer and other wildlife when we needed to hunt, and he was as single-minded as they were. I had to remember that it was his nose that had been paramount in leading us to Hilda and the thought made me smile. Over the months that Hilda had come into my life, that dog had become as important to me as any of the dwarves in Ered Luin and perhaps meant more to me than the ponies. I would admit this to Hilda, Fili or Mam, but never to anyone else. I don't think they would have understood.

I heard the sounds of a disturbance behind the next bend in the road and I drew my sword from its scabbard. Trotter barked and with a growl lunged forward. I called for him to come back, but he ignored me. I heard a shout of pain and assumed that Trotter must have bit one of them. When I rounded the corner, I saw a pair of dark figures running away, one of them limping and Trotter was nuzzling a crumpled form upon the ground. When I got closer, I could see that it was a woman.

"Good lad, Trotter," I said, praising the collie and knelt down beside the lady. "Are you alright, my lady?"

I looked over her disheveled appearance and even in the darkness, I could see that it was a stupid question to ask. She was far from alright. I helped her to her feet. She was tall and slender, but lacked the fairness that would have marked her as an elf, but she was still pretty all the same. It took some persuading, but she finally agreed to come back to the inn so she could be looked over. She told me her name was Ristil.

 

Space_Wolf - I too enjoyed the tucking in LOL and the OC Ristil Nice interweaving in with canon characters.

 

I was so caught up with writing Hilda and Kili's story that I wasn't going to develop Ristil well at all, but because of my illness over the summer it made me slow the pace down a bit so I'll be doing more with her. Sometimes things like long illnesses can make something much better than it would otherwise be. With the rping on Twitter, I've developed an affection for Radagast. (It was there to begin with anyway, because of his closeness to nature and love of animals, but I like it when I get ideas which make something much better than I planned.) And this story would not be what it is without those friends I've made on there as they've given me insights which I would never have had otherwise.
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Kili's Journal

Part 2 of the last entry....


I had no choice but to wake Hilda up for the task and there was no Oin around to see her, which looking back, I now wished he had traveled with us. Hilda rose sleepily from her bed when I woke her and she thought that I had snuck into to see her…and for Mahal's sake I wish that was the case! I quickly explained to her what the problem was and she got out of bed, and shivered in the cold of the night. I handed her the woolen shawl l that she wrapped around herself to stop herself from getting chilled in the night. It was one Ori had made for her in the winter and I found that I wasn't angry with him anymore for the article he had written. He was our good friend, even if youthful silliness got the better of him at times and I am not immune to it, either, thinking back on our rash actions! I pushed her hair to one side, wrapped my arms around her and kissed the back of her neck, almost forgetting why I was there to begin with…

"Thank you, Kili. Can you take me to her, love?" Hilda said, quietly.

"Of course. I'll go to the kitchen while you see to her." Trotter had followed me and I stroked his head as I walked past him. He's a good dog.

Hilda assisted the woman while I raided the kitchen for food which could be eaten cold. I worked as quietly as I could, as I didn't want to disturb anyone. I felt a bit roguish as I searched the pantry, and I must confess that I got a thrill out of it. No wonder Nori was such a prolific thief! The difference though is that I was doing it for a good cause, and Nori, well, he mostly did it for his own benefit. I left some coin to compensate the innkeeper for his trouble and returned to the common room with a pitcher of mead, bread, cheese and some seed cakes that I'd found.

Ristil told us her story while she ate. She was one of the wood folk of Mirkwood and was searching for the wizard called Radagast because there were bad things going on in the wood. People were being attacked by dark creatures, spiders, mainly and animals were dying. There was a growing sickness in the wood, a dark shadow.

"I don't know anyone called Radagast, but I have met a wizard called Gandalf. Perhaps he can help you," I said. "You'd better stay and talk to him."

"Dead things are on the move," she whispered. "My clan was attacked by the walking dead and I am the only survivor."

Hilda and I exchanged a glance. Could it be the druid's necromancer returned? I hoped not, but it was the most likely possibility. Of course, there could be something worse plaguing the wood. I am uncertain as to what it could be, that's for sure.

Hilda shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I suppose we should tell Irieaga when we see her next."

There was a loud banging at the door and a shout. "Open up, innkeeper and explain yourself!"

"Hide that," I said to Hilda, indicating the pitcher of mead and the wooden pint mugs.

"You aren't going to let him in, are you?" Hilda asked.

"Would you want him to wake up the entire inn?" I replied.

The banging continued until I opened the door. Dwalin appeared, a bit angry at being disturbed, but I was at the door before he could get to it.

"Night Watch," the human introduced himself. "You do realise the time, sir. It's way past trading hours for inns. May I come in?"

"Of course," I said.

"What's the trouble?" Dwalin asked, looking intimidating… Not that he needed to try, really. He always looks intimidating and that's when he's in a good mood…

He looked around the common room and saw that the innkeeper was nowhere in sight.

Dwalin folded his arms, glaring, but I'm not sure if he was glaring at me, Hilda, Ristil or the Night Watchman, though I suspected he was glaring at all of us. He remained silent, allowing me to deal with it.

"No trading going on?" the Night Watchman asked.

"None at all," I replied.

"Mind explaining what is going on here?" he asked.

By the fireplace, Trotter sighed.

"The lady came here in a distressed state and my wife was seeing to her comfort," I replied. I thought the truth would be better than a lie.

"A bit young to be married, aren't you sir? You're clearly a dwarf, but yet you have no beard. And she's an halfling, at that."

"We're engaged to be married," Hilda said, cutting in. A little miffed that he was poking his nose in and I dare say that I don't blame her. Can't folks just let Hilda and I be?

"Right," the Watchman said, in a disbelieving tone. "Wait a minute, a young dwarf and a hobbit woman - you're Oakenshield's youngest nephew."

"That's King Thorin to you," Dwalin cut in, angry at the disrespect shown to my Uncle.

The Watchman laughed, which only angered Dwalin, Hilda and I even more….

"I see what's going on here," the Watchman said, taking in Dwalin. "Please accept my apologies for disturbing you, your highness."

The Watchman said it in such a way that I doubted he was sorry about anything and he left. Dwalin was seething. The Watchman left.

"Are you alright, Kili?" Hilda asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just contemplating what I'm going to do to Ori the next time I see him."

"Wrap this up, lad," Dwalin said. "I would like some rest this night."

I nodded. "We won't be long, Mr Dwalin," I replied.

"Aye, make sure that's the case."

"Why didn't you tell the Watchman about the attack?" Hilda asked.

"What? And spend the rest of the night filling in a report, and having loads of questions to answer? I didn't even get a good look at them in the dark," I replied.

"I'm just glad that he was passing," Ristil said. "Your young man is very brave."

Tiredness suddenly came over me. I suggested that the forest woman stay the night in the stables and enter the inn when it officially opened. She could tell her story to my Uncle and Gandalf then. Maybe Gandalf had news of this Radagast.

I escorted Hilda to her door and kissed her goodnight. It was awfully tempting to go into her room with her, and I almost did, but our relationship had enough complications without adding more to it, and Dwalin knew that we'd been up together in the night.

And my Uncle could easily withdraw his support if he wanted, so I thought it best to play things safe. I didn't want to do anything to jeopardise that. Hilda kissed me again and this made leaving her even more difficult. As I made my way towards her room, I wondered just how long we had to wait before we could be together properly. I hoped it wasn't too long.

 

Wise bit of advice there for Ristil to tell her story and see what is likely afoot. Enjoyed the snarky and mushy mix