Gandalf pulled his steed up alongside Thorin's pony at the head of the caravan. They had been traveling on the East road out of the Shire for quite some time. They had left Bag End without Bilbo Baggins and many of the company took wagers as to whether or not the little hobbit would turn up. Gandalf had tried his best to convince the hobbit to join them, but Bilbo seemed adamant in his wish to stay in Bag End. As it so happened, Bilbo mustered his courage at some point that next morning and ran after the company, signing a contract that Balin, the old white-haired dwarf drew up, making him the fourteenth member of the company. He would have been the fifteenth, but Gandalf would sign no contracts. Must be a wizard thing, Bilbo thought.
"I suggest we stay in Bree for the night. The company has seemed to tire from our long ride today," Gandalf suggested. Thorin looked at him with a look that displayed his desire to keep traveling, but he glanced back at his company and begrudgingly agreed. Their heads were starting to bob from exhaustion and no one had the energy to chat anymore.
"We will stop here tonight and stay in the inn," Thorin announced to the company and was met with sighs of relief. Bilbo was the most relieved as he had never traveled by pony and was extremely sore and wished more than anything to stretch his legs. They entered through the town's tall gates and made their way to the Prancing Pony. It wasn't the nicest establishment, but it was a place to stay and a roof over their heads. They were eyed suspiciously by the old inn keeper and his wife, as well as many of the patrons there, when the company filed inside. They were given two large rooms, however, to split amongst them. They payed the inn keeper for the rooms and some dinner, and headed up the stairs to find their rooms at the end of a long hallway.
The dwarves bedded down in the rooms available and Gandalf volunteered to keep watch, as wizards did not need as much sleep. Thorin, the leader of the group, chose to stay in the first room with his two nephews, Fili and Kili, Gandalf, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur, and the hobbit. He looked over to his nephews and thought back to his younger sister Dís. He had promised to bring them back safely, and that is what he would do. He brought them along, against his better judgment, but their fighting skills and loyalty were invaluable to their quest. He assumed that the dwarves staying in the other room were asleep by now, so he let his eyes close and fell into an unrestful sleep that was plagued with visions of dragonfire.
Rather than light being what woke her from her pain-induced sleep, a stench of horse manure and sweaty mean roused her. She was still in that accursed sack, but she was at least lying on a flat surface now. She could hear faint voices somewhere and there were no noises close to her that would indicate her captor was in the room.
She groaned softly around the gag as she shifted her shoulder so she could lay flat on her back. Her hands were tied in front of her and rested on her stomach as her legs pressed against them from above. She could touch her forehead to her knees with how close they were, and she still could not feel them. Her neck was sore from the tight bun that rested at the base of her neck. She had cried during the first leg of their journey, scared for her life and never having traveled this far from home.
She pulled herself together in this private moment she had been allowed away from her kidnapper. She mentally smacked her her own cheek for crying and not trying to come up with an escape plan. She didn't know when that disgusting man would be back, so with the time she had left, she observed the sounds and smells around her and carefully pieced together any information she could about her situation. She began to combine this information and spent the rest of her time alone carefully planning her best chance for escape.
As the sun rose in the sky, Thorin felt himself jolt from his sleep as Glóin rushed into the room where his half of the company had slept.
"Thorin! I was looking out the window of our room," he pointed down the hall where the rest of the dwarves had stayed, "I think there's a kidnapping in progress!" Glóin stared at his leader, huffing and puffing, waiting for his orders.
"What are you talking about, Gloin? We do not have the time to meddle in the dealings of men" Thorin replied sleepily. However, he could hear the dwarves around him scrambling to the windows. He got up and pushed his way the window to peer out, and indeed there was a kidnapping taking place. A large man was hauling a person in a brown sack over his shoulder with great difficulty, all the while craning his head around and hoping to go unnoticed. He elbowed part of the bag and they heard a woman's cry.
"I will not sit here while a maiden is in danger!" Fili exclaimed as he and Kili were the first ones out the door and into the hall. Curse their heroic tendencies, Thorin thought angrily. Thorin and the others rushed out after them and into the muddy street where they had seen the man carrying the woman in the sack.
"You! Stop!" Kili shouted. The man, who was a large, portly brute with a permanent sneer on his face and an ugly cut down his cheek, looked up, startled. He took off around the corner of a building as fast as he could toward the gate leading out of the town. Kili rounded the building and took out his bow. He shot the man in the leg, bringing him down to his knees and causing him to drop the sack. Another cry came from the bag as Thorin approached the trapped woman and the company set upon her kidnapper. Thorin used his sword to cut the ties holding the sack closed and saw the scared eyes of a young woman with a gag around her mouth and multiple cuts and bruises. He helped her scramble out of the bag and steadied her on her feet, untying the gag so that she could speak again and unbinding her hands.
"Thank you," she sighed hoarsely and Thorin moved to let go of her but her legs seemed to crumple beneath her. He caught her in his arms and held her up once more by her upper arms as they turned to where the company had subdued her captor. They had bound his hands and made him kneel in the dirt, at the mercy of the company's anger.
"What should we do with this piece of filth?" Dwalin, the intimidating, bald dwarf said as he held his ax against the man's throat. All eyes turned to the woman who was shaking in Thorin's grasp. She didn't speak, only looked at the man who had hauled her about for months on end, only giving her enough food and water to survive and beating her should she ever make noise. She didn't like to take lives unnecessarily, but he knew her secret and did not want that information to get out. So she remained silent and let the dwarves decide amongst themselves.
"Turn him over to me, master Dwalin, and I shall make sure the authorities are made aware of the situation," Gandalf spoke up as he gripped the back of the man's tunic and forced him up and back toward the inn. Óin, the healer of the group, made his way to the woman to inspect her for injuries. He took in her shaking legs, cuts, bruises, and hollowed cheeks. She definitely hadn't been treated like a lady should, he thought sadly.
"Are you alright, lassie?" he asked as he took her from Thorin. She gazed at the kind-looking dwarf. He was an older dwarf with grey hair and an air about him that demonstrated his wise and kind nature. He used a small trumpet that he held to his ear, and so she assumed he must be hard of hearing. Old age would to that to you.
"Yes, I think I'm alright, just some bruises" the woman responded, her voice thick in her throat from disuse. In truth, she probably had a concussion and some bruised ribs as well, but she didn't want to be thoroughly inspected by strange dwarves.
"Well alright then. What be your name, dear?" the dwarf asked, sending a reassuring smile to the frail-looking woman in front of him.
"My name is Thessalia," she said as she looked over the company of thirteen dwarves and one smaller and thinner-looking dwarf. They were an odd assortment of travelers, that was for sure, but she was thankful that someone had finally noticed her predicament.
It was then that Thorin approached her again and looked down at the maiden they had rescued.
"We move out when Gandalf returns," he spoke to the company, then turned to Thessalia. "Make your way back to the inn, we will provide you with coin so that you may stay in the inn another night or so if need be." Thorin did not want to waste any more time than they already had.
"Wait!" Thessalia cried as she fell to her knees and out of Óin's grip. "Take me with you. I was taken from my home and carried for months in a direction I know not. I have no food nor supplies or knowledge of how to return home. I promise if you let me travel with you, only as long as I can find my bearings and my direction, I will help in whatever way I can!" She gave the leader a pleading look, hoping he would take pity on her situation.
Thorin looked at the human woman, it was hard not to pity her. But bring her along? She wouldn't last a day! She would only slow them down and distract the company. No, she was definitely not coming.
"Please, I know a little about healing and I can defend myself if I need to, just please don't leave me here," she said with tears in her eyes. Normally she wouldn't overplay the helpless maiden act, after all she was the leader of her kingdom's defenses, and she hated feeling helpless. But she would resign herself to do what she must in order to find her way back. She knew that dwarves were protective of their women and so she relied heavily on that fact.
The company took in the woman they had rescued as she knelt in the mud with nothing but tattered, oversized men's clothes and no shoes. Her hair was tied back in a low bun and a white kerchief wrapped around her head to conceal most of her hair. Her cerulean blue eyes glistened with unshed tears and her sorrowful expression weighed on their hearts.
"Please, Uncle! We'll protect her on the road and she won't be a problem at all," Fili said. Murmurs of agreement arose from the company and Thorin looked down at the ground, pinching the bridge of his nose. He gave a deep, exasperated sigh.
"Fine. She may travel with us for now," he then turned to the woman again. "But the second you become more trouble than you're worth, we are leaving you behind, no matter where we find ourselves at the time. Do you understand?" Thessalia nodded her head vigorously. Fili and Kili came to her side to lift her up out of the dirt and onto her shaky legs.
"Thank you" Thessa said to Thorin in a small voice, but a rough scoff was her only answer from the dwarf king. As she watched him walk away from her, she admired his long raven hair that hung in waves down his back. She hadn't met any dwarves in her long life, but she could tell that he was rather tall for a dwarf, but no less gruff and intimidating.
"Ah, I see we have found ourselves another travelling companion," Gandalf spoke as he rejoined the company. Thessalia looked up to the see the figure who took her kidnapper away. He was very tall, made taller by his pointed grey hat, and carried a large wooden staff. His long grey hair hung over his shoulders and a smile pulled up the slightly sagging skin of his cheeks.
"Welcome my dear, my name is Gandalf the Grey, and who might you be?" Gandalf inquired with a small twinkle in his light blue eyes. Thessalia didn't know him, but she felt that this old man was trustworthy for some reason.
"I'm Thessalia, but my friends call me Thessa" the woman said with a small smile.
"A beautiful name, it is a pleasure to meet you my dear," Gandalf smiled and then turned to the group of dwarves, "and now we should all collect our things from the inn and be on our way." Thorin nodded to Gandalf and began giving out directions. Soon everyone headed back toward the inn and the company prepared themselves to get back on the road and out of Bree. Fili and Kili left Thessa to stand on her own when she told them she would be fine without their supporting her to stand alone on her shaking legs. It was harder than it looked, using legs. She had been hauled out of the water by her captor and stuffed in that burlap sack, and so trading her tail for legs was her only option. She missed her tail greatly and had no experience walking with human legs, but she would have to learn on the road.
As they saddled the ponies, Thessa had to stand away from the group and against the gate in order to hold herself up on her quivering legs. It seemed that standing stationary without any support was really sapping what energy she had left. The lack of food was also causing her head to feel fuzzy and her hands to shake slightly.
"Your legs doing alright, lassie?" Glóin said as he approached Thessa. She looked up at the red-haired dwarf approaching her. He seemed friendly and she thought his large red beard, that was partitioned in smaller sections with clips or ties of some sort, was very interesting.
"Yes, thank you. I think I'm just not accustomed to using my legs lately, as I have been stuffed in a sack for some months," she offered with a small smile. She honestly shouldn't make light of her ordeal, it really wasn't much fun at all, but she was sure they knew that.
"Well can ya ride a pony then, or would that be too much for ya right now?" Glóin asked with concern. He did not think she could ride a pony on her own if she could hardly stand. She was light enough to ride with one of their company, save for Bombur of course. He could probably break the back of a pony himself.
"I don't know" she replied with a slight frown. She had never ridden a pony and did not want to admit that fact either. She also didn't feel comfortable straddling another animal. Her kind were gentle in nature and valued all life. Using another animal in that way would be difficult for her to stomach, but walking was not an option right now.
"Don't worry Glóin!" Fili called over to the red-haired dwarf from the pony he was saddling, "She can ride with me!" Fili gave Thessa a small wink and came over to help her walk over to the pony they were to ride. He had sandy blond hair that was long and hung down past his shoulders, like the rest of the dwarves it seemed. He also had a beard the was shorter in the middle at the point of his chin, but the sides were longer and hung in two small braids. He was actually quite handsome for a dwarf and she couldn't help but notice his uncanny similarity to both his brother, Kili, and both of their resemblances to Thorin. They must be related somehow, she thought.
He hefted her onto the pony and then swung up behind her as he grabbed hold of the reins. Thorin, who was watching their interaction, looked over the rest of the company and called for them to move out. He didn't like how Fili was acting so friendly with the strange woman. They did not know who she was and he didn't trust her. He took his place at the head of the company and lead them out the front gates.