The Three Women Of Durin

Return Of The Swallows

Rosie felt panic rise within her like boiling water, her stomach churning and a feeling of her neck being both sweltering and freezing at the same time. This could not be happening.

"Okay let's not freak out," Rosie heard herself saying, talking to herself more than anyone, "They can't have gotten far...I mean...their dwarves," Rosie said, something desperate clawing its way up her throat.

"Okay...well, they wouldn't have gone backwards...so...let's go forwards," Cece pondered aloud, sounding more unsure of herself then she would have liked to have let on.

"I don't know...I don't think we should all go," Rosie said.

"And I don't think we should split up," Frankie said.

"Well it looks like we don't have much of a choice and we better decide quickly," Cece said. A beat.

"Okay," Frankie huffed, "Cece you go to the base of the buildings over there and look for them, I'll go here and Rosie...you stay, check everything and everywhere...and please make sure that they haven't gone back into battle,"

"Woah...why do I have to stay behind?" Rosie said throwing a hand in the air, her other grasping onto her sword.

"Because there is a very large possibility that they will come back...and if they do we need you here," Frankie said, turning slightly to go. Rosie found that she didn't have an argument against Frankie so she let her spinning mind calm for a moment and watched as her friends slowly built a distance between themselves and her on this sea of ice.

"Wait!" Rosie called out, running as best as she could across the slippery surface, her best friends paused, turning to face her as she slowed to a stop, "Just...be careful okay. We know there are orcs in these parts and we're still not amazing fighters so-" Rosie began before she was cut off.

"Rosie," Cece said with a little laugh in her voice, "Don't worry about us I mean come on, we're not the ones who are supposed to die, we've already been there done that,"

"Yeah, babe. Like Thranduil said, it would take more than an orc army to take us down," Frankie smiled with a wink. Rosie smiled back.

"Yeah, I know. It's just...I love you guys," Rosie said. Now was not the time to get emotional.

"We love you too," Cece smiled. A beat. The three girls once again wrapped their arms around each other. No words needed, as always. And with that Frankie and Cece turned and disappeared into a jungle of stone and ice, Rosie waving her sword in the air after them.

Cece wove in and out of buildings for what felt like forever, peeking around corners and being as light as she possibly could on the echoing pavement. She didn't see anything for such a long time she became slightly careless with her checking's which is why she got the fright of her life when a hand sneaked its way onto her shoulder.

"Oh my gosh...Balin!" She hissed at the elderly dwarf as she tried slowing her breath.

"Ah, sorry lass, shouldn't have crept up on you," He said softly as he pushed himself into the wall, obviously looking out for something.

"Yeah...I agree," Cece smiled up at her friend, thankful for just being in his presence. "What happened to you back there?"

"Oh...well we hid and then we started moving and I guess something to do with the adrenalin made us forget to count our numbers," Balin said, an apologetic smile on his face. Cece digested this information, her heart tweaking ever so slightly at the thought of Fili not realising she was gone, but she remembered that he was probably slightly shaken up over the idea of...well...dying.

"Okay," Cece murmured before looking behind Balin, "Well then where's everyone?"

"Well, Thorin, Fili, Kili, Dwalin and Bilbo went to go kill Azog and everyone else is...well...looking for you," A pause.