An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Forty-Nine: Bard the Bowman

Thalia spluttered trying clear her throat from the water that she had swallowed, she frowned as she brushed some wet her from her face as she looked around; they were miles from Mirkwood now and she was relieved. 

"Lia," Ori cried in relief as he moved his barrel towards hers, he smiled knowing that everyone was okay; they had all been a little worried after that blast of water. 

Thalia offered the dwarf a small smile as they continued to move down river, she was just glad to be out of Mirkwood; the dark magic was gone and her head felt clearer.

"Next time lass don't try to drowned us," Gloin grumbled moving past Thalia and Ori, he shot her a look as he went knowing that he had seen Thalia manipulate water before but nothing like that. 

Thalia shook her head, it hadn't been her that had made the water do such a thing, she wasn't that powerful but she had a feeling that she knew who it had been. 

"That wasn't me," Thalia said carefully moving towards shore, she offered Kíli a small glance knowing that she wanted to look at his leg when they were on dry land. 

Thorin barked some orders as they moved, they were all soaked to the bone and he knew that it was now mid-day; they needed to get a move on before the orcs tracked them down. 

"Then who was it then?" Bilbo asked curiously looking at Thalia, he didn't know much about her world but he had heard several stories from her world and he loved to hear more about it. 

Thalia sighed in relief reaching shore line and she carefully started to clamber out of her barrel, then she quickly sat down on the pebbled side as she realised just how shaky her legs where.

"It was probably my father," Thalia said as Bilbo plopped down next to her, she smiled at him as everyone seemed to do the same around them; they had travelled far and were exhausted right now. 

Thorin walked past the two as he moved to look ahead, they had a large lake between them and the next town and they had a bit of a problem with what they were going to do next. 

Thalia ran a hand through her wet hair as she pondered what their next move would be; her thoughts were broken when Kíli cried out in pain as he tried to put pressure on his injured leg. 

Thalia leapt to her feet and hurried over to where Fíli was looking at his brother while Bofur was checking the wound, he peeked at Thalia as she eyed the black gunk that seemed to coat Kíli's skin. 

"Fíli get us some water... the wound needs cleaning properly," Thalia said brushing some hair from her face and helped Bofur check the wound; she had never seen anything like it before and she wished not for the first time for a little modern medicine that she had back in her apartment. 

Thalia had been fighting demons for years when she had thought of herself as just a witch, she'd been forced to learn a little about medicine so that she could clean herself up from time to time without having to go to the hospital constantly for injuries that she could never explain. 

***

"Keep it clean... that's the best we can do for now," Thalia said as Balin nodded in agreement, he had helped them wrap the injury after he had spoken to Thorin about what they would do now, they were sort of stuck. 

Thalia shared a look with Balin, they both knew that the wound didn't look good and the blonde's healing technique didn't seem to be working on it right now. 

"We need to get moving," Thorin ordered looking back at the gathering, he didn't want to wait around especially with an orc pack and there would be elves from Mirkwood chasing them. 

Thalia looked over at Thorin, they had a giant lake ahead of them and no way around it without being run down; they needed a plan before they did anything. 

"We need to rest," Thalia said moving towards the dwarf, she glanced over the company who were all tired from the escape and the swim that they had all taken. 

Thorin frowned at Thalia, he turned to look at her as the rest of the company watched curious about what would happen; no one ever argued with Thorin and won. 

"We have no plan to get across that lake... what do you want us to do swim it?" Thalia asked walking closer to Thorin, she hoped that he would see sense; they needed a plan and everyone was exhausted after the small battle that had taken place. 

"She'll make a wonderful Queen," Dwalin mused quietly to his brother watching Thorin argue with Thalia, she was certainly a match for the Dwarf that was trying to push them on. 

"Aye she will be," Balin agreed with a small smile, he was glad that Thorin had found someone who could control him; he feared for his friend the closer that they got to the mountain and its treasure. 

Thalia was certainly someone who wasn't going to let Thorin do anything stupid, she had a calm mind and it was certainly needed when it came to the Dwarf King. 

"We will be fine," Thorin argued as the company continued to watch him argue with interest, they all grinned as Thalia snapped back at him; she was quite a match for their king. 

Thalia took a deep breath as she watched Thorin, she could understand the need to move but right now they had nowhere to go; they were stuck right now and unarmed. 

"Watch out," Bofur cried as an arrow whizzed past the couple and everyone lurched to their feet at their mystery attacker; he quickly shot off a few warning shots as Thorin glared at him. 

Thalia blinked at the man that stood before them, she swallowed as she stepped back a little at the point of his bow and arrow in warning in case anyone tried anything. 

"Back away," the man said glancing between Thalia and Thorin, his eyes glaring at the dwarf who was standing too close to the blonde beauty. 

"You are from Lake Town," Balin said carefully stepping forward to calm the situation, Thorin didn't have the best temper and he would snap if Thalia was threatened in anyway. 

Thorin glared up at the man that had interrupted him, he hadn't realised that anyone was around and had been listening to them argue. 

"The name is Bard," the man said moving down the rock, his eyes flickering curiously between Thalia and the company of dwarves. It didn't make sense to him that someone like her would be out here alone with dwarves, Bard worried that they had abducted her or something. 

"We should move on my lady," Bard said offering a hand to Thalia to lead her away from the dwarves, his eyes trained on them as Thorin growled under his breath at the man. 

Thalia blinked as she looked at Bard, she cleared her throat a little amused that he thought that she was in some sort of trouble. 

"I'm fine... I'm actually traveling with these dwarves towards the Iron Mountains," Thalia lied stepping back from Bard and towards the company, there was no point in raising awareness of her relationship with Thorin. 

Bard raised an eyebrow at Thalia as if not believing that she was willingly here of her own accord. 

"Is there a chance you came by boat?" Thalia asked smiling sweetly at Bard, they needed to get across the lake.