Over the Mountains // Thorin Oakenshield

Chapter 19

"Sepha," Sigrid whispered.

The quarter breed lifted her furry head from where she had been resting it on her front paws and considered Sigrid with her bright violet eyes.

"I know you're hurting but you're going to make yourself sick," the girl pointed out. "You have to eat and sleep. You haven't since you came here. Besides that, you haven't morphed back to human either."

Sepha didn't reply but laid her head back down. Sigrid sighed.

"And you haven't spoken since you got here either."

Sepha shook her head. Honestly, she didn't have anything to say. Food was tasteless to her and rest could never come. She was sitting at the very far back of Dale, as far from the mountain as possible and most of the time, she had all the children of lake town playing around and over her. She would occasionally get up from her lying position to help carry things or to give the children wolf rides around the city but not once did she let her violet eyes lay on the mountain that stood at their doorstep.

She didn't even bark, growl or even purr. Once, Tilda had found her soft spot behind her ears (in human form it was her back) and scratched there, reaching the parts that were hard to itch when in wolf form. Sepha had thought that she would naturally purr at the comforting feeling but she couldn't.... it was like her body didnt want to make a noise anymore.

"Father has gone to speak with the dwarves," Bain said, hurrying over.

Sigrid tried to give her brother a warning look but Bain missed it and Sepha slowly turned so that she was hiding her face behind her large body.

"Sorry Sepha," Bain whispered. "I forgot."

Sepha shook her head and gave the boy a soft look with her violet eyes, telling him that she wasn't upset with him.

Bain came and sat down beside the girl and Sepha laid her large head on Bain's knee, allowing the boy to stroke her head (which was her hair in human form)

Finding that she wasn't needed, Sigrid went off to look out for her father.

"Sepha," Bain whispered. "Do you love Thorin?"

There was a long painful silence. Did she love him? Sepha knew that at one time or another she did love him.... but did she still love him even though the sickness had destroyed the good in him? Did she still love him.

She taught back to two nights prior when she had managed to get THorin to rest. She had seen a spark of the old Thorin in there....it was like he was still there but something... something big had to break him free.

Slowly, the girl nodded her head and Bain smiled. He wrapped his arms around the girl's furry neck and hugged her.

"I'm glad."

Sepha lifted her eyes and looked at the boy, puzzled.

Bain smiled, "I'm glad because I see bits of da in Thorin. You might not see it because you don't know my da like I do but.... after ma died, da would get this faraway look. His eyes looked like they were in another world and he would zone out. Then whenever he looked at me or the girls... his eyes would light up. Whenever Tilda or Sigrid did something that reminded him of ma, his eyes were start to shine like stars. THat's when I knew he was happy because he could still see ma in us."

Sepha found herself smiling in spite of herself at hearing those words. Bain was so young, yet so wise and observant.

"It's the same with you and THorin," Bain continued, "For the short time you were in lake town, whenever you weren't around Thorin would look just like my da when he was thinking of ma.... kind of far away in another world and all zoned out and almost unhappy. Then when you came into the room, it was just like when da saw ma in Tilda or Sigrid. Thorin's eyes would shine the exact same way and he would look like the happiest man on earth."