So Far Away ✔

005

. . .

THORIN

. . .

The days crept by in an alternate pace. Sometimes they seemed to go by in the blink of an eye, but there were also days that didn't seem to end. In the first place Dís and Thorin lived together in a house, but after some time Thorin needed a place for himself. He loved Kíli and Fíli, but they were not his children and he didn't want to take the place of their father. They needed to grow as a family. He lacked one and loneliness accompanied him daily. He however didn't feel sad. He spend a lot of time with the two sons of lord Elrond: Elrohir and Elladan, who not only showed him all the mystic places of Rivendell, but also took him for trips through the surrounding woods.

Elladan had told him he felt more at home in the wilderness where his urge to survive was tested and every day brought something new, than in the valley his father reigned. Elrohir also enjoyed riding through the woods and fields, but he liked talking and loved to be among other elves as well. He was always friendly and willing to answer questions, while Elladan sometimes lacked some talkatively.

Elrohir often visited the children, which his brother seemed to avoid, feeling uncomfortably with two young dwarfs who tried to climb his back. Thorin suspected Elrohir to have an eye on Dís, but the distress of his sister was too fresh to notice such a thing and he didn't know whether he liked it or not.

Thorin walked through the narrow tunnel that had brought him the first time to Rivendell. Every time he passed the road, he thought about the elf woman. Months had passed, but he still hoped to see here every time they left Rivendell. More than once he'd almost said anything about her to the twins, but something stood in his way. The feeling that she would hear his question didn't go away and when he would ask things within the safety of Rivendell, there would be no indication for it and he was afraid they would laugh at him.

He was a little worried why his curiosity hadn't weakened in the meantime and he hoped he could put it to rest when he knew who she was.

For his own peace of mind he decided to take the risk.

"I encountered an elf woman a while ago," he started when the roof of the tunnel had changed into the blue sky, which spread above a soft waving grassland. They didn't need to know that "while" was a few months ago.

Elrohir grinned when he said nothing more. "And that surprises you?"

Thorin's face colored red and he shook his head. "No. She - she didn't want to go to Rivendell."

The smile was wiped off Elrohir's face and he exchanged a look with his brother, which Thorin did not understand.

"What did she look like?" Elladan wanted to know.

"She had blond hair and a large scar on her face."

Something on the face of the elf changed, although Thorin couldn't say what it was. Maybe it was the frown above his nose or the dark look in his eyes, but he felt he got a bait.

"That must have been Scar," Elrohir continued to speak. "She's a very strange person. You better stay away from her."

For a moment it looked like Elladan wanted to say something, but in the end he only looked the other way with a stiff face.

"Why?" Thorin couldn't help but sound curious.

It was Elladan who gave an embittered answer. "Because she believes elves should pair with orcs."

In other circumstances he would have laughed about this comment, but Elladan's voice was so loaded it sounded as if he had spoken out a dead sentence. It was clear the brothers were not joking and he knew those two had just as much reasons to hate orcs as he had.