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In the time that he had roamed the strange halls of the inn, Fili could still see no sense in it. It was luxurious and nothing like a dwarf had ever constructed. It did not even match the tale of elves, which made it the halls of men. This was even more evidenced by the number of them walking through the halls, but none of them seemed to understand the sheer magic lying in their doors.

He had been through many of them into strange and wonderful worlds, but most importantly was that he had found a door leading to the garden that brought him back to Middle Earth. The only strange thing, Fili believed, was that he lingered upon the edge of it.

He stayed one foot into Middle Earth and one foot in the inn, unsure that he wished to step forward and continue back on the journey yet. Thorin was likely to have his head and he hated to abandon Kili, but there was a strange pull about the odd land behind him that he had not been able to relinquish, just yet. After all, how could he ignore that the inn had more magic in it than even Gandalf!

Surely, if such a place could be so powerful, there might be something or someone within its' halls to lend him the strength to overpower a dragon.

And so, Fili sat between two worlds in an open doorway, lighting his pipe as he peered out as the fog began to swim over Esgaroth in the distance, where his kin had gone on their journey. And in the distance, above that fog, Fili kept his gaze affixed on the Lonely Mountain's peak. Even here, from so far, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever set his eyes upon and nothing could convince him otherwise.

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Zelda had been cautious about pulling open the doors since her arrival, afraid that Ganondorf might be lurking behind one intent upon capturing her again. Instead, she had stuck to the hotel proper and it had afflicted her with more than a little cabin fever; this was always the path to ruin, in her experience, because curiosity had always been her downfall.

She halted before a doorway that framed a tall, lonely mountain peak and watched it wistfully for a moment before realizing there was someone actually in the doorway.

"My apologies, sir, I merely wanted a better look at the mountain beyond. Did I step on you?"

Fili drew himself up to his feet, glancing up to the lady before him. While she did not entirely look like any elf Fili had met, it was that race that was called to mind as he looked at her. Fresh from the dungeons of Mirkwood, that gave him pause. "I am unstepped upon, lady," he replied cautiously. His temper was slower to rise than Thorin's, but his trust remained wary.

"Are you an elf?" he asked of her bluntly, seeing no cause to avoid the question.

Zelda frowned a bit, trying to decide what, exactly, an elf was. She had never been referred to as such during her lifetime but the hotel was decidedly not Hyrule and perhaps some things had different names.

"Not that I am aware of. What makes you think that I am? It is a term I am absolutely unfamiliar with."

"It is your bearing," Fili explained, without wanting to be rude or against her species, for she had yet to do any harm to him and he did not wish to be offensive. "You walk and speak as though you are one of their kind, though the sort we met at Rivendell and not the madness of the Mirkwood," he said with mild distaste, the imprisonment still fresh in his memory.

"I am sorry, I do not know either of those places. I hail from Hyrule," Zelda explained. "And I have met no other from my country here in the hotel."

Zelda had been on a lookout, of course, ever fearful that she would be found out by one of Ganondorf's agents.

"So if you are not an elf of Mirkwood or Rivendell," Fili said, steadying his words as he spoke so as not to immediately jump to conclusions and great anger. "Then where is this Hyrule and from what race do you hail?" For she moved and spoke like an elf, with their bearing, but that might simply be her royal attitude.

"I am Hylian. Hyrule is...it is a green country ringed by mountains. I know no other way to describe it," Zelda said, not entirely certain if she explained herself fully. She knew she was not an elf, or, at the least, it was not a term she had ever heard used to describe a Hylian before.

"We have both humans and Hylians in my world. I presume it is my ears that make you believe I am an elf?"

He had noticed them, but elves were not the only ones with ears such as hers. It would not be befitting a prince and he did not wish to represent his kind by being rude to the lady. "Your ears are like elves, yes, but there is more to my guess than only one part of the body," Fili confessed. "As I mentioned, you move like an elf, too. Perhaps a graceful woman of the race of men."

"My nurse would be pleased to hear someone thought I was graceful," Zelda said with a quick laugh. Impa had despaired of her as a child, thinking that she would never be anything but heavy-footed and clumsy.

"I am merely Hylian, though. No preternatural grace involved."

"And I have been unfortunately rude," Fili confessed, when it struck him that he had spent all of his time interrogating the poor Hylian about her race, when truly he ought to be speaking to her as though she deserved the respect that any did. "I am Fili," he said, bowing. "Of Durin's line."

"I am Zelda," she said, bowing in kind. She had not introduced herself with her true name in quite a while and it felt strange. "It is my pleasure to meet you, Fili of Durin's line."

He did not know where she was from, but it was an odd name to behold, even though she had told him of the strange land she hailed from. He stretched an arm out towards the land before them. "That is my own world. Middle Earth. Would you like to go with me? I may even be able to show you an elf, if they wander into Esgaroth."

Zelda thought possibly that it might not be prudent but none of her decisions of late had been terribly prudent. She had, after all, fled from Hyrule and taken up residence in an inn that seemed to have any number of infinite doorways to other words. Prudence was hardly her watchword any longer.

"I would, yes," she said, giving him a quick little smile. "I would very much like to see your Middle Earth."

Rising to his feet, Fili now saw another difference between them that pointed to her being from a race not of dwarves. There was a great height difference between them and he found himself craning his neck up to speak to her. "I will warn you now that there are dangers where we tread," he said. "We had only just escaped the elves and were heading into unsafe territory. I do not know what we will find, or if I can deliver you back here."

"I am decent with bow and sword. I can defend myself if it comes to it," Zelda assured him. She had learned those skills while her own country was in peril but they would serve her well to aid Fili in his own lands.

"You need not worry about me."

He wished, greatly, that he had all his weapons back, but half had been left in Mirkwood as they did not have time to free all of them. It was unfortunate, but Fili was happy to escape with his life and would accept the loss as a price to be paid. "And were you trained in this back in Hyrule?" he asked, stepping forward to the grassy plains that would lead towards Esgaroth and away from Mirkwood's dark forest.

"I was, from the time I was a child," Zelda explained. "So I have many, many years of experience. I have seen more than just practice, though. I have been in battle before too. Nothing large scale, of course, but I have fought one on one against an opponent before. I handled myself well enough."

"I have not seen true battle. Skirmishes, yes," Fili confessed, for it would be wrong of a prince of Durin to be raised until eighty-three without seeing his fair share of fights. "However, not the battles of history. May I tell you a secret?" he asked, already speaking as they walked. "I am not sure I wish to see them."

"I do not wish to see them either," Zelda agreed.

"I wish for nothing more than peace, peace as far as my eye sees and my ear hears. But peace is something fleeting and something I have not known since I was a very young child so I am not inclined to put much stock in the dream of peace. Not without some practical work to make it happen, anyway."

"I wish for home," Fili said, echoing the sentiment in his own way. True, they had found temporary abodes, but he longed for a home they didn't have to vacate solely because the men were growing restless with their dwarf neighbours. "Why is it that your world is not at peace?"

"There was a coup. The current monarchy has been ousted and replaced by a cruel king of thieves. It is not currently a safe place for anyone who was a member of the royal family," Zelda explained. She failed to mention that she was a scion of said royal family but while she felt she could trust Fili, she did not know if she should burden him with that knowledge.

"There has been war for a long time."

"I'm sorry," he offered, drawing out one of his knives in order to cut through the trees on the outliers of the forest, bringing them closer to the river. "My family has experienced something similar, though there was no band of thieves and there is no war. Merely a thief, singular."

"A singular thief? What did he do to your family, Fili?"

Perhaps this was a personal question but Zelda felt like if they were sharing secrets, she was more than happy to share her fair amount in exchange. Fili was someone she felt was noble and trustworthy and it had been a long time since she had been that comfortable with anyone.

"My great-grandfather's greed brought a dragon upon our home," Fili said, keeping his voice even so as not to accuse his family of anything too untoward. "We have been without a place to call ours ever since, but I was on a quest to retake Erebor with my kin. They are here, somewhere, and I must rejoin them."

"A dragon," Zelda breathed. That was a very grave thing to bring upon one's head and she remembered all too well the havoc Volvagia wreaked upon Death Mountain.

"I have some experience with dragons. Enough to know that it is wise to stay as far away from them as possible."

"Smaug, the great and terrible," Fili spoke his name, glancing to the skies as though merely saying those words would summon him from his rest, especially this close with the Lonely Mountain looming near them. He took hold of her hand, long enough to point it in the direction of the mountain. "There," he said. "Erebor, and the beast that has laid claim to the treasure, it all lies under that mountain."

"A dangerous proposition, then, attempting to reclaim it," Zelda said. It was not one she would relish but then again, if a dragon had taken up residence in her castle, she would be just as determined to oust it as she was determined to oust Ganondorf.

"Not for the faint of heart."

"Certainly not. However, when you have the stalwart heart of a company of thirteen..." Fili's smile was daring and brave. Perhaps misguided and short-sighted, but still, his heart had been born in the fire of wanting to win one's home back. "I imagine you did not simply let your thieves take your home, either."

"Oh no," Zelda assured him. "We have been fighting a losing battle for a while now but I think the tide may just have turned. I hope so, anyway. There is a champion to our cause who has had some recent success against the enemy and I hope he can continue on without me as it seems I cannot return to Hyrule at the moment. I am a marked woman."

"It is lucky you have worlds of your own to explore, then," Fili said, given that the strange manour had been good to him in that respect. While he did not wish to live his life there, it offered good rest, good food, and a brief respite from the battle. "If we go further, now, we will be in Esgaroth, a town of men. Do you wish to try and sneak in with me?"

The idea of sneaking into a place brought a smile to Zelda's lips, a broader one than she had worn of late. It reminded her of the stealth missions she took on under the guise of Sheik on behalf of her country and the Hero of Time and it seemed she had missed the danger; she had played the princess for too long.

"I would enjoy the challenge, Fili. I will follow your lead."

"Come along, then. They will look at me with more wariness than you, for they are not used to seeing dwarves," he said, knowing this to be true. "And also for your beauty." He spoke this in a matter-of-fact fashion, as she was a beautiful woman and the people of Esgaroth were weary with poverty. "Perhaps we will call more attention to ourselves than intended, but it will only require extra care."

"Should I hide my ears?" Fili had mentioned that she looked like an elf and she didn't know if these people would be as against it as he had been at first.

"I do not wish to reveal us to someone who means us harm."

"They might give us a wider berth if they see your ears," Fili confessed, for what would men and women think of an elf and a dwarf roaming their city together? Surely they would leave them be, for fear of what might happen if they did not. "They may be a help to us."

"Then I will leave them uncovered and perhaps none will guess at our errand," Zelda said, pushing her hair back to expose her ears. It was strange, thinking to hide them, if only because she never would have even asked in Hyrule.

"I hope we do not run into trouble."

Fili had been running into trouble ever since he had set off on this quest and he feared that would not end. "I do not suppose you would wish to continue with us," he said, though he would not take her from her work. Once they arrived in the city, Fili tugged upon her sleeve to take her into the shadows, not wanting them to be caught. "Here," he whispered in a hiss. "I believe I last saw Thorin in a house in this area."

Zelda slipped into the shadows alongside him, trying to make herself seem as unobtrusive and invisible as possible. "I could use magic, if you think it would help. It could help make us seem less visible than we already are."

She was wary about using magic on someone who might not welcome it and wanted to be sure before she tried anything.

"Can your magic slay a dragon?" It was the most important question he had, now. He wished for Thorin to never be challenged with gold sickness as their relatives had been, but he did not know how to do that. Perhaps magic was the answer to such problems.

"Provided I had the advantage of surprise, it could," Zelda said. There was no point in false modesty when she thought she could help him. "I am able to move things with merely a thought. It is why my aim is so true with an arrow - if I had the element of surprise, I could do magic to aid you."

Could she help him get his home back? It seemed too big to hope for but as someone who had long been without her place in the world, Zelda wanted to help Fili regain his if she possibly could.

"I do not wish to lose any of my kin to this quest and as we grow closer to our goal, I fear it will happen," Fili said, hoping that no one would hear these words and repeat them, for they were tantamount to treason amidst his family. "Were you born with such talents?"

Zelda nodded. "All the women in my line are possessed of magic. It is said that our line descends from that of the goddess Nayru, who gave knowledge and wisdom to the world. Without her, the world would be lawless and power would be unchecked. I have never known life without it."

"We do not have many dwarf women, but they possess only a magic which allows them to cope with their husbands and sons," Fili said wryly, an echo of what Dis had often said about them. He lurked in the shadows, pulling her along with him until they arrived at one of the small homes. There were many dwarven crafts here, but no dwarves, which meant they had made for the mountain and Fili was likely a day behind. "We've missed them," he said, frustration thick in his words.

Zelda laughed lightly at the mention of dwarf women only to frown a bit that they'd missed Fili's kin.

"I am so sorry. Is there any way that we might catch them? We're only two, we'll travel quickly if we have a horse."

"It would have to be a pony, for me," Fili said, for even if he were riding as passenger on horse, it would take a great deal of control that he did not know if he possessed. He had never tried such a thing. "And if we make for the mountain, I do not know if there will be a door to help us reach your home again. I would never take you from that."

"We could try," Zelda said, not wanting to give up hope just yet. "I would hate to give up on it entirely." The idea of not having a door back to Hyrule was a bit disconcerting but Zelda wondered if going back was the right choice. Her country...the war was lost, for the most part, and there was little she could do to change it.

"If you're willing to risk it, so am I."

He could not ask it of her, when she would lose contact with her own home. While Fili wished to be reunited with his kin and his quest, he could not in any good conscience ask so much of her. "I would not take you from your world or your tasks," he said, as kindly as he could. "I would not carry a burden upon my shoulders, especially if you were to be harmed in any way."

"I understand," Zelda said softly, giving him the smallest of smiles. "You are a man of great honor, Fili, and compassion. I only wish I could do more to help you find your home again."

To be without a home was devastating and she hated that this was the thing that Fili had in common with her.

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