So this took a while, but its kinda long so there ;) your reviews have been beautiful, thank you very much!
Disclaimer: Middle Earth and all its characters belong to Sir Tolkein (With the exception of some of Peter Jacksons additions) I do not own the universe or the story, but the Main OC and any future OCs are mine.
Remind me of the babe...
Ollie was not feeling well. The shaking in her limbs hadn't stopped despite the running, her chest hurt from the exercise, her feet hurt from being torn up, and the bloody hallucinations weren't going away.
Dwarves. 13 dwarves. And a hobbit. The hobbit. And a wizard.
Dwarves and hobbits and wizards, oh my!
The most worrying thing was that the right side of her face was feeling numb and droopy. Ollie hoped it was just where she'd hit her head, and prayed to anything or anyone that was listening that it'd go away soon. She did not need anything else to happen today, thank you very much.
The long, dry grass they were currently running across was much nicer on her feet than the forest floor, but there were large, sharp stones every where, and she'd bitten her lip hard several times to keep from crying out and blowing their cover.
Currently, however, she was pressed tightly against some rocks, hand over her mouth to keep her breathing quiet. Dwarves to her left and right doing the same. She remembered this scene from the movie, but was finding it very hard to be anything other than winded and terrified as Thorin nodded to his nephew. Kili took a deep breath, steeling himself, before darting forward and shooting down the warg that had been prowling above their heads.
The shot didn't kill it, and the poor creature and its disgusting rider were dispatched quickly in bloody, screaming slaughter. Tears began streaming down Ollie's face, flowing freely as she hiccuped in fear.
The older, white haired dwarf whom she'd been so rude to, Balin, gripped her hand.
"It'll be all right lass, just keep running." he murmured reassuringly.
"Did...did you have to kill the wolf too?" she spluttered.
"It was a warg!" snapped Dwalin, "Stop being such a child, it would've killed us, now run!"
And they were off again.
Ollie wiped furiously at her cheeks, swiping at the tears that just wouldn't stop falling. Her feet hurt, she was dizzy, and she was not going to be able to keep running like this.
Suddenly, everyone stopped, gathering in groups and looking around wildly.
"We're surrounded!"
"Where's Gandalf?"
"He's abandoned us!"
Air couldn't come quickly enough to Ollie's starved lungs, as she bent over coughing, tears and sweat stinging at her eyes. Balin stood close to her, sword at his side, holding his arm out to push her back slightly as wargs and orcs crept ever closer. Ollie straightened with difficulty, head spinning and blood pounding behind her temples; she felt like absolute shit. She had to stay focused, she could die out here.
Oh shit, I could really die here.
With that comforting thought, her eyes began to swing around wildly as she turned on the spot, grass swishing around her legs, scratching at the backs of her knees, as she tried to watch the orcs, wargs, and dwarves simultaneously. And tried to keep an eye out for Gandalf as well.
Where is he? He's meant to pop out from around here somewhere, she thought in confusion.
On one of her turns, she noticed a riderless warg as it crept closer to Ori, who catapulted stone after stone at it to no avail. Now, she'd never know if it was bravery, stupidity, or just a heat-of-the-moment thing, but Ollie suddenly sprang forward, throwing herself at the young dwarf as the warg leapt towards him. She landed against him hard, throwing them both into the dirt as the warg went flying over them by mere inches, before one of Kili's arrows found its mark in the creatures eye.
Ollie lay on her side, panting, sharing a wide eyed look of total shock with the dwarf she'd just saved as they lay side by side.
"Ollie!" screamed a familiar voice.
"Ollie over here!"
It was Dodge! Ollie sat up so fast that her vision blurred for a moment, and sure enough, there she stood. Dodge's upper half seemed to sprout from a large grey rock as if it had grown there, her arms waving wildly to get the purple-loving girls attention. Gandalf also popped up beside her, bellowing;
"This way you fools!"
And suddenly it was all about the running again.
Ori grabbed her by the arm and dragged her up, pulling her alongside as he made a mad dash for the hidden passage. Thorin stood protectively over it, making sure everyone got through. Ori jumped down before her, and when she wavered, Thorin grabbed her arm and pushed her down.
"Go!" he roared, and his voice echoed in her ears even after he left her sight.
Going down the hole was kind of like going down a waterslide. If the water park had been hit by an earthquake, covered in thumb-tacks, and drained of all the water. Ollie rolled head over arse into the dark and the gloom, landing with a hard thud on her back.
Far too much has happened today, she thought dumbly, as she stared at the roof of the cave-like structure she'd fallen into. Before she'd even had a moment to take a full breath, it felt like the whole damn place landed on her. Except caves don't generally have lots of dark hair.
Thorin, because it just had to be him, groaned quietly as he pushed off of her. Leaning on his elbows, he gazed down at her with an almost soft expression. Which quickly turned into another lovely glare.
Ollie really couldn't be arsed to give him one of her own glares, and so just huffed, and groaned.
"Get off will ya?" she complained. His eyes somehow managed to narrow more without closing, and he pushed himself off of her, dusting down his front as though she'd leave a stain.
What. Ever.
She'd just managed to pull her upper half up, when another mountain fell on her. Except this mountain was bigger, slimier, and smelt worse.
It was a dead Orc.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! GET IT OFF ME!" she screamed hysterically.
Thorin and Dwalin pushed the Orc off of her, whilst Dori pulled her out from beneath it. Once free, she scrambled madly away from it.
And then something else fell on her.
Thankfully, this time it was her blonde whirlwind of a best friend, who fell into her, wrapping her arms around her as she sobbed.
"Ok, the next person, thing, or creature that falls on me is getting a kick in the nuts." She murmured, though her threat lacked any real venom, as she was too busy burying her face into Dodge's shoulder as she did her level best to squeeze the life out of her.
"Ollie what's going on?" sniffled Dodge, her breath hitching in her throat as she attempted to talk.
"I woke up and you weren't there! And some guy who said he was Radagast the Brown brought me down here and told me to hide with our packs and this is madness and I want to go home!" she wailed, shoulders shaking as she clutched to Ollie for dear life, sobs wracking her body.
"It's ok, it's ok, shh, we're gonna be ok." Ollie murmured soothingly into her hair, rocking her back and forth as shivers of her own raked across her skin.
She was very aware that the other 15 occupants of the cave were staring at them, and swung her gaze around, trying to keep them all in sight.
She met Thorin's gaze with a clash that she felt right down to her toes; he was wearing that strange expression again, though this time she could see discomfort on his face as he watched the two distressed women on the floor before him.
She watched as he turned away to inspect the dead Orc that had fallen down the hidden entrance, pulling an arrow shaft from its back, sneering as he threw it away.
"Elves." he stated, distaste clear in his every pore.
"I cannot see where the pathway leads!" called Dwalin, the suddenness of his shout in the quiet cave caused both girls to flinch, "Do we follow it or no?"
"Follow it, or course!" replied Bofur. The other dwarves began to follow, but stopped when they realised that they had two new charges. Two young lady charges, who hadn't moved.
"I think that would be wise." agreed Gandalf.
But when he bent down to usher the two girls into movement, he found himself being held back by the wrong end of a knife.
While the dwarves were distracted, Ollie had rifled through her bag and pulled out her Rangerwood 55 swiss army knife, pulling out the longest, sharpest blade it had.
Feeling a lot better with a weapon in her hand, however naive that thought may be, she'd pushed Dodge behind her again. Dodge didn't complain at all, seeing as Ollie was the one with a knife, and had squeezed herself between the rocky wall and Ollie's back. They still held onto one another, with Ollie's free arm clasped around Dodge's leg, and both of Dodge's hands gripping onto Ollie's shoulders.
"My dear, there is no need for that." He said, mildly surprised.
Ollie simply stared at him, before flicking her gaze around the cave.
"I'll lower mine if they lower theirs." she stated, indicating the Dwarves who fairly bristled with weaponry, a lot of it still in hand. Gandalf's eyebrows inched their way up his forehead as he realised that the dwarves were indeed still holding their weapons up, but were not, in fact, behaving in a threatening manner towards the two girls.
"They need theirs in case anything else appears on this path. They mean you no harm."
"Yeah, well, could they let their faces know? Cause' I'm not really feeling the friendly vibes right now." Murmured Dodge from behind her shoulders. Ollie let out a half hearted laugh in agreement, and though her hand shook, she didn't lower her knife.
"Let's just say that I need mine then." she dead-panned.
Before she knew what was happening, her hand had gone numb and was, quite suddenly, empty.
"I'll not have a stranger threatening my company, even if it is with so small a weapon. Now you either come with us, or get left behind, enough time's been wasted." said Thorin. And in comparison to the other times he'd spoken, this was almost gentle.
Almost.
He strode off without a backwards glance as he pocketed the knife, and the rest of the company filed along behind him. Soon, only Ollie, Dodge, Gandalf, and Bilbo were in the cave.
"Come along dear girls, they're harmless really. And they'll look after you as long as you're with them." said Gandalf, a twinkle in his eye as he looked over the two girls. Ollie paused for a breath.
Her feet were killing her. She felt light headed from the running, and because she'd not eaten all day. Her hip, legs, and ribs hurt from when she'd fallen; both over the hill and into the cave. She was shaky, tired, and frightened. She turned to Dodge.
"Tolkein." she stated.
"I know." she replied, brown eyes wide with fear.
"Well?"
"...I always liked that story."
After sharing another look, with watery, wobbly smiles, they helped each other up. They both groaned from their aches and pains, before shouldering their backpacks and following Gandalf down the path.
The path was not, in any way, fun.
Oh, it certainly beat running for you life, but it wasn't a particularly nice walk.
Dodge's socks had disappeared at some point, and Ollie's socks were so torn up that they didn't count as being protective at all. The pathway was covered in small stones, some of which were sharp, causing them to flinch and hiss with every step. Cold air drifted down the narrow corridor of stone, which rose up so high they couldn't see the difference between white sky and grey rock. They pulled their jackets tighter around them, but they still shivered from the cold. The slight breeze drifted through their hair, which allowed it to finally start drying, though when Thorin called for a break, both girls hair was still very damp.
They'd come to a stop on a wider area of the path, which allowed them to sit in a loose circle. Dwalin had barged past the girls to sit at the other end of the path to watch for any orcs, which shoved the girls further into the group of strangers. They sat down and immediately huddled closer together, Gandalf on one side and Balin, next to his brother, on the other. They removed their packs and set them down, their feet covered by the silky fabric. It was a flimsy barrier against such a group, but the position provided a sense of security none the less.
Ollie's eyes twitched in rhythm with Dodge's as they looked about the small camp, wanting to keep an eye on every little movement. No matter how sheltered their lives may be in comparison to the lives in Middle Earth, no woman, no matter her history, felt completely safe and at ease in a group of strange men.
Dodge felt like the elephant in the room; everyone knew she, and Ollie, were there...but no one seemed willing to acknowledge their presence. Oh, the dwarves were watching, of course, but not talking.
Dodge watched with heavy eyes as the dwarves went about what appeared to be a normal routine, but all she wanted was to be warm, clean, and at home.
Starting the fire was a long, slow, and quiet affair. The dwarves mostly looked at their two tag-alongs, and they in-turn mostly looked at the floor, arms wrapped around each other. They shivered sporadically, from the cold and from shock, and Ollie felt a strange sort of sadness settle over her as she listened to Oin and Gloin struggle and argue as they tried to light the fire.
She heaved out a long sigh, before unwrapping herself from Dodge and leaning forward to rummage through her pack, pulling out the matches. Grunting, she pulled herself to her feet with difficulty, wincing as she put her weight on the torn soles.
She'd noticed the way the dwarves stiffened slightly at her movement, all watching her from the corner of their eyes as she hobbled her way over to the arguing brothers.
Gingerly, she lowered herself to the dusty floor, mindful of her feet as she tucked her knees beneath her with another sigh. Placing herself here made her feel very exposed, as she was now right in the centre of the circle, not that they hadn't been staring at her anyway.
Matchbox in hand, she reached over to Gloin, holding it out.
"Here." she said quietly.
His bushy red eyebrows lowered in confusion as he stared at the proffered box.
"What?" he snapped in a deep accent.
She sighed again, too tired to explain. She leant forward to see how they'd built the fire before tapping three matches into her palm, and striking them against the box. The dwarves eyes widened when they saw the fire flare from the tips of the matches, and she carefully tilted the sticks upside-down, allowing the flame to spread further up the wood before placing them into the soft kindling in the centre of the fire wood. The flames soon spread and grew, and Oin placed a few larger pieces of wood to encourage the growth, and they quickly had a nice fire going.
Holding the box out to Gloin again, she shook it lightly, causing the match-sticks inside to rustle together.
"Here, keep them." she repeated quietly, not looking at him. When she felt the box lifted from her fingers, she turned away, grimacing as she struggled to her feet.
"Hold on a second lass. Let me have a look at you." Said Oin.
"It's ok..." She started.
"I said sit down." he repeated firmly.
She sat, wide eyed.
"Okay..." she said, "But, um, look at Dodge first, she's worse off."
"I'll be the judge of that." he stated, as he went to fetch his medicinal bag, "But get her to come over as well."
Ollie turned to Dodge, who'd been oddly quiet for the whole walk, apart from the few muttered curse words whenever her foot caught on a particularly sharp stone.
"Dodge." she said, "Dodge, come 'ere."
She didn't even stir. Ollie pressed her tongue against her cheek in thought, then stretched her legs out in-front of her with a small smile; when being nice didn't work...
"Dodge," she said, then started whistling and slapping gently at her thighs, "C'mere Dodge! Who's a good girl? Here Dodge, Dodge, Dodge!" she called condescendingly.
Dodge turned her head slowly, blinked once, then said;
"Bitch."
The dwarves shifted uncomfortably, but Ollie grinned.
"Slut."
"Slag."
"Whore."
"Cow."
"Pig."
"Witch."
At this point both girls were grinning at each other, and the dwarves looked thoroughly scandalised. Ollie took a deep breath...
"I don't like Jareths' tights."
All of the dwarves whipped their heads round at the sound that came from Dodges mouth just then.
"You take that back!"
"Make me." she dared.
Now, it would have been fantastic to say that Dodge bounded to her feet in glorious indignation at hearing David Bowie so insulted, that she threw herself over to demand an apology from her best friend; who she knew didn't mean a word of her insult, and emerged the fantastical victor complete with bum shaking victory dance.
However, that was not what happened.
In much the same way as poor Ollie, Dodge scrambled to her feet in pained groans and gasps, then limped her way over and planted herself in Ollie's lap, despite her protests, and started flicking her in the forehead.
"Ow!"
"Take it back!"
"Never!"
"Say you love it!"
"No!"
"Say you love the overly revealing tightness! Say it!"
Ollie exploded into fits of laughter.
"Fine! Fine! I give in! I love the ridiculously tight tights!"
"Damn right you do." Dodge sassed, then slid off of her lap to sit next to her, legs stretched out alongside Ollie's.
Some moments passed by in silence, as the girls stretched out, allowing their frozen skin to finally begin warming by the fire.
"Why is it you two swear more than a drunken miner?" Questioned Nori.
Dodges face twisted in confused thought as she shrugged.
"No idea really."
"But...I thought you were friends?" said Bilbo.
"We are." replied Ollie.
"Best friends." said Dodge.
"Practically sisters." finished Ollie.
"Then why on Middle Earth would you call each other such horrendous things?" gasped Kili.
"Love." said Ollie, picking at a small scab on her knee.
"Where we're from, they can be used as endearments as well as insults. Since you know you don't actually think they are what you say they are, it's like a joke." Explained Dodge. Fourteen confused faces looked back at them, only Gandalf seemed to understand what they were saying.
"Just assume when we're saying nasty things to each other, that they're said with love." said Ollie, smiling at Dodge. That smile quickly changed to a grimace when she saw Oin returning.
His face held grim determination, and the large bag swinging by his side seemed incredibly daunting. She gulped.
"I'm not going to enjoy this, am I?"
The supposedly deaf healer tilted his head to one side before lifting his shoulders in a shrug.
"Probably not."
"You should look at Dodge's head first though." Argued Ollie.
"Anything to get out of a trip to the doctor. I'm fine; Radagast fed me some weird drink, no concussion, no cut, nada. Well," she mused, "My feet are still killing me, but everything else is fine."
"Right you are then Lady Dodge. Lady Ollie, let us have a look at your head then."
As Oin went about the general tests for concussion, the two girls giggled at his use of a title.
"We're not ladies, just Dodge and Ollie is fine." said Ollie as Oin poked and prodded at her.
"I've been meaning to ask about that; you said it was a long story." Questioned Fili from where he perched next to his brother, arms crossed in his lap and elbows propped up on his raised knees.
"Well, My real name is Cassandra Twist."
"And mine's Bridget Daize."
"But everyone calls us Ollie and Dodge, have done for years."
"Yes but why?" asked Ori.
Ollie opened her mouth to answer, but the air suddenly left her lungs in a rush of pain as Oin began poking at her ribs.
"Son of a..." she hissed, barely managing to hold in the curse word.
"I take it that hurt?" murmered Oin.
"Oh, you know, only a little." she said, voice heavy with sarcasm.
"Hmm well, they're not broken, probably just bruised, I'll have to raise your shirt a little to be sure..."
"No."
"Lass..."
"I said, no. If it matters that much, Dodge'll look later for you and let you know." Ollie growled. Hey, she thought, I'm starting to sound like the dwarves.
"If my healer says you need to be looked at, you'll be looked at." Rumbled Thorins voice from across the fire. Ollie jumped; he'd been so quiet and still, she'd forgotten he was there.
"It's ok mister Oin, I'm used to checking her for bruises and...stuff. I know what to look out for." muttered Dodge. Oin sighed, but left her ribs alone, now moving down to the dreaded feet.
"Why don't you tell us why you're called that while Oin looks at your feet? A good story will take your mind off it." said Fili, throwing a flirtatious smile Ollie's way.
"Ok, but it's not that interesting."
It was the year five production of "Oliver Twist", a story where we're from about a little orphaned boy, who's sold to some cruel people before running away to live in a city. He was very gentle hearted, and wouldn't have survived on his own if he hadn't made a friend, a boy by the moniker "The artful Dodger", a pick-pocket. So, the Dodger took Oliver to his pick-pocketing hideout - a group of boys under the protection of a mister Fagin. Unfortunately, Oliver was caught on his first day, as he was too honest to be any good at pick-pocketing. In the time this was written, there were only two results of being caught as a child pick-pocketing; the workhouse, or a hanging. But the man he'd stolen from was elderly and kind, and so allowed Oliver to go free on one condition; he would live with the man as his own son.
Fagin and one of his conspirators later kidnapped the boy, thinking they could hold Oliver for ransom. Unfortunately, it turned out Oliver Twist was actually the old man's long lost grandson; his daughter had been caught in a storm and given birth at a workhouse, dying in labour. The owners assumed she was a runaway or a whore, and took her pretty necklace as payment, kept the child, gave him an orphans name, and thought no more of it.
When Oliver was kidnapped, the old man called the owner of the workhouse, who admitted to the situation of his birth, and showed the old man the necklace, a necklace he'd given his daughter as a gift before she went missing. When he realised that Oliver was his grandson, he sent the police all over the city to find him.
When they were finally reunited, Oliver and The Dodger parted ways; despite being best friends, they were from very different worlds.
Anyway, the two boys who got the part in the play as Oliver and The Dodger were horrible, always throwing things at us and pulling our hair. And on the day of the play, they pretended to be sick halfway through, which would have ruined the whole thing.
Luckily, Dodge and I knew every line, as we loved the play, and we volunteered to play Oliver and Dodger. Since they had no other choice, they let us go on after a short break, which began with a fun song. Which, if I do say so myself, we performed perfectly.
The two boys were really jealous, and so after the play began calling us nasty names. Saying we wanted to be boys and started calling us "Oliver" and "Dodger" all the time.
At first we hated it, and soon everyone started calling us names too. Until one day, Dodge had enough and took a swing at the boy who started it, giving him a massive black eye. He was too scared of her to tell, but I felt guilty and convinced Dodge to fess up. The teachers started laughing, saying we really were like a real-life Oliver and Dodger, and took to calling me "Ollie" as in "Ollie" Twist, and Bridget "Dodge" for almost dodging her way out of it.
"...and, of course, for being my best friend." Ollie smiled over at Dodge, despite the stinging in her feet from Oins ministrations.
"Yeah, after that, we didn't mind so much. Not even our families call us by our real names any more." Laughed Dodge, nodding her head in agreement.
"Sounds ridiculous to me," sniffed Dwalin, who they hadn't realised was listening, "What's wrong with your actual names? I think Bridget sounds nice."
The girls weren't the only ones to turn and stare at the dwarf with wide eyes, though Dodge was the only one who started blushing.
"Haven't you ever heard of a nick-name?" hissed Ollie, as her foot received yet another painful jab from the healer.
"What's a nick-name?" called Bofur.
"When someone gives you a name based on your personality, or on something you've done in the past, or on your appearance." answered Dodge, as Ollie looked somewhat preoccupied with not using every curse word she knew on the dwarf pulling and pushing at her feet.
"So, we're Ollie and Dodge, because of the stint with the play."
"So like uncle's know as Oakenshield, after he defeated Azog!" cried Kili.
Ollie looked over at the dwarf in question, who fidgeted slightly at the mention of his own "Nick-name".
"There now," huffed Oin, "I think that's you all done lass. Pop your boots back on."
"Don't have any." murmured Ollie from Dodge's lap. She'd flopped over as soon as he'd dropped her second foot, and was now looking far too pale.
Dodge began to panic quietly, Ollie had gone pale, her breathing was slowing way down...her lips were turning blue!
Shit, need to hide this from Oin...fuck what am I supposed to do?
"No boots?" several dwarves started muttering in shock, with a few queries as to if they, like hobbits, didn't wear them at all. Dodge drowned them all out, wiggling her fingers in front of Ollie's face, growing increasingly alarmed as her eyes only flickered slowly from side to side rather than focusing on them.
"Ollie? Have you taken your tablets yet?" she whispered.
"Not eaten...not had anything yet." the purple headed girl slurred, eyes droopy. Dodge studied her closely, one of her pupils was getting much bigger than the other, and her right hand twitched and clenched convulsively.
"Gandalf, chuck me the green bag please!" She yelled out, startling the company, who'd become very involved in a discussion of the pros and cons of shoes.
"This one, my dear?" said the wizard, holding her bag up.
"Yes, yes, quickly."
Gandalf passed the bag to Bilbo, waving his hand towards the girls, and the hobbit scrambled hastily towards them. All the dwarves were now silent, focused solely on the panicking blonde girl, and her dark-haired companion, who was making strange moaning sounds under her breath, shaking her head from side to side.
Dodge snatched the bag from Bilbo, with a barely muttered "thanks", and began tearing through it, throwing several items to either side in the search for something Ollie could eat.
Pulling out a nature valley bar, she tore it open and pushed it into Ollies' non-shaking hand.
"Ollie? Ollie you need to eat this now." she said. Ollie merely flicked her eyes to stare, unfocused, at her friend.
"Eat it now Ollie." Dodge demanded.
Slowly, Ollie began munching her way through the bar, when she finished the first, Dodge shoved the second into her hand, and watched like a hawk until that was gone too.
"Does anyone have any water please?"
Dwalin threw his gently to her before anyone else could reach for theirs', and Dodge nodded her appreciation. Back into the bag she went, digging through to find Ollie's supply of the little white and blue tablets that she needed. Popping them out, she encouraged her friend to sit up, putting the tablets into her hand and persuading her to swallow them down with some water.
Already, the small amount of food had made an improvement; Ollie no longer looked so muggy, simply tired, and the colour had returned to her cheeks. She leant her head against Dodges shoulder, while she wrapped her arm around her.
Within a few moments, Ollie was sound asleep.
"Would you care to explain that?" growled Thorin.
Dodge merely raised an eyebrow at the dwarven king, and decided a lie would be better. It'd bite her in the arse later, but oh well.
"We were up drinking late last night, and then , you know, suddenly we had to run an awful lot, with no shoes, which yes, we do usually wear, and hadn't actually had a chance to eat or drink since, like, last night? We're both exhausted. The only reason I'm not zonked right now is that thing Radagast gave me made me feel better. But yeah, thanks for your concern." she finished off by glaring at Thorin, who held her gaze evenly.
"I would suggest you have something to eat too then, and a sip of Dwalins water wouldn't do you any harm either, while I fix up your feet." said Oin, and Dodge broke the staring contest to look down in shock as Oin busied himself getting ready to treat her; she was sure that dwarf was supposed to be damn near deaf.
"Aren't you supposed to be almost deaf?" she asked.
"What was that dear?"
"Oh, never mind." Sighing, she took a quick sip of Dwalin's water, though she could happily stick her whole head in a river at the moment, then threw it back to him. He caught it easily, though his gaze stayed on her a moment, whilst she dug through her pack for another nature valley bar to take the edge off of her stomach pains.
She swore, at that moment, that when they get to Rivendell she'd eat anything and everything put in front of her face.
"Let her rest while she can, once your feet are treated, we move on." said Thorin, who then turned to keep watching the passage ahead, stopping any argument that Dodge could've tried.
Really, Ollie needed at least three or four hours rest; a whole afternoon would be better. But Dodge simply sighed and nodded, she really couldn't be arsed right now; she just wanted to go home.
It had been a bit of a struggle to wake Ollie back up, and she looked thoroughly miserable when she was told they had to get moving again, but wobbled to her feet all the same.
"Jesus fucking christ and all the donkey nuts in Jeruselem!" she yelped when she stood on her feet, wiggling them back and forth in a vain, pointless effort to releave the stinging.
"Shit shit shit shit shit..." was Dodges personal mantra as she stood there, her own feet in similar agony; she'd never been as creative as Ollie when it came to swearing.
The dwarves, shaking their heads at their bad mouthing, just watched them as they held onto each other, before walking down the narrow, cold corridor once again.
They hadn't been walking long, and Ollie already missed the warmth of the fire. Her legs were almost numb with cold, and she was sure Dodge felt the same. They shivered, teeth chattering, whilst clinging to each other in hopes of relieving the pain in their feet and sharing body heat.
Of course, it didn't work.
The setting was particularly depressing, just endless walls of grey rock blending into grey sky, and the loud footfalls of thirteen dwarves in front and behind.
When the corridor become too narrow, they'd pause a few moments whilst Bombur was pushed and pulled, and when one wall fell away, the girls gasped at the sheer, sharp drop down the mountain side.
It had begun growing too dark to see when Thorin finally announced that they'd stop just ahead. He'd spotted another wider area much like the first, except this one was even larger, and only had the back wall of mountain rock.
Ollie swallowed hard; it'd be so easy to just roll over in your sleep and...
The dwarves bundled about in what appeared to be their usual manner, sitting in an almost circle, clumped together in the same grouping as the last time.
Dodge and Ollie found themselves pushed back into a small, rounded dent in the wall, which provided a little more protection from the cold breeze. They slumped to the floor, and leant on each other.
"Do my legs look like they're turning blue?" wondered Ollie aloud, "I think they're turning blue."
She was so busy turning her legs this way and that, studying them for any changes in shade, that it was only Dodge who noticed the way several of the dwarves had also turned to stare at her legs.
Thorin was one of the dwarves, and if looks could actually cause heat, then Ollie's legs would've been just fine. He sighed something under his breath before removing his thick over coat and laying it across the two girls legs.
The two looked up in shock, mouths open and eyebrows in their hairlines.
Movie Thorin didn't seem the sort to do this...
"Umm, thanks? But really, we'll be all right..."
"It was for our sakes as well as your own. Young ladies can't go around with their legs bare like that, it is unseemly." he growled, keeping his back to them as he marched back to his place in the group.
"He's right," sniffed Dori, elbowing Nori in the ribs when he noticed his brothers pout at the girls bare legs having been covered, "Scandalous, to go around like that."
"Hey!" cried Dodge, "Where we're from, this is perfectly acceptable clothing!"
"Yeah!" added Ollie, "We were dressed for a hot summer!"
The only response was a lot of grumbling and sniffing from the dwarves, who clearly didn't believe a word they said, and so the girls snuggled down beneath Thorins' coat, secretly glad for the warmth that had passed from Thorins' body into the material.
The fire was started and built up for warmth, Bombur looking right at home in front of the fire. Whilst everyone sat in silence. Dodge was slowly nodding off, big brown eyes growing droopy and heavy, and Ollie people watched in twitchy agitation.
Bombur passed out chunks of bread and cheese, Ori scratched away at some parchment, Bofur and Bifur muttered lowly in some strange language.
The wind whistled, some birds tweeted. It was almost silent, still, peaceful.
Ollie hated it.
Silences were there to be filled; with music, with chatter, even with just the occassional rustle of a turning page. But this silence was driving her mad, not least because it was an awkward silence.
She turned to Dodge, intending to speak, but found her mouth simply dropped open.
"What?" Dodge said cautiously, eyes dragging themselves open again.
"Please tell me my hair doesn't look as bad as yours!" It was true, Dodge's hair was a state. Despite being fine and straight, all the running and falling they'd been doing had warped it into a frizzy, tangled mess. And it was still damp.
"Hey!" she cried. "You're no picture you know!"
Grimacing, Ollie reached a hand up to tentatively pat at her hair. Being much thicker than her friends, her hair was also still damp. But much, much more tangled, she could just tell. She sighed.
"I'll brush yours if you brush mine?"
Dodge pursed her lips.
"Fine, but french braid it too."
They each dug through their packs again, pulling out their hair brushes and bands.
"You are not about to do your hair in public, are you?" screeched Dori.
"Yes..." said Ollie, "What's wrong with that?"
"It's...it's..."
"It's not really a done thing in dwarven culture, miss Ollie." said Gandalf, smiling.
"Oh." she nodded, "Well sorry, but we're not dwarves, and our hair is getting on our nerves, won't take long."
Dodge 'scootched' over to sit in-front of Ollie, and so began the gentle tug and pull of brush through hair.
At first all the dwarves watched, the younger ones with wide eyes, as Ollie pulled the brush through Dodges hair, revealing a rather pleasant river of soft blonde locks that ran down to the middle of her back. Her hair was sleek and shiny, reflecting the orange glow of the flames.
As she brushed, Ollie began to think.
OK, so we're in Middle Earth. No big deal. Totally fine. See? I'm just brushing my friends hair...IN MIDDLE EARTH! No. No shouting, I'm fine. Ok, Ollie, get a game plan.
1) Make it to Rivendell
No wait...
1) Acquire some form of foot wear
2) Make it to Rivendell
3) THEN have small mental break down...keep it small
4) Go home
Ok so...how long to Rivendell? Umm the in the movie's it was like BAM! THERE IT IS! But the book said it was like, what? Two weeks? I really hope not, as clearly it's not the BAM option...
Despite the inner turmoil, Ollie's face remained calm, almost serene as she glided the brush through her friends hair. Thorin fidgeted at the sight, to brush another's hair was a deeply personal act, and her she was doing it in public! In front of younger dwarves too. He'd already spied Ori watching from the corner of his eye as he half heartedly scribbled into his parchment, and his nephews were also watching. This was not acceptable.
"Didn't you mention you sang at that play? Sing the song for us."
Ollie's brushing paused and the deep rumble of Thorins voice, and Dodge twisted her neck around to look at her friend, and the two quickly began laughing.
"I don't really think "Consider yourself" is an appropriate song for tonight, maybe some other time." Dodge said.
"What would you like to sing?" asked Ori in a small voice, and Ollie sent the gingery dwarf a small smile, noting that his cheeks seemed to grow darker, though that may have been a trick of the fire light.
Dodge screwed up her face in thought, she honestly had no idea. After all, not many songs she knew would be...suitable for the dwarves. She couldn't even imagine their response to a Nicki Minaj song. Which, once she thought it, was all that she could think about.
Ollie however, knew exactly.
Threading her fingers through her friends long hair, she cleared her throat dramatically, drawing the eyes of every dwarf, as well as the sullen Bilbo and still Gandalf. She sent them all a quick wink as she put the brush to one side,
"Hey Dodge?" she said innocently, as her fingers combed through the blondes' hair, parting it ready for the braiding.
"Hm?"
"You remind me of the babe." Immediately the two girls started giggling and snorting at the haughty way Ollie had made her statement, and Dodge flapped her hand at the confused dwarves.
"Ok, ok." she also cleared her throat, the wiggled her eyebrows at their audience;
"What babe?"
"The babe with the power!"
"What power?" Dodge gasped.
"The power of Voodoo!"
"Who do?"
"You do!"
"Do what?"
"Remind me of the babe!"
Dodge began clicking, clapping and tapping out a beat for Ollie to sing to; happily allowing her the lead for one of their favourite Labyrinth songs.
"I saw my baby, crying hard as babe could cry...
What could I do?
My baby's love had gone,
And left my baby blue!
Nobody knew!"
"What kind of Magic spell to use." They chorused, looking at each other with wide eyes and feigned shock.
"Slime and snails?" sang Dodge.
"Or puppy dog's tails?" replied Ollie.
"Thunder or lightening? Then baby said..."
"Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)
Put that baby spell on me, ooh
Jump magic, jump (jump magic, jump)
Jump magic, jump (jump magic, jump)
Put that magic jump on me
Slap that baby, make him free!" They sang together. After a pause, Ollie began again;
"I saw my baby, trying hard as babe could try...
What could I do?
My baby's fun had gone,
And left my baby blue!
Nobody knew!"
The song came to a close as Ollie looped the hair band into place, and she couldn't help but feel a little pleased at her choice.
It had been stuck inside her head since Dodge told her about the drunken film fest. Dodge had always had a thing for The Goblin King, and Ollie could only hope she'd find herself one.
And, you know, if she could point Ollie to her prince charming at the same time, that'd be great.
"All done! My turn please, do what you will."
As Dodge began dragging the brush through her hair, she found her eyes locked with Thorins, who she hadn't realised was sitting quite so close.
His face was the most relaxed she'd seen so far.
"That was...interesting lass." said Nori.
"Oh aye," drawled Gloin, "Do ye have a lot o' songs like that lass?"
"There's all sorts where we're from, that was just in my head." hummed Ollie, head tipped back and eyes closed as Dodge worked her magic.
"So, um, miss Ollie," stuttered Ori, "What is it, exactly, you and miss Dodge do?"
Ollie let out a long, low sigh, completely relaxed, despite being surrounded by males, which often made her jerky.
"Well...I work with animals. I'm training to become a Vet one day, someone who takes care of animals when they're sick? Any way, at the moment I just look after animals, I spend four days a week at a farm, and Saturdays at a Zoo."
"A Zoo?" he asked, ever curious for new information.
"Yeah, it's a place they keep lots of exotic animals from far away places, so people can go and look at them, since travelling to those countries is really expensive." she muttered, enjoying the feel of Dodge pulling her fingers through her now smooth hair.
"And I'm a hair dresser." said Dodge with a smile.
Everyone barring Gandalf looked her way with interest.
"What's that?" asked Bilbo, and Ollie couldn't help but notice that this was the first time he'd spoken that she could think of...
Hm, I'll have to talk to him more at Rivendell when he's more relaxed.
"I get paid to do peoples hair. Wash it, cut it, style it, put it up for a special occasion, dye it..."
"Dye it?" squawked Fili, "The way fabrics are dyed? Who'd want to dye their hair?"
Knowing this probably wouldn't go down well, Ollie waved her hand.
"She's dyed my hair plenty of times."
Amidst all the chatter and general shock that comment caused, Dodge leant down and told Ollie her hair was done, snuggling back into place beneath Thorins coat.
Ollie put her hand to the back of her head. It had been pulled back to the nape of her neck in a loose, wide bun. Running her hand across it, she recognised the tell tale bumps that indicated it had been braided as well, which she knew would give it an elegant appearance. Dodge had also left two pieces of hair the width of her finger free on each side of Ollies' face, framing the rounded face in a flattering way.
It was after her inspection that she realised all the company were now looking at her with expectant faces.
"Huh?"
"We asked why you'd do that to your hair!" called Balin, sounding very put-out.
"Oh...Well the first time was just to help Dodge practice for her class. Stupid mare left the dye on too long and turned my hair green! Any way, after a few goes at trial and error, she finally got it to the right colour and I decided I like it. So...yeah, I keep having it done..." She blinked at the sea of very hairy men before her, "Why are you all looking at me like I just killed your puppy?"
No one seemed able to find their voice.
"So...What's your real hair colour?" after the silence, Ollie couldn't help but flinch when Thorin spoke, especially as he was so damned close to her. I mean, really? Does that guy always have to sound like you're on the other side of the room?
"Dark Brown..."
"And you dyed it black?"
"No..." she frowned, utterly confused.
Thorin only looked pointedly at her hair, and she had to admit, with the current lighting, and with it having been damp all day...it would've looked black to them.
"It's...purple?" had she meant for that to sound like a question?
"Purple." he muttered under his breath, staring hard at her hair as if it would magically become a different colour. Then he heaved a great sigh, and shifted, causing small rocks and debris to crunch and crumble beneath him as he stood.
"Enough for tonight, get some rest, we continue at dawn." this he said to everyone, before moving further down the path to take watch at the edge.
Before anyone was able to argue against his statement, the wind that had been whistling lightly around their ears suddenly heightened to a roar, whirling through the camp.
The girls huddled closer together as a particularly strong gust travelled down the stony corridor, sending shards of ice down to their very bones.
They couldn't help the chattering of their teeth, and any merriment they'd managed during the hair discussion was quickly lost as they gasped at the cold.
Ollie turned to see Thorin eyeing her, hair blowing wildly in the strong breeze, face set into hard lines. He looked as though he'd been hewn from the very stone they were surrounded by.
No, that's not quite true...his eyes are like sapphires. Prettier than mine anyway...mine are more grey than blue.
"Enough; sleep." he ordered, and turned away.
Ollie picked up his coat and flung it back over his shoulders, the snap of the leather getting his attention, as did the sudden weight and warmth of his coat settling upon his shoulders. He turned in shock, mouth open as if to protest, but quietly closed it when he saw the pair untying some rolled up fabric from their packs, which they each quickly clambered into.
They both sighed in relief as their body heat began filling up their soft, downy sleeping bags. Burying their faces into the fabric, they allowed the aches and pains of the day to fade as they finally allowed their taut muscles to relax, lulled to sleep by the soft hissing and popping of the fire.
Dodge's eyes felt as though bricks had been strapped to them, they were so heavy, and she felt her body becoming heavier and heavier as she began to fade deeper into the comfortable relaxation that occurred just before sleep.
Then the rustling started.
Unable to get comfortable, Ollie fidgeted back and forth in her own bag, grumbling under her breath. Dodge, through her sleepy haze, realised they shared the same predicament, and began to laugh softly under her breath. Seeing more than a few raised eyebrows, she mumbled;
"We may have shrunk, but our sleeping bags haven't!" and raised her feet to illustrate her point. Where they should have sat at the very end of the bag, they began rising about half way down, causing the end to flop down and flap about in the wind. As well as that, the bags were also slightly too wide, meaning they kept getting tangled up.
The dwarves snorted in amusement before turning away, and Ollie continued to grumble quietly to herself, before finally allowing sleep to pull her under.
So, has anyone been able to guess what's wrong with Ollie? Let me know in the reviews, and of course tell me what you all thought of chapter 2!
See you soon :D