Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings from Middle Earth. Marie, Beth and the crazy antics they find themselves in are my own imaginings.
Chapter 16: Boulder Battle
"Gandalf, you must see reason!" Saruman slammed both of his hands down onto the table as he raised his voice almost to a shout.
Gandalf remained seated, refusing to allow the shock he felt to show on his face. Saruman was a wise and powerful wizard, revered throughout all of Middle Earth. Why he was reacting to a single young woman with such drama was lost on Gandalf. He had fought alongside the White Wizard in many great battles; had seen his oldest friend face giant and fear inspiring enemies. Never had he seen him so unreasonable and emotionally undone. It was rather unnerving.
"I'm afraid I do not understand where the problem lies with Marie." He told Saruman in his most soothing tone, nearly desperate to calm the other wizard. "Sure, she does not originate from Middle Earth, but she has proven herself trustworthy. She is willing to assist the Dwarves in reclaiming Erebor, despite the threat of danger and harm."
"This is another thing!" Saruman cried out, his face clouded with anger. "This troupe of Dwarves wish to unleash a dragon, that has been peacefully resting for the past 60 years mind you, upon the whole of Middle Earth! I do not understand why you give your support to this undeserving cause! This woman may be willing to help them on their fool's quest, but trustworthy she most assuredly is not!"
"You do not know that." Lord Elrond spoke. "She is pure of heart, kind and gentle."
"She is somehow connected to the fiery eye of Sauron!" Saruman cried over Elrond. "She should be put to death for such heinous treason!"
Shock rippled through Gandalf at the proclamation. The very idea of ending the life of the kind young woman they had met only a couple short weeks ago turned his stomach. He didn't know what had gotten into his friend.
Then again, Saruman was the most powerful wizard in Middle Earth.
Doubt filtered into the pit of his stomach. Saruman was one of the wisest beings in Middle Earth, who was he to argue with the more experienced wizard's intuition? Had he missed something in Marie? What if she was in fact working for Sauron? Had he sent the company of Thorin Oakenshield to their deaths?!
'Calm yourself Mithrandir.' Galadriel's voice filled his mind, pushing the doubt aside. 'Marie holds more in her hands than any of us realize. She is to be trusted.'
Peace filled him, despite Saruman's insistent voice. "We should at least hold her in the dungeons until we can determine her alliance! If she is working with the dark lord Sauron she is most likely in search of the last Dwarf ring of power."
"My Lord Elrond." A voice called out as the sound of footsteps rang through a corridor. Lindir came through the entryway, ignoring the others in the room as he addressed his Lord. "The Dwarves are gone."
Gandalf caught Galadriel's pleased smirk over Saruman's shoulder as the news was made know. Of course she had already known, she had probably sensed the moment the group had left.
He couldn't help but think that they were certainly fortunate to have her as an ally against whatever strange circumstances had befallen them.
/
The Misty Mountains, Kili decided, were very appropriately named. Which was unfortunate for them.
The moment the group stepped up to the summit of the grand mountain range a freezing haze of mist fell upon them, soaking through their cloaks and clothes. The entire group was miserable as they were drenched clear to the bone.
While he didn't really appreciate being soaking wet while he travelled Kili wasn't overly concerned about himself, or any of the Dwarves in the company for that matter. Their skin was thick and callused from their hard lives in their mountains, and the girth that even the thinnest and youngest Dwarrow were born with insulated them against any temperature that was not an extreme. This cold water barely chilled him. Hobbits and Men, on the other hand, were far more susceptible to the elements of nature.
He could feel Marie's shivers through the heavy wool of her cloak as he helped her up onto a particularly large rock in their path. Her hair was stuck to her face where it had escaped from the braid she had plaited it into, the dark strands accentuating how pale her face was and the slight blue tint her lips had adopted. Poor Bilbo wasn't faring any better, he looked pathetic as he shivered next to Bofur ahead of them.
"Are you sure you don't need one of the blankets?" He had to raise his voice to a shout to be heard over the rain as he called out to Marie.
"I'm fine." She called back, sneezing directly after the statement. He could see her sigh more than hear it as she continued. "I don't want to get our things wet while we pull one out. I'll be fine, a little water isn't going to kill me."
By the time they hiked their way up into the mountain pass the rain had increased in it's intensity. The wind whipped around them, throwing Marie off balance a few times as well as Bilbo.
"Hey, hold on!" Thorin shouted from the front of their group, grabbing onto a crevice in the rocky wall as he lost his footing for a split second before righting himself.
The sound of a small feminine shriek from behind him caused Kili to turn, searching for Marie's small frame frantically through the downpour. He caught sight of her as lightening flashed through the night sky, being supported by Fili as she regained her balance on their precarious ledge. He cast his older brother a grateful grin as they continued carefully on the path.
Not even a minute later poor Bilbo had a scare of his own as the ledge crumbled suddenly from under the burglar's feet. Had Dwalin and Bofur not caught the small man by the back of his vest he would have fallen to his death.
"We must find shelter!" Thorin shouted from the front of their slow moving line, only seconds before Dwalin shouted a warning.
"Look out!"
Kili turned long enough to see the giant boulder flying toward them before throwing Marie against the cliff face and leaning over her. He felt the weight of another body slam against his own as a shield against the rain of rocks. A flash of blonde hair told him that it was his older brother protecting him.
The second the world stopped shaking underneath them Marie shoved Kili off of her, although she kept him close with a small hand gripping his sleeve as her other hand found Fili's arm.
"Are you guys hurt?" She cried out over the rain. She searched first Fili's than his own face quickly, almost frantically, looking for obvious injuries. He looked Fili over as well, his brother had taken more of a beating than he had. The only injury he could see in the dim light was a thin line of blood trickling down his big brother's temple.
"I'm fine." Fili shouted at him waving Marie's hand away as she reached out to check what she could see of the wound.
"This is no thunderstorm." Balin told the group, pointing over into the distance. "It's a thunder battle! Look!"
Kili turned along with everyone else to follow Balin's command, not believing what he was looking at. Backlit by the flashes of lightning stood a giant creature, pulling the rest of it's body from the mountain side. The huge creature stood to it's full height, towering over the highest peaks that surrounded them, as it reached back to the mountain and ripped the entire top off of it.
"Well bless me, the legends are true." Bofur shouted in amazement. His voice took on a panicked tone as the faceless stone creature turned toward them, boulder in hand. "Giants! Stone Giants!"
The Giant let the boulder fly and the company followed it with wide eyes as it flew over their heads, smashing into another Giant that had materialized behind them. The ground shook as the injured Giant fell into the side of their mountain.
"Bofur! Watch out!" Marie cried, pushing past Kili to reach the toymaker, who stood out in the open staring up at the battle with an odd mixture of fear and fascination. She rushed up to him, shoving him back against the wall. Kili rushed past the two of them to stand up near Fili just as Dwalin pulled Bofur closer to himself.
"Hold on!" He shouted out as the path beneath them began to quake violently, chunks falling away from under them.
"What's happening?" Marie cried in alarm at the same time Fili called out to him.
"Kili, grab my hand!" He shouted, extending one hand toward him as he used his other to pin Marie safely up against the wall.
He reached out to his brother just as the ground shook again, causing him to stumble back a step into Dori. Away from his brother. He watched in horror as the path between them fell away, causing a large crack to rip through the rock, further separating him from Fili. For one terrifying moment he thought that the path before him was breaking apart, casting half of the group down into the ravine. A loud groan and a heavy rain of dirt and rock from above made him look up. The crack that had separated the group continued to travel up the mountain side, breaking it apart. From the break emerged yet another Stone Giant... and they were right on top of it!
The creature looked as if it had been siting in a giant throne, made of the very mountain around them. It pushed itself out of it's rocky chair, almost making it to it's feet before being head-butted by one of the others. The force of the collision was sent a jarring pain up Kili's legs almost knocking him off of his feet. Their Giant went crashing back into it's seat, flailing slightly.
As it fell, the leg that Kili was standing on crashed against another mountain path. Before he had an opportunity to look around for his brother they were on the move.
"Go, go, go!" His uncle called out, running foreword while they had the chance to stand on some stable ground.
The group watched on in dismay as the other half of their company were caught in the middle of the Giants' battle. Dori was beside himself, crying out Ori's name as Nori held him back in silence. Balin watched, pale as a ghost, as Dwalin and the rest of them flew by as the Giant's head was knocked off of it's body by a flying fist.
"Jump!" Thorin ordered loudly. "Come on!"
Kili caught a glance at Fili as they passed him, eyes glued to his nadad's bright blonde hair. Marie stood beside Fili, holding on to his arm, to receive support or to offer it Kili did not know.
The slight relief that Kili felt as he found that Fili, Marie and the others had not fallen off in the shifting and quaking was quickly shattered. The Giant was falling, his knees bent out in front of him as he pin wheeled backwards, crashing into the mountainside in front of them.
Fear pulsed through him as Thorin cried out in rage and sorrow. There was no way they could have survived that. Being smashed between the cliff face and a Stone Giant would surely kill even the strongest of them. His brother was gone.
"No!" He allowed his voice to join his uncle's, Dori's and Balin's as they all rushed foreword, the Giant falling away to land on the ground. "FILI!"
/
The world flew past Marie with sickening speed as the Stone Giant stumbled around, rocks and dust raining down on top of the small group she had been with. She clung on to Bilbo with one hand, and Fili with the other. For a few lurching moments, she couldn't focus on anything but keeping her balance.
The Giant came to a shuddering halt, and Marie glanced up just in time to see the Giant's head fly off of it's shoulders as another great creature punched it in what could only be assumed was the face. He teetered backwards, and Marie couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the Giant.
Bilbo's desperate grip on her hand caught her attention. She looked to him, about to soothe his obviously frayed nerves, only to find he wasn't looking at her at all. Marie followed his gaze in front of them, just as the rest of the group started shouting out in unison, immediately wishing that she hadn't taken the time to look. She could have died in complete blissful ignorance.
She pushed her body as closely as she could up against the rock behind her, as a jagged outcropping came hurtling toward them at breakneck speeds. 'I'm going to die.' She thought briefly as she squeezed Bilbo's hand, attempting to draw some comfort from her small friend, or perhaps to offer it.
The force of the impact threw the group off of the Giant's leg as it fell backwards to the ground with a thundering crash.
Marie remained sprawled out on the ground for a moment before realizing that she was not dead after all, not even inured! She struggled to sit up and look around. Trying to figure out why she was well and breathing instead of Giant jelly, squished up against the side of a mountain. She heard the others shifting around her as they came to the same realization that she had just seconds ago.
The group had been thrown onto a small ledge, one on top of each other. Marie stood, along with Fili and Bilbo, stumbling around a bit. Giant smiles crept onto each of their faces as the sheer joy of being alive almost overwhelmed them.
The world shook once again, violently, as one of the remaining Giants slammed face first into the mountainside near their small group. Marie caught Fili's wide eyed gaze as the ledge under his feet crumbled out from under him.
Not giving herself time to think about the fact that she wasn't the strongest person, and that he was a Dwarf, which made him considerably heavy for his size, she threw herself to the ground, reaching for his arm as he fell. The blessed feeling of his fingers engulfing her wrist and gripping on was replaced by pain exploding from her shoulder, followed by a hollow popping sound.
Her scream exploded from her before she could stop herself, and she felt Fili instinctively loosen his grip, trying to relieve some of her pain. Marie tightened her own hold around his wrist, biting back as much of her pain as she could to focus on keeping him with her.
"Don't you dare let go, Fili!" She ground out, as the world came into sharp contrast around her, adrenaline finally overriding the intense pain so that it was little more than a dull feeling in the back of her mind. She looked down into Fili's wide blue eyes as she shouted loud enough, she hoped, for the others to hear her over the roar of the rain. "Someone, help me!"
Marie gritted her teeth as she tightened her grip on Fili's arm, trying to ignore as the pain blossomed once more in her shoulder. She thought, for a terrifying moment, that her arm would stretch and rip away from her body, allowing Fili to crash down to the rocky ground far below them.
Just when she thought she would surely go over the edge with the blonde crown prince, Thorin's voice boomed from next to her. "Dwalin, give me a hand!"
Suddenly, Thorin was dropping off of the side of their ledge, landing onto a small foothold next to his nephew. He grabbed on to Fili's arm, just above where Marie held, and hefted him up with a very undignified roar. Dwalin threw himself down next to Marie, reaching to grab on to Fili as Thorin thrust him toward safety.
The relief from the weight on Marie's arm made her dizzy, as she rolled onto her back, resting for only a moment to catch her breath. She moved slowly, careful of moving her injured arm, as she stood to move out of the way as Dwalin and Thorin made quick work of hoisting Fili safely onto solid ground.
"Fili!" Kili cried, barreling around the corner, at an unsafe speed given the narrowness of the path. He ran up to his brother, throwing his arms around Fili and crushing him up against himself.
Marie stood by, watching fondly as Fili ran his hand over Kili's head, mumbling words that Marie couldn't understand in a soothing tone as the younger refused to let go.
"Dwalin!" Thorin shouted off to the side of their reunited group. He motioned with a shake of his head toward the narrow opening of a cave, before disappearing into it with the warrior.
"You're sure you weren't hurt?" Kili asked, glancing over Fili's arms and face in an effort to find an injury.
"I'm fine, Kili, thanks to Marie." He glanced over his younger brother's shoulder to give her a warm smile, and in spite of the nearly crippling pain in her shoulder and the fact that she couldn't feel many appendages thanks to the numbing cold of the rain, she grinned back at him.
"Come on in." Dwalin's deep voice rumbled from the cave entrance. "It's clear in here. Thorin has decided it's as good a place as any for the night." The company filed in after him into the small cave.
Despite the absence of rain and wind, Marie still shivered in her cloak. When she had thrown herself onto the ground to help Fili the heavy woolen cloak that the Elves had given her had shifted and the front of her clothes had been soaked through. She moaned loudly when Thorin told the group that there would be no fire that night, partly from her desire to finally have some semblance of comfort, and partly because the tremors that ran through her were jarring her shoulder almost violently. The sound caught Thorin's attention and he made his way over to her, his nephews following.
"There will be no fire." He told her again, his face a mask of authority which allowed no argument. She was about to turn away to ready herself for a most uncomfortable night of rest, but just before she moved the Kingly mask melted from his features. The slip was slight, but it allowed Marie to catch a glimpse of a side of their leader that was very rarely seen. Not a determined ruler, but a grateful uncle stood before her. "Thank you for saving my nephew. I am forever in your debt." Gentle warmth stole through her, chasing away the biting chill for just a moment, as she smiled gently back at the King under the Mountain.
The moment was ruined when Thorin reached up grabbing her arms, in what she assumed would be the beginnings of the rough type of hug she had witnessed between the other Dwarves in the group. His grip jarred her shoulder and she cried out, ripping herself from his grip as she fell to her knees in agony. The ground before her swirled unnaturally as she fought to remain kneeling while Kili shouted out and fell to his knees beside her.
"Uncle! What did you do?!" He cried out in shock, anger absent in his voice.
"I did nothing!" Thorin cried out himself. "I made sure not to use force!"
"Let me see her." Marie could hear Oin as he came up to them, although she didn't chance to look up from where her gaze was focused on the cave floor before her. The world had steadied and ceased it's spinning, but she was afraid any movement would start it up again.
"Her shoulder." Fili said quietly, the tone of his voice made Marie look up at him, despite her apprehension. He looked between his uncle and Oin, avoiding looking at her directly. He looked torn, ashamed for a reason that Marie couldn't imagine. "I think she hurt her shoulder holding on to me."
Oin turned back to her, gently taking her injured arm in his hands. Marie reluctantly allowed him to pull it away from where she had cradled it against her side, wincing at the sharp pain as she bit back another shout of pain. Oin poked and prodded up and down her arm for a moment, before turning to the royal family.
"It's dislocated. Not horribly, but we'll have to put it back in." he turned to her, his voice gentle as he gave her directions. "Marie, I need you to ease back until you are laying on your back. I'm going to take your arm and relocate it. It will be painful but try not to move." He waited for the nod that told him she understood before turning to Kili. "Bring me my bag, lad."
"I'll get it." Fili spoke up and disappeared out of Marie's line of sight. Kili remained kneeling next to her, opposite of her injury. She felt his hands on the middle of her back, guiding her as she laid down onto the unforgiving ground. He remained by her side, even after she was as settled as she could be, rubbing the back of her hand gently in an effort to bring her some sense of comfort.
"Here you go Oin." Fili appeared once again, handing the large leather satchel to their healer. "What else can I do to help?"
"Remain close." Oin told him quietly. "I will need all the help we can spare in a few minutes." He turned to her, a kind smile forming on his lips as he looked down at her. "Are you ready, my dear?"
She nodded up at him, taking a deep breathe in an attempt to steady her sudden nerves. He nodded once, turning and taking a thin leather strap from his bag and holding it out to her. "Bite on this lass, it'll help."
She nodded again, allowing him to place the strip between her teeth. He turned to the Fili, Kili and Thorin, all ready to help. "Hold her down, so that she doesn't hurt herself any more. Be careful that you don't use too much force, lads! Marie here isn't as sturdy as we are."
She felt hands on her, Thorin at her legs, Fili around her hips and Kili remained at his place next to her uninjured shoulder. She caught his dark eyes, trying to give him a nervous smile around the leather as she bit into it gently. He smiled back, although she could tell he was concerned, the small space between his brows crinkled as he brushed some hair out of her face.
"Alright everyone, here we go." Oin said.
Marie felt him lift her arm gently, not moving her eyes from Kili as she winced slightly at the strain in her shoulder. Oin shifted over her so that she caught sight of his grey beard out of her peripheral vision and she tensed unconsciously, bracing herself against the pain that was sure to come.
Her scream was slightly muffled by the leather as she bucked violently against the hands that held her firmly in place, pain exploding through her shoulder and back. Her shoulder joint strained against tendon, shifting on itself but not quite making it into the socket. The pain dulled slightly as Oin let up for a moment, taking the opportunity to adjust his grip on her arm. Her breathes came in quick bursts as the blurred outlines of the Dwarves became sharply contrasted once again.
"Once more, lass, and then we'll be done." Oin informed her softly.
It was the only warning she received as he quickly pulled her arm, using a bit more force than he had with the previous attempt. The loud pop of her joint realigning was sickeningly loud, as she spit the leather strip out. Her scream of pain was unhindered and loud to her own ears, the edges of her vision fading slightly as the pain threatened to overtake her and pull her into painless sleep.
"Marie, it's over. Oin just needs to put your arm in a sling." Kili's deep, gentle voice pulled at her consciousness. She blinked hard, attempting to force her vision to focus once again, relieved to see the dark chocolate eyes she had come to care for looking down at her in the same concerned manner they had watched her for the past few minutes.
'Has it only been minutes?' She thought to herself, trying to focus on what they were saying around her. 'It feels like it's been a lifetime of cold rain and pain.'
"If you and your brother hold up your cloaks and stand outside of them it will be proper lad." Oin was telling Kili. Marie hadn't been paying attention and wasn't sure what Oin and the others were arguing would be proper or improper. "As long as the two of you don't peek it'll be fine. And as for me, I am a healer lad. It wouldn't be the first time I've seen a female patient out of her proper attire."
"Wait, what?" She asked, more confused now than she had been the moment before. Surely, they weren't talking about her getting undressed...were they?!
"You need to change, Marie." Oin told her kindly as Kili and Fili stood, taking their cloaks from their places on the floor and creating a makeshift curtain, effectively blocking her and the healer from the eyes of the other members of the group. "You'll catch your death if you stay in your wet clothes. I'll help you change. It will give me the opportunity to examine your shoulder more closely before I put it in the sling."
"Oh." She managed to utter, stupidly. "You don't have to do that!" She rushed on, desperate for a way to avoid the uncomfortable situation that seemed imminent.
"I'll hear none of it, lass!" He interrupted her, already loosening the front of her tunic, pulling her injured arm gently from the sleeve. While it stung sharply, it was no where near as painful as it had been just a few moments before. He make quick work of helping her out of her soaked tunic and leggings, examining her shoulder gently before he helped her into the green dress she had brought from Rivendell. If he noticed the finger shaped bruises beginning around various parts of her body, he made no mention of them. For which she was immensely grateful.
"Alright lads, we're finished in here." Oin called out as he cinched the sling around her tightly. The wall of "curtain" fell away, Kili rushing foreword the moment he put his cloak down onto a small pile of blankets.
"We tried to make it comfortable for you." He told her quietly, leading her over to the nest. "Fili, Thorin and I wanted to make sure you got as good a night's rest as you can."
"What about you guys?" Marie asked, eyeing the pile. "The three of you will be cold. I'll be fine with just my things."
"Uncle insisted, and so did I." Fili told her as the brothers helped ease her onto the ground. "We all wanted to thank you for saving me. Although, it seems inadequate..."
"No!" She rushed to assure him. "Thank you very much. I'm sure I'll be warm and cozy tonight." She laid down in the bundle of blankets, pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite comfortable.
Fili sat near her, lighting his pipe as he settled in for the night. She was slightly surprised when Kili, instead of settling in next to his brother as she expected, sat right above her head. He lifted her head gently, sweeping her hair out from under her and collecting it in his large hands. He had taken her brush from her pack and now ran it through her tangled, damp locks.
"Kili, what are you doing?" She asked gently, careful not to wake anyone. Many of the others had already dozed off around them, she didn't want them to see her in the slightly embarrassing position she had found herself in.
"You asked me a while ago, how we Dwarves braid our hair so well with such giant hands. I thought I would show you." He told her simply, separating her hair into strands for braids.
"I see." She told him, falling into a comfortable silence as she enjoyed the feel of his thick fingers running across her scalp. Although she couldn't take the silence for very long before she broke it. "I have a sister, or at least I did."
His hands froze for a second, before continuing their work. "The Lady Galadriel mentioned that she brought the only memories of your past life to the fore of your mind. She refused to tell me what they were though; said you had to tell me yourself."
"They must have been of her." She nodded slightly, apologizing as he made a small noise of displeasure when the movement pulled at the hair he was working with. "I couldn't believe I had forgotten."
/
Fili watched his brother with a strange mixture of envy and apprehension stirring deep in his gut.
His baby brother had found his One. He could see it as plain as he saw the sun on a bright summer's day. He watched the two of them as Kili braided Marie's hair, and she told him what she remembered of her sister in quiet undertones. The serene look of admiration on Kili's face told him loudly what his brother probably hadn't realized yet. He was hers, bound by forces that neither of them could avoid nor reject. And if the looks she shot his brother from under her long lashes said anything, she has similar feelings.
He was not envious of the fact that, as fond as Kili was of Marie she seemed to be equally as enamored by him. Not really. He liked Marie just fine, she was kind and gentle, but he felt nothing more for her than a brotherly love. He envied the way that she looked at him, surely, but not because it was Marie.
He ached for someone to look at him the same way; with the same obvious fondness. He wished to find his One and feel the same peace that seemed to envelop his brother. Kili was, at present, sitting still and quiet as he listened intently to Marie, braiding her hair into a thick crown around her head. Fili couldn't remember the last time he had seen his reckless, restless brother so peaceful.
He looked to Marie once more, his grip on his pipe tightening as a thought leapt, unbidden, across his mind. He knew she was fond of his nadadith, it was obvious. He doubted, though, that she realized the severity of the position she was in, being Kili's One. Did she know of the love Dwarves felt for the ones they were bound to? Was she aware that, regardless of how she felt, Kili would never love another in his long life now that he had found her? What if she did love him back? Humans were such fragile creatures, susceptible to disease and injury...not to mention that a healthy long life for a human was fleeting in the eyes of a Dwarf! The harsh thoughts and realizations sat like a stone in his stomach.
"Fili!" Kili whispered harshly. Given the impatient tone he used Fili assumed it wasn't the first time he had called him. He looked to his brother, casting the dark thoughts aside. Kili had moved to sit next to him, careful not to disturb Marie, who must have fallen asleep sometime in the past few minutes.
"Yes Kili?"
"Are you alright, nadad? You looked like you were in pain. Are you sure you were not injured?"
"I'm fine Kili." He told him, smiling softly as he banished his dark and lonely thoughts, snuffing out his pipe for the night. "Let's get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."
He settled down next to his brother, preparing himself for what would no doubt be a restless night.
A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back!
First I would like to say thank you to all the followers and favorites this story has received, both old and new! It means so much to me that people enjoy what I write!
I don't know much about dislocations, as I've only had minor ones myself. It may not be an accurate depiction and for that I apologize!
I appreciate reviews very much, so please keep them coming! I'll try to add the next chapter by next week, but I make no promises. I'm afraid I didn't get as much writing done as I had wanted. :(