Unpleasant Dreams 10

Ginger improved her skills greatly. Putting her heart and soul into her work as if it was all she lived for. Every blow met a blow and every movement was mimicked and performed perfectly. Dwalin was very impressed and while his chest swelled with pride at her growth he'd never admit it. A woman was a woman after all and he feared that it'd go straight to her head and make her vain. Instead he expressed his happiness in a different way. Allowing her to sleep through the night, or letting her remove her armour before bed. He even said she could remove the boots so long as she wasn't training.

However she had put them back on shortly after, saying her feet ached when she tread the floor. When Dwalin had felt she was ready, he instructed Fili and Kili to help her train with the bow which Ginger took on much more quickly than the blade.

"Incoming!" Dwalin cried, as a large boulder hurled down the stoney wall, crashing and marring the side. Ginger cried out as she ducked underneath the slope, not even mithril she believed could have saved her from being crushed.

The rumbling of the mountain progressed to get louder and harsher to a point where it was impossible to walk, let alone stand. "Stone giants!" Bofur exclaimed, a fierce humongous figure emerging from the top as if the mountain was puny and insignifigant. "By my beard!" Bofur gasped, "The legends are true! Giants! Stone Giants!" The giant hurled a huge chunk of rock at another giant that appeared. As their stony war waged the mountain rocked and swayed, the middle splitting in two. Ginger leaped behind Kili as the path underneath her gave way, her stomach flopping as the half they stood on moved away from the rest of the group.

Ginger's legs buckled as the Earth took shape and the group's wall teetered away, "Bilbo!" Ginger cried, looking at the other side in horror. What if they fell to their deaths? "Ginger move!" Kili shouted, wrenching her arm to pull her back into the wall's pit. Ginger screamed, cowering as a jagged mounain side came colliding into them. Kili's fist wrapped tightly around her wrist, jerking her back as she narrowly missed being squashed to death.

"Thanks." Ginger mumbled, as the wall slid away, taking a chunk of the mountain floor with it. Kili who had been closest stumbled and fell, the ground disenegrating beneath his feet. "Augh!" He cried, clamoring for the slick ledge. "Hold on!" Ginger called as she leaped to grab his hands. Bombur was given little time to grab her legs as she clung to Kili. The wind wooshed past Ginger's face, the icy rain stinging her face and neck as the Giant's leg swung around. All the hurling and bashing the massive creatures did made it extremely hard to pull Kili up.

THORIN'S POV

He watched in sheer horror as his nephew dangled helplessly from the giant's knee. Ginger had an uneasy hold as her own body hung over the edge. As the giant moved his body Thorin looked on as the small hobbit grabbed at Kili's belt loops, crushing her body onto him as they collided into the mountain side and out of sight. "No!" Thorin howled, making a break and fearing the worst. "Kili!"

"Ginger! Kili!" Dwalin boomed, his heavy boots falling rapidly behind Thorin. As they broke over the edge Thorin released a sigh of relief. All of his companions were alive and well. "Where is Ginger?" He demanded, searching through pale faces. "She's here." Bombur grunted, lifting the limp hobbit. "Unconcious, but alive. Crazy little hobbit." He laughed, passing her to Dwalin who readily reached for her. "Had it not been for her Mithril, she and Kili would be dead."

Something Thorin knew Ginger knew little about. When the armour had been presented to the girl, she had no idea how significgant the material was. A point he would bring up with Ginger later, after he finished yelling at her for leaping of a ledge blindlessly to grab someone who may or may not have been there. But he would never forget her bravery. If only some of it could rub off on her brother. He thought distastefully, staring down at the older hobbit. "He's been lost ever since he left home." Thorin replied to Dwalin.

GINGER'S POV

She stood in the distance watching a great battle. There were bodies piled on top of each other, blood splashed through the air as the battle waged on. "Am I dead?" She thought softly, looking around quietly. Nobody seemed to notice her as the slaying drawled on. All around her there was pain and death. Dwarves, Elves, Men, Orcs and Wargs were all around her, shouting and screaming as they felled one another. In the air, giant eagles soared snatching orcs off of the ground and flinging them a good distance. Ginger trotted over the dead bodies, her feet slick with glistening red liquid as she climbed up a small hill. An eagle narrowly missing her head and latching onto an orc who had a raised sword above his head ready to strike her down. Ginger noticed the jagged scar on his rough clawed leg and the sheer gold of the eagles eye. A fierce creature, Ginger thought.

As Ginger turned she saw a man, or a Dwarf actually. She felt she recognized him, but could not tell from the great distance and the shadows casted over his face. As he brandished his sword, cutting down his enemies with ferocity he failed to see the orc with the bow who aimed at his heart. "H-Hey!" Ginger coughed, her voice was gone and she hobbled over the bodies, trying to gain speed to warn him. Her legs like lead and her body heavy Ginger made slow progress.

Ginger cried out, watching the noble figure be struck down and more dwarves appeared, and once more Ginger felt she knew them but could not recall. She felt a bond so strong that it was emotionally draining to see them struck down and murdered as well. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" She screamed, finding her voice. Her body which had been weighed down thrusted and kicked, propelling her through the gore and guts.

Finally she reached the fallen soldiers and she stared down in horror. Thorin, Fili and Kili had been the slaughtered and she grappled at their bodies trying to shake them awake.

Jolting awake Ginger reached out, sitting up fast to glance around her. 'To change the past is to change the future...but to change the future is to change what exactly?' A melodic voice asked, a voice of a woman who spoke so finely you thought she was singing. 'Say not hafling for only I can be heard by you.' Ginger's body stilled, the melodic voice became a presence that melted the chill from her bones. 'You made a powerful promise to protect one's life force. And to follow through was most intriguing' The woman said, going on as she talked fluidly. 'I am Elen Erulissë, spirit of the unknown and gazer of the universe. I know that of what was known, which is known, and what is yet to be known.' Erulissë explained, her tone knowing and assured. 'Erulissë, why are you here?' Ginger thought, her head still foggy from the dream and giant episode. But she was gone as soon as had appeared, leaving Ginger's mind empty. 'That is for you to decide Ginger Baggins. What can you change?'

Ginger came out of her daze, being roughly tugged to her feet. Thorin stood next to her, "Orcs." His fingers gripped her arm just as they tumbled to the floor and beyond. Grubby hands clawed her hair and face.