Roses

Blonde hair fell down her back in a braid as she opened the door to reveal a Dwarven man she had never seen before, only heard of. “Hello,” he spoke, as he looked at the young Dwarf, immediately noticing she looked nothing like the other Dwarven women he knew, with no facial hair, and soft features, rather than harsh ones. And she had a very obvious figure, which he felt horribly bad for even looking at purely based on her age.
“Can I help you?” she questioned, brushing a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear, and revealing the points at the tops of her ears. Everything suddenly made sense. She was half Elf; how could he have forgotten.
“I’m looking for Ranli… is he in?” he asked politely. The girl eyed him for a moment before nodding and inviting him in. He stepped through the door and once he was in, she shut the door.
“Father!” she called then as she walked around him in the direction of what he assumed was the kitchen. He stood in the hallway and waited, feeling a tad awkward over the whole situation. “Father,” the girl said when she found her father in the kitchen, drinking a cup of tea.
“Who was at the door?” he questioned.
“Thorin Oakenshield,” she responded, her voice now in a more hushed tone. Ranli’s eyes widened, and he nearly dropped the cup in his hands. His daughter’s fast movements caught it barley a second after he had let it go. “He’s in the hall…” Ranli moved as quickly as he could into the hallway to see his old friend standing there, still looking as young as he did a hundred years ago.
“Ranli,” Thorin said as a smile formed on his hard features.
“Thorin,” Ranli laughed as they hugged. “Please, please, have a seat.” Ranli ushered him toward the living room. They both sat. “Would you like something to drink? Water, beer?” Thorin smiled.
“A beer sounds great.” Ranli nodded.
“Clio!” he called. The girl who had opened the door appeared then. “Get Thorin a beer, would you?” She nodded without a word, and disappeared once more.
“That’s Clio?” Thorin questioned. “I didn’t even recognize her! It’s been…”
“Nearly ninety-nine years,” Ranli laughed.
“Bloody hell, she doesn’t look older than seventy-five. No way she’s older than Kíli and Fíli!” Thorin laughed as he thought of his two nephews. Kíli was seventy-six, barley considered an adult, and Fíli was eighty-one. And when he looked at Clio, he saw a child.
“It’s the Elf part of her,” Ranli responded with a chuckle. “Ninety-nine is like sixty to them… if that.” Just then, Clio returned with a beer in one hand and her father’s cup of tea in the other.
“Thank you,” Thorin said as he took the drink from her. Once again he found his eyes wandering over her body, which made him feel beyond guilty, and immediately looked away. She then handed her father his tea.
“Thank you, Clio.” She gave her father a smile and a nod and then left.
“So, to what do I owe a visit by Thorin Oakenshield?” Ranli questioned after taking a sip of his drink.
“I’ve recently come back from Bree, where I was approached by a Wizard; Gandalf the Grey. He proposed a quest. The signs are all there, Ranli. Smaug hasn’t been seen in nearly sixty years, and there are whispers that the mountain, and our riches, are up for grabs.”
“How do you know this Wizard isn’t just barking mad?” Ranli question, sounding slightly amused.
“He gave me this,” Thorin said as he dug into his jacket pocket, and pulled from it a folded up piece of paper, in which was obviously old. “It was my father’s.” Ranli watched as he opened it, to reveal a map, in which he had only ever heard about. He examined it, but the runes were old, and neither of them knew now to read them. “I want to take back Erebor.”
Clio leaned against the wall as she listened to them talk. Erebor was a place she had only ever heard about. Her father told her stories of the city, and ever since she was little, she dreamed of what it looked like, and hoped that one day, she would be able to see it with her own eyes.
“Alone?” Ranli questioned.
“Of course not. I’ve assembled a company or twelve other dwarves… they were the only ones willing.”
“And you want me to come?”
“You’re a great fighter. You were one of Erebor’s best soldiers. I could really use your help.”
“I’m not a soldier anymore, Thorin. That was a long time ago. And the years have caught up to me,” he said sadly. A young Ranli would have loved to join Thorin on his journey to take back the place they called home, but in the almost two hundred years since Erebor was overrun by Smaug and his army of Avari Elves, he had grown old. And war had aged him further.
“I understand,” Thorin said as he folded the map back up and put it back into his jacket. “But, if you change your mind, tomorrow night, we meet at a Hobbit hole in the Shire; Hobbiton.” Ranli nodded and they both stood. Clio quickly ran up the stairs, making no noise as she went.
“It was good seeing you, my old friend,” Ranli said as they hugged once more. Thorin smiled again.
“You too.” And with that, he left. As he walked down the path, he turned to see Clio sitting on the roof just outside a window. He gave her a slight wave, which she returned, and then he was gone.



It was barley daybreak when Clio finished scribbling a letter to her father. She was leaving. The journey Ranli had turned down was calling her name. She wanted to get out of the Blue Mountains, and see the world. She wanted to live. And so she grabbed her bag and keys, and left the only place she had ever known, for the unknown.
When she started the black SUV in their driveway, her heart rate picked up, which was something that often never happened. Being half Elf, kept everything about her steady. She moved silently, never lost balance, and could hear things, no one else could hear.

When Ranli awoke later that morning, he already had a bad feeling. “Clio?” he called as he came out of his room. He wandered down the hall to her room, and pushed open the door, to find it perfectly neat, with a note delicately placed in the middle of her bed. Ranli knew what was going on.
Father,
I have decided that it is time I leave the Blue Mountains. I don’t know what I will find, or where I will go, of if I will even come back, but I have to do this. Thank you for everything you have ever done for me. I love you.

A tear had slipped down his cheek as he re-read her letter over and over. He knew this day would come eventually, but he wasn’t ready for it. Clio was the only thing he had left, but he knew he couldn’t hold onto her forever. She had to live her own life.