Hello my Nuggets,
After that massive break I have finally added a new chapter. I'm once again super sorry for disappearing and I hope that this filler is enough to keep you going until the next chapter.
Massive thank you to inperfection for your kind message, and for SethadoreVGC for the excited review! And to CindraLu and Elizabetch for the F/F.
I cant wait to get stuck in again, so I really hope you like it. I would love to hear feedback as always, but I shall stop waffling now, ENJOY!
I only own little Todd.
Chapter 26 – When a Fire Starts to Burn
Todd stood with her feet planted on the ground, her breathing the only thing she could hear, with her eyes shut tight. She could feel her body, every inch of it, from her head to her toes, as if it was all weighed down to the earth below her. Nothing could make her move, in her head she could feel her mind wanting to make her body move, yet she was still and everything around her was still. Deathly still.
Then as if she were waking from a deep slumber, things started to creep in. At first she felt her ears twitch as if she should be hearing something, so she concentrated with everything that she had. The silence grew heavy then just as she was about to give up, she heard a crack. A braking noise, that seemed to echo around her. She held her breath, waiting for it again, and it came, quieter this time. Then again, and again and it filled her with dread. For it sounded like she was by a fire. Yet the noise didn't just resonate from one side of her, it was surrounding her.
Realising she had been holding her breath for too long just to hear, she inhaled and with it she almost choked. Smoke clung to her breath and caked the inside of her throat, making her cough a little. It was the same kind of smoke that a fire would generate as they were trying to warm a camp, yet it had a metallic taste to it that turned something in her. She started to take shallow breathes in an attempted to stop the smoke from getting into her lungs but to no avail. Her mind was racing and she could feel something familiar stirring.
Her eyes shot open then, as if something was being unleashed. A painful itch erupted within her head and it took all she had not to scream out, her hands flew to her head and she grasped at it. She couldn't shake it, and it was completely unbearable, to the point where it was starting to morph from an incessant itch to pain. Her eyes raked over her surroundings and what she saw almost made her throw up.
Fire. She was surrounded by fire, and as soon as she had seen it everything changed. She was in a place that was almost all completely made of wood and everything was covered with embers and flames that were so hot she felt like her skin was melting from her. As she watched people with faces that were a blur to her run frantically trying to avoid the fires, their cries desperate and filled with agony, she couldn't escape the feeling that something was watching her, assessing her. The itching that was everywhere in her head started to move and combust, until it was central and more painful than anything she had ever experienced. Tears filled began to overflow, as her eyes took in the burning of wood, of the once beautiful and homely houses, of wooden boats, everything was in flames. She had realised then that not only were there people running, there were people laying on the floors, burning and charred. Their broken bodies adding a more horrific layer to the scene, that pushed her over the edge. She started shaking, she felt it in her hands first, then it spread up her arms and down through her body into her legs.
"Can you see it?" Came a voice from behind her, a familiar one with an unfamiliar tone.
She tried to turn, but she was extremely aware that something sharp was now placed at the base of her neck. A blade perhaps. From the corner of her eye she could see him appear beside her, a sword in his hand, now being held dangerously close to her throat.
"Look and see what comes for you!"
Bofur couldn't sleep. He had been watching the bee's drift around before settling on the beams above them as Todd slumbered next to him. When he had come to let her know everyone was heading to sleep, he had no intention of letting her sleep alone, not after the rash words that had been wrongfully spoken, meant or not, against her by Dori. He had thought that he would come and keep her company, yet as he found her she was already dosing in and out of sleep. Her red curls were pooled around her shoulders, most of which were hap-hazardly tucked into his hat that she refused to take off no matter what he said. Hands delicately folded into each other on her lap as her legs were crossed and pulled up close to her body. He couldn't help but smile at her, even in her borrowed clothes that really were all too big for her slender and lean frame.
He had then thought of maybe sleeping next to her, yet when she had nestled into his side and drifted off fully into a slumber, he didn't dare move. Yes he pretended to be asleep when Thorin and Gandalf had passed by, yet only because he knew that his King would have made him move if he had found Bofur awake. It was the second sign of affection that his brave Todd had shown him in a short period and he wasn't about to waste it. The woman nestled into him had been an enigma when they had first met, but he had always seen the brightness in her, that's why he could never bring himself to treat her how the others had upon meeting her second skin in Rivendell all those weeks ago. She had surprised him every step of the way, every caring yet daring thing she did amazed him. Their journey so far had been full of perils and he was damned if he was going to pass up the opportunity of comforting her, for it could be the last time he could do so.
He listened to her small breaths as she slept off the stress and exhaustion of their earlier exploits, and he was just about dropping off to the sound of her snores when they started changing. He became more aware that her arms had started trembling, thinking she was cold he grabbed his cape and pulled it over her torso to try and keep her warm. Yet when that didn't help, he shuffled a little so that he could peer down at her. That's when he realised that she must have been having a nightmare, for her brow was knit with what he thought was fear, and he could tell that her eyes were swivelling behind her lids.
"Todd?" He whispered, trying to at least pull her out of whatever it was that was scaring her.
His attempt to wake her fell on deaf ears, as her trembling moved on and became full on shaking. Her breathing slowly morphed from soft snuffling noises to sharp intakes, as if she was struggling to breath. Her chest began to heave and a stray tear slid from her eye. Bofur couldn't sit and watch so he sat up and turned so he could place a hand on each of her shoulders.
"Come one little Fox, wake up now" He started, a little louder.
She shifted a little, but whatever was haunting her had a tight hold her mind. She wasn't waking even though he was shaking quite roughly now. He was about to full on shout when he became aware of another pair of eyes watching him. Bofur looked to the wandering Wizard and pleaded with his eyes for something that could help.
"I'm afraid, Master Bofur this will become something of a re-occurrence for our Lady Todd." His voice rumbled, and Bofur could tell that he was also worried. His wise old eyes staring down at her with something else that he couldn't place. "She will come across a hard choice soon, and she will need you, Master Bofur!" He stressed.
"What choice, I don't understand" Bofur asked, his eyes flashing back down to Todd as she started grabbing in her sleep at his arms, nails digging in slightly as if she was terrified of letting go. Her hair was now falling from his hat, strays of red curls getting stuck to her brow as she became hot and clammy.
Then as quickly as an arrow being released from its bow Todd had jumped in her sleep, taking a sharp intake of air as her eyes snapped open and she bolted upright. She looked absolutely broken for a few seconds, as if what she was seeing was some otherworldly vision of hell. Then confusion swept over her and both Bofur felt his heart break for her, while Gandalf hummed as he witnessed the brief and worrisome blackness drain from her eyes, leaving them watery pools of green.
"Hey, Todd?" Bofur started, grabbing at her shoulders again to anchor her to him. "Breath, lass!"
"Bofur?" She whispered, her voice out of breath and barely detectable.
"Aye, I'm here, you were having a nightmare!" He tried to explain. He wanted nothing more than to reassure her that she was safe, so he put his fingers to her forehead. Yet she needed more than that so she leaned her forehead fully into the palm of her hand. Gandalf watched the exchange, and after the words he had spoken to Thorin, he now was certain that he was right. He left them then, wandering back round to where he had come from.
The next morning, the company awoke to the sounds of the giant bear snuffling and pacing just outside the front door again. Thorin had been up for a while and was stood a meter from the door staring at it. As if his constant staring would stop the bear from slamming through the doors and ripping everything to pieces.
Gandalf appeared from a back room with a jar full of beautifully golden honey, a smile on his face, and from behind him came a few lumbering dogs. They padded in behind him and took to nestling the mess the dwarrows had made in their rushed entrance the evening before back to the outskirts of the building. The dogs weren't in the slightest bit curious or creature like at all. They almost acted as if they had the job of keeping the house tidy and neat while the Bear was away. They even set to puling open draws and pulling plates and cutlery out in the kitchen, going up on their hind legs to place them neatly at the table. A few of the dwarves, especially Ori were absolutely fascinated, while Bilbo was a little put off by the face that dogs were handling the utensils he was to use to eat from, yet he was in awe never the less. Everyone had been able to get a much better sense of the place that they were residing in also, with the freshness that a night's rest and the light of a new day had given them.
The main room of which they had burst into the day before, and had then al collapsed in to sleep was a large and almost round room, that had wooden benches set up here and there with bales of hay littering the floor and pilling up in areas. A few sheep and bovine were huddled in one corner, chewing away and being blissfully ignorant to the house guests that had entered their space.
From this middle round room, a few smaller rooms were found, all raised up with large steps, that the dwarves, although they would never admit it, struggles with a little. Everything was so large. In the raised kitchen table area, they had noticed that the chairs and tale were almost as tall as Dwalin, his eyes just able to pear to see what was being placed upon it by the large dogs.
The families all began to check over their supplies as they awoke. Making sure what little they did have was all secure and safe. Most of the company set to sharpening and cleaning their weapons. Even Bifur was trying to clean the axe protruding from his skull. It was like a routine that they would all partake in whilst they were in period of calm between the storms.
Bofur appeared from behind the pillar he had been sleeping at, his eyes were a little tired still, but he was refreshed. He moved straight to his brother and cousin and began telling them of his worried their little fox. Bombur was increasingly worried too for he still didn't think the lass was eating enough, but Bofur rolled his eyes at his brother, always worrying about the stomaches of the company before anything else. It was then that Bofur decided to try something he had been thinking about on his brother and cousin. Something that he was sure they would be more than willing to help with, because they pretty much did it already.
"I need to agree on something with you lads!" He started, his tone becoming even more serious and the two dwarrows leaned into Bofur, wanting to hear everything he said, because when Bofur got serious they knew that it was something important or something he cared about a hell of a lot. "We need to keep a close eye on our Todd, I can't have her come to any harm anymore, I won't have it!"
"Aye, the lass has been through enough for us already and we haven't even faced the dragon yet!" Bomber agreed, his head nodding. Bifur nodded too, all be it a little more erratic that his cousin. Bofur felt relieved, if hat Gandalf said was true, he was glad that his brothers would help him keep an eye on her, he wanted to make sure she was ok. The fact that his family were willing to help him made him feel warm inside and relieved. He knew full well that Todd was more than capable of holding her own in a fight, she had shown that over and over again. Yet he never wanted to see that scared look on her face ever again, it made his stomach twist just thinking about it.
"I would like to keep an extra special eye on her, help her with her nightmares you know? Would you please help me?"
"Of course Brother!" Bombur said softly. He had a smile on his face as he took in the worry and seriousness of his brother, he had never seen him so nervous for the wellbeing of anyone, outside of their family of course. Todd was changing him, making him an even happier dwarve and seeing that his Brother cared for her, even if his brother didn't fully understand how much so yet, he would always owe her.
