The Fifteenth Member (Thorin Oakenshield/OFC)

Chapter 12

Mereniver's POV

The next five days passed without much happening other than me being more snappy than normal because of my moon cycle. Most of the time, it was too hot for me to be out of the water so I spent most of my time swimming around Rivendell exploring. Thorin and I had yet to speak about the kiss, it seemed neither of us wanted to tell the Company about it and we didn't spend that much time alone.

Before I knew it, Lord Elrond allowed me to participate in sparring practice and either Elladan or Elrohir came by every afternoon to teach me a bit of archery (which I excelled at due to my great hand-eye coordination). I was a bit more lacking in sword-fighting, but not by much. It turned out that my father only taught me the bare basics, I still needed to develop a mind for battle, focused and direct. I could tell Thorin was impressed though, I picked up on techniques quickly but I was still no where near the skill level of the Company and was instructed to avoid physical combat wherever possible. It helped that I didn't need to develop much muscle, swimming as a mermaid and learning to ride horses had done that for me.

We had less than a week left in Rivendell and I continued to gain weight and the bruises on my side had faded into almost nothing. The spaces between my ribs had filled in and Lord Elrond told me yesterday that I could start eating normally again.

Tunvan had departed yesterday as well, taking all of his other men with him. Rynry's and Vec's punishment had been banishment from the Hidden Valley (Which they were none too pleased about but accepted nonetheless). Tunvan and I had agreed that he would not tell our parents he had found me at first but if they got too pushy then tell them where he found me but not about Thorin or the fact that I'm a mermaid. We had also succeeded in swearing the rest of the men into secrecy as well but in return, as soon as the quest was over, if I survived, I would have to either come back and live with them or secure them a place to live in or near Erebor if possible.

Arwen and I were now the best of friends and Elrohir had given up the chase for my heart. The three of them now treated me like another little sister and were always looking out for me. For me, they became the cousins I never had and Lord Elrond became a godfather figure.

I woke up this morning to someone knocking on my door, the sun was just rising, its rays peeking into my room.

"Who is it?"

"Thorin. May I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." He opened the door and walked over to sit on the edge of my bed. I realized that I had made a huge mistake last night and not braided my hair before going to sleep so it was now a giant mess of tangles. Thorin picked up the brush on my nightstand and started doing it for me, taking great care not to pull too hard.

"How's your side?"

"The bruise is gone and it doesn't hurt at all."

"That's good."

"How long do we have left before we move on?"

"A few days, four nights at most. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering.... I want to ask Lord Elrond for a favor and I also want to try something today."

"Really? What?"

"It's a surprise. Meet me in the clearing right after breakfast. Make sure to eat fast, I don't want the others to find out about this if it doesn't work."