Autor Tópico: [Fanfic 4, cap. 17] Loyalty, Honor etc - Bear Hug  (Lida 5686 vezes)

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Offline Luinwen

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[Fanfic 4, cap. 17] Loyalty, Honor etc - Bear Hug
« em: Novembro 08, 2013, 10:24:15 pm »
Next day the Company departed from the eagles, with promises of friendship and reward. Gandalf was to lead them once more, as he knew of someone in the neighborhood who could help.
“Beorn is very ill-tempered, and doesn’t like strangers at all, but he is good natured, and will be willing to help orcs’ enemies.”
“Does he live far from here?” It was Iris who voiced the concern. “Some of us should not overdo.” Her sky blue eyes just moved slightly to Thorin’s and Ellen’s direction. She more felt than saw the leader of the Company’s anger at her and made up an excuse. “My legs are short and I ran them out in the goblins’ den, I deem.”
Gandalf looked down at the hobbit-lass, understanding what was unsaid.
“We must walk most of the day, but the path is easy and there might be fruit to eat at the forests’ borders; no one will have to exert himself to reach the place we are going to.”
And it really was a smooth trail, compared to what they’d already traveled before. They had few water skins, but had water courses all along the way; the little leftover meat they had was eaten in the morning meal, but keeping hydrated made it easier to bear hunger; and knowing there would be a somewhat friendly house at the end of the day gave them hope.
Balin and Dwalin took each one of Ellen’s swords to carry, as she was feeling weak and dizzy; she didn’t want them to, but their determination was stronger than her current ability to resist. She let her brothers help her with the swords, as long as they would not keep her from being supported by Kíli. Most of the time they just walked hand in hand, and she felt herself reassured; but now and then she would stumble out of dizziness and his strong hands were always ready to steady her back to her feet.
Gandalf was not completely right about the fruits; there were some on the trees, but mostly green, and all that was to be picked were some berries in the bushes, usually not enough for a mouthful, but always shared among all of them.
Somewhat past the middle of the afternoon they reached a ground with more open spaces, and flowers all over. Big bees buzzed around, really big ones, and a mile or so later there was a green pasture, with ponies grazing at will. A small river could be seen from a distance, and trees, and amidst the trees a wooden building. Gandalf called for a stop under the shadow of the trees.
“There is Beorn’s house. He is not fond of visiting, so it would not be wise to all of us to trample into his garden at once. I will go in first, with Iris and Ellen; then Thorin, Lily and Bilbo, and then you go in twos, as you wish, but wait five minutes from one pair to another. Remember Beorn is a rough man, so you have to try to be polite, and as he is a skin-changer do not mention any word like fur, pelt and so on. Wait for my signal to enter the house, anyway.”
The wizard led the two women to the house and they talked a little in the while.
“Thank you for picking me up first, Gandalf, I’m going dizzy most of the time.”
“Your body is still recovering from the arrow shot, its poison and your bleeding. Elves recover quickly, but not instantly, and you must have nourishment for it to heal fully. If we find a welcome at Beorn, you will be able to eat properly – and I mean properly for an elf, of course, not the piles of meat Dwalin deems as proper for you – and the day after tomorrow you will be fine, if you take the rest you need and don’t overdo.”
“I will see that she doesn’t overdo, Gandalf.” Stated Iris. “She always takes care of me and Lily, now it is our turn to take care of her.”
“I makes me happy to see the tight bond of this family, Lady Iris. Sometimes it is all one has in his life.”
They reached the wooden gateway escorted by a couple of horses. Some blue eyed grey dogs came to look at them, not aggressive but almost too smart looking. Two of them ran back to the low wooden house.
“They have gone to warn Beorn of our arrival.”
When they reached a courtyard formed by the walls of the house, a huge black haired man stood there, wearing only a wool tunic down to his knees and heavy boots. He was obviously been cutting a large tree trunk, and the axe in his hands matched his size and the knotted muscles of his arms and legs. He patted one of the dogs while speaking to him.
“Hmm, they don’t look dangerous at all, you can go.” He put his axe down and turned to them. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”  Ellen thought he must be somehow related to Thorin.
“I am Gandalf.”
The wizard stated simply.
“Never heard of him. And these ladies?” He raised one eyebrow.
“They are Ellen and her niece Iris. They have come from a very faraway land.”
The women bowed low.
“It must be a very faraway land indeed to elves and halflings be of the same family.” Beorn’s curiosity was beginning to be stirred. Gandalf went on.
“I am a wizard. You may have not heard of me, but I’ve heard of you. My cousin Radagast lives near the southern borders of Mirkwood, you may have heard about him.”
“Hmm, that one. I use to see him now and then, he is not a bad fellow.” He changed his weight from one leg to another. “Now that I know who you claim to be, what are you doing here?”
“To tell you the truth, we lost all our supplies and almost our lives to the goblins in the mountains.”
“Goblins, huh? Why did you go mess with them?”
“It was not really our intention, but they surprised our camp at night and took all our whole Company as prisoners.”
“First time I hear call one old man and two ladies a ‘company’, but go on.”
“We were crossing the mountains, coming from the west lands and, well, it is a long story.”
“This long story may be better told inside the house, if it won’t take the whole day.”
They entered the large living room, and all inside was wooden craft. Finely carved pillars sustained the roof, and the heavy wooden table itself had animal carvings as its legs. Beorn signaled them to sit down and took a seat at the end of the table. The elf was grateful for sitting down, as she was almost fainting again out there in the sun. Gandalf resumed the story.
“I was coming along the mountain pass with Ellen and her nieces, thinking that it was though to travel with a pair of hobbits in this inospitous lands, but that the five of us could make it when...”
“I see only one niece here. What happened to the other one? And you plus a three person family counts four, not five.”
“Oh, yes, we didn’t want to bother you with a lot of us at once, as you could be busy, but if you allow, I’ll call them.”
“Go on, call away.”
Gandalf whistled and in a moment Thorin was there along with Lily and Bilbo. The dwarf bowed low.
“Thorin Oakenshield, at your service.”
The others did in a similar way.
“I don’t need your service, but it seems you need mine. I don’t use to be fond of dwarves, but if you are really Thorin, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, and you are enemies of goblins, you may find some help here. By the way, what are you up to? I never heard of dwarves getting along with elves, nor that their women walk abroad in the wild.”
“They are going to visit the land of their fathers, beyond Mirkwood. The elf and her nieces have business over there also, so they and all those dwarves are traveling together.”
“Besides the girl I see only one dwarf to be called “all those dwarves”, old wizard, and you already count six instead of five. Where are the others? Killed by the goblins, eaten, lost?”
“Well, it seems not all of them came when I called, so I’ll whistle again.”
So he did, and Dori and Ori were there in no time at all. They bowed low and offered their services, to what Beorn just waved his hand.
“Go on with the tale, or it will be supper time before you end it.”
“I was delayed and followed them up the mountain. I was sure I was in the right path when I saw the horse and the whole troop of ponies that was lent to us passing me by and going back to where they belong...”
“Seven is not so a big number to call ponies a troop.”
“As a matter of fact there were more than seven ponies, as there were more than seven of us plus the elf.”
He whistled once more and Nori and Bifur came in.
“All right, never mention service, just your names.”
So they did and Gandalf went on.
“I perceived something was wrong when I lost their tracks, and then I found a way in and into the goblins den. When I saw them being beaten by all that goblins, I thought, what can a dozen of us against so many?”
“Wait, wait, ten is not a dozen, are there more out there?”
Gandalf whistled again and Óin and Glóin came in, bowing low as Beorn dismissed their services. The wizard went on with the tale until the part in which Iris killed the Great Goblin.
“Then I thought, this little one did what all of us thirteen weren’t able to...”
“I would not expect so a little thing to do so a great deed, but also I would not bear with someone calling me puppy.” He was really amused. “All right, I imagine there are two more in my courtyard, isn’t it so?”
Bombur and Bofur came in at another whistle of Gandalf, as Beorn expected. He was already thinking it funny, but was interested in the end of story also. The wizard was telling about when they escaped the den and he discovered Bilbo was missing.
“Then I thought to myself, it cannot be that we are not all the sixteen of us here!”
“So, come on, unless wizards count numbers in a different way from other people, fourteen plus two with one missing would be fifteen, not sixteen.”
Another whistle and Balin and Dwalin came in, in their most respectable manners, just to annoy the dark haired man with their offering of service. He was really interested in the story now, as he knew all that part of the mountains, and was a declared enemy of goblins and other creatures from the Enemy. When Gandalf told him about climbing up the pine trees and firing pine cones at the wargs and orcs, he was pacing around, mumbling to himself that he wished he could be there.
“And then the last pine cracked, as it could not hold all the weight of us eighteen and...”
This time Beorn himself whistled, and Fíli and Kíli came in at last.
“Can we finish this story without anymore interruptions or are there more outside?”
Gandalf assured him they were all in there and continued the story telling. The big man grunted when told about Thorin’s massive injury and Ellen’s bleeding, noticing the last dwarf to enter went straight to sit beside the elf and took her hand in his. When the wizard reached the last lift the eagles gave them from their nests to close to his own personal stone, the Carrock, the sun was almost setting.
“If all beggars could tell so a good tale they would find me better mooded than usual. Of course it can be all an invention from your own head, but you deserve supper for this tale-telling nonetheless. Let’s have something to eat.”
The whole Company thanked him and cheered up, after the long and weary day of stumbling their way to that place.

ooo000ooo

The dinner was mostly based on honey bread, cheese, and fruit, much to the dwarves’ dismay, but to the elf’s delight. The hobbits didn’t care that much about meat, too, and could do fine without it; what uplifted the spirits of all of them was the ale barrel Beorn produced out of a cellar. Their host had his turn of telling stories too, mostly about the forest they would have to transpose to reach Erebor. The dwarves told him stories of treasures and gold, but he didn’t care at all about these things.
A room apart was set to be the ladies’ to sleep in, and the men would scatter themselves in the main room, where Beorn made straw mattresses to be spread out. He left his guests at ease, but warned them that he would be out all night long and that they should not get out of the house, on their own peril; next day he would be away all the day long, but they could wander around the house at will, even to the river, and that they could fish if they wanted.
Still the dwarves chatting and singing went on for a long time, as it was the first time since Imladris that they were really lodged and comfortably fed – and drunk, by the way. Even the worst hurt ones, Thorin and Ellen, were at a good mood, and used some time to talk to each other about all kind of stuff. He liked to know more about Lily’s family, and she about Kíli’s background. Of course the younger ones didn’t like that much talking about the little mischief every kid does, but it was really like a normal family reunion, and normal was something the women were missing since they rolled down that cliff. Then Thorin began to sing in his deep baritone voice, Ellen cuddled in Kíli’s lap and fell asleep.

ooo000ooo

Next day most of the dwarves and specially Bilbo woke up late, Gandalf was nowhere to be seen, and Lily was tending Thorin’s healing wounds, so Ellen and Kíli seized that chance to be alone for a while and wandered to the river bank. He was glad that she felt so better after a whole night of decent sleep after he carried the sleeping elf to her mattress; albeit she was tall, elves’ bones are lightweighed, and he was surprised of how easy it was for him to lift her in his arms. They chatted quietly.
“I think I will take advantage of your good mood and try to know more about you.”
“You are the reason of my good mood, so it is your right to take advantage from it, I deem.” He gazed at her with his dark emerald eyes. “What do you want to know?”
She laughed at his smile, then took courage and asked. “I think it must be a very personal issue, but, why are you so different from the others?”
“Different, how?”
“Your style. I know a beard can trouble a bow shot, if the arrow gets tangled in it, but Lily got a way around this, in a very dwarfish way, I think. But you just keep your beard short, even when all others have at least a braid in it, or a longer moustache, like Bofur. Why?”
“Don’t you like it as it is?”
He looked stern, and she laughed once more.
“I like you, even if you were bald as Dwalin and beardless as an elf!”
“But does it bother you?”
“No! Here, Kíli, I just wanted to know, women are curious beings, don’t you know? But if you feel better not telling me, no problem, I was just taking advantage of your good mood and I don’t want to change it at all, alright?”
He looked at her as if thinking if it was really true, then took a deep breath and begun to speak.
“I had a beard, very similar to my brother’s. Our beard is very slow to grow, you may have noticed.” She nodded, agreeing. “It takes several years to grow a decent beard. You may have heard some of the boys say something like “I’d give my beard for something”, and this something being very meaningful. So, I gave it up.”
“Why?”
“I made a promise, a sacrifice.”
“And…?”
She was getting really curious. It seemed very important to him. He breathed deep again.
“Thorin didn’t want me to come on this quest. He thought I was too young, that it was too risky. My mother didn’t want me to come, either. She had lost her father, her brother, her grandfather and her husband, my father, to war. She was afraid she would lose her sons, too. She thought that sending one of them would be enough risk, she lost so much she wanted to keep at least one of us with her, and it would be me, as I am the younger one. But I could not stand this idea, it would be a shame on me if everyone came and I was left behind, hiding behind mommy’s skirts. So, I prayed. I asked Mahal to help me to get chosen for the quest, to be allowed to come. I promised my beard for it.” His eyes were looking far away now, as if looking into the past or his faraway home. “Two days later Uncle and Mother agreed that I would come. I shaved right away, and put my beard on Mahal’s shrine we have at home. Mother was in shock when she saw me beardless, but then she understood how much it was important for me to come in the quest, and blessed my decision and faith.”
Ellen caressed his short, harsh beard.
“This is beautiful. I didn’t know dwarves had this kind sacrifice promise to your Vala.”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
“Oh, I don’t know, you seem all so secure of yourselves, so proud, it is hard to thing of anyone of you pleading for something.”
He laughed, with his hand in her hair.
“You really don’t know much about my kind, do you?”
“I really don’t.” She got up on her elbow to kiss him gently. “But I’m loving getting to know.” She touched his hair. “And this braidless hair? Is it a promise too?”
Kíli blushed, then embraced her tightly, hiding his face in her hair.
“Yes, it is. Or, rather, it was. I don’t know, you have to tell me for sure.”
“Me? How can I tell you something about your own promise?” She smiled. “What promise was that?”
“Promise you won’t laugh?”
“Why would I laugh?”
He caressed her face and took another deep breath. It was becoming a revelations day, he never opened himself to anyone like that, and this was a little unnerving to him. But, then, it was the right thing to do.
“Do you know there are very few dwarf women? You could count one for each three or four men. That’s why we consider women so precious, like a jewel. Without them, how can our people grow? I considered this since I was very young. You see, not all dwarf women ever choose a man to marry, sometimes they choose one they cannot have, they never choose during war times, and our people had so many wars along the ages and…” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to end up alone. I know most men get along very well without a woman, but I have so a caring mother, so lovely, that I wished to have the joy of having someone like her with me, some day. Someone to brighten my days and ease my nights. Someone to carry on Durin’s line with me. I wished to be chosen someday. So, I promised a sacrifice to Mahal. I promised that I’d never braid my hair until I was chosen.”
She thought for a while, blinking.
“But, Kíli, if dwarves take so a pride in their braids, don’t the girls look with favor to whom has a well braided hair?” He nodded, agreeing. “Then, having your hair unbraided wouldn’t make it more difficult for you to be chosen?”
He nodded again.
“In a way, yes. But I wanted to be chosen for who I am, not for my braids. I wished for someone who could look through appearance and value me, my thoughts, my crafts and skills; because appearance changes, skin wrinkles, hair falls or turns grey. I didn’t want someone who would look at me when I am old and regret her choice. So, if having no braid makes it more difficult to be chosen, it also makes it easier to be chosen by the right woman. That’s what I thought, then. I don’t regret.”
They kept in silence for a while, just feeling the fresh air around them and the soft warmth of each other.
“I shouldn’t be so bold to ask you, but then, will you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“If my promise is fulfilled.” He cupped her face in his hands and looked at her sternly. “I promised that I would wear no braid in my hair until I got chosen to be one with someone for life. Ellen, daughter of Nyda, is my promise fulfilled?”
She smiled at him.
“Don’t you know the answer already?”
“I believe I know, but I want to hear it from your lips.”
“No problem, but why? What you know in your heart is not enough?”
Kíli was serious now.
“Ellen, I made a very formal plea to Mahal. We have Uncle’s agreement, but we have not yet our betrothal, nor any announcing. I must hear it from your lips. It really matters to me.”
Her gray blue eyes shone as stars as she silent and gently pulled a thin strand of his hair close to his left temple, divided it in three and braided it tightly. She had nothing to bind it with, but he produced a small silver bead out of the blue and a linen strand, and she tied the braid with them. She took the fresh braid in her palms and said, looking into his eyes.
“Kíli, son of Dís, daughter of Thráin, I declare, for all purposes, to whom it may concern, that your promise is fulfilled. You have been chosen, I search no more. May Mahal watch over us until the end of our days, and beyond.”
Ellen kissed the braid in her hands lightly, and then they embraced as if the world would fall apart if they were not in each other’s arms.
"I´m shieldmaiden, and my hand is ungentle."