Okay so I know it's like *looks at watch.* Holy shit, it's two am. Yeah, so I wanted to get this out to you guys because you did an amazing job reviewing last chapter. Ugh guys you made my day! Just ask my husband, I was gushing about you guys all day! And also because, hey it's Valentine's day. So as a thank you and an ode to sappy love, here's the eleventh chapter.
Cassandra-Jayne: You're comment made me laugh!
Miss Luny: It was a bit dramatic last chapter, wasn't it? Lol well, I'm just glad you like it.
notebook96: As you wish! (total Princess Bride reference. Picture it like I'm falling down a hill screaming it slowly.)
Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967: Thanks! Here's the next one.
nemesisswan: OMG I love long reviews! Thank you so much for this. I'm so glad that you're liking it so far. Again part of the reason that I wanted to publish this one was because of your review. You said for Tori and Fili and I was like wait. It is valentine's day. Give them a chapter, lovely!
Ohmicrofilm: They are pretty cool aren't they? Seriously starting to wish that there were more moments with them in the movie.
Chapter 10: Rhosgobel Rabbits
"What I would really enjoy," I gritted out, wincing as Ori peeled away the ragged mess of my forearm bracers and mittens. Beneath the skin bubbled, patches slick with a greenish-yellow slime that ate away at the top layer of my skin. Bile rose in my throat as Ori flinched at a particularly bad spot that crept along my wrist and down to my fingers. "Is a vivid recount of how you - all thirteen of the most impressive, ruthless, cutthroat warriors of Erebor - got yourselves caught and nearly roasted by three trolls." I stared hard up at Nori, in particular, frowning as he gave a diffident laugh. "Thirteen dwarves. Thirteen."
Dori rolled his eyes. "Yes, Tori. We're quite clear on the number."
My brothers had all but bombarded me after they had gotten free, hauling me over to a grassy area just a few feet away from the stone trolls. For my part, after the last troll had been turned to stone, I had remained on my back, staring up at the slowly changing sky above. And thinking about how I had lost both of my axes and ruined my arm. Now all I had were two daggers, small and flimsy sitting in my boots. If it came to another fight like this one, I would be weaponless. Which was an overwhelmingly scary thought.
My eyes drifted to where Fili stood, arms crossed, his eyes cold and unforgiving as they pierced into me. He hadn't come over to me after the whole ordeal, stewing instead in dark silence. For a moment, I let my mind wander back to his screams, the tears that I was sure had been running down his face. My heart tightened, my throat clamping shut. It had been painful to see him like that - to see him vulnerable and raw.
"We were actually doing rather well there for a bit," Ori said softly, drawing my attention back to him as he began setting up the bandages and ointment and - I gulped, sweating - alcohol. He gave me a shy smile, his nose wrinkling. "Nori and I were handling one troll-"
I gave Dori a long side-long glance. His silvery eyes rolled heavenward before he slapped me upside the head. "Do you take me for a layabout?"
I snarled, swatting in his general direction. "I am injured here." My eyes whipped to Nori who was standing stiffly beside our oldest brother, a worried crease crinkling his brow as he watched our youngest brother stir the boiling water, poking at the logs underneath to egg the fire up a bit. "Nori. Punch him."
He didn't even blink. His fist blurred as he slammed it into Dori's arm. I smirked. Served him right. First I had to rescue him then he was going to act all holier-than-though. Tori, how could you be so reckless? Tori, wasn't there a better way to kill that troll than making six of us into a ramming board? Tori, I'm impressed with you. You make me so proud. Okay, that last one had actually made me tear up.
"Then the Master Hobbit had gotten himself caught," Ori continued on as Dori gave a roar, tackling Nori to the ground. I blinked. So they had stopped because of Bilbo. My eyes drifted to where the little hobbit stood, glancing around nervously as the other dwarves shuffled about. His quick thinking was the only reason why I was still alive. I had a debt to him now - one that I fully intended to keep. Ori's wide dark eyes caught mine, his fingers white around the bottle of hard alcohol as his other held my hand gently but firmly. "This will hurt."
My lips thinned as I eyed the spackle of raw, bubbling flesh that ran all the way up to my elbow. It would more than hurt since it would immediately need to be flushed out with boiling water.
"Troll cave," a deep, jovial voice interrupted just as I was about to nod in affirmation. I glanced up, catching sight of the reddish mass of hair that Gloin had as well as the cheery mustache and beard of Bofur, the ladder grinning.
Nori jumped up, deftly avoiding Dori's repeated kicks. "I knew there had to be. Always a cave where's there's a troll. That's my motto."
"Or more like a general fact of life," I snipped sarcastically, earning me a wildly inappropriate hand gesture from him. I could feel Gloin and Bofur's eyes, their attention making my skin itch.
"You were a right sight, lassie," Gloin finally said, breaking the silence. I blinked, taken aback. Was he… Was he complimenting me? He gave me a small smile. "I was congratulating Dwalin on your training but he said that that was all your own."
Bofur cut in with a chuckle, one bushy brow raising. "More to the point, he said that only you would charge a full-grown stone troll on your own. That bit was my favorite."
I let out a breath, glancing nervously at my brothers. Each of them had an odd, self-satisfied grin on their faces, their chins raised. Dori smile was all but glowing, his arms folded across his chest as is the queen herself had just complimented his tea.
Floundering, I blundered through a response. "I - It was the only thing I had thought to do."
"And you saved us all," Gloin humphed, nodding. I reeled back a fraction. This was all becoming a bit too surreal.
"We're in your debt, lassie," Bofur said with a wink, bowing his head slightly. His eyes drifted knowingly to my arm, his lips thinning. "Now, we'll let you to it. Wounds like that can't air out for too long." His eyes turned to Dori and Nori. "Troll cave?"
Nori worried his lips for a moment, his eyes crinkling as he turned to me. "Will you be alright?"
I scoffed. "Of course, I will. What would you do if you stayed?"
My words didn't seem to reassure him. Dori worked nervously at his braided hair, his movements twitchy. Unconvinced, my middle brother's eyes strayed to Ori.
"I'll be with her," Ori said, his voice sure even as his eyes deepened with nerves. "You really wouldn't be able to do much."
Still, there was a long pause. I knew why. If anyone of them became wounded, someone would have to drag me from their bedside. Still… My eyes strayed to the boiling pot of water. I didn't particularly want them to be witness to this next part.
"Where there are troll-hoards, there are weapons," Nori finally said, his hand reached out to push back the hair that had fallen over my forehead. He gave me a grin that didn't entirely meet his eyes. "Time to go shopping."
I gave a thin smile. "Find me something expensive."
He chucked me under the chin, turning swiftly to follow after Gloin and Bofur. Dori stepped forward, his eyes crinkling with worry as he stared at my hand.
"I've never been prouder," he whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead before he was striding away as well.
I gulped, watching them disappear into the treeline. If I was being at all honest with myself, I would have to admit that I was terrified. The worst part of every battle was the injuries. Dwalin had taught me that if I didn't come back from every good fight without a good bruise or worse then I was doing something wrong. Looking at the mess of my hand, apparently, I was doing something very right by that standard.
"It'll be over before you know it," Ori whispered, running a calming hand over my uninjured palm. I smiled nervously.
"Do I look that scared?"
Ori shrugged. "Remember the first time that Thorin found out that Dwalin was giving you fighting lessons?"
I winced, blanching. "That bad? How ghastly. Some fearsome warrior I am."
Ori's face sobered. "Just breathe -" He blinked, his eyes catching on something just over my shoulder. Slowly, a corner of his lips twitched up. "We have company."
"Oh, not another bloody well-wisher-" I started, hating that I had to wait through another conversation until I got this whole ordeal done with. Annoyed, I went to turn around.
The scent of warm bread and earth greeted her nose before she could fully turn, the steady stride and clink of beads adorning hair making her ears twitch in recognition. Even after being tied up in a sack and prepped for a trolls mealtime, Fili, son of Dis and the next in line for Durin's folk, looked regal. His honey blonde hair spiked through with an almost icy white was windswept, the braids that adorned it disheveled in a way that infuriated me and also set me on fire. His steel blue eyes held ice, hard and unforgiving as they scanned over where Ori and I sat.
He made me feel like a commoner, sitting in the dirt and grass, my arm flayed and bleeding. His eyes settled on me, a sliver of warmth softening his features. And just like that he tugged me up, teasing me with a single glance into thinking that I was his equal. No. Perhaps more than that. Perhaps even his queen.
I tore my eyes away, blushing. It was unfair. It was unfair how he could trick me with only glances and whispers as if our minds were connected to each other. Because I would never be more than a halfling, used for my unnatural abilities and cherished for the novelty of my existence. I needed to remember that. To protect myself, I needed to remember that.
"My prince," Ori said for both of us, his eyes moving between Fili and I with a secretive sort of smile. I was tempted to kick him right in the face if he continued.
"Fili will do fine," he said as if as an afterthought. Air whispered along my side as he sat with a thump, his body turning completely toward me. What the hell was he trying to do? Warily, I eyed him, watching as he adjusted the strap that held his dual swords against his back. Seemingly settled, his eyes snapped to me, his hands reaching out to wrap around my waist.
"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed in khuzdul, mortified as he yanked me to his front, one of his legs going over both of mine as he settled me between his thighs. Vainly, with one hand, I struggled to push him away, only becoming more mortified as he tightened his hold, pressing me into the hard planes of his chest.
Fili's eyes shined down at me, his face mind-numbingly close to my own. The next words that he spoke were soft and warm against my lips. "You remember when you fell from the apple tree and down that gorge to the river below?"
My mouth tightened. Fell was a rather loose term for what had happened. Some of the other children had chased me up the tree and then started throwing pebbles at me. Thinking, that it would be better if I was farther up, I had tried to shimmy higher. I had quickly lost my footing and fallen, dislocating my shoulder in the process. I huffed, glancing at my brother. Unconvincingly, he tried to look busy, his hands working uselessly at the fire, pretending that he was doing something other than eavesdropping.
Scowling, I turned to glare up at Fili, gritting out my next words through my teeth. "I don't see how that has anything to do with what's happening at the moment."
His eyes twinkled with sudden, breathtaking mirth, the arm around my waist drawing me at bit closer into the fur-lined warmth of his jacket. "Remember what happened when Fordear tried to reset your shoulder?"
I blinked, taken aback. How had he..? He hadn't even been there until Nori had found me and rushed me back into the great hall, calling for someone to help. Nearly everyone had gathered after that, whispering peckishly as they had watched me, sweating on the floor. I had hated it. Hated the children who had ran away when I had fallen and not gotten up. Hated the way that Nori's face had crumbled when he had found me in that ravine, shivering and sobbing. I had bit down on my own lip to keep from crying then, as all of those dwarves had crowded closer. I had been angry enough to keep my mouth shut, to keep all of my pain stuffed down. I didn't want to give them my tears. Valar only knew how they would take that weakness.
I didn't answer him, glaring stubbornly up at him.
His mouth curved into a smirk. "I remember," he confirmed, tipping his head a bit closer so that he could whisper to me. "You punched him in the face right when he was about to put it back into place."
"You evil little half-breed!" his wife had screamed, shrieking up a storm even as Dori gave a bellow. We hadn't been welcomed into Fordears house after that. Not that my brother's would have ever wanted to.
"Lucky that I didn't sock her right in that big honker," Dori snarled over dinner that night.
"We don't hit women or children, Dori," Nori reminded him although he had certainly given Fordears sons quite a beating when they had jumped in.
My eldest brother had snorted. "That harpy isn't a woman. She's a walking cesspool of ignorance with a nose the size of my bum."
"Not to mention that her sesame cakes are garbage," Ori had thrown out angrily, tipping his chin up. "Really not a loss at all."
My brothers had more than heartily agreed.
"It took three dwarves to hold you down," Fili continued as I glowered up at him. Of course he continued. "Even then, when Balin came to fix you up, you tried to bite him."
Ugh. I hated that part.
My mouth curved into the sweetest smile I could muster. I batted my lashes up at him. "Then what makes you think that you can keep me still?"
His smirk didn't waver, his eyes glittering dangerously. "Let me worry about that."
He was playing games with me. I frowned up at him, watching for any sign of weakness. It was common among dwarves to have moments like this. But only when courting. The thought startled through me before I could stop it, my cheeks heating as one of Fili's brows quirked up.
Dwarves held courting in very high esteems mainly because there were so few women. This fact became even more stressed since dwarves mated for life. One, we called it or ghulin in our common tongue. And it wasn't something to think about lightly. To court each other - I caught my breath, feeling foolish.
"Tori," Ori started delicately, tapping at my palm. His eyes were wide and clear as he gave me a pointed stare. Aginst my side, I felt Fili's chest expand with a breath. It was almost...nice, I supposed to be pressed against him, his legs bracketing me in, his arms solid and strong around my waist.
I gave my brother a nod, slipping my arm over Fili's leg, leaning far enough out that none of the water or alcohol would get on his legs. The pot of boiling water had been taken from the fire, cooling to a bearable temperature at Ori's knee. My mind drifted for a moment, flashing back to when I was a child. My youngest brother had always seemed so...young, innocent even. It was in rare moments like this one that I truly saw his many years. Not only was he a scribe but a healer as well, gentle and-
The thought cut off jaggedly as Ori tipped the bottle, his movements practiced. Sharp, clean pain lanced through me, jarring me to my very bones as the alcohol sizzled into my open wounds. Against my waist, Fili's hand tightened, his other one whipping out to hold my elbow in place as I reeled back, recoiling. Blindly, I resisted, a silent wail of agony building in my throat. I would have screamed if they had given me a moment longer of the pain but instead Ori picked up the steaming pot of clean water and all noise died a swift death as he poured it over my bubbling, alcohol-drenched hand.
Quickly, my brother let go of my arm, giving Fili a hard glance as he whipped around to get water. At my elbow, Fili's hand tightened, holding me.
The pain was instantaneous, horrific in its swiftness. If possible, it was ten times worse than the alcohol which had at least had an almost cleansing agony to it. This - this was torture. Every muscle in my body spasmed as the water surged, hot and unforgiving into the gaping trenches that the acidic blood of the trolls had created. My stomach lurched, all food coming up as I gagged, my head spinning, vision popping.
I wished I could scream, to let something out of the pain that was lancing through my very bones. But this was the sort of pain that took even that away, gagging and blinding you until it had had it's fun.
"Sssshh. Ssssshhh, hamumal amrul," I heard Fili murmuring to me, his words distant as if I was a boat approaching an island. I blinked dumbly, the pain easing a fraction as Ori's pot emptied at last. The skin left was raw and gruesomely bare but it had stopped bubbling and a lot of the pus that had started to build-up was no longer there.
My eyes burned, somehow seeing everything and nothing at all as if the world around were just a palette with a variety of colors. My throat worked reflexively around the urge to bawl my eyes out. Truthfully, I had wanted to do that since that nasty troll had dropped me.
"Just the salve and bandage," Ori murmured, his brows furrowing in concentration as he continued on with his work, keeping his eyes trained on my hand. Shivers racked my body, compulsive little shudders that made my mind ice over for a moment.
Fili's lips moved softly against my temple, one of his legs keeping mine pinned to the ground. Dazed, I realized that in my attempt to get free, I had tried to claw out Ori's eyes. Now my uninjured hand was trapped firmly between his ankle. So that was why he had wanted to be wrapped around me like this.
"She's shivering," Fili growled and the words tickled along my cheek as he turned to stare at my brother, the beads in his beard cold against my skin.
Ori didn't look up from his work, lathering my skin with ointment and medicinal herbs before he was tightly wrapping it in a thick layer of gauze. "That's normal. Her body's going into a sort of shock. Even though she was expecting the pain, I'm not entirely sure that she realized just how much there would be."
Fili didn't respond, turning his attention back to me. With the ebbing of the pain, my eyes drooped from exhaustion. I was tired from my fight with the trolls, from the lack of sleep the night before and more to the point, from the rush of emotions and physical trauma. "Go to sleep, amrul. You did well. You deserve to shut your eyes for a moment."
My words were stumbling, disjointed as I forced myself to try and stay awake. "We'll be moving soon… Not safe-"
One strong hand massaged through my tangled hair, his arm drawing me into the solid, comfortable expanse of his chest. "If something happens, I'll wake you."
I should have protested more. But I was already asleep by the time he finished his sentence.
Twenty minutes of sleep did almost nothing to ease my exhaustion. In fact, more than anything it made me pissed when I woke.
"Get up, amrul," Fili snarled, his eyes alight with real wariness as he dragged me up, his arm keeping me cinched to his side as he all but carried me along.
Groggily, I blinked, my mind stuttering awake as I stumbled along beside him. "Wh-what? What's happening?"
His eyes like the winter sky snapped to me, his arms unwinding from around my waist as he drew his swords out with a soft snip of metal on leather. His jaw tightened. "Warg scouts."
An ungodly howl pierced the air as we stumbled over the rocky outcropping, stopping short just as Ori came barreling through the treeline. Below us, Gandalf was standing beside a spindly little man in brown robes, one side of his face smeared with what could only be bird poop. Spotting the uneven terrain all around them were the rest of the group, all with their weapons drawn.
At their feet the silvery body of a creature too big to be a wolf, it's face angular beneath its dirty black coat. And just beside it another one. My heart ran cold, all exhaustion skittering out of me as I felt Fili snarl, moving just in front of me. The only sign of his anxiety was the whitening of his knuckle along the hilt.
"Who did you tell about your quest?" Gandalf boomed as Thorin yanked his sword from between the warg's ribs. "Beyond your kin?"
Thorin's eyes narrowed, his mouth opening for a moment in bewilderment. Across the clearing, I saw Nori scramble up the hill to where Ori and Dori stood. "Where's Tori?"
I gave a low whistle, three pairs of eyes snapping in my direction all at once. Giving me a nod, Fili helped me down the rocks into the valley that the rest were gathered in, sheathing one of his swords so that he could keep a firm grip on my uninjured wrist. As if he wanted to keep track of me. As if he were making sure that I wasn't going to run off and try and ruin my other arm.
"No one," Thorin swore, confusion coating his words as he stared up at the gray wizard.
Gandalf's words were sharp, his shoulders hunching in. "Who did you tell?!"
Thorin met him with his own biting reply, his eyes flashing. "No one, I swear. What in Durin's name is going on?"
Gandalf gave a huff, glancing around almost nervously. It was the first time I had seen him flustered. Beside me, Fili stiffened, his adam's apple bobbing as he watched the wizard closely. His calloused fingers tightened around my wrist, tugging me closer to his side.
"You are being hunted."
Thorin reeled back like he had been slapped.
"I was able to follow you easily the other night," I blurted out, and all at once all of them were looking at me. I gulped, feeling sick. "We haven't been covering our tracks. If someone wanted to - to hunt us, it would be easy."
Dwalin's mouth tightened, his hands gripping his hammer. "We have to get out of here."
For a moment, the older dwarf's eyes met mine, a look of disappointment filling them. He was one of the best trackers in the group. More than that, he had trained almost everyone in our party. From my long days with him, I knew how seriously he took the safety of everyone in this group. It had to be killing him to know that he had failed in such an unforeseen way.
"We can't," Ori piped up, anxiety coating his words. "We have no ponies. The bolted."
Bilbo turned, his expression one of immense despair.
"I'll draw them off," the brown-robed wizard suddenly piped up.
I blinked. "Who's this guy?"
Fili leaned a bit closer, lowering his voice. "No clue." Catching his brother's eyes, he motioned him over. "Did we get another wizard?"
Kili shrugged. "I don't really know. I wasn't paying attention when they were making introductions."
Fili rolled his eyes heavenward, giving a long-suffering sigh.
"These are gundabard wargs," Gandalf was saying quietly to the other wizard. "They will outrun you."
Bred by the orcs of Mount Gundabard, they were trained only in the art of chase and capture. In some ways, they were more of a threat than even the orcs themselves.
The poop-smeared wizard bulked, his eyes lighting with open defiance. "These are rhosgobel rabbits." I startled, looking around. I didn't see any rabbits. "I'd like to see them try."
Silence followed that boast, filled with a variety of expressions from Gandalf's one of mild awe to Dwalin's overall expression of being thoroughly unimpressed.
Kili gave a low whistle, smirking. "You know, I hope those orcs don't rip him apart." He crossed his arms, nodding. "I like his style."
As always, review and follow/favorite! I get all moody and depressed when I don't get any comments and then I punish everyone (including myself) by not writing. Kind of like a child that wants cookies for dinner and then gets some like salmon and rice instead and decides to go on a hunger strike in revolt. I don't want to throw a tantrum, people so please review.
Feb 14, 1230 pm: Sorry, just had to update that water scene real quick.
