I'm new to this game, and I hope every one enjoys this version of the story. I am following the book as closely as possible, but I do pull in parts of the movie. We join the dwarves at Beorn's house, just after Thorin's fight with Azog.
He wanted to scream. Really wanted to scream. Not in triumph, not in rage, not in anger. He wanted to scream in pain. When Gandalf had revived him at the top of the Carrock, he had not felt too bad. Bruised certainly, but he had lived through worse. Something had changed as he climbed down the very long rock staircase into the valley. Now it was all he could do to sit upright. Would it be so bad to scream? That was the bad part about being a leader. Not always being able to do what you wanted, when you wanted. Right now, Thorin Oakenshield would give anything to scream…
...
She was bored. There, she had admitted it. Bored. The rule had always been to never admit that the day was boring. But at last, she could no longer convince herself that she wasn't Bored. Bored, Bored. All the tending, maintaining, walking, cleaning and whatever could not keep her from being Bored. This morning seemed especially bad. There was really nothing she needed to do today, and she did not seem to be able to come up with anything to amuse herself with. Bored.
She decided to walk down to the Glade for a change of pace. She had not been there in a long time, ever since she had given up attending the family meetings. Walking down the path, she wondered how she had gotten to this point in her life. She was the only girl amongst a family of boys, smaller than everyone else, her father's favorite, but picked on by her brothers. And now Bored.
As she approached the clearing, she was amazed to hear what sounded like numerous voices. Not just one or two, but many. Her father would be at his house at this hour of the morning and her brothers most likely still asleep. Who could it be? She slowed her pace and slowly parted some branches crossing the path.
It was a group of dwarves, or so she assumed. She had never seen dwarves, but what else could they be? Shorter, broader versions of Men with a lot of hair were the descriptions she had always heard. There seemed to be about a dozen or so milling around talking. As she looked at them, she noticed one off to the side, sitting on her favorite bench. He had long hair but less beard then many of the others. Something about the way he sat drew her attention. He was leaning forward supporting his weight with his hands on his knees. Her Healer instincts kicked in and she began to slowly walk towards him. She could move very quietly when needed, and she did not want to startle him.
The closer she got, the worse she judged his condition. The air around him almost seemed to vibrate with his pain. When she stood in front of him, he slowly lifted his head and looked her. He deep blue eyes were filled with pain. She looked at him and said "You're dying".
...
Thorin was unaware of anyone approaching until a pair of feet appeared in his field of vision. Not dwarf feet, but small, bare female feet. As painful as it was, he lifted his head to see what came with the feet. It was a woman with reddish brown hair dressed in green and brown. For a few moments she looked at him and then simply stated, "You're dying". Somehow that did not really surprise him.
"I can help, if you let me, but it has to be done soon," she said.
"Anything to stop this pain would be greatly appreciated," Thorin replied.
...
As soon as he agreed to allow her to treat him, she placed her hands over his. They seemed very cold to the touch, not a good sign. But who knew with a dwarf? She slowly moved her hands up his arms, trying to judge his condition. It was obvious he had been in a terrible fight. Every inch seemed to be bruised. Moving along, she drew out the pain and soothed the bruising. Reaching his shoulders, she rested her hands and paused. She looked into his eyes and found him looking at her. A good omen. Still conscious. He had unfastened his outer coat when he sat down, and she slid her hands underneath the edges of it onto his chest. She almost passed out as she ran her hands over the bruise on his chest. What in Middle Earth had caused that? It was not even the worst of the damage so she moved past it. Sliding her hands over his left side, she found it. Deep inside, a rib had broken and was grating against anything it touched. With each breath and heart beat it was causing more damage. Dwarves must be incredibly strong. This would have felled any of her brothers in just minutes. And yet, he must have come from a distance for she would have known of a battle that occurred nearby.
She knew her Poppa would be angry. Already she had done more than he would have wanted her to do. He had always disliked her healing major injuries. It took so much out of her. And this was bigger than anything she had ever even attempted. But he would die without her help…
She looked into his eyes again. So deep, so blue, still so much pain. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Slowly, she 'pushed' the broken rib back into position, slightly knitting it into place so that it could heal on its own. Then she 'looked' to see what damage it had caused. It had scraped against the heart and lungs, but she knew that with time, they would begin to mend now that the rib was moved. She decided to leave things be for now. She had other areas to tend to, and she was growing weaker.
Moving her hands along his side, she found what appeared to be puncture wounds. Teeth? This must be some story! She slid her hands back to the chest bruise. She gritted her teeth against the pain as she drew out the bruise. Finally, she was able to rest her hands once again on his shoulders. She opened her eyes and smiled weakly at him. "Almost done". She lightly ran her hands over his face, erasing the cuts and scrapes she found there. At last she was finished. She leaned forward and gave him her Healer's Kiss on his forehead. Then to her surprise, she found herself compelled to kiss him again, this time gently on his lips. She did not know why, she just felt she had to do it.
She stood upright, "You should be fine now." And slumped, unconscious at his feet.
...
Her hands were warm on his. She ran them up over his arms leaving a trail of healing behind. When she put her hands on his chest where Azog had struck him, he saw her wince in pain and heard her gasp. Then moving her hands over his ribs, she stopped and seemed to hesitate. The next he knew, pain ran across her face again, but he felt immediate relief. Wherever she touched, the pain receded. Moving back to his chest, her hands covered the bruised area. Waves of pain washed across her face, but his pain was gone.
She rested her hands on his shoulders once more. As she moved her hands over his face, he looked at hers. It was momentarily covered with scrapes and scratches! His scrapes and scratches! He watched as they seemed to sink into her skin and disappear! What was she?
As she finished, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. Then, she slowly and gently kissed him on his lips. It was one of the most wonderful things he had ever experienced. So that was what a kiss was like. Before he could respond, she fainted at his feet.
The others finally seemed to take notice of the little drama being played out. Balin and Bofur wandered over as Thorin tried to stand and help the woman. Then from the other side of the glade a deep voice boomed out, "What is going on here? What have you done to Valinaya?" A huge, dark haired man strode towards them, followed closely by Gandalf and Bilbo.
Thorin finally managed to stand. "She said I was dying. She healed me and then just collapsed."
"I have warned her about helping others without thinking. Now she is your responsibility. Someone pick her up!" As Thorin started to lean over, he yelled, "Not you! You will undo all her hard work! You there (pointing at Bofur) pick her up and follow me. You, come (nodding at Thorin)."
The rest of the dwarves stared as the group left. "What happened? Where are they going," Dwalin rumbled. He had not seen anything up until the large man arrived.
Bilbo, who had better hearing than the dwarves piped up. "I didn't hear it all, but apparently Thorin was very badly injured. He said she healed him. The big man said she is now Thorin's responsibility."
"Responsibility! I don't like the sound of that. We need to leave here soon. Why do these things keep happening to us?" Dwalin complained.
Let me know what you think!