A Thousand Miles[Thorin Oakenshield Love Story]

[Chapter Thirty Three]

Alyndra eyes opened up and she looked around confused. She saw she was on a makeshift bed. "Lass, your awake." Balin said happily. He walked over to the young woman and handed her a cup of water.

The skin changer took the cup from the dwarf, and gulped the water down. "Balin..what happened? Why am I here?"

"Alyndra. Bilbo said you got sick...and passed out after that." Balin explained. Alyndra glanced down the side. It was coming back to her. Suddenly the oddest thought occurred to her and her hand slowly moved to her stomach and sure enough she felt a bump had formed and she looked back at the dwarf.

"H-how long have I been out for?" The skin changer asked next.

"A couple of days. And you needed it. I know you've been exhausted Alyndra and you must be starving. Including the little one that is growing inside you." Balin continued. The woman was a little surprised to see Thorin nowhere in sight. Knowing him, he would have been at her side in an instant if he heard she had passed out the way she had.

"Where is Thorin?" She questioned.

"Thorin..he has been down in the treasure room for a few days." Balin sighed sadly. Alyndra looked at the ground. Was it starting? Was his desire for the arkenstone already taking hold of his mind and blinding him to everything else around him?

"A-and Fili, Kili, Bofur and Oin? Is there any news of them yet?"

The dwarf sighed before answering her. "I'm afraid not...."

"Why hasn't Thorin sent out a search party? Their his nephews they could be hurt!" Alyndra panicked.

"Lass....Thorin isn't himself right now....he's ordered everyone to remain in the mountain." The dwarf glumly said. The skin changers mind was racing. How could Thorin not be concerned with the safety of those boys? or the other two? Did he think so little of them, like they were beneath him.

"I'll search for them. Thorin might command all of you, but he does not command me. I can find them faster." Alyndra declared, as she got up from the bed when Balin stopped her.

"Lass, you are exhausted and I know your worried about them, but they will show up soon. You'll see. If Thorin found out you left.....it might cause him to...to do something he'll regret." Balin warned, his eyes begging her not to do this.

"Balin, Thorin would never hurt me. And besides he won't even notice I'm gone. I will find them and bring them home. Maybe Fili and Kili can help." Alyndra suggested, but the elder dwarf knew if was going to take more then just a simple chat to pull him out of the dark place he was going. He wasn't even sure if the young woman would be enough to convince the prince to see what was happening to him.

"At least have something to eat lass. You now have someone else to look after and you need to start by looking after yourself." Balin pressed, giving her a look. She nodded in understanding. She followed behind the dwarf and stroked her stomach as a thought occurred and she smiled to herself. Balin got Bombur to prepare something hot for the young woman. He could feel winter was coming, the breeze that blew through the halls was a chilly one and he knew in a matter of days it would arrive.

Alyndra sat patiently at the table and the fat dwarf came over with a big smile on his face and placed the huge bowl down in front of her. The skin changer thanked him and began gulping down soup, surprised at just how hungry she actually was. Bombur refilled her bowl twice and she was finally stuffed. Balin had sent the other dwarf away. He didn't like this at all. He feared what Thorin would do if he found out she left and he hoped the skin changer was right, that he wouldn't dare hurt her. " Lass, please be careful on your search and return soon and safely." Balin ordered her and the woman nodded.The two of them were outside and the dwarf watched as the woman jumped off the edge and shifted into her eagle form. He watched as she flew over the ruin city of Dale, praying she would return safe and soon with their four companions.

The woman hadn't even been flying for half a day and she felt exhausted more then usual. She normally could fly for almost three days straight before she would feel the exhaustion take over. Alyndra flew over what was left of the town on a lake; which wasn't much. Everything had been demolished by the beast. She could smell the scent of burnt flesh that still lingered in the air and it made her sick to her stomach and she hoped Fili, Kili and the other two were not one of the ones that had been burnt alive. She continued to fly a little further, not realizing she was beginning to doze off when out of nowhere she saw a dark outline of something. She shook her head and her eyes shot open to see she was about to hit the mountain side. She swerved around it and was forced to land on the ground. She changed back into her human form, and slumped back against the base of a tree.

Was this how her mother felt, when she was carrying a child? She was in no shape to fly long distances and she had no idea how far the four dwarves could have traveled. Alyndra decided she would have to travel on foot for now, until she was well enough to start flying again, but she had no idea how long that could take. When it got to dark for her to see anymore, the skin changer climbed into a tree and wrapped her arms around her stomach, wishing she had Thorin's arms around her to keep her warm. She couldn't help but wonder if Balin could be right? Would Thorin hurt her, for leaving to find her friends? She shook that awful thought from her mind. She knew Thorin, he would never hurt her no matter how angry he was. It wasn't who he was. Alyndra closed her eyes, trying to get as much sleep as she could.

Dawn came sooner then she wanted. The skin changer had only gotten a couple hours of decent sleep before she woke up from the startling nightmare she had. The woman attempted to try and change back into her animal form but nothing happened. Alyndra was now panicking, if she couldn't fly anymore, she would have to travel on foot and she was miles away from the mountain and had no food. The skin changer calmed herself. Balin knew she was out here. If she didn't return in a couple days he would tell Thorin and he would come look for her, she knew he would. She continued on the search, her exhaustion was weighing heavy on her. She could recall other woman she knew that were with child, sure they looked tired but it was nothing like how she was feeling, never did she think carrying a child would cause her to lose her shape shifting ability and now she wish her mother was alive to help her through this.

Her long day continued on, even her eyesight as an eagle seemed to dissipate and she could only see as far as any normal human. For once she was actually scared, maybe she should have listened to the dwarf and stayed, but how could she? Her friends were out there and no one was looking for them and it wasn't because they didn't want to but because Thorin wouldn't allow them to. Alyndra had been walking for hours and she was pushing through her exhaustion and then a thought occurred to her, did this mean her connection with the other eagles was gone too? Would they even be able to sense if she were in trouble. All this was making the skin changer feel nauseous and she staggered a few feet more and collapsed onto the ground.