'We cannot linger, the road is not safe.' Dis looked up at Madril and straightened her shoulders. The tall ranger intimidated her and she did not like it.
'That is the purpose of our presence.' Madril told her. 'I take it that you are the leader of this caravan?'
Dis had the same natural authority Thorin had over others. It was their majestic aura and their confidence which made them born leaders.
'I am. My name is Dis, daughter of Thrain, son of Thror, princess under the mountain.' Dis bowed her head slightly and Gaia could not help but notice that even her movements were like Thorins. Gaia tried to catch Madrils eyes, for she did not want to reveal her gender by speaking. They could not waste any more time. Madril noticed her alarmed state and turned back to Dis.
'My lady, we need to leave this road now. A group of orcs has planned an ambush further down this road.' Madril informed the dwarf and ordered his rangers to retreat back into the forest. 'We will distract them, so that you can retreat to the great crossing a mile back. From there you can take the road to Rivendell. But you will have to leave your carts behind. Only take what you need.'
'All our posessions are on these carts.' Dis remarked, but she knew that they had no choice. 'Fine. We will turn around to the crossing. I thank you for your warning, master ranger.'
Madril only nodded and bowed before the dwarf lady before he left. Gaia looked at Thorins sister one last time and turned around to follow her fellow rangers. She was anxious and inattentive and her mind lingered with Dis and the caravan.
'You seem worried, Gaia.' Madrils words made Gaia jerk out of her thoughts.
'I had hoped that the Battle of the Five Armies would force the orcs away from our lands. But instead they swarm Middle Earth and are more dangerous than ever.' Gaia told him. It was only partly a lie. Azog was still alive and seeked for revenge. Gaia feared that he would hunt Thorin and his family until he died trying. Especially now since his son Bolg had fallen in battle against Thorin and his kin. At the same moment Gaia wondered why she even cared, but in her heart she knew. She still loved Thorin.
The rangers tracked down the orcs quickly. But the rangers were too few and so they only observed them, waiting for a chance to ambush the orcs themselves. They would only attack if the orcs followed the dwarves too soon. Gaia looked for Azog, for she was sure that these orcs were from his pack, but she did not see him. She understood the black speech and listened carefully. The orcs were wondering why the dwarven caravan did not pass them and got irritated. They started fighting one another and the rangers watched with a grim satisfaction.
'Gaia.' Madril turned towards the female ranger. 'I will return to our village with some of our men. Take the scouts and have an eye on the dwarves. We will meet again in a few days.'
Gaia nodded grimly and rushed back to the great Eastern road with the scouts. They knew all the shortcuts and the secret paths of Middle Earth and after two days they had reached the caravan again. The dwarves had taken as much with them as they could carry, for they had left the carts behind. Gaia winced as she saw female and younger dwarves with bent backs due to their heavy load. She remembered that the dwarves of Thorins company had often been exhausted from the heavy load of weapons they had carried with them until they had been stripped of all weapons in Mirkwood. Gaia smirked as she remembered how the elf who had disarmed Fili had nearly despaired because of the amount of knives Fili had hidden under his clothes. Kili had more fun during their encounter with the Mirkwood elves. He had met Tauriel for the first time. Gaia chuckled quietly as she remembered how the young dwarfs eyes had widened as he had seen Tauriel fighting off the spiders. At first Gaia had thought that he had been impressed by the elfs fighting skills, but now she knew that he had fallen in love in that moment. Gaia wondered when exactly she had fallen in love with Thorin.
Gaia walked in the shadows of the great forest. She had tracked down a few bandits and waited until darkness to attack them. They were four and she was alone, but she would use the fact that everyone underestimated her. She was a woman, a smaller one at that and she looked harmless. Gaia had big brown eyes and a beautiful face. It distracted from her fierce character and her martial life. The female ranger sneaked up behind the bandits and listened to the black speech. Gaia was one of the few who understood and spoke the black speech because she did not fear it. The bandits were talking about a dwarf. He was the exiled prince of Erebor and wandered the wild as a blacksmith. He would be in Bree this evening and the bandits planned to ambush him before he reached the town. They were talking about someone named Azog, the Defiler, and about a payment that was offered for the dwarfs head. Gaia had heard enough. She stepped out of the shadows and shot two of the bandits before the other two even reacted. They fell under her sword only few moments later. One of the men had let go of a bit of pergament and Gaia took it into her hand. Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror. So this was the dwarf.
Gaia entered the Prancing Pony long after sunset. She had run into the grey wizard on the road to Bree and they had talked for a while. The wizard was too nosy and curious for Gaias taste and she only told him what she thought was necessary. But he had been the one who had began talking about Thorin, as if he had known that Gaia had just protected him by slaying the bandits. He told her that he needed to talk to the dwarf prince about an important quest. Gaia promised him that she would send for him if she had found the prince in exile. The wizard disappeared as soon as they had passed the towns gates. The ranger did not need long to find out where the dwarf had gone. A person like him caught peoples eyes, no matter how careful he was. She had been told that Thorin would be in te Prancing Pony. She found him instantly. He had sat down with his back to te fire and smoked his pipe. He was handsome for a dwarf. Gaia had only met a few dwarven merchants before and they had all been round and hairy. Thorin was...Gaia walked closer to take a better look at him. He had a handsome face, a long nose, thin - but sensual - lips and stunning blue eyes. His hair fell over his broad shoulders in waves and Gaias gaze moved to his muscular lower arms and big hands. It was the first time that she wondered how it would be like to be touched by such callous and huge hands. Shocked by her own thoughts Gaia shook her head to clear her mind. There was no need to talk to him, but she was drawn to him by a force she could not understand. Slowly she walked over to him and sat down. She would never forget the moment when their eyes had first met. The dwarf prince had looked at her in surprise and mistrust, but then something in his eyes had changed and Gaia had felt warm. And not because of the fire.
The next morning Gaia decided to follow the dwarf to the south together with the wizard. Thorin was on his way to the Blue Mountains to gather his kin for the quest. A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. He would try to ask for reinforcement from all seven dwarven kingdoms. But Gaia already knew that it was futile. The dwarves were scathered over all of Middle Earth, there was no unity and no loyalty between the clans and they would not follow Thorin unless he posessed the arkenstone. Gaia had heard stories about this stone. The heart of the Lonely Mountain had been found by Thorins grandfather, Thror, and had been seen as a sign of his strong reign. All dwarves had sworn allegiance to the king who posessed the stone. And now, the stone lay underneath a pile of gold and a dangerous dragon, Smaug. The beast which had taken Thorins home, Erebor. Gaia had seen the pain over this loss in Thorins eyes as Gandalf told her the story on their way south. That evening Thorin had taken the first watch and Gaia knew that he wanted to be alone. He had barely acknowledged her presence during their journey, but he had not objected to her presence either. That had surprised Gaia at first, but then she had told herself that she should not be judgemental. Dwarves were known to be distrustful and introverted, but she would not condemn them because of this trait. After all that the dwarves had lived through, Gaia could not blame them. That night Thorin woke her to tell her that it was her turn for the watch. His hand had brushed her arm only slightly, but it had suficed to wake the ranger. In her startled state Gaia had held a dagger at Thorins throat and the dwarf had withdrawn his hands and held them up in defeat. Slowly Gaia had sat up, her dagger still in contact with Thorins skin. Their eyes had met and for a moment time had stood still. Gaia believed that it was the time when she began to fall for Thorin Oakenshield. It happened just like that, with no apparent reason, but it happened slowly. Gaia only realised months later what she really felt for the dwarf and it had almost been too late. They had barely escaped Goblin Town and if it had not been for their courageous burglar, Thorin would have died then and there. On a cold rock, far away from home.
Bilbo. Gaia felt a mixture of feelings when she thought of the halfling. He was her friend, a loyal and warm hearted friend. But there was also an ugly feeling inside of Gaias heart when she thought of Bilbo. Jealousy. Bilbo had set out on a quest with the dwarves and had helped to reclaim their homeland. He had stood his ground against the dragon and lateron in battle. But so had she. Yet, Thorin had only acknowledged the hobbit´s loyalty and not hers. Gaia felt pure hatred. But it was no hatred against Bilbo or Thorin. She hated herself for feeling the way she did.