Daughter of Lothlórien. Lady of the Elements.

Stone Giants

>Thorin's point of view

      I heard yelling coming from the gardens and immediately worried about the safety of Arandur when I noticed it was her voice. I got out of bed and walked to the gardens seeing the beautiful elv standing by herself. "Is everything alright? I heard shouting" I asked causing her to turn around. She looked at me for a while before blushing. "It was just a small argument with Gandalf" Arandur said and sat down on the bench. I walked over and sat down next to her. "I wanted to apologize for what I said when we first met" I said finding my shoes to be very interesting at the moment. "You are part of my company now and I would never dream of leaving you behind" I told her as we looked at eachother. Her beautiful hazel eyes looked into mine. They reminded me of the forest of Mirkwood, looking like there was no end to the mix of greens and brown. "It's no problem" She said looking away. "If I was you I wouldn't trust any elv ever" She said and looked around at the garden. "But I am not the one who made the decision to not help your people. That was Thranduil's choice and he was only trying to protect his people" She said and walked over to the balcony. I followed her and stood next to her. "I will not allow anyone or anything to harm you" I quietly said. "Nor I to you" Arandur replied. "What were you and Gandalf discussing?" I asked. "He believes that we might be a true couple" She said looking down. "But we are not of the same kin" I said confused. I never heard of a true couple from two different kins. "You do not need to be of the same kin to be a true couple. You just need to have...." She said and stopped. "Just need to have what?" I asked. I looked at her letting our eyes lock again. "To have an undying love for one another" She said. After a moment of just looking at one another she looked away. I felt my face hot and saw her blushing. "We should be getting some sleep" I said. "May I walk you back to your room?" I asked. "Your room is right next to mine anyway" She said making me laugh as we started walking back. We stopped in front of her door. "Goodnight Thorin Oakenshield" Arandur said as she moved closer to me. She quickly kissed my cheek making me blush. "Goodnight Arandur, princess of Lothlórien" I said as she walked into her room. I slowly walked into my room and laid under the sheets. I placed my hand on my cheek feeling where she kissed me. A true couple from different kins. I think Gandalf and Elrond may have a point. Although we did not have an undying love for one another I was very fond of the elven women that had joined my company. If our quest to get back the lonely mountain was successful I would ask her to be my queen. Then my people would have a king and queen under the mountain. If I died on the quest I would only die protecting her. I closed my eyes and let the thought of Arandur stay in my mind as I fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning I took what would be known for a while as my last bath. When I met with the others they were eating breakfast. I sat in between Balin and Dwalin. Fili and Kili were sitting across from me with Arandur in the middle sitting directly across. "Morning" Kili told me. "Morning Kili" I said back as I stared eating. Arandur smiled at me. I smiled back and spit food back onto the plate. Her and my nephews both laughed. My face was red at the thought of looking like a fool in front of my company and my anger started to rise. But Arandur's laughed had calmed me down. The sweet sound was something I had never heard before. "We leave after breakfast" I told my company. They all agreed. "We aren't going to wait for Gandalf?" Bilbo asked. I shook my head. "He will join the company in time. He said he had other business to attend to" I said and sat back in my chair. Arandur looked at me confused. "Other business? What other busines?" She asked. "He didn't say" I said looking down at the table.

      We had finished breakfast and packed up our things to leave. Arandur had only her weapons and a small bag that hung on her shoulder. "You're not bringing the rest of your bags?" I asked confused, noticing she only had a small bag. "No. I didn't want to bring anything that would weigh me down" She said before walking over to Elrond. "Mello nin" He told her. "Hir nin" She said back and hugged him. They spoke in elvish before she walked back over to me and smiled. We started off again on our journey. I stayed near Arandur as we made our way up and through hills and mountains.

>Arandur's point of view

      "You're not bringing the rest of your bags?" Thorin asked confused. "No. I didn't want to bring anything that would weigh me down" I told him as I fixed my bag onto my back. I walked over to the steps where Elrond stood. "Mell nin" He told me. "Hir nin" I said back and hugged him.  *"Be safe and remember what I said. Take care of Thorin"* Elrond told me. *"I will Elrond. I will return after the quest"* I told him and smiled. We started off through a narrow path. We climbed all day walking through hills and mountains. Thorin stayed close to me the whole time, staying either on my side of close behind. We were finally in the misty mountains when a thunderstorm began. Rocks fell from everywhere reveling it was a battle between stone giants. "Can't you do anything about this?" Dwalin asked me. "These are stone giants master Dwalin. They move on their own free will. As for the weather, with powerful giants around, I cannot do much without drawing their attention to us" I said as we continued to walk through the rain. Thorin had moved to the front of the company. He lead our way, trying to find shelter. I stayed behind Kili sticking closer to him than Thorin would've liked. Slowly the mountain we were standing on separated us from the rest of the group. "Kili! Arandur!" Thorin yelled as he tried to reach out for us. "Grab my hand!" Fili yelled. I reached out and barely missed his grip as the mountain separated more. Kili held onto me tight as the mountain moved. Soon it came crashing down into the side of another mountain as the stone giant was killed. Kili held onto me tighter as we fell onto the rocks. When he knew we were safe he let go. Throin ran over to see if we were okay. "Where's Bilbo? Where's the hobbit?" Bofur asked. We look off the edge of the cliff and saw Bilbo's hands hanging on to the rocks. "Get him!" Thorin yelled to his company. Bofur and Ori ran to the cliff's edge and tried to grab the hobbit as he slipped down further. "Grab my hand!" Ori yelled as he leaned further down to grab him. "Bilbo! Come on!" Bofur yelled to him. "Take it!" Ori yelled as he reached closer to Bilbo. "Ori! Be careful! Dori yelled to his brother. "I've got you lad" Dwalin said to Thorin as he lowered himself down the side of the cliff. Thorin pushed Bilbo up the cliff as the rest of the company grabbed him. Thorin reached up for Dwalin's hand, just grabbing it as he slipped. "Thorin!" I yelled and grabbed on to his other hand. Dwalin and I pulled him up, Dwalin doing most of the work. Thorin wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. "I thought we'd lost our burglar" Dwalin said as he looked at Bilbo. "He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us" Thorin said as he let go of me. We made for a cave close by to sleep for the night. Thorin insisted on sleeping near me to keep me safe.

      When I had just fallen asleep I heard Thorin shift next to me. The hobbit's voice could be heard. "What's that?" I heard Bofur ask him. "Wake up!" Thorin yelled. The ground beneath us gave way and Thorin grabbed onto me as we slid down rocks. He held onto me tight to keep me from getting hurt as much as he could. Once we landed he let go and stood up. We were surrounded by goblins who took us to their king. The king insisted on having us searched. "What are you doing in these parts?" He demanded. No one responsed. "Wait!" Thorin yelled when the king threatened to torture us. "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head Thorin Oakenshield. Just a head nothing attached. Perhaps you know whom I speak. An old enemy of yours. A pale orc astride a white warg" The king said.