Chapter 4: Joining an Adventure


4.13.14 A/N: A shit load of editing in this one, especially when Valaina is introduced to Thorin. I embellished it a bit (and by a bit I mean a lot). 3,003 words to 5,058 words.


"So," he said in a severe tone as he handed Kili his cloak without so much as looking away from the hobbit in question, "this is the hobbit. Tell me, Mister Baggins, have you done much fighting?"

"Isn't it obvious he hasn't?" Valaina muttered to no one in particular, though the dwarf with the funny hat, Bofur, snickered at the comment.

"Pardon me?" Bilbo asked confused.

"Ax or sword? What's your weapon of choice?" Thorin asked as he circled the hobbit like a vulture circling its next meal.

"His newspaper…" Valaina mumbled causing a few dwarves to stifle chuckles.

"Well," Bilbo started with a prideful smile, "I do have some skill at conkers, if you must know. But…I fail to see why that is…relevant."

Thorin stopped and crossed his arms over his chest as he sized the hobbit up. "Thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar," he said with a smirk as the other dwarves chuckled good-naturedly at the joke and even Valaina cracked a small smile at the comment thinking she would have said something like that, except a bit meaner.

"I would also like to introduce you, Thorin, to a friend of mine, one that I have told you about," Gandalf said with concealed unease as he looked at Valaina's furious red eyes. "My dear…" he started as Valaina gave a sigh of defeat.

She mentally began to call Gandalf names once more, and resisted a very rude hand gesture, as the dwarves parted for her. Kili and Fili gave her a smile, both looking like they were probably going to see Valaina alive for quite possibly the last time, while Dwalin glared daggers at her to which she mentally insulted him for doing so. She met Thorin's hard gaze with one of her own as she came to a stop in front of the dwarf. All breathing in the room seemed to stop as every person in the room held their breath at the meeting of the dwarf and the lycan. Not one of them knew what would happen, and it was likely that they would get into a fight or something of the like, and not one dwarf in the room wanted to be the one to step in should the tension elevate to that level. "This is you the lycan you told us about, Gandalf?" Thorin said as he moved to circle Valaina as well but stopped as a soft growl escaped the lycan's lips in response.

"Yes, I am the lycan," Valaina answered for Gandalf. "And I can speak on my own, thank you."

"Do you even know how to use those blades?"

"Come a bit closer and you'll find out," Valaina snapped as her scarlet eyes bore into the dwarf's brooding blue ones.

"She is still a female," Thorin said angrily as he crossed his arms over his chest and continued to glare at Valaina until she relented her challenging eyes from his. "She will only burden us down on the journey."

Valaina glared down at Thorin as her red eyes swirled in different angry hues. "Are we really going to go through this?" she asked in a calm, low angry tone. "Because I will be happy to show you just how much of a burden I really am."

"Eärlindë, keep your temper in check now," Gandalf warned desperately as Dwalin looked ready to spring into action at the first sight of a fight.

"Oh, it's in check alright," Valaina said in a hardly controlled calm tone. "I've got it well under control…"

"She doesn't sound or look in control," Kili mumbled.

"No, lad, she doesn't," Bofur commented. "In fact, she looks about ready to rip someone's head off."

"It's a tad bit scary," added Ori.

Thorin continued to glare back at Valaina as he waited for the lycan to drop her eyes, something that would never happen, not even if he were to kill Valaina at that moment. "This little show you are putting up will not change my opinion of you, she-elf," the dwarf said with much venom. "You will not even be able to keep up with us, let alone fight."

Valaina growled softly as she took a step closer to the dwarf causing Dwalin to really tense up at the aggressive movement, however, the lycan didn't notice or if she did she didn't exactly care. Balin watched Valaina move forward aggressively, and discerned that the movement looked very much like a wolf when its hackles rose and it prepared to go into a fight, and he knew right then that the lycan in front of them was as far froman elf that they would ever see. "I've fought more battles and stronger foes than you could ever imagine," she started in an oddly calm tone that Gandalf detected was hiding her seething rage. "I've found myself closer to death countless of times on my own only to fight my way through, and I have the scars to prove it. Do you think I won my battles by sheer luck and a bat of my eyelashes like some of these other…she-elves?" she said, though not one dwarf missed the way she said the last word with just as much hate as Thorin put into his own words directed toward the lycan.

Yet Thorin said nothing as he narrowed his eyes at the lycan. "I didn't think so," Valaina answered her own question when Thorin said nothing more.

"Your temper is beginning to get the better of you, Eärlindë," Gandalf warned once more in the gentlest manner he could to stay any fight that might just break out at that moment.

Valaina gave an un-elf like snort as crossed her arms over her chest but did not, what so ever, let her gaze leave Thorin's. "What did you expect?" she asked before adding swiftly, "Don't answer that."

"I don't trust you one bit, she-elf," Thorin said with his still hard glare.

"Really now, dwarf?" Valaina replied sarcastically causing Gandalf to sigh heavily. "I haven't noticed."

"You are beginning to wear my patience," Thorin said gruffly.

"The feeling is mutual."

The room went oddly silent as the two faced off still, neither wavering in their stare down. Gandalf just about had it with the two's childish act of 'you lower your eyes first', but he wasn't the only one. "What' your weapon of choice?" the dwarf lord asked a bit smugly.

"Though I prefer my dual blades," Valaina started with the smallest of smiles that looked more threatening than anything, "I'll use anything that will sever a head and then some."

Several dwarves snickered at her reply, but were silenced immediately by the stern look that Dwalin shot them. Gandalf cleared his throat, though the glaring warriors ignored it completely. "Your personality would do just fine as well," Thorin sneered.

"If that worked as well as many say, there wouldn't be many people left alive," Valaina growled out.

"That's because your people skills are beyond poor, my dear," Gandalf informed the lycan.

"Really? I thought they were wonderful," came the sarcastic reply.

"I don't trust you -"

"We've been through that," Valaina cut Thorin off. "Anything else you would like to reiterate?"

"There are several," Thorin grumbled and Valaina gave a nod in agreement as if she was looking for that exact answer. "However, the disrespect you are showing won't do you much good in winning that trust, now will it?"

"You will get my respect," Valaina gave a curt nod, "but that is only after you begin to trust me."

"Respect should be given whether or not one trusts another."

Valaina shook her head. "Not in my case. Trust comes first, dwarf, and then respect."

"It looks to be hard for you to gain both anyhow," Thorin deadpanned.

"What makes you say that?" Valaina snipped when Gandalf's staff whipped out and smacked the lycan in the back of the head. "What. The. Hell?!" she growled out as her hand flew to the back of her head, yet her eyes stayed locked on Thorin.

"Stop acting so childish," the wizard retorted.

Valaina let a string of profanities escape her mouth causing Gandalf to roll his eyes. Finally, Balin came to the rescue and saved Thorin from hurting his pride as he was forced to look away. "Shall we go sit and discuss our plan of action, Thorin?" the older dwarf asked.

"Yes," Thorin replied as he turned to the older dwarf.

Thorin moved away from Valaina and followed Balin to the dining room where a bowl of stew was placed at the head of the table for him along with a mug of ale. Of course, several of the dwarves, mainly Kili, Fili, and Ori, snickered at the childish face Valaina made toward Thorin's back. The other dwarves and Gandalf sat down as Thorin ate his meal in a very civilized manner, one that didn't shock Valaina as she had seen the noble, almost royal, air about the dwarf. Valaina opted to stand leaning against the wall behind Gandalf, perfectly fine in not having to say anything to the dwarf at the moment though her ice cold glare said everything she wanted to convey. "What news from the meeting of Erad-Luin? Did they all come?" Balin asked after some time.

"Aye, envoys from all seven kingdoms," Thorin answered.

"All of them?"

"What did the dwarves of the Iron Hills say?" Dwalin asked. "Is Dain with us?"

"They will not come," Thorin answered. "They say this quest is ours and ours alone."

"You're going on a quest?" Bilbo asked.

"No shit," Valaina muttered causing a few dwarves closer to her to give her a shake of the head.

"Bilbo, my dear fellow," Gandalf said a little surprised the hobbit was so close to them at the moment, not that he should have been, "let us have a little more light." He pulled out a map and unfolded it to place it on the table. "Far to the east, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single, solitary peak."

"Oh, now you start to give us the details," the peeved lycan said.

Thorin gave both the lycan and Gandalf a frown as the wizard set the map before him. "Yes, Eärlindë, I am," he started.

"And why couldn't you give me the details of this little trip of yours before I met the dwarves?" came another heated question.

"Your temper is a bit unpredictable…and you needn't know everything."

Valaina gave the wizard an agitated look in reply. "The Lonely Mountain," Bilbo read as he held a candle up to see the map better.

"Oh look, he can read," Valaina muttered making Dwalin smile slightly at the annoyed, peeved tone that the lycan used.

"Aye, Oin has read the portents and the portents say it is time," Gloin spoke up as the other dwarves grumbled and rolled their eyes as some sighed as well.

"That's all he's been talking about," Valaina muttered to no one in particular.

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain, as it was foretold," Oin confirmed. "When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end."

"Uh, what beast?" Bilbo asked with fear on his face.

"Oh, holy shit…" Valaina muttered in exasperation toward the hobbit.

Dwalin turned to give the lycan an amused look at she leaned just a bit closer to Gandalf to look at the map over the wizard's shoulder. She caught the look and gave a small shrug. "You know you were thinking the same thing," she muttered.

"Possibly," the tattooed dwarf mumbled in response.

"That would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, the chiefest and greatest calamity of our age," Bofur answered the hobbit as the dwarves become more or less tense at the name. "Air-borne fire breather, teeth like razors, claws like meat hooks. Extremely fond of precious metals-"

"Yes, I know what a dragon is," Bilbo said quickly and fearfully.

Valaina stood up from the wall, her interest peaked greatly at the mention of the exact beast that they would be facing. "Now that is a challenge," she muttered and not one dwarf nearest her missed the overly excited tone in her voice, and even Thorin had to give the lycan a quizzical look. "What? I've never been up against a dragon before…"

"Well, there was that one time-"

"That one didn't count!" Valaina said very hastily, if not a bit sheepishly, as to cut Gandalf off from what he was about to say.

Before anyone could ask what in Middle Earth the two were talking about, Ori cut in. "I'm not afraid of it! I'm up for it! I'll give him a taste of Dwarfish iron right up his jacksie!" he stood up and said confidently.

"Oh, boy…" Valaina said with a shake of her head at the picture of the dwarf doing just exactly what he said and then seeing the dwarf nothing more than a pile of ash in front of a large dragon. "That'll work out just splendidly…" she muttered.

"Good lad, Ori!" Nori called out.

"Don't encourage him to get himself eaten," Valaina scoffed.

"Sit down," Dori said as he pulled the young dwarf back into his seat.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us," Balin said. "But we number just thirteen. Not thirteen of the best, nor brightest."

"Here, who are you calling dim?" Nori challenged.

"You" was what Valaina wanted to say but refrained from doing at a look from Gandalf who had started to get annoyed with Valaina's comments.

"What did he say?" Oin asked Gloin, his brother.

"We may be few in number," Fili said as he slammed his fist down on the table, his blue eyes bright and excited, "but we're fighters. All of us, to the last dwarf."

"And do you forget that we have a wizard in our company," Kili joined in enthusiastically with a bright smile. "Gandalf would have killed hundreds of dragons in his time."

"Well, no I-I wouldn't say-" Gandalf started in a fluster.

"Well, how many then?" Dori asked.

"What?"

"How many dragons have you killed?"

Valaina resisted the urge to laugh as Gandalf chocked on his pipe smoke.

"Go on, give us a number!" Dori yelled.

The dwarves entered an uproar of an argument with each other, over what Valaina knew not. "Wow," she mumbled as she watched the crazed argument unfold before her.

She tried to discern what they were saying, but could barely catch a snippet as she realized they were yelling in not only the common tongue, but also, at some points, Khuzdul, their language. "Excuse me. Please," Bilbo said as he tried vainly to calm everyone down.

Thorin stood up and shouted at them in dwarvish, and the dwarves immediately sat back down into their seats at the sudden outburst of anger from their leader. "If we have read these signs do you not think others will have read them too?" Thorin started with a glare to each dwarf. "Rumors have begun to spread. The dragon, Smaug, has not been seen for sixty years. Eyes look east to the mountain assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance and take back Erebor?"

The dwarves roar up in agreement, cheering at Thorin's words of encouragement, and even Valaina had to admit to herself that the dwarf really knew how to sway his followers. "You forget, the Front Gate is sealed," Balin said after the din quieted down once more to a level where no one had to shout, at least not at the present moment. "There is no way into the mountain."

"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true," Gandalf said as he pulled out a key from his sleeves.

"And you have to pull some kind of fancy magic trick," Valaina muttered.

"How came you by this?" Thorin asked in sheer awe at the sight of the key.

"It was given to me by your father. By Thrain. For safekeeping. It is yours now."

Gandalf handed the key over to Thorin who took it gently as if he would break it. "If there is a key, there must be a door," Fili said.

"What makes you say that?" Valaina muttered sarcastically.

"These runes speak of a hidden passage to the Lower Halls," Gandalf continued.

"There's another way in," Kili spoke up excitedly.

"That's why we have a key and a map," Valaina muttered again.

"Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed," Gandalf said.

"Isn't that a shocker," came the sarcastic response by Valaina.

"Eärlindë, if you are going to keep doing that I may just knock you upside the head to get you to hold your tongue."

"That would be interesting to-"

"Be quiet now," Gandalf retorted and Valaina made another childish face at the wizard making some of the Dwarves smile slightly. "The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map but I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever then I believe it can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar!" Ori said.

"Hm. A good one too. An expert, I imagine," Bilbo put in without another thought as all the dwarves turned to him for an answer to an unspoken question.

"This is going to get interesting," Valaina mumbled.

"And are you?" Gloin asked.

"Am I what?" Bilbo asked back.

"He said he's an expert! Hey!" Ori said excitedly.

"He definitely did not. You need a new ear trumpet," Valaina muttered to herself.

"Me? No. No, no, no. I'm not a burglar. I've never stolen a thing in my life," Bilbo said astounded.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Mister Baggins," Balin agreed. "He's hardly burglar material."

"Isn't that obvious?" Valaina asked.

"Aye," Dwalin put in. "The Wild in no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves."

"He's just fine," Kili said in defense of the hobbit.

"Oh, they agree to a hobbit traveling with them but not a lycan?" Valaina growled under her breath. "That's hurtful…"

The dwarves began to argue once more amongst themselves as to what Bilbo was and was not causing Gandalf to begin to grow rather angry. "Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, than a burglar he is!" he roared standing up as the lights grew dark only to lighten again. "Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet, and in fact, they can go unseen by most if they choose too. And while the dragon is accustomed to the scent of dwarf, the scent of a hobbit is all but unknown to him which gives us a distinct advantage. And, for dear Valaina's sake, I do not think he knows the smell of a lycan either."

"Thank you, Gandalf," Valaina muttered.

Gandalf sat down once more as he looked at Thorin and began to speak directly to him rather than the rest of the dwarves. "You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company and I have chosen Mister Baggins. There is a lot more to him than appearance suggests. He's got a lot more to offer than any of you know. Including himself. You must trust me on this."

"Very well. We'll do it your way," Thorin said. "Even though I would chose the she-elf over him any time."

"No, no," Bilbo started to object the whole idea.

"How touching," Valaina sneered at Thorin's words.

"Give him the contract," Thorin continued as he turned to Balin.

"It's just a summary of our out-of-pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth," Balin said as he handed Thorin a contract who shoved it roughly into the hobbit behind him.

"Funeral arrangements?" Bilbo asked uncertainly as he took the contract and began to read it.

Thorin stood up and moved over to Gandalf and bent to speak to the wizard quietly, though Valaina caught ear of what they said. "I cannot guarantee his safety," Thorin said.

"Understood."

"Nor will I be responsible for his fate."

"Agreed."

"As for the she-elf-"

"Lycan," Valaina mumbled.

"-I will not have her counted as one of this company."

"Ouch…"

"I understand," Gandalf gave a nod as Thorin sat down.

"Terms: Cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding one-fourteenth of total profit, if any. Hmm. Seems fair," Bilbo read as Gandalf gave a chuckle.

"Wait for it," Valaina said quietly. "He'll find something that will send him into a panic attack. Just watch. I wouldn't be shocked if he fainted as well seeing as he grew very pale at the mention of a dragon."

"I have no doubt he will, Valaina," Gandalf muttered back to the elleth.

"Present company shall not be liable for any injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof, including but not limited to, lacerations, evisceration…incineration?!"

"Aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in a blink of an eye," Bofur said encouragingly.

"That is what a dragon does," Valaina offered though she couldn't help but smile at the frightened hobbit as he seemed to pale at the thought of going up against a live, fire-breathing dragon.

"You alright, laddie?" Balin asked as Bilbo gave a small whimper.

"Huh? Yeah," came the weak response as he bent over and made some kind of noise as he exhaled air quickly.

"No he's not," Valaina corrected.

"Feel a bit faint."

"You look a little pale."

"That is not helping his cause, Valaina," reprimanded Gandalf.

"Think furnace, with wings," Bofur continued.

"And you say I'm not helping?" Valaina said to Gandalf as Bilbo looked dangerously close to passing out. "Although, that is a pretty accurate description…"

"Don't encourage him."

"Air," Bilbo replied. "I-I need air."

"Flash of light, searing pain, then poof. You're nothin' more than a pile of ash," Bofur finished very happily.

"Hmm," Bilbo said and Valaina saw the hobbit's face pale a bit as he tried to fight off the fainting feeling in his eyes, but failed to do so. "Nope."

Bilbo fell over and landed on the ground out cold. "And you want him to go on a quest with you?" Valaina asked Gandalf. "He won't last very long."

"And you would last longer?" Thorin rebounded.

"Longer than you," Valaina growled as Gandalf placed a hand on the lycan's shoulder to try and calm her.

"Dwalin, get the hobbit in a chair," Thorin said as they all dispersed throughout the hobbit hole as they began to explore the home.

Valaina moved about as well, though she avoided a few dwarves more so than the others, mainly Dwalin and Thorin. Somehow, she ended up running into Kili and Fili more often than not, and each time she did they reminded her to watch her head on the archways. After about the fifth time, she was ready to start avoiding them, though they were some of the kinder dwarves in the group. Sometime during her wandering, the hobbit came around back around to his sense, and Gandalf had given him a cup of tea to drink as he talked with him in the quiet study. Valaina, very tired of having to duck under each archway she was met with, was currently leaning against a wall staying out of the way of the dwarves as she delved into her thoughts. Much to her dismay, Thorin was the first to notice her avoiding them. "What are you thinking about?" Thorin asked none too politely as he spotted the lycan's constant frowns, glares, and blank expressions that crossed her face as she delved into her own thoughts.

"Memories of old," she responded in somewhat of the same manner, though her mind was filled with so many different emotions at the moment she didn't know how to come across as not wanting a conversation. "Some not so pleasant."

"I thought elves were supposed to always be happy yet here you are looking like your parents were killed the other night," the dwarf huffed and immediately saw he hit a softer spot in the lycan.

Valaina's red eyes met Thorin's blue, and the dwarf could see the many emotions that swirled in the red irises, but one seemed more out of place than all the others: hurt. "They were killed, just not the other day. My father killed my mother on my sixteenth birthday, and then he hunted me down for four years until a werewolf killed him and saved my life. A year after my mother died, I was cast out of my home," she growled and the attention of the other dwarves moved to the lycan as she freely opened the window into her past. "I was hunted by my own people. It was a strange fate that I was able to make a select few friends at Rivendell, and to come to have a place among the halls of Elrond. Like you, I have no place to call home. I belong nowhere. Rivendell is the closest thing I have to a home, and it is still not close enough for me to stay. Trust me, Thorin, when I say I know how it feels to be driven from your home, I know more so than any of you can imagine. At least you were spared of being hunted down by those you used to call your friends."

"Why would they drive you out?" Kili asked.

"I am impervious to Galadriel's sight, and she does not take kindly to that. They fear me, and fear drove them to hate me. Not that I care," Valaina growled.

"I think you do care," Thorin said harshly, "you're ego just won't let you show it."

"My ego has nothing to do with this. Those woodland elves are the ones who have held onto the grudges, and because of that, so have I. They started it, and I will end it."

"And how are you supposed to do that?" Fili asked in general curiosity.

Valaina shrugged as she frowned. "I could kill an elf or two…maybe even that god damn-"

"Eärlindë, that is enough now," Gandalf reprimanded the lycan before she could start listing the many people on her "To Kill" list that included, but was not limited to, a number of Lothlórien and Mirkwood elves.

Valaina resisted the urge to strangle the wizard as he walked away and went for strangling the air. As soon as he disappeared around the hall, Valaina turned to Thorin and his two nephews once more and lowered her voice. "I'd probably start with those Mirkwood elves," she snarled. "One particular bastard is number one on my list."

"Valaina!" Gandalf called and said lycan shut up with a shrug.

"I'm just saying…" she muttered as Thorin shook his head and Thorin turned and walked (more like stalked) off to talk with Balin about the Valar knows what.

She stood just next to the living room where the dwarves had started to gather as they began to hum a tune, and Valaina knew what was coming next. After feasting, drinking, and talking, they had gathered around for one last song before the night was up and their journey began the next day. To Valaina's shock, why she was shocked she really didn't know, Thorin started the song:

"Far over the misty mountains cold.

"To dungeons deep, and caverns old.

"We must away, 'ere break of day.

"To find our long-forgotten gold."

The other dwarves stood slowly and joined in on the song:

"The pines were roaring on the height.

"The winds were moaning in the night.

"The fire was red, it flaming spread.

"The trees like torches blazed with light."

Valaina felt the song hit home in her own heart. She then felt as if she had been intruding in on the dwarves, and gave in to the need to walk away from the scene. "And just where do you think you are going, my dear?" Gandalf asked as Valaina passed him on her way to the front door of the hobbit hole.

"To visit Isil," Valaina replied in a short tone that told the wizard all he needed to know about how the lycan felt at that moment.

"Are you sleeping inside or out?"

"I'll come inside in a few," Valaina said as before she walked outside into the chilly night, though the winds did not bother her for as an elf temperatures did not affect her like others.

She made her way up to the lone tree where hare mare was sleeping. Isil stood up quickly as Valaina moved to stand next to the black mare as the moon rose higher into the night sky making it the only other light to illuminate the Shire along with the lights coming from Bilbo's house. "Do you think we are right to accompany them on this quest, Isil?" she asked the mare quietly.

Isil gave a nicker as her black nose nudged Valaina in reassurance. The horse was ready for an adventure as well, and she wanted to get it started right away. Isil doused all doubts in Valaina's mind as the lycan's red eyes looked into the determined blue eyes of the mare. They would do whatever they could to help aid in this quest, and they would earn the respect of the dwarves through whatever feat it took. She may have lost her own home, but Valaina made a vow to help the dwarves get their home back no matter what happened. She was going to make sure they didn't have to continue to go through the pain she felt all those years back when she was stripped of her home by her own people, and if they didn't like it then they had better suck it up and deal with it quick for she wasn't going to leave them any time soon even if Thorin hated her for just being some resemblance of an elf even if it was just her pointed ears.