ukrad = greatest heart
Her feet touch the ground first, but she lands painfully on her back and head, making stars explode and blur her vision. With the wind knocked out of her and the shock of pain rolling over her in aggressive waves, she lies frozen on the ground, eyes wide and gasping, struggling to get her breath back. Dwalin's winded her before during training, but she can't recall a time that hurt this much. Then again, she's only ever broken one bone before, and that one didn't send a fresh wave of pain with every breath. Her vision takes longer than she'd like to stop swimming, but her hearing quickly comes back into focus.
"-in the blazes?! Where'd she come from?!" says Tom. "Where'd that wolf go?!" The shouting dwarves have gone silent.
"I seen this before, I have," says William. "Skinchangers, they're called. I ain't never seen a dwarf one, though."
"Do they taste good?" asks Bert. Finally, finally, Gandalf's voice interrupts them.
"THE DAWN WILL TAKE YOU ALL!"
"Who's that?"
"No idea."
"Can we eat him, too?" A great boom sounds and light suddenly fills Emery's fuzzy vision. Shadows squirm as the trolls react to the light of the sun, and go still as they turn to stone. She wishes she could join the cheers now coming from the company, but her breath still hasn't returned to her. Instead she closes her eyes, trying to block out the pain. She hears some commotion as Gandalf cuts the dwarves out of the sacks and down from the spit, and just as her breath is starting to come back to her, the sound of familiar footsteps makes its way towards her.
"How badly are you hurt?" Dwalin's voice asks. She opens her eyes, finding that her vision has cleared up slightly, and she can make out the shape and colors of his form. He's on a knee beside her.
"Bastard...b-broke a ri-rib, and the f-fall knock-knocked the wind out of-of me. But n-nobo-nobody's dead, and I'll h-heal. I'm f-I'm fine," she stammers out between gasps. Dwalin narrows his eyes at her. Much as he understands the desire, the need, to push through an injury and continue functioning, he hates the improper use of that word, "fine." He's scolded many a student and seasoned warrior for it in the past, including her. There's no shame, he says, in being injured, as long as the severity of it isn't lied about. He lifts his head and calls Oin over. By the time said dwarf reaches them, her vision is mostly clear. Clear enough to see the cold stiffness in his expression, the kind he adopts when he has to treat a patient he doesn't trust. It stings to see that directed at her.
"Which rib?" Oin asks shortly. Taking a breath, Emery slowly sits up, grimacing and clenching her teeth at the pain. She reaches under her arm to point to a spot on her right side, taking care not to move too much. Oin feels the spot carefully for a moment, then humphs. "The bone is still in place, so there's that. Cracked or fully broken, all that can be done is wrapping your chest and restricting your movements." She nods, and he stands up, looking away from her. She follows his gaze and sees Fili and Kili standing several feet in front of her. They're staring, with matching unreadable expressions. Well, almost unreadable, with too many emotions to pinpoint all of them. Confusion, shock, betrayal, hurt...she feels guilty. She's their wolf, their friend, their family. They've known her most of their lives, rarely gone anywhere or done anything without her. They thought they knew her. And now that reality has been shattered. She isn't who or what they believed.
"You've been hiding all this time," Thorin says in a dark voice. She looks to her left, where he's standing a few yards away. His expression makes her want to curl into a ball. Dwalin stands in front of her, almost protectively.
"Thorin-" he says. His friend's gaze snaps to him from Emery, and realization crosses his face.
"You knew?!"
"Aye, I knew," Dwalin replies. "I said nothing because she had good reason to keep her form hidden."
"She's lied to us all these years-"
"If she is a liar, then so am I. Thorin, I swear to you on the tombs of my family, she is truly what we have always believed her to be: a loyal friend and a diligent protector." Emery forces her eyes not to release the tears that well up at Dwalin's words. He loves his family, even in death. He would not swear on them unless he were absolutely sure of the truth of his words. Thorin seems to understand this, and holds eye-contact with his friend for several moments before sighing (although it could be considered growling) and turning. He walks away, but the stiffness doesn't leave his shoulders. She wouldn't expect it to, even if it hurts that it doesn't. She hid herself from them for six decades. Even with Dwalin vouching for her, trust isn't something she has anymore.
Dwalin usually isn't one to fuss over anyone, that would be Dori. But these aren't usual circumstances, and he's been fussing since she stood up to follow the company toward the cave.
"You don't need to keep hovering, I'm fine," Emery tells him. "You should be at the front, with Thorin."
"My brother is with him, he can manage without me for a while," he replies. "And do not tell me you're fine."
"I heal fast, it hardly even hurts now."
"You cannot lie to me lass, don't even try." As if to prove his point, she stubs her foot on a root that rises higher than expected, and it jars her rib. She groans at the pain, and he raises an eyebrow as if to say "told you so." She rolls her eyes.
The stench hits them before they actually see the cave. Emery isn't the only one who grimaces in disgust, and she counts herself lucky she isn't smelling it with her much more powerful and sensitive wolf nose. Dwalin finally leaves her side to explore the cave with Thorin. She decides not to join him, electing instead to sit on a large tree root and lean back against its trunk. She's not alone, though. Oin might not trust her at the moment, but she's still injured, and he stays close by to keep an eye on her. She takes a few steadying breaths and looks up at the brothers that now stand in front of her, arms crossed and expressions guarded.
"Who are you really?" demands Fili. She sighs. She knew they'd have questions, she just thought it would take them longer to bring themselves to ask.
"My name is Emery." She decides to leave out her surname for now. Surnames aren't a dwarven thing, and there's already enough confusion at the moment without her telling them she was once human.
"Have you always been..." Kili starts, but trails off. She can tell he doesn't really know how to ask. To be honest, she wouldn't either if their positions were reversed. But she understands what he's trying to say.
"More than a wolf?" she finishes helpfully. "Yes."
"What are you exactly?" he questions.
"That troll called you a skin-changer," Fili adds. She considers for a moment, then nods her head.
"I haven't considered it before, but I suppose 'skin-changer' would be accurate," she says. Fili seems to notice the oddity of her wording and furrows his brows, but Kili barrels on ahead with his next question before his brother can comment on it.
"Why did you hide?" She sighs again. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. That's probably the most important question, after all. She chews her tongue for a minute, considering her answer.
"...I was given a task, one I couldn't accomplish if anyone knew I was more than a wolf." Just as she knew it would, this creates more questions than it answers.
"What task?" asks Fili.
"I can't tell you, not yet," she replies.
"Who gave you this task?" asks Kili.
"I can't tell you that, either," she says. They both huff, Fili more aggressively.
"Do you realize how suspicious this looks?" he says, annoyed. She feels bad being cryptic, knowing how annoying it can be, but there's a reason she didn't tell Dwalin everything right away. She really needs to talk with Aulë (and Dwalin) before telling anyone too much.
"I do," she says, hoping her expression conveys how much she wishes she could tell them more. "All I can say to alleviate that is...well, that my loyalty and care for you has never been anything but genuine, even if my appearance...wasn't..." She's interrupted by a light being shone into her eye, and her gaze follows it to a spot near her feet. She squints, and realizes it's a reflection off of something on the ground. She leans toward it slightly, and sees the shining blade of a dagger. Hang on, that looks familiar. Moving carefully so as not to jostle her rib, she kneels on the ground and swipes the leaves and dirt off of the rest of the blade, and the blood drains from her face. The pattern in the blood-groove, the design of the hilt, the runes etched at the base of the blade...She picks it up slowly, turning it over in her hands and examining every inch, confirming it is indeed the same dagger.
"What is it?" Fili asks. Emery turns toward them with the blade held delicately in her fingers. She looks up at them with a haunted look.
"Melmor," she says. "Melmor was here. He came looking for Flika's killer." The boys' expressions morph and match hers. Their sister's One forged this dagger and its twin the day he first Dreamed of her. They were lovingly and carefully made, each bearing the word "ukrad" in runes on the blade near the hilt. Every detail, right down to the shape of the blood-grooves, was forged with the purpose of artistically intertwining them. This dagger's sister was given to Flika as a courting gift, and was buried with her. Melmor would not have parted with his willingly, and its presence at the troll cave speaks volumes about what happened to him. Judging by the fresh grief on their faces, Fili and Kili have made this connection, as well.