Familial Bonds
Camping (With Fili and Kili) Part 2SkyBlue: the part about Thorin's 'soul-eating' stare wasn't in the original handwritten copy. It kind of just ended up in there as I was transferring onto the computer and I looked at it and was like 'what the heck? Maybe someone will laugh.' So I'm glad it made you laugh haha. Thanks for your review; I'm glad you think my work is good.
celebrisilweth: Thanks for your review and yes, it most definitely is a disaster-to-be. Muhahaha!
Thanks also to Knowing Grace; your reviews never fail to make me smile to the point of tears.
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To say that Soren was excited would have been a huge understatement; she whirled around the house with more exuberance than Thorin had ever seen his daughter display – well, aside from that one time he had fallen down the stairs in the midst of a tickle fight, but that's a story for another time.
It took Soren less than ten minutes to prepare for the day and a half trip and when Thorin checked her bag to ensure she had all of the necessities he was surprised to find that he couldn't have packed it better – well, he could have done it neater and more orderly but then again he wasn't an overly excited eleven year old girl.
Needless to say she was prepared far before her cousins and bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet as they gathered weapons, food, clothes, tinderboxes, blankets a hatchet and all of the other things that one needs when going on an admittedly short camping trip.
Thorin stood in the middle of it all, watching his wards charge about the house preparing themselves. He couldn't deny that Fili and Kili certainly seemed to know what they were doing and were surprisingly organised. Although they snuck out on impromptu hunting trips often enough that they probably had prepared packs stashed beneath their beds.
So Thorin Oakenshield sat back in his favourite armchair in the living room and watched the three terrors race about in the hall and the rest of the house, a funny feeling curling in the bottom of his stomach.
When he realised that the feeling was actually emptiness, a sense of loss, he took it out and examined it more closely. For he wasn't truly losing anything… was he? He pondered on it for a long moment before it gradually made sense.
Soren was growing up. It couldn't be denied and it couldn't be avoided. Though mostly it happened so gradually that he didn't really notice, the physical side of the growing was evident for all to see. Soren was taller than Kili had been at her age, probably taller than Thorin had been, though there were none around to remember such a time clearly – for which he was privately grateful. But she wasn't the lanky type of tall that Kili still possessed, she was built sturdier like Fili. Like a warrior.
Thorin sighed and closed his eyes. He had no idea what to do with Soren as she got older. Who was she to be? She was a princess to be sure, but every dwarf had to learn a craft, even one such as needlepoint for a dwarrowdam.
His father had forced him to learn the way of the smith 'the truest of all dwarven crafts' but it had not been what he had wanted to do. He had wanted to apprentice to a jeweller; his finer fingers and sharp eyes had made him well suited to the skill. But fathers were fathers and Thorin had not contested the point. Looking back on it he was glad of the decision. How in Durin's name would he have supported his family and his people working as a jeweller who had no fine gems to work with?
Soren had not yet shown an aptitude for a craft. Most dwarrow had by her age. Balin oft said that she had a fine mind that would serve her well in any field, from politics to engineering and battle strategies. Her patience in that area was a result of a sturdy temperament. In contrast her patience was negligible at best whenever Dis attempted to school her in any one of the 'feminine' arts from aforementioned needlepoint to spinning and cooking. Thorin had a sneaking suspicion that the dwarfling didn't like to participate in anything that had been declared a 'female' activity.
Camping … was something she evidently enjoyed, though she had only been a handful of times before and those were all accompanied by Thorin and Dwalin. He wondered what the matrons of their society would say if they knew that their princess was more excited to disappear into the wilderness and sleep on the ground than to learn how to be a 'proper' lady.
But beside from the sense of emptiness and loss was an undeniable feeling of anxiety and dread. Part of him couldn't actually believe that he was allowing her to venture out into the wilds with naught but her cousins for guidance and protection. There were so many dangers out there that even they, with all their training and skill, had no idea how to face.
Sighing he called Soren over to him and she trotted up, curiosity shining in her strange, pale eyes. He knelt before her and her brow gradually furrowed in confusion. Her eyes widened as he pulled something long and slender from beneath the folds of his coat. Thorin pressed the wrapped parcel into her hands and Soren gazed up at him for a moment before gingerly unwrapping the oiled skin that protected it from outside elements.
"It been within our family for a long time, passed on to the heir of each generation." He said as he watched her hand fold over the hilt and draw the dark blade from its emblazoned sheath. It was easily as long as her forearm and Thorin had carefully dulled the edges of it as his daughter and nephews prepared for the trip. The tip was still razor sharp, just in case.
"But isn't it Fili's then?" Soren asked, looking towards her Da with eyes that were filled with unidentifiable emotion. It's a big deal when a young dwarrow receives their first blade.
"He gave it back when you were born." Thorin said shortly recalling the broad smile on the thirty-seven year olds face as he handed back the blade, gazing tenderly at the gurgling babe. The blade was one of the few relics still possessed by their people from the fall of Erebor and aside from Deathless it was one of the only weapons.
"Da –" Soren began, though she wasn't wholly sure of what to say. But she didn't have to say anything for Thorin swept up his daughter in a tight huge and buried his face in her thick waves of hair.
"Be safe, little fox." He murmured before drawing back. She looked at him for a long moment, solemnity written into her features, and then she smirked and darted forward to peck him on the cheek in a way that she never had before.
"Everything will be well, Da."
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Soren stood at the edge of the wooden bridge and shouted with exhilaration. The spray from the waterfall kissed her face and her hair was lank and damp. Fili and Kili laughed at her from the other side of the bridge where they were staying considerably drier.
"They call it Fool's Falls because more than one man has leapt into the water after gold!" Kili shouted at her, struggling to be heard over the roaring of the water. He then gestured over the edge and Soren stood on tiptoe to see over the railing. What she saw made her gasp in shock, but then her brow furrowed in confusion.
Glints of gold shone through the rushing water frequently but they seemed to be … moving?
"Fish!" Fili yelled with a smirk. "They were actually jumping in after fish!"
"Of course then the fools were washed over the waterfall and never seen a again." Kili told her as they stepped of the far end of the bridge.
"That's terrible!" Soren cried. "Didn't anyone go looking for them?"
"Oh aye, but there are many fast-flowing streams and small rivers that branch of the main one, so it's pretty much impossible to work out where they went," Kili grinned, though Fili was glaring exasperatedly at his brother since he knew exactly what he was getting at. Kili just couldn't resist sometimes… "By the time anyone did stumble over them they were dead; drowned or eaten by wolves. Sometimes both!"
"Kili!"Soren shouted, wishing she had something to throw at her dark-haired cousin.
"Why don't you do something useful for once in your life , brother, and find us something to eat for dinner." Fili said. Kili – mature dwarf that he is – stuck his tongue out and huffed at his brother before grinning again at Soren and striding off into the forest with his bow in hand.
"Ignore him," Fili told her as they watched him leave. "Come, our camp's just up here."
'The camp' was a thick copse of old pines that grew together tightly with a small clearing in the centre. In the centre of the clearing there was a rocky outcrop perhaps twice the height of Fili and it provided plenty of shelter and space beneath it.
Soren set to rolling out bedrolls and unpacking a few bits and pieces from the packs as Fili gathered sticks and kindling for a fire. The pine branches and needles emitted an aromatic scent as they caught alight, but little smoke. By the time Kili returned with two rabbits they were watching a pot of water boil.
"Exciting," Kili commented dryly as he put down the rabbits and effectively annihilated the companionable silence that had been present before he showed up again. He took out his knife and pulled the rabbits closer to him.
"Not here, Kili." Fili told him sternly. "We don't need to attract every wolf into the middle of our campsite."
Kili shrugged nonchalantly and stood with his rabbits slung over his shoulder. "I'll be near the river."
"I'll come to!" Soren said with a smile. "I can help you clean them."
"Since when do you know how to gut rabbits?" Fili asked incredulously. Soren just sniffed at him.
"Since Aunty Dis began forcing me to do something in the kitchen."
The brother's laughed, knowing just how spectacular Soren's cooking skills were.
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The river was loud, almost like a constant pounding on the ears. It was even worse now that they were at the bottom of the falls. The rabbits had been skilfully skinned, gutted and threaded onto a green stick that was perfect for a spit.
Soren crouched at the water's edge and cleaned her hands in the turbulent waters, watching in a kind of morbid awe as the rivulets of crimson blood trickled off her hands and diluted until the water was crystal clear again.
The dwarfling felt rather than heard Kili crouch down beside her as he washed his hands also. It was impossible to hear anything over the thunderous falls. Soren handed him back the small knife that he had lent her, now perfectly clean once again, and turned to shout something at him but something moved out of the corner of her eye.
Growing up in a household full of warriors – as well as mischievous trickster cousins- had given Soren a gift of speed and reaction time. She spun and half raised her hand, the club catching her half way across her neck and shoulders. The blow stunned her and she fell back, tripping over the large flat river stones and toppling into the water.
Soren heard Kili shout over the water filling her ears as well as the unmistakeable ring of iron against iron. The she was under water and her body's responses suddenly came back to her. She clawed against the water as she had been taught but there was no way to know which was up and which way was down.
The water was too strong, too fast and she could do nothing to prevent her head smashing against the rock that she didn't even see.
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Dis was enjoying her afternoon free of exuberant young ruffians and their boisterousness. She was taking the opportunity to sit down and read a good book in the living room. Across from her Thorin was sitting with hooded eyes as puffed on his pipe. Dis wondered if he was thinking about Soren and the boys, but knowing her brother his mind could be on any number of things concerning him at that moment.
But then the door slammed open, too hard and too fast. Dis leapt out of her chair as though burned, the book held as an impromptu weapon. Thorin had reacted faster, and now stood wielding one of the pokers from the fire. When she realised that it was her son's that came stumbling through the door, Kili leaning altogether too heavily on his big brother, the book slipped from Dis' numb fingers.
"Boys?" she whispered before she darted forward and pulled Kili off his brother and into a nearby chair. The archer was dazed, a heavy wound on his head that bled heartily as all head wounds will do. Again, Thorin's was working fast, and his mind was already two steps ahead of hers.
"Where's Soren!?" he demanded an Fili looked at him with a haunted expression and it took him a good while to answer as though he couldn't quite process the words. Dis looked up, terrified. She only just noticed that the youngest Durin wasn't with her cousins.
"Gone," was Fili's response and he sounded so hollow, so empty while he said it that Dis' heart dropped like a stone. "Orcs came. Kee and Soren … they were by the river."
"They knocked her over the head and she fell in the water," Kili's voice was so rough and hoarse that it was almost impossible to tell what he was saying. Dis gingerly pressed a wad of cloth from her skirt to the wound on his forehead. "I tried to get her but the water was too strong, too fast."
Thorin closed his eyes and his whole world seemed to come apart at the seams.
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A/N I know, I know, I said ONE more chapter, but who can resist a cliffhanger this good? Not me obviously. I'm a sucker for cliffhangers. They're my favourite part of writing a story hehe.
Which just means you're going to have to beg and scream and stamp your feet to get me to upload the resolution anytime soon, but that's mainly because I'll get in trouble if I spend much more time sitting in front of my computer. Also, I have school tomorrow. Apparently I'm obligated to show up. XD
Thank you to everyone who favourite, followed and reviewed.