A/N I'm not sure what happened here, things definitely got away from me but in a good way so I'm not mad about it.
It is probably a bloodier chapter than we normally see as far as fight descriptions go...but then again I killed a child right in front of Josephine during Helm's Deep so relatively speaking maybe it's actually not?
Anyway.
GO FORTH.
Josephine's horse was no war horse. Walnut, as he'd been named by the man who'd sold him, had been born and bred in the quiet Bree countryside and the clash and flurry of swords made him nervous. Having spent all her time on horses bred for battle, Josephine was finding his more skittish tendencies to be a bit of a worry. She knew he wouldn't stick around after the trolls showed up, but she had to actually make it that far in the first place. Apparently dear Bill the pony really had been a one of a kind creature.
When she'd mentioned her concerns in passing, Dwalin added a few things to their to-learn list. Which was why they broke from the company throughout the day, under the bright sun where orcs wouldn't be wandering, and Dwalin would charge after her.
"Come on, lass!" He urged, his pony determined enough to not be outdone by her horse that she was having to keep up with him instead of the other way around. "I'm supposed to be chasin' you!"
He pulled his pony around to circle her and telegraphed his movements as he brought his sword towards her. Their blades clashed into each other loudly and she held tight to the reins as her horse shuffled back worriedly.
"Easy now." She said, leaning forward to brush her hand over his neck.
Dwalin sighed and sheathed his sword. "Best leave it there for today, I'd say he's had enough."
She got down as he continued shuffling and loosened her hold on the reins. "Stille nú, sîdh." Her horse tossed his head a couple more times and she repeated herself.
He snuffed and snorted but finally started to calm down as she cooed her way through a few more words of elvish, glad to see some of Aragorn's magical horse boy skills had worn off on her.
Dwalin scoffed as she ran her hand down the horse's nose. "Elvish blades, elvish bows, and now elvish magic. Ye'r a strange woman."
"Won't argue with you there. I-" The horse startled again and tugged at the reins in her hands. "Next time I'm doing the horse buying." She said, trying to calm him down again.
Dwalin looked to the south of the road where the wind blew over them and frowned. "I think he might have some grounds for it this time."
Josephine followed his gaze, seeing movement through the tall brown grasses that she couldn't quite make out. But whoever was coming could see them, and so could their wargs who's howls echoed through the hills. "It's too bright out for orcs."
"These are no orcs." Dwalin said, seeing them better from the height of his pony. "They're of yer kin. An' no good can come of men who walk from Harloeg and keep wargs as pets."
Josephine pulled herself up into her saddle as the barking got closer, having no intention of being at ground level when they showed up. It was a good thing she had, even as her horse shuffled around on the road. The wargs burst through the grass, weaving around their mounts as six men came out onto the road, three of them on horseback
"Good day, gentlemen." Dwalin said as the men slowly surrounded them and called the wargs back to their sides. "Strange to find fellow travelers in this land."
"Stranger still, to find travelers such as yourselves passing along our road." Said the tallest of the group who'd stayed in front of them.
They were all armed and wearing threadbare cloaks with dirt stained hands and faces. Their eyes were sharp and dangerous, like cats who'd just captured a couple of mice. Josephine felt very much like she was under a microscope as the leader stepped towards her.
"Perhaps we could offer you our assistance." He said with a sickly smile.
Josephine glanced up at Dwalin who shook his head as her fingers twitched towards her sword. "I don't need any assistance, but thank you for your offer regardless." She said diplomatically.
"Oh I doubt that." He replied, wrapping his hand around her horse's bridle.
Still, Dwalin shook his head. "And why is that?" She asked, masking the wrinkle of her nose as the wind shifted and the man's stench hit her.
"We've been watching, the dwarf has been chasing you for more than a mile now. But you needn't worry now, we'll deal with 'im."
Josephine's jaw clenched as his other hand came to rest on her thigh and she glared over at Dwalin again.
"And we'll take good care of you too." The leader added.
She knew they were biding their time, trying to keep the peace long enough for the rest of the Company to catch up to them. Dwalin's plan wasn't lost on her, they were outnumbered and her horse wasn't going to behave through a fight. The irony of this all happening because they were trying to train him out of it was a little too on point for her taste.
"Now let's not be too hasty, gentlemen. I'm sure we can find a solution that will be…beneficial for all of us." Dwalin played.
"You think I'm wandering around the Lone Lands with a dwarf for no reason?" She said, grabbing the man's hand and removing it from her leg with a shove. "There's no better companion to bring on a hunt for treasure. But if you kill him then there's no chance of finding it."
Dwalin clearly hadn't been heading that direction with their story but he straightened up and schooled his expression to play along. "Tricky business, delving into ruins."
"Treasure hunters?" The man said skeptically. "We've found no treasure here, not even in the ancient crypts."
"That's because you don't know where the other crypts are." She explained. "He's traveled through the Northern Kingdom and met rangers who tell many tales. There is far more left in the Lone Lands from the old Numenorians than you realize."
"Yes, ruins infested with orcs and…other things." The man spat. "Things that moan like the wind but take no shape." A haunted look came over him for a brief second before his expression turned sinister once again. "So we will do you a kindness, and free you of the fate that awaits you there."
The men drew swords and she caught Dwalin's eye. Time had been bought, but from the look of it, not nearly enough. He looked at her firmly, then flicked his eyes back down the path they'd come from. A blatant order to run and ride hard back to the Company as soon as any opportunity presented itself, but she had a feeling that wasn't going to include him.
Wasn't the best odds, but in hindsight it also wasn't the worst she'd ever seen. Dwalin was to her right and the brigand standing to her left, still holding the bridle of her horse. The other five were spaced out and it would take them a moment to get close enough to do any damage.
The man wrapped his hand around her wrist and Dwalin's sword sang as he pulled it from its sheath. "You'd best remove y'er hand before I remove y'er arm."
"I'd do it if I were you, he's got an awful temper." She added, spine stiff as the heat from his hand sank into the bare skin of her wrist.
He let go of the bridle and her wrist in one motion, but it was clear in his eyes that it wasn't a surrender and one of his men closed in on Dwalin and put his sword to his throat. "It's not his temper you need to worry about anymore."
That much was obvious, and the way he looked at her when he said it made her blood run cold. She met Dwalin's eyes again and they seemed to come to the same conclusion. Or at least she hoped he was thinking what she was thinking, because she was thinking in very bloody terms.
The man reached for her again, this time for her arm. Masking it behind pulling away from him reach she slipped her hand under her cloak and grasped the hilt of Aragorn's knife as it sat lengthwise along her back. He reached again and the blade flashed in the sunlight as it sliced along his palm.
Beside her Dwalin used the distraction to dodge the sword held at his throat and slashed at the man, making him fall from his horse with a scream.
The leader reached for his sword, blood soaking the hilt from the deep cut she'd left him with. In the building chaos, Walnut did exactly what they'd known he would and she slid off his back as he bucked and bolted back up the road.
Knife in one hand and sword in the other she ducked a blow from the leader as Dwalin yelled something in Khuzdul and started hacking his way through the remaining two mounted brigands and cut down one of the ones on foot for good measure, leaving her only two to deal with.
She'd only fought with two blades a few times with Dwalin, but she liked the feel of the knife in her left hand, blade along her arm as she swung back at the other man. It slid down his face, leaving red in its wake and blinding him long enough for her sword to sink into his gut.
Howls rang out as the wargs joined the fray, chasing Dwalin as she dodged another blow from the leader. He gripped his sword with two hands, trying to keep a hold of it through the slick of his blood.
But he was hulking and angry, glaring at her in a way that would've made her quake in her boots the last time she'd walked through the Lone Lands. But she had too much to do, and too many miles to go to worry about a brigand. He slashed and she jumped back, swept down at her and she skirted to the side.
Don't reach for them, Boromir had told her once. Light and fast, let them come to you. It had served her at Helm's deep against the Uruks and as the man raised his sword to strike at her she ducked again, this time charging forward and shoving her sword through his stomach.
He gurgled and fell back into the dirt, blood sputtering past his lips. A few yards away, Dwalin had jumped off his pony and was squaring off with the last warg. She was about to run to his aid when he laughed and rammed his sword through the beast's mouth and up into its skull.
She wiped off her knife and sword and sheathed them as Dwalin, spattered with dark warg blood, retrieved his pony.
"Well. That was exciting." She drawled sarcastically.
"Aye, and we shouldn't linger. I doubt they were the only ones." A howl off in the distance proved his theory right and he led his pony over and motioned to her. "Up ye go, lass."
"He can't carry us both, Dwalin, you're as heavy as a boulder and I'm too big for him."
"He'll get ye back to the Company, better than that skittish brute of a horse would if he hadn't run off. I can hold my ground long enough for ye to get reinforcements."
Right. Cause Dwalin dying in the first leg of their journey wouldn't ruin anything! "I'm here to ensure this quest succeeds which includes you not dying so I'm not leaving you behind!"
"And I'm under orders to keep ye alive so if I die then ye'll be around to fix it."
As it turned out, their buying for time with the brigands did end up helping as a thunder of hooves crested the hill they'd come down and the Company charged down to them with their swords drawn.
Thorin eyed the horizon as the others encircled them and Bilbo waited just behind, looking winded on Myrtle and holding Walnut by the reins. She took them from him and mounted, ready to steady him as another howl came again, a bit closer than before. But Walnut didn't move, didn't so much as toss his head. Maybe trial by fire was just what he'd needed.
"He came barreling down the road right for us." Bilbo explained. "It's how we knew you were in trouble and got here so quickly."
Dwalin mounted his pony and Thorin caught her eye. She nodded in response, confirming she was fine.
"We can hear your story later." Gandalf said, looking at the carnage they'd left. "I think it best we move on before those wargs arrive."
They took off at a gallop, ruining any chance of slipping through the rest of the area unnoticed. But soon enough the howls disappeared and crested another hill to see the river before them. The Last Bridge stood practically unchanged from how she remembered it, and the thick greenery of the Trollshaws on the other side was stark in contrast to the dry grasses of the Lone Lands. Rivendell wasn't far off now, and she was both yearning for its safety and dreading its familiarity.