Never Back Again // The Hobbit, Fili X OC

Silent treatment

In Emma's humble opinion this path went on for way too long. The neverending twists and turns had her believe they were going round in circles and would end up back at the rocky plains. Her hand was sticky from being covered in her own blood, and if her eyes weren't already watering from the blow to the face she would have cried of relief when the narrow path finally opened up to reveal a beautiful valley at the base of a mountain.

The dwarves didn't share her sentiment though, as she counted three faces of utter betrayal and at least seven faces twisted in what could only be described as anger. Thorin's face was a magnificent combination of the two as Gandalf introduced them to the valley of Imladris, more commonly known as Rivendell.

If Thorin wouldn't have his hands full carrying weapons and supplies, Emma would like to imagine he would point an accusatory finger at the wizard.

"This was your plan all along," he stated with a voice filled with venom, "to seek refuge with our enemy."

Emma didn't really understand what enemy that would be, clearly it was no orc stronghold, nor was the dragon here. She has never heard any of the dwarves mention any other enemies before, and if you asked her, the valley below looked like a lovely place to take rest.

The wizard was quick to tell him that he had no enemies here, the only ill will around being that which he brings himself. Not that she completely trusted the judgment of Gandalf, but he was very convinced that this was a safe place to be, and the current state of her face made her inclined to just go with what the wizard told them so she could get her nose fixed soon.

"You think the elves will give our quest their blessing?" Thorin asked, although the answer was already obvious in his voice.

So this was about elves then, not too surprising with that arrow from half an hour ago. But she still didn't know anything about elves and why they were so bad, and she couldn't find it in herself to care. If they killed the orcs they couldn't be that bad, she rationalized.

"I don't care about elves and their blessing," she interjected. "As long as they won't try to kill us I see no reason not to go. And besides, I really want to get this," she gestured to her face, droplets of blood flinging from her hand as she did so, "fixed before nightfall."

Was she an asshole for using Thorin's obvious sense of guilt against him? Maybe. But would she do it again in a heartbeat? Absolutely, it was more effective than she could have hoped for. Immediately he cast his eyes down and stopped arguing with the wizard, contemplating his options for a moment.

And seeing as they didn't really have another choice anyway, he begrudgingly agreed to follow the path to Rivendell. He was still silently arguing with Gandalf, Emma couldn't stop them from doing so even if she tried. But she was rather satisfied with getting them to move on at least.

As she walked, she noticed an odd sort of feeling filling her entire body, the longer they walked the path, the stronger the feeling became. It was a sort of buzz in the very air around them, but not unpleasant as one might expect. It was calming, bringing with it a sense of ease. But it was exactly that feeling that made her suspicious, it was concerning that her guard could be so easily lowered by just being here.
She wasn't familiar with the magic of this world, and for all she knew this could be a trap. Making her feel so safe and peaceful that she wouldn't even see any attacks coming. She would do well to stay vigilant of her surroundings.

After crossing a bridge that was way too high up to be this narrow and without guardrails, they ended up in what she could only describe as a courtyard. She had to admit, it was beautiful. Completely different from the towns she was used to, and so much better. The ground was a smooth stone, lined by bright trees and intricate architecture. A lot of the buildings were built on the mountainside, with waterfalls dotted around the scenery. The whole place looked as if it had never seen a day of hardship or poverty.