44Disclaimer: I don't own any of the hobbit Characters or anything.
Abigail rose early that morning to prepare for her hunting trip, she pulled her hair back into a high ponytail so that it would not get in her way. She paused for a moment to feel the pointed tips of her ears. She emerged from her room in tan colored breeches, a dark green tunic and sturdy leather, albeit worn, boots. Her mother sat in the dining room with her needle and thread laid out in front of her. She looked up from her work to look at Abigail, then frowned.
"Is it time again for another hunting trip?" She asked standing from her chair.
"Yes mother, we're running a low on food." Abigail said.
Abigail's mother sighed unhappily then stood, going to the kitchen to pack a bag of supplies. Abigail noticed that she was packing a little more than was strictly needed for her two day trip but she knew that it would put her mother's mind more at ease so she didn't say anything about it. When she was finished she looked back at Abigail.
"I miss the time when your brother lived here with us." She said.
"Adam has made a good living in Dale, besides, I always was a better hunter than he." Abigail said with a smile.
Her mother smiled back at her in spite of herself, then pulled Abigail into a tight hug.
"I will see you in two days' time. And mother? Please don't worry about me." Abigail pleaded.
"That's a lot to ask of me but I will try my best." She replied.
And with that she took her things; the supplies, a small hunting knife that she kept secured to her belt and her bow, slinging them over her back. With one small glance back at her mother she left the small cottage and went west, towards the river.
The young dwarf prince paced impatiently around the throne room, waiting for his father to return with the answer from his grandfather. All he wanted to do was go to the city of Dale, never had he been that far away from the lonely mountains. He had never experienced the town that he could just make out if he squinted through his window. Thorin often wondered what it would be like to be there in the middle of a busy market day, to hear the singing and see peddlers like his father had described to him. He wanted to touch the fine silk, and taste the ale from a tavern. Just then the door opened and his father stepped into the room.
"Your grandfather agreed that it is time you have a chance to explore a little." His father said gruffly "But, you must take at least two guards with you, and you must be back by tomorrow night."
Thorin nodded, a little disappointed at these stipulations but if this was what it took then he would be happy to take the guards. He left the throne room to retrieve his sword from the armory and met the guards at the great door. Thorin strode forward confidently, even though he could feel the hard stare of his father at his back. In fact many of the dwarves he passed gave him strange looks, as if they could not understand why he wanted to leave these lovely mountains.
"Be careful Thorin." Balin said as they pasted each other "Enjoy yourself, but be careful."
Thorin thanked him for his concern and promised that he would be careful. Then they went on until they, at last, came to the large metal doors that lead to the world outside. Once the doors were opened he walked forward without a second glance at his home.
It was mid-afternoon when Abigail bent low to examine the rabbit trail that she had found. Upon further inspection she saw that this was a trail that many different animals used. She thought about laying a trap but thought better of it. One caught, struggling animal would be enough to ruin the entire trail. So instead she followed the trail through its bends and twists until she came across smaller track that the rabbits mostly used. She carefully set a few traps there then moved on further into the forest. Not long after that she found the signs of a ground pig that had passed by here not too long ago.
For the last four years Abigail had been the provider for her mother, so with much practice she was able to track the pig down within a few hours. The pig roamed around a small clearing nosing around in the dirt looking for editable roots. Abigail took an arrow and placed it on the string, taking a deep breath. She drew the bow back with practiced precision and loosed the arrow, it hit its mark. The animal felt no pain, of that she made sure. Abigail went forward to bless the animal for its sacrifice in her father's native tongue as she did for every kill.
"Goheno nin, Gurn glassui."
She gently removed the arrow from where it had imbedded itself in the creature. Glancing up she noticed that the sky was quickly darkening and if there was one thing Abigail knew about this forest it was that you should not be caught after dark without a fire. While this part of the forest was mostly calm, the occasional wolf pack or brown bear would wander through and a fire would serve to scare them away. So she set about gathering dry kindle, bark and rotten wood from fallen trees, half an hour later she had a small fire going. It was now almost completely dark and a chill was starting to settle over the land. Abigail huddled even closer to the fire, holding her hands out to keep the frost from my fingers. Soon after that she laid out her bed roll and covered herself in its blanket and fell asleep.
Thorin had nearly forgotten how beautiful things were out here. Indeed they were nothing compared to jewels or gold, but he found that nature held its own charm for him. The air was dry and warm, much unlike the cold moisture that he found in the deep caverns of the mountains. They followed the road until they were under the full cover of the trees and could no longer see Eredor.
Thorin glanced back at his guard whose eye's wandered the forest with suspicion. Thorin knew that neither one of them could understand why he wanted to leave the comforts of the mountains. But of course they didn't say anything to him for fear of offending an heir to the throne. The prince let out a quiet sigh, he knew that the title he held was sacred to his people but sometimes he wished had been born to a common blacksmith. At least then no one would be afraid to speak their mind to him or spare with him without letting him win. As it was the only men who would speak truthfully to Thorin were his father and his grandfather.
A while later the road the company was traveling became steeper and even narrower. It had been carved into a hillside in order to allow the traveler to reach the top of a cliff that would have been difficult to climb by itself. The two guards insisted that they go first just in case there happened to be an ambush at the top of the mountain. Thorin was skeptical but in order to avoid an argument he agreed. As they rose above the tree line Thorin was again struck by the beauty of this world that was so different from his own. Suddenly a flash of yellow color from down below caught his eye, he squinted his eyes and leaned forward slightly. What was that thing flying through the air?
"Prince Thorin!" One of the guards yelled.
But it was too late, the ground under Thorin's feet broke free from the pathway and while he tried to jump backwards he already knew that it would not work. The sensation of falling was a helpless one, for although his arms flailed about there was nothing he could ketch a hold of. He tucked his arms around his head and brought his legs in towards his chest in hopes of lessening the damage. He hit the ground hard, all the air in his lungs was expelled with great force, black spots danced around his vision. There was a sharp pain coming from his leg where he had landed on it.
"My Prince!?" Yelled the guards from above "Are you alright?"
It took Thorin a few moments to regain enough breath to reply.
"I'm fine." He called up.
There was a second of silence as the two exchanged looks trying to determine the best course of action.
"We'll back track the way we came then come and get you." One said.
"You will not. By the time you did that it would be dark, we would have no chance of finding each other then." Thorin gestured largely to the sun which was well past the halfway mark.
"Then what do you suggest sir?"
"You go on to Dale." He continued through the protests "I'll make camp for the night and travel the rest of the way in the morning."
"But Sir, there are dangerous creatures that come out at night in these parts." the older of the two pointed out.
"That is why I have my sword, now that is an order!" Thorin shouted frustrated
"If your father were here-"
"My father nor my grandfather are here, I am and I demand that you follow my orders as you would theirs. Without question."
"Yes sir." The two said hesitantly.
Once the two had disappeared from his vision Thorin turned his attention to his leg. He placed his hands on either side of his knee, nothing seemed to be twisted or broken which he was thankful for. He took a deep breath and pulled himself up to his feet, the pain in his leg was cringe worthy but he would have to manage. He looked up at the rocky hillside with distain, he didn't think that he could make it up there alone. Perhaps if he followed the ridge line he would come across an easier pass. As he hobbled along he noticed that the sky above him was already darkening. Thorin silently cursed his bad luck, no doubt his father and grand-father would hear of this when they returned. He was sure he would never hear the end of this one.
As time went on it became harder and harder to see, he began stumbling more frequently. The pain in his leg had steadily grown worse over the past hour. In addition to that he had been hearing strange noises coming from just beyond his line of sight. More than anything, he wished he were back in his home where it was dry and warm instead of cold and wet. Just as he was about to give up for the night he saw a small flickering of light in the distance. Of course he had no idea whose fire it was or if they were friendly but with the dropping temperature it sure would be nice to be by a fire.
Abigail awoke to the sound of a twig snapping loudly right outside the boarders of her camp. In one swift movement she was on her feet, arrow drawn. She knew an animal would never come so close to a fire.
"Whose there?" Her eye's scanned the forest for movement.
"I don't mean you any harm." A distinctly male voice said
"Then you won't have a problem showing yourself." Abigail said slowly.
"I don't much fancy the thought of being shot with an arrow." The voice said.
"Tell you what, you come out and I'll put the bow down."
There was a moment of silence before a man came stumbling into the light. No, Abigail thought, not a man, a dwarf.
"Okay, I came out. Now you put the bow down?" He asked.
Quickly she brought the bow to an easy resting place by her side but continued to eye him carefully. Abigail noticed that he seemed to be favoring one of his legs.
"What's your name?" the dwarf hesitated "Oh come on, you snuck up on me in the middle of the night. I think the least you can do is tell me your name before I invite you to sit and rest at my camp fire."
"Balin, my name is Balin." He said finally.
"Well Balin, would you like to take a seat? I see you favoring your left leg, is it alright?"
Balin slowly lowered himself to the ground and let out a loud sigh. Abigail matched his movements although she kept her bow at her side.
"Its fine, I just…took a tumble off some rocks and landed funny, that's all."
"I'm assuming you were headed to Dale?"
"How did you know?" He asked surprised.
"Really, there's not a lot places to go here. So it stands to reason that you were either going to Dale or back to Erebor. I took a guess as to which."
"Yes, I was on my way to Dale." He confirmed.
As she watched him she took the time to note his features. He had a rather handsome face with a slightly hooked nose and bright blue eyes. He was dressed in fine clothing, a large diamond was framed in his belt along with a beautiful dwarfish sword. It was something no commoner would have but she didn't ask any questions.
"Are you hungry?" she asked.
"I wouldn't want to impose any more than I already have." He said
"Nonsense, I have more supplies then I strictly need."
From her bag she produced several strips of smoked meat which she cautiously handed to Balin. The dwarf hesitated for a second before gently taking meat from her.
"Thank you…?"
"Erulassë." She said.
"Erul…" He tried
"But you may call me Abigail if it suits you better." She said with a smile.
"Yes, I think Abigail is much more manageable." Balin said with a small laugh.
There were a few moments of silence when Balin dug into the meat with a fierceness only a dwarf could manage. Abigail simply watched, she was intrigued by him, after all he was the first dwarf she had seen up close. Of course she was still weary of him, she had heard tales from Dale of dwarfish greed but as she looked into Balin's face she began to doubt the stories.
"You're staring." Balin said not bothering to look at her.
"Oh, I…" Abigail's face turned a lighter shade of pink "my apologies, it's just…I've never seen a dwarf up close before. I find you interesting."
He made a grunting noise as if the statement made him uncomfortable.
"So what's an Elf like yourself doing out here? You're a long way from Mirkwood." He changed the subject.
Abigail's jaw clenched at the mere mention of that accursed place. Unwanted memory's fought their way through her mind, memory's which she had long since tried to forget.
"I don't live in Mirkwood." She said sharply.
The dwarf's eyes widened in surprise at her harsh reaction to his question. There was an awkward silence between the two of them before Abigail threw him a blanket.
"You can sleep here tonight. There are wild animals that roam the land at night so I won't throw you out but you should know, if you make any move that I find threatening I will kill you."
As soon as she flipped away from him onto her side. Abigail heard Balin hesitate for a moment before he laid down too. For the longest time she just laid there listening intently for the sounds of his breathing. Although she didn't get the feeling that he would attack her in the middle of the night his presents still made her uneasy. Finally his breath even out into a pattern of sleep. Not long after that Abigail followed suit.
Hope you guys like the story so far. I'm not sure how many chapters it will take for us to get to the movie/book time frame though. Please let me know what you think! If you have any suggestions on anything you can let me know!