Devotion (Thorin/OC)

Chapter 11 : home is behind and the world is ahead

Luka POV

I had met the company outside Mister Baggins house, bright and early. I had spent most of the night watching over them, but when the first light had broken, I had shifted back and readied myself for the trip. My bow and arrows were strapped snugly on my back, while my twin swords rested at each hip. I had also stashed a few daggers in each boot and packed a lot of changes of clothes, in preparation for any unwanted shifts. My cowl covered the iron collar around my neck, but every now again it would clink when I moved.

I wore clothes that covered up most of my body, afraid of the company seeing my scars and asking questions. I covered my face by pulling the cowl up like a hood, making sure it covered my hideous scar that my hair seemed to be failing to hide. I watched as the company staggered around, yawning, as they readied themselves and their ponies. Any time I got near the creatures, they spooked and shied away. I decided it was best if I kept my distance.

"Do you have a ride?" A deep voice asked from behind me. I whipped round to face Thorin. The beast purred in content at the sight of him. My eyes softened.

"No, horses and ponies have never really liked me. But I can keep up on foot, I promise" I hastily added onto the end as Thorin opened his mouth to complain. He stood there a moment, staring at me with an unreadable face. I shifted nervously, but when his face hardened and he stalked away, I felt empty.

"Mount up!" Thorin growled angrily at the company. My heart clenched. Was I the one making him angry? What did I do?! The company did as told, and soon we were trotting our way through Hobbiton, towards the old woods.

I kept a good distance from the horses, but I always kept up with them. It made me nervous how Thorin kept casting scowls in my direction. Did he really dislike me that much? The beast whimpered and mournfully howled inside me, dreading the thought of our Vasva rejecting us.

When my kinds other half rejected them, it meant certain death. Your soul would collapse, and your body would be in constant pain. But death would not come quickly, oh no. It could take months and months for the end to finally come, but most couldn't stand the pain, so they would end it themselves. The thought of going through that made me shudder with fear. It was quite a cheerful process...

I was torn from my thoughts by a voice.

" what do you recon, lass? Will bilbo join us or not?"

The voice belonged Nori.

Ah, they were making bets. Not far behind us, I heard the frantic foot falls of a hobbit. I smirked.

"I bet you 20 gold he turns up in sixty seconds!" I challenged the dwarf, smiling more when he accepted the bet.

"Miss.Luka, you do know that Nori has never lost a bet in his life!" Bofur shouted back from the middle of our convoy. I smiled and tapped my ear, a gesture that completely confused the dwarf. We had reached the woods now, plodding along a worn dirt path. The dwarves were clearly not happy with the hobbits absence. I kept catching onto a few words of their words, such as "waste of time" and "useless hobbit".

'56...57...58...59...annnnnd'

"Wait! Wait!"

"Woah!" Thorin called, stopping the whole company. I couldn't help but smirk as Bilbo ran up to Balin and handed him the contract.

"I signed it!" Bilbo gasped, trying to catch his breath. Balin chuckled, before taking out a pocket-glass and inspecting the document closer. After a second, he smiled widely.

"Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." The dwarves cheered, though thorin did not look impressed.