A Ruby's Shine (Thorin Oakenshield X OC)

91. Books

I walked through more and more halls of Erebor, finally starting to get a layout of the first layer of Erebor. When I woke up two days ago, it was to only me leaning against the wall, though Thorin did leave a cloak to pillow my head. I found him once more wandering the gold. Later I came to learn from the dwarves that Thorin isn't eating, sleeping, or drinking, so I made it my personal task to try to get him to at least eat and drink. I will not watch him waste away. Sometimes it works and he will sit there with me, especially from I am eating with him, but sometimes it wont and he will glare at me with such cold fire that I just sigh, put down the foor and drink and walk away.

There have been times over the past two days that Thorin was Thorin. Yet, he never, never left that treasure hall. So, I would always sit with him up away from the gold and talk. Mostly it was just about what I found exploring Erebor today and he would talk of the cool parts of his home. I was surprised to learn every living area here in Erebor has running water from a giant deep spring which is constantly in motion so the water stays clean and is heated by the lava below so it does freeze. I thought it was ingenious.

Thorin even told me it was used to power the forge area, to make the line move the ores down the chain to be poured into the forges and melted down. I was quite surprised at how advanced all of this sounded, yet I did not voice it. I didn't talk much if Thorin started talking, because him talking at all recently has become quite rare.

Oin finally removed the bandages and, in the room I sort of claimed as my own for the time being, I noticed just why everyone reacted in such a way at the sight of it. Clearly elvish magic sped up it's healing because in no way should a wound this extensive be already scarring over. The wound made me look... fierce. It cut jaggedly from the very tip of my hair line down my face, cutting through my left eyebrow, which I doubt will grow back there, and one down to the top of my cheek. It looked about as deep and jagged as my warg scars, yet, unlike my warg scars, this is not something I can hide.

I know it will never get any better than it currently is, so I know the gruesome scar will forever more be a part of my looks. The first time Thorin looked upon it after Oin removed the bandages was the first time since entering the mountain that I saw, fully, the Thorin I love. He was pissed off at Smaug, but pleased the dragon is dead and I got to speak with him, and him be himself, so three hours before the draw of the gold pulled him away.

When I wasn't sitting quietly among the dwarves in the hall they took to sleeping in, or trying to speak to Thorin or get him to eat, I was exploring Erebor by myself, thinking.

Currently I was walking along smaller tunnels off the side of the treasury, having just left Thorin, who was once more angry and ignoring me. These halls here seemed underdeveloped, like only a smaller team created them. sometimes it wasn't a hall at all, just a rocky tunnel.

I stopped, freezing in place as I stared at the square door in front of me, opened just a touch. Closed it would look like nothing more than a dead end as I glanced back the way I came before stepping up to the door, pushing it open slightly to see...

Cloudy overcast skies with snow clouds. Snow covered the ledge as I looked out with wide eyes, stepping out even more. It was another entrance into the mountain, possibly the same exact entrance on the map and key Gandalf gave Thorin at the beginning of this journey. I studied the area, looking up at the well hidden but giant statue of a dwarf into the steep side of the mountain as I stepped up to the edge, looking over at the staircase leading down the mountain. I looked over the area, breathing in the clean fresh winter air as I spotted Dale way down the way. I squinted my eyes but I could not tell if their were any guards at the ready around the city. I could only hope the people of Dale were alright.