Chapter 12 – The Truth


She had moved back to the camp to have weary eyes on her. They all knew that the leader had had a serious conversation with her about something though none of them (not even Fíli and Kíli) were willing to ask what the subject had been. So she'd simply rolled out her bedroll and forced herself into sleep.

Fíli and Kíli had gotten the midnight watch and – considering that she had fallen asleep close to them – their quiet conversation woke Tupyn up about half way through. She sighed as she rolled over. "Do you have to talk?" She asked rhetorically, understanding how boring the watch was and how much of a godsend a companion could be.

"Talking? Us?" Fíli asked sarcastically.

She hummed and closed her eyes to only jump out of her skin when the sound of a whetstone against a blade was directly in her ear. She stifled a yelp and shot up, completely awake with not so much as a shred or drowsiness left in her system. She sighed and stood. "Well now that I'm awake, you can move up so I can sit between yous."

Kíli looked up for the first time and shuffled closer to Fíli but forward so that she could sit behind him and next to his brother. Tupyn frowned at how complicated he'd made it but obeyed anyway, chuckling as he lent back with his head on the ankles of her crossed legs. His hair splayed in her lap and she took the chance to braid his hair again.

His brother went back to toying with his knife and Kíli's eyes stayed on her face as she watched the braid.

Her emerald eyes flicked to his for a moment before going back down the braid. She tried to act like him watching her didn't make her insides twist and turn with giddiness. "Yes?" She tried to say nonchalantly.

He smirked. "Just looking."

She gave a single, breath of a laugh. "I'm sure you are." Her attention moved from his eyes to Bilbo, who had stood and moved over to the ponies. "Our burglar seems restless."

Kíli frowned. "I didn't hear him." He looked to the Hobbit and gave a laugh of surprise.

"That's because you're concentrating on her." Fíli said, slapping his brother's shoulder. "You're meant to be watching the camp not her face."

Tupyn choked on nothing at his comment and broke down into quiet immature giggles, hiding her face in Kíli's hair in an odd mix of embarrassment and the knowledge that she shouldn't be laughing.

There was a sudden, vicious cry from somewhere way across the lands and the trio's heads shot up to scour them. Orcs, of all horrific creatures in their world, were the ones that quite simply made Tupyn's blood run cold. She had seen their ferocity first hand and she hated the memories now more than ever. She had developed quite a substantial amount of pride over the years and thinking of herself as she wept over mangled bodies was not something she enjoyed. She had been forced to abandon the bodies in the place where they were hacked down for her own safety and she wasn't proud of that either.

She was removed from the horrible memories by Kíli feeling her hands falter in his hair. He looked back up to her and gently touched her wrist. "Tupyn?" He asked. "Are you alright?" She swallowed and found that she couldn't meet his eyes. She nodded quickly, hoping to dismiss his worry. He sat up and turned to face her, moving his touch from her wrist – that was now resting guiltily in her lap – and onto her knee. He knew she was lying. The cry of the Orcs had made her the furthest thing from alright. He was about to press her further but was distracted by Bilbo rushing over. "What was that?" The Hobbit asked, torn between shouting his fright and not wanting to wake any of the company.

As concerned as he was about Tupyn, Kíli couldn't miss the chance to scare Bilbo a little. "Orcs." He let a slither of fear slip into his tone and he felt Tupyn punch his shoulder as a tell for him not to frighten the poor man further. Instead, he simply picked up his knife as Fíli picked up his pipe.

"Orcs?" He repeated, jolting slightly at the word.

Fíli hummed. "Throat cutters." Tupyn scowled at him but he paid no heed. "There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them."

She went to tell him to stop as she felt her stomach start to turn with gruesome memories but every time she went to control one brother, the other carried on. "They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams. Just lots of blood."

She gripped both of their arms and they each gasped in a small breath. "You know not of what you speak!" She scolded quietly. "I do not car-"

"You think that's funny?!" Thorin's voice was much more authoritative than hers had been but much less threatening. "You think that a night raid by Orcs is a joke?" There was no way that Thorin expected an answer to that question. No one in their right mind would answer yes and not even the keenest mind could come up with an excuse to saying no and having reason for still joking.

She released both boys' arms when Thorin gave her a reassuring glance. She slumped back against the rock face, quite simply annoyed at the brothers for ignoring her.

"We didn't mean anything by it." Kíli said quietly, looking to the knife in his lap.

"No, you didn't." Thorin continued as he moved to the edge of the ridge to glance over the lands below. "You know nothing of the world."

Tupyn softened slightly as she watched Kíli slump and sigh guiltily. She found that she could no longer be angry at him and shuffled forward to run her hands over his middle to hug him from behind. She rested her forehead against his shoulder and felt his hand slip over hers on his stomach.

When Balin spoke, she looked up as he did at his reassuring words. "Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most . . ." She didn't miss his glance at her with the word 'most' and she looked away for fear of more memories bubbling to the surface. ". . . To hate Orcs."

She'd heard the story a multitude of times and simply went back to resting her head on Kíli's shoulder. She thought that maybe the youngest Durin hadn't heard the tale as he listened as intently as someone who was hearing it for the first time, maybe he'd simply never heard it from Balin. People have different ways of weaving tales anyhow.

To be quite honest, she'd only heard it from Thorin once and that was when she'd needed the comfort of someone who knew exactly how she felt. The way Balin told it was different; he made it sound much more bittersweet. Thorin just made it bitter.

There was only one line that truly got Tupyn's attention. "The line of Durin would not be so easily broken." Kíli straightened his back slightly and his hand squeezed hers a little tighter. She smiled against his coat. He may have been the third in line for the throne of Erebor but he never forgot his ancestry and she suddenly found the irony in how she'd started to fall for him; she wanted nothing more than to forget part of her lineage and he never ever wanted to forget his.

The dwarves had started to stand in respect for their king and Tupyn found herself humbled by how much respect the company had for Thorin.

"We few had survived," Continued Balin as Tupyn and the brothers stood with the last of the quest-goers. "And I thought to myself then . . . there is one who I could follow; there is one who I could call king."

Thorin turned to find his faithful company stood in respect. It was more than just a notion of faith and respect though, it was a promise; a promise that they would follow him into anything; they would follow him into the equivalent of the battle of Azanulbizar and would always stand beside him no matter what.

"And the Pale Orc?" Bilbo asked. "What happened to him?"

Balin opened his mouth to speak as the dwarves started to sit back down but he was cut off by Thorin. "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago."

Fíli, Kíli and Tupyn sat back in the positions they had been in before as the sound of snoring once again started to fill the air. Kíli's head was resting in her lap again but now she was just stroking his hair. He didn't speak and Tupyn knew that something was wrong.

The air around the camp became still once more other than the occasional hoot of an owl and the song of crickets. Tupyn took advantage of it and placed her head against the rock behind.

"Tupyn?" Kíli asked, tentatively after a while, shifting slightly. "What happened to your father and brothers?"

The question made her hand stop in his hair and her thoughts stop in her mind. There was no way to avoid telling them, she knew that, but she still didn't particularly want to. She heaved a breath and cut a lot of the story short. "In much the same way it took your great grandfather." She paused. "Only, it wasn't a great battle, it was an ambush and it was done through no twisted need to wipe out a line, it was a simple need to slaughter."

Silence surrounded them for a while and Fíli placed his pipe down with a frown knitting his brow. "So it was Orcs?"

She nodded, unable to make eyes contact with him lest he realise that once forced away memories were now paying in her minds eye. Memories of watching her family be slaughtered as she shot arrows from the safe perch of a tree, memories of watching each one of them get hacked down, memories of cradling her youngest brothers head as his life left him a little more with each blood-filled gasp and sigh of breath.

"And that's when you went to Thorin?" Fíli asked.

She nodded again as she remembered showing up on the doorstep of Thorin's sisters house, covered in the blood of her kin and stunned by the images that were replaying in her head.

There was no denying that she didn't like to talk about it, but who in their right mind would? It had been many years and she'd had time to think all possible thoughts she could, the guilt she felt for living no longer tortured her but still the blood plagued her dreams.

Kíli noticed how much it affected her and sat up, turning around and pulling her into a firm hug. She paused for a moment before hugging him back, gripping his jacket and willing him not to let go. If he could see her face, he would have been shocked by the blankness of it; there was no emotion whatsoever. He probably wouldn't have understood that it was a method for hiding her feelings; he wouldn't have understood that by making her outsides blank, she made her insides blank; flushing the memories from her system along with the lingering guilt and the vague sickness that was stuck in her stomach.

She felt Fíli's hand rub her back twice comfortingly before he sat back and left her with his brother. They were pulled away a few minutes later by Bofur telling them that since he was awake, he'd start his watch early and they could go to sleep.

Kíli pulled away, rubbing her arm and she forced a smile before they all stood and made their way away from the fire and towards their bags to set out their rolls. When that was done, they lay down and once more Tupyn was comforted by Kíli's presence next to her. His hand moved to hers and she couldn't help but roll over and curl into him.

They woke up the next morning to find dark clouds slipping in from the north and by midday they'd bought a horrific downpour upon them. Tupyn was left leaning on her knees with Foggy's reins not in her hands as the pony tried to make his way over the soggy woodland path underfoot.

The rain battered their heads beneath their hoods and soaked their clothes. But Tupyn liked it. She'd always liked the rain, she usually found it soothing (although there were odd occasions when rain just added to rotten weather) and quite refreshing. She pushed her head back and opened her mouth, taking in the heavy drops and smiling when she swallowed them, glancing to Kíli who smirked at her behaviour and whose spirit was lifted by it.

But the rest of the company was constantly grovelling about the weather so when Tupyn spotted a huge crow to her right, she also spotted her chance to cheer the rest of up.

She cupped her hands around her mouth and summoned the bird. Fíli and Kíli drowned at her as she raised her hand to the bird who hopped a few times before lifting himself towards the sky and heaving himself over to her outstretched hand.

"Whoa." The brothers chorused, moving away from the sound of air being forced out of the way as the crow clutched at her hand. Tupyn simply smiled and then looked back to the crow. The creature stared back at her with ink black eyes and cawed in her face. She chuckled and scratched his crest. "Yes, I know. You don't like being called. Sorry."

She looked him in the eyes and gave him his orders, ignoring the pain of its talons ripping into her already scarred hands from the hundreds of other birds that had gripped there as a perch.

The crow gave another long screech of annoyance and pushed himself into flight.

"And what was that?" Kíli asked, watching the crow disappear.

"Just another trick I've picked up."

"You seem to have lots of tricks." Fíli half-accused.

Kíli hummed his agreement. "Where did you learn them all?"

She shifted in the saddle. "I . . ." She pondered the right word for a while. "Travelled for a while. The majority of them are just trial and error. By following animals you learn their mating and migration habits. You learn which ones help the others; which ones follow, which behaviours spark others in different animals. It's –" She shrugged. "It's experience really." She felt a lot calmer about sharing information with them now that they knew about her father and brothers. She would spill everything (unless they asked the right questions) and she still had secrets but she was more comfortable now.

Within minutes, the crow had returned and flown back overhead before disappearing on the opposite side. "Here we go." She said, pointing to a small flash of white in the clearing ahead.

The brothers watched as from the clearing emerged a snow-white fox. It was small and lithe and hopped onto the path with a high-pitched screech that was not dissimilar to a baby's cry.

The company stopped for a moment as the creature stared at them with dark brown eyes.

Tupyn smiled as Oin gave a hark. "The Ivory Fox. 'Tis another good sign." The previously glum company voiced their happiness at the positive sign, their ponies shifting at the sounds and causing a rather unruly line to be formed of the once relatively straight one.

Thorin frowned and turned to Oin. "We follow it then?"

"Aye." He called back. "The foxes are known for bein' wise and leading the way, ye'd be a fool not to." That gave Thorin enough reason to give the order and follow the animal.

"Did you call that?" Kíli asked in a hushed tone.

Tupyn just smiled and tapped the side of her nose. But the fox turned and looked her directly in the eye, bowing its head low and receiving a small signal of respect in return, from that there was no denying that the company's cheery mood was thanks to her.

They followed the fox until he lead them to a ruined farmhouse. Thorin nodded his thanks to the animal and Tupyn gave a squeak of a call to get its attention while Thorin gave orders that they would remain there for the night. "Fíli, Kíli! Look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them."

The fox passed the rest of the company and looked up to her while she was still on Foggy's back. She patted her lap and the animal looked around for a moment before leaping up and rubbing against her stomach. She scratched beneath his chin and clicked her tongue a few times, enticing another yelp-like sound from the creature.

He was as beautiful as always. She'd passed him several times on her travels and knew that he was nearby at such a time of year. He had wiry but well-kept fur that went soft behind his ears and his eyes were a wonderful dark oak brown.

"And I thought the dog had been impressive." Kíli said, watching her reunite the fox.

She looked over to him and smirked, giving the fox a final stroke over the head and down his back before pulling another squeak through her teeth and urging him down.

The members of the company - who had seen her interact with the fox - watched as he slipped off into the woods to their left. The majority of them hadn't seen her display her skills before and, if they didn't trust Thorin enough to believe what she could do, they definitely did now.

The little attention she had gained was suddenly moved to Gandalf as he stormed through the group.

"Everything alright? Gandalf? Where are you going?" Called Bilbo.

"To seek the company of the only one around here who has any sense." He replied bitterly.

"And who's that?"

"Myself! Master Baggins. I've had enough of dwarves for one day." Tupyn cast a glance to Thorin who seemed unfazed by Gandalf's strop. His gaze met hers and his expression didn't change before he looked away.

She hated when he did that. His shell truly was impenetrable and it infuriated her how easily he managed to slip in on. She understood completely why he did it since she could just as easily do it. But she was not like Thorin, she didn't want to block her feelings, she felt that it was much easier to let some people in that to burden her entire being on herself.

"C'mon Bombur. We're hungry."

Tupyn frowned as she pushed aside the thoughts and wondered whatever could have been said to get Gandalf in such a mood.

"We should probably go." Kíli said to his brother, acknowledging their uncles orders to look after the ponies.

Fíli nodded, knowing that Thorin would likely be irritable after whatever had been said. Tupyn dismounted and moved to Foggy's head, intending to ask someone around if she could do anything to help while the brothers looked after the ponies.

"Oi!" Kíli's voice said and he head shot around to look. He gestured towards himself. "C'mon, you're the animal expert. You're here for a reason, you know."

She'd had no idea that one of the conditions of her going on the quest was that she could look after the ponies but she wasn't about to complain. She looked around and noted that everyone had dismounted and removed their bags. Tupyn placed her thumb and her forefinger between her lips and blew a sharp whistle.

All of the ponies looked up but Foggy, Cooper and Frankie knew that the specific whistle she'd sounded meant for them to move. So as the three ponies she'd trained started to plod their way towards Fíli and Kíli, the rest followed. Tupyn gestured for the brothers to lead the way and they did so, taking the line of ponies into the woods to the right.

She followed as the rest of the dwarves went about their business.

They spent the next few minutes marking out an effective pen for the ponies to make sure none wandered off.

"I'm going to check the area." Fíli said as he threw the final log down. Kíli and Tupyn nodded as the older brother disappeared in the shadow of the trees.

No sooner had he gone did Kíli descend upon Tupyn, his hands going immediately to her hips and his lips resting gently against her neck. "Kíli." She warned, attempting to ignore the feeling that he provoked with his movements. "No." She pulled her hips away from his grip and turned to him.

Kíli sighed. "Why not?" He moaned. "No one will see."

"Your brother will be back any minute." She reminded.

"He doesn't care."

She scoffed. "It seems very much like he cares."

"That's because you don't know him." She groaned and Kíli just smiled. "I don't even know why we're having this conversation. I was only going to recommend that we practice your aim now."

Tupyn eyes him up sceptically. She had no doubt that, had she allowed him, Kíli wouldn't have taken things further than just touching. But if he was going to offer to help her archery skills then she wasn't going to complain. "Really?"

"Mmm-Hmm." She still didn't believe him but she pulled her bow from over her torso anyway, ignoring the proud-of-himself smile that Kíli took up.

"Right," He said, stepping closer. "I want you to aim at that tree." He moved behind her and pointed to the tree through her line of vision. "You're going to release all of your arrows and we'll see how many hit. I want at least seven of the thirteen."

Tupyn's eyes widened. There was no way she was every going to get it that many times. But nevertheless, she took a breath and started.

A moment later, the thirteenth arrow had been fired. Five had hit the tree.

She groaned. "I told you I can't do it."

"It's not that you can't. You just told yourself you wouldn't so didn't." Tupyn frowned at his reply as he stepped forward and pulled two arrows from the mud at their feet. "Now," He said as he placed one arrow in her quiver and one out before her. "I want you to do these two slowly. I'll instruct you through it."

His hands went to her hips as she took up the stance and one slipped up her bodice to rest on her stomach. "Right, I'll ground you so your body won't move as you reach back. Just take it slowly." She knocked the arrow onto the bow and drew back as she drew in a breath. His presence behind her was comforting and she found that he really had steadied her. She prided herself on her balance but until this point, she hadn't realised just how much it could be improved. She made a mental note to work on it.

"Slowly." Kíli reminded her. His breath brushing her ear and calming her even further.

Without thinking again, she fired the first arrow, reached back and knocked and fired the second.

She breathed again and looked up to see that there were now seven arrows in the tree. She smiled and looked back to Kíli with a small, breathy laugh.

Kíli looked at her with pride but found that now that she was close, he couldn't stop looking at her lips. The hand on her stomach started to slowly move up her side until it finally came to rest on her jaw.

She looked cautious as she realised what he was going to do but she was always cautious. She needed some adventure back in her life.

He pulled her in and pressed his lips to hers.

His stubble caught her chin and cheeks and made the soft feel of his lips even better. The hand that wasn't holding her bow went up to grip his wrist, urging him not to move.

So he didn't and they stayed there.

She didn't want him to move. She'd been alone for so long and even travelling with the company hadn't put her soul to rest. Now she felt the calm creeping in and the only way to truly be happy was with him.

It was an odd thought - so long being alone and one single dwarf could do what so many had attempted to do without even trying. It seemed effortless to him, just by existing, her consoled her, he made her believe that things could get better.

The kiss didn't progress any further that the simple connection of their lips but it was enough. When they actually pulled away, they were each panting slightly. Tupyn smiled as his forehead touched hers. "Well that was unexpected." She said, enticing a chuckle from his lips as she turned and they hugged.

After a moment, Tupyn spoke. "So this is it?" Kíli pulled back to look her in the eyes. "We're going to do this?" She continued. Kíli smiled and nodded.

"If you want to?"

Tupyn looked down and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment and then smiled. "Yeah, I do."

Kíli grinned and placed a short kiss against her lips again. She smirked as she felt the blush rise to her cheeks and pulled away. "I need to get my arrows."

No sooner had she picked them up did Fíli run through the brush, snapping several stick beneath his heavy treads and pushing the low branches of trees out of the way. "Kí! Tup!" He announced, panting as they came into view. They looked up questioningly. "Some of the ponies are gone!"


Sorry I've left you there but I have some bad news. This is the last chapter I have written, before this point I had chapters backed up and now I have nothing. So that means that until about June, you probably won't get any updates. I have my GCSE's coming up! Yay! (Not) And since these grades are the ones that'll follow me around for the rest of my life, I kind of need to concentrate on them. I hope you understand.

However, it still stands that the more reviews I get, the more I'll want to write when I get the chance. So please send reviews because you'll still be more likely to get updates.

Thank you so much for reading and for now, goodbye, I'll see you when I'm sleep deprived, stressed out and nervous as nobodies business as I wait for GCSE results. If you're lucky, I might find time to update between them, but just in case, goodbye and good luck to anybody is a similar position to me.