Of The Sun (The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings/LOTR)

Pt. 1 - Chapter 17 - Mirkwood

The forest of Mirkwood was an old place. But it had never been a dark one before. The trees creaked, but no leaves moved, running water could be heard yet everywhere the soil was dry, it was light enough to see all around and yet no rays were shown to shine through the thick layer above them. They could have been travelling in any direction, at any time of day.

"The path turns this way." Thorin instructed. They followed.

"This way." Dwalin said a while later. They followed.

"Left." Bilbo said. They followed.

"Right." Kili called. They followed.

On and on it went. Winding all about so much it was enough to lose the sense of which way they had come from. Anariel's head was beginning to spin. She felt weak, deprived of... she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Light, perhaps.

"Thorin." Fili said after a while, having been keeping an eye on her as they walked, just as Gandalf had asked. Just as Gandalf knew he would do. "She doesn't look well." She looked paler than normal and she was beginning to feel like her feet were struggling to keep up with her body. It must have showed. Her concentration was fading in and out and Fili was suddenly guiding her to a seat. Her hand reached out to grab a tree for support and upon contact her skin greyed, losing the last of it's elven glow and Fili saw her eyes darken. He quickly pulled her hand off the trunk and watched as a little spec of colour returned to her.

"Gandalf said she could not touch anything." Fili spoke in contemplation, looking from her hand and to the tree before over his shoulder to his uncle.

"We don't have time for this. She is our guide, not the other way around."

"Then go." Fili said. "We will catch up."

"Fili..." Ana warned in a whisper thinking he should continue on with the others.

"All of you. Go." Fili snapped with a little bit of authority in his voice. Authority Thorin ordinarily would have been proud of his heir for, but not in that moment. "We're on the path, right behind you."

Thorin grit his teeth and stormed over, getting ready to argue with his nephew but Fili jumped to his own and stared his uncle down stubbornly. It paused the king in his tracks. Thorin waited a moment and then turned to continued on when it was clear his nephew would not back down and he did not want to cause a scene. The others followed, a few throwing glances over their shoulders. Kili stayed a moment, locked eyes with his brother and then nodded before following the others. His nephews ordinarily would do whatever he asked. But they held their own stubborn streaks and Thorin knew those looks well. He'd seen them grow over the years and that look Fili gave him wasn't all that far from the one he had as a child when his mother put vegetables in front of him... she never won that battle until he was a teenager and Thorin knew he wouldn't win this one.

"Fili..." Anariel breathed. "You should go. I'll be alright. I just need a moment."

"No. Give me your arm." He insisted, draping it over his shoulder and helping her walk. "Put your weight on me."

"I am." She said and he looked up in surprise.

"Huh, elves really are light."

She chuckled. "Perhaps dwarves are just very strong."

"I like that one." He grinned and they continued on a little behind the others but getting further and further away. A few of the others could be seen looking back, Kili and Bilbo chiefly among them but the further they went and the more mixed up their heads got the less it happened. "What's happening?" Fili had asked after a while.

"I don't know."  She whispered. They continued on in silence then.

Fili was growing warier by the minute she could tell and the others were as well as their voices carried to them, echoing through the trees.