For author Nevermorea, who reviewed, hopefully this chapter is better. I had this dream about a world where the males were taught to protect females, no matter what. Wanted males to be this way, but sadly, they will never be. Oh well.
I still don't own anything, except Audrey.
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Three hours later, the girl whimpers, beginning to wake up. Slowly her eyes inch open, unfocused. She gasps out, twisting and squirming, moaning in pain. Kili's arms tighten around her, not wanting her to fall off the pony.
Dwalin moves his pony closer to Kili's pony. The girl stops panicking, seeing Dwalin. Her head leans against Kili's chest as her eyes blink, too heavy to stay open much longer. She smiles at Dwalin, relaxing farther in Kili's arms.
"We will stop here." Thorin demands in a clearing that has an old cottage that seems to be years old but there isn't grass growing up the walls.
Gandalf gets angry, saying this spot isn't good. But Thorin doesn't budge, getting more persistent especially when Gandalf says they should go to Rivendell. Gandalf goes off in a huff, getting on his horse and riding away.
The girl looks around as Ori, Oin, and Fili come closer to the pony, Ori taking the reins. Fili's arms rise up, hands grabbing the girl's waist. Easily he lifting her up and off the pony. As she rises from the saddle, her hands grab onto his shoulders.
He sets her feet on the ground, keeping his hands on her waist so she doesn't fall or anything. Her eyes turn to Dwalin, a little scared and hesitant. He gets off his horse, letting Ori take the reins. The girl smiles shyly at him.
"Come, lets sit at the fire. Then we can eat and tell our stories." Dwalin tells her, gently taking her small left hand in his much bigger hand.
"That house looks creepy. Is it alright to stay here?" She hesitantly asks, gesturing with her head to the old cottage.
"We will be fine." Thorin snaps, making the girl inch behind Dwalin. "Nobody here will allow anything to happen to you." His voice softens, seeing the girl's unease.
Instantly he decides that he's going to have to be gentle around her. All of them are going to have to be gentle, since the girl is uneasy around people. It would break his heart if Kili's One was hurt by their rough or different actions.
"Why would you care about me? I'm the Ugly Freak of Nature." She asks, looking at everyone like they have two heads.
Dwalin's vision turns red. Blacking out is a frightening experience. Not to say it has not happened to him before in times of great emotional and physical stress, or anger. The next thing he knows, is that he is looking down at the fire.
The girl is sitting on Kili's lap, wrapped in his arms. Her face is buried in his chest, body shaking in fear. Fili, Ori, Bofur, Nori, and Bilbo are in front of them, protectively, worriedly facing Dwalin. He nods at them, saying that he's calm.
Dwalin turns to Thorin, wondering how he can ease the girl's fear. Thorin shrugs, unsure how to help the girl. He gestures to Bombur to start making dinner. Bilbo helps him, good at making food. Fili and Ori go off to gather wood for the fire. Bofur and Bifur are with the horses.
Thorin and Dwalin turns back to the girl as her body slumps down. Oin looks at the girl, examining her without touching her, letting Kili do the touching, not wanting to frighten the girl more if someone else touches her skin.
"She is asleep. Her body is exhausted." Oin tells Thorin and Dwalin. "We are going to have to be gentle with her, like with dogs."
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KILI'S POV
He looks down at the girl as his uncle starts whispering with Oin and Dwalin, about the girl's skittishness. The girl fits perfectly on his lap and in his arms. Her lithe, curvy body was made to fit with him, created by Mahal just for him.
His left hand rises up, gently brushing the girl's hair away from her face, putting it behind her right ear. Her face is sweet, youthful, innocent, and utterly beautiful. While her mind is steeped in dreams, she is unconscious, vulnerable, entrusted to his care.
"I will always protect you, Lovely Girl." He vows in a whisper, just loud enough for the girl to hear but nobody else.
He hates that Dwalin scared her. Though he understands why Dwalin went scary. He also went scary when she said she's the 'Ugly Freak of Nature'. All he wanted to do was to find whoever had hurt her and kill those bastards.
She was so uncertain. How could a woman lack the confidence to ask, demand what she wanted, needed. Women so beleaguered tended to see themselves as unattractive, frumpy, even ugly and to present themselves accordingly. Who had convinced her that she was unattractive?
He isn't sure if he should allow Dwalin near the girl again. It was bad when she only seemed to trust Dwalin but now, she seems to be scared of Dwalin. It was heartbreaking the way she cringed away from Dwalin, who was glaring at her.
That is why Kili quickly grabbed her. He sat down on the fallen tree trunk, setting her on his lap. His arms wrapped around her, holding her close. She curled closer to him, shaking but feeling safer with him, which he likes.
Thorin, Ori, and Dwalin seem to be finished talking together. They walk closer to Kili and the girl. The girl doesn't wake up, which Dwalin notices. Dwalin tenses, not wanting the girl to be scared of him, hating that thought.
"Trolls!" Bofur yells as he comes running out of the tree line, yelling the word again and again. "Trolls! Trolls!"
The girl jerks awake. She winces, seeing Dwalin so close. He steps backwards, raising his hands to shoulder-height, telling her that he isn't dangerous and that she won't be hurt. She doesn't seem to believe him, cringing closer to Kili.
"Trolls have taken some of the horses. Bifur went to get the horses back. Bilbo went with him." Bofur quickly says, breathless from the running.