Moon

Chapter 12: Escaping Several Things

*Edited*

"You smell like hydrangeas," said Thorin blankly, as Legolas locked the cell door and walked out of the dungeons, sending her a thumbs up.

"Is that a good thing?" Moon asked, nervously tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Yes," he grinned. "It's my favorite flower."

Moon silently blessed Legolas.

"Oh. My favorite are blue hydrangeas," she said, because it was true.

"Are you seriously relating by flowers now?" Fili asked from the cell next to them.

"Shut up!" they said at the same time, turning pink.

Moon blew a strand of hair out of her face, but she had to do it again. And again. And again.

"I hate this stupid braid!" she burst out suddenly, ripping the hair tie out, sending her hair tumbling down her shoulders and settling in soft curls at her waist.

"You don't like your hair braided?" asked Thorin, sounding disheartened.

"Oh no, I love my hair braided! It's just that that braid was all..." she made a vigorous twisting with her hands to explain, making Thorin laugh. She went pink.

"We're never going to get to the mountain, are we?" someone asked.

"Not stuck in here you won't," said Bilbo, suddenly appearing out of thin air. He unlocked all the cells and Moon leapt from hers, soaring around the dungeon.

"Come on! I know a way out!"

"Me too!" said Moon quietly, gliding down the hall just above the company. Soon, they were in the very room she had wanted to be in.

"Everyone get into a barrel!" said Bilbo.

"They'll find us!" cried Dwalin.

"Now!" hissed Moon, gnashing her teeth.
After all the dwarves were in a barrel, she pulled the lever and soared out the opening, the barrels tumbling down the ramp.

After a few minutes of being knocked down the river, they were attacked by orcs.

"What a lovely surprise," said Moon sarcastically, landing on Thorin's head and shooting down Orcs with her bow. Seconds later, Legolas and an elf Moon had yet to meet were charging down the side of the river, shooting down Orcs.

"Thanks friend!" said Moon happily as the red-headed elf grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the riverbank.

"Are you Moon?" asked the elleth.

"The one and only!" said Moon back, shooting an Orc as a sudden wave of darkness swept through her mind, causing her to stumble. She shoved it aside and Legolas caught her.

"Be careful, stay guarded," he warned.

"I know," she whispered back, shooting an Orc behind his head.

They ran down the side of the river, Moon gliding most of the way. As the Orcs began to thin, she leapt into Thorin's barrel.

"Hello there," she said happily, twisting upside down to shoot an Orc that was about to take of Nori's head.

"Lovely day we're having," she said, positively beaming.

"Oh yes," said Thorin sarcastically. "It appears to be raining Orcs."

"Don't be such a party pooper," she pouted, patting his cheek and flipping out of the barrel and into the water.

"What the- Moon!"

But she shot out of the water on the back of a long, skinny dragon.

"Ha haaaa! Good to see you old friend!" she called out to the dragon.

"Good to see you, Moon," it replied in a deep voice.

"Gosh I love dragons. Besides the rogue ones," she added at the look the dwarves gave her. As they still gazed at her bewilderedly, she rolled her eyes and let the air fill her wings, rocketing backwards off the water dragon and flying through the air.
((think Maleficent with dragon wings))

She spiraled gleefully through the air, low enough so Laketown couldn't see her, but high enough the dwarves couldn't reach her.

Moon twirled one last time before landing on the riverbank ahead of them. The rapids began to slow and they paddled their way over to where she waited.

"Truly, you all should learn how to fly," she said, dead serious.

"Oh, ha ha," growled Dwalin, tumbling out of his barrel onto the grass.

"Uh, Fili...? You alright there?" Moon asked, because there was half an arrow sticking out of his thigh and he was very pale.

"Bind his leg. You have two minutes," said Thorin.

"Oh, wonderful," said Moon huffily. "Now one of you is injured." She suddenly perked up and flattened her wings to the grass, army crawling.

She growled and pounced up to see a bowman, who shot an arrow right through the log Dwalin was holding. He aimed his bow at Fili.

"Take one more step and he's dead."

"You don't look tasty anyway," teased Moon, flouncing over to sit with Bilbo.

"Is that a barge?" Moon asked, hanging down in front of his face from a tree branch. He jumped, but still held his bow at the wounded dwarf. "I've never been on a barge before. Can we go on it?" she asked excitedly, her wings fanning out making her look like an overgrown bat.

Thorin yanked her down from the branch as sat her down firmly next to Bilbo. She huffed, but her eyes suddenly flashed red, and she tumbled over the back of the rock and into the grass.

"Moon!" Bilbo hissed, not wanting to alert the others. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back up to a sitting position, almost toppling hisself in the process.

"Sorry, just a little slip," she mumbled, shaking herself slightly.

"Bilbo, Moon, get in a barrel."

"I am not getting into another stinking barrel," hissed Moon. "Wait! I have an idea!" she sang, going cross-eyed.

She pulled her eyes straight and screwed up her face in concentration. With a violent grinding, her wings pulled into her back. She rolled her shoulders, making them both pop.

"Rather uncomfortable thing, you know," she said to the barge man. "What is your name?"

"Bard."

"I'm Moon!" she said cheerily, holding out her hand. He took it hesitatingly, before shock etched itself into his features.

"You're-" she put a hand on his mouth and a finger to her lips before plopping down in the back of the boat, pulling a blanket around herself and successfully looking like a crippled old lady.

"Moon, come on, pay up."

She flicked him ten coins, she had lost the other ten somewhere along the adventure. "That's all I have, my friend."

It was several minutes after this that Moon burst out,"Nope, I'm done. I'll meet you at Bard's house tonight." With that, her wings sprouted from her back and she flapped them several times to gain altitude before gliding away.

Bilbo nervously watched as she flew away from the mountain, not sure what to think of her sudden disappearance.