Disclaimer: J.R.R. Tolkien owns all, save for the characters not in his works.

"Dumbledore says people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right."

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince

CHAPTER THIRTY

T.A. 2941

Nuil rose from the log, glaring at Thorin as he stared at her. He didn't say anything as she watched him. Her arms folded and she spared a glance to the rest of the company minding themselves beyond the stone trolls. Then she opened her mouth.

"How dare you."

Those three words sent Thorin's nerves into a jumbled knot. She was angry with him, there was no denying it. She was furious beyond belief that he had let Nogoth take her, let alone 'stun' her as Nogoth so wonderfully phrased it. He kept his features schooled in a look of indifference, but couldn't help the jumping vein in his temple.

Thorin fully expected her anger.

Nuil huffed, looking at the tree line. It would be a beautiful morning, she knew, as the sun rose from the horizon. Returning her gaze to Thorin she felt the undeniable urge to throttle the dwarfs neck right then and there. She clenched her fists tightly.

"My words meant so little to you," she breathed, voice shaking from the rage boiling in her blood. "Is it that my promises and wishes are to be ignored? Am I to just do what you wish when it suddenly comes to you, on a whim? I thought that my- my actions were clear!"

"I understand your wishes, Nuilweyil," Thorin replied, his own temper spiking.

"Really?" she spat sarcastically.

"Of course!" he all but yelled. "But I value your safety far more."

Nuil scoffed. "Was it safe to send me, unconscious, into the wild? What if Nogoth had been attacked? He would have had to fight not only for himself, but me. Alone. Did you not even think of that?"

"No, I did not," he growled, feeling his temper getting the best of him. Why did she have to be so darn stubborn and- and- frustrating?! "But it does not mean that I meant any less than my intentions. I would see you safe."

She laughed, near mockingly. "Safe! Ha! And what were you doing? Decided to climb into a bunch of sacks for three trolls in a forest? What a brilliant idea! You could have died! Eaten!" With each word her hands raised into the air and she was breathing was growing heavier. She glared at him. He was so unconcerned about what had transpired. So apathetic that she felt sick.

"What about you?" he thundered. "Jumping in and waving a dagger, no less, at a troll. You could have died! You were almost eaten! Don't speak to me of things you are also guilty of!"

"So now I'm guilty?!"

"That's not what I was trying to say-!"

"Of course not! Because you are faultless, and the ever regal king who can do no wrong," her voice was so laced with sarcasm that it hurt. Every word a barb that dug in deeper and deeper. "While I'm the wrongdoer, always at fault. Always my fault!"

"Stop putting words into my mouth!" he shouted, furious. Thorin took several steps towards her.

"It's true, is it not?! I always speak my mind and you-" she waved her hands at him, pulling them apart suddenly "-blow up!"

"And you do not?!"

"At least I listen to you!"

Thorin sneered at her, hating himself. But she was so frustrating and stubborn, as he had thought before, that it ate at his nerves. She knew the right buttons to push, what made him tick. And she had to look so fierce some while she fought with him. Hazel eyes blazing, and skin flushed with anger. He wanted to kiss her, but he didn't.

"I thought you valued my loyalty," she finally said, regaining some composure, but still raising her voice. "And I trusted you."

Trusted.

Trusted?

What did she mean, 'trusted'? She didn't trust him anymore? White rage hit him, at himself, her and everything around him. He wanted to- to- to just smash something.

Nuil could see he was battling with himself. He was trying to control his anger, and here she was, screaming at him. But it felt good. So wonderful to finally let out the stress she was feeling and remind him of his actions. He couldn't just dictate to her how she could live her life. Decide her fate without facing the repercussions and her wrath.

He was trying to protect you, a small voice in her mind reminded her. She grit her jaw. He was always trying to protect her. But sending her away? It was too much. She hated parting with him, even when it was on her own terms. But to be forcibly taken, she shuddered to think that if it ever came to them being separated, without even the chance of seeing each other again.

Her shoulders slumped and she looked weakly at him, almost defeated. What was she supposed to do? Watch from afar as he reclaimed his homeland? Sit and wait to see if he made it out alive? She couldn't do that, wouldn't. To sit back and wait- it wasn't her. She couldn't bear the thought of not being here.

But just as quickly, her shoulders straightened, and she gave him a firm and hard gaze. Yes, she knew he wanted to keep her safe. But she was coming, Mahal willing.

Thorin watched this change in her. From sadness to the steely eyed woman before him, he knew he would have no hope of convincing her to stay behind. He shook his head. He knew she wouldn't stay, yet he had tried to get her to anyway. It was a fools hope. Thorin reached out towards her, hoping to at least make her see what he was trying to to do. Nuil recoiled from him, glaring as she stepped away.

"Don't think that I've forgiven you, Thorin," she snapped, crossing her arms. Nuil turned and walked away from him, making her way to the others. They parted as she passed. His company gaped at him, having heard most of what was spoken. Thorin clenched his jaw, curling his fists until they were balled so tightly it began to hurt.

He wanted to take the woman and shake some sense into her. It was cruel that Mahal gave him such a heart to love her. Nuil was complicated and challenged him when he just wanted to be followed and obeyed. But thats what made her so . . . refreshing. But by Mahal, he wanted nothing more than to make her see reason.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and Thorin was not surprised to see Balin beside him. The older dwarf was watching as Nuil fussed over the wizards burglar- their burglar. The hobbit didn't seem to mind and even wore a small smile on his face. Thorin's gaze darkened.

"She is still as spirited as I remember, laddie," Balin sighed. "Perhaps even more so now."

Thorin merely growled in response, finding that anything he wanted to say at the moment would be derogatory and cruel.

"You also deserved that," he went on, surprising Thorin. His gaze snapped to Balin's incredulously. He was siding with her? He felt a jolt of betrayal and his brows drew closer. "You may have meant well, but she's also a warrior of her own right. She is not helpless." Balin then laughed. "I would think that you could see her stubbornness-" "Believe me, I have." "-but she is quite like a dwarrowdam. Surely you know that."

Of course he knew that. Dis was her friend after all. He remembered the days when he would find the two brawling on the floor and the next when they were calmly reading in the royal libraries. He knew that despite the rarity of dwarrowdam, they were not to be protected like he had tried to protect Nuil. They were just as fierce warriors, and fighters. Headstrong. His mind drifted to Rana, remembering her own stubborn streak. With a pained sighed he nodded.

Balin patted his shoulder, knowing what Thorin was thinking of. "If protecting her is what worries you so, why not tell her, ask her to be careful. I'm sure that the others would be willing to watch her, when you cannot."

"Gloin and Oin will not like it," Thorin growled. "Even Dwalin has his reservations about a woman joining us. I am also of the same mind. It is dangerous. If she would to be hurt or . . . killed on this venture, I do not think I could bear it, and it would not sit well on the companies minds either."

Balin sighed. "You must trust her, Thorin. None of us can predict fate." Thorin hummed, neither agreeing or disagreeing with Balin.

Once she was away from Thorin, Nuil felt herself calm down. Her blood had been boiling as she let out her frustrations on Thorin. She felt justified with her actions, but couldn't help the swell of guilt when she thought over what she had said. She was just so angry that she had been helpless, and that he had just let Nogoth take her. He didn't even stop it, just watched it happen.

And that hurt, more than anything.

She approached Bilbo with an almost relieved smile. Bilbo straightened when he saw her, beaming as she knelt to the ground and held him by his shoulders. She looked him over, noting his coat was covered in a dried, but near opaque substance. Tree leaves and dirt covered him, sticking to his coat, face and hair. She 'tsked' under her breath.

"How are you, Bilbo? Are you hurt, anything broken?" she finally asked.

Bilbo quickly shook his head. "I'm fine! Just a little shaken, obviously. I can't say I enjoyed meeting trolls, and it was a nasty surprise. But not harm was done to me." He peered at her closely. "I'm more worried about you, Nuil. You took some blows, hitting the ground and being dropped from goodness knows how high."

"I admit, it did hurt," she laughed, picking leaves from his hair. "But nothing is broken, perhaps bruised. But all very little and easy to heal," she added when Bilbo looked at her with alarm.

"What happened to your brother?" the hobbit asked curiously.

"Oh," she smiled, "he's probably on his way home now. I managed to convince him that I was need here."

"Oh," Bilbo said quietly nodding. "He looks like you, you know."

"Really?" she hummed, still working on his hair.

He nodded. "Same hair, eyes, and even stubbornness. I thought Thorin was going to kill him before you showed up."

Nuil smirked. "Yes, my brothers can be a bit taxing. It's understandable that Thorin would want to run one of them through."

"You know, I've never met any of your brothers before," he mused. "Is it nice, having siblings?" Nuil looked at him, recognizing the tone in the hobbits voice. It was a longing that transferred to his eyes, one that she knew from spending so much time with him. The poor lad. He had a sister once, but she had died in infancy. Little Bilbo didn't understand it then, and it had been horrible to witness.

"It has its ups and downs," she replied softly. "The brothers always try to protect the little sister, and the brothers try to fight each other, I would say it's a bit like living with friends. Except if you get in fights with them, you can't just leave."

"What about you?"

She paused. "My brothers are far older than me, I was born when they were entering maturity," she gave him a thoughtful look. "I don't even know how old my eldest brother is, and I never knew my parents ages. We may reside in the same house, but we travel often. Why do you think wolves haven't been seen in the Shire for near a century?" She raised a brow at him.

Bilbo flushed and nodded.

Nuil smiled, finished with his hair even though it was still a mess of blond curls in need of a good washing. Her mind drifted to earlier that morning. Particularly the trolls disgust over what Bilbo had told them. "Parasites? What ever made you think of that, Bilbo?"

Bilbo's face turned scarlet with embarrassment. "It just popped into my head, Nuil," he said quickly. "I-I-I realized how awful it sounded right after I said it, please forgive me." His eyes were wide, and he truly did feel horrible. It was a spur of the moment decision. The thought of seeing her eaten by a troll had been too much.

Nuil touched his cheek with a smile. "You need only to have asked." Bilbo gave a sigh of relief. "My question is, what is on your coat." Her brow furrowed and she noticed Bilbo's face redden once more.

"Ah, you see, I was caught by the trolls while trying to rescue the ponies," he said quietly. "I went for one of their knives to cut the rope and was grabbed. The troll-" he seemed most reluctant to share this part "-blew his nose on me thinking I was his handkerchief." Nuil pressed her lips into a thin line, fighting the smile that wanted to show.

"You laugh, don't hide it," Bilbo grumbled.

"You must feel the need for a good washing then," she said with laughter in her voice.

"I felt the need several weeks ago," he mumbled looking uncomfortable in his dried snot covered coat. Nuil laughed, ruffling his hair. She glanced over her shoulder as Bilbo turned to help Dori rummage through a pile of odd looking tools. She caught Thorin's eye. Nuil did not smile, and neither did he. They held each others gazes, and Nuil found that she could not be angry with him.

Kili followed his brother closely, careful to not let him out of his sight. Leaves and small twigs snapped and cracked under his feet, and somewhere not far away he could hear Dwalin stomping through the trees. They were near the rock outcropping that shouldered one side of the small forest of trees, looking for any sign of a troll cave.

Who knew what wonders lay within the dark confines of a troll hoard?

"What do you think she's going to do?" he asked Fili after a time of complete silence to where his mind was beginning to come to thoughts that made it impossible to keep to himself. Who better to question than his own brother? Fili spared him a glance over his shoulder, before returning it to the trees and rocks.

"Aunnie?"

"Aye, she looked plenty right with fury before we left, I saw it when she looked to Uncle," Kili replied, stepping over a fallen tree.

"I'd imagine she was going to give him a piece of her mind," Fili said thoughtfully. He chuckled. "A sad thing to miss, considering how fiery she gets when angry."

Kili nodded. A slight pang disappointment filled him. His aunt certainly made life entertaining, not that he would ever admit that to her. She would give him a good thumping for sure. Mahal knew how much she put up with, his Uncle was neither an understanding dwarf nor a very lenient one. That and he and Fili enjoyed teasing her. She was far too forgiving.

"Do you- do you think that she'll forgive him?"

"Aunnie cares too much about Uncle to just cast him away," Fili replied shooting his brother an almost condescending look. "Besides, you've seen how they look at each other."

"Aye," Kili grumbled, slighted at the tone Fili had used.

"Come now, mimel nadad," Fili urged seeing his downcast features. "I meant nothing by you, now lighten up."

Kili rolled his eyes, punching Fili in the arm and moving ahead of him. Fili had other ideas and decided to stick his foot out catching Kili's boot and sending the younger dwarf sprawling to the ground and spitting out dead foliage.

"Fili!" he cried outraged.

Fili chuckled as his eyes sparked with amusement. Kili whipped his mouth with his sleeve and lunged for Fili, tackling him to the ground and rolling. They remained locked, unable to strike one another until suddenly there was no ground beneath Kili to roll on and they were falling. Fili's eyes widened with alarm and they were suddenly enveloped in darkness.

Fili was sitting on him, and quickly scrambled to his feet, a hand on the hilt of one of his two swords. The light from the early sun shone down through the large entrance, illuminating only a small portion of the cave they had rolled into. From what he could see there were piles of picked clean bones, and small broken crates.

Kili lifted himself up onto his elbows gazing about the darkened space. Their dwarven eyesight made it easy to see further into the dark, the glitter of what could only be described as gold catching their eyes. And then the smell hit them.

Fili doubled over, holding the back of his hand over his nose as they noticed the swarming flies. Kili picked himself up, grimacing.

"Well," he gasped. "I think we found it."

Fili nodded and they scrambled for the entrance. Once back into the bright sunlight and fresher air they called for Dwalin. The muscled dwarf came through the trees running, and stopped when he saw them.

"I thought one of you had been hurt," he growled, "with all that shouting."

"We found the cave," Fili said. "Someone should go tell Thorin."

Dwalin nodded, settling his gaze on Kili. The young dwarf blinked before understanding what Dwalin was looking at.

"Right!" He took off into the trees.

Nuil was gathering her pack together after patching up some of Bilbo's scrapes, very aware of Thorin's eyes on her. He was glaring, but she didn't care. Nuil knew she was being stubborn. But she wasn't about to apologize just yet. Let him glare all he wants, she thought. She rolled her shoulders trying to rid herself of the ache there. She was so tired and sleep seemed to be clinging to the edges of her subconscious.

Nuil looked over at Thorin, holding his gaze with a look of defiance. She watched his eyes blaze and jaw lock together. If he was hoping for her to forgive him, he would have to wait. She would not be so lenient, not this time. Apart from being stubborn she was also cranky. If she was truthful, her head still hurt a little bit from hitting Nogoth's.

His head really was hard.

Then she paused as she heard the crashing of something moving through the trees quickly. The leaves and dead twigs alerting everyone to what was coming. Another moment later a voice rose up.

"We found it!"

Kili burst through the bushes, panting.

Nuil rose to her feet, gripping Bilbo's shoulder to support herself, feeling slightly faint. The hobbit cast her a worried look, but had no time to ask her what was wrong. Thorin stared at his nephew with an unreadable look.

"We found the troll cave."

:) Well, to whoever saw the Desolation of Smaug, YAY! Best movie ever! And my first IMAX movie so, it was awesome. I won't talk about it because I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet. But MAN, do I have new inspiration! I can't wait to get writing again, I have a new fire! And can you believe it, THIRTY chapters? Phew!

Thank you to all who favorited/followed the story. And my reviewers: lynnelay, and Shannon. Thank you!

And if you don't mind, I'd love to know what your favorite parts of the Desolation of Smaug.

~filimeala