Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews I enjoyed all of them. I probably should have mentioned I kind of canned the physical age conversions for dwarves and humans. Partially because I found two or three different pages on it, and they all said different things, secondly because I having fun with it, and the age was really only important for the first few chapters, and the rest are just going to be x amount of years later and this is how she has matured, if the age conversion bothers anyone though I can fix it.
Also I sort of purposely messed up the time line for The Blue Mountains; I uh…can't really fix that one though. I needed to do it to make it work with everyone's assigned ages while trying to keep the dwarf's ages as rightly a part as I could.
I'm also kind of bending it on the plural form of the word dwarf, I'm kind of just using what I'm use to reading.
Anyways, thanks again for the reviews! Hopefully this chapter has fewer mistakes.
It had taken the survivors a few hours to catch up with Fili and Kili. An older dwarf, followed by Bofur and Bifur, walked up to Kili and Sorcha, who were still leaning against the tree.
"My name is Bolmin," the dwarf said through his gray beard, "I'm not a healer by trade, but I know enough to help the girl tell we reach our destination."
Kili looked between the still sleeping Sorcha and the elder dwarf in front of him. The wrapping around Sorcha's shoulder would need changing. Gently Kili shook Sorcha's uninjured shoulder, "Sorcha, this man is here to help you."
Sorcha blinked away the sleep as she looked up to the dwarves in front of them, "good morning," she said as she yawned.
Bofur smiled at the girl, "good morning to you too." There was no time for such pleasantries though, and quickly the elder dwarf had picked up the girl from Kili and walked off to tend to her wounds.
All three remaining dwarves watched as the healer set the girl on one of the larger stones that surrounded what would have normally served as a fire pit. Once they were satisfied with the child's position they all turned to face each other.
Kili looked up at Bofur and Bifur, "I would stand, but I think my legs would give out."
Bofur laughed half-heartedly before he offered Kili his hand. Kili had been right about not being able to stand, his legs quickly buckled when he stood, but he leaned against a nearby tree in time to save himself the fall, "Fili, come over here!"
Fili quickly responded to his brother's call, "you look worse than you did last night brother," Fili said as he helped his brother stand. Fili was adjusting better to the pains in his legs, although they weren't as bad as Kili's since Fili hadn't been carrying Sorcha for the run.
"We lost almost half of the company last night," said Bofur, clearly distressed by the head count.
"What about Glynis," the question had been weighing heavily on both brothers' mind.
Bofur was silent and he side glanced at Bifur, who slowly shook his head. "We'll have to worry about her lodgings later," said Bofur, "for now we need to focus on getting the remaining people safely to The Blue Mountains."
They stood their talking about plans for a few more minutes before Bifur grunted as a sign for them to be quiet. The healer was walking towards them, a nervous Sorcha trailing behind him, "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I've cleaned her wounds as best as I could. They should still leave a rather large scar, and I'm not sure how strong that arm is going to be in the future, but she should be fine for now."
"Thank you," said Bofur, bowing slightly, "you'll be compensated when we reach The Blue Mountains."
The healer only nodded before he turned to walk away, leaving Sorcha standing their nervously shifting on her feet. "Good morning, Sorcha," Kili said to her.
Sorcha looked at them all nervously before she charged Kili with a hug. Sorcha had always appeared to be one for hugs, so normally no one would have noticed. However the hug sparked a look between both Bofur and Bifur, perhaps it was that Kili was the first and only person Sorcha had hugged that morning, or maybe it was the combination of the hug and Kili's new charm and braid, but regardless both felt a slight protective spark within them.
Although Kili was stubborn enough to think he was mature enough to make his own decisions, both he and Sorcha were still young, and neither had seen enough of the world to know the seriousness of the charm in Kili's hair. Kili still had much to learn about his many responsibilities as an heir of Durin, and Sorcha still had much to learn about being a dwarven female. They would never learn those things if they attached to each other so early on.
"How are you feeling Sorcha," asked Bofur, trying to get her attention off of Kili.
"I'm," Sorcha stopped for a second as she looked around at the expecting faces of the dwarves around her. She was looking for the right thing to say in their faces, but she couldn't see what it was. Everyone was smiling at her, and she couldn't pick up any other possible intentions behind the innocent question. "Okay," she finally finished her response while putting on her best smile.
"Well then, it should be about time to move out," said Bofur as he stretched, "we've had about thirty minutes of rest, and we don't know if anything is going to come after those wargs."
"What about my mom," asked Sorcha with a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. Sorcha had faced the fact that her mother might not catch up; she had faced it with Kili before she went to sleep last night. That fact didn't change that she had still clung onto a scrap of hope that her mother was still, somehow okay.
"Sorcha," Bofur's smile dropped, and a small look of pity flashed across his face. It was only for a moment before he hid it again, but it had been too late. Sorcha had seen the look on his face, and she felt the remaining hope quickly vanish.
"Oh, it's okay," Sorcha looked down to hide the tears gathering in her eyes.
This did not escape Kili though, and he kneeled down before tilting her chin so that she was looking at him, "you have us Sorcha, and you'll always have us. Your mother loved you very much, and she wouldn't want you to be upset about this."
Sorcha smiled at Kili, "I know," she hugged Kili before hugging Fili, then Bofur, and then Bifur. Bifur picked Sorcha up and placed her on his shoulders as they began to continue on their way.
Kili moved to walk with Bifur but Bofur stopped him, "I need to talk to you and Fili." Both Fili and Kill stayed back with Bofur as the group of survivors began to continue on their trail to The Blue Mountains.
"She is a fine young lady," Bofur said, gesturing towards Sorcha and Bifur. Sorcha had begun to play with Bifur's thick hair from her perch on Bifur's shoulders. The two brothers nodded, both understood that Sorcha had a spark to her that was truly special. "Now that she doesn't have a last name many are going to try to claim her."
"She is but a baby," said Kili, "there is going to be a long time between now and then."
"Ah, but you're young yourselves. You haven't seen much of how dwarves deal with such things. In Erebor many she-dwarves were promised to someone way before even their twentieth birthday. That is of course with a family to look out for the girl's well-being. There is nothing standing in the way of Sorcha being claimed by any dwarf, besides other dwarves that is," Bofur looked between the two brothers; something was gleaming behind his eyes.
"I don't understand what you're suggesting," Fili grumbled. He wasn't as attached to Sorcha as Kili, but not even Fili wanted to see the girl taken advantage of.
"You should talk to Thorin about putting her in an early apprenticeship, perhaps under you mother."
"What if she doesn't want to be a healer," asked Kili.
"If she apprentices under Lady Durin she'll have a place to stay, and she'll be far too busy to receive attention from anyone but the injured. Plus, Lady Durin would be able to help Sorcha grow to be a proper dwarven lady, which is something her mother would have wanted." Bofur had another reason that he hadn't mentioned to the boys. If Sorcha had an apprenticeship with Lady Durin, than she would have an apprenticeship with their mother. Because of that she would, by tradition, be staying with her, and she would be staying in the Durin household, with both Durin brothers. Bofur knew they would keep the girl close. No dwarf would dare attempt to secure a courtship with Sorcha tell she was away from the Durins, and even after the years of her apprenticeship he trusted that at least Kili would not be willing to let Sorcha far from his sight.
Fili and Kili exchanged glances, understanding that Bofur had a point. "We shall bring it to Thorin's attention when we can," they both said at the same time, since they both had similar feelings about keeping her safe.
The subject had been dismissed after that, although Kili found it pulling on his thoughts often. When it did he found his attention drawn to where ever she had managed to wonder in the company. She spent the day venturing from dwarf to dwarf, telling stories and singing songs. Kili found himself admiring the small child, for where ever she went, she left a trail of smiles behind her. She hadn't ventured back to Kili during the walk, and he found himself wishing she had. He had been this entire journey without her company, although he had seen her in camp, and he had gotten along just fine. Now things were different, he couldn't imagine not knowing where she was for too long.
This carried on for the rest of the day; tell they finally settled down for the night. Bofur, Bifur, Fili, and Kili all found themselves gathered around a fire again once more.
"It looks like it might rain tonight," said Bofur as he looked up at the sky, which had darkened faster than normal thanks to the dark clouds that had crept in, "maybe we should have kept going tell we had found some more cover."
The dwarves had settled in a wooded area, but the tree cover wasn't dense enough to completely protect the dwarves if any rain should fall.
"Too late now," Fili shrugged, "we'll just have to build some shelters if it comes to that. How are you feeling brother?"
"Sore and tired, I've been traveling off of about two hours of sleep," said Kili as he ran his hands through his hair.
"I guess we know who is going to sleep well tonight, regardless of the rain," Fili laughed at his joke, knowing that the reason his brother had gotten so little sleep was the same reason for the surplus of sleep he had gotten.
Before Kili could curse his brother a voice rang out, "dinner!" Sorcha stood outside of their circle around the fire balancing five bowls of stew on her arms. Words of gratitude came from each of them as they took their own bowl from her. Sorcha stood awkwardly with her bowl for a few moments as the others settled down by their fire again preparing to eat.
"Can I eat here with you guys," Sorcha asked. She had always eaten with her mother before she went to sleep, but now she had nowhere to eat, although any of the dwarves would have allowed her to eat with them.
"Of course you can," Bofur said as he began to make a place for Sorcha between him and Bifur. Sorcha smiled as she quickly fell into her place between the two. She looked up and smiled at Kili and Fili, who were sitting across the fire from her. Sorcha had felt a small increase in her own pride that she had been accepted to sit with the warrior dwarves.
"So, Sorcha," said Fili, breaking the short silence that had fallen, "what have you been up to today?"
"I've been having fun! I got to tell everyone all sorts of different stories, and some people even sang with me," Sorcha seemed to think it had been no big deal, but the four around her knew better. After the casualties that had occurred early that morning the morale Sorcha provided was a rather large blessing to the company. Even though they had not heard from Sorcha that day they admired the strong front that Sorcha had been put up that day.
"You know Sorcha," Bofur said, "I've been meaning to ask you about the charms in your hair. I've heard that each charm is supposed to have a story that goes with it. Is that true?"
"Yes," Sorcha smiled, "mother had a box of charms that father had made, and whenever I memorized a new story, or song, she would let me pick one from it."
"Oh really," Bofur was slightly impressed by this, since Sorcha seemed to have a vast collection of charms in her hair, "how many do you have?"
"Sixty-six," Sorcha looked proud as she shook her head, allowing the charms in her braids to cling together.
"Quite and accomplished number for one so young," said Bofur with a smile at the girl's obvious pride in her collection of charms, "I'm curious. What was the story behind the charm you gave Kili?"
Both Kili and Sorcha blushed at his question. Kili had found himself thinking of the braid often, and had been seen tucking it behind his ear subconsciously throughout the entire day. Sorcha however had hoped to keep the secret of the charm to herself. She had not even planned on telling Kili what the charm meant to her, "it's not a story, it's a song."
"Oh really," said Bofur, "which song?"
"Well," Sorcha looked around at all of them, for a moment she had wished she had lied about the charm being a song; perhaps she could have gotten away with telling them a story about an archer from Moria (for which the charm had been a bow).
"It isn't that important," said Kili, "do you have a favorite charm Sorcha?"
Sorcha smiled at Kili, who had saved her from the embarrassing confession. "Yes," Sorcha reached behind her ear and removed a braid she kept tucked away to prevent anyone from wanting to take it, "mother gave me this one especially for the story of The Arkenstone."
"Well, that certainly is a pretty one," Bofur said as he eyed the charm. As dwarves they had all been familiar enough with semi-precious stones to recognize it as an odd section from a labradorite. The stone was small, polished, and white with golden and blue swirls around it, and it was held in place by wire within the center of the ring on her braid.
"It was one of the few charms that mom made herself. One of the men from the city tried to take it once, but mom stopped them. I've hid it behind my ear since," Sorcha tucked the charm back behind her ear once she was done showing it off. "I need to go soon. Bolmin said he wanted to re-wrap my shoulder before I went to sleep tonight."
"You know Sorcha, before you go perhaps you should tell us a story," suggested Bofur, "I mean none of us have heard one from you today."
"Okay," Sorcha nodded, seeming to think the suggestion was a reasonable one, "what sort of story do you want to hear?"
"You said you knew the story of The Arkenstone," said Bofur, "perhaps you could tell it to us."
"But everyone knows that one," laughed Sorcha. It was true, all dwarves knew of The Arkenstone, but all were willing to hear it more than once. After all, stories of treasure were ones that all dwarves loved to hear, as well as being ones they could stand to hear more than twice.
"Doesn't matter lass," said Bofur, "it's a good tale."
"Okay, well," Sorcha looked around to make sure everyone was listening to her. It was something she loved about telling stories, holding others attention. She knew it sounded vain, but she loved knowing what she said could change something as strong as another person's emotion.
"It was in Erebor, which had already become established as one of the greatest dwarven cities. Rivers of gold flowed through the walls of Erebor, and gems sparkled all over. It was said that although Erebor itself had a sky of its own, with precious-gem stars and gold dust clouds all about. All around many had heard of the glory of Erebor, although few could only guess at its true riches from the many treasures that some dwarves sold in the human city of Dale. The city was filled with the songs of a proud and wealthy people that hardly ever wanted. It wasn't till The Arkenstone was found, however, that the true splendor of Erebor was known. The miner, whose name had sadly been forgotten, had been wonderstruck at the glorious stone he had found. Within a cloth he kept it wrapped as he waited for his chance to present it to his king."
By then the dwarves that had been listening to Sorcha had found themselves mesmerized by the she-dwarves story. Sorcha had a certain flair with telling stories. It was one she had learned from her mother, and one she had spent hours trying to achieve. The lights in her eyes seemed to be glowing as she talked about Erebor, as if the glory of it had been shining before her and her voice emitted energy that had their eyes dancing with the same image.
"When it was presented before the king it was called, 'The Heart of the Mountain'. The king fell in love with the raw stone, and soon it was sent off to be shaped so that it would fit in a little notch he had carved into his throne. Word was sent to the kings of men and the lords of elves, and soon they began to flock to the mountain to see what the king had taken to calling The Arkenstone. Not a single one of those that visited could deny the magnificence of the stone that had been shaped by the hands of master gem cutters to be a globe with a thousand facets. Each facet shined with one of the many colors that shined from the glowing center, and if the gem could find no light to reflect it would make its own. The Arkenstone brought Erebor to a glorious height, one which no other dwarven stronghold could ever match. The stone stood as a sign that the Durin's rule was divinely favored, and so above the throne of King Thror of the Durin The Arkenstone stayed, shining as a symbol of the glory of Erebor."
"You tell stories with great passion, Sorcha," Bofur said with a proud smile, "you're a natural in the art of the bard."
"What is a bard," asked Sorcha. Bifur grunted at the light in Bofur's face. Fili and Kili exchanged a look that seemed to day, 'here it goes'.
"My dear little Sorcha, a bard is a keep of stories and songs! Once you could find bards in war camps, keeping the fires burning in the hearts of the warriors. During battle their songs could be heard even above the roar of war. Now you find them in more common places as they share the stories from their travels. Places such as around a fire like this one," there was a certain light in Bofur's eyes as he talked about bards. Something told Sorcha that Bofur himself would have much liked to be a bard.
"One day," started Sorcha as she stood on top of the log she was sitting on, "I'm going to be a warrior bard."
The others laughed at the Sorcha, and she just met their laughter with a pouting look. "Sorcha dear," said Bofur, "a bard you may one day be, but you're much too small to find a place among a troop of men."
Sorcha looked at him darkly, "just you wait Bofur, one day I'll make you eat those words."
Bofur simply smiled at the girl's determination, and for a moment he forgot all about the girl doomed to apprentice to become a healer, "I'm sure you well."
"Here you are," said Bolmin as he approached from behind, "come Sorcha, it's time for me to check your wounds."
"Okay," Sorcha said with a heavy sigh as she jumped down from her perch. "Good night everyone," she said as she following Bolmin to where ever he was taking her. Sorcha had only been gone for a few minutes when she became the topic of conversation at the fire once more.
"Wait, does anyone know where Sorcha is suppose too be sleeping tonight," everyone looked at Kili as his question really hit them.
The truth was none of them knew where Sorcha was going to night, and no one had thought to ask the girl while she had been there. "I'm sure she well come back if she needs a spot," shrugged Bofur, and with that the thought was dismissed.
Here is chapter two! I already have the next chapter written and ready, I just have to get it typed up, and so it should be up relatively soon.
For now though, just drop a comment letting me know what you think. Thanks again to everyone that has already done so!