Disclaimer: I own nothing but Esme, all credit for everything else goes to Tolkien and Jackson.
On The Road
Dwalin's POV
Dwalin had been tending to the ponies when he was joined by his older brother. Balin, being his usual self, started lecturing him about the lass almost immediately. He really shouldn't have been surprised. If there was one thing his brother knew how to do well, it was lecturing. Generally speaking, Dwalin had learned how to drown him out rather well but today was different. His own feelings were aggravating him enough without the added annoyance of a know-it-all older brother. Sighing he turned to face Balin.
"For Mahal's sake Balin, I said I don't want anything to do with her! Can ya not just let it be?"
Balin rolled his eyes as if Dwalin were a spoilt child who was refusing to see sense. Perhaps Dwalinhe was acting like one but he just couldn't see why his older brother couldn't let this one go.
"Now brother, we both know that isn't true. You do want her and I hope that you realise that and tell her before she decides you're a lost cause and finds someone else. Perhaps when we are on the road you'll find the courage to tell her how you really feel."
He wasn't sure what it was about Balin's statement that annoyed him more, the fact that he still wasn't backing down, the thoughts of Esme finding someone else or that his brother had questioned his courage. Whatever it was however, Dwalin finally snapped.
"How many times do I have to say it? That lass has been nothing but a hindrance to me since I found her. She's the last thing we need on this quest. The sooner she returns to her own world the better!"
As soon as he had the words out of his mouth he knew by the horrified look on his brother's face that the lass had heard him. Cursing himself for being so stupid, he turned to apologise to her. He was expecting to see her hurt, upset and confused. What he wasn't expecting was the anger he now clearly saw etched on her face.
"Actually Mr. Dwalin I am coming on this quest, whether you like it or not, but not to worry I won't trouble you with my company! In fact I won't even speak to you. After all, I would hate to be a hindrance."
Her retort was almost spat at him as she pushed past him and towards the other ponies not bothering to even look back. He was glad in a way she hadn't. He was sure his rage was obvious just by looking at him as he realised that in fact she was foolish enough to have agreed to come with them. That didn't bother him as much however as the pain he was sure was evident in his face. It was the last thing he wanted her to see. If ever he had entertained the notion that she may have an interest in him, that hope was now entirely gone and it was of his own making. Thorin called for them all to saddle up and move out then and Dwalin pushed those thoughts away as best he could, climbed onto his own pony and got ready to make for the open road.
Esme's POV
Esme stood in front of her pony trying to regain control of her emotions. Dwalin hadn't answered her at all. Why would he? If he saw her as nothing more than a burden then he was probably more than happy with her declaration. After all, what was she expecting? An apology? She very much doubted that the big oaf even knew what an apology was. As Thorin called for them all to move out Esme realised she had no idea how to even get onto a pony never mind ride one for who knows how long every day. She wondered briefly how long this journey would take, maybe she should have asked before she agreed to come but she had been so concerned with finding her mother and getting to know Dwalin more that she hadn't really thought of it. As she stood staring up at her pony a dwarf with a strange star like hairstyle approached her.
"Having trouble m'lady?" he said as he winked at her. "Never been on a pony before eh? Never mind, you'll learn quickly enough. I'm Nori by the way."
Esme smiled at him offering her thanks as he helped her into the saddle. He seemed like a friendly sort of dwarf and Esme thought that maybe they could become friends. It gave her hope that the journey may not be as bad as she had believed it would be now that getting to know Dwalin better was out of the question. Looking up, she saw that Dwalin was frowning in her direction; no doubt he saw her inability to even mount a pony without help as another inconvenience. As soon as she caught his eye however he turned his head away from her and spurred his pony on towards the front of the group. Esme couldn't deny that it hurt but she refused to let him bother her. She'd eventually get the chance to prove that she wasn't a hindrance but for now she smiled at Nori again as she gestured towards the pony she was sitting on.
"Erm don't suppose you have any tips on how to make this thing go?"
The dwarf was only too happy to help her and the rest of the morning he rode by her side pointing out different things he thought may have been of interest to her and asking her questions about her world and answering any she had about theirs. She found she liked Nori's company. He was good humoured, interesting and intelligent. It was very easy to have a conversation with him. After spending a few hours riding by his side, Esme felt as though she had known him all her life. It wasn't long before they were joined by Bofur who turned out to be a very cheerful dwarf with a tendency to laugh at just about anything. Esme found herself smiling more now and enjoying the company of the two dwarves very much. Dwalin rode at the front of the group with Thorin and completely ignored her but Bofur and Nori certainly raised her spirits and she was beginning to think this journey really wouldn't be so bad after all. Suddenly there was a shout from behind and their host from the previous night could be seen running along behind them.
"Wait! Wait! I signed it."
Most of the dwarves seemed happy to see Bilbo arrive apart from Dwalin and Thorin who were frowning and looking sceptical. Bilbo handed what looked like a contract to Balin who checked that all was in order before smiling down at the hobbit.
"Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."
Thorin ordered them to give the hobbit a pony and after a small protest from the hobbit, two of the dwarves picked him up and placed him on a pony. Esme was secretly glad that she wasn't the only one that was clearly unused to riding and she smiled at the hobbit as the group continued on. When the hobbit began to protest about leaving behind his pocket handkerchiefs she couldn't help but grin at the incredulous looks most of the company shot him. She may not look like such a burden in Dwalin's eyes now that he had found someone else to frown at apart from herself. Bofur pulled off part of his dirty over shirt and threw it towards the disgusted hobbit.
"Here! Use this."
The group all laughed and continued on as the wizard began to lecture the hobbit about having to do without pocket handkerchiefs and many other things on the road. Again Esme began to wonder how long their journey would take so moving her pony back beside Nori's she asked him would their trip take long. The answer wasn't one she had been expecting.
"Not sure to be honest, half a year maybe, if we're lucky lass."
Esme had thought she would be on the road with them maybe a week or two nothing more. She had pictured it as some sort of fun camping trip not six months of travelling on a pony and sleeping outdoors. She thought about protesting and saying she wasn't sure she liked the idea of a six month trip but then she would probably look like an idiot in Dwalin's eyes for agreeing to go in the first place without asking all these questions first so she pretended not to be shocked and simply continued on chatting to Nori. The day passed more quickly than she had expected and soon enough Thorin was calling for them to stop and make camp for the night.
Dwalin's POV
Dwalin had spent the day trying to ignore Esme as best he could and pretend that he wasn't a bit bothered about her refusing to speak to him but in truth it hurt more than he liked to admit. When Nori had approached her to help her onto her pony he had wanted to pummel the thief just for touching her but really he knew he had no right to even be jealous. Esme wasn't his and never would be now, the sooner he got used to that fact the better. If she fell for Nori so be it, even if it did make him dislike the thief even more than usual. When she caught him frowning at Nori he simply turned his head and made his way towards Thorin, his friend giving him a sideward's glance as they set off.
"Try not to be too hard on her. She's young, she'll learn."
Dwalin merely grunted. He would prefer Thorin thought he found the lass incompetent than have his friend know how he was really feeling. As they set off through the Shire he tried his best to put all thoughts of Esme out of his head. As soon as they left the Shire the company would need him to have his wits about him, the lass was a distraction he didn't need. So instead he spent the day riding beside Thorin talking quietly with their leader about Erebor and the journey ahead. He had to admit he hadn't been expecting the hobbit to join them so it was a surprise to hear Mr. Baggins shouting at them to wait up. When the burglar started to complain about pocket handkerchiefs he realised that they would in fact have a burden on the road and it wasn't Esme. Frowning at the smaller male he turned his pony and continued on with Thorin. The wild was no place for gentle folk and he was sure trouble would come of it before long.
Dwalin spent the rest of the day riding in silence beside Thorin. When their leader eventually said it was time to make camp for the night he busied himself with collecting fire wood and getting the campfire going. Esme was deep in conversation with Bofur, Bilbo, the two princes and Nori and was steadfastly ignoring him as he came and went. He contemplated apologising to her but what would be the point? It was probably best this way. No use in getting too fond of her and ending up broken hearted. Dwalin figured it was best to just ignore her too even though it pained him to do it. When the hobbit started prattling on about elves and Esme said how wonderful they sounded though he couldn't help but glare at them both. It was already bad enough having to worry about Nori winning her affections without having to add elves into the mix. The lass had looked down at the ground when he glared at them and excused herself to go find a corner to sleep in, the hobbit trailing after her. He felt guilty for making her feel uncomfortable but he just couldn't seem to help himself.
Not long afterwards he got fed up of being glared at by the others for making Esme uncomfortable and decided to follow her example and pulled out his bedroll ready for sleep. No sooner had he lay down than the silence was pierced by a terrifying screech. Bilbo, who had gotten up to see to his pony only moments earlier, startled immediately and turned towards Fili and Kili.
"What was that?"
"Orcs." Proffered Kili.
The hobbit visibly paled at that and made his way over to where the two princes were sitting by the campfire. Thorin woke with a start at the mention of orcs and looked towards his nephews.
"Orcs?" Questioned Bilbo.
"Throat cutters. There'd be dozens of them out there. The low lands are crawling with them." Fili chipped in, glancing towards his younger brother, encouraging him to keep up the teasing.
"They strike, in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood."
Fili and Kili laughed as they made fun at the poor hobbit's expense. Dwalin rolled his eyes at the boys' antics, really as princes they should know better but they were young and still foolish at times. Making fun of the hobbit was all well and good but orc raids were no laughing matter, he was about to say as much but Thorin beat him to it, scolding his nephews.
"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"
Kili at least had the decency to look admonished at the warning before insisting they had meant nothing by it. Dwalin had no doubt the boys meant no harm but he knew Thorin would not see it that way.
"No you didn't. You know nothing of the world."
Stomping away from his nephews Thorin walked to the edge of the cliff they had made camp on and scanned the horizon for any would be threats. Dwalin looked towards where Esme had made her bed for the night. She was sitting up now on her bedroll, confusion etched on her face after the argument. He wondered if she'd ever seen an orc before. Had there even been orcs in her old world? He frowned, no doubt she had no idea what lay before them.
Esme's POV
Esme had heard the scream. It had sounded like some sort of animal that was in extreme pain. She would have presumed her assumption correct and fallen back to sleep if it hadn't been for Kili and Fili's teasing of Bilbo. Any thoughts she had of orcs being some made up sort of monster that the boys had invented were dashed by Thorin's anger towards his nephews. Now Esme was left totally confused as to what these things were. Whatever they were it didn't sound like she wanted to come across one. Just as she was about to ask what an orc was exactly, Balin began to speak to Kili.
"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of orcs, led by the most vile of all their race, Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief, he went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him. A young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe. His armour rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied, and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated, but there was no feast, nor song that night for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few, had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow, there is one I could call king."
The dwarves were all on their feet at this point looking towards Thorin with varying degrees of admiration on their faces but Esme barely noticed. At the mention of a dragon her breath had caught and she began to feel a familiar tightness in her chest. The rest of the speech had only succeeded in making her panic attack worse. At beheaded she started to shake and at taken prisoner or killed tears began to roll down her cheeks. By the time Balin had finished his speech she was struggling to get a breath in at all, her legs were like jelly and she was shaking like a leaf. How could they talk about all this like it was normal? Was it normal for this world? If it was then why hadn't they explained all this to her? A dragon!? Could they really have live, fire-breathing dragons here? Why would they even think about bringing her with them on this quest if they had? How could they not have told her any of this?
Esme barely registered Bilbo asking what had happened to the pale orc before she finally let out the muffled cry she'd been trying to stifle. Within seconds she was surrounded by dwarves asking her is she was alright and if they could help her but she couldn't even answer them she was in so much of a panic. Her head was spinning and her ears were ringing. She could hear parts of their conversation but she didn't know who was talking as she couldn't concentrate on the voices for long enough.
"Look what you two idiots have done now!"
"It's not our fault, Balin mentioned the dragon not us!"
"That's enough you two! Is she alright?"
"Someone do something!"
Esme tried harder to get a breath in, to try to ground herself and get the panic to subside but nothing seemed to work this time, she was too far gone. This couldn't be real. None of this could be real. It all had to be some sort of strange nightmare that she'd wake up from any second. All of sudden she felt strong arms wrap around her and she was pulled into someone's lap, she felt hands running up and down her back as she sank into the chest of the dwarf that held her. Eventually the feel of the dwarf's heart beating began to calm her enough to be able to finally catch her breath. The shaking began to calm down and she had stopped crying but now she felt completely exhausted. She also felt more than a little embarrassed that she was still being held by one of the dwarves like some child that had woken from a nightmare and required comforting. She tried to lift herself out of his arms then but he only held her tighter and whispered to her.
"Hush lass. Sleep. I'll look after you, I promise."
Too tired to even try to argue with him, Esme gave up trying to pull out of his arms and instead snuggled closer and rested her head back on his chest. She wondered briefly if it was Nori who held her or perhaps Thorin but she was too worn out now to give it much thought, she was simply glad of the warm, strong arms around her. Her eyes soon fluttered closed and she was asleep within minutes.
TBC