Calm Before the Storm ➛ 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍

04

❝The Calm Before the Storm❞ ➛ 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍
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{ M I R I E L }

THOUGH I SLEPT for most of the night I still found myself awake earlier than the other dwarves; well, all except Thorin that is. He is truly unlike any other dwarf I have had the pleasure and displeasure of meeting. He was taller than most and lacked the common features you would expect, such as the larger nose, forehead, and ears. It made him have a softness about him, unfortunately, that was ruined by the constant scowl that painted his face.

Thorin sat by the fire looking over maps, as I stayed as still as possible on the love seat across the parlor. You could tell that he had an intense amount of stress and responsibility upon his shoulders, as every couple minutes he would sigh and take a drag from his pipe.

"You should know, that is not healthy for you," I remarked quietly from across the parlor.

Thorin whipped around, surprised; however, his surprise soon turned to distaste as he realized it was I who spoke. He quietly grumbled to himself, "what would you know about my health."

"Well you are increasingly stressed, and the smoke is a coping mechanism. And after a couple of thousand years, you learn a lot about the world."

"You know nothing about what I have been through," he harshly whispered at me, so not to wake anyone else up.

That statement alone just made me angry. I know I should try to keep calm when it comes to Thorin, especially because I will be traveling with him for the better part of a year; however, this just shook me. "I knew your forefathers and knew their story. I may not have lived it directly, but our experiences are not too different."

Though he tried to keep up his distaste, I could tell that there was some interest sparked because he just gave me a look, then quickly went back to focusing on the fire. I decided to take my leave and went to find Mithrandir. I decided to take this time to really examine the hobbit hole, it is quaint and very clean but still incredibly homey. The walls are covered in paintings of family going back hundreds of years, and almost every shelf has a multitude of books neatly stacked. You could tell that this is a very educated hobbit, and though he does not seem to want to go on this noble quest, almost all the books are ancient tales of adventure, romance, and heroic quests.

"It seems you have found why I picked him," I turned to find Mithrandir, or Gandalf as I should warm up to calling him, looking down over my shoulder.

"He has good taste, and a very good heart. I would love to see how this quest treats him," I continued to look along the shelves.

"When he was younger, all he used to talk about was how he would be going on an adventure one day and how he would help keep the shire safe. He truly was the only one out there who realized there's more beyond the shire," Gandalf remarked.

"He seems to be much wiser than those around him, this will prove very helpful."

"You are quite right, Miriel." And with that Gandalf went off to the kitchen.

I made my way back to the parlor to find all the dwarves still in a deep slumber. It had been years since I had really been around this many, and it was a hearty and lovable, for the most part, group. They were all so different, a welcoming change.