Chapter 7

"Love isn't something you find. Love is something that finds you." –Loretta Young

"You will pay for this!" Kili shouted, trying his hardest to sound threatening while he was practically naked in a sack. The trolls laughed heartily as they turned half of the dwarves on a spit.

"Don't bother cooking them. Let's just sit on them, and squash them into jelly!" One of the trolls bellowed suddenly.

"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage." A second replied. The dwarves all shouted their protests to this, and Bilbo stepped up (or rather hobbled up) to the trolls.

"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake," He gasped, his voice shaking.

"You can't reason with them, they're halfwits!" One of the dwarves shouted angrily from the spinning spit.

"Halfwits? What does that make us?" Bofur replied from the spit. Bilbo rolled his eyes subtly.

"I meant with the seasoning," Bilbo stammered.

"Let him speak," One of the trolls held a hand to stop the others' protesting before it began.

"Have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage to plate this lot up." Of course, the dwarves protested vehemently.

"Shut up!" The cook-troll shouted at the dwarves, leaning in closer to Bilbo.

"The secret to cooking dwarf is…" Bilbo racked his brain for anything. He honestly hadn't expected to get this far.

"Well go on, tell us the secret!"

"Yes, I am telling you the secret!" Bilbo growled in frustration. "The secret to cooking dwarf is um—skin them first!" He smiled a little out of pure relief when the trolls believed him. The relief quickly washed away as the dwarves began shouting their disagreements and calling Bilbo a traitor.

"What a load of rubbish!" Said one of the trolls. "I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff them, I say, boots and all." He promptly yanked Bombur from the ground, ready to eat him whole.

"Fili, we've been wandering aimlessly for hours. Where are we going?" Nina breathed, stumbling to catch her breath. Fili finally stopped their constant jog, realizing that he had far better stamina than his partner.

"Wherever the others are," He snapped. Nina slowly and unnoticeably took her arm out of his grasp.

"Well excuse me, but this whole world is new to me and I'm sorry if I don't know where we're going!" She snapped back, challenging Fili's own harsh tone. He softened his gaze on her, noticing with some interest how her eyes flicked over his face as if she could see him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just trying to figure out where we are." He reasoned softly. Nina nodded, her chest still heaving from the exercise.

"Well it seems you won't have to," A familiar old voice sounded from behind them.

"Gandalf!" Nina gasped. She didn't need Fili to tell her who it was at this point.

"How did you find us?" Fili chuckled out of utter relief, moving up to grasp Nina's wrist again so she wouldn't fall.

"It wasn't hard, considering the two of you are not the quietest of travelers." He replied pointedly.

"Do you know where the others are?" Fili asked, ignoring the wizard's comment.

"We have almost made it to the others, but I fear that they are in danger. Come quickly." Gandalf explained. Nina inwardly groaned at the mention of the word 'quickly' and trudged—well, quickly—alongside Fili.

"The orcs will be searching for us I'm sure," Fili whispered to Nina. "You need to have your hearing and smell on the alert now until we're sure there's no threat." Nina nodded, understanding that her lack of sight was becoming a fatal threat to her.

"No not that one!" Bilbo screamed in a panic. The troll froze, Bombur hanging just above his mouth. "He's got worms…in his…tubes." He shrugged, supposing that it was a better excuse than none at all. The dwarf was thrown back into the pile of sacked dwarves, and Bilbo took his chance. "In fact they all have, they're infested with parasites! It's a terrible business, I wouldn't risk it."

"Parasites, did he say?" "We don't have parasites! You have parasites!" "What are you talking about, laddie?" Bilbo rolled his eyes as the dwarves reacted daftly. Thorin was the first to catch on, causing him to promptly kick Kili in the side.

"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!" He announced as he caught on.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm!"

"We're riddled, yes, riddled with parasites!"

"And what would you have us do? Let them all go?" A troll growled, silencing the dwarves.

"Well…"

"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!" The troll roared. Bilbo stumbled back to the relative safety of the dwarves in sacks.

"Ferret?"

"Fools?"

"The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf's booming voice silenced everyone. Bilbo looked up to see the gray-clad figure plunge his staff into the stone on which he stood and break it, causing light to flood in and blind them all.

"It burns!" The trolls screeched and shrieked as the light turned them to stone. Bilbo gasped incredulously as the trolls turned to mere statues around a spit.

"Get us down from here!" Dwalin roared from said spit.

"It is quite safe now, you can come out." Gandalf called to the trees around them as the dwarves clothed themselves and helped down the ones on the spit. Bilbo looked around frowning, wondering who Gandalf was speaking to when they came out.

"It's about time," Nina grunted as she peeled her way through the brush behind Fili. Both of them looked horrible, cut and bruised and Fili limping slightly as he held Nina's hand as support.

"Fili!" Thorin cried in surprised relief as he rushed over to embrace his nephew. Fili was forced through the embrace to release Nina, who in turn smiled when a gruff voice approached her.

"We were worried about you two, are you alright lass?" Dwalin grunted, reluctant to show his worry. Nina smiled widely in his direction before welcoming his helping arm.

"I'm fine," She sighed, turning more serious. "But I need to speak with you later."

"Of course." Dwalin nodded, wondering what it was she needed.

By now the dwarves had crowded around the two returned members, mostly around Fili. She was grateful when she was allowed to wander off a few steps to regain her bearings—she had just endured torture after all. She tried not to let her mind wander back to the horrors of torture, but it seemed almost impossible. She shuddered.

"So, the biggest parasites, huh?" She smirked when she sensed a familiar person a little ways in front of her. She could tell Kili hadn't noticed her stumbling upon him, considering his surprised jump could be heard from a mile away.

"How long were you listening to that?" He grumbled. Nina couldn't suppress her grin.

"Long enough, trust me."

"I can honestly say I'm quite glad at the moment that you're blind." Kili replied bluntly. Nina frowned in his direction.

"That wasn't necessary."

"I don't have clothes on."

"Ok now you're not the only one glad I'm blind." Nina grimaced, trying to dismiss the image of a naked dwarf before it could come. "Well put some on, for God's sake!"

"I am, at least I was until you came over here."

"I wanted to have a moment to myself," Nina sighed, sitting herself down onto a rock carefully. She sensed Kili sit beside her, fully clothed of course.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Nina noticed that his tone was gentle, much like it had been when he had given her his cloak the other night—it seemed ages ago.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got tortured for a little bit, you know, no big deal." Nina sighed, shrugging her shoulders sarcastically. Kili put a hand on her shoulder.

"You were warned that this quest would be dangerous, I hope you're not planning on blaming any of us for this."

"Of course not, it was out of anyone's control. I just…I want to go home." Nina felt a wave of nausea wash over her as her voice faltered and tears swelled up in her eyes. "I didn't sign up for this, any of it. I didn't want to come here, and I didn't want to be on this stupid quest!" She found herself shouting and sobbing at the same time, so angry and unable to filter her words as Kili listened.

"I just wanted to be an artist, someone who could inspire people like me that art is possible without sight! I wanted to be with my family, maybe even have a boyfriend someday but probably not; I wanted to finish school and be a normal person, I didn't want this!" She broke down, sobbing as Kili sat stiffly beside her. This wasn't a stupid quest, this was his home whether she cared about it or not. He knew that she didn't know about their quest, but that just made her comment even more unnecessary.

"Well then I wonder why it was you came on this stupid quest in the first place." He growled, sliding off the rock and leaving her alone before she could apologize for her words.

"Why is this happening?" She whispered helplessly to no one, not letting herself worry about Kili's feelings. He was a fictional character after all, and she knew this quest wasn't going to benefit him either in the long run. He was going to die.

Then it hit her.

Kili, Fili and Thorin were going to die. Nina gasped, realizing that the three of them, however fictional they were, were good people. Fili had sacrificed himself for her and taken beatings for her and saved her; Kili had been a good half-friend to her and had made her forget about her troubles and cheer her up; Thorin—however insufferable she found him—was a good leader. He thought about the safety of his men as she was discovering, and he didn't deserve to die at all. She started to feel sick. She needed to get out of Middle Earth.

"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" Thorin strode over to where Gandalf was examining his troll statues.

"To look ahead."

"What brought you back?" Thorin frowned.

"Looking behind," Gandalf turned to smirk down at the dwarf. "Nasty business. Still, you are all in one piece, and Nina and Fili are safe."

"How did you manage to find them?"

"I am a wizard, Thorin, give me a bit of credit for that." Gandalf huffed lightly. Thorin looked over to see the young blind girl sitting with his nephew Kili, and frowned. She was becoming a burden and it was not at all safe for her to be with them.

"What are you planning to do with the girl?" Thorin found himself asking.

"I am not entirely sure if my plan will work, but even so it does not concern you. She needs to travel with us only a little while longer." Gandalf nodded, as if making up his mind right then. Thorin rolled his eyes at the wizard, deciding to change the subject.

"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?" He thought aloud.

"Oh, not for an age, not since a darker power ruled these lands." Gandalf replied too casually. "They could not have moved in daylight."

"There must be a cave nearby," Thorin concluded eagerly. "Come, all of you, we must look for the cave!" He called to the others. He was glad that they had a few moments at least to welcome back Fili and, even Nina. He did not exactly like her, but he did not wish her any harm at the hands of orcs.

"What is it you needed to speak with me about?" Dwalin asked, approaching Nina. She sat on a rock away from the campfire they had built just outside of the troll cave, considering no one wanted to sleep with that stench. She kept her gaze down even as she tentatively shifted herself to allow him some sitting room beside her.

"I started thinking, after Fili and I escaped the Orcs." Nina sighed tiredly. "Dwalin I'm helpless. Fili only got captured and hurt because he was defending me, and I can't seem to defend myself. I need to learn at least some skills with any kind of weapon." She gulped nervously, unsure of how Dwalin would react. "As long as I'm in Middle Earth I need some way to protect myself so no one has to get hurt for me again. I don't like being helpless and Thorin would never forgive me if someone got hurt because of me," She trailed off, deciding she had rambled long enough.

"I understand what you're saying, Lady Nina." Dwalin finally replied. "How do you expect to learn out here though?"

"You could teach me things," Nina answered like an eager young child. "It makes sense. You're the only one here that I'm really comfortable with, why wouldn't I learn better from you?"

"I suppose," He grunted, shifting uncomfortably after her compliment. "But it won't be easy, and I won't go easy on you if you truly want to learn." He warned gently. Nina nodded.

"I'd rather get yelled at by you than killed by something out here," She chuckled mirthlessly. Dwalin let go a small, barely audible chuckle in return before sighing and getting up.

"We can start tomorrow night if you'd like." Dwalin offered as he stretched out his back.

"Sure."

"Dwalin, I would like a moment with the girl." The commanding voice of Thorin interrupted them. Nina tried to hide the fearful expression from her face. She had endured torture by orcs, surely she could handle Thorin…couldn't she? Dwalin left her side at that, and Thorin stood in front of her. She could feel him glaring.

"If you're going to yell at me about Fili, do it." She found herself mumbling after an agonizing few minutes of silence.

"I told you in Bag End that I would not allow you to become a burden to this company. Since then, you have gotten my nephew captured by orcs and nearly killed!" His voice thundered. Nina fought back tears, not wanting to cry in front of him.

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry—"

"Sorry? Is that what you will say to me if one of my men dies because of your helplessness?" Thorin spat.

"It's not like I tried to get him captured! It's not like I just decided that I wanted to go get tortured with Fili, it's not exactly my idea of a fun trip!" She cried back. Thorin was a little taken aback by her bold and sudden outburst, but it didn't deter him long. He moved his face to be level and close to hers'.

"You listen and you listen well: if you ever create another problem for this company or get one of my men in trouble ever again, I will personally throw you into this troll cave, barricade the opening, and not look back when I leave." He sneered in her face, shocking Nina with his harsh words. At this point both of them knew that the whole company was watching. Thorin walked away.

"Do you want to get some food, lass?" Bofur asked quietly after a few moments of awkward silence. Nina shook her head vehemently, a few tears dropping from her eyes.

"It's okay, I'm not that hungry." She croaked, wrapped her arms around her stomach to hide the growling. Bofur nodded, leaving the girl to herself.

She couldn't go to that fire with all of the dwarves, hungry or not. Thorin officially hated her, and she was so helpless that she knew he had a point. On top of that, she hadn't been able to shut her stupid mouth and now the whole company probably hated her for back-sassing Thorin. As if that wasn't enough, she felt quite guilty about hurting Kili's feelings earlier, and she knew for a fact that he hadn't forgotten it. When they retrieved the ponies, thanks to Bilbo, Kili offered (not unkindly) for Nina to ride with Fili. She wouldn't have cared at all had the circumstances been different, had he not been angry with her. She knew he was at that fire now, she could hear his indistinguishable voice. No, she would sleep hungry that night as she racked her brain for ways to get out of Middle Earth once and for all. Gandalf wasn't moving fast enough for her.

Author's Note:

Sooo I missed Friday because I got my foot all injured and almost had to go to Urgent Care, Saturday I was babysitting, and so today I am unable to walk for long periods of time and am bedridden. So I decided to finish this chapter, and I'm 100% good with this chapter but hey we can't always avoid the fillers... also I feel like this chapter was necessary for us to see how Nina is dealing with everything that's happening to her. Anywho leave a review letting me know what you guys thought of this week's chapter and I shall go watch BOFA and cry my eyes out...

Thanks to the reviews from...

Mystic Myra 8: Thanks a lot, I am slowly but surely getting through stuff :)

Katara: Thanks! I super glad the different-ness (is that a word?) isn't bad, glad you like it and there will be more of it

Lerieon: Thanks, glad you like my story!