Raging Fire

Chapter 8 'Orange flowers'

Enelya took a deep breath, watching her best friend and idol sitting on the edge of the giant rock. Why did she always have to get in trouble? Why did she always put others first? Altáriël had many scars, both mentally and physically, yet she still was the strongest and happiest person she knew. Could it all be a façade? The brunette did have a history with deceiving, pick pocketing and magic tricks. When they had just walked away they had nowhere to go, and they had spent a year or two in Gondor, stealing only what they needed to stay alive. "Alright, let's move on. I want to have a resting place before nightfall, hidden from all sight." Thorin ordered them. They still had to go a long way before they would get to Erebor. Walking all day wasn't exactly the best thing to do for Altáriël, the cut was stinging. She had to pause sometimes to breathe. Thorin had asked her several times if she needed assistance, but she would deny help every time. The girl still wanted to prove to him that she was strong and independent, even after all those years. After a while, they reached a small pond. "Thorin, can we rest here for a moment? Maybe fill up our canteens and stuff." Dwalin asked Thorin, whom agreed with his question. Altáriël had already begun to strip down from her clothing, leaving her underwear on until she got into the water. "Oi! Enelya, catch!" She yelled and threw the remaining articles of clothing towards her friend. Enelya sighed, muttering a 'why does she always have to do this' before hanging them on a branch. Some of the other dwarves were thinking about joining their friend, and most of them did. The brunette smiled for a moment, the cold water had numbed the flesh around the wound. And also, what was there more perfect than swimming around in a tiny lake with 13 other dwarves, a hobbit and an elf? Revenge, of course. She knew her blonde friend loved to stay in the water as long as possible, a perfect opportunity to get back at Lya and Fíli for waking her and Kíli up... She swam over to the brown-haired prince, trying to not touch any parts of the lower regions of the others. "Good day Kíli, ready to get our revenge on our dear friends who woke us up from our sweet slumber?" The girl whispered. The dwarf agreed and together they got out of the water unseen by anyone else, of course they tried not to sneak a peek at each other. They put on some of their clothes, and stole Enelya's and Fíli's from their branches.
"Where are my clothes? Has anyone seen my clothes?" Fíli was walking around almost naked through the Company, only a very big leaf was covering him up. "ALTÁRIËL! WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES." He heard coming from the lake. Great, he knew who had his clothes now. Kíli and Altáriël had successfully gotten their revenge on him and Enelya. He had to admit it was funny, as long as it didn't happen to him. But now it had happened to him. Fíli got back into the water; "Lya, have they stolen your clothes as well?" The elf sighed, getting red again. "Fíli, I am sorry but it may not be the best time to call me by my nickname seeing as we are both naked. Yes my clothes are gone as well. And now I want to strangle something or someone, but first I want to get warm. I. Am. Freezing." She said, an angry look radiating off of her face. The others had been calling for them to come, food was ready. The wizard had decided that this would be a good place to camp. Fíli swam closer to Enelya, blushing furiously. The sun was about to go down, the last sunlight was making the water glow orange. "It might sound weird, and I know you probably don't want it. But our best option is to get out of the water and cuddle... My brother and Altá are wicked enough to not give our clothes back. And I don't feel like walking naked through camp while everyone is eating." Fíli whispered, he was almost next to the elf. Her cheeks looked even redder than the sun behind her. She looked at him and nodded, seeing no other option right now. They climbed ashore and Enelya immediately crawled against her friend. She didn't really care about what could be poking in her side, she hoped it was a stick though. The girl was tired and cold.
Kíli and Altáriël were laughing so hard they were afraid it would wake the whole forest. Their plan had been successful, now it was time to return their clothes. The girl laid a cloak over the sleeping pair, smiling when she looked at them. Did she and Kíli looked so cute as well when they had slept together? One could only hope she would lay in Kíli's arms one day again. But now it was time to sleep.
When Enelya and Altáriël caught up with the rest of the company, Bilbo was already back from his little mission. The hobbit had been sneaking ahead, locating the warg pack of Azog. Enelya had been scolding Altáriël for last night while checking up on the wound. It did not look too dangerous last time. But she would make it dangerous if the brunette would ever steal her clothes again.
"How close is the pack?" Dwalin asked. As the conversation continued, Enelya used the time they had to check up on her friend's wound again. Altáriël did not feel well at all. She felt feverish and could not calm down her breathing rhythm. She looked very pale as well. "Thorin come quickly!" Enelya said. Thorin came over to look at her wound, it looked infected. "Blood poisoning." The leader concluded. "How can we cure it?" One of the dwarves asked. It was clear that the dwarves cared about her, and that they were willing to do everything to help her. "She will need some sort of antibiotic. If she doesn't get a dose between now and 24 hours she will die!" Enelya informed the dwarves. She didn't have any of the needed medication but she remained calm. "I say we go back to Rivendell. It doesn't have to be all of us, but I don't want to lose her." Bilbo offered. "And be run down by a pack of orcs." Thorin said, looking panicked again. Gandalf thought for a moment, trying to estimate what the best option was here. "There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge." The wizard said. Thorin was already suspicious of the wizard's intentions again, and asked; "Whose house? Are they friend or foe?" "Neither. He will help us, or he will kill us." Gandalf said. Thorin looked at his adopted daughter. "What choice do we have?" As he spoke, a roar was heard behind them. It was the sound of the bear Bilbo had warned them about. "None. Come on!." The dwarves looked back at Altáriël, who clutched her stomach in pain. She was the first to run. The company ran through a forest, hearing the bear roar again caused them to run even faster than they already did. "This way, quickly!" The wizard yelled over the sound of the beast. They ran out of the forest, Thorin was helping Altáriël, who grew weaker with every passing second. She didn't look where she was running, she only focused on the pain and the fact that they had to get somewhere safe. The dwarves ran towards a house surrounded by a hedge. When they got to the door the tried to open it, but the door wouldn't budge. "Open the door!" the wizard called. Thorin let go of Altáriël, trusting her to stand without help for a while. He went to the door, pushing away some of his companions, before managing to raise the exterior bolt. The doors slammed open and the company rushed inside. Enelya helped the rest of the dwarves close the doors, the bear had reached them and was using its head to push against the doors. When they managed to close the doors and drop the bolt in place Ori spoke up. "What is that?" Gandalf answered after a moment, looking tired; "That... is our host." And while the wizard explained that the bear was a shapeshifter Enelya turned around to look where Altáriël was, but she didn't see her. "Down here, Enelya!" She heard Kíli say. And when she looked in the direction his voice came from, all she saw was a mop of long brown hair. She laughed, Altáriël had fainted and had probably fallen against the young prince, taking him down with her. Enelya got on her knees checking her friends pulse. Gandalf gave the order for everyone to get some sleep. "I can take it from here Lya, you find the antidote!" The prince offered. Enelya gratefully accepted his offer, she almost forgot about the antibiotics and when to find some.
When she came back Kíli looked helplessly at her. Altáriël was finally in a sleep deep enough for her to not feel the pain. She had taken advantage of this new feeling and had taken a hold of her new pillow, putting her legs around his waist so he couldn't get away. Enelya laughed at the awkward situation, she had found the medicine she needed. It was a miracle she had found it here, the shapeshifter apparently didn't need a lot of medicine because there was so little to find in this house. The blonde quickly gave the right dose to Altáriël and looked around for a place to sleep. Gloin and Nori saw her look for a spot and scooted over so she had just enough place to sleep between them. Not wanting to seem rude she laid her sleeping bag between the two. And went to sleep in the middle of the dwarfs.
Kíli was one of the first to wake, he yawned and tried to stretch. But it was of no use, the brunette had not let go of him during the night and was still laying on top of him. He then noticed a man walking through the house, he was taller than any human and even looked bigger than Gandalf! He wanted to warn the rest, but Gandalf silenced him with a look. After the wizard had assured him it was okay, he looked at Kíli with a glance that said he knew how Kíli felt. The dwarf's face got red and he looked away. Once Gandalf's gaze went somewhere else he started to admire the sleeping girl on top of him. The way she breathed, how she sometimes muttered something about pancakes and beer. He knew he liked her, a lot, the fact that he had wanted to kiss her in the tree made him realize it. Altáriël was a light sleeper, and woke of course when her pillow moved. She noticed who her pillow was, and panicked when he smiled at her. She moved too quickly, falling of him, accidentally elbowing Bombur in her short fall. "Sorry Bombur!" she apologized. Standing up slowly, her cut wasn't infected anymore, but it hadn't fully healed either. She looked back at Kíli, noticing he had slept on the wooden floor. She went to help him up, but tripped over Bombur's foot, landing on top of his lower regions. "Oh! Kíli, I'm sorry!" she apologized once more. Her apology was quite loud and it woke the rest of the dwarves up. To whom she apologized again, her cheeks flushing red.
10 minutes later they all sat down for breakfast. The dwarves were even grumpier than usual now their companion woke them up. Kíli and Altáriël kept shooting glances at each other, blushing every time their eyes met. Their host was the one to break the tension luckily. "So you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?" Thorin looked surprised. "You know of Azog? How?" Enelya looked between Kíli and Altáriël, giggling as she did. Fíli, who sat next to her, poked her. "What are you smiling at?" he asked. "I'm laughing about the looks your brother and Altáriël are giving each other. I haven't seen what happened this morning, but the others have been talking about it since it happened. Fíli then told her what he had seen, and proceeded to eat his breakfast. "I wish I could flirt with someone like that." Enelya said, daydreaming about a special man. "We could, I mean, flirt with each other? " Fíli asked with a shy smile. He had been dreaming about the blonde since he met her in Rivendell. But she had heard her tell Altáriël that she liked another prince. "Like friends? Or what are you hinting at Blondie?" Enelya asked, eyes wide open. She knew she didn't like him like that, but he was a pretty handsome dwarf. But Fíli said that they would flirt as friends, not as more. And the girl agreed. His answer didn't have the desired effect on her, it stung when he said the word friends to her. What did she really want? And had it meant nothing? They had already cuddled naked, maybe because they had to, but did they?
"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?" Beorn asked suddenly. "Before Durin's Day falls, yes." The wizard answered. Not expecting the question. "You are running out of time." Their host concluded. Altáriël rolled her eyes, that was obvious to them. "Which is why we must go through Mirkwood." Gandalf said, ignoring Beorn's obvious statement. "A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance with the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need." "We will take the Elven Road. That path is still safe." Altáriël knew. Beorn looked at the tiny girl. "Safe? The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not." "I will show you dangerous!" Altáriël said. But Thorin held her back, looking shocked at Beorn's last sentence. "What do you mean?" Altáriël beat Beorn to answering. "What the man-bear is trying to say is that we'll never reach the forest alive. These lands are crawling with orcs, their numbers are growing, I saw more orcs here on my journey to the Shire than I have seen on all my journeys combined." The girl exaggerated. The shapeshifter agreed with her. Pausing before walking towards Thorin, who stood tall with his arms crossed. "I don't like dwarves. They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own." He picked up a mouse from the table and looked at it before continuing. "But orcs I hate more. What do you need?" Enelya looked at the large man, hoping he didn't squeeze the tiny mouse to death.
As soon as they were done with breakfast, they had to get moving again. Enelya thought it to be a pity, she had liked Beorn's garden, and had hoped to at least spend a day there. The girl was done packing first, and asked Beorn for permission to explore his garden. The man was a bit flattered, no one seemed to love nature more than the blonde girl in the company. "Yes of course you may, but watch out. Don't hurt the plants or animals, they could be a bit tricky." Was his answer before Enelya's face lit up. "Thank you!" She nearly shouted, and the girl was almost out of the house already.
Beorn's garden was magnificent. All those flowers, all those colours. The leaves of the trees were now a beautiful red. Enelya decided to look at the flowers first, an explosion of colours to her left grabbed her attention. Blue and orange and red flowers. She could identify the blue, anemones. Her favourites. And the red she recognized as well, roses, anyone could see that. It was the orange ones she didn't know, which she found rather odd. She heard someone close the door behind her, and turned around. "Fíli! Come have a look at those. Aren't they the most gorgeous flowers you have ever seen?" The dwarf chuckled, her happiness was almost radiating off her face. "Of course they're beautiful, but not as beautiful as you though." Fíli said, and made his way over to the girl. The first flirtation in their flirty relation, and Enelya was already blushing. "So, what are their names? Of the flowers? I am no expert in plants, but seeing as you love them, I want to get to know them as well." He continued as soon as he sat down on his knees next to Enelya. "Well, if you must know. The red ones are bush roses, and the blue ones are anemones, my favourites." Fíli chuckled at her hyperness over plants. He could not understand how someone could love and care so much about them, but in a way he did as well. They were indeed beautiful, and then he got an idea. He picked one of the anemones. But when his hand touched an orange one, it stung him. He quickly pulled away his hand, the anemone still in his hand. "Ouch! What was that?" "That was a Glory Lily, its juice can numb your hand in seconds. I told you two not to disturb the flowers. Now come, your fellow travellers wish to continue their journey." Beorn answered. How in Durin's name had he appeared behind them so fast? She grabbed Fíli's hand, and indeed, a sticky liquid had spread itself over a part of his fingers. She sighed, why did dwarves have to be so stupid sometimes? "What should we do Beorn? How can I cure his hand?" The girl asked, hoping the man would still like her enough to help them out once more. "Don't worry, Enelya. It would have been worse if he ate the plant. You will have to get the liquid off, and wait for the numbness to disappear." The pair sighed in relief, and got up. Walking towards a puddle of water she ordered Fíli to do it himself. No way that she would be touching his hand now, she could get the same thing! "I didn't know orange flowers could be so dangerous..."

  I do not own the Hobbit, I only own my own two characters Enelya and Altáriël. If you see any mistakes please tell me. Also if you have any tips for me, I'd be happy to hear it.