I Won't Let You Go (Bagginshield)

Captured.

Mirkwood was taking its toll on all of us, making every single one of us nervous. Like I said, I had read many books on the horrors of Mirkwood, and I was in no hurry to experience them for myself. Many of the Dwarves were experiencing this for themselves, as they were fighting and arguing over many things. I couldn't even see a path, and I just found myself looking up a tree.

Up...a...tree.

Something in me snapped, and I began to climb. I heard the voices of the arguing Dwarves slipping away below me as I continued climbing. I was getting higher and higher, I could see sunlight!! I could see the sunlight shining through the trees again. Gandalf had mentioned something very vague..."Sunlight can heal most wounds of the mind." I need to see the sunlight in order for my mind to go completely back to normal.

As my head broke through the leaves, I checked our surroundings. "Thorin!" I shouted down below. "I have found the way!" And I had. I could see it completely.

"Thorin?" I shouted down below. Were they even listening to me? I was getting agitated, so I reluctantly came down from the tree and looked around, but I didn't see the company anywhere. I began to panic. Had they wandered off in their stupor? Had they come to and decided to abandon me in this dark place? No, Thorin would never abandon me.

Or would he?

I suddenly noticed something, off in the distance. The company, being led through the woods by Elves. Oh, damn. The Elves had captured Thorin? I had to save them...I was their last hope.

Silently, I crept behind the Elves.

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Tauriel was waiting in the palace when Legolas arrived with the other Elves, with the Dwarves in front of them. She counted each one as they passed her, her eyes skimming over each one.

"Have they been searched?" she asked Legolas in Elvish.

"Of course. I would not bring them in had they not," he answered.

She turned then, looking at them. As she looked over each one, she could see by the way they watched her (or didnt) which ones were the fighters. Three of them--the leader, a dark haired one and then the golden haired one--kept glaring at her, looking at her with defiant stares. A few others were just watching her in awe, as if they had never seen an Elf this close before.

"Put them in the dungeons," she told Legolas, refusing to meet the golden-haired one's eyes. "I'll let King Thranduil know that we have found them."

As she walked away, she could feel those brown eyes boring into her.

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I slipped through the Elven gate, being very careful not to make any noise. I looked around, frantic, wondering if there was going to be an Elf everywhere I turned. I had read that Elves were masters of stealth, and if one of them found me, all hope was lost. We would rot here.

I couldn't let Thorin down. Not now. Not when everything mattered. Getting out of here was a crucial point in time. If we didn't escape, we'd never make it to Erebor.

Not to mention that Thorin would hate me.

I quickly entered a side room, where a grand party was going on. I hid behind the shelf and watched as the Elven guards laughed and drank, and continued to drink. I sat down under the shelf, where I was well hidden but also could see what was going on. I began to feel drowsy, listening to the Elven music trickling into the small speakers where I was sitting. It reminded me of a lullaby my mother used to sing.

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I awoke to darkness, my shoulders and neck stiff. I had fallen asleep! What time was it? I silently prayed it wasn't too late for me to grab the keys and free the Dwarves. I quickly stood up and bit back a protest as my muscles screamed their protest. I limped over to the stand where the keys sat and grabbed them, making sure the Elves were fast asleep. Assured that they were, I headed back to the cells.