World's apart (Thorin Oakenshield fanfic)

Chapter 21. I know what you did

~ Warning: There will be some small mentions which can be seen as spoilers. ~

It took a long time for Gandalf to convince Thranduil this would be the best option for his kin. The elf often stated that this was the dwarves' quest and not his. Yet, at the end, when you told him about the future that would arrive fast, he agreed to help. 'But don't expect me to lose too much elven blood for that mountain.' Gandalf had nodded and thanked Thranduil for his hospitality. You managed to keep yourself under control this time and bowed. 'Until next time we meet' Thranduil said, holding your gaze. You managed a small smile but as soon as you left the throne room it disappeared as quickly as it had come. 'Do you really think he will help?' you asked Gandalf. He shrugged. 'We've tried our best. We can only hope the elven King will realize he can't hide for ever.'

Two elven guards lead you back to the eagle. Before you climbed on you stared into the forest. Thorin and the Company were somewhere out there. Hopefully they weren't caught by spiders yet or leaving the path. If Gandalf would only look away for a few seconds, you could run off and try to help them out there. Of course Thranduil had immediately send Tauriel and Legolas, finally you had heart their names, to look for the dwarves and lead them to safety. '(Y/N), are you coming?' Marriet asked. You looked up at here and hesitated a moment before you took her offered hand and let her pull you up the eagle. Gandalf gave the signal to the eagle to leave and you held on to his robe. Now that you had heard the plan again you could only think: Will I ever see him again?

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The Company was back on the road. They all agreed they were lost. No one knew where they were or in which direction they should walk. 'I think this forest will never end' Bofur said and the rest nodded. 'Nonsense, we will find a way out. We all saw Erebor in the distance, didn't we?' Bilbo said. Some dwarves muttered something under their breath but it stopped when Thorin stood up. 'Master Baggins is right. We are close, very close, we can't give up now.' He looked around his Company, and they all looked back at him. The dwarves were ready to reclaim their homeland. 'Which way should we go?' Balin asked. Thorin thought about it for a second. He had never been inside this forest, he didn't know the way. But he was their leader, he would lead them down the right path.

'We must go that way' he declared and the Company followed him. 'If he says that we should go that way, doesn't that mean we should go the other way?' Bilbo whispered to Balin. The old dwarf chuckled. 'We probably should laddie.' But even Balin knew it wouldn't be a good idea to tell their leader they were taking the wrong path. He was already in a brooding state since you had left. He didn't want to make it worse. 'A bridge!' Bofur yelled from up front. The Company started walking faster but were disappointed when they saw the bridge was broken. 'We could try to swim it' Kili said. Thorin shook his head. 'There is something wrong with the water in this river, it looks unnatural.'

Kili took a step closer to the edge and looked down at the water. It had an unhealthy glow over it, and he couldn't see any fish swimming in the river. 'These vines look strong enough' Bilbo said, putting his foot on a strong looking vine. Bombur and Gloin stepped closer to Bilbo, ready to catch the halfling if he would fall down. Everyone looked at their burglar, hoping he wouldn't fall down. A few times it was a close call. 'Follow him!' Thorin ordered when he noticed the vines were strong enough to hold them all. The dwarves jumped up the vines and started to make their way towards the other end. Thorin was halfway through when he started feeling drowsy. It was like he had drunk too much ale.

The world started spinning around him and he couldn't focus on where he placed his feet. He felt a hand on his arm and when he looked up, he saw Bilbo holding on to him. But it looked like he was already standing on solid ground. How could he be here when he was just halfway through? Thorin let the halfling pull him on to the shore. Shaking on his legs he got up and looked around him. The forest seemed darker on this side. There was definitely something wrong with it. He just couldn't determine what is was exactly. It probably had something to do with the elves. They were trying to make him lose his mind. Bilbo helped the others. Together with Fili and Kili he was barely able to drag Bombur on shore before he could fall asleep.

The big dwarf yawned and stretched his sleepy limbs. 'We just made it' Fili stated, looking back at the vines behind them. Some of them had broken, laying still in the water below. 'What is that!' Kili said and reached for his bow and arrow. Thorin turned on his heels and drew his sword. There, only a few feet away, stood a white stag. Carefully Bilbo laid his hand on Thorin's sword and pushed it down. 'Don't scare it off' he said, staring at the stag. The stag turned around and walked off on the road. 'Look! There is the path!' Bofur shouted happily. The dwarves didn't stop to think for a minute and ran towards the path. The stag was waiting there for them and didn't continue walking until Thorin and Bilbo reached the path as well. 

The stag walked further, down a different path then Thorin would have chosen. 'Why are we following this stag?' he murmured angrily to Bilbo. The hobbit shrugged. 'Because we don't have another choice.' Thorin huffed. 'We could have gone the other way.' 'And why would we do that?' Thorin looked down at him. 'We would do that, master Bagggins, because we don't know this creature. For all we know it can lead us straight to the elves. I feel like we should go down the other path.' Bilbo chuckled. 'And that right there is why we will follow this stag.' Thorin frowned. 'You want to go to the elves?' Bilbo shook his head and took a step away from Thorin. 'No, we will follow the stag because if we go your way we will probably get lost.' Thorin felt insulted but had to agree with the hobbit.

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Eventually the stag had let them out and they were all happy to feel the fresh breeze on their faces again. The stag stayed inside the forest. Bilbo turned around and walked back to it. He grabbed an apple from a nearby apple tree, outside the forest, and held it close to the stag's mouth. 'Here, eat this. Thank you for showing us the way out' Bilbo said. The white stag ate the apple and pushed Bilbo with his nose. 'Alright, I'm leaving. Take care of yourself' the hobbit said and walked back to the Company. 'It even lead us to the right side of the forest!' Gloin said happily. The dwarves seemed happy to know they were close to their lost home then they had ever been. 'Come, we don't have many days left' Thorin said and lead the Company onward.

'Master Baggins!' he shouted from the front. Bilbo ran forwards, not sure what Thorin wanted to say to him. Balin nodded encouraging as he ran by. As long as this wasn't about a specific person this would all end well. When he reached Thorin he slowed his pace and walked next to the dwarf. They both stayed silent for a while. Bilbo wasn't sure whether the dwarf wanted to talk to him or just wanted the hobbit to walk next to him. He just wanted to open his mouth and talk about the beautiful flowers along the road when Thorin finally talked. 'Do you consider us friends?' he asked, not looking at Bilbo. Bilbo frowned. He liked to think they were friends. Thorin had stopped growling at him for every little thing he did wrong and didn't glare at him anymore.

'Yes, I believe we are friends' he said. Thorin nodded. 'I like to think so too. Friendship is based on loyalty, understanding, confidence and truthfulness' the dwarf said, now looking sideways at the hobbit. Bilbo avoided his look. Where was he going with this? 'Or do you disagree, master Baggins?' Thorin asked staring straight ahead. What was he supposed to answer? Maybe Thorin knew that he had been lying to him when he had told the dwarf you weren't in this world anymore. But how could he know? 'Master Baggins?' Bilbo looked up and met Thorin's eyes. 'Ah... yes... yes, I believe so. That's all very important' he stammered. 'So I may presume you would never lie to me? Since we are friends.' He definitely knew the hobbit had lied to him.

Bilbo cleared his throat. 'I think that when you are friends, you sometimes have to lie to the other person to protect another.' An uncomfortable silence fell between the two. Bilbo had promised Gandalf that he wouldn't say a word about his plan to Thorin. But the Dwarf King was right. He was his friend and he shouldn't be lying to him. Now he was doing neither. He was telling Thorin the truth but he didn't tell him exactly what happened. 'May I also presume that you lied to me because the wizard asked you to?' Bilbo blushed at a loss of words. Thorin's face turned grim. 'And I may also presume that he doesn't want me to know my One is still here?' In defeat, Bilbo nodded and looked down at the ground. 

He knew how much Thorin missed you. He missed having you in his arms at night, hearing your voice and maybe even your stubbornness. 'Did she leave on his quest?' Thorin asked, almost in a whisper. 'Without her knowing, yes.' Thorin nodded and walked faster, away from Bilbo.