The Truth Beneath the Rose

Hollow

The clanking of metal pots snatched Thorin from his sleep. His heart was racing fiercly, his body sticky with a clammy sweat and the skin around his eyes were raw from the salt of his tears. A dream. Just a dream. He must have dozed back off last night. The sun was just beginning to illuminate the horizon. The others were already packing up the campsite. Bombur was tying his pots to his pack, Dwalin was grumbling about his bedroll not folding correctly and his nephews were jokingly shoving each other around. He glanced around and saw that the other members of the company were all accounted for. All but one. "Where is the girl?" He questioned, not wanting to sound too worried.

"I dunno." Nori answered. "Must've slipped off sometime last night." Thorin's heart sank. What had he done? He got to his feet and, without saying a word, walked toward the forest. The others looked curious but continued with their duties. He disappeared into the trees. He walked a good ways and then stopped. He was in the exact spot that appeared in his dream. He looked about and saw nothing out of the usual. There was no blood and the leaves lie undisturbed. But the lingering feeling in his gut did not cease. Soon his hair on his neck began to stand on end and cold chill ran down his spine. The crunching of leaves behind, lifted a weight off of him. He sighed in relief. But as he turned, he found it was only a crow. The crow cawed loudly, making him jump. The crow sounded again and flew away from him. He sighed and his heart grew heavy once more. But as soon as he turned back round, he was jolted backwards.

"Jumpy?" She giggled at him. His heart pounded against his rib cage and his lungs ached. He recovered himself quickly.

"Where have you been?" He barked at her.

"Looking about." She said, not understanding why he was angry.

"For?"

"Nothing. Just looking." She shrugged.

"From now on, you are to stay in sight of the company at all times. I will not have you wandering off. Do you understand me?" He instructed, snatching her by the arm, bringing her inches away from his. His sudden force infuriated her. His fingers tightened around her arm, it hurt but she didn't show it. She had done nothing wrong. He had no reason to be so angry with her.

"I thought you wanted me gone." She said in a matter of fact tone, jerking away from him with more force than he expected.

"What?"

"Do not pretend to be ignorant. You said it yourself!" She hissed.

"I said nothing." He lied.

"I am no fool. I know what I heard. You've been waiting on me to leave since I arrived." She scoffed. "Well I have news for you, Master Dwarf. I'm not going anywhere! Not until I get what I came for."

"What did you come for?" He demanded. "Please tell me! The sooner we give it to you, the sooner you will stop being my problem!"

"Your problem?" She shouted.

"All you have done is cause trouble with the boys, run off at night and have me search for you!" He yelled back.

Her voice grew louder. "I have never been your problem! Your problem is yourself, you greedy, self-important bastard!"

"How dare y-"

"No! How dare you! To flatter yourself with thinking that I'd ever be your problem!" They glowered at each other. He noticed that her eyes were changing, becoming more and more intense. She took a few deep breaths, calming her down. Ripping her glare from him, she took a step back. "Look. I'm not leaving. I've got my own business to do here. You don't have to trouble yourself with me. I'm not even really a member of this company. I'm just a tag-along. You worry about your people and I'll worry about me. You stay out of my way, I'll stay out of yours. Fair enough?"