Stay With Me [Thorin Oakenshield]

Chapter 15: The wood elves

Warning: This chapter entails graphic depictions of violence. Read at your discretion. Thank you.

"Nin gilgalad*, what is on your mind?"

The girl tore her gaze from the night sky above to look up at her father with sad eyes.
"Where do we belong, adar**?", the child asked. Her father shifted his weight a little on the branch of the apple tree they were both sat upon to fully turn to his young daughter. "Why, we belong right here, of course, my darling.", he answered with a soft smile. "But we don't!", the child exclaimed with tears welling in her eyes. "The other children know that. I know that. And you know it too.", she accused.

For a moment the man struggled to hide the sadness that overcame him at his daughter's words. He glanced towards the house as he saw his wife exit their home to water the plants before heading to bed. He looked back to his daughter. "Do you know why we belong here?", he asked. The girl sighed in frustration. "Adar, I just said...", she began but was interrupted when he gently grasped her chin and turned her face to look down towards her mother. The girl quieted.

"That's why.", he said gently. When the stubborn girl didn't protest, he continued. "We belong here because your mother loves this place with all her heart. And I love her with all of mine just as she loves me. And we both love you more than anything else in this whole wide world.", he explained as he playfully tapped his daughter's nose, drawing a giggle from her. He smiled upon hearing the sound. Nothing could make Elendras happier than hearing his daughter laugh.

"That is why we stay, Louisa.", he said.
"I understand that but...", she hesitated before going on. "We're not like them. I'm old enough to see that we're different. You and me. And it's just...", she paused once again searching for the right words. Fear crept onto her face when she continued. "Adar, sometimes I just... I just get so... angry. And I know that I shouldn't, and I don't want to, but I just can't help it!", she exclaimed as her breathing picked up a little in distress, the tears now rolling down her cheeks.

Her father gently cupped her face, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. "My darling, I need you to listen to me very carefully.", he began, making sure that he had her undivided attention. When she looked back at him, he continued. "You are not a bad person, Louisa. Just because there is darkness that does not mean that there is not infinitely more light. All that is left for you to do, is to decide time and time again what kind of person you want to be. So, it doesn't matter if you feel the anger. The only thing that matters is whether you decide to act upon it."

Louisa calmed down a little but remained silent. Then, without a word, she shuffled forwards to seek her father's embrace. Elendras sighed softly as he wrapped his arms around his beloved daughter, wishing that they could protect her from all the evil in the world.
"Never let people tell you who you are, nin gilgalad."

When Louisa regained consciousness, her vision was distorted by a white veil covering her face. It took her a moment to get her bearings and understand what was happening. She was hanging upside down, unable to move. Then she remembered the spiders.

Her breathing picked up rapidly when she saw at least five of them in her vicinity. It took all her self-control to calm down a little, careful to not draw any unwanted attention to herself. To her horror, Bombur had also woken up but couldn't control his fear when several spiders crowded around him, seemingly wanting to have a bite out of him first. Louisa heard his muffled yelling and saw him kicking at his attackers but all he achieved was to make them more aggressive. In her bound state, Louisa knew that there was nothing she could do to help him. Not while there were so many of them.

Suddenly she heard a thud a little further away and the spiders quickly scurried to find the source of the sound. Only one remained, adamant on having a go at her friend. Bombur was now full-on panicking and Louisa figured that it was time to act. She began trying to free herself from the net around her and distracted the spider from Bombur momentarily. Before the beast could decide whom to attack first there was a metallic clanging sound and suddenly the spider turned from them with an angry hiss. Something unseen seemed to be fighting it.