The Fifteenth Member (Thorin Oakenshield/OFC)

Chapter 4

A week passed. When I rode with Balin, I had convinced him to tell me the story of Erebor, since Bilbo had told me that Thorin, the rightful heir to it's throne, meant to reclaim it. By now, I had ridden with all of the dwarves accept Thorin and Dwalin. They were still being cold towards me. I tried to convince Thorin to let me take one of the night watches once but he just scoffed and turned me down, saying I wouldn't last an hour. This had hurt my pride, they thought I was a dainty little girl who had no business outside her house. I was strong and I could prove it! I had started serving myself tiny portions of soup, claiming I wasn't hungry and hoped my stomach wouldn't give me away the next day. I began to lose weight rapidly, and whenever someone offered me food during the day I turned it down.

The dwarves had at first questioned Thorin when they discovered that he lent me his coat when I slept but his reply was simply 'She is travelling with us for now and if she were to fall ill, she would slow us down'. I found both of my cats sleeping next to me the first morning. They were excellent trackers so leave it to them to find me if I went missing and on top of that, they both love me and always wanted to be around me when I was at home. Thorin had not wanted them around at first and threatened to get rid of them but when he saw that they were harmless and brought me a bunny for dinner, he was more than happy to let them stick around. They were constantly giving me dead rodents because they knew how hungry I was but I never said anything and handed whatever they gave me to Bombur for him to stick in the soup.

I had also discovered that Gandalf's horse was stronger than the ponies and could carry me all day every other day so that is what I did. The second day I rode with him, it started to rain. Normally, I rode behind the person I was riding with but after my tail took form, I couldn't hold on and had to ride in front. When I asked him if he could do anything about the rain, he said he could but he wouldn't. I rolled my eyes used my powers to dry my tail and then change the course of the rain so it wouldn't hit me. The dwarves were astonished at this but knew better than to say anything about it. My cats, Momo and Axel, had taken shelter with me during the storm as well.

I had won the cats in a dice game a few years back when they were six-month-old kittens and they were now almost four years old. They had come with their names but I had not questioned the traveller who brought them, I simply thanked him and he went on his way.

We stopped for the night by an old abandoned farm house. It made me very uneasy for it was in ruins Gandalf had tried to persuade Thorin to move on but he wouldn't hear it. I had finally been granted third watch the night before, I was supposed to wake Fili for the fourth but I didn't, we all needed sleep but this was just part of my plot to get Thorin and Dwalin to accept me. I was very tired but I wouldn't say a thing, I just handed over the five large mice, three squirrels, and two rabbits that the cats had brought me today.

When Bilbo was told to take Fili and Kili their dinner, I stopped him just outside the camp and poured all I had been given into their bowls. He tried to stop me but I did it anyway.

"Bilbo, I'm tired of being treated like a weakling! I have to do this to prove those who don't think I belong here wrong!" He had just given me a sympathetic look and walked off.

Five minutes later, I was sitting at the edge of the fire waiting for my tail to dry up when Fili and Kili burst out of the bushes.

"Trolls! Three of them!"

"They took Daisy and Bungle and Bilbo went to free them! We have to help him!"

The dwarves sprang into action, pipes were snuffed out, weapons were drawn, and they all made their way into the trees.

I quickly dried my tail manually and ran after them silently.

"Fili!" I hissed, "You don't by chance have a sword I can borrow do you?" He nodded and gave me one of his along with a small dagger. I was about to jump into the clearing and attack with them when I noticed Bilbo struggling to carry a huge knife. I ran over to him and helped him cut the ponies loose. The trolls however, heard the noise and went to grab us. They got Bilbo but missed me because I backed away from the light and I had heard they had terrible eyesight. I was right. He squinted and then shrugged and walked back to everyone else.

The trolls used Bilbo to force everyone to surrender and put them in separate burlap sacks. None of them looked pleased and they squirmed even more then the trolls put several of them on a roasting stick above the fire. I decided to climb a tree and try an attack from above. I went up as high as a dared and stuck to the shadows as much as I could. I hid Fili's small dagger down the front of my shirt and, holding his sword tightly, leapt down onto the neck of one of the trolls. None of them were very flexible so he couldn't get me down on his own. I wasted no time in attempting to push the blade into his skull but the bone was thicker than I expected and by the time I had realized that, it was too late.

One of the other trolls took a swipe at me and I went flying. I hit the tree that the Company was at the foot of. My side took more of the blow and I felt at least one rib snap. As I fell, one of them caught me in a sack and dropped me. I landed hard on top of Thorin who looked more surprised than angry. My head was swimming, the lack of food and sleep was finally catching up with me.

"How come I can feel your ribs pressing into my stomach?" He whispered softly.

"Because I'm lying right on top of you."

"Don't get smart with me, little siren, I can't feel anything besides ribs. You were not this skinny when we first found you and Fili told me that you did not wake him his watch. Why?" I tried to roll off him but somehow, he caught my long hair (which I had kept in a braid this whole trip) and prevented me from getting away. "Don't you dare turn your back on me. " he growled harshly, his voice stayed a whisper but I could tell he was angry. "You will look and me and you will tell me why you haven't been eating." I sighed, there was no getting out of this.

"Because I wanted to prove to you and Dwalin that I'm more useful than you think. I saw the look he gave me that first night when I was given a larger serving of soup than everyone else. I wanted to prove that I'm no different than any of you and take a night watch and I didn't wake Fili because I knew he was more tired than I was." Even in the dim light, I could tell that Thorin was both shocked and ashamed.

"I'm sorry. I never thought you would do something like this, I know you're not useless, I saw you help free the ponies but all dwarves are very mistrusting of those outside of their race. I know you've been talking to Gandalf about where there are settlements in the area that would welcome you in and I assumed that you would take one of the ponies and flee now that you had an opening."

"You guys helped me when I was in need so it's my turn to help you." I yawned heavily. I had been awake for almost a full day now. Thorin sighed.

"Lay your head down on my chest and sleep, you are no good to us tired and it may be your last chance for a while."

"But I-"

"Don't argue, just do it." I knew there was no way he would listen to me now. I laid my head down but started trying to get ahold of Fili's dagger that I still had hidden down my shirt. I grabbed the hilt and shifted to try and pierce the sack without hurting Thorin but I felt a sudden pain in my ribs that stopped me.

"What's wrong? I felt you tense up."

"Nothing" I replied, me voice laced with pain. I managed to get the knife through my sack and into Thorin's hand. He looked at me.

"You are very clever but that will do us no good now." He handed it back to me, "Do as I say and sleep. I know now that you were injured when you fell but there is nothing we can do about that now"

I laid my head back down again. The fabric of the sack was itchy and irritating against my cheek but I could feel his body warmth through the material. This, along with the fact that I could hear his heartbeat, calmed me and I managed to shut my eyes and relax.

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