Once more, here is the next instalment of Todd's adventure!
I'm really getting into the swing of writing Mirkwood at the moment, I know sometimes I go through breaks of not writing a lot, but sometimes I struggle just to motivate myself to leave the house let alone engage my brain, so I thank you for your patience, and I hope that you enjoy this next chapter!
Let me know your thoughts, it makes my day and always motivates me!
Thanks for the F/F: IfYouRememberMe, midnightsunfish, Chaos. Creator Of The Universe, Salazar Sly, ElectricBlueDragon and wolfandanimefangirl208
Also, big thanks to my reviews: GaaraSandNiN, midnightsunfish and Janada.
(GaarasandNiN - It's my bad habit, putting too many exclamation points, I'm trying to be better though.)
I only own little Todd.
Chapter 33 – Fair Judgment
Todd had scouted ahead like she had been the day before and had signalled for them to pause about midday. She had been keeping her ears pinned to movement, catching the snuffling and scurrying of nothing but small cute woodland creatures. Yet something made her pause. There was a scent appearing on her senses, drifting across her from the forest. She pulled the reigns of her pony and turned to stare into the woods. Her eyes scanning every inch before her as she sniffed at the air. It was most definitely something foul.
Making the signal back to Thorin who had been keeping a keen eye on her as the day progressed. Immediately he had his company pausing, everyone looking to Todd with baited breath. She swung her leg over and jumped down from her mount. She patted him, as he started to kick at the ground with his front hoof.
"Shhhh, shhh!" She breathed, the beautiful pony before her settling back down, and bowing its head. She smiled briefly before turning to the forest, hands ready on her daggers. She moved forwards, and let her ears pick up the thuds of heavy foot fall, she was trying to pick out a pattern as to how large or how many. She concentrated, tilting her head to the side.
There were two. That was easy enough, she thought.
Turning back to Thorin, she held up two fingers, and motioned for them to carry on. She saw him nod once before pushing forward. It felt kind of good to her, this was the first chance she had to prove herself again. She knew that everyone trusted her to look out for them, she had given so much in the Goblin tunnels for them, so much so that her King had thanked her, smiled to her, accepted her. It warmed her heart, but she knew she had been a burden also, whilst injured she had been a weight holding them back, not helping to push them forward. So she was ready now, ready to do the job that her King had asked of her all the way back in the shimmering and light house of Lord Elrond.
She felt the wet grass and dead leaves under feet as she silently pushed forwards, ducking and dodging behind trees and shrubs making sure that she wouldn't be seen. She headed off towards the noise and pulled her daggers from their sheaths at her side. It didn't take long before she could hear the guttural breathing and horrid gurgling, and she knew that she was about to come across two orcs. She was careful as to where she placed her feet, as to not make any noise as she moved to the side of the noise, trying to come around from the side, to have that element of surprise.
She found a wide tree trunk with a dark green moss growing upon it and hid herself behind it, her head just peering round so that she could get a good look. Low and behold, from behind a thicket, two orcs stumbled out. One was relatively tall, with a limp, his bone like armour was jagged and stuck out from its skin from its back over its shoulders. That was the one that was gargling, spittle flying from its mouth as a smaller orc with sickly whisps of black hair above its bulbous head, black beady eyes rolling as it followed the larger one. This one had no armour, just an animal skin wrap that would do nothing to spare it from Todd's daggers. She sucked in a breath and calmed herself. This was the first time since the Goblin caves that she would have intercepted an attack, for it must have been, they were heading straight for the clearing, where the company would be on their ponies.
She thumbed the tassels, a flash of her mother and father in her minds eye, before side stepping away from the tree and breaking into a run towards them. It took them a few seconds before they realised that she was sprinting towards them round tree's and vaulting over logs. The tall one roared at her, raising a jagged sword and striding to meet her, the smaller orc hesitated and watched with a sick grin, black dribble falling to the ground.
Todd sprinted with her daggers as an extension to her arm, she could feel them slicing the air as she ran. She got to about a metre before the large gurgling orc, before throwing herself into a slide low on the ground to his right, bring her dagger up and slicing through his thigh as she passed. It stumbled back as she came to a stop, pushing up on her right leg she was face to face with the smaller one. Quickly she rammed her blade up under his chin and up through his skull before it had a change to even blink. Thick warm black blood splattered across her face at the action, but she didn't even flinch. She yanked her blade from it and spun finding the larger orc regaining his balance, black blood was oozing from where she had sliced deep and true. She felt the rush of killing the first orc pulse through her giving her a sick kind of excitement. She had never felt like this before, the itch in the back of her head pulsed with it. She felt a smirk fall over her now rushing him again, this time aiming for his abdomen. The orc swung his blade from his left side up diagonally across her, sidestepping she used her right dagger to catch it and push it off course, making the orc loose its balance, she let her grin spread as she brought her knee up to meet its stomach. It thrashed out at her then, catching its fist with her jaw, knocking her head up towards the canopy of the trees, falling back a few steps.
She stumbled back and came to stop. Both the orc and Todd breathing heavy and staring at each other, waiting for one to make the first move. Todd slowly raised her hand up to wipe at the spot when he had caught her, feeling the tender skin with her knuckles, as to not catch herself with her own blade. The blossoming of pain made her eyes heat up, she glared at the orc, the sick grin never once leaving her face. She was enjoying this, enjoying the pain, and enjoying the thrill of slowly killing this creature. Before she would have been anxious to get the job done and get safe, but now, she was toying with it. Going for a knee to the stomach instead of finishing it off with her blade.
She felt her legs vibrating, ready to shoot forward, but she didn't get the chance. The orc lurched forward with a screech and made to tackle her, but she merely side stepped and span with her back against its side as it struggled to turn in time. She couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her as she quickly bought both daggers up and plunged them into back of the orc. One at the base of its neck, the other in its shoulder. She felt it shudder and then fall limp.
She stood over it then, sucking in breath after breath, calming her breathing. She felt a buzz seep through her, making her tingle, a sick satisfaction at killing. It was like all the pent up pity and anger she had been holding deep within her at how she had been violated in the goblin halls escaped her and had been replaced with a burning fire, that was ready to kill, anything that threatened her again like she had been then. At first, she revelled in it, then it dawned on her as she stood there looking at the hilts of her daggers with the tassels blowing in the breeze still protruding from the foul lifeless creature. She felt sick all of a sudden and fell to her knees, heavy up her breakfast before the dead orc. In that instance she felt drained, like she had been fighting for hours.
She quickly wiped her mouth with her sleeve wincing at the contact with where she had been punched, and set to pulled her daggers free. She cleaned them off as well as she could on a patch of grass at the base of a tree. Before turning as fast as she could away from the mess she had made, running back through the copse to her pony.
That night they had set up camp with Mirkwood insight. Both Gandalf and Thorin agreeing that entering the forest at night fall was a foolish thing to do. Everyone was glad of the extra rest before entering. No one would say, but they were nervous to see what Beorn had said was a sick and dark place. Todd found herself stood at the edge of their camp, the splattering of black book still upon her face as she gazed out at the looming shadow of the Great Wood as it faded into the night. She was not feeling right at all, not after killing those Orcs. She felt like she had eaten something off and it was making her stomach knot a little. Her head feeling sore, from the impact of the Orcs fist and from the itching that had made its self ever present. She cringed and rolled her head on her neck to try and shift it.
"Come and sit lass?" She heard Oin speak up behind her. She turned and smiled warmly to him, as he came to stand beside her. "Let me clean you up and put a salve on that bruise you have there."
"Thank you Oin" She breathed as he led her to a spot but the fire. She sat down quietly and let Oin wipe away the blood from her face with a hot cloth. It felt nice to have the sticky grime lifted from her, felt like a weight was taken from her shoulders. She let her eyes drift over the camp. Bilbo was chatting away with Balin, with Dwalin, Thorin and Gandalf sat off to one side sharing round Gandalf pipe. Bombur was fussing over the food as it cooked with Bifur and Bofur helping. Ori, Nori and Dori were chatting with Gloin as they were discussing the forest.
She sighed, everything was normal. So why didn't she feel normal. She huffed as Oin started applying the salve, her eyes floating back over to Bofur, who was now looking to her with a sad look in his eye. She straightened up a little, not once removing her eyes from his. She missed him, they hadn't talked in ages, and she was getting the strong vibe that he was avoiding her. She watched as he went to smile, then his eyes darted away, a frown appearing across his features.
"There you go, all done!" Oin announced, nodding to her with a bright smile.
"Thank you Oin, you didn't have to…"
"Of course I did, thanks for keeping us safe today" He added, raising a brow to her, his ear trumped pointed in her direction.
"You're more than welcome, you know this." She smiled back to him, genuinely.
She stayed seated then as everyone gathered around the fire, Bombur dishing out some hot food, left over hare from the day before, he had been getting very good at rationing. Bilbo came to sit next to her, with Kili plopping himself down on her other side. Ever since he had caught her having a nightmare he had been keeping close and trying to cheer her up, and frankly she was welcome for his happy antics in the absence of Bofur's. They all set to eating in silence, the food was good but the helpings small and she knew that the others were feeling it a little. Yet if they wanted to be able to eat every night throughout the forest then, this was how they had to go about it.
"Todd, I would like to hear about your father, if you would…" Thorin broke across the chatter of the eating dwarrows. Todd, who had finished and was just sat listening to Bilbo, Kili and Fili discus their favourite ales. She looked to her King across the fire, and saw that he had the slightest hint of a smile upon his face, it took her off guard and she nodded to him.
"Yes, of course!" She stuttered a little. "What would you like to know?"
"What became of him once Erebor fell?" Balin asked, joining in.
"Well, he didn't like talking about that day and the days that followed, he loved talking about the mountain and his job, but not so much about when the fire drake attacked…" She started, half as if she was talking to herself. "I asked Mother though, and she told me enough. She said that Father had been injured during the attack and had fallen behind the refugee caravan that had been led away from the Lonely Mountain. He had sought medical aid in a village of men down in the Brown lands, that's where he met Mother…"
"Your Mother was from the Brown Lands?" Ori asked then, from her right. She peered over the flickering orange flames to him, he had stopped his conversation with his brothers, all of them now looking to her.
"No, but she was taking up a job as a waitress in the local inn that my father lodged in for a few days…" Todd paused and let a smile break across her face, fondness in the memory of how her Mother had told her, laughing at how her Father had scoffed and tried to play the next bit down. "… apparently, he took one look at her and his jaw dropped, and his mouthful of ale spilled out onto the table top!"
She laughed openly at the image and so did those around her. Balin turned his twinkling eye to Thorin as they listened intently. Thorin wanted to know of what became of Belgair, the Dwarrow had been close to his Father, and had been the complete genius behind the most beautiful jewellery under the Mountain. It was no mean feat impressing Dwarrows with gems and jewels, they saw them daily, mined them constantly. So to have a Dwarve so skilled that he could make a Dwarrodam shed a tear over his work, was something to covet dearly.
"Mother said that she thought he was mad and tried to stay away from him, but as Father said… when you find your one, that's it" She let her eyes drop to her hands, a few of the company who had experienced that very feeling, chuckled in agreement. Unbeknownst to her Bombur had turned his gaze to his brother. Bofurs eyes who had been intently watching her as she fondly spoke of her parents, had now also dropped to his lap, hands twisting round each other as the colour drained from his face.
"He would always catch her shift and they would chat and share stories, I think in the end she looked forward to seeing him, so when it came for her time to leave… he went with her, and they travelled down through the gap of Rohan, then North up to where they settled."
"How about your Mother?" Ori asked innocently. "Did she realise that your Father was her one?"
"Definitely… Mother told me that she finally understood when she realised that even on the road, when she saw Fathers smile she felt like she was finally home… so they married in the spring time and then I was born the spring after!"
"What became of your Mother, and your Father?" Thorin asked softly, inviting her tell him, but not in a way that she felt like she had to. She took a deep breath and decided that it wouldn't hurt sharing this part of her life with them, it would help she hoped, to have such times off her chest. Lighten the burden.
It was something that she had struggled with dearly, for it was completely avoidable, and she hated the fact that she didn't know any better at the time, she could have helped. She sucked in a deep breath again, and considered the flames, Bilbo placed a hand on her shoulder and she smiled to him.
"So when Mother realised she was pregnant with me, they made a home in a small village north of the Ettenmoores. It was a village of men, but it worked and it was safe, safer than having a babe on the road…" She started. "Father set up his own store, where he started fashioning silver wear, then as his skill was recognised, he began trading and selling jewellery for gems… He was an artist, truly!"
"Aye that he was…" Balin agreed.
"Thank you, when I came of age I joined him. He would leave Mother every morning, and head back every evening with fresh meat for supper, that was how we went about for years upon years. I don't think we ever really settled in with the men in the village, they were always wary, but Fathers business bought trade, the likes of which they hadn't seen before, so they tolerated us… that was until the orcs started coming down from Carn Dum. They had been attacking outlying farms, people on the road, as they do!"
She let her mind fall into that moment, the moment in the shop at the end of her busy day, how the villagers had been chanting, shouting and screaming. How the Great Oak tree in the centre of the village never looked so dark and dead. How that was the last day she had ever really seen her Fathers smile. She closed her eyes and took in a breath, she could see and hear it all as clear as day. How the birds had fallen quiet as the villages shouted for each other, shouted for blood.
"Me and my Father were working late, large commission for a lady in LongWell, across the mountain pass, she wanted twin sister moonstones set into a necklace of silver lace. It was really something…" She sighed, a few of the dwarrows eyes sparkling as she told her story, every single one of them listening now. "… I saw outside that there was a commotion, villagers were rushing past with their torches shouting and calling. So me and my Father shut up the store and followed."
"What had happened, Little one?" Gandalf asked, his eyes already sorrowful, as if he knew this story and its outcome. Todd must have paused for longer than she thought as everyone was patiently waiting for her to collect herself.
"Three Brothers had been killed on the outskirts of the Village, the village leader had blamed my Mother and had dragged her before the Great Oak, she didn't fight them, she wasn't like that, so they…" Todd shook her head, a tear escaping her eye. "That's how we found her, swinging with her necklace of rope from the Great Oak… father he... I'll never forget his cry, he lost it and attacked the village leader, but he was one Dwarrow against a whole village"
"They just murdered your Mother, without trial, without fair judgement?" Dwalin gasped, his face angry.
"My kind don't see fair judgement, Master Dwalin" She explained sorrowfully, the itch in the back of her head rolled over and pulsed with her anguish.
The dwarrows gasped in their shock and sighed. They knew that there was a time where they would have jumped to the same conclusions as those men in that Village far away. For they wouldn't have known how courageous and loyal Todd was. It was unjust and unfair, much like their own treatment from men. Gloin bowed his head, and Dori even shed a tear for her. Her Mother had always warned her of the quick to judge nature of others, that it could get her killed. It killed her Mother, and it had almost killed her a few times
"This world is so cruel… so unfair" Kili breathed.
"What about your Father?" Fili asked, his eyes watery as they looked to her.
"He was never the same, we travelled for weeks, never settling… we were set upon by orcs in the dead of night." She felt a tear slip, falling down her cheek. "Father took a poisoned arrow to the back, and died mere days later"
"I am sorry for your losses, Todd" Thorin spoke, his words full of feeling and she couldn't help but let a few more tears slip at the sincere look he held for her.
"Its ok, he didn't even put up a fight, he is with my Mother now… with our maker in those bright and shimmering halls" She breathed. "Even though their bodies lay leagues away from each other, they still lay under the same stars."
"That's a nice way of looking at it, Lass" Bofur spoke, his voice making her eyes leap up to his. Something about the way his words sounded so forlorn made her chest tighten.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us, to waste away in darkness, or thrive and love in the light!" Todd spoke her Mothers words with a sad smile. Everyone turned to her. "That's what Mother always said, no matter how dark life seems, if you concentrate, there is always light!"
"Aye, I could drink to that" Gloin stated.
The company dispersed then, laying down into their bedrolls and clearing away their rations. Todd found herself between Kili and Bilbo, of which Bilbo stayed close and even reached out to hold her hand once everyone was settled down. His little way of comforting her after what she had revealed to them about her past. His heart broke for her, he too knew the pain of loss, he had lost both his parents too, there was no way to describe the feeling so all he could offer her was his hand and they both drifted off to sleep. The rest of the company took their time in getting to sleep, for they were all wary and weary of what the next day would bring. None of them were excited to be entering the Greenwood, especially when it held the lands of the Elves they so despised. Yet it was a must, they would never make it in time if they were to go around. Beorn himself had said as much.
