Thorin's Vow - the Hobbit

CHAPTER TWO

Gandalf had seen many things during his years on Middle Earth. Many terrible and wondrous things that could be considered out of the ordinary, but he was sure that a naked woman - a growling and snarling naked woman - being born from the sky was a little more unusual than most.

He was truly and thoroughly unsure as to what to do in this situation. A quick glance to his left showed that the slack-jawed Rómestámo was much the same. So he stayed where he was. Body still half buried in sand and sweating once again from the sun beating down upon his back and hatless head.

Gandalf watched with trepidation as she vocalized her noises louder, shivers racking her slight frame. His skin crawled and prickled when he heard other voices layered within hers. What is this devilry? He could see the sharp edges of her shoulder blades peeking through her smooth hair as she crouched even lower upon the ground.

But then she stopped, suddenly frozen and her mouth closed with a click as her teeth came together quickly. She reminded him of an animal, wild and on edge. The woman cocked her head to the side, almost bird like, black eyes switching position between he and the blue wizard. It looked like she had made some sort of decision when she nodded to herself before standing.

Modesty was apparently something this creature either didn't understand or didn't care about. She was unabashed as she stood there, straight and unyielding on the red sand and under the burning yellow sun. Her hair was long and straight, shining an unorthodox gold so light it seemed white as it lay over her shoulders and arms. Her skin was pale, almost more-so than that of an elf. It was pearlescent, translucent in places, the tiny blue veins of blood visible and stark under her flesh. The woman was slight of build though slim lines of lean muscle cut across her shoulders and thighs.

She stuck out a hand, palm up, and stilled.

"What is happening?" The Grey Wizard's chapped lips cracked and pulled with pain as he whispered to his partner but he ignored it.

"How should I know?" Gandalf looked incredulously at the other man upon hearing his hushed reply.

"You're the one that had a vision of her coming. You sent for me!"

"Yes, well - I've done my part!"

"You're part?! You've barely done anything you old fool, except drag me into this hot forsaken wasteland of dust!" A short high pitched giggle interrupted their whisper battle and both men froze, almost nose to nose due to their exchanging of words.

"She's right next to us isn't she?" Gandalf merely nodded his head and they turned their necks slowly back to the front and both had to resist the urge to scoot back.

The woman knelt on the ground, face stooped low, almost even with theirs. A wide smile graced her full pinks lips and he noticed with a small amount of surprise that her eyes were back to green. Her silken hair fell in front of her body, resting on the sand as she sat in front of them, too close for any sort of respect toward personal space.

The mysterious woman giggled again and spoke, waving her hand between the three of them.

"Any sort of idea as to what she's saying?" The grey wizard shot the man a dark look.

"Yes, of course, but I'm choosing not to reply because I want to be rude." She tried speaking again but it didn't sound the same. This was harsh, short pronunciations whereas the first time she spoke it was fluid and some of the words rolled together. Her forehead puckered, the woman's slim brows drawing together and she began speaking faster, none of the strange words stayed the same after a few seconds. He assumed she was trying to speak to them but had no idea what language so she kept switching from one to another. How peculiar.