The Middle-Earth Freak

I'm Gonna Regret This

The day was young, the sun providing its usual light through the canopy of trees that grouped together to create a forest not too far from the shire, a home of hobbits and pleasant folks. A young elleth wondered back to her cave after hunting a pack of wild orcs. She despised the creatures from a young age and when she left her home, she swore that she would hunt down every living orc, goblin, or any creature spawned from the darkness, protecting those she deemed worthy of protecting.

She reached her cave and noticed an old figure. Judging by the silhouette it was male, too tall for a hobbit or dwarf, too old to be man, that left elf, or wizard. He wore grey robes and a tall pointy grey hat and held a staff in his left hand. He hadn't heard the girl appear, causing him to jump slightly as she spoke.

"I swear I didn't do it!" She stated before the old man could speak. 

"My dear, I do not come to scold you but the fact that you say that makes me worry as to what you have done." He looked at her with an eye brow raised and she let out a sigh of relief.

"So if your not here to yell at me like last time, which by the way wasn't my fault, why are you here?" She felt the need to defend herself. Truth be told, it was at least ninety percent her fault but in denying such a fact it kept her conscience a little clearer. 

"Never one for being subtle are you." The man looked at her.

"Gandalf, I have a lot of work to do." That was a lie.

"Ok then. I need your help. I need you to help me guide a group of dwarves-"

"No!" She cut him off before he could finish. She couldn't stand dwarves they were rude, inconsiderate and valar knows what else. There was no question, she was not going.

"Ariana, they are going to reclaim their home. They need your help." Gandalf pleaded.

"I don't care if they're asking me out for afternoon tea and crumpets. I'm. Not. Going."  He looked at her, as much as he could. Her cloak was pinned at the chest and as usual her hood hung just below her eyes. How she saw a bloody thing nobody knew. If there was one thing Ariana had learned it was that her identity was her most prized possession, more precious than any gold or jewels. 'Fine, I can help them when they cross my land but I'm not going on some bloody great adventure with people who are even smaller and even more grumpy than myself.'

Gandalf looked at her with sorrow filled eyes but nodded his head. "As long as you do what you can."

As he finished there was an ear piercing screech that was clearly identified as belonging to an orc. Both their heads shot up in the general direction of the sound but nothing could be seen close by, even with the elvish keen sense of sight and smell. "Well, that would be my cue." She spoke smiling and giving a pathetic, two fingered salute before making her way over to wear her chestnut mare was tied to a branch. She quickly threw the saddle on her back and tied the girth before removing the reigns from the branch and mounting her noble and rather bitchy steed. Her bow and arrow were already strapped to her back and she kicked off into a trot before building into a canter and then to a full speed gallop. 

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She rode as fast as she could when she noticed around six wargs chasing after two figures on small, scruffy looking ponies. She took an arrow from her quiver on her back and nocked it into her bow. Within seconds she released and it went straight through the orcs head, killing it on impact. Still galloping she loosed another arrow killing the warg of the now dead orc. One down, five to go, she thought to herself. Arrow after arrow was fired killing four of the remaining orcs with their wargs but before her final shot could be released she felt a sharp sting in her lower leg which resulted in her falling quite suddenly onto the autumn floor. Cold and damp, the leaves burring her bow she tried to scramble back as the final orc ran at her. She closed her eyes and raised her hand awaiting an impact that never came. Opening her eyes she noticed an arrow sticking out of the wargs head the orcs head decapitated a few centimeters away from it black body.  Looking up further she saw the two dwarves and dismounted from their ponies and made their way over to where she leaned against the base of an old oak tree. 

"Are you alright." One asked of them asked. She took notice of their size and realized they were dwarves and must be the ones the old man had spoken of. The one who spoke had dark wavy hair, and he ran his hand over his light stubble that travelled across his chiseled jaw. He was rather attractive, they both were. The other was blonde, less chiseled but with a longer beard that had been tied into two parts.

"Son of a bitch, that  hurts." She groaned and threw her head back, hitting the tree harder than she meant to which only resulted in more pain and a potential concussion. 

"Here, I should have some herbs and bandages on my saddle to help clear the wound and relieve some of the pain." The dark haired one spoke and quickly made his way to his pony and rummaged around before pulling out pieces of cloth, herbs and water. "Err, we need to get the arrow out." He spoke hesitantly and Ariana reached down and yanked it through the other side of her leg. It meant that the pain was excruciating but she didn't pull any muscle out of her legs with the pointed edges of the tip of the arrow. The dwarves stood there in astonishment at how easy and painless she made it look.

"You know, pain relief wouldn't be so bad right about now." She said through gritted teeth, bringing both males out of their trance of amazement. Kili immediately went to her aid, tearing her cloth pants to get better access to the would and poured the water onto it before wiping away any potential dirt that may have seeped its way in. Then he began chewing up some of the green herbs and applying them to her leg. She winced throughout the whole process, not just from the pain but from the fact that she now had a strangers saliva covering her leg. None the less she was exceedingly grateful when her leg was wrapped and she could apply enough pressure to be able to stand up and whistle for her horse. "Thank you." She smiled as her mare came trotting through the trees. "Some noble steed you are, ran away at the first sniff of your rider in danger." She rolled her eyes and patted her steeds nose. 

"My names Kili, and this is my brother, Fili." The dark haired dwarf introduced.

"Arianna." She nodded in response. "What are you doing out here if I may ask?" She questioned, she'd never known dwarves to travel so far away from their homelands.

"We're on our way to the Shire, to get our burglar. You see, we're going on an adventure to reclaim the Misty Mountains and take back what is rightfully ours." Fili explained, both dwarves looking quite proud. Arianna stood for a minute, deep in thought. 

"The shire is about a day and a half that way," She pointed, "You don't want to be travelling through these woods alone especially in the dark, there's only a few safe places you can stop for a decent nights rest." The dwarves suddenly looked to be in mild despair. "I know a cave not too far away. Stay there for the night and I can find a shortcut to the Shire, you'll arrive late evening tomorrow night." She offered and suddenly the dwarves faces lit up. They mounted their ponies and followed her for half an hour at a walk before they arrived at the mouth of the cave. "You wouldn't happen to be the dwarves Gandalf spoke about would you?" She asked out of curiosity as she tied her mare back on the usual branch, close enough to food and water that she was perfectly happy at her little spot.

"You know Gandalf?" Kili looked at her amazed. 

"I am yet to find someone who doesn't." She replied . "And I'll take that as a yes." The dwarves nodded.

"That must mean he's asked you to help us. Has he? Are you joining us? Please say you're joining us? Our chances of success will be much higher if you're by our side." Kili spoke excitedly earning a nudge from his brother. "Are you coming to dinner to Mr Boggins' house, its supposed to be a great feast." He continued. Arianna stood in silence for a minute. 

"Yes, I am." She smiled finally back at the dwarves. Gandalf was never going to let her forget this but she fancied a decent meal and the company so far wasn't so bad.