Chapter 10 – Orcs?
The next morning, Elle awoke after having most likely the best sleep she's had during the whole journey. She awoke with Kili's arms wrapped around her waist, his head laid gently against hers. As she watches him sleep, his features peaceful and serene, she recalls his words from last night.
"Sleep well, Ava. I won't let anything hurt you. I'll be here for you, always, my sanâzyung."
Elle wondered what the Khuzdul word meant. She would just have to ask him when he woke up she supposed. Not long after the thought crossed her mind, she saw his eyes begin to flutter open. When he realized she was awake, a heart stopping grin grew on his face.
"Morning, Ava. Sleep good?" Kili asked his morning voice deep and scratchy as his eyebrow's furrowed in concern.
Elle just rubbed her nose against his, a small smile on her face.
"Best sleep in years." She whispered.
"Do you mind letting go?" she whispers, gesturing to his arms, which were still wrapped around her.
That seemed to wake Kili wake up more, and he immediately released her. She rolled over, before sitting up, brushing her bangs out of her face. She quickly undid her pony, electing to leave her hair down until they began moving. Her hair tumbled down her back in waves of gold, shining in the early morning sun. Not long after Elle stood up, the group ate a quick breakfast, and saddled up for another day of riding. Elle slung her quiver around her back, placing her bow inside it, telling herself to ask Kili when he would begin teaching her.
Elle mounted Flicka with ease, rubbing her neck with a grin.
"Good Flicka." Elle murmured to the black mare, as the group set out.
"You named her?" Kili asked, curious.
"Of course. Flicka means 'beautiful girl'. Didn't you name yours?" Elle asks, her eyebrows lightly furrowing as she puts her reigns in her mouth briefly.
Now she could tie her hair back in a braid going straight down her back, until it curved to rest over her shoulder. Elle put her reigns back in her hands as Kili replied.
"No. Actually, I haven't. Maybe we should come up with names?"
And so, Kili, Elle, Fili, Chari, and even Bilbo, picked names out for the ponies of the company.
Chari's appaloosa was named Maizy. Bilbo had Myrtle; Balin and Minty; Bifur and Bungo; Bofur and Aria; Bombur and Bertha; Dori and Delilah; Dwalin and Finola; Fili and Kili with Hazelnut and Chestnut respectively; Gandalf and Florian; Glion and Brunella; Nori and Charlie; Oin and Briar rose; Ori and Daisy; and lastly, Thorin and Eleanor.
The group spent the better part of the afternoon simply goofing off and having fun. It was about an hour or so before they made camp, that Fili noticed the dagger strapped to Elle's hip that he hadn't seen before.
"Where'd you get that from Elle?" Fili asks, pointing to the dagger.
Elle glances down at it, and unsheathes it. The silver blade glints in the sun. The handle was a dark red and black leather wrapped in a crisscross pattern. Elle shrugs, before sheathing it again.
"I bought it at a fair a few years back. Never really had a use for it till now." Elle says nonchalantly.
They made camp for the night by some rocks in the valley just below the Misty Mountains. Dinner was a quiet affair, as everyone slowly began to head to sleep, travel weary. Elle and Chari sat awake, simply staring at the fire in silence, enjoying the simple sounds of nature. Kili and Fili sat beside them, leaning against the large rock behind them, and smoking on their pipes. Thorin had leaned against the side of the rock next to Fili and Kili, and appeared to be asleep, though Elle knew better.
After about ten minutes of watching the hobbit toss and turn, he rose, and quietly tiptoed over to the ponies. They were tied up near Gandalf, who was also awake and smoking his pipe. He glanced around, as if looking to see if anyone was watching him. Once he seemed assured he wasn't, he pulled a shiny red apple out of his pocket.
"Shh. We mustn't tell the others. It'll be our secret, Myrtle." Bilbo whispered to the pony, who gobbled down the apple quickly.
Then, a howling could be heard in the distance that sounded almost like wolves. Bilbo jumped, and scurried back to the group, almost afraid, as he asked, "What was that?"
Elle saw Kili and Fili glance at each other briefly, and didn't like the look in their eyes. Something in the back of her mind was telling her this was familiar, but she simply shrugged it off as nerves. Chari shifted, so she was laying curled up, with her head in her sister's lap, her body in between Elle and Fili, Kili sat on Elle's left.
"Orcs." Kili said, his voice solemn as the glanced at the fire, then back at Bilbo.
"Orcs?!" Bilbo asked, his voice cracking a bit in terror.
Thorin opened his eyes to quickly sit forward, looking around worriedly.
"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there," Fili said from beside the campfire, as he sat smoking his pipe. "The lowlands are crawling with them."
Elle glanced at Fili, then down at Chari, feeling her fear spike again. Her hand drifted to her dagger, just in case. Chari wrapped her arms around Elle's waist, almost in fear, though her face betrayed nothing.
"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep," Kili explained in a hushed tone. He was trying to spook the Halfling, after all.
"Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." Fili added, his voice just as hushed, adding a freighting air, as well as one filled with mystery.
Master Baggins looked thoroughly worried at this point, picking his way across the camp to them. Elle stared at Kili in disbelief, wide awake now, though she had been sleepy only a moment before. She slowly removed her grip from her dagger which still resided on her hip, and began to wrap her hands around her sister's upper torso, letting her fingers run gently through Chari's hair.
"You think that's funny?" Thorin stood, finally speaking up as he came closer to the group.
"You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?" he questioned, irritation flaring as he glared at his nephews.
Fili and Kili had the decency to look ashamed. One would hope so, at the very least. Even Elle understood this was not a subject to be taken lightly, and she'd never encountered an Orc in her entire life.
"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili tried to amend, lowering his gaze ashamedly.
"No. You didn't," Thorin snapped. "You know nothing of the world."
Aggravated, the Dwarf King trudged away from them. Beside the drop-off at the edge of their clearing, he stopped to calm himself, looking out over the valley below. Elle knew that Kili and Fili had only hoped for a bit of fun. Though she cared for them dearly, she knew that they hadn't experience with watching someone die in front of them, let alone someone from their family. They did not understand how easy it was to lose everything at a moment's notice.
"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs." Balin said, trying to get the boys to feel better.
Elle simply took her hand, which had wrapped itself around Kili's arm, her head laying on his shoulder, and gently squeezed his arm, trying to reassure him that Thorin simply had a touchy past when it came to Orcs.
"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria... but our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race, Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed; we did not know."
Elle let her mind wander, visualizing what was being described.
"We were leaderless, defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him; the young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield... Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken." Balin paused.
"Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back; our enemy had been defeated... but there was no feast or songs that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived and I thought to myself then 'There is one I could follow. There is one I could call King'." Balin finished.
Most of the dwarves were wide awake and staring at Thorin with what could only be described as awe in their eyes.
As the other dwarves began to settle back down to bed after hearing of the tale of Thorin's grandfather and father, Elle turned to her two friends, who's eyes shined with pride for their uncle. Then, carefully detangling her arms from her sister's shoulder's and Kili's arm, without accidently waking Chari as she had fallen asleep moments after the story finished, she slapped both boys on the back of the head, her eyes not moving from there place of staring at the fire. From the corner of her eyes, she saw both boys flinch, and reach up to touch their heads in pain.
"Ow!" Kili muttered.
"Ow!" Fili whimpered, his eyebrows scrunched up.
"What was that for?" they whispered at her, both turning to look at her.
Elle shook her head, frustration filling her eyes.
"You know damn well what that was for." She says, her hands moving to lightly run her fingers through Charisse's shiny brown locks again, as she turns her gaze to the fire for a moment.
"Seriously?" Kili groaned, rolling his eyes.
"It was just a joke!" Fili defends.
"A very wrong joke, but a joke." Kili adds, trying to point out they understood that they were wrong.
"Be that as it may, it was a joke that terrified me so much, I nearly cut my hand trying to draw my dagger fast enough!" Elle hissed, glaring at both dwarves in turn. Her gaze turned to her sister, softening.
"I was so afraid. Not for me, but for her." Elle paused, her voice quivering a tad at the end, seeing the boys open their mouths from the corner of her eyes.
"I know what you're going to say, we would've protected you, we would've protected her, yada yada yada. I'm touched that you care. I truly am." Elle said in a hard voice, which softened near the end, and turned to each boy in turn, her gaze lingering longer on Kili than necessary.
"But she's my little sister. I will always put her needs before mine. Always." Elle glanced at Thorin, who had taken up first watch.
He appeared to not be listening, but seeing as they were the only ones speaking beside the snores of their dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf having turned in after the story was completed as well, he probably heard them clear as day.
"She is the only family I have, save for you two and the other members of the company. Keeping her and everyone else in this company safe are my top priority. My own needs come second. That's the way it always has been, and it very well could be the way it always will be." Elle explained, lightly stroking her sisters face. She had turned, and snuggled up against Fili, who had taken to lightly rubbing circles in her back.
It was silent for a moment, save for the sounds of dwarf snores, and a crackling fire. After a few seconds, Elle turned to each of the boys beside her.
"It is getting late, and we have a long day tomorrow. I suggest turning in soon, if you too are done having a silent conversation over my head." Elle smirked, having caught the two boys having a silent conversation, their eyes speaking for them.
"Goodnight." She lightly kissed Fili on the cheek, his beard brushing against her face.
She lightly brushed her nose against her sisters, like she had done with Kili that morning, before lightly kissing her forehead.
"Goodnight." She tells Kili, lightly kissing his cheek as well, his stubble scratching lightly against her face.
She then laid down, and snuggled into her bed roll, feeling sleep tug at her. Just before she fell into unconsciousness, she felt something soft brush against her hair line, not once, but twice.
Then, she heard two voices say in unison, "Goodnight Elle."
As the voices faded out, she was pulled into unconsciousness, hoping for a dreamless sleep. Her prayers wouldn't be answered, however.
When Elle's eyes next opened, it was still dark out, and the fire had naturally begun to die out, telling her it had been sometime since she was last awake. Glancing about the camp, she sighed in relief to find all her friends were still sleeping soundly, not injured at all. What took her by surprise, however, was seeing Thorin still on watch. She truly couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours, if they hadn't switched watches. Unless Thorin decided to be stubborn and stay up half the night, choosing not to switch at all.
She let her gaze fall to her sister, who lay beside her, and Fili who laid on the other side of Chari. What she saw, made her smile. Chari was curled up next to Fili, hugging his chest like he was a giant teddy bear. Fili had his right arm resting behind his head acting as a pillow, while his left arm was wrapped precariously around Charisse's waist, as if he was holding precious China.
Smiling a little, she turned her gaze to the other dwarven prince, who slept soundly on her left. He, like his brother, was using his arm as a pillow. However, he lay on his side, with his left arm stretched out in her direction, as if he was snuggling with something that suddenly left. Realization struck her. If possible, her smile grew just a tad. She gently took his cloak, which he had been using as a blanket and ended up bunched up on his other side, and draped it over him again, allowing him to snuggle up one of the corners like a little kid. Elle gazed down at the slumbering dwarf, and lightly sighed.
Figuring she should try to sleep, she lay back down, and turned over, trying to sleep again. However, having been raised to rise early in the morning, often when the sun hadn't risen, prevented her from falling back into a deep slumber.
Realizing she wasn't going to sleep, she sat up, and leaned against the hill behind her, her eyes scanning the camp. Suddenly, her eyes locked with Thorin's. He appeared to have been watching her since she awoke.
She quickly averted her eyes, training them on her hands, which had begun to wring themselves in boredom.
Needing something to do with her hands, she un-did the tight braid in which her hair had been kept in. Running her fingers through her soft waves of golden colored hair, she began to undo any knots that had formed. She withdrew a small brush from her pack, and began to brush out her hair, letting the curls frame her face. Neither she nor Thorin spoke, and Elle was grateful, for she easily got distracted when doing her hair, often causing it to turn out worse than she wanted. After having brushed out her hair, she began to do a double French braid in her hair. She tied of the left side with 2 elastics, and had begun on the other side, when Thorin finally spoke.
"What happened to getting some sleep?" he asked, his deep voice penetrating the silence of the forest.
Elle smirked a little, half way through her second braid.
"Nightmares have plagued me since I was a small child. I don't get sleep." Elle says, sliding a small, blue bead into her hair, before continuing the braid.
She had gotten the bead from an old friend for her birthday when she was younger. She used to wear it on her locket chain, but decided to place it in her hair tonight. Elle tied of the end with 2 elastics, like she had done with the previous one, to ensure neither braid would come undone.
It was silent again, before Thorin asked, "Do you really feel that way?"
Elle raised an eyebrow, confused.
"I don't follow." She said, wondering what was going through his head. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, resting her head on her arms.
"Do you really feel like it is your job to protect us, to protect all of us, even though we are not your kin?" Thorin clarified, speaking about her earlier statement.
Elle nodded, raising her head from her arms.
"Yes, because blood doesn't make family. Love does. And in the short time I've known your company, I have found myself loving each and every one of them. You are all special in your own way, and you don't try to be something you're not, which is a refreshing sight compared to what people were like back home." Elle explained, her lips tugging at the corners at the thought of the reasons she's found herself loving everyone in the company.
"To me, you are my kin." Elle adds, gazing at Thorin thoughtfully, as he stares right back at her, his icy blue's seeming to lose their glare a tad after she added that last statement.
Having no response, Thorin just watched the young women, as she leaned her head back, and stared out at the starry sky. She began to hum, and eventually sang, her lips forming words to a song Thorin had never heard. He began to feel his eyes getting heavy, and figured since she was awake that she could take next watch. Thorin himself soon fell into a deep sleep, his body slouched against the rock he sat in front of.
Elle smiled, watching Thorin doze off.
"Even kings need their sleep I see." Elle said, smirking a little.
Seeing as how she was the only one awake, she decided to take the second watch, what with Thorin trusting her enough to fall asleep with her being the only one awake.
And so, she sat awake, watching the sun rise on the horizon, a sight so beautiful she nearly turned away. Knowing Thorin wanted them to leave at first light, Elle stood, and began to wake up the others of the camp, starting with Dwalin and working her way around. After every dwarf, not counting the Durin line and Bilbo, was awake Elle woke up Thorin. While grumpy from lack of sleep, he still gave her an appreciative smile for allowing him to sleep longer. She then turned to Fili, and tried to wake him up, unwinding his arm from her sister, who took the chance to scramble up and begin packing.
"Five more minutes' mom!" Fili groaned, turning over to block out the sun, burying his face in his arms.
Elle giggled.
She tried to wake up Kili, with the same results. Smirking mischievously, she cupped her hands, and Chari poured water in them. She then splashed both princes's faces with it, causing them to awake with a shout, water hanging from their faces, and dripping down their hair. Elle giggled, as did Chari at the sight.
Suddenly, the entire company erupted into laughs at Elle's trick. Even her sister began to giggle at the two shocked dwarves, while Thorin cracked a small smile, before it vanished from his face again, replaced with a scowl. Maybe both girls wouldn't be as much of a problem as he originally thought.