A Journey to get Back Home

Meeting Fallen

As Fallen struggled to finish shoeing the horses she laughed "might have to give these a good wash!" as she pulled at the sleeve of her pant leg. She jogged back into the house and excitedly greeted her aunt saying " All finished Auntie!"

Fallen lived with her Aunt Nikki in a small village located in the forest of Fangorn. This small village is full of people who are different from the outsiders. The village was chalk full of half-elves and half-dwarves, aside from a few exceptions.

Fallen wanted to leave the village and explore the world. Her dream was to see the world. She lives with her aunt because her parents didn't want to be outcasted from the rest of middle earth. One day a man on his horse came to the village looking for someone to help him and his friends get their home back. Everyone else just kept to themselves and when he went up to them they told him that no one in the village would ever want to leave. He finally walked up to Fallen and her aunt. He asked if either of them would help him. Fallen's aunt just walked away but Fallen told the man that she would go with him if she could.

"Why can't you?" The stranger asked.

"I can't leave my aunt. She'll get mad and tell me to never come back." Fallen responded, trying not to look at the man. "At least that's what happened last time someone left this place. Everyone just forgot about them."

"Why do you live with your aunt and not your parents?" He asked with a tilt to his head.

"I live with my aunt because my parents died. At least that's what my aunt told me." She answered, turning around to walk back to her house.

"You should come with me. You might be able to find where they are buried." He said while trying to grab her arm to turn her back to face him. "I'll help you find your parents and you can help me get my kingdom back, deal."

Now facing the man, his grip getting tighter and tighter. She couldn't get a word out of her mouth, all she could do was nod in agreement.

Fallen found herself at the edge of the small village with a horse and a bag getting ready to leave with the man.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" Fallen heard a voice scream behind her. She turned on her heel to see her aunt with some of the neighbors.

"I'm going to help..." she turned her head and gave the man a questioning look.

"Thorin" the man answered the look that Fallen's face gave him.

"...right, Thorin get his kingdom back." Fallen answered her aunt as she got on the horse.

"If you leave you are never allowed back here." Her aunt said in a sad tone, "You know that right?"

"I know, but I can't just sit here and not help." She answered her aunt, "You know I'm not that type of person. I'll miss you auntie."

"I know." Her aunt responded as she walked over to Fallen. "I knew this day would come sooner or later." As her aunt got to the side of Fallen's horse and gave her a bag of coins and an envelope. "Don't open this letter until you get out of the forest." Her aunt whispered. "It explains who I am and who your parents are and where I saw them last. Maybe you can find them."

When they got to the edge of the forest Thorin told her that she could turn back if she wanted to but she just shook her head and went forward. They got out of the forest and to the bottom of the mountains. It was already getting dark at this point so they stopped and made camp. As Thorin set up a fire, Fallen sat down up against a rock and opened the envelope her aunt gave her. It read:

To my dear Fallen,

I haven't been entirely true to you about everything. First, your parents aren't actually dead, They just didn't want to get shunned by the world for having a child together and have you get hurt for being different. You aren't just a half-dwarf, you are half-dwarf and half-elf. I'm sorry for lying but it was so you could grow up with the best life for yourself. The second thing is that I'm not actually your aunt. I was a friend of your father and when you were born he asked me to take care of you somewhere where you could grow up happy. The last place I saw your father was in a village full of humans called Lake Town. As I went around looking for somewhere to raise you I found someone who told me a tale of a village full of half-breeds. That is how I found this place. I'm so sorry for lying to you all these years and I hope that one day you can forgive me.

With all the love in my heart,

Aunt Nikki.

After reading the letter Fallen started crying. All of her life was built on a lie. The woman she grew up with lied about everything. Fallen didn't want to believe it. She just wanted to go back to before Thorin came to the village, but that wasn't possible. She knew that she would have to understand that it was all so she would have a good life but right now she just wanted to cry.

In the morning when she woke up Thorin was already awake making breakfast. She walked over to the fire and sat down next to him and took the food he was offering to her. As they were eating a strange tall man in a gray cloak walked up to them and sat down.

"Hey Gandalf." Thorin said without even looking up from his food. "Are you here to help us get to the burglars house or just point us in the direction and then leave again?"

"Neither." Gandalf answered as he watched Fallen eat. "I'm here to see if you got the girl I told you to get. Seems like you have."

"What do you mean by that!?" Fallen said, as she jumped off the ground spilling her breakfast and interrupting the two men. "Did he go to my village just to get me!? Are you guys trying to kill me or something!?" Fallen continued on with her rant shouting and freaking out.

Thorin got up and tried to grab Fallen to calm her down but nothing was working. As Fallen fought to get out of Thorin's hands and ended up throwing him to the ground.

"STOP!" Gandalf yelled as he stood up from the log he was sitting on. "We are not here to hurt you, we need your help, Fallen."

"How do you know my name?" Fallen asked as she tried to calm herself down again. "I never gave you my name."

" I know your name because I helped your father pick it out when you were born." Gandalf answered, sitting back down. "You need to calm down and apologize to my friend. You push him onto the ground. That wasn't very nice. Now he and his clothes are dirtier than before."

Fallen looked down at Thorin who was still on the ground. Fallen got down to help him but he just pushed her away.

"I don't need your help. I'm fine." Thorin grumbled as he struggled to get back on his feet. "We should start moving if we want to get to the meating in time."

Thorin put out the fire and started packing up his stuff. Fallen watched Thorin start picking up, so she started picking up as well. When they were finished gathering their things Gandalf handed Thorin a map with the location of where they were going on it. When they started leaving Fallen looked behind her and noticed that Gandalf was gone.

"Where did that old man go?" Fallen asked, turning her head in the direction of Thorin.

"I have no idea." Thorin answered, "He kind of just leaves like that, but don't worry. You will see Gandalf again."
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