I wake from my nap to the quiet sounds of the dwarves whispering and chatting quietly to one another. The rain outside sounds quieter and there isn't any wind pushing it into our cave. Smiling to myself, I stand and walk over to Thorin, Fili, Kili and Aragorn to return Aragorn's blanket. My head feels much better so I can move about without feeling dizzy and my face isn't swollen from the scratches. I keep my shoulder still and hold my arm to my chest.
As I approach, Aragorn looks up to me and gives me a warm smile. Kili and Fili grin to see me up and about.
"How is your shoulder feeling?"
"A little better, thank you, Fili." I smile at him as he looks concernedly at my shoulder.
"Do you want me to put it back into place?" Aragorn pats the ground beside him and I carefully lower myself to sit down.
"Please, thanks. Will it hurt?"
"I'm afraid it will, but it shouldn't last too long." Aragorn moves to kneel beside me and places a strong hand on the front of my shoulder.
"Take a deep breathe slowly." I do as he says and as I inhale he shoves his arm against the back of my shoulder and pushes forward from the other side. I let out a short grunt and gasp in air as the bone is shoved into the socket past my nerves, veins and tendons, making my body tingle through the pain. I shut my eyes tightly as Aragorn removes his first hand to grab some cloth to make a sling. He wraps it around my elbow and neck to keep my arm in place.
"Okay. You can take the sling off when you go to sleep. I'm sure your healing should kick in and finish it off in a while." He smiles to me and holds my left shoulder which doesn't hurt.
"Thank you. Mind if I sit with you all?" I look at the various faces huddled in the little circle. Fili and Kili smile up at me and Thorin gives a small nod and holds his arm out to let me sit between him and Fili. Aragorn sits opposite me.
"I really am so sorry about this, Valia. Had I known, I -" I cut Fili off with a wave of my good arm.
"Fili, it's alright. I'm healing and you never meant it. It was an accident, and accidents happen the whole time around me." I grin and he sighs with relief. I let my head fall to his shoulder to comfort him further. I hate to see him tearing himself up about me.
Thorin starts speaking quietly about his plans and what we'll do as we near the mountain. He wants to keep our food rationed so we have plenty for the long journey - which is fine for Bilbo, Aragorn and I as we can share lembas bread.
After a long while of planning and discussing, Fili decides to move away to a quiet spot to lay out his bedroll and sleep. "Sleep well. We'll have a hard trek tomorrow." Thorin keeps speaking for a while, occasionally glancing at me with interest in my opinions. After Fili moved away, Kili shuffled up beside me and wrapped his blanket around my shoulders, so I'm sharing it with him. He also kept one arm low around my waist, keeping me warm secretly, but I'm afraid that Aragorn caught on. I see him sometimes glare at Kili and give him a stern look. Maybe he's just concerned about my shoulder.
Slowly, other dwarves part from their groups to lay down and get some rest. Thorin, Kili, Aragorn and I stay awake latest. Bofur still sits playing with the ash on the floor, occupying himself, as does Bilbo in the corner by himself. No doubt thinking of home.
"Bofur."
"Aye, Thorin?"
"Can you take the first watch?"
"Aye."
Bofur moves quietly, tip-toeing over snoring dwarves to position himself against the wall by the entrance, looking out into the misty rain.
I find myself drawing elven patterns in the ash with Thorin and Kili watching the way my hands swirl through the sand and create intricate little pictures and scenes of home. We sit silently and I don't even notice when Thorin leans back against the wall and nods off. Aragorn is lying on his side, half asleep, half aware of the cave entrance. I don't need to sleep quite as much as dozy dwarves do, so after Kili slumps, I wrap his blanket back over him and move to sit with Bofur.
"Bofur. I can take over, if you need sleep."
"No, no lass. I can manage." Just as he says it, his body fights his will and he lets out a large yawn. I giggle a little as he looks defeated.
"I don't need sleep tonight. I've rested. You need to rest too." I smile down at his happy eyes and he nods.
"Bless you, lass. The world needs more like you to grace it's surface." He takes my hand and squeezes it briefly before moving away to get his bag and sleep.
Sighing, I take his place and sit with my back to the wall and watch the sheets of rain fall outside. A small breeze is brought through and I shiver.
My lungs contract when blue fabric falls over my shoulders. Instantly I smell a familiar scent. I smile to myself and turn to see Kili walking back to his bedroll beside his brother and uncle. I grin to myself as my heart beats faster and I begin to warm up. What makes me stop smiling is when I swear I see Aragorn glare up at Kili as he walks past. Kili looks back at him and although I can't see his face, I can tell he must have returned the stare.
Turning back to the entrance I pull up my black hood and hug the warm blanket tighter over my back and shoulders. My sword is lying on the ground by my hand, half concealed by my clothing.
I sit for a good long while, just watching the rain falling. Sometimes heavy, sometimes light. Little drops, big drops. Misty rain and wet rain. The wind never pushes much into the cave, so I am sheltered from becoming any wetter, for which I am thankful.
I sigh and try wriggling my shoulder a little to stretch it. Surprisingly, nothing hurts and I can move it perfectly. Smiling, I start to unwrap my sling when I hear shuffling behind me. I turn to see that the source of the tiny noise was infact, Bilbo Baggins.
"Bilbo."
He gasps and stutters, panicking before seeing me. I sit still but I frown at his waking. He carries on doing what he was doing. Packing his bag.
"What are you doing?" He stops, stands straight up and avoids my eyes.
"I'm going back."
"Why?"
"Because, I don't belong with you lot. Look, Gandalf said -"
"Gandalf isn't here, Bilbo. I'm sorry but for now, we just have to do our best. The wizard has other problems to deal with. He clearly thinks we can manage. Bilbo, just stay with us. You'll be safer than going out on your own, trust me."
"You could come with me, Valia. Come back to Rivendell and live in your home."
I can't help but consider it for a second. My heart longs for me to stay there but... I sigh. "I signed a contract and, I feel a certain responsibility. I can't cross Thorin. He trusts me. Fili and Kili are my friends. All of them are. And, Aragorn is sworn to protect me. I can't just leave without him."
Bilbo looks down to his feet and sways slightly, holding his walking stick.
"Dear, Bilbo. I can see your heart longs to be back at home, by your fire, with your books and handkerchiefs. If you so desire the warmth of home, please yourself. I have no right to hold you to your contract, so I won't stop you."
I smile at him and gasp when suddenly thunder crashes outside and lightning crosses the sky.
I look back inside the cave and smile at the peaceful dwarves.
"Go if you want, Bilbo. I understand. But please, be careful." At this point I am standing in my dwarf size so I give him a brief hug when he nods and thanks me.
As he turns to leave, his belt catches my eye. A blue glow is leaking out of his scabbard. Instantly I know whats happening.
"Wake up. Get up!" I shout and the dwarves slowly come to life. Slowly. Ash from the floor hisses and falls through a seam in the ground. Thorin is on his feet and alerting the others.
I grab up my sword and draw it, now fully alert. I look around for the Goblins or Orcs but see and hear none. My sword begins to glow like Bilbo's only mine glows a dark, eerie purple. Much darker than the hobbit's.
Suddenly, the floor beneath Bilbo and I's feet collapses. We plummet uncontrollably and as I manage to look up through tunnels, the other dwarves are shouting and rolling around down towards us. I grunt everytime I hit the hard stone, each time my shoulder giving me a stab of pain. My head pounds as I fall and change into my human size.
The tunnels are lit with torches and I hear Goblins shrieking as we fall. I hit a tunnel wall back first and the force keeps me there for a moment - just long enough for Bilbo to catch up and crash into me before we fall again together. My large clothes are preventing me from breaking anything although every impact shakes my head. My vision is going white as we fall further and further, everyone in the company tumbling and yelling around me. I can hear them catching up, possibly as they're heavier than Bilbo and I.
After falling for what seems like forever, we plummet one last time and fall in a heap in a filthy Goblin cage. Just my luck, I land on Fili's chest, welcomed by his fur coat. I laugh with relief and irony just before Bombur falls last ontop of everyone. We all grunt and start getting up.
"Hey. I guess we're even now." Fili jokes by my face as I start to push myself off of his chest.
I grin but I'm instantly brought to my senses again by a grimy, deformed goblim grabbing my bicep with it's awfully long nails and dragging me off of Fili and away with the company.
~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N
I'm going to go through this and edit it later, I needed to write this all quite quickly today so it may be a bit of a mess for now.
I really hope this was alright for you guys!
Exciting chapter next so yeah. Look forward to that!
I'm completely open to any suggestions for the story. and Please, vote, comment whatever!
Thanks so much for reading to this point! I'm amazed by the number of reads this story has and I'm so greatful for this.
BTW I went to see The Battle of the Five Armies last week and OH MY GOODNESS.
I cried. I'm not afraid to admit that. It was SOO GOOOD!! I was a bit annoyed about some bits but it was just amazing. Highly recommendable.
anyway... Love you all! <3 xox