✓ | Forget-Me-Not ~ Fili FanFiction / Hobbit FanFiction / Fili FF

「 Chapter 4 」

"Wake up, dwarf!"
The creaking door to Ilèyn's small room cracked open. Ilèyn was already awake and sat on the rickety bed and skeptically watched the landlady, who waddled into the room, placed a small bucket of ice water at Ilèyn's feet and greedily held out her hand.
"Water costs extra!" she snapped.
Ilèyn twisted the left corner of her mouth, fumbled a coin from her dark red doublet and slowly placed it in the greasy hand of the landlady. She quickly closed her fingers around the coin and immediately stowed it in a pocket in her skirt. Then she trampled out of the open door and pulled it shut behind her as forcefully as she had opened it.
Ilèyn smiled and let the coin bounce back and forth between her fingers. By the time the landlady's fright noticed that the dwarf had only thrust a worthless piece of lead into her hand, Ilèyn would be way too far away to be struck by her anger.
The dwarf pulled the bucket towards her and looked inside. The dirty, brackish water was freezing cold.
Ilèyn sighed, took both hands and splashed the water on her face. The cold quickly woke her up for good. While she put on her rough leather boots she thought about the day before. She just had to find out what was going on. And what did Gandalf and this hobbit have to do with all of this?
Ilèyn now knew about the adventure. The hobbit had refused, he had assured her, but would that stop a wizard and a stubborn dwarf king? Well, probably not.
She too had heard of the stories the clan of bounty hunters had been telling each other for a long time. As a dwarf she knew the fate that befell the dwarves of Erebor. Even if she wasn't there, everyone knew the story. She herself always found it exciting and fascinating when travelers talked about it. Ilèyn had never seen a dragon in her life... all the stories she had heard about it were in her head. Everyone reported something different, everyone believed they knew what Smaug should have looked like or how that day had ended. And many have been reporting of Smaug's death for some time.
Ilèyn swung the rest of the dirty water out of the window and onto the street.
She just couldn't imagine that now, when the dragon was believed dead, Thorin Oakenshield would try to recapture the mountain with the help of a magician. Who would dare to do that? Even this wizard certainly couldn't do much. Unless...
Ilèyn had packed her things and was on her way out. On suspicion that the dwarves were really marching to the Erebor, she stopped a hobbit in the muddy streets of Bree who was leading a pony.
"Five gold coins for your pony, sir!" she called to him from afar.
"Who are you?" the hobbit asked, "Carrot should go to someone." Ilèyn looked at the hobbit in disbelief.
"You named your pony Carrot?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She took out her coin pouch and fished for the money. Before the hobbit could go any further, she had already thrust the coins into his hand and tore the rope out of his hand.
"Thank you." she said and turned around.
She couldn't find a saddler to pay for, so she got on the pony's back and left Bree through the city gate.
"All right... Carrot." the dwarf mumbled and gave the order to the pony to start walking.

Now she was on the way to the Weathertop. With Carrot's help, she would definitely make it without any time pressure and would be able to keep up well with the dwarfs.
At least she hoped so. Even if it was early in the morning, you never knew what could happen to you on the street.
Ilèyn took her time on her way, assuming that Thorin and his companion might not be getting on very quickly with an old wizard.
Recapturing this mountain was almost like suicide. Oh well, it was suicide. Two dwarfs and a wizard? How is that supposed to work?
Ilèyn had heard of the great wealth of the king under the mountain. A whole mountain filled with gold and precious stones. If she had all of this to herself, she would never have to work as a bounty hunter again. Ilèyn had to smile at the thought.
The gold belongs to the rightful king under the mountain. Her inner voice spoke up. That voice that she usually buried deep within herself. That voice that belonged to a part of her, that shaped a character of her that she had never shown anyone again. And would never show it to anyone again.
"The king under the mountain..." Ilèyn muttered thoughtfully.
She knew that Thorin was the king under the mountain. Even that hadn't stopped her from accepting this assignment and from wanting to finish it.
You don't have to do this.
Ilèyn shuddered, which threw Carrot briefly. He neighed and wanted to stop. Ilèyn motioned for him to go on.
"I'm sorry, Carrot." She apologetically rubbed the fur on his neck. "I'm not quite with myself, you know? This whole thing... is starting to get way too complicated. I should have guessed right away that it wasn't just a simple murder assignment when it comes to Thorin Oakenshield's head. "
Ilèyn was still riding slowly down the great east road on Carrot. It was getting dark.
"I... I've never been commissioned to stand up against my kin. Every time I've avoided the clients that wanted the bounty hunter to target some dwarfs. That... it just doesn't feel right."
Carrot snorted.
Ilèyn smiled slightly.
"You're right, I should be very quiet about all the things I did to others. However, I always had the feeling that they deserved it. And I needed the money. You can understand that, right? " The dwarf leaned forward and eyed the pony sideways. Carrot trotted along with satisfaction.
Ilèyn straightened up again. So now she was going to kill one of her own kin for the first time. The bounty attracted her, the temptation was enormous. She refrained from questioning the reasons for this assignment.
Was it the right thing?
Had Oakenshield deserved death at the hands of a bounty hunter?
So many questions, so few answers. By far the most unusual assignment Ilèyn has ever had. And the one with whom she had the most remorse.
Still, she didn't turn around. She kept walking towards the Weathertop, meanwhile it was evening. Ilèyn decided not to climb the Weathertop any more and instead set up a small camp at the foot of the huge rocky elevation. Carrot found enough grass to eat and some wood was lying around, which the dwarf quickly picked up and made a small inconspicuous fire under the shelter of the rocks.

She hadn't packed any food, she would hunt it herself, but she wasn't hungry at the moment, which is why she hadn't been on the lookout for rabbits or deer.
So she sat in silence and listened to the crackling of the fire. She did not allow any further doubts about the correctness of her assignment to enter her head and began to hum old songs.
But even that couldn't prevent a strange feeling from trying to lodge in her heart.
Trying not to be distracted from her goal, Ilèyn decided to look for something to eat. And if she only digged for roots, anything would be better than worrying about the fate of the world now.
She picked up her longbow and crept away from the fireplace, careful not to make a sound. She had already put an arrow on the string and was stalking carefully and crouched around the weather-point. Nothing. Ilèyn frowned and straightened up. She put the arrow back in her quiver.
She stared into the darkness with narrowed eyes, and from a distance she saw the faint glow of her little fire.
The dwarf sighed. Then there would probably be no more food for this evening. She trotted back in the direction of carrots and their bed when she suddenly heard a horrific scream on the horizon.
Ilèyn immediately stopped and drew an arrow. She crouched and, her eyes wide, let her gaze wander around. The scream echoed for a few seconds before another followed.
"Orcs ..." Ilèyn's heart was beating up to her neck. "Damn it!" She dashed back to the fire. Once there, she immediately began to put out the fire. She hastily picked up the things that were lying around and stowed them in her pocket, which she put Carrot on her back without further ado.
"Damn damn damn." cursed softly.
The pony felt that she was nervous and afraid and also became very restless.
Ilèyn led Carrot close to the rocks and listened. She observed the surroundings intently in order to be able to spot every movement, no matter how small. Nothing.
Suddenly another scream. Much closer, much more threatening, followed by a vicious howl. It wasn't a normal wolf, Ilèyn knew that. The orcs were here with wargs. But she found no trace of them anywhere. Carrot writhed restlessly next to her and snorted loudly.
Ileyn put her hand reassuringly on the pony's neck and whispered something in the pony's ear as she gently stroked the fur. An old trick that her mother had shown her when Ilèyn was very young. She rarely had to use it since then, but she had never forgotten it.
Her words had an effect on Carrot and he calmed down again. At that moment stones pattered down the rocky slopes and landed at Ilèyn's feet, who immediately looked up.
Against the light of the stars and the bright moon, she could make out some silhouettes, which undoubtedly came from wargs with their riders on their backs. They had come to the Weathertop on the side facing away from Ilèyn, so she has not yet been discovered. If the dwarf was honest with herself, she had a keen interest in ensuring that it would stay that way. She still stroked Carrot soothingly over the neck and continued to whisper gently and monotonously, while she kept a close eye on the outlines of the figures that made their way up the rock far above her.
Minutes later they were out of sight. Ilèyn allowed the back of her neck to rest and turned her gaze to her surroundings, looking for an escape route.
She had to reach the great east road, otherwise she would lose valuable time. She looked back the way she had come, the only direction she could take to get back to the great east road as quickly as possible. This path led her through the forest, in which she always had to ride off the beaten track. And in this situation in particular, the forest was the only way to go undiscovered as much as possible.
Carefully she took her bag from Carrot's back, shouldered it, and took the pony's rope tightly in both hands.
Now she was hoping for her luck.
Something Ilèyn seldom had. Well, if you looked at it closely, she'd never really been lucky.
Carefully, step by step, dwarf and pony groped their way forward without even wanting to step on a branch or bump into a pebble.
The saving edge of the forest came closer and closer. Without rushing, the two crept on and Ilèyn was waiting for the orc arrow at any moment, which would pierce deep into her back.
But it didn't came.
She put one foot in the forest and led Carrot into the shelter of the trees. It felt as if Ilèyn had held her breath all the way from the Weathertop to the forest and was now taking a deep breath.
"We did it." she huffed and smiled at the pony, which indifferently began to pluck some grass from the ground.
Ilèyn sighed and glanced back at the Weathertop, which was barely visible between the trees. Apparently no one was actually following her. Luck. The first time.
She set about going a little deeper into the forest to find a suitable place somewhere where she could possibly get a few hours of sleep.