Chapter 7
The next day we managed to cover over six miles, which was something that seemed to make all of the dwarves proud. I had turned human shortly before sunset and was walking along with Balin as we passed through a vast valley that only took us back into the forest. The rocky terrain didn't stop in the woods, since we were still near the mountains as we were trying to find the path that they needed. I had no idea where that was, so I just followed quietly. The landscape around us would change from rocky to smooth, and it annoyed me. Many times we had to climb over rock formations in our way. I was tired of it by the time the sun started setting.
"Can I ask, were you brilliant enough to ever bring horses on this journey?" I asked tartly.
"For your information we did," Fili said sourly. "They...ran away before we reached Rivendell..."
I laughed, trying to keep it quiet and I looked at the young prince. "Ran away?"
"I'm not ready to relive that stupid memory," Fili grunted as he hurried up along side me. "It involves trolls."
Smiling, I looked over at him. "Really?" I asked curiously.
"Yes," he sighed sadly when Kili joined us as well. "I don't want to talk about it."
Balin sighed with Fili and I looked at the ground with a smile as we found a place to stop for the night. Everyone dropped their packs and started getting ready for dinner. They seemed to have managed to save a few things, but I knew it wasn't going to be enough. Looking around us for a moment, I listened and heard water flowing. Water usually meant a river or a body of water large enough to hold fish. The thought of fish for dinner sounded good to me so I glanced at Thorin.
"Who wants fish tonight?" I asked in amusement as I walked toward the sound.
"Fish sounds...oh I miss it," Bilbo breathed in longingly. "The last time I was going to have fish was the night Dwalin ate it."
"And it was a mighty fine meal!" Dwalin grinned from where he stood next to Thorin.
I chuckled and looked around as the sun was going down and I spotted the small river not far from us. Glancing at Bofur who had joined my side when I mentioned fish, I pointed and he grinned. We walked through a few trees and came upon the edge of the trees to reveal the river that flowed through the small clearing. We were lucky to find it in this land. The mountains usually held few streams that held fish, but we were putting distance between the Misty Mountains and us. The land would soon be abundant with wildlife that we could hunt. The deer I had found the other day had been lucky really.
"Aye, sounds great," Bofur grinned nodding his head.
"Well then get something to hold the fish. I'll do the fishing," I said walking forward.
Going up to the water, I judged how deep it was and hummed slowly. It was too deep to be a land animal to do the fishing, so I had to be something else. I pondered for a moment on what I could turn into, so that this would be easier. Bofur came to my side as I stood there staring at the water and he arched his brow at my silence. Holding up my hand I silenced him before he could say anything until what I wanted popped into my head.
"How are you..." Bofur leaned over by me.
"Shush," I chuckled and transformed.
I took the form of a crocodile that had Bofur backing up slowly and looking at Thorin in alarm. The dwarf king just gave a slight smile at his companion's startled expression. Bofur was not all that familiar with my powers as Thorin or some of the others were. I had known Bofur for a long time, but he had never truly been around when I'd use my powers. He knew me well enough otherwise, but not the power that I commanded. Thorin couldn't help the smirk at Bofur as the dwarf slowly let it sink in.
"If I remember, she is quite the fisherman," he offered as I slipped into the water.
Taking a breath, I sank below the water and went to rest at the bottom. There were plenty of fish in the river, which made it very easy for me to do the hunting. It was also lots of fun for me. I'd wait for the fish to get close enough and then grab it by the tail and surface, to fling it to shore. Every time I surfaced, the dwarves scrambled to catch what I threw at them and the soft laughter started. I got enough for everyone, and knew that they'd be full after one. The fish were large enough to feed two people, so I didn't have to catch more than one for each person of the company. Grabbing one more, I surfaced again and crawled onto the rocky bank and dragged the fish with me. Kili hurried over to take it from me and for a moment, I didn't let go.
"Oh, that's just mean Arina!" he grunted as he tugged and so I opened my mouth.
He fell onto his back with a thud, clutching the fish to his chest that was trying to get free again. The laughter that moved through the dwarves had my chest rumbling. Kili looked at me with a glare, and since I was a crocodile I couldn't smile at him. Walking further on to the bank and into the grass, I waited for everyone to start heading back to the fire before I took human form. Letting out a sigh, I stayed sitting so that I could catch my breath.
"Are you all right lass?"
"Of course," I replied, getting to my feet when Balin came over. "I just needed to catch my breath."
The old dwarf looked at me gently and so I followed him back to the camp. I watched Bombur, and Bofur cook all the fish after they prepared them and I sat down as everyone ate. They didn't talk much, and instead listened to the sounds around them just in case. I kept my senses open in case any danger crept up on them and they weren't ready. When all I heard was the wind, I relaxed a little more and sighed softly.
"Bifur, you take first watch," Thorin said as he finished his dinner. "Wake me when you are done."
The dwarf nodded firmly to his leader and he found a spot to do what he was asked. I picked at the last of my fish and then threw the finished meal into the fire. Pressing my back against the ground, I groaned happily when it cracked in several places. It made me feel old that my back was even bothering me. Not that I looked old at all really, I still looked fairly young.
"Back hurt?" Bilbo asked from nearby clearly amused at the sound.
"Not anymore," I chuckled as Gandalf smoked his pipe next to the hobbit.
Someone sat down next to me and leaned against the tree that I was beside. Looking to see who it was, I glanced to see Thorin had been the one to sit. He laid his sword next to him, just within arms reach and he glanced at me. Looking away from him, I stared straight up at the trees as the wind blew overhead, and it ruffled my hair. I shivered slightly from it and put my hands behind my head.
"Thank you," Thorin said lowly a while later.
I went to roll onto my side when suddenly he laid on his back so that his head was right next to mine, the movement startling me. He stared up at the stars that were barely shining through the tree tops, so I stayed where I was. The way he had laid down so ungracefully made me smile. I took in his scent that filled my nose as the breeze shifted and I closed my eyes for a moment. It was still such a familiar scent, and I was happy that it still provided comfort. Opening my eyes again, I turned to look at him.
"For what?" I asked, referring to his earlier statement.
"Making sure everyone got something to eat," he rumbled in hushed tones.
"Of course. Couldn't let them go hungry now could I?" I asked softly.
"Suppose not," Thorin answered with a soft chuckle.
I turned my head slightly so I could look at him, and I felt my smile light up my face when I looked back up again. Clouds started moving in, taking out the stars and the forest went black, beside the soft glow of our small fire. "So, did you continue teaching Fili and Kili?" I asked.
"I did," he replied proudly. "After you gave them their gifts they were hell bent on learning everything they could about battle. It gave Dis some time alone when she needed it and it also gave me another job to complete. I enjoyed teaching them. Even though we had peace...it was...hard."
"I remember," I said softly. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
"No, don't be," he rumbled. "You also bring up plenty of good ones. The truth is after you disappeared our life in the Blue Mountains continued to get better. Balin says I've done well by our people. I've given them a life of peace, and plenty."
"That's all that they could ever ask for Thorin," I answered gently. "I remember the last time I saw everyone they were all smiles despite everything that had happened. Even you seemed to be doing better."
"For a time," he said quietly.
I knew he was referring to when I had left and I sighed quietly at that. "You didn't have to work for men anymore," I chuckled.
"I hate men," he grunted. "Their world is awful."
"Agreed," I replied instantly. "I had to live among them for a while. It was the worst choice ever, and I had given in and went into hiding elsewhere."
"How long?" he asked quietly.
"Almost ten years," I thought for a moment on the answer, I said. "I think. I can't remember. All I know was it was terrible. I'd have loved to go back to Rohan, but it was too dangerous. And the food...I don't even want to remember the food. I'd rather hunt as an animal and eat it that way."
"That's saying something," Thorin snorted a quiet laugh.
I smiled and pressed the side of my head against his in affection before moving back. "Glad you aren't mad at me anymore."
Thorin sighed and looked up again. "I want you safe," he pointed out. "You never were a fighter, not that I remember. I never wanted to put you in danger. This quest is not going to be easy."
"Much has changed," I said softly. "I had to learn to defend myself and kill. It's easy if I'm not human, but if I was ever caught as one, I had to insure that I could defend myself then as well. I'm not as helpless as you remember. I had to change."
"I'll do well to remember that," Thorin smiled slightly and this time, he pressed his temple against mine gently. "Bifur, change of plans. Get some sleep, I'll keep the first watch."
The other dwarf rumbled something to him and Thorin pushed himself to sit up as I rolled onto my side and stared at the fire for a moment. The breeze earned another shiver to shake my body and I sighed quietly. Propping my head upon my hand, I kept my gaze on the fire.
"Do you remember..." I paused and I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. "When we were looking through one of the caves in the Blue Mountains the first winter you got there?"
"Oh please don't remind me," Thorin replied and I glanced up to see the smile spread across his face. "You nearly got us killed."
I rolled onto my belly and propped up on my elbows. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad," I laughed, keeping my voice quiet. "You started speaking Khuzdul behind me!"
"You should have learned it when we were trying to secretly teach you. You were useless. About as useless as the day we found you and the boys stuck in a tree surrounded by boars. Dwalin was not happy," Thorin snorted in amusement. "I heard it breathing, and tried keeping everyone quiet and then you shouted and woke him up. I wasn't sure what was more infuriating, the bear or you."
Grinning, I looked at him again. "Yeah, your brilliant plan of me transforming into a bear to fight it off wasn't exactly fool proof. The beast was twice my size when I finally saw it. The boars were not my fault! And don't get on me about not wanting to learn Khuzdul. That language is infuriating."
Thorin laughed suddenly, a soft rumbling sound that came from the bottom of his stomach. His blue eyes lit up at the memory, and he tried keeping his voice quiet as we laughed. I sighed quietly and looked at the fire again.
"I dare say that was the last time I ever went in to a cave at all," I laughed pressing my forehead into my hands. "Or near pigs."
"It was the last time I ever took you near one in my presence," Thorin added making us both snort. "You always managed to find some type of trouble, not matter where we were. I don't even want to remember the horrors that we went through with you, Fili and Kili. But I do believe the worst of it was when you almost lit my father's beard on fire."
"He told me to work with the bellow, so I did. I wasn't aware that...it was going to react like that!" I replied defensively. "I didn't know he wasn't ready! The fact that I had no idea what I was doing is irrelevant."
Thorin crossed his arms and closed his eyes so that he wouldn't laugh, but it escaped and he snorted a little as his body shook with laughter. I glanced at the fire after I wiped the tears from my eyes. The fact that we were sharing memories and laughing together again showed me that the hard part was over. I had thought it would have been harder to win him over again, but years of friendship and what we had meant to each other seemed to have won. If he had not accepted my apology and the fact that I had needed to do what I had done then I had been prepared to follow them anyway. I didn't need his permission to aid them, and I wouldn't have listened to him anyway. Part of me knew Thorin knew that as well. It was also just too hard for him to stay mad at me anyway.
"I didn't think we were prepared for how much trouble you were going to be," he mused, his expression thoughtful.
"Nah, you loved it," I laughed. "It took away the troubles of a young prince and made you smile a lot. They were the best three years of your life in that mountain."
He hummed from his spot next to me and we both fell quiet when we heard some twigs snap so I listened quietly and inhaled a breath, testing the air. The sound of light footsteps eased the tension in the air when I recognized what it was that was walking through the forest. Nightfall sent many animals moving about even though most went to sleep.
"Deer," I said softly. "And a...fox. Nothing else."
"Good," he rumbled leaning back against the tree and setting his sword back down quietly.
I stayed up with him while he kept watch, and threw a few twigs into the fire to keep it going. Somewhere in the woods an owl sang in the darkness and I sighed softly as I listened to it. Thorin lifted his head as well, and for a moment, I saw the dwarf whom I had spent so much time with thirty years ago. His eyes brightened in the glow of the fire as we recalled memories together, and we shared many more laughs throughout the night. We were careful not to wake anyone else, at least not until he had to get up to wake Bifur several hours later. There was one memory that the both of us were avoiding however.
When the other dwarf was awake and he was sure we were taken care of, Thorin walked back over and lay down. I sighed softly, and threw a few more sticks into the fire so that it'd keep going through the night. I watched as Thorin moved his sword after he had settled down and then back over at the company.
"Get some sleep," Thorin muttered softly as he shifted to get comfortable on his side.
He crossed his arms, bringing his coat around him tightly and I arched my brow a little at him. Pushing myself to sit up, I stretched and transformed into a wolf before going over to lay against him. I pushed my nose to part his coat and then laid under it. Pressing against his belly and chest, I sighed softly and he moved his arms to readjust. I kept him warm that night, as the breeze moved through the woods. The only thing he had kept close was his sword, which he could grab easily if danger was around. Putting my head on my paws, I let him fall asleep before I did as well.
There we are. I want to say that I'm so thankful for the latest love on the story. The followers and the review. It really helps keep me going. I've invested so much in this and I just need to share it with everyone! Enjoy this latest chapter! It might be slow to start now, but fear not it will get better!