A Ruby's Shine (Thorin Oakenshield X OC)

43. Challenging The Giant Man

As I pushed up my sleeve and examined the tight wrapping, I realised that this was very clearly a handkerchief, an elvish one, one I remember being handed to Bilbo by a kind elf. It only spelled it out more for me that Bilbo was the one who told the dwarves of my injuries once I was passed out.

"Darn Hobbit, too sneaky for his own good." I muttered angrily, pushing my sleeve down and glaring at the edge of the table.

Suddenly, I heard and felt the rattle of massive feet stomping on wood floors and looked up, seeing the giant animal like man standing in the other doorway, one that led outside to a small paddock with a few goats and a sheep or two. He looked at me and yet again I felt very, very small in his presence, like a bug to be squished.

I feeling I did not enjoy.

To I answered such a feeling by glaring at the giant man in challenge, daring him to step forward and be intimidating. He shocked me by smiling in amusement, like he found me harmless yet funny with my glares.

I knew it might take me a few tries and I would definitely need to be fully healed to do so, but I don't doubt I could take this giant man down in a fight if I am angry enough.

I did take on a big, beefy guy before, left that crowd in shock as two men dragged the large guy away, him mumbling and completely delirious from one too many knocks to the head. I even later learned I knocked out two of his teeth. The guy did piss me off enough by claiming me to be a harmless tiny female, that I was only good for tending to houses and raising children.

No one talks to me that way, as he quickly learned. I am a warrior, and I proudly stand by that. No one else will change what I am and, if they try?

They will be sorry for it.

I continued to glare back at the large man, before he suddenly guffawed like an animal, a booming sound that almost seemed to shake the room.

"You are funny small female." He said in amusement.

My temper rose and I felt the fire in my glare before I smiled sweetly, seeming to confuse the giant man.

Till I spoke, "I often heard such words, short, tiny, small, weak, followed by the word woman or female, spoken like an insult. Most men who call me such names end up knocked out or with black eyes." I said sweetly, more like sickly sweet since the sweetness is obviously fake. I have had more than my fair share of men saying a woman should not be carrying a weapon or fighting. All of those men quickly learned that I am not someone to accept society's demands of women. More than a few of them later woke up with their face in the mud of a pig pin or a horse's stall.

My temper filled answer was always the same to those men, "Well, if you say I am only good enough for caring for men and children, then you are only good enough for being decked and thrown into the mud." I always said those words in a sickly sweet way, driving home so, in fact, I am NOT a stay at home woman.

Most of those pubs where those incidents happened, never spoke bad of a woman or my stature again. Even in some places, my actions were so great that women were treated better by men. In those rare few places, women were taught how to fight.

I often felt bad if my flaring temper caused problems, so places like those areas were my standing up to men helped? Made me feel better about the type of person I am.

The giant man, who I now believe is Beorn himself, which is kind of unnerving, did not respond to my comment, his smile dropping as the stomped around the room, cleaning and grabbing a massive wood pitcher, placing it heavily down on the table, the sloshing sound inside told me it held liquid of some sort. I kind of felt bad, wondering if I had insulted the giant man in some way.