Chapter Six: The Relative Realness of Dwarves
Gandalf the Grey had always been known for his keen observation skills. It was rare for him to not notice something, and even rarer for him to not understand something. That being said, it was fairly safe to assume that Gandalf the Grey did not understand Miss Emelia Montgomery. From the moment he first observed her being held in the trolls hand, she had confused him. She was odd, and uncouth, and by all definitions he could think of, completely displaced.
She was small, but not appallingly so. She was too skinny and slight to be a dwarf, yet not tall enough to be considered a full sized human woman. He had kept his distance from her when she had gone sprinting off into the trees on the opposite side of the camp from where he had positioned himself. He knew she would be back. She was in possession of nothing to keep herself safe and alive, in addition to the fact that she was so visibly hurt, he was surprised she had enough energy to stand, let alone run away like she had.
He had watched her, not even bothering to be discrete, as Balin led her gingerly back into the clearing that the trolls had occupied. She was pale, despite her vivid sunburn, and looked as if she hadn't eaten for days. Her face was very gaunt looking, and her lips were so horribly chapped they were bleeding. Her little stocking clad feet were covered in stains and blood from sources that were fairly obvious to the old wizard. She was clutching at Balin's cloak like it was the only thing that was really keeping her from collapsing to the ground in a heap.
Gandalf would be the first one to admit that some things, much less than most would think, stumped him. Emelia Montgomery was not like any person he had ever encountered. When he had first glanced at her, he had assumed she was a wayward hobbit woman who had stumbled at bit too far away from home.
Upon further inspection, he found that his first assumption was entirely wrong. Her feet were far too small to be that of a hobbit. Her hair was not nearly curly enough, and her height was not indicative of the Halfling race. She looked more like a dwarf, which was entirely preposterous considering she had no hair on her chin or exorbitant muscles on her arm. He was left with the only conclusion that she was, despite what he would normally guess, a human.
She was taller than Balin, as well as most of the others, but she still had to tip her head up ever so slightly to look at the taller of the dwarves. He noticed that she never made eye contact with any of the dwarves except Balin.
Gandalf had done his best to keep his distance from her as the rest of the dwarves did their best to make her feel less like she had been held captive.
Ori had produced an extra pair of pants and shirt so quickly Gandalf had to fight his chuckle.
Bombur, much to everyone's great surprise, had presented her with two rolls and a skin of water, smiling softy over at her in the process.
Fili, to nobody's great surprise, offered to take her to the small little stream up the mountain with a very obvious smirk on his face.
And Thorin, to nobody's surprise whatsoever, quickly smacked him on the back of the head and delegated Balin to take her to the stream to wash herself.
Gandalf had waited until the two of them had disappeared before he rose from his spot leaning against the tree and made his way over to Thorin. The dwarf was muttering angrily under his breath, pacing back and forth, ignoring the looks he was getting from his companions. None of them, save Gandalf, seemed brave enough to approach the volatile dwarf when he looked like he wanted nothing more than to punch a hole directly through the next thing, or person, he came in contact with.
"Thorin, I believe we have much to discuss." Gandalf said, choosing the most direct path to break the ice.
"If it is about the girl, I have not yet decided what to do with her." Thorin, rubbed the bridge of his nose, wracking his brain for a solution as to what to do with the interloping female.
"She is not a puppy that you send on its way Thorin Oakenshield." Gandalf said, earning a almighty glare from Thorin. "She is very odd, and I cannot seem to place why."
"Perhaps she is a spy." Thorin said, half seriously, half antagonizing.
"Perhaps we should ask her where she hails from before we assume she is a spy." Gandalf peered down at the perpetually angry dwarf. "I trust you know that she will need to go with us."
"Absolutely not." Thorin said slightly louder than he intended to, drawing the attention of some of his company over to him. "This is not some hiking trip. The hobbit is bad enough. I am not bringing some human female with us. She will surely fall behind or die, and I will not be responsible for that."
"Then what would you suggest we do Master Dwarf?" Gandalf asked, feeling his slight annoyance bubbling back up to the surface. "You refuse to go within a hundred leagues of Imaldris, the only feasible place that we could drop off Miss Montgomery."
The stubbornness of dwarves was truly astounding at the best.
"We could always just take her with us until we find a town that we could leave her in." Thorin looked over from the wizard, making eye contact with Dwalin as he lumbered over to them. He was flexing his large hands, making his dark tattoos stand out even more so than usual. "I do not fancy dragging such a weak woman with us through the wild."
"While I can see where you get that idea of thinking, my good Dwalin, I do not think it would be wise or ethical of us to leave her in the next village we come across." Gandalf said.
"The wee little lass can probably barely hold a knife properly, let alone use one." Thorin snapped, not really seeing Gandalf's point of view. "She would be dead within minutes if she were to go out into the wild."
"Do you have such little faith in yourselves?" Gandalf asked, taking a secret joy in the indignant looks that slid onto the faces of the two dwarves. "I have complete confidence that you will not let anything happen to her." Gandalf paused, looking over at the other side of the camp to where Emelia was returning gingerly with Balin. "Besides, I do believe there is much more to our little friend than her quick wit and annoyance at your nephew would suggest."
Thorin looked over at Emelia, not even bothering to hide the scowl on his face as he observed her. She was as clean as one could get using a stream as a bathtub. Her face was peppered with bruises and cuts, making her look like she had been hit multiple times. She had shed Balin's cloak, choosing instead to don just the shirt and pants that Ori had enthusiastically given her. Thorin thought it was a bit too enthusiastic, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
It seemed that despite the dwarve's hospitality Lady Montgomery didn't really trust them completely. She was sitting on one of the stumps that the trolls had used, causing her to have to swing her legs at the height difference between her and the ground. She was eyeing each dwarf in his company individually, scrutinizing them one by one. She kept her gaze on Dwalin the longest, fixing him with a look that Thorin could identify as a mix between fear and undeniable distrust. She flinched every time one of the dwarves addressed her, making a wince appear on her nervous face every single time. The only person she seemed comfortable with, on a surface level at least, was Balin, and to a lesser extent the burglar.
It was clear that the hobbit alarmed her. Whenever he spoke to her, she eyed him with suspicion. She titled her bruised head side to side as she was studying him, assessing him.
While he would normally empathize with her wariness, for it was a trait that he himself had perfected in himself over many long decades of distrust, he found himself growing steadily more and more annoyed at her unexpected presence.
"What do you suggest we do then, Gandalf?" Thorin asked. Dwalin let out a small snort, causing the wizard to shoot him a dark look. "We cannot take her all the way with us to Erebor. I will not endanger the lives of those in this company, nor will I compromise our quest, for some flighty maiden with a very odd sense speaking and manner of dressing."
Gandalf was silent for a moment, looking over at the fidgety woman for a brief moment. "Perhaps the answer will come to us after we have spoken with our charming little addition before we pass judgment about whether she will be a burden or not."
"She neither and addition nor an asset." Thorin said in a deep, annoyed voice. "We will stay here for the night, and make our way to the troll cave at first light."
"What of the girl?" Dwalin asked, shooting the woman sitting gingerly amongst his kin a scathing look. "Do we take her with us?"
"She will not accompany us the entirety of this journey. We will find out something to do with her. She will not be an addition for long." Thorin said, ending the conversation for his part.
"Regardless, Thorin Oakenshield, of what you think about the subject, I think it is time we go introduce ourselves to Miss Montgomery. We have been terribly rude, wouldn't you say?" Gandalf gave Thorin one last look before moving over to the rest of the members of the group.
He stopped in his spot, feeling a smile slide onto his old face. He had planned on speaking to the woman before the night was over, but it did not appear that he was going to get his chance. She was curled up on the ground in a tight little ball, pulling Balin's cloak around her shoulders like a makeshift blanket. He could tell, even from across the camp, the her exhaustion, both mentally and physically had finally caught up with her, resulting in her falling asleep where she had been sitting.
Emelia had been more thankful than she could ever put into words at being given the opportunity to bathe and put on proper clothes. When Balin had led her to the small stream some distance away from the rest of the members of the group, she had practically thrown herself into the frigid water. It flowed so delightfully in front of her, making her realize, for what felt like the hundredth time, how much she missed her home. The water was the cleanest thing she had seen in the last four days, making it that much more inviting.
Balin had been respectful of her, of course, keeping his back to her as she lowered herself into to the water. The weightlessness of the liquid had made her feel like she wasn't as hurt as she felt like she was on the solid ground. Her joints weren't under as much strain and her bruises didn't feel like they were pressing into her as much. In general, she would have very much liked to stay in the water forever. Part of her had hoped that the current might sweep her off and send her back on way to Alaska.
Of course, that was more of a delusional wish than a legitimate thought.
She slipped off her underwear and bra, shooting a quick glance over at Balin to make sure that he still had his broad back turned to her, before scrubbing them so harshly her hands hurt. It made her sick to see them covered in such vulgar stains. It brought the memories of what had happened to her rushing back to her mind in full force. She could see the marks on her clothes, on her skin, and feel it underneath her skin. The places they had chained and roped her were covered in bruises and lacerations that stung as she attempted to scrub them clean.
The most horrifying and embarrassing part of the whole process was when she had to clean herself of her own filth. It made her insides squirm at the sight on her body. The whole thing made her squirm.
Emelia scrubbed her body until it felt like all of her skin was pink and raw. The amount of dirt and grime that had covered her was truly appalling. It had made the water around her completely brown and coppery looking.
"Lassie, are you alright?" Balin's voice drifted over to her, making her jump slightly in the cool water.
"Y-yes." Emelia said, sinking into the water so that only her head was sticking out. "I'm done."
"I will stay facing this direction until you are completely covered." Balin said simply, keeping his back to her.
"Thank you." Emelia said, realizing for the first time how thankful she was for the old man who was facing away from her. She hoped he picked up on her double meaning without her having to say it again. Especially while she was crouching naked in a freezing river.
"Think nothing of it." Balin said simply.
Emelia felt her sore face cracking into an almost nonexistent smile for the briefest of moments. She, against her wishes, carefully lifted herself out of the water, pulling her discarded bra and underwear with her. She had washed her socks before throwing them onto the shore. She slowly made her way back to the shore, picking her way around the more slippery rocks, before making her way over to where she had laid Balin's cloak down. She slipped it over her wet body before clearing her throat.
"All nice and clean are we?"
"Sort of." Emelia said, hoping she didn't sound whiney.
"Ori gave me an extra pair of clothes to give you. I do not think you want to go running about in your skivvies for the remainder of the cold night." He handed her a small bundle of clothes. "I will wait for you over here, shall I?"
Emelia nodded at the old man, pulling the clothes close to her chest.
When she was positive his back was fully turned to her, she immediately slipped the pants on. She didn't bother with her soiled underwear, choosing instead to drop them to the ground in a heap. She pulled her bra back on, choosing to ignore the fact it was still stained with her own vomit. It didn't smell as bad as she would have expected, so she choose to keep it on. She didn't really fancy being surrounded by men wearing nothing but a shirt and pants. She was already pushing it for herself to forgo her underwear. The pants were impossibly large for her. They were almost too short but swallowed her hips and thighs. The shirt was no better, pooling unattractively around her midsection.
If she had to guess, she would have said Ori was a paunchy around his stomach. He had given her clothes, however, so she wasn't going to complain.
Balin wasted no time in getting her back to the camp with the others. He had refused his cloak when she had extended her arm out to him, shaking his head with a good natured smile.
As soon as the two of them had walked into the troll clearing, Emelia was bombarded with large smiles and loud shouts of greeting.
She felt her body instantly shrinking back into its self. No matter how nice they had been to her, they still scared her to pieces.
"Come warm yourself by the fire, little lady." One of them boomed over at her, causing her to flinch slightly.
Emelia felt a hand on her back, leading her to a seat by the fire. She glanced around her for a moment before pulling herself up onto one of the stumps that the trolls had used. She could feel the eyes of all of them on her as she struggled to get herself into a comfortable, albeit awkward, position. She sat there for a moment looking at each one of them in turn. They were all watching her. Every single one of them. It was in that moment that she truly realized how many of them there truly were.
"I don't know any of your names." She said awkwardly, shifting in her spot.
"Of course you don't lassie." One of them said loudly, causing her to flinch ever so slightly. "I am Gloin son of Groin."
She blinked rapidly, doing her best not to laugh a Gloin's father's name. It seemed too ridiculous to be true, yet for some reason she didn't think he was kidding. Gloin did not look like the type to kid around. He was stout and sturdy looking with fiery red hair that could rival her fathers and a beard that would make a lumberjack feel ashamed.
"I am, as you know, Balin son of Fundin." Emelia smiled ever so slightly at the white haired man.
"Dori." He was salt and peppered, just like her own grandfather, and had a very gentle face.
"Nori." He looked odd, with his elaborate hair style and mousey looking eyes, but there was an undeniable intelligence and cunning about him.
"Ori." Ori was very shy and very sweet as he attempted to maintain eye contact throughout their introduction. He had an almost bowl cut like hairstyle and very minimal facial hair. Of course, it was still more than sour man that she assumed was called Kili.
"Oin son of Groin." Oin was the one who had fixed her arm, automatically endearing himself to her despite the fact that she didn't know him.
"Bofur." He was smiling kindly at her from his spot smoking by the fire. "And this here is Bifur." Bifur nodded at her, keeping his gaze even and steely.
"Bombur is what they call me miss." Bombur was enormously fat and ginger. "Here is some bread and water for you."
Emelia had to fight the urge to scramble over to Bombur and devour the food right then and there. Her stomach visibly hurt from the lack of substantial sustenance. She ignored the fact that she was barefoot and wearing clothes that were two times too big for her as she made her way over to Bombur, ignoring the slight kindly chuckles from those around her at her over zealousness. She grabbed the bread and water out of Bombur's fat hand, sending him a large smile of thanks before digging in to the first food she had seen in what felt like forever.
"You know, Kili, I do think her eating style lines up directly with yours." Emelia immediately looked up at the sound of the new voice. The blonde one, Fili was smiling widely at her, nudging Kili in the side. "I do have to say, you look quite breathtaking without all the dirt and grime. Don't you think so, brother?"
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that." Kili said sourly.
"You can't still be upset about the whole nose thing?" Emelia asked, feeling her familiar pension for sarcasm poking through, despite her overall feeling of discomfort. It was hard for her to be pleasant to someone when she was already feeling so out of sorts, let alone someone who was taking her actions far too seriously. It's not like she had intended to make him bleed, just make him let go of her. "I mean, you did tackle me like a linebacker. I hold you responsible for the whole thing."
"Lighten you're mood, brother. You are in the presence of a rather lovely lady." Fili said, clapping his brother roughly on the back. "She looks so nice after a good scrub."
"That is the general idea isn't it?" Emelia asked, making her way back over to the stump she had been previously on, taking her bread and water with her. "People tend to look better when not covered in troll refuse."
"Yes, that is usually how it goes." Fili shot her a charming smile before taking a seat next to the fire. Kili gave her one last look before moving to sit next to Fili, firmly keeping his gaze off of her for the rest of the night. It seemed he was going to be whinier than a middle school girl holding a grudge.
She sat there for a moment before she heard a small throat clear next to her, drawing her attention away from the men gathered around the fire and down to the ground next to the stump. It was the man-child.
"I am Bilbo Baggins, Lady Montgomery." He said, smiling tentatively up at her. Emelia couldn't help but scrunch up her face as she looked at Bilbo up and down. Her eyes were drawn almost instantly to his enormously large feet and pointed ears. His height, which was substantially smaller than her own, made him appear to be only a child, yet it was clear that he was far beyond that.
"What are you?" Emelia asked before she had even realized it. As soon as the words had left her mouth she immediately threw her hands over it, shaking her head as an apology. "That was rude. I'm sorry."
"It is quite alright miss." Bilbo smiled at her, despite her rude comment. "I am a hobbit."
"I have no idea what that is."
"A halfing. Shirefolk." He trailed off as she saw the look of alarm and confusion etching it way onto her face. "You…you don't know what I am. You've never even heard of a hobbit?"
"That's not surprising Mr. Baggins." Emelia looked around to see Balin and Gloin making their way slowly towards them. "Most dwarves and humans have never come across a hobbit before. I am sure the same goes for the little lass."
Emelia felt her eyes narrow. That wasn't the first time she had heard dwarves being mentioned after she had fallen through the ice. She looked around at all of the men surrounding her, feeling her anxiety rising yet again. She had thought it had passed for the briefest of moments, only to come roaring back in full force. It filled her up, bubbling up to the surface, making her skin and eyes feel like she was burning from the sun all over again. She felt her skin flushing and sweating slightly as she tried to process the new information.
"And by dwarves you mean..." she trailed off.
"Us of course, Lassie." Gloin said in a booming voice.
"Right." Emelia immediately stood up from her spot on the stump. "You're all insane. I told myself you were crazy. I knew it. I ignored myself, even though I knew you guys were all kinds of crazy. Like bat-shit crazy. But I said, 'Maybe not. Maybe I'm the crazy one for thinking that I fell through the ice in Alaska and ended up in some jungle in the middle of nowhere.' But I can safely say, that you gentlemen are in the fact the ones that need to go visit the loony bin. Like you're all a bunch of nutt…"
She trailed off, feeling her breathing reaching critical levels. She bent over on herself, placing her hands on her knees, taking in very deep breaths.
"Are you alright, lassie." Gloin asked, taking a tentative step towards her. "You look like a tomato."
Emelia felt her eyes becoming hazy as she looked at the grassy ground beneath her. She imagined that she would have been much better able to handle the new information if she hadn't been so exhausted. In fact, when she looked back on the whole situation, her over the top reaction embarrassed her to no end. She had been held by trolls. Dwarves were not the most ludicrous thing she could have imagined. It seemed that in the moment, however, it was hard for her tired brain to process everything that had been thrown at her. She felt her legs shaking slightly, causing her to sit herself on the ground.
Dwarves. They were dwarves. Like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Only this time, she was Snow White and it wasn't seven dwarves, but thirteen.
Eddy, her younger brother, would have been delighted. He had always loved that sort of thing.
"I think I just need a moment." Emelia squeaked out. "Just to process…things."
"Gloin, give her some space." Balin said. She felt something heavy draping over her shoulders. "Take all the time you need, lassie."
Emelia nodded, trying to wrap her head around things. "You should get some sleep. It will give you time to process and recover. We have a long road tomorrow." Balin said kindly to her.
"Right, sleep." Emelia managed to slur out. "I should sleep…"
She wanted to sleep. It was almost a desperate need at that point in her life. She wanted to be able to shut her eyes and forget the surprisingly hospitable dwarves. She wanted to curl up and wake up not covered in lacerations and bruises, but she knew that wouldn't happen. She wanted to have her family babying her over her injuries, telling her to stop whining so much before they kissed her sweetly on the cheek and left her to her pain meds. She wanted ibuprofen.
She wanted so much that she knew she wasn't going to get.
She laid her body down on the moist ground, keeping Balin's cloak firmly around her.
Emelia was a rational person. She knew it was stupid to keep kidding herself into thinking that she was dreaming all of this. She knew it was real. She didn't have the foggiest idea how it was possible. She could touch the world around her; taste the humidity on her tongue. It told her that everything was real. It told her that her family was so far away from her it made her physically hurt. She pulled her legs even closer to her, ignoring the muttering that was happening around her.
She knew everything was real. It was real. The injuries were real. The dwarves who had saved her, despite her sour attitude and reluctance, were real.
She didn't know what was going to happen the next morning, nor did she really have the energy to think about it. All she knew was that she was planning on waking up and being a lot nicer to the dwarves who had most definitely saved her from being eaten alive. She had learned from her parents that the best way to move on from a traumatic event, was to find the bright side of the whole thing. She supposed that the bright side of everything was that she got to sleep on the soft ground, not chained like a common dog.
And that was really all she could ask for and hope for.
As always, thank you all so much for the reviews. I really like to take what you guys say and apply it to my writing. I promise I take everything you guys say and use it. I swear. :) So keep the reviews coming. I love every single one of them.
Also, I love PM's. You want to suggest something, ill totally listen to it and respond with what im planning. :)