Darkness was quickly falling as the sun descended behind the hills of the horizon. The sky made a great spectacle of showing off hues of orange, pink and lavender before dotting the dome with gems of stars and finally calming to a deep ultramarine.
Bilbo sat alone, watching the grandiose display over the valley, and Lori saw him sigh heavily. She walked over to sit by his side and they watched the last colors leave the skies in a slow flash of dying light.
"I wonder what they're doing back home," Bilbo said.
"Good chance is, they're eating supper and gossiping in their hobbit holes, I'd wager." Lori mused.
Bilbo let out a huff of mirth and reached for his pipe. "Probably right. Things never did change much in the Shire…"
She watched him as he lit the tobacco. "Yes, but isn't that part of the charm of it?"
"Yes, yes I suppose it is…" He paused and took a drag of smoke. "You know, when I was younger, I couldn't be bothered with mealtimes, propriety, wealth or chatter about the neighbors. I wanted adventures in far away lands, elves and magic… I wonder what happened to me over the years."
"Nothing happened, Bilbo." Lori smiled. "Look where you are now. Miles and miles from the Shire, with not a single one of you neighbors around. Surrounded by dwarves and wizards on a journey to take back a kingdom from a dragon!"
"And all I can think about is how I miss my soft bed." He gave her a pointed look.
"Oh, don't be too hard on yourself. I dream of soft beds every night as well. And hot baths. Oh, and books, glorious books!" She laughed and patted his arm. "But we will return to those things in due time. Until then, let's make the best of this adventure, what do you say?"
"You're quite right… There's hardly any reason to complain when the dreams of my youth are coming true before my eyes." He looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Please don't tell the others about this."
Her smile was reassuring, "mum's the word, I promise."
"Thanks." His shoulders relaxed and he resumed smoking his pipe weed.
For a little while they sat in comfortable silence, until the smoke started to irritate Lori and she decided to go check on her pony.
Hopscotch saw her coming and ducked his head, resuming his grazing instead of his usual eager greeting.
"Hey boy, there you are…" She approached the animal slowly and studied him carefully. "What's the matter?"
He turned his flank at her and ignored her. It was a puzzle to Lori who only knew him as a happy and friendly companion.
"Look here, I've got a carrot for you." She tempted him, and for a second it caught his interest before he returned to moping.
"What on earth has gotten into you?" Then it hit her. "Oh! You're upset because I rode with someone else today, is that it?" She ran her hand gently over his neck.
"Don't worry, you're still my favorite pony ever, Hopscotch."
His ears twitched in her direction, but he still didn't raise his head to greet her. "It's not your fault I fell off. It was mine. I did something stupid so I fell asleep and toppled to the ground. There was nothing you could've done, boy."
He finally lifted his head and sniffed her head.
"See? I'm fine. No damage here. And I promise to ride with you tomorrow, okay?"
Hopscotch seemed to accept it and took the carrot from her hand to munch on in perfect content.
"Good boy," Lori nuzzled him affectionately and untangled a few clots in his mane for the coziness of it before trudging leisurely back to the camp.
Some of the dwarves were practicing weapons use and were paired off two by two a bit off to the side. Nori spotted her and called a pause from Bifur, whom he had been going head to head with, his staff against Bifur's glaive.
"Oi! Lori! Come over here, girl. Show us what those toasting irons you carry around are good for." He grinned and there was a good deal of snickering and a few huffs in the group.
Her eyes went wide when she saw Dwalin, Gloin, Bofur and Dori watching her. There was no way she would do well against seasoned warriors with heavy weapons at her present level of training. And with the scowls some of the dwarves were giving her, it was almost certain she wouldn't be given an inch of mercy under their tutelage.
"Err… I'm not sure about this, Nori," she said. "I have no training, I confess. And I wouldn't want to hurt you by way of my clumsiness."
"Head still hurting, lass?" Bofur asked in a show of kindness and concern.
"Oh, no. That's all gone now."
"Shoulder?"
"It's fine…" She looked at him suspiciously, thinking that there was a reason for his line of questions.
"Then come on, Olara-Hâzkal. Show us what you've got!" He grinned widely at her and she froze in realization that he'd found her the owed nickname, made it in khuzdûl, and now everyone but her knew what it meant.
"If I don't get knocked out, will you tell me what that means?" She tried.
"No. But I will if you win a match." Bofur's grin was so merry it almost invited a smacking.
Dwalin huffed in contempt. "Not bloody likely…"
Bofur just winked at her and gestured her to come closer.
"I… I can't fight like you do. I have no training, like I said, and my weapons are very light."
"Nonsense. You took on a whole pack of wolves and you're still here. But no matter. Nori here fights with daggers as well as a… What do you call that thing, Nori? Staff or mace? Stace-y?"
The others chuckled at the joke, but Lori was too nervous to find anything funny by that point.
"Right you are," Nori said. "Daggers it is." And from some hidden place on his body he produced two angled, fierce looking daggers and took a battle stance in front of Lori.
"Umm, shouldn't we establish some rules first?" She looked at each of them, almost pleadingly.
"No lethal blows, if we can help it," Nori said with a wink, not reassuring her in the slightest.
Lori started to take her long woolen cloak off, but Nori stopped her. "No. If you travel with it, you fight with it. Keep it on. You won't have time to change clothes when the enemy attacks."
Not being able to argue with his logic, she acquiesced, took out her sai and found her stance to get ready for combat.
Nori started circling her, looking for an angle to attack and waited for her concentration to falter. She mirrored his steps and tried to stay aware of her surroundings so she wouldn't lose her footing or get caught against a stone, but she was very wary of her opponent's skill and experience.
"So, do I get pointers, or is this a beating-the-new-guy thing?" She asked smartly, keeping her eyes on Nori.
"Keep your weight low." Bofur offered. She did. Just as Nori saw her slight distraction, he came at her in a flurry of slashes and stabs that for a whole two seconds took all her speed and concentration to block. Then he slapped her hard across the ribs with the flat side of the blade and Dwalin announced that first blood went to Nori.
Lori grunted at the impact and hugged her ribs. "Protect your body," Bofur said.
"Thanks." She managed through clenched teeth. A few seconds later she stood straighter and took a deep breath, getting back into position and anticipating Nori's next move. This time she held him off for three seconds before he spun to the ground and kicked her legs from under her. He immediately pounced and had a dagger at her throat and Lori could only let out an unfeminine choking sound at having her air removed from her lungs at impact and a dwarf perched on her chest.
"First point, Nori." Dwalin grunted dispassionately.
"You need to move faster and lighter than that, lass." Bofur added.
Again, all she said was thanks as Nori stepped off and gave her a hand up. "Again. Try to anticipate my attacks."
She took the stance without a word, earning an approving eyebrow lift from Dwalin who stood with both hands resting on the head of his maul.
This time she saw when Nori started his assault, and in stead of just blocking every swipe of his blade with her own, she ducked and swayed out of the way as well, utilizing her speed and agility. When he dropped to the ground to take her legs again, she jumped and kicked him, making him lose his balance enough to take a step back.
"There you go, Lori!" Bofur cheered.
Nori gave her a wink and then came at her again. After a few blows he clocked her across the jaw with the hilt of a dagger. Lori saw stars and staggered slightly.
"Watch out!"Her friend on the sidelines only gave her enough warning to hop to the side and kick a shin straight into Nori's guts as he came charging forward to topple her. Apparently it was enough, because he hadn't anticipated it and got the wind punched out of him. This didn't stop him though, and Lori found herself being pulled back by the hair and the cold bite of a dagger at her neck.
"Second point to Nori as well." Was the straight-forward announcement from Dwalin.
"Don't turn your back on an opponent unless his head is cut off." Nori panted by her ear. Considering their position, the thought of beheading was far from comforting and the fact that his voice shook with adrenaline was unnerving.
"Got it." She said, relieved when she was pushed from the dwarf's hold.
"Now try to attack. Defense alone never won a battle."
"Right." Lori tried to find a weakness in Nori's defenses or an opening for an attack, but none presented themselves easily. He shifted his grip to hold the blade by the ulnar side of his fist, putting his elbow too far out. His unprotected elbow.
Lori spun on the spot to feint and backhanded her long middle blade on his elbow's neuropath, giving him an elbow shock and weakening his grip. With her forehand she dashed the blade from his hand from above, but by then Nori had his second blade against her back, earning him the third point.
"Damn." Was all she said when she felt the steel again.
"Nice try, though," Nori admitted. "Creative. But always remember to protect yourself, even when attacking."
"Thank you, I'll try." She shook his hand just as Bombur called across the camp that supper was ready, effectively starting an avalanche of hungry dwarves towards the makeshift kitchen. She followed Nori and Bofur. The last dwarf to leave the training site was Dwalin, who still scowled suspiciously at her back for some reason.
The queue for supper was anything but a straight line of polite people waiting for their turn. Everybody was elbowing, pushing, pranking and joking to get to the front. Ori even went so far as to tie Bifur's feet with twine so when he tried to move he tripped and almost caused a domino effect on them all.
When Lori saw this, she sidled up to Ori, stood at his side with a sneaky smile and hip-bumped him so hard, he stumbled sideways out of line, leaving a gap for her to claim quickly. Ori looked so flabbergasted, she didn't know if he was going to pummel her or yell at her.
"Oi! Did you all see that? She cheated! Took my place right from under me, she did!"
All the others turned and most chuckled at him in schadenfreude, only happy that someone had gotten one back at him. "I didn't see a thing," Gloin claimed. "You, Oin?"
The hearing impaired elder turned and looked at him questioningly. "Huh? Oh! No. Not a thing, Gloin."
"Fine pair of dwarves you lot are. All it takes is a pretty face and you're abandoning me! Fine lot indeed!" He scolded. Ori continued to wrestle with Lori in good fun to get his spot back, until they reached the pot and were handed bowls of food from Bombur simultaneously.
"Behave," the fat dwarf said. "This is all you get, if you spill it, you go hungry."
They called a truce and parted to find seats. Lori saw Thorin sit on a rock and walked over to join him.
"Thorin, may I have a word?"
He nodded and gestured for her to sit.
She sat down on the ground and fidgeted to get herself situated with her cape, bowl of stew and weapons. She heard a few of the others laughing raucously a little way off, luckily out of hearing range. Perhaps this was a bad time to tell him. After all, she had promised herself to do it in the morning, but then again, morning conversations with Thorin had a bad record so far, so perhaps the evening meal was the best time? He looked occupied, though. And was terribly short with her. But he had invited her to sit, so she had to say something.
"You're getting along well..." He nodded towards the group and then looked at her.
"Yes... As well as I can. I don't think they all necessarily like me, but they're friendly enough."
"Good." He took another spoonful of his stew and savored it before continuing. "Balin told me you'd healed yourself."
"I did. My head and shoulder are as good as new." She smiled proudly but tried to hide it by ducking her head.
"Good. Don't heal your bruises, though." He gestured to her purple and blueish jaw.
She frowned in confusion. "You want me to be in pain?"
"I want you to learn."
"Oh... I see." She nodded in understanding. If her body remembered the consequences of her mistakes it was less likely that she would make them again.
"you wanted to speak with me?" Thorin prodded.
Her pulse rose and a tight knot formed in her stomach. This would not be an easy chat. "Well, it's in concern to what we talked about before… About not keeping things from you if I want you to trust me." Her eyes were pleading with him to understand, but he kept his attention to his food as he listened.
"So?"
"You remember how I told you that my mother was half dwarf and half human?..."
"Yes."
"There's more… My grandparents lived in Gládden Fields between Greenwood and Lórien after they were banished… it's close to the River Andúin, if you might know it?"
"Aye, I do."
"Of course… Well, one day a traveler came to the house in need of trade and shelter for the night. He was on a journey from Greenwood to Lórien, see. And my mother caught his eye. He was my f…"
"Thorin!" Fili came crashing out of the woods at a break-neck speed. "Trolls!"
Immediately Thorin was on his feet and ran towards his nephew, scanning the woods behind him. "Where's Kili?"
"He's looking out for Bilbo. Come quick!"
"The hobbit?" His irritation grew at the mention of their gentile travel companion.
"Yes, we sent him to free the ponies from the trolls, but I'm afraid he might need help."
"You did WHAT?"
"Umm…" Fili stopped to consider his words, an action he might have had better use of a few seconds earlier.
"Everyone! To arms!" Thorin ordered, making every dwarf forget his supper and jump to action. Lori scrambled to her feet.
"You stay!" He pointed at her.
"What? No! Bilbo's my friend!" Lori looked at him, horrified at the thought of staying behind, idle and useless in an empty camp while the rest of them were in danger. What if they needed her help? What if one or more of them were hurt?
"That's an order, woman! You stay away or I will remove you from my sight!" He all but bellowed at her while pointing a hard finger at her to keep her back.
His words cut her like a sword and she stood paralyzed while the dwarves rushed out of the camp in a matter of seconds. She caught a few sympathetic glances, but they were too much in a hurry to care for her hurt feelings and pride. The knot in her stomach turned to hurt, a hurt that she didn't quite understand the ferocity of.
The camp quickly fell silent as Lori stood and stared at where the merry band of dwarves had disappeared into the forest moments before. A tear fell from her eye before she angrily wiped it away, coming to her senses and pushed the hurt down. Practical thinking, not self-pity, was of better use now.
'Gandalf. We need Gandalf,' she thought. Panicked she looked around to see if he had reappeared by some fortuitous turn of events, but alas. 'I have to find him!' She took off as fast as she could into the night.
At first she tried tracking him, but the deep darkness of night soon hid all of his trails, so she tried running in a sweeping pattern roughly in the direction he had gone, intermittently calling out for him.
It was a risky business when you didn't know what else lurked in the shadows and she was well aware of it. But it was riskier to not help the company and she knew no stronger help than Gandalf.
She ran over steep hills and through thorny shrubs that tore at her clothes and skin. Through trees that blocked out what little light there was in the night. for hours she tried to keep up her tempo, but her stamina ran out after a while. She crossed several streams and a larger river that almost swept her feet from under her with icy, rushing currents. It left her freezing to the bone to be wet to her chest in the molten mountain snow. She ran until her legs shook in pain with every step, and still, she saw neither hair or hide of the old man.
"Come on, for pity's sake!" She muttered when her foot got stuck in a rabbit hole and she twisted her ankle with a sharp jolt. "GANDALF!"
"Lori?" She finally heard from somewhere off to her side. "What on earth are you doing, child? Keep your voice down, you know better than that."
"Thank Eru! Where have you been?" Oddly she sounded like her scolding mother for a split second, and it made a pang of sorrow blossom in her. How she missed the old bat.
"Excuse me?" Gandalf said.
"Bilbo, Fili and Kili found trolls who'd taken the ponies and now everyone has gone to save Bilbo, but I fear they will need your help before the night is done. Please, come quickly!" She panted.
"Trolls, you say?"
"Oh, for the love of Aulë, will you just come on! I don't know how long it will take to get back, and there may not be anything left of our company but bones if we don't hurry!"
"Fine, fine. This way then." He spun around and rushed off in the opposite direction of where Lori's direction sense told her she had come from.
"Gandalf! It's the wrong way, stop!"
"For once, don't question me, girl." He pulled her along and resumed a running pace. "I heard you crashing through the brush a few hours ago, but I thought you were a wild boar. Only now that I heard you again I knew it was you. You have been going in circles and it was your luck I found you." His haste did nothing to dampen his stream of speech, much to Lori's annoyance. She, herself, was completely out of breath from the harsh terrain and midnight cross-country marathon she had been undertaking the past couple of hours.
"Fine. Go. Hurry on without me, I am spent." She gasped. She would find her own way back when the sun came up if the wizard outran her. And he did.
By the time the sun's first rays peeked over the horizon, he was long since out of her eyesight, and she heard him yell in the far distance.
"The dawn take you all!"
Lori's legs collapsed in relief. Gandalf must have reached the dwarves. He had to have. He wouldn't have fought if there was no hope left.
Sweat poured down her face and trickled underneath her soaked clothes. Exhaustion caught up with her as she sat on her knees in the mossy underbrush of the forest, and she thought for a minute that she might stay like that forever. 'Just a couple of minutes to catch my breath. Then I'll go to the camp.'
…
She woke up a few hours later when the sun baked her swollen cheek and her foot was numb but for the sting of pins and needles.
"damn!" Her body rushed to vertical and her head spun from the sudden change in altitude. It was well past the time to get back, and now she didn't know if there still was a camp to get back to. She hoped beyond hope that the angry leader she had argued with the night before hadn't decided to leave her behind, arguments, dilemmas and all of her troubles.
But surely Gandalf would have come to get her if that be the case, right? Unless he had been obliged to follow orders as well… She began a slow and painful trot on sore, pricking legs and her throbbing ankle.
"Please still be there…" She muttered.
Ten minutes later she humped into camp, relieved to see the dwarves cooking breakfast and getting ready for the day. She caught an unwelcome sight of a bare white behind over dwarfish boots by the river, and felt the need to announce her presence by clearing her throat. Loudly. The butt disappeared under freezing water and she heard a comical squeal from the owner.
Everybody's attention sprang to her and her eyes found Thorin's. His intense glare quickly faded to resemble relief when he saw her – a change that Lori wondered at briefly before being swarmed by friendly questions.
"Where've you been?"
"Did you see the trolls, Lori?"
"Have you been away all night?"
"Oh my, you look a fright!"
"Have you eaten?"
"You look thirsty. Here, have some water."
"It's good to have you back, lass."
"Kharan bea, gyyr Olara-Hâzkal."
"Uhm… Hi everyone. Glad to find you still here." She offered them a tired smile and found her plate in her pack. She was starving. When she turned around they were still looking at her curiously, but their questions had stilled at the presence of Thorin. She stood to face him, suddenly nervous that he might still be angry.
"I thought I told you to stay in camp?" He rumbled in a low tone. There was no malice in it though, merely question. It was a treacherous question, however, given their previous conflicts of her not following his lead.
"No, not technically…" Lori started.
"Oh?" His head tilted and kept his steely blue eyes directly on her purple ones. They shone with something she couldn't identify.
She cleared her throat nervously. "You told me to 'Stay away or I will remove you from my sight!'. Those were your words." Her hands seemed to have a life of their own as they fidgeted and picked at her cuticle. "I was far away, I promise you."
He held her gaze for a long time in a battle of wills without saying anything, and Lori was determined to not back down this time. It might cost her dearly, in fact she was almost certain he would tell her to leave.
In the end, Thorin relaxed his stance and gave her a small nod.
"Gandalf told me you'd come for him. You have my thanks. Get some rest, we leave at noon."
A great sigh of relief and joy escaped her tired and aching body and she watched his back as he retreated.
She was still in the company.
..o00Ô00o..
Every single review, favoriting, view count and pm has kept me going a little further this time. Thank you!
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