Chapter 7 - The Craft of Making Acquaintance
Eryn's feat groaned as she fell onto the large stones that surrounded their camping site, she sat there, head in her hands, exhausted. Her stomach growled and moaned as they only stopped briefly for lunch and she hadn't had much for dinner last night. She wasn't sure how long she had slept at Rivendell, but she was sure it didn't matter how rested she was after a walk like today.
She remained at the tail end of the company the entire trek, Fili, was gracious enough to walk at her place so she did not get left behind, but it was also because he was tasked with taking up the rear, strongest in front and behind. He was polite enough to tell her he didn't mind, but she knew her pace was testing his patience. It wouldn't have been as bad if she had the right shoes, she silently cursed herself for being so stubborn about appearance over functionality. Though in her defense, there wasn't much questing going on in Michigan right now. Her grandfather always told her that her feet would rebel against her one day and she would regret her footwear choices when she was older, but she didn't have to wait until then, she most definitely regretted it now.
Everyone was seated on stones as well, resting for a moment before camp was properly constructed. The sun was beginning to set and various members rose to do their respective tasks. Some began unpacking their bedrolls and others began gathering tools for dinner.
Eryn rose, dusted off her jeans and walked to Balin, who was also seated comfortably on a rock.
"How may I help?" Eryn asked, sitting next to him on the cool stone.
"Well lass, have you any skills?" He inquired.
"Um…" Eryn thought, though she could hardly call being double jointed a skill useful in this scenario. "I have camped before, so I'm familiar with starting a fire, gathering wood, don't eat the berries, that kind of thing." Eryn nodded, pursing her lips.
"Well, have you hunted before?" he continued.
"I have!" Eryn exclaimed. "My grandfather could hunt with a bow, but he didn't get very far in teaching me." she admitted.
"I could teach you!" Kili shouted from an adjacent rock he was perched on, getting a view of the surrounding area. Eryn had no idea how he heard that from so far away.
"Very well then, why don't you gather firewood for now with Dori?" Balin directed, nodding firmly.
"Sure thing!" Eryn rose from the rock which she was seated on and realized she had no idea who he was. "Balin, which one is Dori?" she asked and Balin gave a hearty chuckle.
"He's the sophisticate." Balin nodded towards a dwarf who had hair almost as white as he, wearing a deep red tunic, cradling a teapot.
Eryn thanked Balin and approached Dori, who had now put away his teapot, and was hitching his sword to his belt. The two met and went on their way to gather sticks and logs, anything they could find to start a fire and keep it going throughout the night. Eryn discovered that Dori had quite a fondness for the more sophisticated lifestyle as Balin had warned. He had a liking of fine wines, jewelry, clothing and most other things that brandish a posh lifestyle. He was not pompous as Eryn had expected, in fact she noticed that he was quite selfless in the way he cared and spoke about his brothers. He was the eldest of his brothers, Nori, whom Eryn had identified as the star hair dwarf and Ori, the dwarf with the bowl cut. He fussed a great deal, which grew to be exhausting to Eryn after a while, but he seemed to be passionate about his craft, which she discovered was herbs and embroidery.
Once they got back to camp, they delivered the wood to two other Dwarves whom she had yet to meet, they introduced themselves as brothers as well, Oin and Gloin, whom Eryn recognized immediately.
"What is your craft?" Eryn inquired of the two Dwarves while they stoked the fire.
"I am a healer," Oin boasted, "He is opinionated." He mocked, jabbing a piece of firewood towards his brother. Gloin grew beet red and yelled something in their mother tongue
"How long have you been a healer?" Eryn asked.
"Hu?" He yelled, leaning in closer toward Eryn, pulling out a horn and placing it in his ear.
"How long have you been a healer?" Eryn repeated, louder.
"Oh! Many years, my dear. In fact, I have my own salve named after myself!" Oin declared. Eryn raised her eyebrows in an exaggerated look of surprise.
"And what is it called?" She hummed.
"Ointment!" He exclaimed, Eryn laughed. Of course it was.
"Oin also acts as a midwife on the rare occasion a Dwarf woman gives birth, the natural way as you put it." Bofur offered as he sauntered over and sat next to Gloin, who was trying to get a fire started.
"Aye, personally delivered my nephew Gimli myself." Oin said proudly, before Gloin shot up from his raised position near the newly sparked fire.
"Delivered him? Dropped him on his head is what you did!" Gloin roared.
"Who told you that?" Oin defended.
"My wife!" Gloid demanded, smacking his brother upside the head. Eryn laughed merrily at the scene played out before her.
"What's so funny?" Gloin demanded, and Eryn sighed.
"It must be nice to have siblings." She mused. Gloin's internal fire dwindled and Oin exchanged a look with Bofur that Eryn didn't want to interpret as pity.
"Do you not have any yourself?" Bofur asked, "You can have my cousin, Bifur." He shot a thumb towards the Dwarf with the Axe in his skull and Eryn shook her head, laughing again, she seemed to be doing a lot of that today.
"No, thank you, are all of you related?" She knew the answer but wanted to hear it from them.
"Aye," Bofur began. "Bifur, the Axe head, and Bombur, the big one, are my kin." He nodded and moved to the next. "Dori, Nori and Ori, the Ri brothers. You're met these two," He motioned towards Oin and Gloin who nodded in return. "Dwalin and Balin. Lastly, Fili and Kili, strapping young lads." He gave Eryn a playful eyebrow raise. "Last but not least, Thorin, their uncle. So I'd say yes, we're all related by blood and in spirit." Bofur sounded so proud of this small group of Dwarves surrounding him, and Eryn could see why. They each in their own unique way had something special to add to the group, like a perfectly crafted stew.
At the thought of stew, Eryn's stomach growled, causing the three seated with her to roar with laughter.
"Bout time for supper miss? Bombur!" He yelled, and as if right on cue the portly Dwarf came walking over with a large pot in his hands. The stalks of carrots poked out of the top and her stomach ached with hunger.
"Make room!" he shouted, as he pushed his way to the fire. "I'll have supper ready in no time, if you're not going to help, scurry off." He commanded, all but Eryn rose and walked off.
"Do you need help?" she offered.
"Why yes!" he shouted, "Nobody usually offers to help make the meal, they only want to eat it. Not that I blame them." He shrugged. He handed Eryn a knife along with carrots, celery, a few small potatoes and an onion; which made Eryn cry when she began cutting it.
A few moments after they had begun cutting, Kili and Fili showed up with two large rabbits in hand, skinned and cleaned. It had been a long time since Eryn had rabbit for dinner and she couldn't wait.
"Eryn!" Kili exclaimed, approaching her quickly, "What happened? Are you hurt?" His question confused her until she realized her eyes were probably red and she had been crying from the onions.
"Oh no," Eryn wiped her eye with the back of her hand, "I'm only cutting onions, they make me cry a little." She admitted, new tears forming in her eyes.
"Do you want to know the secret to not cry?" Kili offered
"What's that?" Eryn was indeed intrigued.
"The secret is to not get emotionally attached to them." He broke into laughter, scrunching his nose and holding his belly in humor. Eryn rolled her eyes and shook her head, playfully flinging her hand at him in a mock punch, which made him laugh even more.
The meal was finished within the hour and everyone gathered merrily around the fire to partake in the stew Bombur and Eryn made, it was mostly Bomber's skilled craftsmanship with food, but he didn't let Eryn get away without a little credit for helping.
She didn't have a bowl, so she had to borrow one from Bomber, who had a spare; not to anyone's surprise. He said it was a backup, in case he lost his first, or simply wanted two bowls worth at once.
She sat next to Kili who had graciously invited her to sit with him, his brother, Thorin, Boruf, Bifur, Bilbo, Dwalin, Balin and Ori around the warmth of the fire, "Miss Fey, many I ask you a question?" Kili began, "I have many questions really, but there is one that has been nagging at me since the first time you joined us." He looked at her from under his eyebrows, that were tucked low over his eyes.
Eryn nodded, nervous, whatever question could he have that warranted such a serious look?
"What happens when you assume?" He questioned "And why does it make you and I an ass?" Kili asked so earnestly, that Eryn choked on her food from laughter.
After a few moments of coughing and taking a large swig of water, she tried to explain it.
"When you write out the word, it spells ass, you, and me." She tried, but the look of confusion deepened on his brow. "Here, hang on." Eryn rose and found her bag, in it was a notebook she kept and a pen, returning she wrote the word down on a piece of paper.
"Ass – U – Me." Eryn enunciated, and pointed to each part of the word parsed out on the page. "See?"
With that he roared with laughter, and everyone wanted to see the joke that Eryn had told. She got mostly laughs, surprisingly Dwalin of all people, howled the most. She got a puzzled look from Bifur, a approving nod from Balin and a grunt from Thorin, though he did seem to be smiling; which Eryn wrote off as a success.
After the laughter died Eryn decided to continue her feats in getting to know everyone. "Do you have a craft, Bofur?" she knew quite a bit about his brother Bombur but hadn't had the chance to inquire about his skills or passions.
"Aye lass, I'm from a family of miners, but my real passion is Toy Making. Bifur and I were quite popular in Dale, before the dragon that is." He answered, resentful.
Bifur, hearing his name began yelling and waving his arms about, Eryn wasn't sure if he was upset or excited. Upon closer examination, she noticed that he was making gestures with his hands, like sign language.
"Oh, aye." Bofur said in response, then muttered something back towards him, and the rest of the group around the fireplace nodded, Eryn felt as though she was missing out on something important being said, looking down at her shoes. She decided to take them off, they had been on her feet far too long, they ached for fresh air and a good stretch.
"What language are you speaking? I've heard it spoken a few times, but I'm unfamiliar." She asked.
"It is Khuzdul, the language of our people." Thorin chimed in, the first he had spoken at dinner.
"It is a language rarely heard by outsiders. Not recorded by Elves or Men. It is a secret language, none other than Dwarves can learn it." Balin informed, much to Eryns disappointment.
"It's beautiful. Sounds a lot like Hebrew or Russian, some mix of the two. I like it a lot." She sighed.
"What is that?" Fili asked, throwing a bone into the fire, causing sparks to fly into the air.
"Those are languages where I come from. It's hard to explain, if I could speak some for you, I could explain better, but I don't know much." She admitted.
"Are there many languages where you come from?" Ori leaned closer, Eryn had honestly forgot he was there, he was so silent, jotting things down in his parchment.
"Oh yes, there are more than 6,000 languages where I come from." Eryn exclaimed and everyone around the campfire gasped.
"Six thousand?!" Ori cried, "How do they record them all?"
"Well, they can't. There are around 2,000 of those languages that have fewer than 1,000 speakers." she explained.
"Wow, you are quite knowledgeable Miss Fey." Bilbo admired.
"I just love languages, I was learning Russian for a while, but had to stop because I was too busy," Eryn shrugged, and went on. "I learned a lot and understood once when someone insulted me. I had a good comeback for them, but I was so excited I understood what she was saying, I didn't care that she said I 'looked like trash'." Eryn looked down at her bare feet, warming by the fire. "How much better life would be without offense." she mused to herself quietly.
"That's the way of the world, others will offer offense as they please." Thorin glowered.
"Well, then chose not to take it." Eryn offered, and Thorin scowl grew deeper.
"You think it that simple?" He challenged, and Eryn shrugged.
"Well, yeah," She looked deeper into the fire now, the warmth prickling her face. "That's how it works. It's like a crappy gift that someone gives you, you decide whether you pick it up or not. With offense, you can choose to take it and unwrap the gift of bitterness, or you can refuse it and go about living your life. The only variable is what you choose to do with it." She explained, turning to look at him now, his narrow eyes held hers for a long time. He looked as if he was searching for something in what she had said, his stare was broken only by a hearty laugh and he turned his head sharply, but not after giving her a silent nod.
"You seem wiser than your age, Miss Fey." Balin complimented.
"Nah, I've just lived a lot of life in the past 26 years." She smiled weakly.
"Do you have a family?" Balin inquired.
"I live with my grandfather, he's probably close to your age?" Eryn mentioned without thinking, earning her a few laughs.
"I wouldn't bet on it, lass." Dwalin assured.
Eryn's cheeks grew warm, of course he wasn't, he only looked like it. "I meant; you look like you could be the same age. But you seem to be better off than him, he's quite sick, I moved to live with him after my grandmother passed." Eryn spoke, her voice grew weak as she thought about her Grandfather by himself again and her eyes pricked with tears.
"You live with him, to help him? I'm sure he's very grateful." Bilbo offered trying to defuse the waterworks brewing in Eryn's eyes. "How about your other family, parents perhaps?"
"They are still close to my grandfather, but I haven't lived with them for a long time. I was living far away when my grandfather got sick, so I moved in with him to help him manage his store. A lot of other things fell apart in my life, so the timing was perfect." Eryn admitted, though she didn't exactly want to elaborate.
"How about a spouse?" Bofur inquired.
This was the question Eryn was dreading and they approached it far faster than she was expecting. Her legs began to bounce and shake, she fidgeted with the drawstring of her sweatshirt hood, biting her lip. She was not prepared for the tsunami wave of frustration to surge through her; she took a deep breath and composed herself.
"Gentlemen," Eryn started, raising from her seated position near the fire. "On that note, I will say my goodnight." She smiled her best deceptive smile, but it was not effective; the looks she received were confusion, and concern..
"Miss Fey, have I said something to offend you?" Bofur begged.
"No, not at all!" Eryn assured, "I would just like to keep a few secrets of my own." She admitted, picking up her shoes and walking away from the warmth of the party seated around the campfire. She caught Thorin's eye as she turned, they seemed narrow and critical, his brow a tight line. She couldn't hold his eye for long and turned away with her eyes trained on her feet. The stones she walked upon hurt her feet, but she didn't mind, they hurt anyway.
She found a spot under an overlapping of two large boulders with a lip that gave some shelter and she drug her belongings to her own hole in the ground. She didn't want shelter from the outdoors as much as she wanted to hide from her embarrassment. She felt dreadful.
After picking out a few stray stones from her sleeping quarters, she laid out her bed roll and found a blanket rolled up inside, she was thankful that Merodyn had done something so kind for her.
Eryn laid in her bed for a long while, listening to the chatter, the laughter and the crackle of fire, her blanket was pulled up to her nose. This was awful. How could she be this melancholy? It amazed and scared her how quickly she wanted to be included, then to desperately try to get away, it was like her mind hit the eject button and before she knew it, she had checked out.
How was she going to do this? Eryn thought as she covered her face and cried.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and followed. Please R&R, I love constructive criticism and feedback :)
You are all awesome and I adore you. Also, you look great today.
-B