Lionheart (The Hobbit Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 4: Real Mature, Thorin

"I leave for half an hour and you manage to get captured by trolls." Reyna stated, a small smile on her face. Thorin looked over at her as they walked through the trees.

"Well, at least we can always count on you to save us." he replied sarcastically. Reyna laughed and instantly regretted it. Her damaged ribs flared with pain and she winced. Thorin glanced over at his friend, worried.

"Damn...." Reyna muttered, trying to walk off the pain. She was not successful.

"Listen... I'm sorry about earlier." Thorin said to the young Bender. Reyna glanced at Thorin, surprised. He never apologized for anything.

"It's okay. I was out of line too." Reyna replied. Kili and Fili walked beside her and the others followed as they made their way to the cave. Suddenly, a thought came to Reyna and her heart froze. She stopped in her tracks.

"Where's Polaris?" she asked, urgently. The dwarves didn't meet her eye.

"She ran off, along with the others." Bofur said carefully. Reyna's heart twisted.

"Oh God." she said. Polaris wasn't just Reyna's horse, she was her companion. Reyna had trained her personally, as all Benders did with their horses. The two shared a bond that few others could understand. Polaris had been with Reyna in the good times and the bad. The horse had also been her only company a lot of the time, as Reyna traveled often. And now she was gone.

Kili put his arm around Reyna's shoulders. He looked at her, understanding how his friend felt.

"Polaris is a smart horse. Sometimes I think she's smarter than Fili." Kili began.

"Hey!" his brother protested. Kili ignored him and continued at his attempt to comfort his friend.

"She will find a safe place. And I think we all found out that she can take care of herself." he finished. The others chorused their agreement. They all had received impressive bruises when they had attempted to ride the horse. Polaris would refuse to be ridden, unless it was by Reyna, or the person had the command word. Most of the dwarves called her Kicker, for obvious reasons. Reyna nodded, still doubtful and began to walk again. They stopped back at the camp, and Reyna slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder. They were the only things that she had left of her mother. There was no way that she was leaving the weapon behind. Once all the dwarves had their things packed, they set off again.

Soon the company arrived at the trolls' cave. They went inside and were instantly assaulted by the strong odor of the cave.

"Oh, what's that stench?" Nori asked.

"It's a troll hoard. What were you expecting, for it to smell of roses?" Reyna quipped. The other dwarves chuckled and Nori pouted. Quite a strange site, to see a big, tough dwarf pouting. The dwarves quickly got over the horrendous smell, once they saw the treasure within the cave. Bofur, Gloin and Nori began to bury some of the treasure for "safekeeping". Thorin and Gandalf inspected the vast assortment of weapons. The others roamed around, looking at the treasure.

Something caught Reyna's attention and she stopped dead in her tracks. She became even paler. Kili noticed that his friend was no longer beside him and turned around. He saw her hands tremble as she picked up an item that he could not make out. Kili saw what was in her hands and his brown eyes widened. He looked into Reyna's eyes, the only part of her features that showed any emotion. Her face was straight, but her eyes... Their rich, blue irises looked as if they were about to shatter into a million pieces.

In her hand, Reyna held the pendant that had belonged to her mother. It was a silver eagle on a chain of the same metal. The eagle was the symbol of Reyna's family. Each Bender family had a different animal or symbol. And each family had a magic pendant. In the center of the eagle, whose wings were outstretched, were three stones of different colors. One was blue, symbolizing water. The next was green; earth and the last, clear, for air.