The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey Edition (IN EDITING)

11. The Mountains Are Pacing

The company woke up right before the world had begun to dawn. It was all according to plan to leave as soon as possible, surprise the Elves of their disappearance and be heading over the mountains when the sun began to stretch its sunrays over the Valley and over Rivendell’s genuine beauty which was seen by Elves and Bilbo only. The dwarves took no time to knowledge, notice this, blinded by their everlasting hatred for this kin. Of course, they were not only leaving Rivendell and Gandalf behind (who were, by the way, too slow to keep up with their disappearance but knowing that they were going to be heading off as soon as possible anyways) for this one reason of surprise. They were also leaving because they were in a hurry. Their minds were not yet in peace – but they were only travelling to their home now. Nothing else mattered, because they missed it from the very bottom of their hearts and they hadn’t taken any knowledge of this until now. Now, that they were so close to retrieving it. If they succeeded, no loss would’ve been regretted for this cause, this accomplishment.

“Get up!” Thorin had growled between his teeth. Even though he hadn’t closed his eyes for a second during this tense night where the moon was watching them, he was eager and he was quick and he was wide awake. Not like the others, who were moaning and groaning to the sudden awakening by their leader and they tried to push him aside, but failed. Some of the company, such as Dwalin, sat upright and drilled his eyes into the abyss. He jumped up, his feet meeting the floor with a thud, and helped Thorin to awaken the dwarves. Fili and Kili yawned and sat up contentedly. They had been awakened by the squabble in between the company and Thorin who nudged them with his boot. Fili and Kili carefully nudged Aria who got up just as quickly as Thorin and Dwalin had, which took them by surprise, but they reluctantly followed with up, joining the now crowded room of dwarves who were yet struggling to get their eyes wide opened, but they all got a bit of help from the others. No one was being left behind – apart from Gandalf, but that was his decision. Thorin would not take any chances, not once. All of the thirteen dwarves were standing upright after quite a while, with a little pushing and a bit of loud noises. They got all of the package together and swung on onto their backs and headed out the door of their one-night bedroom, through the corridors and past thick pillars made out of stone; these being quite useful to the company to hide behind from the Elf’s eyes in case there were any lurking around the house at this hour. The company was hoping not. The Valley was quiet, and so was the house. Everything was holding its breath, including the dwarves and there were not a single Elf in sight. The sun had not yet gotten the time and the strength to light up the hallways for the company, and they fumbled in the dark yet, just like last night. Bombur complained about his stomach ache – he was hungry of course, and so was Bilbo. He had completely hit him, and he remembered once again that he hadn’t gotten a proper, descent meal for days now and he could literally feel his own body taking away the fat off of his bones. The rest of the company tried not to complain, though, Thorin’s patience only lasted for so long and at the moment was pretty severe. He had the lead and he practically ignored Bombur’s complaints. He was going to address it later on because right now they needed to move as swiftly as possible. Thorin knew that his company had the impulse of being arrogant and lazy, but yet he waited behind to make sure that everyone had joined the small crowd. All of them were very well aware about the Elves reluctant decisions about letting the dwarves go through with this quest; they had to hurry.

They were far away by the time the sun rays had reached over the Valley and made every single thing seem magical again; not to the dwarves, but to Bilbo and Aria. They could simply not prevent their gazes from turning back, over their shoulders and fasten their eyes upon the glorious houses, the flowing waterfalls and the green trees that covered the mountain ranges. Bilbo wanted to stay. If he had a say in anything about this journey he would leave the company heading for the narrow, rocky path over the mountain and head back to the house of Elrond. He knew, though, that it wasn’t an option. Perhaps when all of this tackiness was over he could reconsider coming and living with the Elves one day. Aria felt a slight homesickness looking over the incredible view, her deep blue eyes showing her own reflection in the water of the waterfalls. She sighed and let the beauty consume her, her mind and her body. She let the others walk ahead of her as she stopped at the edge of the cliff, not afraid of leaning forwards even though she was feather light she wouldn’t fall. She looked out over the Valley that was riddled with happiness, as well as genuine beauty that was found nowhere else.