How to cook dwarrows and poison trolls
The moment Bella sat down Dwalin was by her side.
"Namad, here. Drink something. You must be exhausted. Have some of this too, you must eat properly. Bombur, how is that fire going?" The warrior fussed.
It had been adorable and sweet for the first week. The second week her mood dropped significantly. Now the third week has ended. The morning after her speech of home and family, after they had learned of how old she was, all hope was lost. They treated her like an invalid.
Dori snatched her pack as soon as they stopped for the night, preparing her bedroll next to Dwalin and Thorin.
This had become her spot now and Bella felt safe and secure yet a bit jumpy around their leader. She had to remind herself almost permanently that this is not 'her' Thorin. Despite the knowledge of this fact, her heart betrayed her and started to increase its beating from a steady thumping into a fluttering hummingbird every time he was near or simply looked at her. Curse that traitorous heart.
Bombur wouldn't even let her chop the vegetable, while Dwalin dragged her back to camp every time she attempted to sneak off to train. Fili and Kili avoided her completely, whispering behind her back and hastily shutting up when she strolled close. Oin came up every evening, determined to check for a possible injury. Bella wasn't sure how she would have managed to injure herself at all, with all those fussing dwarrows around, but appreciated the thoughts. Nori took on her watch, grumbling something about her needing sleep.
She slumped down next to Ori. He was eagerly writing and sketching in his journal.
"Ori, would you be so kind and explain again the difference between those blue gem-types?"
The young scribe beamed at her, closing the book.
He was the only one who didn't treat her differently. Maybe because he knew all too well how it was to be the youngest. Dori fussed over him enough as it was. The pure thought of having to deal with ten of Doris kind… Ori shuddered.
"I would be delighted," he started chatting away about mining and how the different gems were found in different depths and how the purity grade was determined.
Soon he noticed that the hobbit lass wasn't really listening to him. She stared over to where the better part of the company was gathered. Following her line of sight, he spotted Thorin. The dwarven king was sitting on a fallen tree. He talked to Dwalin about something and frowned at his friend's response.
Ori looked back at Bella. In her eyes a sadness so deep Ori nearly flinched. A storm of sorrow, pain, fear and longing? raged in her green eyes, dying them nearly black. He had seen this before. In the eyes of the survivors of Moria. He reached out to her, gently touching her shoulder.
"Are you all right?" he asks with worry in his voice.
Bella jumped, one hand reaching to her hip, as if she was to draw a sword. Oddly there was no sword on her and the dagger from Dwalin hung on the other side. Ori frowned, confused. That might have been the reaction of a veteran warrior, but definitely not one of gentle folk.
"I … I am sorry. I think I… I need some time for myself. I won't go far, I promise. I just need to think for a bit. Tell them… Tell them I won't talk to them for at least a month if they come after me. I just – just can't," she choked, turning to hide her tears and slipped away.
This whole situation felt wrong. Bella couldn't hold back the tears any more when she reached the forest. The trees hummed comfortingly in the warm breeze.
The company hadn't cared for her before. She had been just dead weight to them. Another piece of luggage they had to look after. Dwalin hadn't been that sweet and caring, Dori wouldn't fuss and Bombur would hand her the odd jobs. Kili and Fili acted the same by now. It was familiar but hurt so much at the same time. Ori was her safe haven as was Bifur.
The old warrior wouldn't fuss over her, just handing her a knife and a block of wood. Silently they would carve by the fire. Her sculptures were never really anywhere near identifiable, but he would just chuckle and let her try the next evening again.
Thorin, well Thorin was another matter. He acted cold and distant. He would watch her with his indifferent expression but sometimes it seemed like he acted out of character. Neither the grumpy and brooding king nor the stoic and stealed warrior. He would be just Thorin, the blacksmith holding her heart.
The nightmares had returned. Every night when she closed her eyes the pictures of her bloodied dwarrows hunted her down. Empty eyes staring at her. Fili and Kili, Dwalin, Bofur and Bifur. Thorin. If she had been a little bit better at that time. A bit faster. Stronger. Even now they seemed to stare at her, reach out for her, calling.
'It is your fault.' They whispered accusingly.
Sobbing, she sat down by a fallen tree. The earth under her bare feet pulsed slightly as if it wanted to tell her 'do not worry, I am here'. The trees whispered stories of old. Small flowers tilting their heads towards the hobbit lass. The forest reached out to her, comforted her with its presence. The last rays of sunlight broke through the leaves, coating the lass and the flowers in gold.
Shaking she exhales. Crying has never solved any problems. Placing her palms on the grass she closed her eyes, focusing on the voice of the forest. It told her stories of cold winters and the following spring as if it wanted to tell her all will be fine.
After some time, she opened her eyes. A vast field of flowers surrounded her. Giggling she brushes away the tears. It would be fine. She would make sure everything would be fine.
Humming she picks some small blue flowers and a couple of daisies. Bella would put them into Darwin's beard once back at the camp. She would have to talk to them again. She is no invalid nor a child. She could carry her own pack, hold watch at night and most definitely chop the vegetables!
Happy with her choice of flowers, she had gathered some more for Ori to sketch, Bella decided to go back.
Loud, heavy footsteps, the distant splintering of wood and a painful scream of the forest were the only warnings. In a matter of seconds Bella was swept off the ground. A surprised squeak sounded before the air was forcefully pressed from her lungs.
'Snap'. The sharp pain followed immediately. At least one of her ribs was broken.
"Bert, Bert! Look what I found." The troll's scraping voice rang in her ears.
"That's not even a mouth full!" boomed the addressed one.
"Is not for eating. I found it, so I keep it!" The first troll yanked her away from the reaching hands of Bert.
"And we feed it too? Don't bother, better eat it now." The third troll intervened.
"I, ah, I eat plants, so you won't need to worry about feeding me." Bella managed to say with a smile.
"See! No struggle at all," the one holding her chimed.
Heavily he sat down, bringing Bella nearer to his face. He stank worse than she remembered. Something between rotten eggs and long forgotten fish. The stench stung in her eyes and nose. He poked her into the stomach, forcing the air from her lungs once more.
"Funny little thing. What are you?" he demands to know, poking her once more.
'Smile. Ignore the pain and smile.' Thousands of thoughts are rushing through her mind. Bella couldn't panic now. She simply refused to. 'This is not right. Smile. They are early. We are not even at the farm. Gandalf, where is he? Thorin. It hurts.'
"I… I am a hobbit." She managed to state.
'Smile!' With some effort the hobbit managed to force her lips into a polite smile, as she would give Lobelia.
"I, well, I am a wandering cook. We hobbits are quite famous for our skills and our stew is to die for."
"Bert look! I found a cook!" the first chimed again, pleased with himself.
A large wooden spoon landed on his head. The troll flinched, tightening the grip around Bella. With another snapping sound a wave of pain flooded her body.
"Are you saying I can't cook? A bit of appreciation would be nice. 'Thank you for the lovely stew, Bert. That was really tasty, Bert.' But all you do is complain, Bill." He rumbled, swinging his spoon once again.
"Tom, say something!" Bill demanded, looking at the quiet troll.
"He's right… everything tastes like mutton-" he starts, ducking away as the spoon aims at his head.
"-except the mutton, which tastes like fish." Finishes Bill.
"Shut your cakehole." Bert grumbles, stirring furiously in the large cauldron. "We don't have all night. I don't fancy turning to stone."
In her clouded mind an idea sparked. It might be crazy, but most likely better than the risk of breaking anything else. Bella shifted slightly in the grip of her captor.
"Excuse me master Bert? I can see you really did brew a very nice stew there. As I can tell, you are an excellent cook. If I might suggest something that might be in your interest?" she smiled, clenching her shaking hands.
"What?" he boomed, not looking up from the stew.
"Well, I am really thankful for your hospitality and would love to repay you. My mother was rather famous for her gift. You see, she could brew a stew that held special effects." Her heartbeat increased rapidly, waiting for his response.
"And what would that be?" he glanced at her, slightly interested.
"Ah, well… you see."
"Yes? What is it?" Tom raised one eyebrow. She had the attention of the trio.
"This is a secret family recipe…" Bella watched them lean into her.
"Spill it! Tell us about the secret thingy!" Bill demanded, shaking her impatiently.
"Yes, yes! The stew… the special stew makes you able to walk in the sunlight. You see, we hobbits just turn into trees when exposed to sunlight." The lie easily slipped from her lips.
"Do you take us for fools, you little ferret? Trying to poison us, eh?" he booms, snatching her out of Bill's hand and letting her dangle near the fire.
"N-no! Of course not. How could I ever be so impolite to my gracious hosts?" Bella forced herself to smile once again.
Her ribs felt like they were on fire and her feet where Bert held her began to turn numb. Small black dots invaded her sight, but she forced them back. She trapped her pain and unpleasantness inside a dark corner of her mind. It would be no help at all if she would faint now.
"Drop her!" now she even began to hallucinate. That couldn't have been Kili, as he is safe and sound with the others.
"I said: Drop her!" the shouting was without a doubt Kili!
The next thing Bella remembers is being thrown through the air and landing on something oddly familiar. Kili had broken her fall, sadly Bella had broken something as well while colliding with his armor.
In a matter of moments, she was dragged behind a large tree and ordered to keep herself hidden. The battle didn't rage for long. Once the trolls found out the dwarrows wouldn't attack one of their own, they grabbed Ori by the arms and legs and threatened the company to lay down arms. Which they did. The trolls stripped them off their armor and clothes, stuffing them in sacks and piling them like presents under a Christmas tree.
"Where did you throw her? I quite liked that pet. She was funny." Bill pouted and promptly earned a whack from Bert.
Creeping forward as silently as she could, Bella made her way towards a large boulder. Between the others she could spot Thorin, Kili and Fili. Dwalin was not far and Ori was still a bit green around the nose. Bombur lay on top of the pile.
"Don't be like that, you can get another." Tom patted Bills back, making him spill his drink.
An argument broke out and Bella took this chance to overcome the small distance between her and her dwarrows. Sheltering herself behind her brother she takes out her small dagger and starts to loosen the ropes.
"Listen, I know you will probably hate me for this plan, but you have to do exactly as I tell you. Understood?" she whispers hardly loud enough for them to hear.
She tried to sell them her plan as well as possible. They all looked at her as if she was insane when she moved on to Nori. Kili looked so betrayed while his brother eyed her as if she was insane. Thorin was no better. He glowered at her as if she had suggested for him to marry the troll.
"For Yavannas sake, Thorin! Put your damn pride away and consider your options! Do you want to end as a troll-snack before you even laid eyes upon your mountain? I don't want to see them die again, so get your stubborn head out of your ass and do as I say." Bella hissed under her breath while dragging Nori to the trees.
The argument of the trolls had ended with Bert hitting the other two on the head, demanding silence while he decided how to proceed with the dwarrows.
"How good can you imitate a troll?" Bella wanted to know from the thief.
Nori looked down at the small hobbit lass. She had courage and a whole lot of that!
She had called him Thorin and not master Oakenshield as she used to. And the worst part of it, he liked the sound of that. It had a nice ring to it, coming from her mouth that is.
'You would even like it if she had insulted you.' The voice inside his mind snorts.
Her plan was ridiculous and really humiliating, but she was right, he didn't want to end as a snack for a troll. He had heard only half of her words, too taken by the fact of her calling his name. Did she really tell him to snap out of it?! There was something else in her words that made him frown. Something she said sounded odd.
A deep voice asked if they couldn't make a pie out of the dwarrows. Another argument between the trolls broke loose and every time it seemed to die down, another bodyless voice intervened and fueled it again.
"Nothing wrong with a raw dwarf! Nice and crunchy!" Bill grabbed Bombur from their pile.
Voices got loud, insults were thrown at the ugly beings, but nothing seemed to help. They could only watch while Bombur was lowered to the open mouth of the troll.
"I wouldn't risk it if I were you." Thorin raised his voice over the others. "That one there is spoiled. He has parasites, as we do all."
The troll halted in his motion, looking at the dwarven king.
"Parasites?" he asks.
"Aye, parasites. We were on our way to a healer, to get rid of our little 'problem'." He managed to say.
Every word burned like acid in his throat. The trolls all looked at him, doubtful but curious. Thorin clenches his hands into fists, opening and closing them a few times to release the tension.
'This' he decided 'will never ever again be mentioned.' Today would leave a blank page in their records.
He kicks his nephews in the back, as good as he can manage from his lying position. Kili joins in on their little act, as does Fili. They all first hesitate but choosing between swallowing one's pride and being swallowed is not that hard a choice at all.
"I have huge parasites!" "Mine are the biggest parasites!" "They are as big as my arm!" to only mention a few.
Confusion grew in the faces of the trolls. Dwalin used that chance to get rid of his bonds and slipped the small dagger to Thorin. Quickly the dagger was handed around, while they yelled at the trolls and distracted them as much as possible.
"Enough!" Bert rumbled, snatching Bombur from Bill and throwing him back on the pile. "We will kill them now and cook them tomorrow." He decided, taking a step towards the dwarrows.
They all were ready to jump up and fight their way out, if necessary. Thorin nodded at Dwalin, who returned the nod with a grim expression on his face.
These things had hurt his sister! She might have tried to hide her discomfort, but he saw the pain in her eyes, the stiffness in every motion and how she preferred to lean on her left leg. They would burn for what they did.
Before any of them could act, a familiar voice echoed over the clearing.
"The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf called out and the sun flooded the valley.
The trolls tried to shield themselves from the sunlight but there was no help for them. They became stone once again. For a moment, silence ruled the company. Then cheers and laughter filled the air. They still lived. Somehow, they had managed to survive.
"What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed!" As soon as the blonde prince had his clothes, weapons and armor back on he twirled around to his younger brother, angrily staring at him.
"You would have done the same! You saw how they handled her!" Kili defends his action, anger rising in him.
"What would mother say if she saw you being reckless again?" Fili shot back, checking him for injuries.
"Don't treat me like a child! If I am old enough to go on this quest I am old enough to make my own decisions!" angrily Kili slaps away the fussing hands, taking a step back and crossing his arms.
"You are far too young to go on this quest!" Fili yelled at him, shoving him a bit.
Kili shoved back and a small fight broke loose. They poked and shoved, bickered and finally rolled around the ground, laughing to their heart's content. Thorin shook his head at their childish behavior. In his eyes they both were probably far too young to come on this quest.
Suddenly it was quiet. He looked back where he last saw his nephews. They had vanished. His heart missed a beat as he searched the area with his eyes. Bombur and Bofur were helping their cousin into his pants, Balin sorted through the scattered belongings. Nori just came out of the forest and Dori was frantically checking over Ori. The scribe seemed fine, but his brother wouldn't stop fussing. Dwalin was fastening his axes before stomping over to Nori.
"Uncle look what we found!" a relieved sight leaves Thorin's lungs. He hadn't even realized that he had held his breath.
"What?" he grunted, trying to cover the worry in his voice.
"We found a cave, uncle. It stinks, but there is a small hoard too." Kilis head poked out between the bushes.
He followed them, as did the better part of the company, leaving Dwalin and Nori behind. Thorin wasn't sure why his friend detested his spymaster so much, but Dwalin had always had a high sense for what was right and wrong. He shifts his attention back to the cave before him. A barrel with swords caught his eyes.
'This one is a bit small to be even called a sword, but maybe she could…'
"Where is she, thief?" Dwalin grabbed Noris arm, forcefully yanking him back when he tried to follow the others.
"Lost her already, eh?" Nori sneers, breaking free of the painful grip.
Had he really lost her? Was this filthy thief right? Gritting his teeth, Dwalin took another step towards Nori. Staring down on the one he had hunted so many times back in the blue mountains. This scum knew nothing about what was going on inside of him. The worry and the doubt of his own skills to protect his sister nearly drowned him. She had vanished on his watch. She could have been dead!
Nori watched the tall dwarf for a few more moments, before he freed him from his misery. Somehow it had become a game to the thief to anger the warrior. He played pranks on Dwalin, angered him on purpose.
Nori liked how crimson slowly crept over the tattooed face, the wild look in his eyes and by Mahal, the flexing of his muscles. This sight alone was worth all the trouble that came with it.
"She is fine. After she told me her crazy but brilliant plan she went back to camp. She said she would fetch the herbs, just to make sure. If her plan would have failed she would have poisoned them." Shrugging he looked at Dwalin, daring to step a bit closer.
'Maybe if I kiss him he would explode?' chuckling to himself, Nori turned away. 'No, just this is enough for now.' Ignoring the aching in his chest he left.
Dwalin froze. There was a short moment between worry and anger where he felt peace. In the very second he heard the soft chuckle his world went white. Leaving only himself, his One and the smell of tea and sunny days.
"Oh…" he mouthed, watching the thief departing further from him.
I know I haven't been updating as much lately, but here I am ^^ my dear reader, you can rest assured, as I can tell you I have not forsaken my stories and there shall be more updates hopefully soon