CHARACTER PROFILES:
TORI
Nickname: "The Rider" (to outsiders).
Kin: Dwarves.
Partner: Ember.
Family: Dori, Nori, Ori (brothers).
Career: Slayer of beasts.
Allies: Elves (close friends).
Assignment: Guardian of Bilbo, kill Smaug.
Height: 4' 11.
Hair colour: Light brown.
Eye colour: Piercing hazel.
Likes: Slaying, solitude, silence, family.
Dislikes: Loud noise, arrogance, Orks, spiders.
Fears: Secretly fears butterflies and moths. (Would never admit it).
Personality: Shy at first, quiet, kind, hard headed, easily angered, excellent warrior, honorable, Loyal.
Abilities:
-Can talk to dragons.
- Beginner in magic (she can sense evil and communicate with nature.)
WEAPONS:
Bow and arrows. Positioned on upper back.
Knives (double). Crossed over her lower back.
EMBER:
Species: Dragon.
Partner: Tori.
Abilities: Change size ( 1 foot- 4 meters), fly, blow fire.
Positioned: Tori's shoulder/ perched on Tori's forearm like a falcon (when small), rideable (when large).
Appearance: Like "Toothless" from 'How to Train Your Dragon'.
Personality: Cheeky/ troublemaking, weary of strangers, protective, vicious when angered.
x
The Rider and her Dragon.
On a calm and clear night in the world of Middle Earth, a small hooded figure road a large and magnificent beast down a winding road through the Shire. Throughout the villages of Middle Earth she was known simply as 'The Rider' but her closer friends knew her as Tori. A few days ago she had received word from an old friend of hers named Gandalf the Grey, she was needed for a quest but she knew not who with or why. Only that it was important, really important.
Through the little town full of even smaller people she and her partner, a dragon named Ember, made their way toward Bag End, though not without receiving fearful glances by Hobbits out past their bedtimes. When she reached Bag End she couldn't help but stare at the little house made in a whole in the ground. It was so cute and innocent, she wondered why the meeting would be held in a place like this, for if she was asked to join it must be dangerous. Ember, once she had dismounted from his back, flew into the air and did a twist, he immediately shrunk to no larger than a foot and landed delicately on her shoulder.
Inside she could here beautiful singing, a song which she recognized immediately.
Far over the Misty Mountains cold
Two dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day
To find our long- forgotten gold.
When she heard that the song had come to an end she walked to the and knocked very loudly three times. All noise within the room ceased and then three distinct voices were shouting and laughing, Tori heard the sound of feet running towards the door.
The door was violently pulled open and then,
"TORI!" Three of them shouted in unison before jumping and tackling her to the ground.
"Hey guys," she said weakly as air had completely left her lungs after the assault from her brothers, Dori, Nori and Ori, "What it Durin's name are you three doing here!"
"The same thing you are, my dear," This voice could not be mistaken, it was none other than Gandalf the Grey himself. He bent down and gently lifted the young woman before crushing her in his embrace. She looked over Gandalf's shoulder (who had bent down in order to be at eye level with her) and immediately straightened herself.
Standing in the doorway was a sight she never thought she would see. Thorin Oakenshield was about a head taller than her but under his gaze she felt miniscule. She walked towards him bowed deeply.
"My Lord it truly is an honor to be in your presence."
He merely nodded his head at her without removing his menacing gaze, his face was impossible to read. But to Tori it felt like he was testing her, studying her every move, he didn't seem impressed. She was a strong, brave warrior, but under the glare of the man she called her king, she felt puny. Sensing her distress, Ember, who was sitting in her now removed hood like a hammock, returned to her shoulder and shot an equally menacing glare at Thorin.
Thorin scowled at Gandalf upon seeing this creature, he was in the simplest terms, pissed.
"What is that, and what is itdoing here!?" He practically spat at Gandalf.
"It's an elephant," Tori said coming to her partners defense, "what does it look like!"
The temperature of the room dropped to an icy air. The company of dwarves in the corridor shifted and stepped back uncomfortably. Tori looked over Thorin's shoulder and saw them, some were glaring at her obviously offended by the insult towards their king, others were practically shaking in their boots (a little hobbit in particular). However, out of the corner of her eye she saw two young dwarves, one with light brown and the other with dark brown hair. They were clearly amused but trying very hard not to show it.
That's when Gandalf stepped in.
"Th- That's Ember," he said as he stepped in front of Tori. "Tori here is his rider and they will be the ones to lead the attack against the dragon."
"Whoah, what dragon?" Tori asked without hesitation.
"Smaug obviously," Thorin spat clearly fuming, "Do you know anything or has your arrogance interfered with your learning!"
"My arrogance!"
The two were then interrupted by Gandalf once again when he hoisted her into the room and practically dragged her over to the hobbit now seated in an armchair in the corner, leaving Thorin foaming at the mouth.
The hobbit looked up at Tori clearly very shy.
"Tori," Gandalf began gesturing to the hobbit, "This is Bilbo Baggins, Bilbo this is Tori. She will be your guardian during this quest."
WHAT!
"I am!?"
"She is!?"
"Yes, yes you are."
And with that he left to try and calm the angered wannabe king. After an awkward minute or two of silence he spoke up.
"That was really brave," he began, drawing your attention, "talking to him like that."
"He diserved it, no one talks to Ember like that and gets away unscathed."
Bilbo nervously glanced at the dragon upon Tori's shoulder before speaking again.
"He said I looked more like a grocer than a burglar, and I know I'm no burglar as I've never stolen a thing in my life. But it still hurt."
"What need does this quest have for a burglar?"
"I was kind of hoping you could tell me, I was just sitting at home minding my own business when one by one dwarves showed up."
He gave Ember another nervous glance. And began to explain to her the plan of the quest and fill her in on the details. Another glance at the dragon.
"Do you want to pet him?"
"Ahh sure," he said nervously before standing.
He was about half a head shorter than Tori and had shortish, curly light brown hair. He reminded her a lot of a child because he was so innocent, far too innocent to take part in a dangerous quest. He stretched out his hand just before Ember's stomach and froze almost too scared to go farther. After an encouraging look from Tori the dragon leaned into the Hobbit's hand. Bilbo visibly let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and then smiled.
"COOL!"
All three of them jumped and turned to see two very curious looking dwarves, the two that were giggling as Tori yelled at the king.
Ember walked down Tori's arm and she, on cue, stretched it out so he could get closer to the boys. They were grinning like children at the sight.
They slowly out stretched their hands and patted him on the head earning a purr from the dragon. Before turning towards the female and grinning mischievously.
"Fili and Kili, at your service." They said in unison while bowing.
"Tori at yours," she said in return. They just stared at her smiling, she was trying to focus on the dragon perched on her arm but they made her feel slightly uncomfortable.
Then Fili said, "Are you a dwarf."
"Excuse me," Tori asked slightly confused and amused by the question.
Then Kili stepped in, " Well you look like one, but you're not very hairy like the other women we've seen, even though there haven't been many that we've ever seen."
"Yeah no beard or anything."
She wasn't sure how to answer, "Ahh just good genes I guess."
She liked them straight away.
"Please excuse our uncle,"
UNCLE!
"He doesn't like fighting alongside the female species." Fili said the last bit with an edge that made her giggle.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, he's really old fashioned." Kili added.
"He thinks women are to be treasured because they are so rare from our kin, apparently they don't belong on the battlefield."
"Yeah," Kili added again, "Too delicate or something."
"Oh, well I've faced far more dangerous beasts than him, being a slayer and all." She smiled at them and they returned it. She knew that even if the others didn't approve of her being there, they would. It helped her feel a bit better.
They all walked through to the living room, Tori decided she should at least make some effort to socialize. No matter how much she wanted to just sit in the back by herself and watch.
Ever since she was a little girl she had been very quiet and composed, she didn't like many people. Though she always seemed to be the center of attention wherever she went. You see, female dwarves are few, but Tori stood out because she lacks facial and body hair for that matter. Despite popular belief, male dwarves are not attracted to facial hair, in fact they find it as deterring as you would, but female dwarves are so rare that if you were lucky enough to find one you had more than most. So clearly she always had the attention of the men in her kin, and the envy of the women. She had no friends because the women hated her out of jealousy and the men only wanted one thing, no prizes for guessing what that was.
That was when she found Ember. She was about 16 years old when her family's farm was attacked by a dragon (far less ferocious than Smaug, she only wanted a sheep or two) her father was killed and older brothers Dori and Nori were wounded. It was when all hope seemed lost that she took up her father's twin blades and fought valiantly against the beast until it was defeated. The farm was saved, but a great cost, she lost her father and the family's provider. After an argument with her mother she ran into the woods until she came across an odd looking glowing orb in a cave that she had ignorantly wondered into.
As she reached out and touched it, it cracked and began to open. Out popped a baby dragon no bigger than the size of a small watermelon. It looked just like the dragon she had killed. Tori immediately took pity on the animal, any other dwarf would have killed it then and there but she felt she owed it, after all she did kill its mother. So she took the infant to her home and eventually showed her brothers and then her mother. Easy to say her mother was less than pleased with having a beast in her home. Another argument broke out between them and Tori packed her things and ran away.
She sought out refuge in the near town of Dale earning money wherever she could. Every day her dragon grew bigger, growing at an alarming rate. One day the town was attacked by spiders, giant spiders. Once again Tori was on the case, this time with her fully grown pet dragon whom she had dubbed Ember. The pair fought the monsters without fear until the beasts were defeated. Tori had triumphed over evil once again. The entire town gathered around them, they both lowered their heads expecting to be scolded for the actions, but instead the town cheered and clapped. Every business within the area paid them a fair amount for their actions, though they tried to refuse. Then something clicked in Tori's mind, she had discovered her meaning in life. After a year of working in Dale she returned home for the first time and gave three quarters of the money to her family.
After that night she left to become a nomad, only ever returning to give her mother money that she was unable to earn for herself and Ori. Beast after beast in various towns the dynamic duo defeated, thus being known as 'The Rider and her Dragon.' She wore a hood whenever in public to cover her piercing hazel eyes and hide her identity, her long hair tied in a braid falling over her shoulder. She slowly became one of the most feared and respected women in Middle Earth.
x
Anyway back to the present story.
Tori made her way back into the living area with her dragon perched on his usual position on her shoulder. Ori, Dori and Nori were seated next to her and Bilbo. Fili and Kili were on the opposite side of the room watching Tori (not that she paid them any attention) Bifur, Bofur and Bombur were chatting amongst themselves while Balin, Dwalin and Thorin were having what seemed to be a heated discussion in the dark corner. Slowly all of the dwarves grew to like her after a night of conversing, all but the three in the dark, dark corner.
She knew that this journey was going to be a long one, but she had made friends as well as enemies that day. All she needed now was a certain hobbit to protect, Bilbo was still fretting about this journey, no amount of coaxing on her part, or Gandalf's for that matter seemed to change his mind. He set up a space for each of them to sleep before retiring to bed himself. Tori only just managed to stop him before he entered his bedroom.
"Listen," she began as she stared him down, "I know you don't want to do this, but Gandalf thinks it would be good for you. If there is one thing I have learnt it's that Gandalf is ALWAYS right, if he thinks going on this quest will help you, then I can guarantee that it will."
With that she turned and marched to her sleeping area nearest to the fire place, leaving Bilbo before he could protest to what she had said.
He retired to his room and climbed into his comfy, little hobbit sized bed, left with his thoughts.