You Must Have Faith

Chapter Thirty-One

The stone felt cold under Vera's paws, the chill seeping up through her pads and into her toes.  The sounds and scents of the orcs and what Vera could identify as goblins grew ever stronger as she navigated through the tunnels.  Only once before had she gone so deep, and as she passed through the great entryway, she entered the unknown.  It soon became darker than what even Vera could see in, which was far beyond normal human sight.  Her hearing she knew would betray her here, because of the echo, so she followed her nose until she began to see flickers of firelight.  The goblins, she knew, would prefer darkness, so these had to be orcs and Uruk-hai.  A feral smile bared her teeth as she flew through the tunnels towards them.

The scum never knew what had hit them.  It turned out to be a small group of cowards that had deserted Kira's army and had found the easiest shelter they could, happening upon the skin-changer's home as they had run into the mountains.  Vera took up a torch in her mouth, some instinct telling her to not shift forms just yet.  The urge that had led her there in the first place was growing stronger, into something that she realized was not her own thinking, but something interfering in her mind.  She was drawn ever deeper into the depths of the mountain, the straightest path to the inner chambers of the kingdom.  She was drawn to what seemed to be a council room, a stone table with chairs set around it, though she ignored those as she headed to what would have been her father's chair as king.  

There was a small hole in the arm of the chair, the perfect size for a claw.  She lifted her paw, extending a claw and inserting it into the arm of the chair.  A slight resistance, and then a soft click as a trap door opened directly in front of the chair, under the table.  The pull grew to be almost unbearable, and Vera followed it through the door, leaving her torch behind.  A ramp led down to what Vera assumed had to be bedrock, and the faintest sound of running water hit her ears.  The path was tall but thin, perfectly fit to her body shape as she followed it in its winding.  The running water grew louder, the walls became damp, and she emerged into what sounded like a cavern, with the water noise echoing off the walls.

It no longer felt like she was in control of her body as she stepped forward into the darkness.  Her paws hit the freezing water, and her body slowly submerged until she was swimming towards what sounded like a waterfall.  The water impacted her back, forcing her down and pinning her for a moment in brief panic before shooting her out the other side of the falls into another, much smaller, cavern.  Soaking wet, unable to see, and sore from her old wounds and the water hitting her back, Vera curled up a few feet back from the water; determined to wait until the reason she needed to be here became evident.  The urge seemed to be calm, waiting.  So she waited with it.

***

Thranduil ended his conversation with Elrond, deciding to take some time to process what he had learned about Vera.  The two had just left the corridor to the Queen's pool when trumpets began to sound and a guard came sprinting towards them.

"My king, the prince is home!  He just exited the tree-line and is approaching the gates."

Thranduil couldn't stop the grin spreading across his face, nor his feet as he sprinted towards the slowly opening gates, leaving Elrond and the guard behind.  He slowed to a stop a few yards from the gate, watching as his son rode through on a powerful white horse.  He ran forwards as Legolas dismounted, gripping him in a bear hug that his son returned after a moment of shock.  Thranduil clutched his son to him, silently praising the Valar that he was home and alive.  Legolas had started to shake in his arms, and it took him a moment to realize that his son was quietly crying into his shoulder.  It stopped after a few seconds, but by that point Thranduil's vision had gone a bit hazy.  Legolas pulled back, face reddened and eyes wet, teeth showing in an uncharacteristically big grin. 

"Hello Adar."

"Legolas, it's good to see you again, ion nin."

A cough sounded from behind Legolas, and Thranduil looked at his horse to see...a dwarf?!

"Son, why is there a dwarf on your horse?"

Legolas chuckled, turning to help the dwarf down from the horse.  He hit the ground with a thud that betrayed his density, and walked forward, stopping and bowing at the waist.

"Gimli, son of Gloin, at your service King Thranduil."

Thranduil looked at his son with barely concealed dislike, but when met with a pleading gaze resigned himself to misery.

"My thanks, Master Gimli, and I am of course at yours.  May I ask, what your purpose is in riding with my son?"

"Gimli here was a part of the Fellowship, Father.  And one of my good friends from that journey."  Legolas jumped in, eager to insure that his father didn't kick the dwarf out of their home.  Gimli nodded along, knowing of the Elvenking's temper from his father's tales.

"Aye, my lord.  Your lad here is a good fighter, the only pointy-ear that I'm proud to say I'd fight alongside any time."

Pointy-ear?  Thranduil was incredulous, his famed poker face remaining intact by a thread.  Legolas was holding his breath, waiting for his father to explode, but by some miracle, Thranduil held it together and instructed a maid to lead Gimli to a guest bedroom near Legolas.  The dwarf was led away, and father and son turned to walk together towards the Royal hallway.

"Father, the skin-changer..."

"Vera?  You've seen her?"

"Yes, we ran into her on our way here, she guarded us through spider territory until we reached the security of the ward around the palace, then she just took off.  What happened, why is she still here?"

"That's a long story Legolas, and I imagine that yours is as well.  Let's put it off until tomorrow morning, and then we can sit down and figure everything out that's happened in the past year.  Alright?"

"Alright.  And, Ada?"

"Yes?"

"I like this new version of you.  You're warm again."

Oddly enough, as the two closed their bedroom doors, Thranduil knew exactly what he meant.

Ada/Adar: Dad/Father

Ion nin: My son

A/N The plot thickens!  And as always, the image isn't mine.  I've been planning this reunion around the image since before I even started writing this story.  Comment what you thought, vote if you liked it.  Love you guys!