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**Speaking through the mind: Bold Italics.
Chapter 7:
"Gandalf! Óin!"
The eleven dwarfs, Gandalf and Bilbo immediately jumped to their feet when they heard Fíli's frantic yelling, and the dwarves instantly drew their weapons out, fearing the worst. However, there was no need for weapons as Fíli and Kíli arrived into the clearing where they set up camp.
They were all stumped at the scene in front of them until Fíli through the wood he collected for the fire on the ground by their feet, and Gandalf sprang into action with an agility they wouldn't have expected of an old man.
"What happened to her? Fíli, Kíli, tell me?" Gandalf demanded as he took the convulsing and bleeding human girl from Kíli's arms.
The dwarves all congregated around them and gaped at the sight of the human girl; her odd white attire was now smeared red from all the blood that was continuously being choked out from the girl's mouth, her eyes were dilating and bulging in pain and fear, and her lower face was coated in blood. The girl would not stay still either, her whole body wracked with violent convulsions and she was thrashing around.
"Back away you fools, she needs air! Óin, I will need your help, but everyone else will step away," Gandalf bellowed, and at once, the hobbit and the dwarves all stepped back, except for Óin and a stubborn Thorin.
"I am the leader of this company. I will not leave," growled Thorin authoritatively.
"Fine!" sighed Gandalf in aggravation, "But you will not interfere! Stubbornness of dwarves," he harshly mumbled to himself.
Gandalf began pointing his staff at Lux-Vita and started mumbling so that he could diagnose her, but he was coming up blank, and he knew this to be a magical ailment.
"Mithrandir. Lux-Vita is suffering from convulsive seizures due to a curse, one meant for torture; all you can do is calm her down, she cannot be treated in Middle Earth, only in her world can she be cured. However, her vocal cord is ruptured due to incessant screaming, which is the reason why she stutters her words, why she cannot eat properly and why she is currently bleeding from her mouth. Her leg has been injected with a peculiar poison; it has been treated, but her leg is quite numb from the after effects."
"Thank you my Lady Galadriel, I shall fix her to my utmost ability."
"Good luck, Mithrandir."
"I cannot find the source of the incessant bleeding, Gandalf! If she doesn't stop convulsing, she will end up biting her tongue off," said Óin gruffly.
"Her vocal cord has ruptured; I can fix it with magic to the best of my ability," said Gandalf. He pointed his staff and began mumbling repeatedly in the Elvish tongue. Five minutes later, the bleeding stopped, and Óin began wiping away blood from her face.
"What about the convulsing?" demanded Thorin. He couldn't keep his ice blue eyes from the human girl; he couldn't understand what ailed this simple fearful girl.
Gandalf sighed in irritation and defeat, "Nothing. She can only be treated for it in her world. It is magic beyond my comprehension."
"So what now?" growled Thorin angrily. "I told you that she would slow us down! You expect us to wait for her tremors to subside? Or do you deem it appropriate to journey along with an injured and pathetic human that is prone to sporadic convulsions?!" he sneered.
Gandalf was a jovial wizard that rarely felt rage unless relating to Sauron and the Witch of Angmar, but Thorin was pushing his patience. He understood that Erebor was only on his mind, and that he wouldn't risk regaining his homeland for a stranger, but he could do with some compassion.
The twelve dwarves and one hobbit stared wide-eyed from Gandalf to Thorin with bated breaths. The only movement or noise came from the convulsing human next to Óin.
Gandalf stood up straight and loomed over Thorin, fury the only identified expression on his wizened face. "Thorin Oakenshield! You watch your tongue, lest I deem it useless and cut it for you. Have you no compassion? Has your heart grown cold to all races besides your own since the loss of Erebor to Smaug? What has this human child done to you to receive your ire? This human girl that has done nothing to deserve such crudeness from you and a few members of your company?"
"She is going to slow us down, Tharkûn. Nothing matters to me! Nothing but regaining Erebor for my kin and my people," Thorin shot back, equally angry.
"Then you shall fail as King under the Mountain if you don't learn to show favor and compassion to all other races, Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thror. The only blessing I see is that your own nephews do not share that trait!" snapped Gandalf.
"You dare? You now nothing! You have not lived or suffered in exile and shame, belittled by the races of men, and elves," Thorin spat. "You dare judge me, when you deem not judge them and their despicable words and actions."
"Do you know what Lux-Vita has gone through? Are you not the least bit curious as to why she is suffering? Why she behaves in fear, distancing herself from you all? Do not speak of what you know not. Lux-Vita is not of this world, she does not deserve such misplaced ire," Gandalf scowled.
"Gandalf … what is wrong with her?" asked Fíli hesitantly.
"I asked her if she needed Óin to treat her leg because she was limping. I didn't know this would happen to her," said Kíli guiltily.
Gandalf smiled at them. Yes, Fíli and Kíli, sons of Dís would make excellent Kings in the future.
Gandalf didn't answer for a while as he sat down beside Lux-Vita and held her in a comforting yet tight grip in his arms; it was the only way to stop her current tremors until she made it back to her world and got herself treated.
Finally he looked up at all the quiet dwarves and Bilbo and said, "She is limping because she was injected with poison, unknown to our world. She has been treated for it and the poison has been eliminated, yet she suffers numbness as an after-effect until her leg is fully healed. She was bleeding because her vocal cord has ruptured due to incessant screaming … I do not know why," Thorin caught Gandalf's lie, but knew that the damn wizard wouldn't reveal the true answer unless he wanted to.
"And the convulsions?" asked Óin.
"That … that I cannot say. It is not my story to tell," said Gandalf, ending their line of questioning just as Lux-Vita stopped shivering, and she fell into a deep, healing sleep.
"What is that?" Bofur pointed at her right arm. Gandalf frowned, she had been favoring her right arm ever since landing in Middle Earth, yet he did not know why.
Slowly, Gandalf straightened out her arm, and everyone gasped at the huge, deep gash that took over half her inner arm.
"Did she – did she cut herself?" asked Kíli with wide eyes.
Gandalf shook his head, "It is none of our business. All of you leave the girl alone."
The dwarves grumbled at Gandalf's dismissal and they all began bustling with activity. Glóin and Nori started the fire, Bombur cooked dinner and the rest of the dwarves practiced with their weapons, while Thorin sat by the side with Balin and Dwalin, his eyes boring into the sleeping human in Gandalf's arms, pondering the wizard's words.
***Lux-Vita Laelynn Jamie Potter***
A day had gone by since Gandalf had healed Lux-Vita, and her throat felt much better than before; she could now swallow food properly without pain, and she no longer stuttered whenever she spoke. But still, Lux-Vita preferred her solitude and didn't speak with anyone but Gandalf.
They were approaching Bree, and it was nearing nightfall when the Company paused at the sight of a wrecked and broken down wagon in the middle of the road.
"We must clear it to the side of the road, otherwise the ponies could injure themselves," said Gandalf solemnly.
"What do you think happened, Gandalf?" asked Balin.
"It doesn't matter. We must move quickly, otherwise whatever danger lurks here could attack," said Thorin in urgent tones.
The dwarves descended from their ponies and got to work quickly, moving all wooden splinters and screws to the other side of the road, so that they could travel onwards with their ponies safely and without injury.
Lux-Vita however, felt an ominous air around them and she shivered slightly into herself. There was a calling to her right; a strong calling and Lux-Vita's instincts told her to follow it. Slowly, without Gandalf or any of the dwarves noticing, she slunk away and followed the curious beckoning – she felt almost like she was purposely being summoned.
Lux-Vita abruptly froze, her eyes widening at the scene in front of her.
Blank, dead eyes gazed directly back at her. Lux-Vita dropped down onto the ground and kneeled by the dead woman; her iris' had turned an abnormal grey, and were gazing at her in fear; her hair was a shocking white and her skin was ashen. She looked to have been scared to death; her features and the colors of her eyes and hair changing color due to fright.
All Lux-Vita could see where the dead golden eyes of Cedric staring back at her in his instant death, his gaping mouth and fearful face frozen and burning into her memory and her body wracked in sobs as she cried over the dead woman's body.
Gandalf heard familiar sobs and began looking around frantically for Lux-Vita. He began following the directions her sobs were coming from off the beaten path.
"Mr. Gandalf, where are you going?" Dori hollered from the other side where all the dwarves were congregated and had just finished clearing off the path.
Gandalf ignored Dori and trekked onwards. The dwarves looked confusedly at each other.
"Shall we follow him?" asked Ori quietly.
"I say we should, wouldn't want to stray too far from our wizard," Bofur shrugged.
"He's looking for Lux-Vita. Can't you hear her crying?" Bilbo looked exasperatedly at the thirteen dwarves.
Gandalf halted when he finally laid eyes on the child crying over the dead body of a female just when all the dwarves and hobbit finally joined him.
"Cedric! No, Cedric, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault," Lux-Vita sobbed over the body. "It's my fault, my fault, my fault. Forgive me."
"Who's Cedric?" Kíli whispered to Fíli, but everyone heard him and Gandalf gave him a scolding look.
Kneeling down next to the girl, Gandalf placed his arms around her soothingly, and he felt that her convulsions were beginning again, "Lux-Vita, Lux-Vita my child. This is not Cedric. This lady is named Dorina."
"You know this woman?" asked Balin in pity. In fact, all the dwarves stared at the dead female with wide eyes, and sympathetic faces … she looked to have suffered until death took her.
"Yes," sighed Gandalf soberly. "She works in Bree and does trade in the Shire every two weeks. It is a good thing Lux-Vita stumbled upon her. Her death seems to be one of dark sorcery and the white council must be informed of it."
"Let us leave this accursed place," said Thorin gravely, for once he had no crude words to share. The death of a lady, even from the race of men, wasn't to be wished upon from the dwarves.
Gandalf helped a still crying Lux-Vita onto her feet, "Yes, this place is dangerous. We must make haste and go afar."
They rode their ponies until they finally reached the gates of Bree, and made their way over to the Prancing Pony to reserve lodgings for the night.
"Hello Butterbur. We would like four separate rooms if you please," Gandalf smiled kindly at the owner of the place.
Butterbur looked warily at the group of dwarves and said, "We don't want any trouble Gandalf."
"Of course, of course," Gandalf bobbed his head.
The rooms were divided; Gandalf, Bilbo and Lux-Vita shared a room. The Ri brothers and Ur cousins shared the second room. The third room went to Óin, Glóin, Balin and Dwalin, while the fourth and last room was shared by Thorin, Fíli and Kíli.
"Uncle Thorin?" asked Kíli timidly; Thorin, Fíli and Kíli were currently in their room washing up before they went down for dinner, and Kíli had been itching to ask his uncle about the girl ever since Bag End.
"What is it Kíli?" Thorin looked up at his nephew, raising an eyebrow when he saw him nervously fumbling with a loose thread in his tunic.
"Why are you so rude to Lux-Vita … I mean, what did she ever do to you?"
Fíli glanced up curiously at his uncle, having wanted to know the answer to that as well.
Thorin sighed; his nephews were too innocent at times and trusted easily. It could be a good thing, but most times, especially since they were dwarves and many are prejudiced towards them, it could be a bad thing. It was easy for Thorin to forget that his nephews haven't seen the rest of Middle Earth while they had a safe childhood in Ered Luin.
"I don't know the girl to hate her, Kíli. I don't trust her. She has come from nowhere, claiming she hails from another world … a world of magic. Gandalf insists she journeys with us when she is frail and weak," Thorin stood up, "It is my duty to get us all to Erebor safely, and I cannot have some weak and frightened human girl slow us down."
"Gandalf believes she is important and must come with us. Don't you trust him?" asked Fíli.
"Gandalf … Gandalf means well. But he is a wizard, and they speak in riddles. I do not know his purpose for bringing the human along us, but I'm not comfortable with it," Thorin looked curiously between his nephews, "What I want to know is why you are so friendly with her? Why do you trust her? She could be a spy."
Fíli and Kíli shared nervous looks. Fíli sighed, he would tell his uncle the truth. "We feel a connection to her. We don't know what or why, but ever since our eyes locked onto hers, we just, we felt…" Fíli struggled to come up with the right word.
"Safe. A sense of kinship," Kíli spoke up.
"She is not your One, is she?" Thorin stared at his nephews in horror, fearing their answer.
Fíli and Kíli rapidly shook their heads.
"No, no, no. We have no romantic feelings at all toward her," answered Fíli fervently.
"Good," Thorin sighed in relief. "She is of the Race of Men. It would be preferable if your One is a dwarrowdam."
The thirteen dwarves, Gandalf, Lux-Vita and Bilbo sat down for a merry dinner ignoring the curious and distasteful looks they were attracting from everyone else. The dwarves were enjoying their ale and meat and spoke loudly, the table erupting into laughter.
Lux-Vita inwardly smiled, the dwarves eating habits reminded her of Ron.
"Tell me child, how are you feeling after the upsetting events of this day?" Gandalf inquired from his seat beside her.
Lux-Vita understood the purpose of Gandalf's question; he was asking her to confide in him.
"It was the eyes," Lux-Vita's voice came out in barely more than a whisper. Gandalf frowned, but didn't interrupt. "Cedric's eyes were wide, blank and dead; when he, when he died, there was no life in the eyes that always sparkled with emotion and love when looking at me. The girl, Dorina?" Gandalf nodded. "When I looked into her eyes, I got a flashback of C-Cedric and I felt like I was back where it, where it happened."
"I cannot promise that you will ever get over his death, my child, but I promise it will get better in time, the pain will have lessened," said Gandalf softly.
"It hurts, Gandalf. I miss him every second of the day … I-I feel so alone, and empty. My heart and soul calls out for him," said Lux-Vita tearfully.
Gandalf nodded, his grey eyes stared deeply into her emerald ones and said, "The ones that love us never really leave us. You can always find them," Gandalf placed a hand gently over her heart, "in here."
Lux-Vita sniffled, a wistful expression on her face, "My godfather told me that once."
"Hmm, did he now? Well he is a wise man then, don't you think," Gandalf winked at her, and Lux-Vita couldn't help but let out a slight giggle.
"Girl!" Thorin barked down at her, making her jump slightly. "Tomorrow morning before we leave, make sure you get actual garments."
"Don't worry Thorin," Gandalf glared at him, he had finally succeeded in bringing about a small smile on the girl's face. "Leave Lux-Vita's vital needs to me. As I have informed you many times before, she is under my responsibility."
"Lady Lux-Vita, who is Cedric?" Kíli leaned forward curiously.
Lux-Vita stared blankly at him, and Gandalf sighed in frustration, "Master Kíli, you must learn to curb your curiosity, lest you come out as offending."
"I see no problem with the question. Answer him girl," barked Thorin from the head of the table.
"Thorin!" Gandalf boomed, his eyes narrowed fiercely, "Watch the way you speak! You deserve no right to demand her of anything."
"Gandalf, it's alright," Lux-Vita placed a hand on the apoplectic wizard's arm, making him sit down next to her in a huff. Lux-Vita ignored Thorin, enraging him so; looking directly at Kíli, she said in a whisper, "He's my fiancé."
The dwarves looked taken aback; their eyes instantly drifted down to the ring on her finger and understood that it was an engagement ring after all.
"How old are you lassie?" asked Balin curiously.
"Fourteen," was all Lux-Vita simply said, however her words brought an uproar with all the dwarves, and even timid Bilbo Baggins gaped at her in shock.
"Gandalf, you have brought a child to travel amongst us!" Thorin growled.
"You're younger than my wee lad Gimli," Glóin gasped looking scandalized.
All the dwarves began muttering with themselves, and their eyes would continuously drift over to Lux-Vita and then Gandalf before shaking their head in disapproval.
Lux-Vita felt uncomfortable and went to leave.
"Where do you think you're going?" grumbled Dwalin, his eyes glued onto her, making sure she wouldn't escape.
"My room," whispered Lux-Vita staring down at the ground.
"Sit down! I don't trust you to go off on your own," growled Thorin.
Lux-Vita snapped her eyes over to Thorin; she was sick and tired of his blatantly rude attitude towards her. She may have changed after what Voldemort did to her and Cedric's death, but one thing that didn't change, was the Evans temper she had apparently inherited from her mother.
"Excuse me! But I'd rather sit by myself than sit around you lot!" she growled, making the whole table go silent, gaping at her in shock – they had never heard her raise her voice or show anger once since they have met her. "Why should I sit with a bunch of rude dwarves who wouldn't shut the bloody hell up about me and can't stop glaring at me the whole time? Well thanks, but no thanks!"
And with that she sent one last glare to a speechless Thorin Oakenshield, and stormed up to the room she shared with Gandalf and Bilbo.
Gandalf chuckled loudly, the girl had fire … her soul was still fading, but at least this gave him hope for her survival. Standing up, Gandalf smiled genuinely at Thorin and cheerfully said, "Well then, I believe you deserved that, it was after all, inevitable. Goodnight."
Bilbo cleared his throat uncomfortably and fidgeted slightly, "I'm just going to, uh, um … goodnight," and the little hobbit's feet pitter-pattered up the rickety stairway and into his room.
The dwarves were all silent, staring at one another with shock and some even in awe.
"I'm afraid to say it Thorin, but we all deserved it," Balin sighed sadly.
"Who knew the lass was a spitfire," Bofur chuckled heartily.
"I didn't know she had it in her, she was always so scared and timid," Dori looked scandalized, "And she cursed! It is not befitting of a Lady, especially a child!"
"Oh, do shut up Dori," snapped Nori, rolling his eyes.
***Lux-Vita Laelynn Jamie Potter***
The next morning, Gandalf woke Lux-Vita from her sleep early so they could purchase a few necessary garments since her gown was too revealing and tainted with her blood.
When they returned to have breakfast, the wizard and the witch walked in to see all thirteen dwarves and Bilbo just arrive. The dwarves avoided eye contact with Lux-Vita, ashamed of their actions last night, except for Thorin who adamantly glared at her.
Once they sat down for breakfast, they noticed that while the human girl still seemed withdrawn, pale and weak, she seemed more assertive.
"Lass, we want to apologize for our actions toward you last night. We were merely shocked at your age, you see children are very rare for us dwarves so we protect them fiercely," said Balin solemnly, his kind eyes gazing at haunted emerald green ones.
Lux-Vita nodded, a shy smile on her face, "I understand. Culture differences."
How Lux-Vita wished her world treated children like the dwarves did, then maybe she wouldn't have been in a war at fifteen months old, and nearly die every year since she turned eleven. Unfortunately, Lux-Vita's life wasn't an easy one, and though she felt safe with Gandalf and away from Voldemort, she knew that she had to get back to her world.
She missed her friends, Dumbledore and Sirius a lot, and she needed them more than ever. She didn't like showing weakness in front of strangers and all she wanted was to be cuddled and reassured by her godfather.
She decided that tonight she would ask Gandalf to send her home; she needed to pluck her courage back and be the Gryffindor she was born to be. She needed to destroy Voldemort and avenge Cedric's death.
A/N: So, Lux-Vita isn't like her old self yet, it would take time, but her anger is one thing that would never leave her … it's in her genes, Evans Temper and all.