Ch Two Awakening and the Obstacle Course

The Circus Master walked out into the ring to stand in the center after the current circus performer exited through the opposite end. While the previous circus members set up for the next performance, the Circus Master cleared his throat and addressed the audience.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the moment you all have been waiting for - our final performance! What can I say about her? May I introduce a very rare beauty who is half human and half Dwarf! Selena!"

Thorin and Dwalin exchanged a look as the crowd went wild while the woman walked out into the ring.

Selena clenched her jaw while she walked up to the Circus Master, but stopped at least an inch away from him. Selena caught sight of the dangerous look in the Circus Master's eyes when he looked at her. He reached out to pull her close and kept a hand on her shoulder - a way of silently telling her to behave.

"A very rare beauty indeed." The Circus Master faced the crowd and locked his eyes with Thorin's unhappy piercing blue ones when he spotted the Dwarf King sitting amongst the crowd. "It's also a great pleasure of mine, to welcome our special guest to our circus. The Dwarf King known as Thorin Oakenshield." The Circus Master gave a smile as the crowd let out many gasps of surprise.

"Dwarves are said to possess great agility and speed." The Circus Master continued, "Selena will now prove just how much speed and agility a Dwarf is said to have." The Circus Master turned to face the previous circus members while they finished setting up what looked like an obstacle course. The Circus Master concluded, "by completing a challenging obstacle course."

Dwalin gritted his teeth at the sight of the obstacle course. He watched Selena clench her jaw. She kept her eyes away from the crowd and didn't look at the Circus Master when he turned to her.

Selena bowed her head. She was trying to keep the humiliation hidden but the Circus Master forced her to look at him. "Be a good girl, and carry out your performance. If you are successful, I just might let you join all of us for dinner tonight. If not…"

Selena knew what the Circus Master's threat implied when he said if not. She felt her back throb as the result. Having no choice but to obey, Selena moved to position herself a good foot or two away from the springboard so she could get a good running start, while the Circus Master had gone to stand near the edge of the ring.

Selena assessed the obstacle course before her. A springboard, a narrow trampoline, a spring vault, a narrow beam, a high bar, then a low bar, another narrow trampoline, a high block and finally, a pool filled with tons of plastic balls she would land in after swinging herself from another high bar. The obstacle course shouldn't be too terrible, but that would also be a naive thought because timing is always the key factor. Selena loved the challenge provided in every past obstacle course she completed in the circus - always being the favorited circus performer besides the animals. During the past year, though, Selena began longing for a different life outside of the circus - having voiced her thoughts to the Circus Master one day after having experienced a small taste of freedom when she had explored the local market of Minas Tirith. A thought she was still paying for - and reminded of, when the Circus Master - a few minutes ago, reminded her of what would happen if her performance was not perfect in the obstacle course. Regardless of how she felt about being introduced to the crowd - to Thorin, who was surprisingly among the crowd, Selena didn't know if she could go without food another night. Sure, her body may look toned and healthy on the outside, but her stomach hurt on the inside from the lack of food.

Selena pulled her long hair back into a pony at the nape of her neck, then stretched her arms and legs and got her blood pumping by bouncing on the balls of her feet. "You can get through this," she muttered to herself. "And you will get through this."

Selena heard the buzzer go off! She was just about to take off in a sprint, but something stopped her - an urge to pause and scan the crowd. But why? Selena listened to the prompted urge and scanned the crowd. Her deep eyes first took in Thorin, but Thorin wasn't the Dwarf who caught her attention. Her eyes had locked with the eyes of the Dwarf sitting beside Thorin. Selena felt her heart skip a beat when their eyes locked.

Dwalin felt his stomach ignite with a spark when his eyes clashed with Selena's delicious brown eyes while he drank her in. His heart throbbed against his chest when he was able to see her fully.

Selena's mouth slightly parted when she drank in the sight of the Dwarf. Long brown hair around a bald head covered in tattoos. A big brown beard, very broad shoulders and chest and muscular arms. A stern look on his face. From what Selena could tell, the Dwarf was a warrior. Besides the stern look, the Dwarf was ruggedly handsome: thick brown eyebrows framed a pair of blue eyes, a long nose, a defined jawline, strands of grey in his hair and beard.

Dwalin stared in awe.

Selena stared back in awe.

Everything and everyone seemed to vanish around the two of them - and just for a moment, Selena allowed her mask to fall away so all of her buried emotions rose to the surface and twisted her face. It was her silent plea for help because she was stuck in a very bad nightmare that was never ending.

Dwalin watched in shock and horror as Selena's face was twisted according to the full extent of emotions rising to the surface. The Dwarf warrior felt his own heart ache at the sight of the hurting woman standing before him. He watched with horror as Selena's face twisted from another kind of pain: physical. Dwalin looked behind her and the entire circus came back into view when his eyes shifted just in time to see the Circus Master raise his arm, a whip in hand.

Selena was brought back to reality when she felt a sudden sharp white hot pain lance over her entire back. She watched the Dwarf's blue eyes shift to lock on someone behind her. Selena knew that someone was the Circus Master. Another wave of white hot pain surged over her back and Selena winced.

"Please, Mahal!" Selena begged through gritted teeth, "please let him be the one to rescue me from this cursed hell." She allowed a single tear to fall while locking eyes with Thorin and the Dwarf warrior sitting next to Thorin. She gave them a weak smile before turning to the obstacle course.

Dwalin watched Selena turn her attention to the obstacle course. He watched her mask push her emotions back and after assessing the obstacle course one more time, she took off in a run that fluidly turned into an backflip - back flipping a second time that ended her landing on the springboard; bending her knees and use all of the rushed momentum to send a lot of power to her feet, which gave her the ability to do a single, arced backflip up and over the narrow trampoline; twisting her body so the backflip would turn into a cartwheel.

Dwalin watched Selena's mid-air cartwheel end in a front flip; front flipping up onto the spring vault and, bending her knees again, used the momentum to jump up off the vault; flying up into the air and, using the last of her momentum, Selena did a mid air front somersault to make a one-footed landing on the narrow beam - expertly, but carefully, Selena fluidly cartwheeled her way across the narrow beam. Dwalin - out of instinct, latched his hand onto Thorin's arm when he thought Selena's foot would slip from underneath her when her first cartwheel fluidly turned into another that even seemed a bit too fast to Dwalin. But the Dwarf warrior let out a sigh of relief when he saw Selena fluidly go into a backflip; using her hands to stead herself for a second. Then she did another backflip that caused her to fly up into the air and catch the high bar.

"Sorry." Dwalin let go of Thorin's arm the same time he apologized to his best friend.

"It's fine," assured Thorin. "Are you okay?" he asked, a little bit worried because of Dwalin grabbing his arm and because he had also seen the Circus Master land two whiplashes against Selena's back, which, in turn, not only worried him - angered, even, but also worried Dwalin, who had grown angry as well.

"I'm fine," he assured Thorin with his own response. "Selena just gave me a good scare. I'm proud of her though." He smiled proudly. "She is tough."

Thorin hummed in agreement. "That she is." An amused smile crossed his face. "You and I would probably wind up hurting ourselves if we tried doing something like this obstacle course."

"Aye." Dwalin smiled. "We would end up in a heaping ball of pulled muscles, aching limbs, and probably some broken bones." Dwalin shifted his eyes from Thorin just in time to see Selena flip down from the high bar to catch the low bar and swing herself up to come to a stop in a handstand position on the bar - her hands laying flat against the metal.

After a few seconds, Selena tightened her grip around the bar and after closing her legs tightly together, let her body fall backwards - using the momentum to swing her body back up around the bar, and leaped from the bar to fluidly front flip through the air and land like a cat on top of the first block.

Dwalin - having eyes of a hawk, noticed crimson red liquid soaking through Selena's shirt on top of a wave of pain wash over her body; face cringing with pain.

"Thorin?"

"I saw her cringe in pain," confirmed the Dwarf King, having leaned forward to rest his elbows on his legs. His voice was laced with anger.

Dwalin was sitting on the edge of his seat now. Selena wasn't going to make it. She had overexerted herself. Her face was turning pale and her body swayed from dizziness and pain. At the rate Selena's face was paling, Dwalin could tell she was dizzy.

Dwalin stood up and both he and Thorin made their way to the front row - effortlessly jumping down into the ring.

Selena didn't know how much time had passed. She felt dizzy, her vision was blurring, she felt sick from not having any food for about a week now - except for what little scraps she was given on occasion. Sweat poured down her face and body. Another wave of pain coursed through her whole body. Her body suddenly shut down and blackness filled her vision. Selena's unconscious body fell down into two strong arms.