Bring Me With Her

Light Spirits

It took them a day to reach Emyn Muil...and Talia could now see why the Dwarves complained about it. It wasn't exactly the next Yellowstone National Park, it was...in all honesty, it was a pretty ugly place to be. Sharp, tall rocks and boulders were everywhere, it was like walking through a maze. There was hardly anything unique about each rock...it was so easy to get lost...which Talia and Thorin had already done a couple of times this morning. The young woman had a bad feeling that even with the both of them there, it would still take them a year to get out of this place and reach Mordor.

The two of them were now looking down a cliff...one that they would have to climb down. Talia could feel beads of sweat weaving from her forehead as Thorin took out rope from his bag and tied it around a boulder. The young woman tore her head away from the bottom that she couldn't see to find Thorin holding the rope up towards her. "I'm going to have you go first. You're the lightest, I can pull you back up if there comes a moment when I need to." he told her.

Talia held in her breath at that. "Ok." she said, trying not to throw up her own nerve fibers. Thorin furrowed his eyebrows as he went to throw the free end of the rope down the cliff.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Talia swallowed hard. "Oh I'm great. Let's just get this over with." she said, but Thorin grabbed her arm before she could bend down to grab the rope. Talia could feel a glare coming on as his smirk began to form on his lips.

"Don't tell me you're-"

"Yes. I'm afraid of heights! I've always been afraid of heights! That's not such an uncommon fear, you know!" Talia snapped. She could feel herself beginning to fume as Thorin let out a chuckle.

"You climb trees, you've flown on an Eagle, and you've climbed down the front gate of Erebor. Yet all this time, you've completely failed to tell me that you're afraid." he smirked.

"Ok, you know what? Climbing trees is not the same thing, and flying on that Eagle and climbing down the gate scared the hell out of me!" she retorted.

Thorin shook his head. "And you're becoming so angry about this because...?" he questioned, causing Talia to gape.

"Why do you think? I know what you're afraid of, when have I ever thrown it in your face or made fun of you for it?" she challenged.

Thorin's smirk slightly faded, and he let out a sigh and took her by the shoulders. "You never have." he said lowly, bending down to press a kiss to Talia's forehead. "I'm sorry. You just...never cease to surprise me." he admitted.

Now it was Talia's turn to smirk. "Are you trying to be romantic?" she asked.

Thorin raised his eyebrows. "Are you trying to be cheeky?" he retorted. Thorin's smug expression began to deepen as Talia's smile widened and eventually turned into a laugh. Why does he have to look so damn good while he's being arrogant? Talia thought. She absolutely hated that about him! It wasn't fair! She was so irritated with him...and she couldn't even show it. She was too much of a sucker for...all of him. Talia rolled her eyes at the thought, and figured that in a way, that could be a good sign. It was a sign that they were merely bickering over something they wouldn't even remember a week from now. It wasn't something that mattered.

The young woman shook her head, wondering what she was going to do with him, but then her nerves rose once more as she went to grab the rope. Talia bit her lip when she felt Thorin's hand on her arm. "Don't worry. I'll be right behind you. Try not to look down." he told her. Talia nodded, and with a deep breath, she grabbed the rope and began to descend down the cliff.

Every second was horrible. They had been climbing down for what felt like five years, and Talia's hands were beginning to hurt from holding the rope so tightly. It was bad enough that they already burned from the couple of times that she slipped, and Talia would have gladly loosened her grip if it weren't for her fright.