AN: Hello lovelies and welcome to my story! As you can see I am a huge fan of the Hobbit and of our favorite Dwarf King and was devastated with how his story ended as were we all. I've read a lot of Thorin X OC stories in my time and decided it was finally time to add in my two cents. And so this story was born. As this is my first time posting here, any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Now that that's out of the way, on with the story!

The orcs had surprised him; a dangerous mistake on his part. Thorin had been sleeping, too tired to stay awake another night on the road he had drifted off. That was when they had struck, hard and fast. The dwarf king had managed to kill two of them in the sudden battle but had taken a sword to the side in the initial attack.

He hissed through his teeth, swinging his sword in an arc in front of him, cleaving the orc in two. His side throbbed painfully in protest to the movement but he had no time to stop before he was warding off another blow. There were still three orcs left and he was losing blood fast. He couldn't believe he had been so foolish to fall into this situation. His eyes swept over the orcs who sneered and snapped at him, taking perverse pleasure in watching him weaken. They hung back, content to simply watch him bleed out without having to risk going toe to toe with the dwarf.

I can't take them in this condition, Thorin thought to himself as he slowly backed away from the group. There was a river behind him; he could hear the rushing water. If he could get to it, he could get to Bree and safety. While he was loath to run from a fight Thorin was not stupid. Before the orcs realised what he was doing he turned and ran for the river. They shrieked and hissed in anger and quickly pursued him.

The night was dark and the forest darker. There was no moon tonight to light his way so Thorin had to rely on his ears to guide him. His side was burning now and he could feel the blood trickling down from the wound and seeping through his clothes.

If he didn't get help soon….he banished the though from his head. No he would be fine if he kept going.

The river came into sight just as the orcs where drawing near. He sent a quick thanks to Mahal that there were no wargs with them or he would have been done for.

Wasting no time the dwarf charged into the river, ignoring the icy cold as it bit into his skin. The orcs skidded to a stop brandishing their weapons at him and cursing in their foul tongue.

But they did not cross the river. Something kept them back and with a last withering look the orcs turned back, leaving an exhausted Thorin staring after them. He collapsed on the bank, breathing hard but alive. Though not for much longer if this wound wasn't taken care of. He dragged himself upright and staggered forwards hopefully towards Bree. However his vision began to darken and he lost his footing again.

So this is how it ends he found himself wondering, Thorin Oakenshield dying in a ditch in the middle of the woods.

A dark shadow moved towards him as unconsciousness claimed him.

There was a sharp stinging in his side, as well as a pulling feeling. These were the first sensations Thorin felt as he returned to the living.

His eyes shot open and he surged upwards, reaching for his sword only to be pushed firmly backwards.

"Stay still; you'll open your wound again otherwise"

He was not alone. Slowly the dwarf turned his head to see a woman sat next to him, patiently stitching his wound. She was tall, he could tell even if she was sitting down, taller than any other human he had ever seen. If she even was human. Her eye colour was not one he had seen before in the race of man, a deep golden colour. However it was only one eye he realised quickly as she turned her head to grab some bandages. Her right eye was pearly white, a ragged scar marring her otherwise caramel skin from her hair ling to the bottom of her jaw.

When she saw him staring she smiled though the scar distorted it slightly.

"How do you feel?" her voice had an accent Thorin also noted, she was not from these lands, but from the East. That did explain her tanned skin.

"Much better" he said slowly sitting up but never once taking his eyes off this strange woman. There was something not right about her, his warrior instincts screamed that she has dangerous a predator in her own right. The woman smiled again at his answer, showing for the first time her sharp teeth.

"Well that's good" she seemed pleased with herself, leaning back to take a better look at her handy work. It seemed in good order and she nodded to herself.

"Where am I?" Thorin finally asked. He didn't like this, in a vulnerable state and in a stranger's home half a world away from any of his kin.

"You are in my home Master Dwarf, a half a day's walk from Bree"

So he had over shot his mark, Thorin lay his head down again. Well at least he was alive, that was soothing to be thankful for.

"And who are you?"

If the woman noticed the edge to his voice she didn't show it, simply bowed her head before answering

"Orana, Master Dwarf. Might I know your name?"

When he did not answer the woman rolled her eyes slightly and stood. It was only then that he realised how tall she really was, she was easily seven foot. He quickly glanced around the small home and saw that everything else was built larger than normal to compensate. Next he glanced down at himself and realised that he was lying on this woman's dining room table. It had been covered in fur pelts to make it comfortable while he had been unconscious.

While Thorin continued his silent inspection of his surroundings, Orana had moved around the table and into the kitchen, grabbing bits and bobs and she went before moving back to her patient. She set down the various herbs and began to grind up a salve for the dwarfs wounds.

"So what brings you this way Master Dwarf?" she asked good naturedly but she was meet with a stony silence. The dwarf refused to look at her or even acknowledge her presence.

Collecting the salve she spread it across the wound, digging into it slightly. Thorin quickly jolted, spinning around to glare to the woman "Durins sake woman are you even a healer?"

Orana smirked and began to reapply the salve with a much gentler hand this time.

"I can assure you that I know what I'm doing Master Dwarf. You should be more grateful, I could have let you die out in the woods but I brought you into my home instead" she shot the dwarf a pointed look and he at least had the decency to look ashamed before he schooled his face once more.

Not much for small talk then, Orana shook her head and focused on her work.

"Thorin" the dwarfs deep timbre voice cut the silence. Orana looked up but the dwarf would not look at her, instead he looked out the window.

Thorin felt the healer pause in her work and out of the corner of his eye saw her lips twitch before she quickly went back to her work.

What neither knew was that this small act would lead to a lifelong friendship and more than its fair share of trouble.

So what do you think? Leave a review and let me know :)