Hello lovelies! The chapter is actually on time this week haha! Any way this chapter was supposed to be quite a bit longer but I hit some major writers block :/.

Anyway, more Thorin and Orana interaction in this chapter and their gonna have a bit of a 'moment' in the coming chapters if you get my meaning haha so for any of those who are dying for them to actually do something...you might have to wait a bit longer I'm afraid, both characters are stubborn and Orana is very messed up in the head to let someone get so close but it will happen, i promise :)

Many things happened in the next few months. Thorin's work at the forge kept him busy but it felt good to work metal again. There was something relaxing about it and it reminded Thorin of his home and family. While he wasn't happy that he was labouring for ungrateful men, he enjoyed working with Henrick and had struck up a strong bond with the man.

The winter months had rolled in early and Durin's day had come and gone. With Bree in the icy grips of winter Thorin would not see his family until spring.

Orana frequently braved the icy weather on extended hunting trips, sometimes disappearing for weeks at a time to return to the village with meat for the villages. The meat she brought in surely saved them all but very few had stopped to thank her. Thorin did not understand why she did it, he remembered her words in the inn from months ago but he still could not fathom why she felt like she owed these people anything. Dwarves were hardy folk, it was very rare for one of them to…what it was that Orana suffered. After wars Dwarves drunk and danced and mourned their dead and they persevered. Orana was…different in a way that Thorin could not relate to. Dwarves were a very headstrong race and he supposed that assuredness in his actions was a blessing when it to dealing with the 'what happens next'. Orana did not have this ability to 'bounce back'. She was perceptive in a way that few were and perhaps Thorin even less. She could see when she was wrong; she could see what was happening to herself, the slow decline to madness.

He could think of no greater burden than seeing and understanding the evils of the world and the flaws in ones' self. To carry the weight of every decision; of every action and see the nightmare that was once her life. And yet despite it all, despite dragging herself out of the nightmare; to still feel the chains that tied her to it and make her feel as if she had to grovel for a right to live in this world after everything. He could not fathom it, could not even begin to grasp the weight of it all. When he had lost Erebor he had had his family to lean on, when he lost his grandfather, brother and shortly afterwards his father, Thorin thought it had broken him. But he looked to Dis and knew he needed her now more than ever and he pulled himself out of the grips of despair.

The woman had no one but had managed to put herself back together again. But the shards were still brittle and could shutter at any moment. Thorin had seen it in her sometimes when they sat together on the steps of the forge, sharing a pipe between them. The embers of the pipe had eliminated the bags beneath her eyes, the gauntness of her cheeks. She caught him watching and had flashed him a smile. He had returned it and accepted the pipe passed to him, mollified by the fact that he could keep an eye on her.

"Dwarf"

Thorin's head snapped up from the forge and came to rest on Maugrim.

"I need this sword repaired. You'll have it done by the end of tomorrow" he sneered at the dwarf while Thorin glowered at the man

"I have other orders, yours will have to wait. It will be done by the end of the week"

"That is not acceptable"

Maugrim jumped at the loud bang Thorin's hammer caused as he tossed it aside and stalked towards the man.

"It will be done by the end of the week" he barked. Then plucked the sword from the man' stunned hands and set it on the bench behind him.

"Now get out of my forge"

Maugrim's face scrunched in indignation but he thankfully stalked away with nothing more to add. Thorin shook his head, braids clinking as he did. That man was nothing but trouble, one day it would wind up getting someone killed.

Thorin wandered to the back of the forge and picked up his latest completed order. It was from the mayor, a necklace he had given his wife when they were married. He wanted it repaired so he could give it to his daughter Elaine, Henricks wife for their first year anniversary. It had apparently caused quite the scandal when they had first announced their engagement, especially as Elaine was already promised to another and the fact that she was marrying a lowly blacksmith. Far from being angry her father had simply said he was happy that she married someone she loved.

Thorin still couldn't believe that someone as sweet as Elaine was related to Maurgim.

Tucking it into his pocket he departed for the mayors' house. The snow had been falling steadily for hours now and blanketed the streets in soft white, giving the normally dreary town a more ethereal look.

There were few people about in the cold and of those most were heading indoors due to the cold. They paid Thorin little mind as he trudged on. At last he reached the mayors house and knocked on the door and he was surprised to find that it was Elaine who opened the door.

"Thorin!" she smiled widely, ushering him in "Come in, come in. You'll catch your death out there"

"I assure you my lady, I will be quite fine" he chuckled "I need to see your father, is he available?"

Elaine rubbed her hands down the front of her dress nervously

"That is why I am here. This winter has not been kind to him and his health is getting worse"

"I am sorry to hear that"

"As am I"

Elaine suddenly shook herself and smiled at the dwarf again "Come, this way you have caught him on a good day. I am sure he will be glad to see you"

Thorin nodded and obediently followed behind the woman to one of the back rooms. When he rounded the corner he was surprised to find Orana sitting in the room already, occupying a chair that looked far too small for her. He had not even realised she was back from her latest hunting trip. They exchanged silent nods before both of their attention turned back to the man laying upright in the bed. The mayor looked frailer than Thorin had ever seen him before. His cheeks were sunken in as well as his eyes. His skin looked sickly pale and he shook when he moved. However as soon as his eyes feel upon Thorin his eyes lit up and he cracked a wide smile. Thorin found himself thinking that perhaps the man was not so far gone as everyone thought.

"Ah master dwarf" he wheezed and pulled himself up higher in the bed so he was sitting up straight "I would stand but…" he gestured at his current state.

"I have your order" Thorin said quietly but load enough that the man could hear. Another smile split across his face and he gestured for the necklace which Thorin handed over carefully. The mayor stared at the intricate silver and sapphire pendant with such reverence that Thorin felt as though he was intruding on something personal. He glanced over at Orana who was watching the interaction with a gentle smile on her face. She looked the very picture of happily relaxed, something he had never seen her be. She could his stare and smiled at him and it was only then that he realised that he too was smiling.

"You are excellent in your craft master dwarf" the mayor breathed, and the moment was over. Thorin quickly turned back to the Mayor and nodded his thanks "It looks exactly as it did twenty years ago" the mayor quickly turned to Orana "Would you mind fetching Elaine my dear"

"Not at all" Orana answered and stood from the chair, quietly leaving the room and Thorin and the Mayor alone.

"I hear that you will not be with us for much longer master dwarf" the mayor said suddenly

"Aye it's true, I continue on to the Blue Mountains in spring"

"A shame" the mayor sighed "But I cannot begrudge you for it. You've been away from your family a long time"

Thorin looked away to the floor "Aye" he said quietly. It had been a long time since he had seen them. There was very little chance of him being there with Dis for the birth of his second nephew but he kept the wooden lion he brought from the market with him at all times as a reminder. Sometimes he'd take it out just to look at it and remind himself that soon he'd see them again.

It was then that Orana returned with Elaine in tow. Thorin stepped back to allow Elaine passed and he and Orana stood to the side watching while the father presented his daughter with the necklace. Orana smiled fondly when Elaine began to cry happy tears and threw her arms around her father.

"Your heart is too soft woman" Thorin said gruffly but without malice or contempt. It was also quiet enough that only Orana could hear him

"And yours is to hard" she snorted

He rolled his eyes but smirked slightly "What are you even doing here?"

"I came to give some herbs I found on my hunt to Elaine, they should hopefully work wonders for her father"

She glanced down at Thorin and noticed his serious expression. He did not look away when he said

"You cannot save everyone"

Orana took a deep breath, slightly unnerved that he could read her so well. It made her want to bolt, to run as far away as she could and build a wall around her so high that not even the sun would be able to see her. It was dangerous for someone to know you so well; it gave them more ways to hurt you, even unintentionally. It also meant that when they eventually died, like they all did it would hurt her to, for losing someone she had let get so close.

Thorin watched the war of emotions flicker across her face until she finally whispered "I can try"

So what do you think? Leave a review and let me know. Also thank you to everyone who has followed an favourited this story, I'm glade you like it. Have a good day dear readers!

Team Toster