Pain lanced through her side making it difficult to breath. It took a minute to remember just why she felt so bad. After Fili had come running into the camp the entire group charged towards the location of said Trolls. There were three of them, large and smelly. The moment they threw Bilbo into Kili the others attacked. Percia would have preferred to make a better plan, but what could she do.
So she joined the fray, easily dodging in and out, striking the beasts with her sword. At one point she saw one of them corner Kili, having knocked the Dwarf into the ground. Thinking fast she summoned the hot water from the stew and sent it directly into the creature's face causing it to howl in pain, though it took more effort than she was used to. Sadly this left her open long enough for another troll to dodge the others and swing a club at her catching her in the ribs and throwing her into one of the trees. How she managed to stay conscious at that point she didn't know, but she made it back onto her feet with Dwalin's help. Thank the gods she had Tyson refurbish her armor, or the hit would have been worse.
Sadly their efforts were thwarted when the trolls grabbed Bilbo demanding they drop their weapons. Thorin was the first to do so with everyone else following suit. It might have worked out fine, had the trolls not decided she needed to be neutralized. One backhand later and it was lights out.
She was surprised they didn't just kill her. They probably had some elaborate torture in mind. Maybe she should inform them that after Tartarus there really wasn't much they could do to her.
Trying to shift to find a better position she realized her trouble breathing didn't just come from her bruised and possibly cracked ribs, but from the rope tying her arms to her sides. Another wiggle confirmed her legs were equally bound. Great.
Movement underneath her alerted her to another issue. Glancing back she saw Kili struggling in his own restraints, his a burlap sack. His deep brown eyes caught hers after a moment and time seemed to stand still. Why did her heart skip a beat? Sure he was handsome, but she'd been with them a week and never felt this way. He also appeared startled but a loud curse to their side broke the contact as they glanced over at Gloin wriggling around violently in his own sack.
Taking in the rest of the group she noted the others not tied to a spit turning over the fire were all restrained in sacks. Those unfortunate enough to be deemed ready for cooking were stripped to their under clothes complaining about the heat of the fire.
Well, this was a right fix. Nico would probably find it amusing the way the trolls argued over how to cook them. At times like these she missed her cousin.
"Wait!" Bilbo hopped up addressing the trolls. "You're making a terrible mistake!"
The next few minutes were surreal. Bilbo went from telling the trolls how to cook them to claiming the Company as being infected with worms. If the disgruntled yells from the Dwarves hadn't worsened her headache she would have found the whole thing hilarious. She'd have to remember to tell Nico and Thalia about this one.
Clearly Thorin understood the plan because one well placed kick later and the others are claiming to have huge parasites. Gods her ribs ached with the pressure of holding in her laughter.
Granted it didn't last long. There was always one semi-smart one in the group.
"You think I don't know what you're up to," one growled menacingly. "This little ferret is taking us for fools!"
Before it could get any worse Gandalf arrived, apparently one for theatrics the way he announced himself and broke the boulder to let the light in. While she could have done without being blinded the trolls turning to stone looked pretty cool. Reminded her of the time she used Medusa's head to turn the Hyrda to stone.
Having the ropes off helped a lot for her blood flow,but it also brought the pain in her ribs back to full attention. It took several careful breaths for her to manage to sit up properly without blacking out. Thankfully the others let her be, busy helping their fellow Dwarves off the fire spit.
Of course Dori, ever the proper one practically screeched at her to turn her eyes, as they were not fully clothed. She didn't have the heart to tell him she'd seen males in much less clothing. Instead she unsteadily gathered her feet and turned to head back to camp. She needed the bandages from her pack to wrap her ribs. If there was a pond or river nearby she would have used that to heal her injuries, but she knew she'd have to wait.
"Are you alright," Kili asked coming up to her on near silent feet.
If she hadn't been used to the Stolls doing the same thing she would have jumped a good ten feet. "I'm fine. Just some bruised ribs. Once I wrap them I'll be good."
"When you were hit the first time," he muttered in realization. "Let me get Oin to check you. Damaged ribs are nothing to play with."
Before she could argue he was off to get the healer. Shrugging she sat before her bag pealing her upper layers off until she only had her sports bra visible. Twisting just slightly she checked her side whistling at the deep purples and blues splashed across her tan skin. If she hadn't been wearing her armor it's likely the hit would have broken her ribs and possibly killed her.
"What are you doing?" Kili's startled tone caught her attention. When she looked at him she saw him staring with wide eyes and a deep flush over his cheeks.
"Checking my ribs," she stated as if the answer were obvious.
"But... but… why are you naked," he hissed. "Where anyone can see you!"
Percia frowned in confusion. She still had her pants and boots on as well as her sports bra, so she was hardly naked.
"Calm down lad, you can't treat ribs without actually looking at the skin," Oin chastised him with an eye roll. "You got any bandages to wrap them lass?"
"Yes sir." She pulled them out from her pack. "I don't think they're broken, but I haven't fully checked. They just feel bruised at most."
"Had enough broken ribs to tell?" The healer raised on brow, his eyes knowing. At least he dropped it when she didn't answer. "Arms up."
Kili was another story. "What do you mean, had enough to tell," he demanded as he loomed over the pair. His eyes watching the older Dwarf like a hawk.
"It's not a big deal Kili," Percia assured him, wincing slightly as Oin pushed on a tender spot. "I've gotten into a lot of scraps over the years, and you don't always come out uninjured."
He didn't seem pleased with that answer, but instead snapped a different order. "Just get them wrapped and get your clothes back on!"
Both healer and patient watched as the young Dwarf stomped away.
Sure she didn't have the body of most of the girls in Aphrodite's Cabin, but she was pretty decent with a lean frame and small curves. And while she didn't think she was exceptionally pretty, she had thought she was at least cute, with her small features, long dark hair and cat like eyes. She was even proud of her modest bust size, which she had feared for years would never grow. Was she really so ugly that not having clothes on disgusted the Dwarf.
"I did not realize my looks were so offensive," she sniffed petulantly.
Oin snorted humorously. "They're not, trust me lass. The lad's just not good at expressing himself properly."
The confused look she sent him was ignored as he finished the last of the bindings. "That'll hold for a time. How's your head? You got knocked pretty good there too."
"Not bad, a bit tender," she replied truthfully. "It doesn't feel like a concussion."
His shrewd eyes fixed on her own causing her to squirm. "Had plenty of those too?"
"It's sadly a hazard of the life I lead." She offered him a shrug and her best 'aw shucks' grin that used to work on Chiron. Even Mr. D fell for it.
Oin however didn't look fooled, but let it go all the same. "Rest up for now, we'll likely be moving on soon. And you'd best put your clothes back on before Kili comes roaring in here like mad bull."
Huffing at the command she did as asked managing to get everything in place just before the others came out of the woods. Kili glanced over quickly to assess her state before nodding in approval and moving to his own belongings. Suddenly she wished she had Chiron's staff so she could whack him upside the head. Triton so owed her for having to put up with this male chauvinistic society.
"Pack your gear, we leave in one hour," Thorin announced as he strolled into camp, looking very much like he hadn't spent the night fighting against trolls. He also had a new sword with him. Where did he get that?
"You should have seen it Percia. Trolls had a bit of gold and other pretties in their little cave," Bofur told her happily as he moved by her to grab his own things. "Managed to make a long term deposit we did."
Before she could ask Dwalin walked by, grumbling about idiots burying chest of gold. Long-term deposit indeed.