Chapter 23

Having the wind knocked out of me before breakfast is not what I expected when I left my room a few minutes ago. I was walking to the dining hall when the hallway began shaking. I thought it was an earthquake but then Ori comes barreling down the hall like a football star. Not Desiring to take him head-on, I leapt to the side but he still clipped my arm, sending me stumbling off the path. Thank goodness the bushes caught me before they dumped me onto the ground where I now lay.

"Miss? Miss, are you alright?!"

"Ori, hello."

"Miss? A-Are you..." Taking in my position beneath the bushes as well as my no doubt strange outfit, the dwarf flounders for a polite response to knocking a person clear off their feet "Are you well?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" I begin to sit up and he rushes to aid me. My stitches tug at the skin they're embedded in but hold true. I think. I'd feel them get torn out, right? I pat my side and though it stings something fierce, I don't see blood when I take my hand away. Good. I don't want to have them replaced. Though I took a pretty good tumble I don't think I'm any worse for the wear "I did not mean-"

"I'm fine. It's not the first time someone has... I mean... You were running from that earthquake, right?" His face falls a bit but I don't think it's all my fault. Folding his arms stiffly, he joins me in standing beside the path "Are YOU alright?"

"It... It wasn't an earthquake. It was... Me." Wringing his hands, the dwarf proceeds to tell me his life story all the way into the present moment. It's... Interesting. The kid has a lot on his mind and not too many people to listen to him. Apparently he's strong as hell though "So I ran, like a coward, and... Well... You know the rest."

"... I definitely felt the rest."

"I-I'm sorry!"

Ori bows his head in shame and I bite my lip so I don't laugh at him. He's so pathetic; it's adorable. Like a puppy who is too small to eat out of its doggy dish. It will starve eventually but it's just so cute in the moment. I never knew Killer when he was that small but he was always afraid of the vacuum. No matter how big, dogs hate vacuums. Ori reminds me of my dog, at this instant at least. Both are afraid of something that can't hurt them.

"You're pretty strong for a weakling." His head snaps up, and his eyes meet mine before they drop down again. He says nothing as we stand there, so I dust myself off and begin to walk away "You can break stone with your bare fist but your spirit is as soft as pudding. It must be awful to be you."

"... It must be awful to be you as well..." The spicey words are whispered so low that I almost miss them. Looking back, the little-dwarfling-that-could looks just a tad bit peeved. Once again his eyes meet mine but this time there was a little something more in them... he almost looks more like Nori rather than his normal little self who is afraid of Big Brother Dori's shadow. At least, he looks like that until he returns to his senses and collapses into a fit of stuttering nonsense. "O-oh no. I-I-I didn't mean... Your ordeal m-m-must have been... I meant to-to-to... Um, You see, Miss... Farseer-"

"And just WHAT is that supposed to mean?"

The dwarf backs up at least a good three steps at my simmering anger. I can feel it dancing beneath my skin and I want to lash out at him but... I'm trying to be better. I reign in my temper at his nervousness, closing my eyes tightly. I need to be better, so no picking fights just to lash out "Sorry. You're right. It does suck being me."

"I-"

"But unlike you, I'm about to do something about it myself."

"You... You are?"

"I am."

"What?"

"Uh, W-Well." I guess it's my turn to stutter. Scratching the back of my head, I chew on the inside of my cheek. I'm going to be better so... "I'm going to march into the dining room and... And... And strike up a conversation... with... Fi- no. Kiiiii... Dwalin."

"You are?!"

"I am." I am?! I only intended to grab some food and make a break for it until I could come up with a step-by-step game plan for making this whole ordeal a sure-fire way to work in my favor. Now I'm rushing in there all gung-ho, Geronimo, Rambo impersonator like. This is so unlike me but if I'm going down... "Yes I am and you should too."

"I should? Can I r-r-really do that?"

"Oh yeah, totally."

"I... could..."

I hear the reluctance in his voice, but I think he can actually be persuaded. Tugging on my sweatshirt's hem, I press my hand into my side again. No blood; I think I'm good. I gesture towards the food court with my free hand.

"It will impress your brothers, don't you think?"

"..."

"Come on. Taking on such a daunting opponent? They'd be super impressed but not worried you know? It's safe because... He's... Safe. Right?"

"He is?"

"He's not going to kill us for trying to talk to him, right?

"He won't?"

"You're not really helping the situation."

"I'm not?"

"... Ori, be a dear and stop questioning everything I say."

He's jaw snaps with a click but he follows behind me like a lost puppy as I start walking again. I think Ori wants to be his own person... to step out of his brothers' shadows... but I don't think he knows exactly how to do that. So he searchers for guidance in a stronger personality. I am a strong personality. I don't care if you really ends up being his own man, but I do need to be better and he is good practice. With a partner in crime... This could work. Glancing over my shoulder I address the dwarf "So here's a plan."

DWALIN POV

The Breakfast table is deathly quiet. It was strange enough for the youngest Ri brother to take the empty seat on my left rather than with his brothers. Yet when the Farseer boldly requests for Bofur to relinquish his seat on my right, the table quiets to watch the strange occurrence.

"Ye want my seat, lassie? There are plenty of others."

"Yes, thank you, Bofur. I can see that." Folding her arms, the Farseer holds her ground "But those others aren't next to him."

"Him?" Leaning to peer around her, the toymaker confirms who she is referring to. "Him being Master Dwalin?"

"Yes."

"Why ever would ye want to sit by him?"

The table erupts with laughter, all rightly finding the notion comical. All except myself and the Farseer. What could she want, what could she gain, from sitting beside me in this moment? I doubt she has come to give me the answers I seek so she must have an agenda for her own benefit. She doesn't laugh, nor does she appear cowed by my glare. She merely waits for a response in her favor.

"Lassie. What could ye possibly wish to speak-"

"The weather. Politics. Thorin's big toe. It doesn't matter what we talk about." Uncrossing her arms, the girl places her hands on her hips. Her outfit, a collection of various cultured clothes, makes it difficult to take her seriously but serious she is "Are you going to move or not?"

"Alright, I'm going. I'm going."

"Alright... Thanks." Clearing her throat as Bofur departs the chair, the girl hesitates before placing herself with in it. She looks everywhere, even exchanging a strange glance with Ori, yet she refuses to look at me. Finishing my meal quickly, I'm just about to clear out when she coughs out a question "So... Um... H... How are you... Feeling?"

"... What is this all about?"

"Why does it have to be about something?" Squinting her green eyes at me, the Farseer throws her hands in the air with a grimace. Wrapping them around her middle, she frowns "Can't a girl sit next to a guy without it having to be about something? No one bats an eye at Ori but me? Ohhhhhh, it's a freaking Riot!"

"It is strange is what it is. You have proven your dislike of me time and again yet now you sit beside me as though we were Bosom Buddies." Leaning over to whisper in her ear, I remember her... Troubled past as she flinches away. It makes my belly clench to think of any woman being harmed as she has, but that is a discussion for another time " I know not what you are attempting to do but...You need not try so hard to do it."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh aye, you don't." she frowns even deeper into her cup before downing the water within it. She has not eaten again today but at least she is drinking something. That is something. Breathing out a sigh I finish my tankard as well "Yet you were injured on the way here-"

"-You got it worse than I did."

"-So do not strain yourself with needless conversation. We have time."

Looking at her dressed in an obvious need to remain in her own comfort, I commend her on the attempt to dirge ahead with the unknown. Though clearly affected by the ordeal, as any would be, she's trying to make the most of it now. Taking a woman against her will is punishable by death under Dwarven law, yet the same is not so for men. Had she not killed the bastard, it is likely that the scum who tortured and tormented her so, would have walked away with his life.

He did not simply take her body; he took her safety and peace of mind. That is something I do not know how to return to her for it has been taken from me as well... It is why we are all here, searching for the last place we knew we were safe, happy, and free. It is her rapist's work that I must undo for her but for that, I will need to know the extent of what he did. It will take time, I have no doubt of that.

"In time, we will speak, but not amongst others. It is no business of theirs. There is no need to rush." she does not lift her head, and I do not expect her to. It is breakfast, it is early, and we have all struggled for long enough to be weary of hope. Attempting to lighten the mood, I pat the youngest Ri's shoulder roughly "And do not drag young Ori into your Madness, Farseer Bloodstone. It is most Unbecoming."

"Hey! He came out here of his own free will, isn't that right?"

"Oh!" looking between myself and the girl, the young dwarf seems at a loss of what to do. The oracle inclines her head with wide eyes, as if imploring him to see things her way. Innocent child that he is, he does. "... Yes? I-I-I think so."

"Well, stop thinking! Kili shouts, rambunctiously tossing a hunk of bread at the other dwarf. "You aren't any good at it!"

"Oi!"

Nori leaps to his brother's defense and yanks Kili into a playful Chokehold. With a shake of my head, I refill and lift my Tankard with a wince. My shoulder aches from the arrow I took defending the girl but it dulls with the ale. If I remember, the Farseer had received a small wound herself but sought after an elvish healer rather than be treated by Oin. Eyeing her briefly, my face grows hot. Clearing my throat softly, I lean over to her again slightly, only close enough to be heard, while whispering into my cup.

"Farseer Bloodstone..." She leans away just as much as I lean in but this is important. "You... It would seem that..."

"Spit it out." She hisses impatiently, but I have never known much of what I need to tell her. Females are few and far between, but I believe I know what I am seeing. I doubt she would like it to be known to the entire table. Seeing my nervousness, she in turn lowers your voice and offers me her full attention "What is it?"

"I... ahem." pointing at her lap I bring her attention to the problem "I believe your red tide has come."

She blinks at me owlishly before dropping her gaze to the small amount of blood staining the front of her dress. Frowning at the spot, she reaches across the table to snatch up a napkin. Holding it to her lap, the girl scurries away to take care of the... Issue. Sighing loudly, I think Mahal that I was not born a dam.

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