The Halfbreed

They all got onto the barge and Bard set sail, the dwarves obviously didn’t like sailing as Bofur panicked at the sight of a great stone. And they all huddled in a circle talking, as she stared at the beautiful scenes of the old stones, when she heard Balin say they were ten coins short. She then turned around and pulled out her coin pouch and gave it to the old dwarf.
“It’s all I have and I owe you for taking me with you please take all of it I have no real need,” she played with her braid as all of their eyes looked on her and the pouch which contained every coin she could save up, and scavenge.
“Lass, this is much more than we need,” Balin looked at her oddly.
“Please take it and share it amongst yourselves you have done me a far greater dead than I have you.” And she felt that was true she couldn’t imagine being in that palace for another day while she could be out here, free.
As the coins got spread around she noticed that Kili stared at her again, he looked so pale, something was wrong but as a man he wold never admit it until it killed him. She gave him a small smile as she went back to looking at the lake.
Kili stared at her she was so generous, and kind. How could the company even deserve her? He had seen how she fought in the river and he did not doubt her ability, nor her ferocity but she seemed to have many sides of her that he had not seen yet. But he hoped that maybe if she were to live in the mountain with him he may learn them.
She intrigued him ever since he saw her when he was being locked up. He didn’t know who or what she was and why she was in the elven kingdom. She was beautiful, and Kili couldn’t help but stare at her every time he got the chance, she took him by surprise. A good one though.
He wasn’t sure what was to come but he wanted to know her, he just wished that his leg would heal soon, he didn’t want to look weak in front of her. When she looked to him and smiled he could feel his heart beat harder in chest and blood creep up to his face. Why was this happening? He used to never be like this in front of other women, but he guessed it had been a long time since then. But she still made him feel things that he hadn’t felt before, he just couldn’t figure out why yet.
Through the mists the shape of the lonely mountain appeared, and all the dwarfs stood staring at their lost homeland and hers too she thought.
Bilbo coughed to alert them of Bard coming down to them, “The money, quick. Give it to me.” Bard said.
“We will pay you when we get our provisions, but not before.” Thorin stood straight.
“If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say. There are guards ahead.” Bard put out his hand as Balin handed him the money and they all got into the barrels.
When they got to the port Bard hopped off the barge, “Ssh. What's he doing?” Dwalin asked in a hushed tone.
She guessed that Bilbo could see through a hole as he said, “He's talking to someone. He's pointing right at us. Now they're shaking hands.”
“What?” Thorin asked.
“He's selling us out.” Dwalin silently raged.
She could hear footsteps approaching as suddenly a pile of fish started falling into her barrel, and none of the dwarves seemed happy with this as they were groaning. Or so she thought as she could barely hear anything.
“Quiet! We're approaching the toll gate.” Bard said, but to her it only came out a hum, she could make no words out of anything. All she could tell was that the boat stopped, there were words exchanged and that they tried to dump some of the barrels which stopped as soon as it started.
When she felt a knock on her barrel she assumed it was time to come out, and she sucked in the fresh air. They followed Bard through the town center as they stop to see a boy looking at Bard.
“Da', our house! It's being watched.” The boy said.
Bard looked at us and we came up with a not so pleasant plan of coming up through the toilets. As she pulled her and her bags up with her she shook off the feeling of being dirty as she followed Balin in front of her.
“Da', why are there dwarves coming out of our toilet?” An older girl asked.
“Will they bring us luck?” The younger one questioned, and it made Vanya smile. Bard gave them all blankets as they tried to warm up. At least she no longer smelled of fish she mused, but she shivered slightly. It was cold in Laketown even for autumn.
Tilda went around giving clothing to the dwarfs, and as she looked at Vanya, she was waved away it had been hard journey learning to waterproof her bags but she would clothe herself, as she got up to change in the girls room, she put on some pants they were elven pants made for the deep of winter, and a tunic, it only went to her mid-thigh but it had a cut in the back and front, it was a sea blue, and she put on her brown coat made of deer hide, with furred lining.
When she left the room she found a seat and heard the tale of the end of Dale, and how Girion shot the black arrows at the fire breathing beast. This story darkened her mood, she hated thinking of how Dale fell and how it was her mother’s home, her home she let loose one tear; for her mother.
She looked up to see Kili staring again, this dwarf bugged her he was always fixated on her, and she didn’t like it…. Well did she? She didn’t know she had long not considered the idea of a suitor and figured she would die without being with a man and that seemed right, until now. She thought that her idea of dying alone seemed pitiful and childish but she knew that the young dwarf had sparked her interest, he was quite attractive.
She undid her braid as Bard went to grab the weapons, after Thorin’s prodding. She noticed out of the corner of her eye the two young brothers discussing while Kili went on looking at her undo her braid. She shook her hair as combed it with her fingers, it already started to produce little ringlets and she sighed.
Bard came back with a wet cloth full of makeshift weapons, she was always amazed by the resourcefulness of men, but not all were so impressed. In fact all the dwarves were outraged because of these ‘weapons’ and then even more so when they were told they couldn’t leave till night fall.
Vanya sat back down and thought, she figured that they would take the weapons from the armory as Thorin and Balin were whispering, but also she saw Fili staring at Kili worriedly. So she went over, “Let me look at this wound please I know a lot about healing,”
But as she suspected he waved her away, and she huffed men she thought they have to put their egos before their wellbeing. She knew something was off with the wound, and suspected more than a fair amount of foul play orcs were known to kill their marks.
“Kili, Why don’t you let her help she is elf kind and they have very good medical practices,” Fili asked, it took a lot for a dwarf to admit that.
Kili just couldn’t think straight he didn’t want to seem weak to Thorin or Vanya, he was fine it just ached a little bit and he felt vaguely dizzy; but he could handle it. He shook his head at his brother who walked away somewhere else, but Kili had his eyes on her she was an interesting puzzle, and a most definitely beautiful one at that too. But he knew that she couldn’t be with him after all he was still a dwarf of the king’s bloodline and that meant a pure blood baby, with a dwarf women. Why should it matter, did he want her like that? He supposed he liked her he could feel himself getting nervous around her and blushing, that was unquestionably something new. What would Thorin think of his feelings for Vanya, because he knew something was stirring inside him. This was worry some because when dwarves fell in love they fell quick and hard, most dwarves are together for life.
When she had pulled her hair out of the amazing braid she had done he couldn’t help but stare even more, for she had little ringlets on either side of her face which had framed it so well. And that tear had nearly killed him he couldn’t help but feel her pain, for he knew she hailed from Dale, as she had told him. He couldn’t do anything but sit there and watch her as she went through her pain, which made him feel worse as he wanted to make her feel better, comfort her. Mahal, she was gorgeous and even dressed in a man’s clothes she looked amazing. What was happening, he needed to stop thinking like this, it wasn’t right; but then why did it feel like it was the only right thing to do?
She looked up to Thorin as he stood they seemed to have made an agreement. Looking around she could see Kili shivering, she walked over to him and sat next to him. He seemed surprised to have her next to him, but she was busy trying to unnoticeably give her blanket to Kili, which was easier than she thought.
She looked at him as he took her blanket, shyly blushing at the fact that he had needed her help. “You know there is no shame in needing help.”
He looked at her smiling, Eru this small gesture made her heart flutter like a bird in a cage. Why had she even come over here if it meant these feelings would grow, did she want that?
“Well then I think a thank you is in order.”
She smiled at this, “Maybe it is, so why are you on this quest?”
Kili looked out the window and then looked back to her, “Well I am Thorin’s nephew and my brother is next in line, and then I am.”
“So you’re a prince?? Should I call you as such?”
He chuckled as he crinkled his nose, “Please not ever, I don’t want to hear that.”
“Why not my liege?” She smiled at him, the then promptly blushed at this. She thought he looked cute when he blushed. “Should I bow, I don’t think I have yet.”
“Please no,” He groaned, and she laughed at his embarrassment. He looked at her, “what has your life been like if you are that old, my lady Vanya.”
She laughed at his formalities, “Well I have been all over Middle earth, I once lived with the Horse Lords of Rohan, in the western corner my mother and I worked at an inn. It was one of my favourite places and yet at the same time not so much.”
“And why is that my lady?”
“If you call me that once more I will never stop calling you my liege. And because drunkards are fun to laugh at but after too many drinks they can pose a problem or two.” He laughed at that, “How about you?”
“Well I grew up in the Blue mountains, my mother Dis is still there, she worries about me and Fili. She didn’t like that we were going on this quest but she knew we had to, for our uncle and our homeland. But Fili and I used to cause one or two rackets in the mountain, why one time we changed the oven temperatures, and the dough exploded all across the kitchens.” He laughed at the memory as she smiled at him. He turned to look at her, “My mother gave me this token to remember my promise to her,” She looked to take the stone, and turned it over aa small smile playing on her lips as she gave it back.
He took it and stuffed it back into a pocket. “Do you have anything from your mother?”
Vanya looked down with a sad smile, “Yes, it was something she had crafted special for me in Erebor,” his eyebrows raised is surprise. She touched the ring gingerly on her finger before taking it off and letting Kili look at it. She knew every feature of that ring, it was white gold with blue topaz and small diamonds encrusted in the border of metal that surrounded the jewel. It was small but elegant.
She watched as Kili’s eyes went over the craftsmanship of the ring, “It is beautiful,” He said giving it back to her. “Like you, I can see why your mother would have that made for you.” She put it back on trying not to blush at the comment but it was hard as the more she thought about it the more heat rose to her face.