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

「 Chapter 30 」

The coldness of the icy water made Ilèyn take a few heavy breaths as she plunged into the water faster than she would have liked.
The dwarves had no time to hesitate or argue, because they could get the city guards' attention again at any time. Ilèyn's clothes and her weapons pulled her down and she had to paddle hard with her feet to not really go under. The others also made very tortured noises when they found themselves in the water.
Bard had briefed the company and explained how they would proceed. The only task of the dwarfs was to hang on the wooden planks below the footbridges and houses. However, speed was of the essence, as the dwarves' strength quickly waned due to the cold water. They also had to remember exactly the way Bard had described them.
The cold crept into Ilèyn's body as she struggled through the water between Bofur and Fili, both hands on the wood above them. The dwarfs tried not to give a peep, but again and again there was a quiet, strained groan from someone in the group.
Ilèyn hadn't even focused on whether they were following the right path or where exactly they were, much more concerned with not accidentally slipping off the planks. She was used to the cold, but getting up to her neck in ice water and that with freezing numb fingers was a challenge for her too.
Bofur suddenly stopped in front of her.
Now they were probably there. Ilèyn let out a relieved breath. She felt her arms tremble and her teeth chatter as she hung motionless in the water, waiting for her turn to be next.
Bard's plan included getting the dwarves into his house unseen at the end of the way. Ilèyn had no idea how he was going to do it. But the fact that she could keep sliding up and approaching the house from below indicated that he had somehow made it.
When Bofur leaned up in front of her extremely awkwardly and, clearly audible, stumbled to a stop in the house, it was finally her turn.
By now she had also noticed where exactly they were under the house. But she didn't want to think about this now.
Ilèyn reached for the wooden rim above her. When she got hold of it and pulled herself up, she noticed how much her quiver, long cloak and all her other things were pulling on her, so that she gladly accepted the help of Bard's son, who held out his hand to her. He pulled her up so that she somehow managed to swing one leg over the edge and put her second foot into the house too. She walked quickly past the boy in the direction of the stairs they were all supposed to go up.
"Da, why are there dwarfs climbing out of our toilet?" a girl's voice asked.
When Ilèyn looked up, her eyes met that of a teenage girl with light brown hair tied back. The girl leaned over the banister and looked at the strange visitors in amazement.
Ilèyn marched upstairs and found herself in the living room of a hut, which was heated by an open fireplace. A small kitchen could be seen, as well as short hallways that seemed to lead to adjoining rooms.

Ilèyn immediately took off her coat and her leather boots. She put them next to the others' boots by the fire and hung up her cloak to dry. She undid the straps on her leather doublet and pulled it over her head. She placed it with her cloak, along with the quiver and her bow. Her pants and the linen shirt she was wearing were also completely soaked.
Bard's daughters hurried among the dwarfs, laden with every coat, pants and top they could find. The dwarfs took the clothes and Ilèyn thanked the younger of the two by taking a dark brown shirt from her.
The compny had spread out a little in the living room, Bilbo was sitting in front of the fire, shivering, wrapped in a thick blanket and dressed in new clothes. Ilèyn threw the brown shirt over her head. It was probably intended as a simple top, but as far and long as it was, it reached the dwarf below her knees.
She sighed. She didn't really like makeshift clothing that was of little use. But until her own things were dry, she had to be content with this.
She was looking for a way to tie the shirt in some way when the top suddenly tightened as if by itself.
"Don't be scared." someone said behind her. Ilèyn winced when she heard the voice.
"Too late..." she grumbled.
Fili had discovered a ribbon sewn to Ilèyn's top and quickly tied it behind her back so that it worked like a belt.
"Much better." Ilèyn said, somewhat relieved, and examined the piece of cloth that hung from her like a ragged rag.
"Although..." she grimaced as she tested how much freedom of movement she had in it. Namely none at all.
When she looked up again, all she saw was Fili watching her with a smile. His hair, still half wet, hung over his shoulders and he, too, was already dressed in one of the very loose shirts that the men had given them.
"As long as it keeps you warm, it does its job." he said.
"It's no use, that's the problem here." Ilèyn replied and tugged at the sleeves that were much too wide. The archer had taken off her cloak and doublet for the first time in the presence of the dwarves. Now the tightly tied braid was clearly visible, which was so long that it reached her thigh without difficulty. But Fili was much more astonished that Ilèyn had actually put down all her weapons for the first time. He didn't even notice how he hadn't taken his eyes off her for a second.
Ilèyn felt that Fili was still looking at her, but she didn't dare to meet his gaze.
"Fili!" it suddenly came from another corner of the room. Fili turned and and Ilèyn looked up. Thorin's skeptical look shot at her.
"Come here!" Balin and Kili stood by Thorin and they both looked over at Fili and Ilèyn.
Fili looked briefly over his shoulder and Ilèyn in the eyes, then walked to Thorin and the others. Immediately the four of them were deep in a serious conversation.
At that moment, Bard walked past Ilèyn, down the stairs.
The archer watched him go.
Shortly afterwards he appeared again on the steps with a filled fishing net under his arm. However, there were no fish in the net. There was a metallic clang as the boatman put the net on the table.
Ilèyn, who had been standing a bit to one side the whole time, now also went to the rest of the group, which was now around the table. Bard untied the ropes around the net, revealing objects that looked more like tools than weapons.
Ilèyn stepped slowly next to Fili and Kili, who both looked up at Bard questioningly.
The dwarves began to take the items off the table and look at them in disbelief.
"What is this?" Thorin asked suspiciously, holding what looked like three oversized fishhooks on a wooden handle.
"Pike hook." Bard replied, "Made from an old harpoon."
Ilèyn herself just watched the dwarves inspect the weapon-like things. As long as she still had her own weapoms, she wasn't worried for now.
Beside her, Fili and Kili also had something in their hands.
"And this?" asked Kili with a frown.
"A crowbill, we call it." Bard said, "Fashioned from a smithy's hammer."
The man stepped away from the table and looked around.
"It's heavy in hand, I grant. But... in defense of your life, these will serve you better than none."
"We paid you for weapons." Gloin said angrily, "Iron-forged swords and axes!"
"It's a joke!" Bofur said upset and threw the tool dismissively back on the table. The others followed suit and angry murmurs arose.
"You won't find better outside the city armory." Bard drowned out the restless dwarfs. "All iron-forged weapons are held there under lock and key."
"Thorin" Balin raised and turned to the dwarf leader. "Why not take what's an offer and go? I've made do with less. So have you."
Ilèyn watched them seriously and took a few steps back.
"I say we leave now!" the old dwarf announced.
"You're not going anywhere!" Bard contradicted harshly.
The dwarfs looked at the man in amazement.
"What did you say?" Dwalin asked threateningly, looking up at the boatman.
"There are spies watching this house and probably every dock and wharf in the town. You must wait till nightfall."
At these words the dwarfs looked at each other disappointed and demotivated. They would have preferred to leave immediately, they were slowly running out of time. And without weapons and plenty of food, nobody knew how long it would take them to get to the mountain.
Thorin, Dwalin and Balin looked at each other doubtfully, but they too knew that the man was right. For better or worse, they had to be patient.

Ilèyn moved away from the group. When she wanted to check her bow and quiver, she saw Kili, leaning on a wooden stick, trying carefully and with a painful face to sit down on one of the benches. Ilèyn watched him briefly, she was aware of the injury he had sustained in the fight on the bridge and already had a faint premonition.
The dwarf peered carefully at his right leg. Ilèyn saw that the spot was very provisional bandaged. Now she walked across the room to him.
"Kili." she said and stopped next to him.
The dwarf looked up at her. She could tell that he was trying to cover up his pain, but Ilèyn had already seen enough in her life that this young dwarf definitely couldn't hide anything from her.
"Let me see that." she said, pointing to Kili's leg.
"I am alright, everything is good." the dwarf said quickly and turned a little to the side.
"Don't lie to me." Ilèyn said calmly but firmly. She gave Kili a look that meant that she wouldn't going in discussion about it.
Angry as a small child, Kili turned back to her and carefully stretched out his leg. The pain seemed to flash through him again, but he let Ilèyn examine the wound. She crouched down for it.
"Who bandaged that?" she asked as she removed the already bled through rag from Kili's thigh.
"My brother..." Kili said softly. He didn't really dare to look at the wound. Quite often he didn't seem wounded yet.
Ilèyn put the piece of fabric aside and began to remove the fabric of the trousers, which had worked into the wound.
"Clench teeth." she said curtly.
Kili really didn't want to attract any attention as he sat in the corner wailing in pain. Still, he couldn't help to let out a short, painful groan.
Ilèyn had removed the fabric from the wound and enlarged the small hole in his pants so that she could see enough. The blood had turned a strange color and the wound was strangely swollen for an arrow wound. Ilèyn frowned and felt over the edge of the wound. With that, she elicited soft noises of pain from Kili again and let go of the injury a few moments later.
"That's strange..." she muttered. She hadn't seen anything like that in a very long time, so she didn't want to jump to conclusions quickly.
Kili's low wailing had now led Fili's attention to the two of them. He came over to them quickly and put a hand on Kili's shoulder while he watched Ilèyn examine the wound.
"What can you do for him?" the blonde asked with concern about his brother.
"The wound should be cleaned first..." Ilèyn said, thinking. She looked up and from Fili to his younger brother.
"I think I have something against the pain." she then added and stood up. That seemed to reassure the brothers a little.
Ilèyn walked to her clothes, which were now half dry, and pulled out her belt. She removed a leather bag filled with small glass vials and returned to the brown-haired dwarf. Fili had meanwhile fetched a small bowl of water and started to wash off the old blood.
The wound was quickly cleaned and Ilèyn took one of the small bottles out of her bag. Now she also saw the unnatural coloration of the skin around the bullet hole. It wasn't really clear, but if you looked closely you could see a strange change in the color of the skin and blood.
Ilèyn tore a small rag from Kili's pant leg, soaked it in the liquid from the vial and pressed it onto the wound. Kili grimaced and tensed, but a few seconds later his features relaxed again and he looked a little relieved.
Ilèyn rubbed the remaining liquid on the cloth around Kili's wound. Fili had received a long piece of bandage from Oin's bag, and Ilèyn was now wrapping it around Kili's thigh. She got up.
"Drink that. Just a tip of your tongue, no more." she said and held the bottle under Kili's nose.
"What happens otherwise...?" Kili asked uncertainly.
"Your breathing will be paralyzed and you will suffocate in agony." Ilèyn replied dryly and took the vial out of Kili's hand after he had sipped at it. Without another word she walked back to the fire and put everything back to her belongings.
"Are you feeling any better?" Fili asked his brother and looked at him seriously and worried.
"It... doesn't hurt so badly anymore." Kili answered "I feel a little better."
Fili followed Ilèyn to the fireplace, happy that his brother was doing a bit better.
"Thank you." he said softly to her and looked into the flames.
"I've seen something like this before, but I'm not sure about it yet..." Ilèyn replied only "I was able to take his pain away, but only for a short time."
Fili looked at her uncertainly. His gaze wandered back to his brother, who was looking lost in thought out the window.