Where She Went

A Change of Heart

Adrenaline. That was the only thing that kept her going. The young woman could feel the soreness of her muscles and the sting of her cuts as she ran down the mountain. She only hoped that she'd be able to catch up to them. Talia began to slow down and felt a shot of relief running through her body as she heard Gandalf's voice taking a headcount of the Dwarves.

"...Fili, Kili, that's twelve...and Bombur-that makes thirteen." Talia could hear the Wizard's voice getting louder, and finally stopped behind a tree to catch her breath. She decided she'd rather not reveal herself to the company while she was probably tomato-faced and sucking in air.

"Talisa?" she heard Gandalf call. "Where is Talisa?" he asked, a little louder this time. The young woman peeked her head out to see Fili, Kili, and a couple of the others searching their surroundings for her. Now is the time. Talia thought. Now would be the time she would hear what the company really thought of her.

"Curse the Terran! Now she's lost?!" she heard Dwalin curse.

"I thought she was with Dori!" Gloin called.

"Don't blame me!" Dori defended himself.

"Well, where did you last see her?" Gandalf asked.

"Well...I put her on my back earlier, until a Goblin brought us down."

"What happened, exactly? Tell me!" the Wizard demanded.

"I-I didn't see her after that, I figured she had just gotten herself up!" Dori explained

"Perhaps she managed to slip away! She's small enough to do that!" Nori offered.

"And if she didn't? What if she's still in there with those low-life monsters?" Fili argued. The Dwarves began to argue then, angry at the thoughts that Fili had provoked about their burglar. They didn't want to think about that.

"Enough!" Thorin shouted, his fury rising at the turn of thoughts. "I'll tell you what happened! The burglar saw her chance and she took it! She's thought of nothing but her soft bed and her warm home since she first stepped out her door! We will not be seeing our burglar again. She is long gone!" The Dwarves looked at each other, unsure if they truly believed the leader's words. Fili and Kili looked at each other, worry all over their faces.

The young woman thought about Thorin's words. Was he right? Was home really all she thought about ever since she left? No. That's not true. Sure, there were times when she wished she was back home, but that was normal. She left everything she ever knew for the rest of her life. But she was definitely not thinking about it twenty-four hours a day.

The young woman's thoughts along the journey had shifted the focus onto the friends she made. Fili. Kili. Bofur. Balin. They had a place in her heart. She would not abandon them now, despite what Thorin has said all along. She would help her friends take back their home, or she would die trying. The young woman took a deep breath, and slid the ring off her finger.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." she said, a little more sour than she intended, and she gave Thorin a half-hearted glare. The Dwarves looked upon her and gave huge sighs of relief. Before she could even turn her head, she was engulfed in a bear hug by both Fili and Kili, who were laughing in alleviation.

"Talia! We'd given you up!" Kili told her as he and his brother let her go.

"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?" Fili asked.

"How indeed?" Dwalin agreed.

The young woman looked around at the company, and was about to tell them about the ring. But she didn't. Something was holding her back. She couldn't place what it was, but she had a gut feeling that she should keep the ring to herself.