Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not my own, yadda yadda yadda. I'm not making any money off of this. (Though I wish I could.)
A/N: I tried to put myself in my characters position, and to react how I would react. Please let me know how I did with the dwarf interactions, particularly at the end!
I woke up and groaned. My whole body was on fire. I rolled over and slowly opened my eyes to find Gandalf approaching me in the rapidly approaching dawn.
"Are you quite alright, my dear?" He asked once he was close enough.
"Fuckin' peachy," I grumbled. I sat up and there was not a single muscle in my body that did not protest the movement.
"Here," He said, holding a small parcel out to me. "Eat quickly. I am sure Thorin is intent on setting out soon."
I opened the cloth and found a small bunch of rolls, jerky, and cheese. I nodded my thanks to Gandalf.
"I am sure Thorin can be reasoned with, Talya. If I speak to him, I am sure I can convince him that it is pointless to continue at this pace."
"No, Gandalf. Don't bother. If he wants to play this game, then I will play, too. I won't be beaten down by a stubborn asshole."
He hesitated as I bit off a rather large chunk of bread. I pulled over one of the two canteens I had managed to fill the morning before and took a large swig of it.
"If you are sure…"
"I'm sure Gandalf. If you couldn't council him and he obviously can't be talked to, then I will have to show him that I wont shake off so easily. He wont respect me even a little if I show weakness or let anyone speak for me. We are still in relatively flat country. I'll catch up no matter how far behind I get."
"Alright, then." He answered softly. He turned and headed back to where Dreysill stood.
I glanced towards Grey-mane who was still half asleep himself.
"You dead, yet, Grey-mane?" I asked. He picked his head up and tossed it up and down. "Yeah, me too…"
I finished eating and stood, re-wrapping the little bit of food I had left. It felt good to have something other than fruit or veggies in my stomach.
I mounted up along with the rest of the company, and once again, I found myself falling further and further behind. I walked into camp, leading Grey-mane behind me, my thighs raw and sore, well after their evening meal was complete. Dwalin and Balin were standing watch as the others settled into sleep. Bilbo and Gandalf both leveled me with pitying gazes and I grit my teeth. As with the night before, I did not bother to set camp. I merely plopped down in the first likely looking spot and passed out cold.
Birds were chirping and something soft was nuzzling my face. I slowly woke and opened my eyes to find sunlight peering through the trees and Grey-mane's face inches from my own. I sat up quickly, startling the poor horse, as I looked around. The company had already set off for the day.
"Dammit!" I cursed loudly. "Fuck. This can't be happening." I smacked my hands into my face and growled angrily. "We can't give up, dammit."
I scrambled to stand up, ignoring my screaming muscles and the sudden angry tears that were streaking down my face, and quickly threw my pack over Grey-mane's back. A small, tightly wrapped parcel fell down as I did so and I hesitated, leaning over to pick it up. Inside was a similar fare to the day before with the ration doubled. Meats, cheese, and hard rolls. It was all stacked neatly and I smiled, touched suddenly. It had to have been Bilbo. I tucked the food into my pack and mounted.
"Come on, Grey-mane. We'll catch up or die trying." He let out a long, loud breath and we set off in the direction the dwarves had headed.
Something must have broken in us, Grey-mane and I, because that day we rode hard. A renewed determination, so to speak, was born within us. Just as the dwarves were breaking camp, we picked our way through the brush and, with heads held high, walked straight passed the would-be dwarven king. He stopped peeling the apple he had been holding and watched us pass, a startled look of shock written on his face.
As I passed, I heard a few raised voices.
"Dori, Gloin. Come on. Pay up." Balin, I think, yelled. I heard a snort, followed by the clink of coins and I turned my head to watch little bags soar through the air. Balin, Bofur, Nori, Kili, and Fili all caught their own flying bags. My heart lightened a little.
I dismounted and tugged off Grey-manes tack after pulling off my own gear. The horse immediately flopped down on the ground and began to roll. I sat down a moment on an old stump and began to wash my face with a baby wipe. I tugged my hair out of the bun and combed my fingers through it. After putting it back up, I started to reach into my bag when I heard movement behind me.
There stood Balin. His white hair framed his face, which was currently set into a wry smile. He chuckled merrily after a moment and motioned me over to him. I stood up and walked to him and was immediately patted heartily on the back. The resulting blows nearly knocked the wind out of me.
"Balin, at your service," He said with a slight bow. " I've got to hand it to you, lass. You are made of sterner stuff then what we thought." He began to lead me towards their camp.
"I think you deserve a bit of a hot meal," He said, then laughed "My purse, at least, is a bit heavier then it was, and for that I thank you."
I smiled slowly and nodded my head.
"Well, then, I'm glad your faith in me was not wasted," I answered after a moment.
"Hear, hear!" He replied. As we started closer to the camp, I began to make out the hustle and bustle of the group.
"… haven't ridden like that in a long while." Came a voice.
"Ai, Gloin! My balls feel like they are about… to… ahem…" The voice of Kili died off as their attention was drawn towards Balin and I. Kili blushed crimson and avoided my eyes once he realized what he had just said. Fili laughed heartily and clasped him on the back.
Balin shot Kili a stern look.
"Let me introduce you to our company.," He began to gesture to each dwarf, who then bowed their heads at me. "Dwalin, Gloin, Oin, Bombur, Bifur, Bofur, Dori, Ori, Nori, Fili, and Kili. Thorin, who of course you have met, is around here somewhere…"
"Come, sit, lass," Said Nori with a laugh.
"Aye, you've earned a bit of a hot meal after putting up with all that," Bofur said, raising a roll in mock salute to me.
"I think we all have," Muttered Bombur as he stirred a pot with a large ladle. He glanced up at me appraisingly.
"Aye, aye. We all deserve a bit of a rest and a bit of hot food. Though, bu the looks of you lass, you could use a bit more feed'in up then the rest of us," Nori said, nodding his head dramatically at Bombur. That earned him a thwack on the head with the ladle that Bombur welded and the rest laughed heartily.
Balin led me to an open spot next to him and Bilbo, with Fili and Kili next to Balin, and Gandalf next to Bilbo. Gandalf smiled warmly at me, not without pride.
I sat down on the log and looked around sheepishly. While Balin, Bofur, Nori, Kili, Fili, Bilbo, and Gandalf were all turned towards me with varying smiles on their faces, the rest were much more restrained. Except Bombur. I don't think much could tear his attention away from food. Thorin was nowhere to be seen.
"You ride well. Not that I have had much dealings with womenfolk such as yourself," Bofur said after a pause, "But you seem to be a different sort then most."
"Well," I started. It was a little unnerving that I was suddenly the center of attention, for the most part, when I had been all but ignored before. "I suppose that's cause I am different. You could say I'm not really from around here."
"Where are you from, lassie?" Balin asked, taking a hot bowl of soup that Bombur and Ori had begun to pass around. A bowl was thrust gently into my hands by Ori, who smiled shyly at me, before moving on to hand off another bowl to Bilbo. I hesitated and flicked my eyes to Gandalf, who regarded me calmly.
"It's a long way away. Further than any of you could imagine. A place called the 'States." I answered after a pause. I took a sip of soup. It was hot but tasted quite good, particularly after my diet the passed few days.
"Never heard of such a place," Dwalin said from across the fire.
"Neither have I," Gloin said through a mouthful of bread. He coughed hard and Dori pounded him on the back.
I shrugged in answer and sipped my soup. It was quite for a little while, the sound of slurping, chewing, and rustling cloth accompanying our meal. I looked around me and studied the dwarves, fascinated now that I was close to them.
Bofur let out a sudden and loud belch that broke the silence.
Ori elbowed him and muttered something about ladies being present. I narrowed my eyes a little and scrunched up my nose. I didn't want them treating me like some proper little lady who couldn't handle a little belching. I cleared my throat a little, inhaled a bit of air, and let out my own belch. It was nothing compared to Bofur's, but it was decent. Bilbo choked on a mouthful of soup next to me, and Gandalf coughed back what sounded like a laugh. There was dead silence for a beat.
"uh… Excuse me?" I said. Loud laughter broke out. Kili and Fili slapped their knees, Balin about spat out a mouthful of whatever it was he had been drinking, and even Dwalin, who seemed to be the most restrained of the group, let out a hearty bark of a laugh.
"Is this what you mean when you said not to call you my lady?" Fili asked, wiping away moisture from his eyes.
"Partially," I answered "I can belch like a man, swear like a sailor, and I've even been known to crack a dirty joke or two."
This brought on another round of laughter and suddenly everything was much more lively. Idle chat returned and their conversations were interrupted here and there with belches and one long, low fart that Bombur let rip when he bent over. Bifur was in the immediate vicinity when this happened, and he yelled something loudly, and brokenly, in dwarvish before waving his now empty bowl in front of his face. Bombur felt the bottom of his pants, and turned to glare at Bifur, answering him back in dwarvish and waving his ladle threateningly.
I about died there. While I did not understand a word that had just been said, I am pretty sure Bombur's panicked patting of his ass was the universal sign for 'did I really just shit myself?' I was laughing so hard I was nearly in tears, which made everyone else laugh that much harder.
I leaned back let out a long breath, chuckling still. I watched Kili stand up and, awkwardly, step over the log he had been sitting on. I watched him shift uncomfortably and snickered.
"How are your balls hold up, Master Kili?" I asked suddenly. He stopped dead and looked at me. We stared at each other for a long beat.
"Just fine. Did you want to check them yourself?" He shot back. I grinned.
"I don't think there'd be enough light to find them by.." His jaw dropped a bit and his brother fell over his log, practically crying in laughter. The dwarves howled now, good naturedly offering their services to help look for Kilis' apparently lost dignity.
The night wore on much like that. The dwarves ate, told stories and joked. Most of them made an effort to include me, which made me happy. I ate my fill and after awhile, sat back and simply watched the group interact.
"Well, my dear, it certainly seems that you have won over some of them, at least," Gandalf said to my left. I looked over at him and nodded slowly.
"Some dirty jokes and a few belches isn't going to be what wins me a place in this company, Gandalf. I highly doubt Thorin will be pleased to find me here."
He fell silent with that, the smile he had had on his face fading some. Bilbo, who had been helping a few of the dwarves clean up the bowls, came over to us and plopped down merrily.
"I haven't laughed that hard in ages. I think you stunned poor Kili," He said, looking between Gandalf and I.
"It is true. I do not believe in all the time that I have known the lad, that I have ever heard him rendered speechless." Gandalf allowed. I smiled despite the serious mood that had suddenly descended between us. The three of us shared a soft laugh, which soon died down when Thorin Oakenshield strode back into the midst of the company. Everyone fell silent.
"I will be taking first watch. I suggest the rest of you get some rest," He said, looking over us. His eyes fell on me. I met his level gaze with one of my own and, after a moment, excused myself. The mood now somber, everyone split up and began to set out their things for bed. I started to move away from the company when Thorin cleared his throat.
"Lady Conner… I would suggest you stay close. Wolves are about." He said simply, turning to walk the other way.
That night I found I could hardly sleep, despite the fact that I was sore beyond belief and tired. I had made a small victory tonight. I had carved a very small hand hold in the company and while I doubt I would be accepted with open arms any time soon, at least I hoped they were willing to allow me to travel *with* them now, since we were headed in the same direction. I had no doubts that they would leave me behind in a heart beat, should they be given the chance. While the soft snores and snorts of those around me were comforting, I could not sleep.
I sat up and gathered my cloak around my shoulders. The fire had died low and I looked around for Thorin, who I knew was still awake, and found him leaning against a tree, watching the forest around us. I stood up and picked my way over to him. While he did look in my direction, he made no motion to move, or to stop me. I plopped down on the ground next to him and we sat in silence for awhile.
"Why do you insist on following us, Miss Conner?" He asked turning his head ever so slightly to regard me.
"I told you. I am going where Gandalf goes," I answered. There was a few beats of silence.
"It is not safe for a woman to be riding out into the wild,"
"Is it not true that dwarves allow their females to fight?" I asked by way of answer. He narrowed his eyes and looked back out into the forest.
"Aye, when the time calls for it. What does that have to do with you?"
"I offered my help, Master Oakenshield. Please believe me when I say the time calls for it. I can't explain it to you, not fully, but I feel like you will need my help."
"Can you wield a sword? An axe? Can you defend yourself against orcs and goblins? Would you risk your life to save the life of one of my companions? Please, enlighten me, Miss Conner, how you could possibly be of help."
I swallowed and let out a sharp breath. "No. Truth is, I cant fight with a sword, and I cant fight with an axe. I can use a bow, though. I've been hunting with one since I was a child. I can tend the ponies. I can hunt. I can help stand watch, to make and break camp. And while you may not believe it, Master Oakenshield," I looked at him, "I would gladly lie down my life to save you or any other members of this company."
He turned to look at me fully and our eyes met. He looked so very weary in that moment that I felt sorry for his lot in life, and not for the first time.
"Why?"
"Duty," I answered truthfully. "Where I am from, I am a member of a team. Duty is everything. One life means very little in the grand scheme of things, and if I died saving you and yours, then it would be an honor."
We both looked back out into the forest.
"Go to sleep, Miss Conner. Tomorrow, we will let the ponies rest, and we will hunt," He said after awhile, his voice very soft. I took this as a dismissal. I stood up and started to walk away, then paused. I turned my head slightly to regard the weary dwarf before me.
"Talya," I said suddenly. He turned his head ever so slightly. "Call me Talya,"
After a beat, he nodded his head ever so slightly.