Rue (A Thorin Oakenshield/Hobbit Fanfiction)

28

"Alright! Who's next?" Fili said wringing out his hair with one hand and combing through his beard with the other.

After admiring their homeland from Carrock's peak, Thorin had decided to allow the Company a day's rest in the forest below, if it was even large enough to be called such. Since they had experienced attacks from stone giants, goblins, and Orcs all in the span of one night, they could all use some time to recuperate and get their bearings together. They had made camp in a small clearing only a few footfalls away from Carrock's base, where the Company stayed relatively calm and quiet. Though the silence was odd for the dwarves, it was comforting; for once, they kept to themselves.

Most of the day the dwarves had slept, ate, or simply relaxed, but the thing they were most eager to do was bathe. Adjacent their camp, a small dirt path led to a stream, secluded from the gaze of others by the intense brush. Fili had just returned from the water, grateful for the feeling of being clean. He was one of the last ones to take his turn, for the setting sun showed it was nearly nightfall.

"Auntie? Have you and Thorin been yet?"

Talia looked up at her nephew, his voice pulling her from her absentminded thoughts. She sat with her legs crossed, her back leaning on stone. Thorin rested his head in her lap, fast asleep, with his hands folded over his chest. Talia had been running her fingers through his hair gently, the action comforting both him and her as she played with the raven-black strands.

"No, but we're the only ones left." She responded softly, looking back down at her husband. "Thank you, Fili."

Even after he nodded, the young prince did not move. His eyes were fixated on his uncle. "He's been sleeping all day. How is he?"

"Exhausted and in desperate need of healing." Talia replied, smiling reassuringly at Fili. "His wounds are extensive."

"Can you heal him?"

Talia's smile fell a little, though it was not hidden to her nephew. "I can try."

"You will." Kili interjected from her left, tossing a small, smooth stone up and down in his hands. Talia could make out Khuzdul runes, though she was not close enough to read them. "I think you two in the water will help immensely. I'm sure he'd agree."

Talia narrowed her eyes at the cheekiness of the dwarf. "Would you be a dear and smack him for me, Fili?"

"Happily."

"Mahal, brother! Not so hard!"

Talia grinned, surprised Kili's volume alone hadn't woken Thorin. "You two are just like him, you know. When he was young, there was no mistaking the mischief in him."

"Really?" Fili asked, settling next to his brother. "How so?"

"Well, one time he stole all of the spoons out of my house, one by one over the course of a week. Then, he switched out my red rouge for my black battle paint, which stained my cheeks for days. On the eve of his twentieth birthday, he got so drunk that I found him and Dwalin clanging my swords against each other in my living room. They were laughing so loud that I'm shocked my mother didn't wake. They were fighting with their eyes closed; they're lucky they didn't lose an arm."

"Master Dwalin!" Kili exclaimed, taking on the tone of a scolding mother jokingly. The dwarf in question, who had been smiling fondly at the inkling of a memory, quickly snapped out of his haze. His face dropped, unamused that Talia was disturbing his reputation amongst the princes as a fierce warrior. Balin chuckled at his brother, nudging him slightly.

"What? It was too cold to play with them outside." He shrugged.

"You took them outside?"