Thruda woke up to see someone sitting in the corner of her room, which was full of shadows. Instinctively, Thruda grabbed her sword, unsheathed it, and pointed the tip at the intruder's throat. Then she realized it was Thorin. Her next thought was that she only slept in a long T-shirt that reached her knees and a sloping V-neck.
"What the hell?" she demanded, sheathing the sword. "I thought you were a murderer or something. Why are you in my room?"
Thorin looked sheepish. He felt his face instantly turn red. "Sorry. I was going to come in and wake you up, but I decided to let you sleep a few more minutes."
"What time is it?" Thruda asked, sitting down on her bed.
If it was possible, he felt even more sheepish. "An hour before dawn," he told her.
Thruda jumped up again. "What?! You said we were leaving an hour after dawn!" Thruda exclaimed.
"Well, I was planning on talking with you about leadership stuff.. and about us," he said. "Besides that, I remembered that you took a long time to get ready in the morning."
She tried to keep her face expressionless. The one and only time Thorin had seen her get ready in the morning was when they had slept together... in the inappropriate context.
"That was before. Now I take five minutes," she told him. "Wake me up again in an hour, and we can talk leadership then. It's too early to think." She went back to bed and closed her eyes, but didn't fall asleep.
There was a sound from Thorin's corner of the room, and footsteps. But instead of heading outside, they were heading closer to her. Thruda felt him sit down on the edge of her bed. "Look, Thruda, I know that you hate me now, but I need to talk to you."
"Gandalf talked to me yesterday, Thorin. I'm going to behave myself. If I contradict you, it'll be in private," Thruda muttered, her mouth full of pillow.
He sighed. "That's not exactly what I wanted to talk about when I said 'us', and you know it," he told her. "That day you saw Susan and I together... that wasn't my fault. She kind of came on to me."
"Yeah, right. You had your tongue in her mouth," Thruda snapped. "Don't lie, Thorin."
"Alright, maybe I did, but I've regretted it ever since," Thorin said. "It was that one kiss that ruined my relationship with the perfect girl. Thruda, I want to be in your life again. I don't care if I won't ever be your boyfriend again, but I just want to be able to talk to you like I did."
She didn't respond, and eventually Thorin stood up and left. It wasn't until the door closed that she noticed a single tear falling from one of her eyes.
An hour later, Gandalf knocked on her door. "Thruda, get up! It's dawn," he said.
Thruda groaned. "Go away!" she called.
Then she heard Thorin. "I've got this covered, Gandalf," Thorin reassured Gandalf. He kicked the door open and went straight to Thruda's bag. "Let's see, Thruda. Do you still have that book? Your father's diary? I was wondering if I could take a look."
She jumped up, wide awake. "Get out of my room, Thorin, and don't touch a single thing on your way out," she growled. He walked backwards and out of the room, smiling slightly. Then Thruda noticed Gandalf's reproaching look. "You said don't let it be known to others that I hate him. You already know that I hate him, so if I show it, it doesn't matter." Gandalf sighed and left.
In three minutes, Thruda was in the dining room, hanging around with Fili and Kili and planning pranks. Thorin had seated himself so that he was closer to them than before, but not right next to them. Thruda deliberately shifted her chair away. He frowned and rolled another note to her. She ignored it., but when the dining room was empty, she picked it up and shoved it in her pocket.
After half an hour more, in which they got all their supplies ready, they headed out to an inn to wait for Bilbo. "If he doesn't come by 11:00, we are leaving," Thorin whispered to Thruda a few minutes after they had settled down at the nearby inn called the Green Dragon. "And I doubt he will."
"He might," Thruda contradicted. "There must be something in him if Gandalf picked him."
Thorin grimaced. "I don't think Gandalf is right about this one," he said.
"A bet!" Kili cried.
"A bet!" Fili and Thruda agreed. Fili and Kili instantly started going around, collecting bets. When they got to Thruda (and she was one of the last ones), she saw that everyone said that Bilbo wouldn't come.
Thruda hesitated, not totally convinced that Bilbo would come, despite her words to Thorin. Then she saw a sky-blue bag with Thorin's family crest betting against Bilbo. That settled it for Thruda; she would not be betting on the same thing as Thorin. She said, "He will come. I'm putting five coins on him."
They waited until 11:00, and they were about to leave when Bilbo came running up. "I didn't find your note until a few minutes ago," he panted. "Gandalf kicked me out of my own house. Wouldn't even let me grab a pocket handkerchief."
"You'll have to borrow some of our stuff, then," Thruda said. "Don't worry about it." She shot a glance at Thorin, who looked shocked, before clearing some baggage off of the pack pony. "Get on here."
Bilbo looked uncertain as he saw the pony. "I can walk, don't worry," he said, but Dwalin and Thruda lifted him up by his armpits and dumped him on the pony, ignoring his squeals of terror.
The second Thruda's hands were free, the other dwarves bombarded her with sacks of coins. She stuffed them in her saddle bag, smirking when she saw the sky-blue pouch with the rest of the bags and loose coins. Soon after, Gandalf joined them, smiling at Thruda as he did. Thruda felt that it had something to do with the money she had just won.
A few days passed. Thruda grew closer to Fili and Kili and renewed her relationships with the dwarves she already knew. Soon she was at ease with everybody besides Thorin, who she knew she would never be at ease with again.
One night, when only Fili, Kili, Thruda, and Bilbo were awake, a howl pierced the still night. Thruda's head snapped up, and her hand reached for her sword.
"What was that?" Bilbo squeaked.
Fili, Kili, and Thruda glanced at each other. "Orcs," they answered together.
"Nasty creatures," Thruda continued. "Really foul. Probably the worst of the worst of Middle Earth."
"They attack in packs," Kili told Bilbo.
"In the dead of the night, when everybody's sleeping," Fili said.
"It's quick work," Kili agreed. "Quiet, too."
"Just a lot of blood," Fili went on.
Bilbo's eyes turned as wide as plates, and Fili and Kili started cracking up. Thruda elbowed both of them to get them to shut up and was about to tell Bilbo how the Orcs really attacked, but Thorin stood up. She hadn't even realized that he was awake.
"Orc attacks are not a laughing matter," he told them coldly. He walked off, and Thruda could see him standing alone by a tree a few meters away, staring at the full moon.
Thruda looked back to Fili, Kili, and Bilbo. "I'm going to walk around," she said. "If I'm not back in half an hour, start worrying."
She stood up and walked past Thorin, sword in hand. As she did, Thorin's hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist. "Don't go," he pleaded. "It could be dangerous."
"You can't tell me what to do, Thorin," Thruda snapped, and she wrenched her arm out of his. She stormed off and walked a mile or so, always aware and keeping an eye out for danger. Her mind wandered to everything from her relationship with Thorin and the hopelessness of the quest that she was now on. She sometimes took her anger out on trees, chopping off branches and making notches on the bark. It helped if she pictured Thorin's face on all the trees.
After about ten minutes, she headed back, quicker this time. She was soon back at the Company's camp, and everyone was staring at Thorin with a misty look in their eyes. Thruda grimaced and plopped down on her bedroll, quickly falling asleep.
However, before she did, she heard the last bit of their conversation. "What happened to him?" Bilbo asked. "Azog, I mean." Thruda wondered who Azog was.
"The filth died of his wounds," Thorin said harshly, his voice full of venom. After a few more seconds, Thruda heard him walk over to his bedroll and lay down, going back to sleep.
During the next day, they travelled. It had suddenly started raining mercilessly, causing everyone to get drenched and grumpy.
"Oi, Gandalf!" Dori shouted. "Can you do something about this rain?"
Gandalf turned around, looking at the dwarf. "It will continue to rain, and I shall let it until it is done raining," he answered. "If you wish to stop the rain, you had better find yourself another wizard."
"Are there any other wizards?" Bilbo asked curiously. Thruda wanted to hide under the ground and stay there for another five years, knowing where this was going.
Gandalf nodded. "There are six," he answered. "Saruman the White is the leader of the Council of the White and possibly the most powerful out of all of us. There are two Blues, but I can't seem to recall their names." He thought for a second. "Yes, their names always seem to escape me."
Bilbo looked exasperated. "If there are only six wizards, how do you not remember all of their names?" he demanded. Gandalf ignored him.
"Then there is Radagast the Brown," he continued. A strange, thoughtful look came over his face.
"Is he a great wizard, or is he more like you?" Bilbo asked.
Thruda almost choked on her laughter. "Ouch!" she exclaimed, referring to Bilbo's comment. Fili and Kili started laughing along with her.
Gandalf had chosen to ignore the insult. "Radagast is a kind soul and a great wizard in his own right," he told Bilbo. "He prefers the company of animals over humans."
"And the sixth?" Bilbo pressed.
"I believe you already know the sixth," Gandaf said. Bilbo's curious face turned into one of confusion. "In fact, she is in this very Company."
All eyes turned to Thruda, who instantly turned red. "I'm not a wizard," she said.
"If you say so," Gandalf replied with a smile.
At that point, she couldn't decide who she hated more- Thorin or Gandalf.