Dwarven Denouement

17

Thorin was angry,"Was this your plan?! To take refuge with our enemy!" Gandalf rolled his eyes in an irritated matter,"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakensheild, the only ill will you'll find here is that to which you bring yourself." He glared at Thorin. "They will try to stop us.", Thorin said gruffly. "Yes but we have questions that need to be answered." He did not give Thorin a chance to counter that statement for he had already began walking down the pathway to the towers. And a reluctant irritated Thorin followed.Neana blinked hard. Her vision was going in and out. She focused on the backs of Fili and Kili's heads, and walked after them.

They ended up in this circular entrance and were greeted by a male elf. "Mithrandir! What brings you here?" Gandalf smiled,"Hello, is Lord Elrond here?" The elf frowned and said, "No he is out and I don't quite know when he'll be back." The galloping of hooves behind them stopped the elf. Everyone turned to see many elves riding on horses. The company got in a defensive circle, Neana and Bilbo somehow ended up in the middle with Kili by Bilbo and Fili by Neana.

The leader elf, who Neana assumed was Lord Elrond, began talking to Gandalf. He then turned to the company and spoke something elvish. Neana however was wondering why on Middle Earth were there now 3 Bofur's? The corners of her vision went black and she slowly started losing consciousness.

Bilbo felt something warm and sticky on his feet. He looked down and saw it was some red substance. Bilbo's eyes widened in horror, red meant blood. He was sure he wasn't the one bleeding, he looked around and everyone else seemed fine. He looked back at the blood, then he saw the hand. Blood was dripping down the fingertips and onto the floor beneath them. Bilbo followed the arm and saw that it was Neana. Her eyes were glazed over and she was leaning precariously. Fili and Kili had gone up to be closer to their uncle, leaving Bilbo and Neana alone in the back. He tapped her shoulder,"Neana?" She's glanced at him with empty eyes. She felt her knees go weak and she fell towards Bilbo. Bilbo caught her, that's when he realized that she was bleeding a lot more than he thought. "Fili!", was all he could think of to shout. The dwarf looked over nonchalantly. His mouth opened with shock as he saw the burglar trying to hold up a crumbling bleeding Neana.

He ran forward and took her from Bilbo's hands and held her like a mother carried her child. He looked at he face, her eyes were open but she wasn't looking through them. Fili panicked and shouted,"Kili! Thorin! Help!" This got the attention of all the dwarves and they rushed over to see Neana, who was still bleeding profusely from her left shoulder. A male elf came forward,"Let me take her.", he said calmly. Fili only clutched Neana tighter. "For goodness sake, she needs proper medical care! Give her to the elf unless you want her to bleed out right here!", Gandalf said. Fili gently handed her to the elf, and he quickly walked of to another area in the towers.

"Now come, she is in good hands. Lord Elrond has offered you food drink and rest, we will be safe here.", Gandalf said as he lead them to the dining area. Fili followed but his eyes stayed on the path were the elf took Neana. He prayed she was alright.

Neana awoke in a small simple elegant room which creme walls and white raised ceiling. She was on a very soft bed, she smiled she could get used to this. She sat up and grimaced as a sharp pain shot through her shoulder. "Good, you are awake." Neana looked around to find where the gentle voice came from. She noticed a female elf was walking towards her with a glass of water, Neana gently took it and took a small sip. "We are washing you clothes now and we have already given you your bath so there's no need to worry about that.", the female elf said. Neana's face went hot and she looked down at the ground in embarrassment. The elf giggled lightly,"There's no reason to be shy, you are quite a beautiful dwarf." And with that she walked to the door,"Your friends are dining in the Great Hall. Once you are dressed you can go down there. A certain blonde dwarf has been bothering me non-stop about you." The female elf smiled as she saw Neana blush even harder, then closed the door behind her.

Neana stood up from the bed and went to where the elf gestured were clothes. They were a pretty blue color. Neana lifted them up with a smile. Her smile faded as she realized, it was a dress. She knew that she was not going to hear the end of it from Kili. She sighed and put on the dress. The female elf came back in and made Neana sit down in front of a vanity, and began braiding her hair. "Oh you don't need to do that, you've already done so much for me." The elf laughed,"A beautiful and polite dwarf? Are you sure you are not at least one quarter elf?" Neana smiled. When the elf was done braiding her hair she turned around and curtsied low. "Thank you my lady." The elf touched her elbow in a friendly manner,"Please, call me Awren." Neana smiled and followed Awren to the Great Hall.

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The sun was beginning to set. As they were nearing the Hall Neana kept fidgeting with the dress and her hair. Awren smiled and held her shoulder, tilting Neana's face up to hers,"You look beautiful." She smiled at Neana's blush and opened the door, letting Neana inside.

All the laughter and ruckus that was happening in that room suddenly stopped. Neana's check were hot as she walked over to sit by Bilbo. She felt everyone's eyes on her. Fili was on the otherwise of the table with Kili, Ori, Dwalin and Balin. He was about to take a reluctant bit of lettuce when she entered. She looked gorgeous in the blue dress with her hair so intricately braided. His eyes did not leave her as she hurriedly sat in the empty seat by Bilbo, even then he still stared. An elbow jabbed sharply into his ribs and he heard the laughter of all the dwarves around him. Tearing his eyes away he looked at them. "You're goggling lad.", Balin smiled and took a sip from his mug. Fili looked down at his lap as Kili roared with laughter.

Neana was silently eating the salad before her. Bilbo cleared his throat,"You look lovely Neana." She blushed even more."You don't like the dress?", he curiously asked. "It's not that, it's just. I've never worn a dress before, I never needed to." Bilbo nodded,"In any case you look lovely." She smiled,"Thank you Bilbo."

After eating the company went to another room while Thorin, Balin, and Gandalf went with Lord Elrond to discuss the map. Neana walked into the room and nearly collided with Kili. He was looking at her with a smirk. "Not one word Kili." Kili shrugged,"We're about to play a game, care to join us?" Neana excitedly nodded and followed Kili to the group. She sat by Fili and Kili sat across from them.

They played to challenge game Neana taught the boys how to play years ago. Bofur got challenged to have Bombur sit on his lap for the rest of the game, Ori had to eat a piece of green food, Kili had to attempt to flirt with a female elf, only, he ended up flirting with a male elf. Laughing Kili sat down, it was his turn to challenge someone. And he knew who it was.

"Neana.", he said. She leaned forward with a smug look. "I challenge you...." She listened with anticipation,"....to kiss Fili on the mouth." He smirked when he saw bed blush and her eyes widened. Fili spoke up,"She doesn't have to do that-", but his sect acne was cut short. Neana had grabbed both of his mustache braids and pulled him to her, and she kissed him. She kissed him for about 4 seconds and by then everyone was cheering. Neana blushed and Fili coughed and looked away.

Everyone decided the game was over and chose to go exploring. Fili however did not. His heart was pounding and his lips still tingled from the kiss. Her lips were so soft. Fili shook his head. It was just a challenged he reminded himself. Just a challenge.

He chose to sit on a bench looking over the mountains. He looked up at the stars. They weren't as bright as Neana eyes...Durin! She's all he ever things about! He was torn from his thoughts when he heard someone cleared their throat. Fili turned around and saw Neana standing back in her traveling clothes. Her hair was still braided the way the elves braided it.

"Have room for one more?" Fili nodded and moved over. She sat down. "I hate to bother you but I was wondering..could you maybe braid my hair?" Fili was confused,"But it's already braided, the elves did it." Neana nodded,"Yea but I like the way you braid my hair.", she said quietly. Fili was shocked, she liked his braiding? "Of course I'll braid it.", he said smiling. Neana seemed relieved and she turned so her back was towards him. Fili carefully started to unbraid.