The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings belongs to JRR Tolkien and the movies belong to Peter Jackson. I'm just a devoted fan.

I know, I'm horrible for not updating for over a week. But, here's an emotionally charged chapter to make up for it. Be prepared to cry. Trust me, you will cry.

I appreciate all your reviews and comments. Seriously, special shout outs to Forestwater and griZzlyAngel for their awesome reviews! Thank you all so much for your love towards Relly, Bilbo and everyone. It's what keeps me writing this story :)

Thorn and Burr

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.
- C. S. Lewis

Even with all the wargs, Orcs, fiery breathing dragons and giant stone trolls, Relly found the world outside to be quite breath-taking indeed. As their little group ascended the trail into the Misty Mountains range, the beauty of the landscapes, waterfalls and plains was unlike anything in Hobbiton or most civilized places. The quiet, ethereal beauty of Rivendell had sublimely melted into a wild and unpredictable atmosphere, with the cold mountain air filling up Relly's lungs. As the group passed under a roaring powerful cataract, Relly felt some water droplets splash onto her face, licking her lips as a smile grew on her face. Even with the chillier weather, Relly loved the sensation of the spray of the waterfall. The feeling, for a few seconds, made Relly think her problems were so much smaller than what was truly going on in the world.

The Misty Mountains weren't named misty because of some slight foggy weather as Relly quickly learned. No, they were misty to the tenth degree of the very word as the quarterling schlepped her stuff with every heave of her shoulder, staying in line with her fellow dwarves. The advantage to her small build was her incredible amount of stamina, having been developed over two decades of being self-sufficient. Unfortunately, although larger and thicker in the soles than of the feet of Men, her feet were still quite sensitive to the cold rocky terrain and would feel her button-like toes get a little numb from walking.

Thorin had carefully instructed his group to stay close together and not break rank no matter what. If one dwarf hesitated or did not keep up, there would be some doomed consequences. They had to keep up the pace. He especially stressed this to Relly, who had a history of wandering off without telling a soul where she went to. Ever since leaving Rivendell, Thorin had kept his eye on Relly and Bilbo.

"Lass, mind tossing me a potato, would you?" Gloin asked the black haired thief, his stomach rumbling. Thorin rarely made stops except to set up for the night. However, to save time, they did not unload all of their belongings and did not set up as fancy of a campfire as usual. They also had to ration their food accordingly and when Balin checked the supplies, they were a little under than the amount Thorin wanted.

"Sure," she shrugged, decided to once again go against Thorin's rules as she threw the potato in the air and Gloin caught it with his bare hand and began to peel off the skin with his nails. She quickly looked over to see Thorin still at the front of the line, breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn't spotted her giving the red bearded dwarf an extra snack.

It was getting harder and harder to sleep though, as mountain terrain provided very few flat, non-bumpy areas to set out blankets and sleeping bags. If blowing hard enough, the cold breeze could go right through Relly's bones. Relly could only fall asleep for about an hour or two now, the pressure to get through the mountain pass weighing heavily on her mind, among other issues such as Gandalf. She missed Gandalf. The wizard who extended his hand to her, showed kindness towards her and made her laugh. He was the reason why she even came along on this journey. Relly never expected anything more to her life, constantly moving from town to town with hardly any money and little food in her belly. It felt like forever and a half ago since she bumped into the grey wizard at Rivertown and look where she was now: hundreds of miles up from the ground.

Over time, she noticed the dwarves accepting Bilbo into their little talks and helping the bachelor with setting up base and carrying things. Bofur and Ori had always taken a liking to him but even the older dwarves like Oin and Balin often invited the no-fun Hobbit to sit down and make chit-chat. For an odd reason, she could not help but flare up in bouts of jealousy. It was ridiculous, she knew, but she did not like to share things, including her awesome dwarf friends. Bilbo was a wet pile of hay, one of the least fun to be around. She pursed her lips in annoyance as she continued journeying on, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see Ori talking to Bilbo.

They settled on a rocky pass about a couple miles from where the Misty Mountains loomed over them like a storm cloud. Fili pulled his favorite thief aside, wanting to continue teaching their pupil on how to fight.

"No no, Miss Relly! A jab, then a swish and keep your hand steady!" Fili instructed her, the handsome dwarf's words reaching her ears as Relly kept her stance. As she learned from Fili and Kili, a rapier was not as brash as a sword and thus, could not be held as such. Relly kept an arm behind her back, really getting into the role of a graceful fencing lady. She was quick, light and constantly on her feet; her tutors had been using these skills to her advantage.

Kili laughed and clapped his hands, the dark haired swordsman taking Fili's shift as he approached his pupil with a friendly but determined look. "You flit about like a faerie, Miss Relly!"

She felt herself grin as she resumed her stance, prepared to thrust Toothpick into Kili's armor. The nephews of Thorin had been so nice to her, helping her with fighting. Honestly though, not all the dwarves were fearsome warriors like Dwalin. Bofur had been a toymaker, Ori a scribe, Nori a two-bit thief with his knees in murky business. So many of them had lived in exile for so long that the idea of returning to their true home was like a fountain out of reach from their thirsty tongues. Relly knew the ache of exile, except theirs was not self-imposed. She chose to leave her home. Her friends never had that choice.

"I am no faerie but a thief!" she jested back. What she had learned about the art of wielding Vancarmiel, or Toothpick as she affectionately named her weapon, was amazing. Unlike the slice and cut techniques of a sword, her rapier was best for blocking and dodging attempted strikes. A thrust to the abdomen was almost always fatal, and Relly's desire to fight alongside her friends only swelled with every bit of information she picked up from her tutors.

Ten minutes into fighting, Thorin paced by the scene of Kili and Relly fencing with a strained expression of intrigue and judgment. No doubt her late night sessions with his nephews attracted his attention. He stood tall, imposing his shadow as Relly was temporarily distracted and Kili broke her block, scoring a point on his side. Thorin shifted his gaze between his nephew and the quarterling, his face unreadable.

"Miss Relly, you must pay attention. I nearly cut you!" he tried to warn her but the eagerness in his voice caught her off guard. Breaking off the glance from Thorin, Relly furrowed her brows as she got back into the zone, the orange light of the campfire crawling up her pants leg as she resumed practice with the weapon-friendly dwarf.

Shing! Shing! Shing! The sounds of the rapier and sword clanging together were like a musical performance, the notes reaching the ears of Thorin and the rest of the company as more and more dwarfs surrounded the small invisible arena that Kili and Relly formed.

"Go Relly!" Ori cheered, his older brother Nori chiming in. Bofur was taking bets on who would win. Bombur was grinning widely through that thick beard of his and Oin kept his ear trumpet up so he could understand what everyone was saying.

Relly stayed focused. She had to. All she wanted was Thorin to be impressed with her, to get him off her back about her lack of moral and interpersonal responsibilities. To see her as the competent thief and wholesome member of the party. In fact, the only other person of the party who was just as disbelieved in was, you guessed it, Bilbo Baggins. Relly reluctantly admitted she had that in common with the male Hobbit. Bilbo was the last to show up to the impromptu screening of Relly and Fili's round of fighting, interested in to see why everyone was circled around the sparring duo. For a brief second, Relly felt glad he showed up. If anything, it told her Bilbo wanted to be part of the company.

Clang! Shing! Umf!

Toothpick's tip pressed against Kili's stomach, the male dwarf with hardly any stubble on his face lowering his chin and staring right down at the point of impact. He then brought his head back up, his dark brows raised up with a surprised but pleased look.

"Excellent!" Fili shouted. "You nearly skewered my brother but you have greatly improved!" A couple of the dwarves laughed at Fili's statement.

Relly felt a small, unwanted blush creep on her cheeks. The recognition felt wonderful. She sheathed Toothpick as she placed her hands on her hips in a haughty stance, bangs falling in front of her face as her hazel eyes peered to see everyone's reactions. Finally, her eyes landed on Thorin's and she was hoping for some sign of acceptance or something.

Thorin Oakenshield opened his mouth, a thoughtful but still serious expression glued to his chiseled face. "It is late. We need to rest up, prepare ourselves upon entry to the Misty Mountains. The path ahead of us is perilous and we need to conserve our strength and energy." The leader of their company then turned his back and walked away from everyone. A hushed silence washed over the dwarves, Bilbo and Relly. The fun and games had ended and if their run-in with the wargs hadn't been an earlier indication, this quest was taking a turn in the dark.

Relly's face fell; her expression had not gone unnoticed by Bilbo. The tired bags under her eyes darkened as heat began to rise from her head. Kili blinked, stunned by her sudden change in demeanor as she gripped the hilt of her rapier and stormed off after Thorin Oakenshield. Bifur reached out his hand to try and yank her back, to stop her from confronting the dwarf lord but Relly was furious and no man, not even dwarf, could hold Relly Crillynook back from what she was about to say.

"I have been training for weeks now and you don't even care!" she spat at his back. Thorin did not turn around to face the bitter thief, his coarse dark hair shrouding himself from her like a veil. "What do you want me to do? Everyone here accepts me! Well except Bilbo but he's a wet rag..." she trailed off but quickly resumed her rant, not wanting any of her words to go unsaid. "You keep telling me you don't trust me, saying 'you have reservations' or whatever, but what can I do to get you to like me?"

Something indescribable broke inside her. Bitter water began to well up behind her eyes, her crooked teeth stapled together as she released her hand that had been holding the hilt of her rapier and formed a fist with it. She was seeing red straight at Thorin, who finally turned around to face the fuming female. He seemed to have no visible reaction as his stone-colored eyes shot down at Relly, watching her, observing her. For a split second, he flashed some emotion but it vanished as soon as it wandered out of Relly's blurry eyesight.

"Why d-do you n-not like me?" she was getting angrier and angrier, letting her emotions wrangle her into shaking submission, her chin wrinkling as she raised her head up to see the source of constant put-downs. "I-I'm a f-freak, I know th-that. B-but I j-just thought t-that if I proved m-myself, m-maybe you'd r-respect me. I j-just wanted y-you...to c-care."

Her cries resounded in the empty mountain air, her friends tiptoeing over to where Thorin and Relly were standing. Some stayed far back, not wanting to intervene in such an intense moment. Murmurs of 'freak? what freak' were passed around in a circle. Relly's voice was cracking, her mental barrier was cracking. No. NO. No, I am stronger than this, I cannot break down, a small echo piped up in the crevices of her mind. The words inside her mind were forever hushed as Relly's head began to bob a little.

"I-I'm d-done!" she yelled at him, eyes tightly shut in order to force out her scream. "I-I a-am tired of s-seeking ap-p-proval f-from someone w-who d-doesn't w-want me a-around!"

"Relly—,"

"NO!" The shriek she emitted was the most agonizing sound Thorin had heard in a long time. Her scream was so loud it reverberated against the boulders, bouncing back and forth like ripples in a small pond. Thorin's eyebrows dropped, absorbing in the mien of the upset woman before him. He could almost hear her heart violently smashing against her rib cage, aching to burst. The crinkles in Thorin's face softened but it was too late for him to show any apologies towards his little thief. Hot tears were streaming down her dirty face as Relly's arms were shaking, fists curled as she let out one more pained gasp and rushed past the dwarf lord. Every step past him led to another sob, another sob, another sob...

The entire company was in utter shock. No one knew what to say or what to do. The Relly that had been travelling alongside them had now fallen apart and showed the men a side that they were not prepared to see. Every time a thought bubbled up in their minds, it was popped for the sake of not saying the wrong words.

Thorin allowed the woman to unleash her pent up emotions on him. He acted like a whipping post for her feelings. Thorin let out a strained and heavy sigh, his calloused hands rubbing the bridge of his nose as if he had just dealt with a petulant child. However, she was no child and her cries were far from the whining of babes. This woman was part of his company; she signed the contract along with Bilbo to accompany him on the quest to reclaim his old home. He had hurt her, not considered her in his great favor. He was a respectable leader, a serious but caring man and full of desire to take back his throne from the sleeping Smaug. But how did this reflect on his character? All he asked for was honor, loyalty and a willing heart. Did Relly Crillynook not show that, in her own way?

Thorin Oakenshield was mortified. He was ashamed of his behavior, of how far the proverbial stick was up his bottom and his need to see Relly prove herself to him hindered her development more than helped it. He could hear the sound of muffled sobs not so far off, getting quieter and quieter until it stopped completely.

Bilbo's frown deepened, wrinkles forming in his brow as he took a step forward, the crunch underneath his foot breaking the immeasurable silence. Never in a million years would he have expected to see Relly cry. Upset and irritated, maybe. But never full blown in tears. The only indication of a quieter, sadder Relly was that night in Rivendell when he caught her with the stolen goods. Bilbo saw something different in her that night and its full extent had just been revealed to everyone.

Vulnerability. Who knew the playful and irresponsible thief felt so vulnerable? Maybe it was the human blood that coursed in her veins, to feel painfully aware of every thorn and burr that pricked her side. The thick skin she wore, how she brushed off most of the natural feelings of compassion, honesty and remorse over her compulsive stealing...perhaps they weren't so unfounded as he believed them to be. Relly was like any living being and her flaws, however numerous they were, did not make her a terrible person. Maybe he had been too quick to judge her. Sure, she ticked him off and stole his forks and clothes and called him a wet rag, a comment he did not appreciate in the slightest, but Relly was inherently good, or so Bilbo wanted to think. There were real monsters lurking in the dark and Relly was not one of them.

"You need to apologize," Bilbo was the first person to speak up and shatter the quiet envelope around them, the dwarves raising their heads out of surprise that mild mannered Bilbo would say anything. "I think you need to...talk to her, at least. She's bullheaded but, well, she might listen."

Thorin did not appreciate Bilbo's advice at first but he realized Bilbo was right; Thorin had to face the music and apologize for his shortcomings and bring Relly back to their group. Without a word, Thorin Oakenshield walked to where he heard Relly cry, ready to make amends with the sole female member of his party. Even with the cold moon shining down on him, he could see the outline of the thief. She was perched on top of a pointy rock overlooking the view from the elevated mountain pass, feet dangling above the edge. Her back was slumped and he heard a soft sigh. He approached the rock as he sat down on it with her, the girl noticing his presence as she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head.

"W-what do you want?" her voice was barely audible but Thorin heard her question. "G-go away," she shifted her body away from him, not wanting to look at him.

He rested his hands between the space of his parted legs, his meshed fingers twitching with some slight anxiety. Thorin was already masculine in physique but he needed to man up and face his wrongdoings. It would not be easy but judging by the glowering he was receiving from all his dwarven brethren, he had to fix it or else they'd never respect him.

He took in a deep breath, turning his head in the direction he believed her face was. "I admit I had my concerns about you, Relly Crillynook. Gandalf already told me at the last moment about Bilbo Baggins' inclusion to my cause but I did not expect you to come along."

It was too dark to see her facial expressions but Thorin could hear her quietly listening to him. "I-I know that," she squeaked.

He nodded. "I know you know that, Relly. And I grudgingly put up with it. I allowed you and Bilbo to come along because I believed we needed master burglars in order to fulfill the destiny set before me. However, I did not expect for my company to become so attached to you, even though we hardly knew anything about this person who joined us. I did not trust you, and perhaps this is why I did not accept your position in my company as easily as the others did."

Thorin listened to her soft sniffling and heard the quarterling her throat. She was staying quiet and paying attention to him. Perhaps he should consult Bilbo Baggins in all matters womanly and Hobbit-ish. "It was because I did not know who you were that I confronted you about the nature of your heritage. I had my suspicions from the start, yes, but the stone trolls confirmed them."

"I-I didn't say anything because I w-was worried everyone w-would hate me and kick me out," her stuttering had come to a cease as he heard her lower the hood of her cloak, the light of the moon bouncing off her hair. "All my life I hated myself because I am a...a mixed breed."

He did not say anything for a few minutes, listening to her breathe in and out as he cracked his knuckles. Time to 'fess up, no more putting it off. "I am deeply sorry, Relly Crillynook of the Shire. You were not wrong in your accusations against me and I am guilty of withholding the recognition you have tried so hard to gain from me. All this time I have been placing obstacles in your path expecting you to climb them, building walls instead of pathways to follow me and allowing my own sense of honor and pride to hurt yours. I am ashamed of my actions and I ask for your forgiveness."

Every word he spoke was true and it stung him. He had always been a proud warrior with strong opinions but this time, the fierceness of Thorin Oakenshield ebbed into his sensitive, fatherly side. This was the part of him that had been revealed to a young Kili and Fili, who treated the boys like they were his own sons. Thorin did not show his tender-hearted side all the time since it would make his companions believe he had grown mushy. But Relly deserved to hear him admit his mistakes in the hopes she would accept his apology.

Relly perked up a little as she wiped the dried tear stains off her face with her arm. "So...you don't hate me?"

"No, I do not."

"You mean it?" she wanted the truth and she wanted to hear it from him.

"I swear as the rightful heir to the throne of Thrain II of the Lonely Mountain that you have my word, Relly. I promise I will no longer consider you an unnecessary burden, but as a true friend, if that is what you want from me," and he meant it. Thorin Oakenshield waited for her response but she said nothing, leading him to the conclusion that she was unsatisfied with his apology. "I understand that you do not see me in a positive light at the moment, Relly. But I—,"

He felt his arm constricted by a sudden tightness as his first thoughts went to shoving whatever latched on his arm away from him. Then he realized it was a hug. Relly was hugging his arm. It must be her odd way of forgiving him. Thorin patted the top of her head in a fatherly manner. He allowed the cute hug for now as the thief clung to his arm happily, not saying a single word as he felt her lips grow into a grin as she pressed her mouth against his sleeve.

"And I promise I'll stop giving away the potatoes," she giggle-whispered, lifting her head up in the direction where she thought Thorin's eyes were.

His small smile immediately curved into a frown. Their semi father-daughter/brother-sister/whatever the heck they had moment was over. "So is that why our stock has been low!" he loudly exclaimed, "You have been giving away the food!"

Relly smiled; everything was slowly settling back to normal. Perhaps Thorin wasn't so bad after all. She got up from the boulder as she nodded her head at him, not regretting telling the dwarf lord about the slowly dwindling number of potatoes. She left before Thorin left the boulder, her demeanor lifted into a happier mood as she returned back to their little campsite, no doubt surrounded by the curious, scared and stunned men.

Thorin allowed her to sleep. He decided he would be mad about the potatoes in the morning.

You guys have no idea how long I've been waiting to get to this chapter. It's an emotional roller coaster! I know many of you were asking for more Thorin/Relly interaction so there ya go. They will have a family-like relationship since we can't have Bilbo getting jealous...or maybe...nah, just kidding!

I hope you all loved this chapter!