Men looked at the female in warrior clothes. She was beautiful, but they could see, that she was also dangerous. Her scars were visible and they understood, that she was experienced in battle.
But still they were conflicted. She had asked to come with them. They remembered how they saw her for the first time. They were saved by Gandalf from the trolls and were continuing their journey. Then they heard screaming. It sounded like a group of men fighting. Men turned to Gandalf and saw, that he was smiling. Thorin said:
"Gandalf, why are you smiling?" Gandalf just smiled at them and ran towards the sound. Men looked at Thorin, who sighed and ran after him. They all ran for a while and then came at a big clearing, where a small fire was going. But what make them stop was the fighting in the middle of the clearing.
There were 5 men attacking a warrior. They all could tell, that the warrior was skilled. They looked at Gandalf and he was now wearing a big smile while looking at the warrior. The 5 men attacking were laughing and the leader said:
"You still can't come back? Then I will make you." Gandalf growled and it startled the company, but the 5 men attacking did not hear it. Then Thorin and everyone else understood, that the warrior was a woman, because one of the men tore down her cape and long brown hair spilled down the warrior's back. She wore black pants, black shirt and ranger boots. The men attacked her all at once and Thorin's company went to help, but Gandalf said:
"Do not help her." They all looked at him in confusion and Kili said:
"But, Gandalf. They are attacking a woman." Gandalf just repeated what he said and looked at the warrior lady. When the company turned to look at her, they saw her easily beating the 5 men and now she held the leader at a sword point. She looked murderous and now Gandalf went towards her and shouted:
"Don't do it, Rafaella." The warrior lady didn't turn around and kicked the leader in the shin. Gandalf slowly walked forward, but did not go too close to her. Thorin's company went after Gandalf. They all stood and looked at her. She never looked away at them, but replied:
"Gandalf. Well met." Then she said: "Well met, Thorin Oakenshield." They all looked at her shocked, but she then said to the man:
"The next time we meet, I will kill you, Kerheb. Now you can go fuck yourself and go pleasure the pale orc." Every man in the clearing blushed at her language and Thorin froze at the mention of the pale orc , but Gandalf exclaimed: "Rafaella!" She smirked and kicked Kerheb again, then turned around and went to her fire. She extinguished her fire and took her pack. She said: "Come, Gandalf. We will go on for a while." Everyone started to walk after her. Gandalf strode next to Rafaella at the front. Thorin and Balin walked behind them and listened to Gandalf and the lady warrior.
"Rafaella, how can you still hold that grudge against Kerheb? And not to mention your language. I thought you left your old life behind you." Rafaella smirked at him and replied:
"Gandalf, you know me. I hold grudges way longer than you can imagine. And he came after me. I thought me castrating his brother would warn him, but it did not work." Everyone looked shocked and afraid of the lady now. But she continued:
"You also know, that I would never leave my old life behind. You sound like lord Elrond." They laughed together. Thorin wanted to say something, but Rafaella beat him to it: "I know you have questions, Thorin Oakenshield. But we will not speak of it here." He asked her:
"My lady, where are we going?" He wanted to know about the pale orc, but knew, that they needed to get somewhere else. She did not turn around , but said quietly:
"A small clearing not far from here." They kept up with her for a while, but could see that she was fast. When they came in a clearing in a few minutes, they all sat down and Oin started a fire. When they all sat down, they heard Gandalf gasp. They all looked at him , but he was looking at the lady Rafaella. They turned to her and gasped again. She had fell down and was now cursing in a very colorful language. Gandalf opened his mouth to say something ,but Rafaella beat him to it:
"Don't even think about it,Gandalf. I can say what I want to say and you will not correct me." Then she took a breath and said:
"Well, this hurts like a bitch." Then she took of her cloak and they saw her injury. Her left shoulder was bleeding and and what looked like claw marks were on her neck and back. Her shirt did not cover her back and they could see every injury she had there. Thorin could see, that she was not shy and did not care what they saw. He looked at Gandalf, who looked angry and went to heal her shoulder. They all heard him say:
"I can do nothing for your neck or back. You should have told me , that you were injured." Rafaella just smirked at him and said:
"And where would the fun in that be? I know the scars never fade." Gandalf hung his head and remained silent. Thorin and everyone else approached them and sat down next to Gandalf. Rafaella turned to him and said:
"You want to know about the pale orc." Thorin nodded his head, but said nothing. She took a long breath and said:
"After you took his hand of, he stuck a spear in it and is now walking around. I did not manage to kill him." They all looked shocked and Thorin was a little angry. He asked:
"How did you know this? And why would you try to kill him?" She looked in his eyes and he saw regret and deep pain in her eyes. She smiled sadly and replied:
"I was there that day. You never saw me, but I fought with you. And I tried to kill him , because he took my family from me." Thorin nodded. He understood her a bit better now. But he also had another question.
"Who was that man, Kerheb and what did he want you for?" He looked into her eyes and saw the steel and anger in them. She took another breath and said:
"He was my boyfriend for 10 years. We were to marry in another year. Then he cheated on me with my best friend and made her pregnant. They married and his brother thought, that he could have his chance at me. Let's just say, that he screamed like a girl. And now Kerheb wants me as his slave." There was silence after her story. They all were angry, but neither said anything. Rafaella shrugged and said:
"It is not something new. He thought, that since I was alone, I would not be able to protect myself. He should have never doubted me." Everyone else felt anger at Kerheb. How could he? Thorin was very angry and also jealous, when she told everyone, that they were to be engaged. But he did not know why and just dismissed it. Fili and Balin saw his anger and knew, that something was pulling him towards the female warrior. Kili was just angry, that someone could treat a woman like that.