His Amorem

Tom, Bert and William

Ainu, Keerla's sword

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It wasn't long before she heard footsteps approach and Kili appeared.She had gone back to sitting on the ledge, and barely turned as he shuffled around to get comfy beside her.He was silent for a while, his thoughts running a mile a minute. Keerla didn't mind.

Eventually he reached out and brushed some loose strands of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. He caught sight of the glistening tear tracks on her cheek and used his thumb to wipe them away. She hadn't even known she had been crying.

"I'm sorry," he told her quietly, putting his hand back by his side, "I should not have joked like that."

"It's not your fault," she turned her face to him, "You are young Kili, in fact compared to me Thorin is but a child, i have dealt with more than a bunch of orcs in my life. It's the loss of those i care about that haunts me."

Taking a deep breath, Kili reached out and took her hand in his, clasping his fingers through hers so he could hold on tight. She didn't pull away, simply turned her eyes to their joined hands, blushing a little.

"I need a bath," was the only thing she could say, staring at her skin which was no longer pale but a murky brown. "I really need a bath."

"Balin thinks it will rain tomorrow," Kili joked, "You could just wash off in that?"

"I'd rather have somewhere private, thank you," she grinned, "When we next make camp I'll hopefully find a pond or something."

"You mean i can't come with you?"

Gobsmacked at his flirting, Keerla's lips parted and sealed themselves several times before she flushed bright red. Kili just chuckled and leaned close to her, his breath tickling her ear.

"Don't worry," he said, "I wouldn't join you until you asked."

They sat together for the rest of the night, Kili unable to say anything fearing he would blurt out his feelings and Keerla caught off guard by his forward statements. By the time the sun started to fall from the highest point the next day, the Elleth doubted she would need a bath – it would take much more to get her clean. The rain was heavy and there was lots of it, each one of the company had been soaked to the bone and the horses struggled in the muddy ground.

"Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori asked, sounding miserable.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf," Gandalf grumbled, "And it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard."

While he and Bilbo spoke of other wizards, Kili came up behind Keerla and grinned.

"I told you, you wouldn't need a bath."

"Shut up," she shoved his shoulder, "I still need a bath, this is only making things worse. This is muggy rain, it's disgusting."

As the sky started to turn dark, the rain had ended and the company had found themselves in the cover of trees near a burned down and destroyed farm house. Keerla sniffed a few times as Thorin and Gandalf spoke. She could tell the fire had only happened recently, maybe a week or so before, and there was an odd smell lingering but not one she had come across before. Gandalf stormed off before she could speak, and the dwarfs had started making camp.

"Fili, Kili," Thorin called, "You watch the ponies."

Huffing, the two dwarfs bid goodbye to Keerla and led the ponies off to a near bye clearing for them to eat and drink and rest. She grabbed a change of clothes but left her weapons on Baineth, murmuring for the mare to stay with the dwarfs and then approached Thorin.

"I'm going to find a river, i can hear water nearby," she told him.

"Why would you need water?" Thorin asked, confused, but then looked at his Elleth friend from head to toe, "Oh."

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes, "I'll be back soon, just keep the others here will you?"

"Of course," he agreed, smirking slightly.

Shaking her head, she lifted her hand in a brief farewell and started through the trees. The water grew louder with every few feet, too loud to be a simple river. And she was right. When she came upon the water she found it to be a waterfall flowing into a small pool that then threaded into two rivers a little further on. A perfect place for a bath.

She stripped down to her skin and slid into the water in a spot that was up to her shoulders, unfastening her hair. Before washing herself, she scrubbed her clothes and left them to dry on the rocks. She'd wear her fresh clothing, but at least she had got most of the muck from her old and worn ones.

As she relaxed, she realised the waterfall was much too noisy to hear anyone approaching, so she could only hope Thorin would keep his word. She swam around a little and ducked under the waterfall to rinse her hair and give herself a good scrub.

When her skin was back to porcelain colour, she swam toward her clothes and sat with her back to the rocks. The water was oddly warm despite the sky being dark, so she opted to enjoy it a little longer than she normally would have.

A crack of a twig maybe ten minutes later made her jump, but no matter how hard she focused, she couldn't make out anything but rock and tree. Sliding into her undershirt – a pale green tunic that reached her thighs with a deep v neck – she climbed back onto the rocks and took another look around. With a shrug she turned away and reached for her breeches only for one of the stones just behind the tree line to move. It was then that she realised it wasn't a stone at all, but a troll.

She reached for her weapons, and remembered seconds too late that they were with the dwarfs. A hand clasped around her middle, pinning her hands to her side and she screamed as she was lifted off her feet, hoping the dwarfs would hear. But she could barely hear herself over the waterfall.

"Oh aren't you a pretty elf," the troll murmured, holding her up to its face as it walked back through the trees. Several branches whipped back, slapping her head and scratching her face and legs, "Nice and crunchy i reckon, once you're cooked. You'll go nice with them nags."

"Put me down you over grown goblin!" Keerla screeched, trying to free herself but the troll squeezed her in its grasp and she lost her air.

They reached a camp fire, where a larger somehow-smarter-looking troll sat stirring a giant pot. He looked up, eyeing the troll and Keerla, but before he could say anything a third troll appeared with two ponies in its grasp, and they were thrown into a pen with another two. Her throat felt blocked when she realised the ponies were from the company.

"Oi, Tom, look!" the one stirring the pot said, pointing at Keerla, "William's found an elf, a she-elf no less! Aren't they your favourite?"

"Oh so he has Bert," the one named Tom agreed, peering down at Keerla who was simply glared, unable to free herself, "She looks tasty, let me hold her."

Keerla tried to make a break for it when she waspassed over, but 'Tom' had her in a tight hold before she got anywhere. Thethree just chuckled at her bad luck, while she screamed and yelled for them tolet her go. A cloth was stuffed in her mouth, tasting like blood and she felther stomach heave.    

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