Wargs. Why did it have to be wargs?
Tw: Ankle injury (sprained), being chased, mention of violence and description of usage of weapons, but it's against orcs and wargs, so it's okay. More violent tension between Raewyn and Thorin.
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"Oh, what's the stench?" A dwarf asked, already nearing the cave they had been so desperately looking for. "It's a troll hoard. Be careful what you touch." Gandalf advised, letting everyone pass inside.
As the dwarves all entered the cave, Raewyn waited outside. "You won't go in?" A deep voice asked, nearly causing an aneurism of annoyance to run trough the woman.
"I'm grateful for what I have. I need not more than that what I already possess." She spoke, turning her head towards the dwarf. "You have nothing." Thorin spoke, glaring towards the woman.
"Grow a pair." She retorted, now turning her entire body towards him. The dwarf looked at her in anger and stepped closer. Although he had a slightly more muscular build than Raewyn, she did not back away. On the contrary, she took a step towards him, her head high and her face strong. Only a small remainder of space was in between them, but neither backed off.
"Watch your mouth, Asha." The dwarf hissed.
"Watch your back, Oakenshield." She returned, her voice just as venomous.
"Children, children." Gandalf spoke up, his staff now between the two bitter figures, urging them to take some distance. "There is no need for hostility amongst the company." He scolded, primarily looking towards Raewyn, who ignored his glance, but kept her eyes on Thorin all the same. When the company's leader turned away from her, she received a frown from Gandalf, but said nothing. When no response was heard, Gandalf followed the dwarf, leaving Raewyn alone with her thoughts. Or so, she thought.
"The two of you really don't like each other, do you?" Someone asked, causing Raewyn to show a tiny smile at the voice.
"No, we don't." She answered, looking towards the hobbit.
"What happened between you and him?" He asked, sitting on a large boulder, his face at the same height as Raewyn's. "You read books, don't you?" She asked teasingly, sitting down next to him.
"Yes, but none of them are about Ashas. I only know them because of my mother's stories." Bilbo confessed. The woman scoffed at the statement.
"You sound like Kili."
The hobbit looked at her confused, giving her the hint to continue talking. "His mother used to tell him stories about my family too. Not quite correct, I'm afraid." When she stopped talking, Bilbo spoke up again.
"Is it true that the Clan of Six used to protect the Shire?" He wondered aloud. "Aye," Raewyn answered with a smile, "there are no creatures worth protecting more than hobbits."
"And are you truly the daughter of Raegon Asha, leader of the clan?" The woman winced at the title, but responded nonetheless. "Yes, Raegon was my father, but he was not the leader of us. Ashas are all equal. I had just as much to say as my father did."
"Does your armour truly come from the Western sea?" The hobbit continued asking, making Raewyn laugh. "No! Where do these stories about the Western sea come from? Our armor is forged from the mountains, just as any other is." She looked a Bilbo, tilting her head slightly.
"You're talking about my family as if we are legends."
"But you are!" The hobbit defended. "Everyone in the Shire knows of the tale of the Clan of Six! How they slaughtered orcs on our borders, how they fought at the battle of the Mines or Moria, how they-" "You already knew the story Balin was telling you?" Raewyn interrupted, smirking at the creature. Bilbo's ears turned slightly red as he looked down at the floor.
"Well....maybe a little, but not from the perspective of the dwarves!" The hobbit justified.
After a moment of silence, he looked back up, staring towards the dwarves in the cave, who were now burying a chest. "Why didn't Balin mention your father?" Bilbo asked quietly, almost feeling as if he had crossed a boundary.
"They don't really like him anymore." The woman explained easily, though her eyes held a look of hurt. "And since he died, they shoved that hate onto me." Bilbo's face saddened at her confession. "That's not fair." He said, trying to defend Raewyn. "You did nothing wrong!"
"Well....." The woman pondered, her mind bringing up distant memories.
"Bilbo." Gandalf suddenly spoke up, holding up a big dagger. "Here. This is about your size." The hobbit inspected the weapon, but shook his head.
"I-I can't take this."
"The blade is of Elvish make, which means it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby." The wizard explained, shoving the blade into Bilbo's hands.
"I have...I have never used a sword in my life." He argued, his hands clumsily grasping onto the hilt of the dagger.
"And I hope you never have to. But if you do, remember this: true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one." The pilgrim spoke wisely, his attention now directed towards Raewyn. He opened one of his hands towards her, holding up a small, yet heavy object. The woman jumped off of the boulder and walked towards the wizard, inspecting the small object. It was round with marking on the side, an intricately carved 'A' shown proudly. When she spotted it, her breath got stuck in her throat, her hand hovering over the wizard's.
"It was in an empty chest." Gandalf explained, turning the woman's hand and letting the object fall into her hands.
"My father's bead....." Raewyn nearly whispered, her voice shaking. "How did they get this?"
Now it was Bilbo's turn to hop off the boulder, walking towards the woman, wanting to see the bead for himself too. When he saw it, Raewyn quickly brushed the dust off, the bead not yet shining, but the carvings more visible than earlier.
"It's beautiful." Bilbo gaped, having never properly seen a dwarven bead before.
"Something's coming!" Thorin interrupted, his sword now held high. Raewyn quickly put the bead in her pocket, grabbing her bow and nocking one arrow. She stepped in front of Bilbo, who was struggling to draw his dagger.
"Stay together! Hurry, now! Arm yourselves!" Gandalf shouted, huddling the company together.
"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" An all-too-familiar voice shouted. Raewyn let out a sigh of relief and stored her arrow.
"Radagast." Gandalf announced, smiling to himself. "It's Radagast the Brown!" He puts his sword away as he approached approaches the brown wizard. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you, Gandalf." The man explained, his face worried, although it quickly changed when he saw Raewyn. "Raewyn! It's been too long. I came across Farris earlier!" He told happily, observing her figure in wonder.
"My, you've grown."
"It's been a while." The woman answered, smiling at the unique man.
"Radagast." Gandalf urged, impatiently waiting for why Radagast would be looking for the grey wizard. "Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong." Radagast revealed, the wizard yet again shocked. "Yes?" Gandalf went on.
The brown wizard went to speak, yet couldn't form the word. "Just give me a minute. Um...Oh! I had a thought and now I've lost it. It was...it was was right there, on the tip of my tongue!" He struggled, until he noticed something. "Oh! It's not a thought at all! It's a silly old... stick insect." He observed as Gandalf grabbed the small animal. The dwarves and Raewyn cringed at the sight, while Bilbo simply stood there, extremely confused.
As the two wizards continued conversing, the company found time for themselves, either smoking or cleaning weapons. Bilbo had decided to study his dagger as Raewyn sat beside him, playing with the little pieces of meat in her pouch. It had been a few days since she had last seen Farris, but then again, the owl had a mind of her own. Sometimes, she wouldn't come to show up for week. Not that it did anything to ease Raewyn's mind. She was thankful for Radagast's information on her companion, for she had already begun to miss her dearly.
"What are you daydreaming about?" Someone suddenly asked, knocking Raewyn fresh out of her mind. When she looked towards the source of the voice, she could see Kili kneeling in front of her, an always-prominent smile on his face.
"Nothing of importance," she began, but noticing the look on his face, she decided to continue. "but if you must know, I was thinking about Farris."
"Farris?"
"My owl."
Kili 'awwwed' in understanding, now looking up at the sky as if he would spot the owl. Suddenly, a howling noise filled the forest, as all the dwarves, including Raewyn, quickly stood up.
"Is that a wolf? Are there....are there wolves here?" Bilbo asked, making Raewyn shake her head, fearing for the little hobbit.
"Wolves? No, that's no wolf." Bofur spoke, his voice shaking visibly. Just then, two wargs charged at the group. Raewyn quickly grabbed her bow and shot one of the wolf-ish creatures in its head, almost immediately followed by a second arrow, which was launched from Kili's side. He shot the young woman a quick wink, before going in to attack the other one. As much as he tried, Thorin had reached the warg first, slicing its throat as the beast collapsed.
"Warg scouts!" He announced, looking towards Gandalf in particular. "Which means an orc pack is not far behind!"
"Orc pack?" Bilbo stuttered. "Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?!" Gandalf asked furiously, marching towards Thorin. "No one."
"Who did you tell?!"
"No one, I swear!" The dwarf defended. "What in Durin's name is going on?"
"We are being hunted." Raewyn revealed uncomfortably. "We have to get out of here." Dwalin commanded, already walking towards the open space of the forest.
"We can't! We have no ponies. They bolted!" Ori, the youngest dwarf , said. Panic settled amongst the company, as Raewyn unconsciously stepped closer towards Kili and Bilbo.
"I'll draw them off." Radagast tried. "These are Gundabad wargs. They will outrun you!" The grey wizard exclaimed.
"These are Rhosgobel rabbits." The other said confidently.
"I'd like to see them try."
And with that, the brown wizard took off on his sled. As Radagast left the sight of the company, Gandalf walked in front of the fifteen, pointing towards the open planes in the distance. "Come on!" The company started running, following the grey wizard. Raewyn's ankle shouted in protest, but she knew that right now, running was better than stopping and whining. Her bow was still in her hand, as she hadn't had the time to restore it. Bilbo was running right beside her, doing his best to keep up. She could see him tiring, but couldn't do anything to help him.
"One foot in front of the other, Bilbo." She encouraged him, causing a smile of appreciation to be send her way.
"Stay together." Gandalf ushered as he pushed the company behind one of the boulders, hiding them from view. In the distance, you could hear Radagast passing on his sled, the orc pack following him. When the coast was clear, the group began running again. Raewyn quickly grabbed Bilbo's hand and dragged him with her, as the hobbit had not yet noticed they had started to run.
"Move!" Thorin urged everyone, leading the group with Gandalf. Fleeing across the plain, they halted again behind a huge stack of rocks.
"Ori, no!" The leader grabbed the youngest dwarf, who was about to come out of hiding. "All of you, come on, come on! Quick!" The grey wizard spoke, now walking towards another safe spot.
"Where are you leading us?" Thorin asked, but Gandalf gave no response and kept on running. Raewyn had now let go off Bilbo and ran behind him, making sure he kept up. When they neared another boulder, Raewyn's ankle gave out, a simple step reaching the floor in an uncomfortable position. She quickly swayed to the right, leaning against the rocky surface. A quiet hiss escaped her mouth as she secured her bow to her back again. Fili was beside her immediately, supporting her waist so that she had the ability to lean against him. No words were spoken between them, and she was grateful for it. She didn't want another scolding or argument. Right now, all she wanted was to get some rest.
On top of the boulder, a warg had now appeared, sniffing the air loudly as an orc descended. Thorin cast a look to Kili, who nodded and quickly grabbed his bow and shot the warg down. Both creatures fell down as the orc let out a loud whine, before Dwalin quickly ended his screaming. Multiple wargs howled in response, causing panic to settle yet again.
"Move! Run!" Gandalf shouted. The dwarves ran as quick as they could as Raewyn did her best to keep up.
"There they are!" Gloin noticed, to which Gandalf responded with an alternate route. "This way! Quickly!"
"There's more coming!" Kili alarmed.
"Kili! Shoot them!" Thorin ordered, knowing they would not win over short distances. As Kili shot a few orcs, the company moved towards each other, circling around Bilbo as they each took their own stance.
"We're surrounded!" Fili remarked, his arm still tightly around Raewyn's waist.
"Where's Gandalf?"
"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin decided.
The much larger group of orcs drew nearer, causing Raewyn to push Fili's arm off of her. He looked at her confused, but she shook her head. "I got this." She grabbed her bow too and helped Kili knock a few orcs down.
"Hold your ground!" Thorin yelled, trying to steady the company.
"This way, you fools!" Gandalf suddenly spoke from behind them. He stood in front of a cave, signaling for the dwarves to come.
"Come on, move! Quickly! All of you!" Thorin exclaimed, nudging everyone forward. The dark-haired dwarf stood in front of the cave as he made sure every single one was secured to safety.
"Go, go, go!" Fili followed obediently, but when Kili stayed on the field to fight, Raewyn froze instantly.
"Kili!" She shouted, pointing towards the cave. She had his attention immediately. "Come on!" She said, half stumbling towards him. He quickly neared her, taking the earlier position of Fili.
"You're injured." He remarked as Raewyn held onto his arm. The two tried to run over the field as quick as they could, but at the moment, the young woman was a huge liability.
"Nothing I can't handle." Raewyn assured, quickly drawing her dagger and throwing it in between the eyes of a warg that came a little too close for her liking.
As they stumbled across the plains, Thorin kept shouting at them to hurry up, to the great annoyance of Raewyn. "Almost there." Kili reassured, holding onto her tighter as the orcs kept nearing at an alarming rate.
The woman looked behind quickly and noticed a warg pouncing towards the two. Without hesitation, she let go of Kili's arm and pushed him towards the floor, Raewyn dropping with him. The air spontaneously left their lungs as the warg jumped over their bodies. The dwarf looked up in shock when the warg charged towards them again.
Kili swiftly unsheathed Raewyn's sword and instantly stood up, swinging the weapon towards the beast. When it easily sliced through its skin, Kili kneeled down and helped Raewyn up, who was still struggling. When she stood back up, the two ran towards the cave again, jumping down the moment they were close enough.
As Thorin jumped in after them, Kili and Raewyn sat up, slowly regaining their breath. "Give me a warning.... next time you do that." Kili said in between heavy breaths as the woman slightly smiled at him.
"Let's hope there won't be a next time."
A loud horn suddenly sounded over the field, which was followed by an orc tumbling down the cave, an arrow impaled in its chest. "Elves." Thorin spoke in disgust.
"I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or not?" Dwalin asked from the back of the cave.
"We follow it, of course!" Bofur decided, following the larger build dwarf.
"I think that would be wise." Gandalf joined, looking at the remainder of the company.
"Get up." Thorin spoke lowly towards Kili and Raewyn, although Raewyn knew it was particularly meant for her. The younger dwarf did not hesitate and stood back up, but instead of walking towards his uncle, he kneeled back down in front of the woman, assisting her in getting up too.
"Can you walk?" He asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"I can walk just fine." She said, dismissing his arm. When his face crossed with hurt, guilt overcame her. She softly patted his shoulder and gave him a soothing smile. "But thank you."
Those words seemed to satisfy him enough, because he showed her one of his well-known grins in a flash. When the two turned back around, they found that the company had already left, leaving them alone with Fili, who had been patiently waiting for both of them.
"We might want to catch up on the rest." Fili spoke through a smile, causing Raewyn to hobble forward.
"I think that would be a good idea." Kili said, following behind Raewyn, beside his brother, unaware of the destination this cave lead to.
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