"Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand.
I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me."
Opening song from Joss Whedon's Firefly
Thorin woke to the feeling of cool moisture on his face. Shifting in his bedroll to look at the sky, he noticed that it wasn't far from dawn: the clouds were dark and heavy with the promise of rain, though in the east they were tinged with the first hint of red. Already a light, misty drizzle was falling. He sighed: while he was used to travelling in the rain it did not make the sensation of wet clothes any more pleasant.
He rose quickly, shaking off the last of his nightmare-filled sleep. Bifur, who was on watch, saw him rising and nodded in greeting. Thorin wandered over to where the wild Dwarf was sitting with his cloak wrapped around him as protection from the elements, joining him in looking out over the ridge.
Even from this high vantage point they could only see little more than a mile before the horizon turned grey and hazy in the mist. It's going to be a foul day, Thorin signed in the Iglishmêk.
Aye, Bifur agreed with a single flick of his finger. It won't be fair again for several days, by my reckoning.
Thorin lingered for several more seconds, simply looking out westwards over the plains before moving away towards the small wood to the side of their camp. He gathered firewood before it could be soaked by the rain and returned to the group. The previous night the fire had been built under the shelter of the ridge, but the disadvantage to this was that it bought him close to where Miss Darrow was sleeping, curled up tight in what she referred to as her sleeping bag next to Fili and Kili, the tip of her nose just visible above the blanket she had pulled to her face. She was something of an enigma to him, almost perpetually cheerful and quick with her words but still undoubtedly strange and foreign. He had been as shocked and repelled as the others when she had so casually described relationships in her world, but he had quickly realised from the blasé manner in which she spoke that she simply did not understand the magnitude of the differences between them: to her, she was describing something entirely natural and had neither anticipated nor understood their judgmental reaction. He had encountered similar such cultural differences before when he had travelled in human towns as a blacksmith, and so he had cleared his throat and told the company to stand down.
But it was more than that too, over the past few days he had noticed that she had a far greater knowledge of Middle Earth than she should, being from another world. Thorin couldn't help but be suspicious of her despite his intrigue in the girl.
By the time he had gotten the fire started (with more difficulty than he would care to admit due to the damp wood) the rest of the camp was beginning to stir. There was a faint rustle behind him and he turned to see Miss Darrow blinking sleepily at him, her face pale in the dawn light. She smiled and mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'good morning' before sitting up, yawning hugely and nudging Kili with her foot to wake him.
She noticed the rain and, in a move that surprised him, closed her eyes and tilted her head back to allow it to fall on her face, a small smile gracing her lips.
The rest of the company did not have such a serene response to the foul weather: there were grumbles and groans abound as they ate breakfast and saddled the ponies, preparing to leave. Most of the company had leather cloaks or hoods to protect them from the rain, but Mr Baggins had ran out of his cosy home with no knowledge whatsoever about travelling in the wild and had only his blazer to cover him.
Miss Darrow received startled looks from several of the Dwarves when she rooted around in her pack and pulled out a very bright purple jacket with white spots that was folded up small. It was made of a strange, light material that the water simply sluiced off, protecting her far better than their leather hoods. Bofur commented on how happy she was despite the rain and she replied something about being English and not minding a bit of drizzle.
Within an hour of breaking camp the rain had turned torrential. It was the kind of rain that seeped down ones collar and into clothes, chilling the skin regardless of the number of layers worn.
Talk was scarce as the ponies splashed their way along the muddy path, the main topic of conversation being grumbles about wet tobacco.
Around mid-morning Miss Darrow spurred her pony forward until she was riding alongside him, an unusual occurrence since they rarely spoke while riding. Thorin braced himself for the disagreement that would almost undoubtedly arise from her mere presence, but she surprised him yet again. "Balin told us about the Battle of Azanulbizar last night," she said softly, stumbling a little over the Dwarvish pronunciation.
"What of it?" he asked gruffly, looking straight ahead at the path before him. He had heard Balin talking the previous evening and his sleep had been plagued with memories as a result.
"I just wanted to say … that I'm sorry about your family."
That made him glance at her. "Why do you apologise? When they were slain not only were you not yet born, you were not even in this world."
"I meant that I am sorry it happened to you," she clarified.
Thorin shook his head, dismissing her words. "Do not take responsibility for actions in which you had no part, you owe me no apologies."
"I'm not taking any responsibility, that would be ridiculous," she said with slight exasperation. "In my world we say sorry meaning I sympathise with your pain, or I regret that you are hurting – even if you had no part in hurting them."
"A strange custom," he observed.
"Perhaps," she said, shrugging. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He looked at her properly at that: he hadn't ever truly talked about that battle aside from discussions of revenge, not even with Balin and Dwalin, his closest friends. The closest he had ever come to showing his grief was when he had told his sister, Dis, about the outcome of the battle. "My brother, Frerin, also died that day," he said slowly after a long silence, the words dragged almost reluctantly from his lips.
Miss Darrow was simply looking at him, her head slightly cocked to one side as she listened, her hair escaping in wet, dark tangles from beneath her hood. Her eyes could only be described as beguiling, the precise colour of the rainclouds above them, silently entreating him to continue.
"He was several years younger than me - cocky and arrogant, much like Kili," he told her, the barest hint of a smile lifting one corner of his mouth at the memories that stirred. "He once said that the two of us could reclaim Erebor single-handedly and tame Smaug through sheer stubbornness."
"You miss him," she surmised.
"Every day," he nodded, and then returned his gaze to the road ahead. "I have not spoken of him in a while."
"I miss my brothers too," she said quietly, so quietly that he wondered if he was meant to hear her.
"You will see them again," he found himself telling her.
She gave him a small smile. "I hope so, though they will never believe me when I tell them about all this."
"And why is that?"
"Journeys to other worlds aren't particularly common," she pointed out wryly. "I'd probably be thrown in the loony bin if I ever told people about my jaunt in Middle Earth."
Before he could request clarification on what exactly the 'loony bin' was, as the company often had to do with her highly unusual way of speaking, Dori called out to where the Wizard was riding. "Here, Mr Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?"
At this Miss Darrow's smile bloomed into a full grin, as if something she had been expecting had happened.
"What was that all about?" Kili demanded instantly when Lizzy dropped back to ride with him again.
"What?" she asked innocently - as if she hadn't spent half the morning staring at his uncles back and chewing on her bottom lip. A few minutes ago she had told him that she would be back in a second and then went riding off to spend a good few minutes in quiet, intense conversation with Thorin.
"That," he said, nodding towards his uncle. Lizzy still looked confused. "You and Thorin," he elaborated.
"Oh, we were talking," she said casually, like that was explanation enough.
"About?" he prompted when it became clear that she wasn't going to clarify further.
She raised a single eyebrow at him. "I don't see how that's any of your business."
Kili wasn't going to let this drop. "What's going on?" he wanted to know.
"What do you mean?" Lizzy was definitely playing up to her innocence act right now, not looking at him and pretending to listen to Gandalf talk about Wizards.
"You two don't normally chat while we're riding," he pointed out patiently. "You ignore each other and if you do talk then you argue."
"So?"
"So, what's going on between you two?" he pressured.
A frown creased her forehead. "Nothing," she said, sounding scandalized – and in hindsight he probably could have phrased that question better, he hadn't meant to imply that there was anything romantic between them, he'd just wanted to know what they were talking about so secretly. "Jeez, Kili, what are you implying?"
Kili awkwardly scratched the back of his head, thinking that he really needed Fili for this kind of conversation. His brother was a few ponies away, talking to Nori about something. "It's just … I've never really seen him pay attention to a woman before."
Lizzy's mouth was hanging partially open. "He isn't paying attention to me. God, you've been present for pretty much every single conversation we've had, I don't understand what you're picking up on."
"He stood up for you when we were, um … not really speaking to you," he said in his defence.
This surprised her and she gave him a sideways look. "He did?"
He nodded, still feeling a bit guilty for that. "Called us out on our behaviour, told us that even if we don't agree with people's traditions and ways that we still have to respect them."
"Well that's … nice," Lizzy trailed off, sounding very unsure if that was the adjective she wanted to use to describe his uncle. "I mean it's very … considerate. Diplomatic." she added, clearly having thought of the word she was looking for. "But it still doesn't mean that there is anything going on between us."
However now the idea of Thorin and Lizzy together was firmly planted in his head; Kili noticed more things the more he thought about it. "What about your conversation the other night about politics?" he questioned, having previously dismissed it as nothing.
"What about it?"
"There was a certain … tension between the two of you," he said as he thought back.
Lizzy looked 'pissed off,' as she would have said in her strange manner – he was learning so many interesting words and phrases from her. "Jesus, have I said one word about you and Tauriel? No, so you can just shut the hell up – there is no tension between me and Thorin."
"Who on earth is Tauriel?" he asked, thoroughly perplexed.
"Never mind," Lizzy groaned, and then she muttered under her breath something that sounded like 'bloody Peter Jackson, it's not even canon anyway.'
The rain slowed to a drizzle as the afternoon wore on and the company had a rough time finding a dry bit of ground to make camp on. They eventually settled under a small clump of trees, though while it was drier beneath them the wind would occasionally shake the branches and send heavy drops showering down on them.
Fili and Kili started Miss Darrow's archery lessons as the others set up camp and attempted to build a fire with the little partially dry wood they could salvage. Thorin found himself watching them as they taught her the proper stance and grip, with Kili taking the lead due to his greater knowledge of archery – he was just thinking that it was pleasant to see his youngest nephew taking on such a responsibility with maturity befitting to his status as one of his heirs when Miss Darrow said something that caused Kili to laughingly put her in a headlock and he mentally took back his words.
"Do you ever wonder what is going on between those three?" he asked Balin, still looking at the trio.
Balin followed his gaze: Fili was breaking the other two apart and they resumed their lesson. "I'm sure it's nothing."
"She is very familial with them," he said.
"Ah, let the young people have their fun, laddie. I'm sure there is no harm in it," Balin said.
Thorin gave his friend a sceptical look. "I did not intend for this quest to be fun."
"Really? That's why I came along," Bofur said cheekily, having overheard them as he passed with an arm full of firewood.
The cheerful Dwarf was ignored. "I'm glad to see she is learning to use a weapon," Dwalin said gruffly. "I did not like the idea of her being completely defenceless."
Thorin nodded his agreement and continued to observe the lesson. She was not very good - in fact she was appalling. They kept her practicing until they lost the light and not once did she manage to hit the wide tree they were using as a target.
The next few days passed in a haze of drizzle, with the most interesting events being almost losing a pony as they forded a river (Fili and Kili got thoroughly soaked trying to rescue it and, unsurprisingly, no one understood the Baywatch joke Lizzy cracked) and Lizzy being completely hopeless at archery. Several of the Dwarves had lost a handful of coins betting that this day or that day would be the one that she finally managed to hit the target, but to no avail. It turned out that archery was hard, far harder than they made it look in the movies.
The rainy weather finally broke and the clouds parted, significantly brightening everyone's mood – except for Thorin's, it seemed. As they had gotten closer to Rivendell Gandalf had been pestering him almost daily to stop off there and his irritation was reflected in the snappish way he was speaking to the entire company.
Evening had almost arrived when they approached an old, burnt out farm house that Lizzy instantly recognised. "Uh oh."
Fili and Kili gave her a questioning look. "Nothing, ignore me," she said in response to them, quickly dismounting from her pony before any of the others.
"We'll camp here for the night," Thorin announced, stopping just before the dilapidated house. "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them."
"Better do as he says, I have no desire to be eaten," she said, shoving her reigns into Fili's hand and heading off to find Gandalf.
"… What is she talking about?" she heard Fili say from behind her.
Gandalf was gazing around the destroyed farm with a look of consternation on his face. "A farmer and his family used to live here …"
"Hey Gandalf, I recognise this place," Lizzy said as she caught up with the Wizard, gesturing around her with a thumb. "Is this one of the things you want me to change?"
He thought for a moment. "Perhaps, if we can," he said. Thorin came past them into the house, having been rudely ordering Oin to get a fire going – as if they hadn't been doing that every day they had made camp since setting out from the Shire. "I think it would be wiser to move on, we could make for the Hidden Valley," he said to the Dwarf.
The look on Thorin's face implied that he was thoroughly losing patience with the Wizard. "I have told you already, I will not go near that place."
"Why not?" the Wizard asked. "The Elves could help us, we could get food, rest, advice."
"I do not need their advice," Thorin said, sounding like a petulant child.
"We have a map that we cannot read, Lord Elrond could help us."
"Help? A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the Elves looked on and did nothing!" he said angrily.
"Uh, deciding not to leap into a suicide mission and fight a dragon is hardly betraying you, it's not like the Elves actually attacked you," Lizzy couldn't resist pointing out.
"You know nothing, Miss Darrow," Thorin said, positively glaring at her. He turned back to Gandalf. "You ask me to seek out the people who betrayed my grandfather, who betrayed my father …"
Gandalf lightly touched Lizzy's shoulder to stop her when she opened her mouth to speak again. "You are neither of them," he said consolingly to Thorin but when the Dwarf showed no sign of relenting, he added in a firmer voice, "I did not give you that map and key so that you could hold on to the past."
"I did not know that they were yours to keep," he snapped, his gaze flicked furiously up at the Wizard.
Gandalf huffed and turned on his heel, grinding his staff into the ground and stalking out of the ruined house. "Everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?" Bilbo asked as he passed him.
"To seek the company of the only one around here who has any sense," he retorted, not even slowing down.
"And who's that?"
"Myself, Mr Baggins," Gandalf barked as he left. "See if you can reason with him, Miss Darrow. I've had enough of Dwarves for one day."
Thorin looked daggers at her, almost daring her to respond to the Wizards order. Never one to back down from a challenge, she straightened her shoulders and stared the angry King straight in the eyes. "I do know some things, I know that even if you don't want to go to Rivendell we shouldn't stay here."
"Here we have shelter, room for the ponies, firewood and fresh water. Night will be falling in little over an hour, so moving on is impractical. I suggest you continue with your archery Miss Darrow, Mahal knows you need the practice," he growled, unimpressed with her. He moved passed her and out of the house, indicating that she was dismissed, addressing the other Dwarves. "Come on Bombur, we're hungry."
The past few days of lessons had not improved Lizzy's technique in the slightest. Fili and Kili had taught her the basics and apparently she had her stance just right, but every single arrow still missed the wide oak tree she was using as a target.
She mumbled furiously under her breath as she emptied Kili's quiver again and again, firing every arrow into the grass only to stomp forward, collect them all and start over. She was annoyed at Thorin for not listening to her and dismissing her advice to move on like she was an annoying child, simply ordering her to practice – and it wasn't like she could just tell him that there were three hungry trolls who would like nothing better than Dwarves for dinner just on the other side of those trees.
She was also infuriated by his mood swings: after their brief conversation about his family in the rain she had thought they were on their way to some kind of friendship, only now to have him turn around and snap at her.
Getting irritated when an arrow sailed a good few feet to the side of the tree, she moved a few steps forward to see if being closer to the target would help make things easier.
"Move back," he heard Thorin's rumbling voice coming from behind her. She turned and saw him sitting on a low rock in the camp, watching her with his pipe in the corner of his mouth. "You are perfectly able to reach the target from your previous distance. Moving forward will not make your technique any better."
Lizzy wordlessly did as he said, her lips pressed tightly together in annoyance. Apparently he wasn't satisfied with simply telling her off for trying to advise him, he now wanted to criticise her archery too. She nocked another arrow and drew it back, acutely aware of his scrutiny – it missed completely.
"You are focusing too much on the target," Thorin said, standing and walking over to her.
"Kili told me to," she pointed out brusquely, wishing he would just leave her be.
Thorin shook his head, dismissing her words. "For Kili the motions are instinctual and the target is the only thing to be considered. You make mistakes because you are focusing on the target and not your actions. And I doubt he took into account that you need a different style as a woman."
He gestured for her to take her stance and gave her an appraising look. With one hand on her right shoulder he pulled her back slightly until she was facing the target at an angle. "Legs further apart, brace your weight here ... lower your elbow," he added, pushing downwards on her drawn back arm until he was satisfied with her position, his hand cool on her bare skin. "Both eyes open. Take aim ... try now."
Lizzy took a deep breath and released the arrow – it hit the tree.
Of course it was still miles away from where she had actually been aiming, but it was the first arrow to go anywhere near the target. She couldn't help a grin.
Thorin released her arm from where he had been guiding her, his face still fixed in a scowl. "Keep practicing," he said grumpily, turning to head back to the camp.
"Gandalf is right, you know," Lizzy said to his back as she drew another arrow, regaining his attention. "Other than your stubborn pride there is no good reason for us not to go to Rivendell." She took her stance, just as he had shown her, aimed and released, hitting the tree once more.
"I have no desire to trade hollow niceties with the Elves. We have enough provisions to last us until we reach the Wild, then we will be able to hunt with ease, therefore we have no need of supplies," Thorin said, clearly cross at having to repeat himself. "There is no reason why we should go to Rivendell."
"But that doesn't exactly help us with the map though, does it?" she pointed out, firing another arrow – this one missed the tree, but not as badly as she had done before. She paused, resting the bottom of the bow on the ground. "You know, Kili told me that you stood up for me when the others were being all judgemental, talking about respect and tolerance."
"What of it?" he asked, his gravelly voice sounding annoyed.
"Well now you don't want to go near the Elves because of similar prejudices, don't you think that makes you a little hypocritical?" she put to him.
Thorin folded his arms, giving her a disapproving look. "And what else have you and Kili been discussing?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lizzy asked with a confused frown.
"What exactly are your intentions towards my nephews, Miss Darrow?" Thorin said bluntly, his blue eyed gaze fixed on her face, judging her reaction.
"My intentions?" she repeated – was this the question of the week or something? She had already had to deal with Kili's questioning. "Are you serious?"
"Very," he intoned. "My nephews are the closet family I have and I do not wish to see either of them trifled with."
"I'm not trifling with them, and I certainly don't have any intentions," she said, growing annoyed in turn.
"You three are very intimate with each other," Thorin pointed out, clearly fishing for information.
"So?"
"So," he said with a scowl. "One cannot help but recall your account of the ... somewhat looser morals in your world, as well as the medical device in your arm that you so proudly displayed."
Lizzy blinked at him with her mouth hanging partially open, reigning in her temper when she realised just what it was exactly that he was implying. "I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say that. Yes, we are intimate with each other, but it's called friendship, Thorin."
"Be sure that it does not turn into more, such a development would no doubt be a distraction on this quest," he ordered before turning on his heel to head back to the camp.
"Wait," she called angrily, taking a few steps after him. He stopped and turned around again. "You think you can just change the subject and walk away? We were talking about Rivendell."
It appeared that Thorin was clenching his jaw. "I've already made it clear that Rivendell is not an option."
Lizzy's hand was tight around the grip of the bow, Kili would probably have told her off if he had seen how she was holding his precious weapon. "Why did you take me on as an advisor if you're not even going to listen to what I have to say?"
"I took you on because I had little choice," he said in a low hiss. "Had I not already given my word to Gandalf I would have left you back in The Shire, you have certainly proved to be of little use so far."
Lizzy bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from lashing out right back. She drew herself up to her full height, immensely grateful that Thorin was only a few inches taller than her so that she could look him in the eye, and said as coolly as possible, "... Break camp now. Get the entire company together and leave this place."
It was Thorin's turn to blink at her, clearly having anticipated a different reaction to his words. "And why would I do that?"
"Because I am advising you too," she said with a hint of acid in her voice. "Things will go badly here if you don't."
He shook his head. "Both you and Gandalf simply want to go to Rivendell, I will not listen to you anymore."
"Going to Rivendell is the only way you are going to find out what that map says, because I am certainly not going to bother telling you," she called after him as he started to walk away once more.
That got his attention. He turned and took a few steps back until he was right in front of her, their faces close together. "You aren't going to ... bother?" he repeated, and Lizzy silently cursed her stupidly big mouth. "How could you possibly know what the map says?"
"I don't," she said instantly, turning away from him and reaching for another arrow – not entirely a lie, she couldn't remember the exact wording of the map but she knew the gist of it from the story.
Thorin grabbed her wrist, stopping the movement. "You are not a very good liar, Miss Darrow," he said in a soft and dangerous voice. "You will tell me what you know, right now."
"I didn't say that I know anything," she said, trying to pull her hand free but to no avail. "However I do know that Elrond will be able to help us, in fact he is probably one of the few people in Middle Earth who can actually read it."
His grip tightened almost painfully. "You claim to be from another world and yet you seem very knowledgeable about Middle Earth and its people ... How is that?"
"Let go of me," she demanded.
Thorin released her instantly, almost tossing her arm away in disgust. "You must think me a fool if you believe that I haven't noticed that you are not that which you seem. Mark my words, Miss Darrow, I will discover your secret."
Darkness had nearly fallen by the time Fili and Kili finished settling the ponies, with some of them in the remains of a barn and others tethered by their long reigns to broken beams and tree branches. Kili patted Cotton's flanks and ducked under her neck to rejoin Fili. "I'm starving, I'm going to see how long dinner will be," he announced and got only a grunt in reply from his brother, who was retying the knot on Binky's reigns.
He picked his way through the trees towards the camp but stopped abruptly when he saw Thorin helping Lizzy with her archery. He ducked behind a tree to watch them. Thorin had one hand on her shoulder, pulling her gently round until she was facing the target at an angle. He then pushed her elbow down, his hand lingering as she fired the arrow. She smiled hugely when it actually met its mark.
"Fili!" he hissed over his shoulder, not wanting to take his eyes off the scene in front of him. "Damn it," he muttered when his brother didn't reply, abandoning his post to go find him.
"Fili!" he called again when he reached the ponies.
"What?" his brother asked, busy stroking Daisy's neck.
"Come on, you have to see this," Kili said, already halfway back out of the clearing. "Uncle is helping Lizzy with her archery, they actually look like they're flirting."
Fili made a noise of disbelief but followed him nevertheless until they were at the edge of the trees. Thorin and Lizzy were eye to eye, talking intensely. "Looks more like an argument to me," Fili pointed out, and then raised his eyebrows as they saw their uncle grab Lizzy's wrist, his expression furious. "And a heated one too."
Kili was annoyed. "They were flirting, I saw it with my own eyes," he said, watching Thorin stalk away and Lizzy sticking her tongue out at his back.
"Sure you did, " Fili said, slapping a hand on his back. "Come on, let's get back to the ponies."
"Ten gold says they're married by mid-winter," he said trailing after his brother as they headed back into the trees.
"Are you serious?" Fili stopped him, his expression unusually solemn. "Kee, she's going back to her own world."
He hadn't considered this, but he was still positive of what he had seen between them. He raised his chin stubbornly. "Ten gold, take it or leave it."
Fili sighed, extending his hand and they shook on the bet. "Fine, but you're going to lose."
They reached the clearing and froze. Several of the surrounding trees had been ripped up, as if something huge had stomped through the trees, simply swatting them aside as it went. Two of their ponies were also missing. "Oh Mahal ..."
Pretty Thorin/Lizzy heavy chapter, a lot of interaction in this one - or, as it has been dubbed by one awesome reviewer, AvengerNerd3, LORIN!
I was a bit worried I wouldn't get it out by today since I have started my job, as well as not having a laptop, so writing took a bit of a hit this week. Also means I can't guarantee an update by Monday, as I usually do, but I will do my best!
Also the Tauriel reference wasn't originally in there, but I couldn't resist after seeing the trailer and reading about the hinted romance between her and Kili – which leads me to today's question ... what did you guys think of the trailer?
Reviews and constructive criticism are very welcome and you can follow any updates / sneak peeks / ask questions about the story on my tumblr ~Kindle-the-Stars
