Darkness and LIght(Revised)

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning, the Company continued to travel,  and later on that evening, they stopped to make camp.   As the night progressed, most of the dwarves went to sleep on the exception of Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, and Thorin.   Lydia and Bilbo also remained awake.   Fili and Kili were now telling a story about orc raids just to scare the Hobbit, in which Lydia didn't find that funny at all--she had dealt with orcs before, and she remembered her history with them, when she lost her family to them, not only that, her own sister had joined forces with the Orcs, which is another reason for her to hate orcs even more.  Suddenly, to add more to her frustration, Lydia could hear Fili and Kili chuckling softly shortly after they finished their tale, and she threw a couple small pebbles at them. "OW! Lydia! What was that for?!" exclaimed Kili.  "Orc raids are no laughing matter, you blubbering baffoons!" Lydia screamed at them. 

 Suddenly, Thorin spoke up as he paced back in forth in front of his nephews. "You think that's funny? You think orc raids are a joke?" said Thorin, sharply.  "We didn't mean anything by it!" grumbled Kili.  "You know nothing of this world!" snapped Thorin, and he walked away from the Company, with his back towards them.  "Now you've done it!" grumbled Lydia, and she walked over towards Thorin.  Soon, Balin spoke up and told the young dwarves of the Tale of the Battle of Moria, and Lydia listened to the story attentively.   She remembered hearing bits and pieces from Thorin, when he told her about his Grandfather and brother, and only that much. But when she heard the entire story, it broken her heart, and tears fell down her face, and she wished she got to know King Thror better.  Yes she remembered him well, and only knew him for a very brief time.   Suddenly, it was Bilbo who broke her thoughts as Balin finished his tale.  "What happened to the Pale Orc? What became of him?" asked Bilbo. 

 "The orc filth died within his wounds long ago! He is no more!" grumbled Thorin as he returned to the Company, and he went to sit back down in his usual spot.  Lydia went to join him, as she sat down on Thorin's lap,  leaning back into the Dwarf's chest. "Li, have you been crying?" Thorin asked, when he heard Lydia's sniffles.  "Yeah. Just thinkin' about your brother and Grandfather, that's all!" said Lydia softly.  "I know, Li! I know!" said Thorin softly, as he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, as Lydia leaned closer to Thorin's broad chest.  As Lydia slowly closed her eyes,  Thorin began to sing softly in her ear, singing words of calm and love to Lydia in his native language.  The next morning, the Company woke up and broke camp, as they continued to their journey.  It had been raining all that morning, causing the Company to feel grumpy and miserable.   "Gandalf! Can you do something about this deluge?" called out Dori.

  Lydia couldn't help but chuckle at Gandalf's response.  And then the topic quickly changed about other wizards like Gandalf.    As they were riding that morning, Thorin took notice that Lydia wasn't wearing a cloak.  "Lydia, where in Durin's name is your cloak and jacket? Did you remember packing some?" asked Thorin.  "I didn't feel the need to wear them at the time." Lydia replied. "Now Lydia, you're going to wear something to fight off this rain! I don't want you to become ill!"  said Thorin.  "I'm fine, really!" protested Lydia.  "Lydia, don't make me have to stop what we're doing and come over there and make you cover up!" warned Thorin.  "Fine!" grumbled Lydia, and soon, everyone stopped their ponies.  "Why are we stopping for?!" asked Gloin.  Suddenly they watched Thorin remove his fur coat and placed it on Lydia's shoulders.  After that, Thorin mounted his pony, they continued moving on.  

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By early evening, the Company stopped to make camp nearby an old abandoned farm house, which was Thorin's idea to stop there anyway.  Lydia didn't like the look of the place, and she wasn't the only one who felt the same way.     Lydia assists Bombur and Bofur in cooking dinner, while Thorin was still barking out orders to the Company.  Fili and Kili went on pony duty.     "Bombur, easy! Save some for the others!" said Bofur.  Lydia laughed.  "That's telling him, Bofur!" chuckled Lydia.  Suddenly, she could hear Gandalf and Thorin involved in a heated argument over their camping in this area.  Lydia thought Gandalf is right, they should move on to Rivendell, and it annoyed Lydia to the intent that Thorin had kept belly aching about the elves.   It was the point where she felt tired of keeping her mouth shut.  If it weren't for Elrond, she would be dead right now.  But now Lydia decided to leave that past behind her.   

 Shortly, Lydia saw Gandalf storming passed her.  Nice going, you idiot! You pissed him off! Now he's leaving us!  thought Lydia furiously.  Lydia knew she had to say something to him.  Staying here would be the worst thing he can do, because he would be risking everyone's life, if they did stayed here.   And so Lydia mustered up some courage and decided to have her little talk with Thorin.  "Thorin, do you have a minute?" spoke up Lydia, firmly.  Thorin turned his attention to Lydia. "Of course, Lydia. May I help you with something?" asked the dwarf leader.  "No, we need to talk about this area right here-I believe Gandalf is right, we should move on!" Lydia continued. "Oh for Mahal's sake, Lydia! Not you too!" wailed Thorin.  "Thorin, NOT ALL ELVES are like that greedy bastard, Thranduil! And let me fill you in on a little secret, Thorin! Lord Elrond has a strong distaste for Thranduil!" snapped Lydia.  "And how do you know of this?" asked Thorin. "He told him himself during my stay there!" Lydia replied. "It doesn't matter, Lydia! Elves are elves, no matter who the hel they are! We're not going there! END OF STORY!" shouted Thorin.

 Lydia screamed in frustration.  She was really getting tired of arguing with this stubborn dwarf.  "Thorin, there are some things you need to let go, and that is going to be one of them!! Why can't you see that?!" snapped Lydia, sharply.  "Lydia, this discussion is over! No go back to the others, and finish eating your supper!" snarled Thorin.  "No, this discussion is not over! I'm not moving until we talk about this like adults!!" shouted Lydia, angrily.  Suddenly, Thorin now stood directly in front of Lydia, now standing nose to nose to her. "Don't you raise your voice at me, woman! I AM YOUR KING!" bellowed Thorin.  "The last time I checked you are not yet King!" shot back Lydia.  All of sudden, Thorin raised his hand, and he struck Lydia across the face, as she yelped loudly, and the Dwarf stormed away from her.  "ASSHOLE!" shrieked Lydia, angrily tears running down her face, as she slowly stood up, with her hand upon her cheek, feeling where Thorin had struck her.

  Lydia's heart sunk when he had done this, and she swore to herself she would never, ever forgive Thorin for what he had done, and for sure, she had decided once and for all, she head towards Rivendell herself and stay there, and not go on the quest with them.   As she walked back to her bedroll, she prayed the others wouldn't see her in distress.   But unfortunately, someone had noticed her distress, and it was Balin.  "Lydia, what has happened? Why is there a bruise on your cheek?" spoke up the older dwarf, as he approached her.  "I tripped over a rock and fell!" Lydia lied.   Balin, however, could see behind the mask that Lydia is covering.  Balin knew Lydia well, and he knew that the bruise didn't appear to be from some simple fall.   "Why am I having a hard time believing that, Lydia? That bruise doesn't appear to be from a fall! Someone has attacked you.  Who struck you, Lydia?" asked Balin, firmly. "Balin, I don't want to talk about this right now! Can you please leave me alone?" said Lydia, sharply.

 "Lassie, listen to me--trust me, you can talk to me about anything! I won't tell anyone,  Lydia, if you just tell me what happened!" said Balin gently.  "You really want to know?! You really, truly want to know?! Thorin and I got into an argument, which ended very terribly, Balin--in other words, Thorin struck me!" snapped Lydia.  Balin's eyes widened in shock and disgust.  "HE DID WHAT?!" exclaimed Balin.  "I'm sorry, Balin-I shouldn't have said anything!" grumbled Lydia, dismally.  "It's okay, Lydia--I'm glad you said something! Its time that lad and I are going to have a little chat--this is one thing I am not going to tolerate!" fumed Balin, and he darted away.   Great, Lydia--you done it now-you just sparked that fuel to the fire,  thought Lydia.