Bring Me With Her

Things Become Harder

"What are you doing?" Thorin demanded, but she didn't even turn around. She just kept walking into the direction of danger. "TALIA WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he bellowed, finally taking off after her. Where on earth could she be going? Nevermind that, what frightened Thorin the most was how calm she was. This wasn't Talia. If she were in her right mind, Talia would be terrified. She would never go off on her own the way she was right now. What in Durin's name was happening to her?

The Dwarf king froze as he watched Talia climb up a nearby staircase and onto the top of a wall, right out in the open. He widened his eyes in horror as one of the Nazgul flew up right in front of her...and she didn't even do anything. She didn't run or scream. She didn't even pull out her sword to fight! She just stood there, doing nothing...at first. Thorin let out a yell and raced towards her as she pulled the Ring out from under her shirt, holding it out in front of the creature.

"NO TALIA!" Thorin shouted desperately as Talia held the Ring closer and closer to her finger. He looked over at the figure as he ran, and pushed harder when he saw the beast reaching a claw to Talia. He couldn't lose her, not now. Thorin was going so fast, he couldn't even slow himself down when he got to her. Instead of stopping her, he completely knocked her down, sending both of them rolling down the stairs.

The Dwarf and the Terran both cried out as they tumbled down further, feeling like each impact of the stone stairs was going to crush them. It finally ended with a hard crash to the ground, Thorin's landing ending up much softer than he thought it would be. When he instantly heard a high-pitched cry coming from underneath him, Thorin blinked with sudden alarm as he realized he landed on top of Talia.

He let out a grunt of pain as he moved to try to pick himself up, worried that he was crushing her. He barely even processed that Talia's yelp very quickly turned into a scream, and the second he began to lift himself, Talia shoved him away. Thorin fell flat on his back, woken from his daze immediately as Talia held her knife to his throat.

Thorin stayed completely still, his eyes widened, and his hands up. He felt a terrible strike of fear when Talia looked him dead in the eyes, and kept her blade against his neck. "Talia." he choked, failing to keep his emotion out of his voice. Talia blinked, her expression changing from hollow to horrified, her hand that was holding the knife beginning to shake. "Talia. Put it down." Thorin pressed with caution, swallowing the lump in his throat with difficulty. "Please...Ghivashel." he whispered hoarsely, his frown deepening as he saw the formation of tears creeping up in Talia's eyes.

With a gasp, Talia dropped her dagger instantly. "Oh my God!" she shuddered, backing away from him as quick as lightning. Talia cried out as her back came into contact with a nearby wall. She fell to the ground, tucking her legs into herself and burying her face in her knees.

Thorin let out a sigh of relief when he felt the cold, sharp blade leave his skin, still in complete shock over what just happened. He...he never imagined his Talia would ever be capable of doing anything like that, no matter how strong the grip of the Ring became. The Talia he knew could never kill anyone, let alone someone she cared about. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't landed on top of her. he tried to tell himself. She only did what she did because I scared her.

But nevertheless, the Dwarf king took Talia's dagger with one hand and placed the other on his neck. He shook his head. How did it come to this, to the point where he was actually debating whether he should be afraid of Talia and what she might do next? His head was buzzing with never ending thoughts, until he looked up and saw her, the state she was in. The Dwarf king nearly closed his eyes at the sight.

She was beside herself. He could hear her muffled whimpering as she rocked herself back and forth. She was covering her ears with her hands, whether it was to block the mayhem around them or the voice of the Ring, Thorin didn't know. What he did know was that she was here. His Talia was here. She recognized him before she could do anything that she would truly regret, and was now feeling a horrible sense of guilt that Thorin knew all too well.