Wheeew, new chapter!
DwarvenWarrior: Haha :D Everyone seemingly likes Thorin getting knocked down by her :D I'm certainly happy that it pleased you :)
Doodler100: I'm glad you liked Tarya in badass-mode and concerned Dwalin. I love Dwalin and he'll get some more scenes in the future :D Yeah, I know the White Council scene was a lot like the movie and I wasn't sure if I should really do it like that but in the end I just thought, why not, because I love the scene in the film. But I'm aware that it was a bit much, so thanks for telling me, now I can avoid things like that in the future chapters :)
happypills27: I'm glad you liked Tarya's ass kicking :D I'm quite sure it won't have been the last time :D
Artemis Faery: It's funny because you liked the exact part that Doodler100 criticized :D Tastes are different, I suppose, but I'm glad you liked it :)
Beloved Daughter: I'm happy you liked it! Yes, exactly. Daggers are much easier for her because they're not as much a foreign weight as a sword, they're lighter and she can move faster. :)
Thank you guys so much for your reviews!
And also thanks to the people who followed and favorited! (I can't believe how many new readers this story still gets :D)
And now to why you've actually come here... Enjoy and let me know what you think!
They had left Rivendell a few hours ago and were now heading for the Misty Mountains. The valley had disappeared out of their sight a while ago and Bilbo had not been the only one taking a look back, Tarya had also lingered a moment with the hobbit, taking in the sight before they had moved on.
Kili was walking with his brother at his side; Tarya a few steps in front of him by now. He had been dumbstruck when he had seen her coming back before they had left. The new clothes had changed her look from little-girl-in-oversized-clothes to adventurous woman. Or at least, that had been Kili's first thought when he'd seen her.
The elven healer – she had later told him – had managed to find her clothes that actually fit and she was now wearing tight black breeches along with a dark blue tunic that flowed around her body nicely, she had solid boots on that were not too heavy and a coat that protected her if the weather would get worse. The company had organised two daggers for her – formerly belonging to Fili and Nori – that she now wore on a belt around her hips and she had also received a pack with a water skin and a few other paraphernalia that she was now carrying on her back. She seemed happy, Kili thought, while he watched her talk to Bofur. It was like she was more at ease out in the wild than she had been in the halls of Rivendell, which made quite sense to him.
It was already late when they set up camp that night and as Kili was setting up his bedroll, she came to place hers next to his. Neither of them had mentioned their sleeping next to each other the night before in Imladris but it seemed like an absolutely normal thing to him that they did so. She had already slept close to him when she'd been a wolf and he didn't mind if she continued to do so. He actually quite liked to know her close to him.
"You look tired," he told her once they had settled down by the fire with the others for dinner.
"I am," she replied, "I still have to get used to this walking on two feet."
Kili nodded. He could imagine it to be hard to walk for several hours when she had hardly been able to keep her balance only two days before. "You just have to speak up when you need a break," he said, taking a spoonful of his stew.
"I don't need breaks, I just need to keep walking so I get used to it," came her muffled reply as she spoke with her mouth full, quite unladylike as the young dwarf observed amusedly.
"You would certainly not be the only one who could use a break sometimes," Kili said, looking over at Bilbo for a moment.
Tarya followed his gaze. "His feet are very much used to walking, there is no problem with him," she said, obviously a bit irritated. Kili had noticed her getting rather protective of the hobbit ever since they had started out on their quest again. She had walked with him quite often and when Thorin had told Mr. Baggins to keep up in the gruff way he usually spoke to him, she had all but growled at his uncle.
"I guess you're right," he said, not wanting to cause any more irritation.
"I know I am," she answered, smiling into her bowl.
He shot her a sideways glance and grinned slightly. "You're quite feisty today, my dear."
She raised her head and winked at him, her smile broader now. Kili felt a strange tingling in his chest that he couldn't decipher as he watched her, his eyebrows raised in amusement. She really adapted quickly to their ways of communication, he thought.
"Tarya," a voice suddenly appeared next to them and they both looked up to see Thorin standing there. "Eat up and then you shall have a training session with Dwalin. You will have one every night before supper as of tomorrow."
The Amarok nodded. "All right," she said as he turned around to head back to his spot on his bedroll. Kili watched her quickly eat up her stew then, handing back the empty bowl to Bombur before she joined Dwalin a few metres away from the fire.
Dwalin gave her a stern glare when she approached him and she already felt nervous again. She had seen him fight with Thorin the day before and he had been rather… merciless. Of course, Thorin wasn't bothered by that, for he could stand his own against the warrior but that was not the case for her and she was a bit afraid that he would simply mow her down the way Thorin had intended to yesterday.
"Now, wolf girl, let's make you a proper fighter," he grumbled lowly, when she reached him, patting her on the shoulder heavily. The touch of his heavy hand almost made her stumble but when she looked up at him, the corners of his lips had curled up in slight amusement.
He let her draw her daggers then and she did as she was told, relishing the light feeling in her hands. This already felt much better than the sword had. It was like the daggers were an extension of her hands and not that much like a foreign object she was holding.
They didn't exercise long this evening, for the light quickly became too dark for it but Tarya already felt more at ease when she finally let the daggers sink into their sheaths. Her breathing was just a bit heavier than before now and Dwalin was walking over to her with a slight grin on his face. She had thought he would be angry when she'd manoeuvred him to the floor but to her surprise, he had chuckled quietly when she stood over him. He had kicked her legs then and she'd fallen as well. But it had been a success to just be able to knock the big dwarf down.
"That wasn't too bad for your first time, lass," he said, walking over to the others by her side. "I guess the wolf girl is not so weak after all," he added and earned a few chuckles from the other companions.
Tarya smiled at the bald dwarf to her side. "You might be stronger than me in this body," she said and he raised an eyebrow at her, "but I could have knocked the stuffing out of you in my normal form."
"If you say so, little wolf," Dwalin grinned and she couldn't help but grin as well. She had never really interacted with this dwarf before but she came to like him quite quickly now. He wasn't all overly respectful and shy about her, he called her little wolf and wolf girl and she found it funny.
She let herself plump down next to Kili and Fili who were puffing on their pipes.
"You are quite fierce for such a small thing," Fili grinned as he let out a small ring of smoke that floated towards the fire. Tarya followed it with her gaze. Kili noticed.
"Do you want to try it?" he asked her, tentatively reaching out his pipe towards her. She looked at the thing for a moment. She didn't really like the smell of the weed that was being burnt but she did like the little rings of smoke the dwarves all made from time to time. She nodded and he handed her his pipe. Her gaze flicked from the object to the youngest Durin heir. He smiled widely at her. "Just do what Fili does," he chuckled and Tarya looked over to the blonde one who was smilingly looking at her with his own pipe in his mouth.
So she did what she saw Fili doing, inhaled the smoke and instantly felt a horrible scratching in her throat. She coughed it all out, feeling her eyes tearing up, her body desperately trying to breathe normally again. Kili and Fili were cackling away beside her.
"That is horrible!" she breathed, once she'd stopped coughing, sending the two princes an annoyed glance. They were still laughing.
"Oho, so fierce and defeated by a little pipe," Fili grinned and the both of them chuckled again.
It took a moment until the Durin brothers calmed down but Kili felt a grin still tugging on his lips when he saw Tarya's irritated face. There was a strange sparkle in her eyes and the firelight caused warm reflections to dance within them.
"You inhaled too fast," he smiled, "and too much smoke at once. Try again, but slower."
She seemed hesitant for a moment but she did as he told her and Kili watched her inhale again, much slower this time before she slowly let the smoke back out of her mouth.
"That's better," Fili said smilingly.
"I want to do the rings, how do you make them?" she asked enthusiastically then and the brothers exchanged an amused look before Fili spoke up again.
"Uhm, well," he mumbled, thinking of how to explain a thing like this understandably. Kili watched him curiously with a slight smirk on his lips. "You form your mouth to an O," he said and Tarya did so, "yeah, like that and then you use your tongue to withhold the excessive smoke and just puff some of it out."
Kili raised his eyebrows at his brother and then diverted his gaze to Tarya who was looking a bit confused. "What?"
"Just try it," Fili grumbled and Tarya smiled as she did so. Kili watched her. She didn't manage to produce any rings the first few times but eventually, a small circle of smoke erupted from her mouth. She squeaked in glee and Kili couldn't help but smile at her behaviour. She was just… sweet, he thought.
She managed to do some more then and eventually, Fili started to send bigger ones to cross the path of hers. She laughed at the sight and was obviously not aware that half of the company was watching her, Kili realized.
Eventually, he received his pipe back and she lay down next to him, leaving him to talk to his brother. It was quite a while until Kili and Fili stopped conversing in hushed voices and went to sleep as well. The other company members were all already fast asleep except Balin who was on watch and sitting by the fire.
As Kili lay down, his gaze wandered to Tarya for a moment and he saw that her eyes were still open, shimmering golden, watching the night sky.
"You're not sleeping," he stated the obvious, whispering and trying to stifle a yawn. She turned her head to look at him with a sad smile on her face and Kili immediately felt the tiredness leave his body, his gaze becoming worried. "Is something wrong?"
Tarya turned her gaze to the stars again, sighing slightly. She looked so different now, Kili thought. Before, she had been merry and full of energy and now she just looked… lost. He didn't like this look on her he realized and shuffled a bit closer to put his hand on her shoulder. "Do you have a mother, Kili?" she asked then quietly, out of the blue.
Kili frowned at the seemingly incoherent question, retreating his hand from her shoulder to place it under his head as he lay down more comfortably on his side, looking at her. "Yes, of course. We all have a mother, do we not?"
She nodded slightly, still avoiding his gaze and Kili saw a look of sorrow flash over her soft features. "Do you have a mother, Tarya?" he asked her softly, observing her face carefully.
"I had one," she muttered, finally turning her head and looking him in the eyes. "Though she is gone now."
Kili stopped frowning and his gaze softened when she fully turned towards him, copying his position. "What happened to her?"
"I don't know," Tarya said, "I only know that she is no more."
The young dwarf couldn't help but grab her hand and pulling it towards him. "Are you all right?" he asked softly.
"I- yes, I think so," she mumbled, "It's not like she was very close to me. I haven't seen her since I was… well, a pup." Kili imagined the big black wolf he had known her as before as a little puppy then, quite liking the picture his mind produced of her. "But it hurts," she added quietly and he nodded. "I didn't think it would hurt that much."
Kili sighed silently when he answered, slightly squeezing her hand and pressing it against his chest unconsciously. "Losing someone dear always hurts, no matter how long you were separated or how little time you got to spend with them."
She looked at him questioningly, obviously sensing that there was something more to his answer. It was his turn to give her a rather sad smile now. "My father died in battle a long time ago. I was three years old, Fili was eight."
He felt her squeeze his hand then and his smile grew less sorrowed and more gentle when he looked into her bright eyes that looked at him kindly through the darkness of the camp.
"Are you all right?" she repeated his question from before and the smile on his face grew light.
"Of course, I always am," he mumbled and she rolled her eyes slightly before she snuggled a bit more into her blanket. Kili realized he was still holding her hand and quickly released it so she could tug it under it as well.
She smiled as she closed her eyes. "Good night, Kili."
"Good night, Tarya," he muttered, gazing at her thoughtfully for another moment before he closed his eyes as well.
It took them a bit over a week until they found themselves at the foot of the Misty Mountains. Tarya had spent a training session before supper with Dwalin every evening as Thorin had commanded and had found herself to get along quite well with the warrior. He was a bit gruff and not very sensitive but he was honest and motivating. He had by now settled with often calling her 'wolf girl' rather than her actual name but she didn't mind at all. He was the only one to do that within the company though.
He was quite happy with her progress with the daggers just as she was herself. She had found herself fighting Fili for a change the night before and she had successfully cornered him in a deadly position after a while, wiping the cocky smirk off of his face.
Tarya found herself also getting used to walking as a human. Her legs didn't ache as much anymore in the evenings and it was less exhausting to keep up with the others from day to day. But still, she sometimes felt her knees get a bit wiggly.
As she looked up from the path they were walking, she saw the massive walls of the mountains rise up before her eyes, dark clouds gathering above their peaks. Tarya had travelled the Misty Mountains before but that had been about three decades ago when the hills hadn't been infested with goblins yet and she had taken another path and had not the one Thorin was leading them onto now.
Looking at the dark clouds ahead, she felt an uncomfortable knot building in her stomach but she was too far behind the head of the company as to alert Thorin to it. She sighed. It was ridiculous anyway, being worried over a few thunderclouds, so she swallowed her doubts as they walked on, the path narrowing the further they went up the mountain.
Soon, the clouds gathered as a solid black mass above them and heavy raindrops started to fall on their heads mercilessly. Bombur – who was walking behind her – reminded her to pull her hood over her head. They were high up the mountain by now, having to clutch to the walls in order not to fall off the edge and down into the stony valley deep beneath them.
Tarya felt the knot in her stomach tighten when heavy winds set up and pulled at their cloaks and bodies.
"We must find shelter!" she heard Thorin yell from up front and couldn't agree more but her thought was cut short by a rumbling echoing through the cold air. It wasn't very loud yet but she felt a twinge of fear shoot through her body, making it stiffen and halt in its tracks.
"Go on, lass, what is it?" Bombur asked her from behind and Fili turned around, looking at her questioningly through the raindrops that had invaded his face. His brows furrowed at her terrified expression.
"It's just thunder!" he shouted over the noise that had now set in, trying to soothe her fear.
She shook her head, looking up at the dark sky. "We have to move!" she urged him, once she'd regained control over her body. Fili looked at her in confusion but suddenly, his eyes widened as the rumbling that had been rather faint before was now deafeningly loud and thundering in their ears.
"WATCH OUT!"
She couldn't tell who had screamed but she found herself pushed back against the wall of the mountain, helplessly trying to hold her balance as the floor trembled beneath her, watching as a large rock came flying from the skies and hitting the stonewall above their heads. She ducked instinctively and felt chunks of broken stone damage the already narrow path even further.
"This is no thunderstorm!" Balin exclaimed from ahead as Tarya raised her head again, her breath becoming ragged. No… No, it truly wasn't a thunderstorm, she thought fearfully. "It's a thunder battle!"
Her eyes widened in shock when she saw a massive figure emerging from the very mountain itself on the opposite side of the valley.
"Bless me!" Bofur breathed, stepping away from the wall. "The legends are true! Giants! Stone Giants!" he shouted just as the one opposite them threw a large rock towards their mountain again, aiming at another stone giant that had emerged behind them.
"Move!" Tarya urged again, feeling a distinct rumbling under her feet. They were on one, she realized with horror. She pushed Fili in the back. He didn't budge. "FILI, MOVE!"
"TAKE COVER YOU FOOL!" she heard Thorin yell through the heavy rain and the deafening noise and saw Bofur being pulled back by Dori and Nori.
To her dismay, none of them moved even a bit and suddenly, the stone beneath their feet started moving.
Kili could barely hear anything through the noise around them but one thing had reached his ears; Tarya screaming. As he turned his head, he saw her trying to get his brother to move forward, pushing at his back. But he was too busy, staring at the stone giants to even budge.
Kili was clutching desperately to the walls behind him as the earth suddenly began to move. It took him only a second to realize that they were on one of the giants that had now apparently decided to join the battle. The giant stood up and in doing so created a large crack in the floor between him and his brother.
"KILI! GRAB MY HAND!" he heard Fili yell and he tried to reach him but it was too late, their fingers barely grazed each other before the gap between the two separate knees they were standing on became too large. Kili could only watch with wide eyes as his brother was drifting away from him. He saw Tarya grab his arm to keep him from falling off the edge and pulling him back towards her.
"No," he breathed, his words getting swallowed by the sound of the thunder battle.
It was only a moment later that their giant was hit by a large rock and lost balance. He stumbled and Kili heard Thorin's booming voice ordering them to move, move, move when their boulder hit a solid piece of mountain. He followed his companions, jumping to safety. Immediately, he looked back to where the rest of them were still situated on the other knee.
With horror, he watched as the giant was punched in his stony head by another and fell. Nothing could describe the way his heart sank when he saw what happened next. Their companions were drifting by in front of them as the giant fell to his knees and he saw their terrified faces. They were dashing towards the massive stonewall a bit further ahead and Kili watched helplessly as they crashed into it just moments later.
"NO!" he heard his uncle yell desperately. "FILI!"
The stone giant now fell down into the valley, no trace of their companions on his defeated form. They raced towards the corner then, where the others had been smashed against the wall. Kili was the last in line and couldn't see what was going on but his heart missed a beat when he finally heard the words that soothed his nerves.
"We're all right! We're alive!"
Kili stumbled forward, looking at the pile of dwarves and saw Fili helping Tarya to her feet before he crashed first his brother and then her in a lung-crushing hug. As he held the Amarok tightly in his arms, he felt her shivering and her ragged breath against the curve of his neck. Her legs were trembling and he felt that she would probably have fallen to her knees if it weren't for his hug. He closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the feeling of her body against his, of not having lost her.
"Where's the hobbit?" Bofur's voice chimed up frantically, "Where's Bilbo?"
Tarya jerked her head back and looked around with wide eyes, pulling back from Kili's grip on her. He looked around himself when he heard Ori shout: "There he is!"
The Amarok rushed forward immediately when she saw the hobbit dangling from the edge of the cliff, trying to hold on desperately, and Kili felt himself reaching for her and pulling her back rather roughly by her upper arm before he even realized what he was doing. She bumped into him and looked up at him angrily. "You can barely stand, I won't let you go anywhere near that cliff," he growled and held her tightly when she tried to move. She was not happy with his treatment, he could tell when he looked over her head and saw how Dwalin was pulling his uncle up the edge. He hadn't even realized what had happened while he had been holding his friend back.
"I thought we had lost our burglar," Bofur said, a relieved smile on his face while he patted Bilbo on the shoulder.
"He's been lost ever since he left home," Thorin uttered angrily, walking past him and Tarya, "He should never have come. He has no place amongst us."
Kili could feel Tarya's chest rumble with a low growl that was most definitely directed at his uncle. He felt her move to face him but he held her back. "Let it be," he told her and she huffed quietly against his chest.
"For now," she answered and her voice sounded rough and shaky.
"Oi!" Fili's voice sounded from further ahead. They all looked up to see him standing with Bifur. "There's a cave over here!"
Kili let go of Tarya's body then but he grabbed her hand and dragged her along as he walked over to his brother with the rest of the company.