The Truth Beneath the Rose
A/N- Welcome back, I hope thus far you've enjoyed the story. Also, I apologize for not updating sooner. Been a rough couple of months.
Now, we're onto the Trolls. Always an entertaining moment in the movie and novel.
Disclaimer- I do not own the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, but I do own my OC's and this storyline.
'Thoughts'
Khuzdul
Now onto the story.
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Chapter 6:
Desperate Times
Year 2941 -Evening-
Just a half-mile from the ruined farm house
Thalia felt her eyes burning from the heat of the fire to her side, but she didn't stop glaring over the heads of those around her. Frankly she was pissed.
Shifting once more to get more comfortable, she returned to glaring at the three monstrosities before her. Trolls.
An Hour Earlier-
After Gandalf had stomped off to 'seek his own company,' Thalia went over to help Bofur prepare the meal for the night; Thorin had given varying tasks to each of the company, including her brother. But she herself didn't get told to do anything, so she made herself useful by giving herself her own task.
Bofur brightened upon seeing her; he motioned to the pot before him as he spoke. "I am out of herbs for the seasonings, any suggestions?" Thalia smiled at him as she patted him on the back, "I saw just what you need on the path we took here. Give me a little time, I will return with enough to have for later as well."
Before Bofur could say anything else, Thalia hurried from the clearing. This went unnoticed by all but Bofur.
She had reached her destination quickly but after only picking a few sprigs of thyme and sage, she heard a loud crashing noise. Stilling she tried to flatten herself against the nearest tree, which failed miserably when one moment she smelt something awful and the next a vice clamped about her waist.
She struggled but to no avail as the hand tightened further and everything slowly went black.
Back with the company
Thorin had finally sat down to eat his rather tasteless stew and watched as Bilbo was sent to give his nephew's their share. He'd realized he hadn't seen Thalia in a bit and wondered if she had gone with Fili and Kili to watch the ponies.
But his wonderings were brought to a crashing halt when Bofur spoke to Dwalin, "I wonder if Lady Thalia is alright. She's been gone far too long for collecting spices. Would you go check on her Dwalin?" Dwalin growled but got up and moved from the clearing anyway, he went the way Bofur had pointed him.
Leaving his stew untouched on the ground, Thorin approached Bofur with a hurried step. The other looked up from his meal in surprise and slight fear; from the look on Thorin's face alone he knew something had angered their prince.
"Bofur, when did the hobbit leave?" Thorin tried to keep his tone calm but felt his heart beginning to squeeze with an emotion he knew very well, fear. Bofur blinked, "which one?" Thorin clenched and unclenched his fists, "Thalia."
"Oh well, it's been almost an hour since she went to fetch some herbs for the stew. Knowing how impatient you all are, I went ahead without them this time. She said she would be right back, but something must've delayed her." Bofur shrugged only to freeze in utter shock when Thorin's fist gripped the front of his tunic and lifted him up effortlessly.
Thorin brought his face close to Bofur's and practically growled, "No one leave's camp unaccompanied. No one. Especially not the only female in our company. There are all sorts of dangers out there as you well know. You ever let her do such a thing again, you will answer to me. Understood?!"
Bofur's face grew pale and feeling his point had been understood, Thorin released the other and turned to wait for Dwalin to return. This didn't take long.
Dwalin returned his axes in his hands and a worried look on his face. Narrowing his eyes Thorin immediately went over to his side, "What is it? Where is Thalia?" Dwalin shook his head, "she's gone. Taken. From the smell, I believe it was a troll Thorin."
Feeling as if someone had just stabbed him through the heart, Thorin grit his teeth and gripped Dwalin's shoulder's hard. "Where...where? Which direction? Tell me damn it!"
Dwalin narrowed his own eyes at that and was about to respond when Fili came crashing into the clearing. "Thorin! It's the ponies; they've been taken by trolls! Bilb...ugh?!" Thorin was on his nephew before he could finish his statement. Fili winced as his uncle gripped his coat hard, almost choking him. "Was Thalia there?! Did you see her?"
Fili opened his mouth and closed it twice before Thorin growled and released him, "Everyone, let's go!" He then pulled his sword and ran from the clearing in the direction Fili had come from. There was a collective moment of silence before the company mobilized and ran after their prince.
Thalia was silently cursing all troll kind as she watched them messing with their stewpot, she'd woken only moments after one had sneezed. She found that she'd been placed in a rather rancid smelling burlap sack, was only in her under things and vaguely wondered what else had been in it before shaking the thought aside. She had something more important to worry about at the moment and that was getting the heck out of there.
That is when she felt it. Behind her something sharp was cutting away at the sack she was inside and stilling she waited until whoever it was had finished. Once free she turned her head and felt a smile curl her lips. Bilbo was looking at her with worried eyes.
She quickly shook her head to keep him silent and they crept from the immediate spot. She would have gone to gather her clothes from where the trolls had put them but it was far too dangerous at the moment. She hugged her brother as soon as she was able and asked, "What are you doing here brother?" He pointed behind her and back at where the trolls were, "they've stolen some of the ponies. I'm going to free them before they are eaten. Stay back here where you're safe."
Thalia saw his resolve in his eyes and reluctantly nodded her agreement. She shivered and not just from being in only her underclothes, her brother was venturing into a truly dangerous situation and she could only hope they he wouldn't be caught. She wished she could help him but she had nothing to arm herself with.
Shaking off such thoughts she looked around the clearing for anything that could help anything that could be a weapon. That was when she spotted Kili. He had hidden behind a large tree and was angled so that she was out of his line of sight. Narrowing her eyes she crept up on him and when she was close enough she swatted the back of his head.
Jerking he whirled his sword raised only to blink in surprise at seeing her. He was about to speak when he took in her appearance, a blush rose upon his cheeks even as he saw the mark that laid upon the upper part of her breast. His eyes widened at this.
Thalia clapped her hand over his mouth and whispered, "Not now. Bilbo." Kili nodded his head and both turned in time to see Bilbo sneaking up behind one of the trolls, he was reaching for their blade and Thalia cursed silently at his foolishness. That was when she saw that one of the trolls was reaching behind him and she acted.
Grabbing Kili's sword before he could even blink she darted forward, moving as close as she possibly could without being seen. She heard Kili approaching behind her but focused more upon her brother and troll that had just used him as a handkerchief. When Kili reached out to retake his sword, she slapped his hand away and moved even closer to the clearing.
She shivered as a sudden gust of wind blew through; her chemise wasn't very thick at all and was doing little to keep the heat in. When they lifted her brother up over the fire though, she banished all other thoughts except saving him from her mind as she sprang into the clearing. She shouted as loud as she could, making sure that her voice would carry.
"Release him this instant!"
All three trolls turned to look at her in surprise, one pointed at her then at Bilbo, "ah! I knew this one looked familiar. The female and 'Im must both be flurglurburglerhobbits." Thalia ignored that and the look of utter shock in her brother's eyes in favor of repeating her earlier statement. "I said drop him and I mean now!"
Thorin felt as if his heart was constricting in his chest as he finally sighted his other nephew a few feet ahead. He looked about and saw no blonde hair, no sign of Thalia. Cursing silently, he moved closer to where Kili stood only to freeze at the sight that met his eyes as he looked past his nephew and into the clearing.
There were trolls alright; Dwalin had been right about that. It was the sight of the small hobbit female as she stood holding a sword while glaring down said trolls that had him coming to a stop, his heart almost doing the same. She stood alone, her almost white under things glinting against the moonlight, looking like a true warrior. She was asking for her brothers' return and he wanted to leap out in that moment to stand beside her, but knew it wasn't tactically wise to do so.
Then he saw the troll holding Bilbo move and before he could react quickly enough Kili had sprung into the clearing. He deftly caught the hobbit and taking this as his cue, Thorin leapt forward as well. He barreled past Thalia as the same troll was reaching down to pick her up and slashed at its hand. He then pressed his advantage and pushed forward to slash at the trolls legs, the entire company were hot on his heels.
Thalia took a mere moment to make sure her brother was safe before she ran after Thorin, joining in on the slashing. Kili briefly gave her a look but when Fili tossed him one of his own swords, Kili immediately perked up and joined the fun.
It was fun, at least for Thalia it was. In a way it felt liberating to be fighting like this alongside other dwarrow. She felt right at home and began to dance about each of her companions, cutting and darting over, under and through. She made sure to keep Thorin in sight though and when one troll tried to step on him, she growled and hacked off its pinky toe.
The ground shook when the troll fell back, screeching in pain. Thalia lost her footing on a fallen branch and about fell when a pair of strong arms caught her. She felt her whole body react at this persons very touch and she knew exactly who it was. She laughed even as she pulled away, "thank you Thorin!" Before she dove right back into the thick of things.
Thorin looked after her for a brief moment before he joined her. They continued to fight near each other almost dancing with each other in a strange minuet until a booming voice echoed above them. "Stop! Or we'll rip his arms off!"
Everyone stilled and looked up at the trolls and Bilbo whom was being held between them. Thorin narrowed his eyes before he threw down his sword, the others following suit. But Thalia didn't drop her weapon; she gripped the hilt hard enough for her nails to cut her palm. Her brother shook his head as he looked at her, mouthing out 'do as they say.'
Feeling her heart clench, she looked away and dropped the sword.
The trolls then took each other the dwarves, one at a time and had them strip to their under things before making them climb into a sack. Thalia briefly wondered where they had gotten so many, but shook the thought away as they reached her. The troll cook held out a sack for her, "back in ya go. This time you won't come out until desert."
"Barzul knular!" Thalia spat at the ground before she climbed into the sack, doing her best to keep her chemise about her. Thorin watched this from his position against a tree; he had been one of the first to be striped. He felt a strange sense of pride from seeing Thalia's behavior towards the trolls. She was acting very dwarflike.
In the end though, it was a glimpse of something on the top of her left breast that had him keeping silent. Something about that mark, he'd only seen part of it, but something about it was very familiar. He swore to himself that if they made it out of this mess, he would approach her about it. He had made a choice after all and he would follow through, no matter what.
Within minutes everyone was in a sack or tied up to a large log that the trolls erected over their fire. Bilbo was sat near Balin while Thalia was kept nearer to the trolls. She kept glaring but knew it would do no good, she just hoped that the sun would rise soon. They were running out of time.
Then her brother hopped up and began speaking about seasonings and such. Thalia almost laughed at his ingenious idea to distract the trolls. Almost, she knew if she did then she'd give her brother away. Next thing she knew the dwarves around her were cursing her brother and she shook her head at their stupidity. She looked over at Thorin and as if reading something in her gaze he kicked Kili and those nearest him.
After a moment's pause, all of the dwarves changed their tune. Then she saw it, a flash of grey up among the rocks. 'Gandalf.' Thalia perked up and kept her eyes upon the rocks, waiting for the wizard to save them and save them he did.
"Let the dawn take you!" His voice echoed as he broke apart the large boulder upon which he stood. Closing her eyes against the bright light of the sun as it shone through the clearing Thalia let out a deep sigh. They were safe, finally.
She waited several long moments before she opened her eyes and immediately felt her heart jerk; Thorin was before her he was looking down as he cut through the sack. The moment she was free she did the first thing that popped into her mind.
She leapt at Thorin, wrapping her arms about him and holding him close. A warmth rushed through her as Thorin returned her embrace. She melted against him, breathing in deeply of his scent. Steel and dirt. A rather comforting scent, that brought forth a vague but important memory.
She felt it bloom in her mind and heart.
They had been hugging, just like this. It had been a winter morning, weeks before the battle of Azanulbizar. She and Thorin had been spending a quiet moment alone. Speaking to each other of their future together.
Of the children they both one day hoped to have. Of their wedding. Of many things.
It had been one of the best moments they had shared before that dreaded day. Before the battle, before her...my...death.
Thalia felt tears in her eyes at her memory. She took a deep breath, gave Thorin one more squeeze for good measure before she pulled away. She hurried to run her fingers through her hair, most of which had come loose from her braid. She made sure to cover her chest, trying to keep the rune upon her breast hidden from Thorin's gaze.
She knew she needed to tell him about it, but the moment didn't seem right. Especially with all the other's around, it was a private thing and she wanted to keep it that way. She looked around and saw that all the others were trying not to look their way and this made her cheeks flush.
"There must be a cave nearby." Shivering once more at the cool air and the rumble of Thorin's deep tones, Thalia looked up at him, questioning. He looked down at her and bent his head; he reached over and touched his fingers to her chest, right above the mark. "We will speak of this later. I promise."
Thorin then pulled away and went to his pile of clothes. "Gloin, Oin, break camp. Nori, Bifur, Dwalin. Scout ahead; see if you can find the troll cave." Thalia noticed that those five had been the only ones whom were fully dressed at the moment.
Recalling her own state of undress, Thalia hurried about the clearing, looking for her clothes.
A/N- Sigh, I feel much better at this point in the story. I've been laboring over how I would make this scene play out and I think I've chosen the right way to do it. At least for this story.
Thank you all once more for supporting my writing and I hope I continue to write well for you all.
Only one Khuzdul phrase this time-
Barzul knular- Curse Them
Until the next chapter.
May the Fluff be with you!
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