[IC] Middle-Earth: Bright Stars & Durin's Folk { Wolf & Angel }

[AngelBites15]

Everybody kind of shook off the first shake, but as the dinnerware clattered dangerously on the table, it was starting to become very serious.

"What was that?", Fili looked to his godmother in concern, to Yavanna, whom seemed to be pondering, before looking back to his exhausted brother. Bard had entered by then, and both his daughters ran to him, both relieved yet troubled to see him. "Da? What's happened?", Tilda grabbed onto his sleeve, and Sigrid put a hand to her sister's shoulder to calm her. "Are you alright?"

Bain looked out of the window towards the mountain in the distance. "It's coming from the mountain!", he announced to them, answering their possibly simultaneous question. "The dragon...", Saeril murmured quietly, her face on alert. Fili urgently approached Bard who just entered the house. "You should leave us", the blonde began to tell the bargeman. "Take your children, get out of here!"

"And go where?!", the Lakeman asked the dwarf, a hint of anger in his voice. "There is nowhere else for us to go!", Bard added with a bit of grave in his voice. "Are we going to die, Da?", Tilda, the young girl asked, looking very frightened. "The dragon, it's going to kill us!" Taking the last black arrow from the ceiling, Bard looked upon his children. "Not if I kill it first", he told them with clenched teeth, and the black arrow within hand.

Feeling another rumble, Saeril walked quickly to the house's entrance and looked upon the Lonely Mountain. "What is it?", she heard Fili at her side as the winged she-elf used her Elf eyes to see the figure in the distance. It was huge, and it had wings. One thing that would be, is a dragon, and not just any dragon. "Smaug", she breathed out the name. "He's coming", she told them with dread.

[WolfLover]

As the table began to shake even more...Yavanna sat up in alert. She stood up and walked over to the broken window. Trying to see what was going on. "They set it loose." Yavanna muttered, under her breath. Thorin Okaenshield, what have you done? Yavanna thought to herself. She could not believe, they had awaken the Dragon. It seemed like, whatever Bard feared...what she and Saeril worried about, earlier. Was coming true.

Yavanna then looked at Bard and his children...spotting the arrow he took down "The Black Arrow." she breathed out.

On the Mountain, Bilbo watched the Dragon flying away. He sighed. "What have we done?" Bilbo muttered to himself. Feeling a deep worry surge within him. He had retrieved the Arkenstone for Thorin, but at a cost...the Dragon was a wake and a fight, had broke out between the company and the Dragon, moments before.

"I am fire! I am Death!" Smaug breathed out...flying towards the small town on a Lake.

[AngelBites15]

At the news, Fili walked back to his resting brother, feeling almost sick with dread. If Smaug was to come here, they were done for. All of Laketown would feel the wrath of such a mighty beast; he had heard the stories of Smaug all his life, and he knew about the amount of destruction the Fire-Drake was capable of bringing. If the dragon was coming here, where were the others? Fili couldn't help but worry for their safety; they had headed towards the mountain and Smaug may have met them first. "We need to find Thorin," time was not on their side, since Smaug would arrive within a matter of moments.

"Get to safety", Bard told them before putting on his coat, taking the Black Arrow, and leaving the house, as quick as he could. He had to get to the windlance, and quickly. However, just as he about a few yards from it, Braga was approaching him. Hiding the arrow in a boat, and covering it, he took off, hoping to evade them, but they were much quicker than him.

Oin was in full agreement. "We'll need a boat," hastily, he threw his supplies back into his bag, then turned to help Kili who, once again, insisted he was fine. "You'll have to come with us," Saeril explained to Bard's children, but Bane would not hear of it. "Not without our Da--"
"If you stay, you and your sisters will die." She couldn't sugarcoat it, they hadn't a moment to spare. "Is that what your father would want?"

Fili ran to his brother and tried to help him stand, but the youngest again insisted that he can walk. The eldest was ushering Bain, the girls, Yavanna, and the rest of the company quickly to an empty boat that they can use to leave town with.

Smaug was reaching Laketown, and with a ferocious roar, he let loose a jet of rippling orange flame, catching an entire row of houses alight.

[WolfLover]

All the rumbling and talking, had woken Kili up. He looked confused, a little tired and dazed. But his leg was healing up, even if he was slow on his leg. He could walk. "What's going on?" he asked sleepily, as Fili fussed over him. "I am fine brother...let me walk on my own." he told his brother.

Yavanna looked at Kili; hearing his words. "Smaug has been awakened...we must go." she said softly, As she helped him out of the house; towards the boat Oin had found for them. She looked at Bain, before she exited the house. "You cannot stay here...it's not safe." she said softly. As they were all finally ushered into the boat. Yavanna had wrapped an arm around Tilda...whom seemed scared.

Kili had limped towards the boat; sitting down besides his brother. Once they were squeezed in.

Looking towards Lake town..Yavanna could see the fire in the distance. People began to scream, as houses were lit on fire.

[AngelBites15]

Smaug's fire lit up the opposite side of Laketown. The heat from the flames could be felt even from where they were, and panicked shouts and cries of the people were heard both near and far. Fili caught sight of Smaug, though only briefly. Hearing about the mighty dragon was one thing, seeing him was another. Bofur shook his head in disbelief, offering Fili and the others help to maneuver the boat through the water. At this rate, there would be no town to return to.

As the Master tried to escape town with his treasure, the rope that Bard set down out his cell window, got tangled with him, allowing him to break away the prison cell wall. As soon as the bargeman escapes, he found the hidden Black Arrow, before making his way towards the windlance.

"Stay down", Saeril murmured softly to Sigrid and Tilda as the boat passed under the foundations of another house, the buildings around them crumbling and burning as they floated down the lake.

The fire blared around the town, surrounding it as Bard climbed to the launching mechanism.

[WolfLover]

Yavanna kept Tilda and Sigrid shielded, as she stayed by their sides. She looked round the burning houses of Lake Town. Seeing people screaming, crying...jumping into the lake..others fleeing by their boats. It was a chaos. As she heard a roar near above, that's when she caught sight of Smaug with Fili and the rest of their company. The Dragon was more fierce, than legends could have described. Yavanna was sure, she could see the rage in Smaug's eyes.

She feared for Lake Town. It'd be in ruins, if the Dragon was not killed and the fires put out.

Kili stayed by Yavanna and the girls, the young Bain sitting between him and one of his sisters. He watched the horror unfolding before their very own eyes. He gasped as he caught sight of the Dragon with his brother and Yavanna.

[AngelBites15]

Fili stayed by Kili, the children, and Yavanna, while Saeril guided them at the front. He could only stare in shock as Laketown started to go up in flames. Hearing the cries and seeing the people flee their homes was difficult to witness. Were they responsible for this? Smaug had remained inside of Erebor for so many years, and now he'd left to seek destruction on the nearest town. The thought was an unsettling one; deep down, the blonde worried that coming here had been wrong. Perhaps their homeland should have been left behind.

"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Fili couldn't take it anymore. Leaving felt wrong, even if they'd managed to bring Bard's children to safety. Bofur shook his head, motioning for him to quiet down. "No, lad. We've got to get to Thorin." Though Bofur felt the same way, he knew there was little to nothing that they could do now. They needed to regroup with the others and plan from there.

It was another few hours before the survivors of Laketown reached the shore once more. Many of them were badly wounded or dying, and others still had already been lost to their wounds or shock. With the shore in a yard's distance, Saeril jumped out of the boat, into the water, and used the strength she had to pull the boat to the upcoming shoreline. Looking around at the number of casualties surrounding them, the she-elf felt that she had to immediately talk to Thorin once they get to the mountain, if they still intended to. He would absolutely not be that careless to put his own nephews in harm's way, especially in the event of a Firedrake.

Bard's three children immediately left the little boat they had travelled in with the two she-elves and the dwarves, weaving through the crowd searching for their father. Saeril, who could see a little better over the other people's heads, searched too, though there was no sign of Bard.

Finally managing to remove her horned headdress, she let her hair flow free in the wind, as she glanced around at the surviving people. Knowing that her companions might have their eyes on her, she didn't bother to look back at them, at least, not at the moment. Again, it's that anger she felt inside. "What was he thinking?", she said softly to herself, with a hint of a building up snarl, as she gazed out at the burnt and demolished town in the distance.

[WolfLover]

Yavanna rubbed the girls shoulders softly...feeling them trembling. She looked over at the Blonde Dwarf. "I fear, there's not much that can be done now...just help the wounded and dying when we reach shore, if possible." she said softly. That was all they could do...all the help they could offer. There was nothing, they could do...not against the Fire-Drake. She only prayed the God, that Bard would end up killing the beast.

As they finally reached shore. Yavanna had jumped out of the boat...and she immediately, run over to help some of the injured people of lake town. One fragile, lady grabbed her hand...coughing "Hel...p...me..."she choked out, looking at the Princess...with her last few breaths.

"Shh...it's okay." Yavanna tried to soothe the old lady. Trying to stop her bleeding...but even her own healing powers would not save her. Instead, the only thing Yavanna could do...was bring some peace to the dying lady. Yavanna hummed to her, softly...as she kept her pressure on the wound...but the old lady took her last breath...a slight smile on her face, from the Princess humming. Yavanna felt choked up...as she felt the old lady stop breathing.
"Lothron aen a i elena, guide cin a beri- cin in menel." (May God and the Stars guide and protect you in heaven.) Yavanna whispered, she closed the ladies eyes gently...her cloak and hands covered in blood.

Just then, in the background. Came a strange almighty roar...and then a large splash in the lake. Yavanna had caught brief sight of the Dragon falling.

"What was that?" She heard mutters, as everyone looked back towards the lake.

"I think that was the dragon...Smaug must be dead." Yavanna breathed out.

[AngelBites15]

Saeril's back was still turned towards the group, and still gazing at the town, despite the fact of the sound of the dragon falling. Her focus was towards Thorin. "I may pose no ill-will, but...", she began. "It's just...heartbreaking. In all of Middle Earth, nobody would never do such a thing, the way Oakenshield did", she said aloud to herself; her back still to them, and her voice turned soft albeit filled with disbelief, and almost sadness. The winged she-elf admitted her concern willingly, and she was bold enough to share it.

[WolfLover]

Yavanna looked over at Saeril...as she said what others might have been thinking; and what she was scared to say. "We can't change what's done.." Yavanna said softly. "Bard was right..maybe this was a bad idea." she said softly. Thinking about this quest; was it really worth, the destruction of another town? Hearing more pleas of help from the river..she run over to help...not caring about the cold of the water...she helped pull the injured onto the shore. The town's people helping each other as some were still crying for help.

[AngelBites15]

Fili knelt on the opposite side of an injured boy, his face and clothing covered with soot from the fires they'd escaped from. He began to wrap up a scrape on the boy's arm, before going to successfully stop the bleeding on his knee. "There you go. That's not so bad," he tried to be optimistic for the sake of the wounded, but inwardly, he felt sick. Was this much destruction and pain worth retrieving their homeland for? It felt wrong. These people were paying for their mistakes. How could they ever hope to make up for this?

"That's them! Right there!" A middle aged man pointed towards both Fili and his brother, and before Fili could register that they were the ones being referred to, he and Kili were forced to their feet, each by burly, heavyset men. One of them shoved Kili, and when the eldest moved to defend his brother, he was restrained.
"It was your kin that did this!" This earned shouts of agreement from the rowdier of the group. "We've lost our kin...now that king of yours will have to lose some of his."

Having to notice upon the incoming chaos, Saeril had her teeth, along with her molars, gritting. How dare they? Putting up her hood, she approached the scene with graceful maneuvers. With immense strength, the winged she-elf had a pale hand on the back of the man that shoved Kili, turned him around, and held him by his cloak, and got him close to her face. "Cross them again, your fate will end swiftly", she warned, making her luminous eyes give a second's glow, before releasing him.

[WolfLover]

Kili was helping an injured woman out of the lake water. Helping her sit down,he began to access her wounds...stopping the bleeding, with a bit a cloth, he managed to tear from his shirt. As he looked around; his eyes still searching for Bard. He groaned as he got shoved back, by one stranger.

Yavanna was helping out small children out of the water...they didn't seem injured. But just lost...she picked them both up carefully, since they were both very little. "Leave them alone!" Yavanna yelled as she saw some people, start to pick on Kili and Fili. "It is not their fault, for what the king has done. You better unhand him, if you know what's good for you." Yavanna told the man whom held Fili, firmly. The man looked at her with a raised eyebrow; but seeing she was serious...he shoved the young Dwarf away.

Yavanna then looked around "Has anyone lost two small children?" she began to ask around.

Kili was thankful for his god-mother and Yavanna. They had manged to stop him and Fili from getting hurt.

[AngelBites15]

The men were all bark and no bite. Cowardly as they were, they backed off. "You'll be sorry for this!" A woman shouted, and others were quick to agree with her. "Should we see the likes of you again, you'll regret it." A young man no older than Fili was the one to make this threat. They didn't even acknowledge Yavanna when she had asked about the missing children.

Now released, Fili helped his brother to his feet, and was quick to regroup with the group, shaken by what had almost come to pass. "Come. We must go", the winged she-elf said. Fili immediately followed. Somehow, Erebor didn't seem quite so important anymore.

"Thank you, Delva. We couldn't thank you enough for you to watch over us", the blonde said. The eldest she-elf smiled, though sadly. "We're almost there", it was to help cheer him up again to pursue his dream. "They're right, aren't they? They lost their homes because of us..." The idea saddened him; both brothers have grown up hearing stories of losing Erebor, and now the people of Laketown were in the very same predicament. "Isn't there anything we can do?", he was desperate of what they can do to help, but Saeril looked around sadly. "I don't know, son of Durin. All we can do is get to the mountain. I'll reason with Thorin. I promise", and she did. They were in confusion, and she needed to clear it up with their uncle; the patient zero of the firestorm.

[WolfLover]

Tauriel was near by with Legolas, when she heard the commotion near the riverside. "I wonder what happened." she muttered softly, as she made her way towards the clearing. To see if any help was needed.

Yavanna frowned at the men and the woman, shaking her head at them. Now was no time to fight, amongst each other. Holding the children in her arms, she kept them close to her. She sighed as she looked at Saeril. "Do you think, there's any hope in reasoning with Thorin?" she asked, quietly. Worried what being back in the Mountain might have done to Thorin already..he was stubborn...more stubborn than the rest of them.

Kili looked at Saeril "Fili's right...there must be something, we can do to help." he said and he glanced at Yavanna carrying the small children, they were lost..and their parents no where in sight.

[AngelBites15]

Saeril heard Yavanna, and glanced towards the princess who held a few children in her possession. She looked at them, and back to the younger elf. Sighing, she closed her eyes, and looked to the side. "I don't know. But if there's a chance for me to reason with him, I would know that there is", she admitted to her, before looking around, until her eyes landed on a familiar sight: Legolas, along with Tauriel in the distance. "There might be hope for you, though", she gestured to the blonde elf looking around with Tauriel.

Not too far away, the said-elf happened to lay his blue eyes on the group in the distance; the girl, in particular. He didn't move from his spot, but kept eyes on her.

[WolfLover]

Yavanna sighed softly, looking at the small children in her arms. She stroked their little heads, to soothe them. Before gently setting them down near Kili and Fili. "It's okay, they won't hurt you." she whispered to the small girls, whom looked bit confused and dazed as they saw the two young Dwarves. "I hope you're right...not just for these people, but for Kili and Fili's sake, aswell as the rest of the companies." she said softly.

"What are you.." she looked confused, as Saeril changed the subject. But Yavanna turned around on her spot, looking to where Saeril had gestured. Her Green eyes landed on Legolas, not far from where she stood. Her face seemed to lit up, with relief and gladness that he was alright. Her heart racing inside of her chest. "Legolas." she muttered softly, more to herself than anyone.

Kili noticed the blonde Prince looking at Yavanna from his spot; before he looked between the pair of them. The young Dwarf rose an eyebrow. "Okay...what is going on?" he asked, noticing the way Legolas and Yavanna looked at each other.

Tauriel smiled softly, when she saw Legolas looking at the girl. She looked at him "Go on, I know you want to." she said softly, it looked like he was debating about going over to her. And she felt the need to encourage him.

[AngelBites15]

Legolas looked at Tauriel as soon as she mentioned to him that he should approach her. His reaction was appeared to be almost unsure, but looking back at the girl, he strided over, internally hoping that his comrade would follow. In truth, he has never interacted with a she-elf in such an affectionate/fond way, with the exception of Tauriel. But, somehow, Yavanna showed something that he had never gotten to see in such a long time.

She held traits that he could relate to his once-alive mother; that glow that she had, and that kindness, it was an instant reflection. In other words, the young she-elf had enchanted him, overtime, both with her physical and emotional beauty. His thoughts may have distracted him too much, since he found himself standing in front of the girl, when he came back to reality.

"I'd say we've stumbled upon a love story, brother", Fili noted to Kili, as he watched the scene. Ignoring them, Saeril watched the girl and the Elven Prince.

[WolfLover]

Tauriel smiled softly at Legolas; giving him a reassuring nod. That he should follow his heart. He always put everyone else over his own happiness...he deserved to be happy for once himself.

Yavanna's heart skipped a beat, as she saw Legolas walking over towards her. That similar glow, she held last night seemed to shimmer around her being; her eyes soft and tender. As he stood in front of her, Yavanna blushed. "Something distracting you, your majesty?" Yavanna asked him softly. He had seemed rather deep in thought, until he just came to a stop in front of her.

Kili heard his brother and he smiled "Mhh, well it would certainly explain...her different behavior since we left Mirkwood."

Tauriel followed Legolas, but she kept a little back...to give him and Yavanna some space. She just smiled softly at the elder she-elf and the two young Dwarves.

[AngelBites15]

Legolas was just as surprised when he found himself in the presence of the girl who had managed to attract him in only just a day. Having to hear her question, he chuckled for only a second, probably for the first time, especially since it's the first time he had managed to smile, probably ever since his mother left him and his father. It wasn't forced, but the small smile was there for a second until it faded. However, it didn't fade down to his usual utter coldness, but he seemed more softened after seeing her a second time back at the house.

"That could be it", he looked back at Tauriel, until looking back at Yavanna, who was slightly shorter than his almost-towering form; having to be above his shoulder. "You go by 'Yavanna'? Lady Yavanna...of Rivendell?", he asked.

[WolfLover]

His chuckle indeed was surprising to her, but it made her smile. A warm, tender smile upon her lips. His chuckle was warm. She then nodded gently. "Yes." she said softly with a nod. "that's what some people call me. Other's refer to me as Princess Yavanna, or the Brightest Star of Rivendell...others call me the Bright Star of Middle-Earth, my Lord." Yavanna said softly. Quite many people knew of the Bright Star of Middle-Earth..but until they'd met Yavanna in person...they did not know, that the star in question was her.