Thorin might seem like an angry person on the outside but inside he's even angrier.
Tw: /
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When Raewyn came back to her senses, she noticed the sound of several dwarves shouting. She quickly grabbed her knives and holstered them back, shooting a quick look at Farris, to see if the owl was doing alright. When she saw her resting on the top of a big chair, Raewyn smiled and gave its head a quick stroke of affection. She then walked back towards the dining hall, resting her steps behind the hobbit, who was curiously peeking through the opening of the door.
"You forget," Balin began, shutting down the sounds the dwarves earlier made, "the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain."
"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true." Gandalf revealed, twirling a seemingly heavy key between his fingers. Thorin looked at the wizard surprised, causing Bilbo to lean forward in order to see what was happening.
"How came you by this?" The leader asked, bewildered by the key that had now found it's way into his own hands.
"It was given to me by your father, Thrain, for safe keeping. It is yours now." Gandalf said, granting the dwarf the ghost of a smile. Every dwarf stared at the key that once appeared lost. The only trespassing into their old kingdom.
"If there is a key, there must be a door!" Fili spoke up, openly showing his excitement.
Gandalf now pointed to the map, showing the others proof. "These runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls."
"There's another way in...." Kili simplified, smiling at his brother.
"Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed." The wizard explained. "The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map, and I do not have the skill to find it, but there are others in Middle-Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But if we're careful and clever, I believe that it can be done."
"That's why we need a burglar!" A young dwarf spoke, almost making the ranger smile.
"Hmm. And a good one too. An expert, I'd imagine." Bilbo decided to speak up, causing Raewyn to lean back against the wood and look at the creature in wonder.
"And are you?" One asked. All heads now turned to the hobbit, causing him to grow an obvious bit uncomfortable. He turned around to look at Raewyn, but she shook her head and subtly pointed her finger to him.
"Am I what?" Bilbo wondered, hearing the question just fine, but not keen on answering it.
"He said he's an expert!" One of the elder spoke, causing few dwarves to cheer.
"Me? No! No, no, no! I...I'm not a burglar. I've never stolen a thing in my life." The hobbit defended.
The dwarves calmed down, and Balin regrettably spoke up. "I'm afraid I have to agree with mister Baggins. He's hardly burglar material."
"Aye," Dwalin confirmed, "the wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves." Bilbo nudged his head in response, agreeing with the taller dwarf.
"He's just fine!" Kili spoke from the back, before other dwarves started arguing.
Raewyn could see Gandalf trying to speak up, but when he appeared incapable, the room turned dark and his voice grew deep. "Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is!"
All dwarves were quiet again and Gandalf calmed down. "Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose, and while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of a dwarf, the scent of a hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage."
The dwarves pondered over Gandalf's words for a moment, silently agreeing with him.
"You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company, and I have chosen Mr. Baggins. There's a lot more to him than appearances suggest. And he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself." When the wizard spoke his last sentence, he looked directly at Bilbo, mentally convincing him to join them.
When the hobbit did not answer, Gandalf looked back at Thorin. "You must trust me on this."
Thorin was about to accept Gandalf's offer, but stopped his speech before he could begin. "Why did we need a hunter?" He asked instead. "Why is she here?"
"I will not be joining for the likes of you." Raewyn defended, not changing her posture from the wall. "I'm here to protect the hobbit when he goes inside the mountain, that's it."
"I don't want you on my quest." Thorin spoke, now standing up and turning towards the ranger. Even though there was a reasonable space between them, Bilbo quickly moved out of it and took a few steps behind Raewyn.
"Neither do I," the woman revealed, "but Gandalf left me little choice."
"You will not be going inside the mountain." The dwarf started, his voice nearly appearing deeper. "It does not belong to you."
"It does not belong to anyone but Smaug at the moment. It will be his until someone kills him and reclaims it. If that is not you, I can promise you there will be others." When Thorin took a few steps towards her, she sighed and got her back off the wall, now standing a little bit taller, cominf face to face with the dwarf.
"When you have your petty mountain back, you can order me to leave and I will listen. Until then, you have no say over me." She spat lowly, dangerously.
Thorin seemed to agree on this and took a few steps back again. "Do I have your word?" He asked, though he knew he did not need it.
"I could give it to you, but I doubt it means much to you." Raewyn said, surprising Thorin by her knowing speech. He did not appear surprised whatsoever, but instead sat back down.
"It doesn't, but it means something to them." He said, nudging his head towards the dwarves, who had remained silent the entire exchange. When Raewyn looked at them, none of them looked to be insulted or angry. Alternately, they seemed to be calm and impressed. She looked at Gandalf, who gave her an almost pleading look.
"Fine," she sighed, "you have my word."
Before Thorin could speak again, Balin quickly gave her a contract, ultimately handing her a quill. She gave him a questioning look, but he raised his shoulders.
"You have to sign in order to join." He explained.
Raewyn had forgotten about the way dwarves handled everything. Very professional, which included consensual prove from both sides. She almost hit her head against the wall in annoyance, but remained standing.
"Does this say I have to protect anyone when time requires it?" She asked aloud.
The dwarf who had earlier offered her a chair denied that, but did speak up. "Nay, but you do have to pay when needed. You would also need to remain loyal to the company."
Raewyn frowned at his words, not really feeling like joining anymore. Before she could hand the contract back though, Thorin spoke up, his back still turned towards her. "It does not state anywhere you are not allowed to leave when we killed Smaug."
"You mean when I killed Smaug." The woman shot back.
"He stole my kingdom." Thorin said, now again, annoyed with the ranger.
"He burned my family."
"He burned half of my kin!"
"At least you had some left!" Raewyn argued. She felt desperate, but would not allow it to be shown. She would not show any sign of weakness in front of the one who caused it. "You must grant me this kill."
"Or what?" Thorin asked, taunting the young woman. She smiled at him and reached the piece of paper out to him. "Or I will not be signing the contract."
"What a pity."
"Mahal, you are more stubborn than most dwarves." Dwalin spoke aloud. Raewyn just showed him a smile.
"If I had a silver piece for every time Gandalf had told me that, I would've been able to buy your forsaken mountain back by now."
"Thorin, you will need her help." Gandalf intervened, urging him to accept the ranger's terms. The leader sat back down and rolled his eyes. Raewyn stood proudly at his unspoken surrender and held the contract against the wall, signing her name under it before handing it to the hobbit.
"We're on, we're off!" One of the dwarves spoke. "It's just the usual summary of out-of-pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth." Balin summarized for Bilbo.
"Funeral arrangements?" The hobbit wondered aloud, terrified at the thought of dying so far from home. He unfolded the remainder of the contract, shocked at the length of it.
"Total's cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding, one fifteenth of total profit if any," he read to himself, "seems fair. The present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof, including, but not limited to..." he paused for a moment, rereading his sentences as of to be sure what he read was actually written, "Lacerations. Evisceration. Incineration?"
"Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye." The dwarf with the hat spoke, standing up with a smile. Bilbo's breathing became labored, causing Raewyn to carefully take the contract from him.
"You alright, laddie?" Balin asked, noticing the hobbit's uncomfortable stance. "Huh? Yeah, I feel a bit faint."
"Think furnace, with wings."
"Air. I...I...I need air." Bilbo spoke. In the distance, Gandalf was looking at the hobbit in wonder. Not knowing whether to step in or not.
"Flash of light, searing pain, then poof! You're nothing more than a pile of ash!" Bilbo looked at Raewyn, who just winced in return. "Nope." He then spoke, falling down unconsciously.
"Oh, very helpful, Bofur." Gandalf mumbled as Raewyn picked up the hobbit. "Just bring him to his seating area." The wizard said to the ranger. She nodded in response and left the scene, walking back to the room where Farris now lay sleeping.
———
While the dwarves had decided to find their rest in front of the hearth, Raewyn had returned to the hall in front of the door. Her helmet and arrows still lay at the place she had put them, which actually surprised her. She sat down on the single chair that was placed in that space and grab one of her daggers. Instead of throwing it into the door, she just observed them, tracing her hand over the intricate lining of the handles.
"He truly hates you, doesn't he?" Someone suddenly spoke, making Raewyn hold her dagger strongly and whip it to the person talk her. Not even two inches from the tip of the knife, was the head of a dwarf. He quickly threw his hands up and took a step back. The woman sighed, relieved it wasn't Thorin or Gandalf. She could not talk to the grey wizard now. He would baby her again, and she hated it when he did that.
"He does." Raewyn spoke, now sheathing her dagger again.
"Is it true what he says?" Kili dared ask.
The young woman frowned at him.
"That depends. What did he say?" "That you burned our infantry in the Blue Mountains."
The woman hissed, but nodded her head. "That is true."
"Why?" Kili asked, confused at her. He did not understand how a person such as Raewyn would burn down the last weapons a runaway clan of dwarves.
"Because your supposed leader pissed me off." The woman answered. Kili shrugged and nodded. "That's fine. I don't mind really."
"You don't mind me burning down your weapons?" She questioned.
"Not really, no. Our weapons have doubled since the fire." Raewyn's head tilted in confusion, not sure what he meant by that sentence. "Is that a threat?" Kili's eyes widened in response as he shook his head violently in response.
"Mahal, no. Mother would drag me home by the ear the day I threaten a lady." The dwarf defended.
Raewyn chuckled at him but denied his statement. "I am not a lady." She said.
"Then, I sincerely apologize." He spoke, before walking up to Raewyn's helmet. She was going to stop him, but part of her told her not to. She had yet to decide if he was trustworthy, but she felt relaxed in his presence. His figure was less demanding and intimidating. It was rather careless and youthful, something she had seen very little of in this world.
"May I?" He spoke, signaling towards the helmet.
"You want to put it on?" She wondered. He nodded hopefully and picked the helmet up, inspecting the symbols on it.
"If you don't break it, sure." Raewyn concluded.
Kili laughed at her statement and admired the chain mail that hung underneath the metal base of the helmet. "I would really have to try, would I want to break this." He started. "It's strong forging." He explained, slightly tugging on the chains.
"Is it true that this metal comes from the western sea?" Kili asked, now putting on the helmet himself. Raewyn laughed at the sight of him, making the dwarf smile.
"Doesn't it look good on me?" He asked, playing with the chains. "It looks weird without the rest of the armor." Raewyn testified.
"And no," she resumed, "our metal doesn't come from the sea. It comes from mountains. As does yours."
Kili lifted the helmet from his head again and put it down. "And can you really turn into owls?"
The woman chuckled and shook her head. "No. Where do you get all these stories from?"
"Amad used to tell us stories about your family when we were young. It was much better than uncle's stories. They were all so negative." Raewyn raised her eyebrows and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
"Perhaps I should have a talk with that uncle of yours if he truly thinks we're all so bad." Kili chuckled and walked towards her.
"You have. Just a few minutes ago." The young woman shut up as the smile on her face disappeared.
"Thorin?" She asked quietly. Kili nodded his head, causing the woman to furrow her eyebrows.
"But you're not....." she couldn't quite find the words to finish her sentence, so Kili helped her out. "Mean? Demanding? Angry?"
"You can't say that! He's your family." She said, resting her back against the wall.
"It's true! He wishes for me to become like him one day, but I enjoy the freedom I get now." He confessed.
Just then, silence struck amongst the two. Raewyn looked at the dwarf, but he made just as little movement as her to talk. Instead, they just stood there, looking at the door.
"Why are you here?" Raewyn suddenly asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, your uncle obviously hates me, so why did you decide to talk to me?" Kili smiled at her and sat down on the floor beside her chair. "Because you seemed lonely. And just because you and Thorin got off on the wrong foot, doesn't mean we have to."
The young woman shot the ghost of a smile towards Kili before leaning her head back. "You can stay beside me and Fili during the travel. I'm sure he won't mind." The dwarf said, nudging Raewyn slightly. "That way, you won't have to walk on your own."
With that, he stood up and shot a wink her direction.
"Think about it. I'll see you tomorrow. Get some rest."
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