Chapter Text
Exhaustion burned in her bones.
Five days ago, she had awoken in the middle of a mountain range with no idea how she got there or where she was.
Figuring it was best to try and find civilization fast, she had decided to go looking for a stream to follow; people tend to settle near water after all. And like that, she would at least not die of thirst, and with some luck, she could catch a fish. Even though she did not like the taste, she would have to figure out how to make a fire.
Luckily, it seemed to still be the middle of summer where she was, and so hypothermia ( especially during the night) was not a fear she had to deal with on top of everything else.
But until now, she had no such thing as luck. No civilization, nothing. She did not give up, she could not give up, or it would mean her death. And so she continued stumbling down the face of the mountain range, following the small runnel she had managed to find the second day.
Night was starting to come down the slopes for the sixth time when she imagined seeing some flickering lights in the distance through the surrounding forest. They were too small and did not seem to smoke much, so it was a possibility that these lights were fires lit by people.
With newfound energy, she made her way through the underbrush towards the assumed safety of the lights with only the sparse light of the moon lighting her way. It must have been hours later when she found herself on what seemed to be an undeveloped country road. A while back, she had to take a detour cause of a large crevasse she nearly stumbled into, making her lose sight of the fires.
Relief flushed her veins. A road meant People, and even though the lights might not have been on this road, following it could still mean she could go to safety. If she found another source of water alongside her path to safety.
I think I should take a small break. Just a few hours so I can go further tomorrow. Or today, whatever, when the sun is up again.
Content with sitting on and against a stone overgrown with moss, she closed her eyes and soon fell into a dreamless sleep.
Only to be awoken by a sharp sting traveling from the tip of her ear down the side of her neck.
“AH!”, she cursed, curling into herself and reaching for her ear to stop the pain out of reflex, only to notice a weight moving on her shoulder and wings flapping against the back of her head, “What the-.”
Stumbling to her feet, over her feet, and onto the ground, she tried swatting the bird away, but it only landed on the other shoulder and then her chest, pecking the tip of her nose.
Only then did she realize it was a Raven. The biggest Raven she had ever laid her eyes on. It was black, so black that if his feathers were not shiny, it would just be a void staring back at her. A void with a few white specks. White feathers adorned its chest, wings, and tail. Like stars in the deepest night.
“Hi there. I am not dead yet, you know?”, she spoke up in shock and confusion.
Caw, it answered before jumping back on her shoulder and flapping its wings as to say: We have to go.
With slow and pained movements of her aching muscles, she groaned her way back up into a standing position, only to freeze when she caught something in the corner of her eyes. There, almost ten meters away, stood a group of ten people dressed in medieval clothing, bearing weapons and other things fitting for that time. In the distance behind those people was another group, a caravan even with horses, wagons, and goats as giant as the horses.
“I lied. Seems like I am dead,” she mumbled towards the raven on her shoulder, “There is no way I am anywhere near home. And this ain´t the Himalaya, so I am dead. Fuck. FUCK! Ouch.”
The raven had pecked her ear again, stopping her ranting, and pulled her attention back to the strangers.
“Right, sorry.”
Caw
They were armed, she wasn´t.
They seemed to be well trained; she wasn´t.
So she did what she thought to be the most intelligent thing to do in that situation: Lifting her hands over her head (making the Raven move to the top of her head with an angry-sounding caw), she slowly turned around a whole circle and some more in an attempt to show those people she meant no danger or harm.
A guttural sound, words she realized, were called out to her, but she could not understand them and so decided to call out a short:” What? Sorry, no idea what you said.”
Those people must have either understood that there was a language barrier, or were angry that she did not do what they wanted her to do, cause a moment after her answer, heavy footsteps crunched the gravel on the road, and some form of stick hit the back of her shoulder, which she interpreted as an order to turn around.
Slowly, she did so, only to be greeted by a rough-looking man with an impressive beard and an ax.
Viking. Or Dwarf
Caw
Words she still could not understand left his lips. The only thing she could do was smile apologetically and shrug her shoulders.
He frowned, switching the language, it seems, but she could only repeat her earlier answer.
He sighed, looking back to his companions and then back at her.
Pointing at his chest, he then mimicked walking with his middle and pointer finger and then motioned in the direction they had come from.
I can do charade- I think.
And so she pointed at the stranger, followed by an outstretched arm down the road, before pointing at herself and then up the mountain. He looked at her and then up the mountain a few times in a row, like he was trying to figure out how or why.
Doing a charade of sleeping/ waking up, she held up five fingers and then pointed at the sun, followed by a movement up and down, and her fingers mimicking walking down.
She just wanted to try to ask for some water or food, when another one of the men came closer and started talking with the first one.
And then arguing.
It was obvious they were talking about her, interpreting the pointed movements of their hands and arms towards her, the mountain, then back to her, and then the raven. Who did not take kindly to a meaty finger being pushed into its personal space cause it bit into it the second it was in reach. Much to the amusement of the first man.
Through the sound of the laughter, the weak woman could hear another voice, a lighter one this time, call out, sounding annoyed.
Immediately, the men quieted down and even bowed their heads slightly upon the approaching person. It was a woman with black hair and a beard.
Dwarves, then I guess
They exchanged a few short words, more like the men tried to say something, but the woman did not want to hear it and disrupted them until she got the information she was looking for. And believing the frown upon her face while looking at her and then up the mountain, she did not like what she heard. Lifting a silencing hand, she motioned for the Caravan to continue on its way.
Sighting and resigned to her fate of being left on the road, the beardless woman stumbled to the rock she had previously slept on. Ignoring the angry flutter of wings against her head.
She had just sat back down when the woman stepped in front of her and lifted an eyebrow. The universal look of: What do you think you are doing?
She got her answer by an arm pointedly moving from the Caravan down the road, and then a finger pointing at her chest and a shrug of her shoulders, stating she was allowing the caravan to pass and did not know what to do then.
Probably being the ravens' next meal.
The Woman must not have liked the way she answered (or what she answered) cause a second after her shrug, she had snipped her finger against the first's forehead and then pointed at both of them and the Caravan.
“Wait. Me-” pointing at herself, “-and you-”, then at the woman with the beard. “- are joining the Caravan?-”, and the train of people and animals, the raven-carrying woman asked to see if she understood right.
The other one gave a strong nod and pointed at herself, “Dis.”
“Your name is Dis?” she asked, pointing at the woman who nodded again, “ I am Maya.”
“Dis.” Dis pointed at herself and then at Maya to show she understood, “Maya.”
Relieved she had found help, Maya let out a sigh and gave a small grateful smile just before her legs gave out, and the world around her turned black. Her body had given out after days of survival mode.
The newest addition to the caravan – much to the disdain of the head of the guards- had still not woken up after three days and two nights of slumber. But that was not out of the ordinary if it was true what Kuz had found out upon approaching her after they had noticed her sitting next to the road. At first, she had seemed deceased, with a Raven already claiming its meal, but when it had started biting her ear, she had jerked awake, swatting at the bird and stumbling over her own feet to the ground. It looked amusing, and the sister of the King under the mountain could not, and would not, deny she had let out a small snort of amusement upon seeing that.
She kept lying there with the Raven on her chest, seeming to have some form of conversation, all the while being watched by the leading part of their caravan, especially the leading guards, who started to move closer to her to investigate. This could be part of an ambush after all.
It had been obvious that she must have been in pain; her movements were stiff and slow when she stood up, the raven flapping its wings on her shoulder and pecking her hair.
With her now standing facing them Dis had to take in a breath of shock, apart from the worn clothes the woman with the raven looked like a lost Dwarrow from the distance, the guards must have the same thought, cause once she had turned (what Dis assumed was to show she was harmless) with raised hands, Kuz had called out to her asking who she was, but only got some strange sounding words back. It was obvious she could not understand them when she also did not react to the common tongue, and they instead resorted to rudimentary sign language.
The princess was intrigued to find out who that woman was, especially when she saw her mimic waking up atop the Mountain they stood at the foot of five days ago and walking down since. There were no settlements anywhere on the slopes of it, nor any of the surrounding ones. Who was she, and what was her relation to the Raven? A raven challenging the biggest ones of the brood of Erebor. It had not left the woman´s side ever since they had laid her to rest on one of the wagons before checking her for injuries. There was no doubt about the scrapes and bruises one would get climbing down for days on end.
In under a month, they would be arriving at the Lonely Mountain, reuniting with their friends and Families that had already made their way there after the reclaim.
Two more weeks until she could hug her sons and brother again.
Two more weeks until she would tan her sons and brothers hide for almost dying on her.
Two more weeks on the road with Dwarves and Dwarrows, who never had to endure the hardship of not having shelter and food at all times.
Two more weeks of her being responsible for hundreds of Dwarves and Dwarrows who had forgotten life on the road.
Two more weeks.
She must have pissed off some higher being recently cause she sure as hell had no say in her fate anymore. Maya had been glad that Dis had taken her under her wing, trying to communicate with her and help her adjust to her new life. That´s how she learned of her fate to either get married or be kicked out of the mountain, meaning she would probably die alone in the wild. So now she sat waiting on the foot of the huge bed, washed, and wearing a dress, well more like a nightgown, given to her by her only friend, for her husband (to be).
Who would it be? How would he treat her? Would she be allowed to walk freely or only with him close by?
With a heavy sigh, she fell back onto the mattress, her arms crossed above her head, and closed her eyes. Who knew how much alone or quiet time she would have in the future?
Maya´s mind had drifted off to the beautiful scenery she had seen in the last few weeks and how it looked like something out of an epic high fantasy novel or movie. Something too incredible to exist. The bed was so comfortable that, weren´t it for her nerves, she would have already drifted into a deep slumber, and even now the land of dreams was nibbling at the edge of her consciousness.
But it quickly retreated when heavy steps closed in on the bedroom door and stopped right outside of it.
A second goes by.
Then ten.
Then ten more.
And Maya was just wondering if the person might be a scout or something, when a loud knock sounded, and she called out an affirming sound. It wasn´t like the opponent would understand anything she would say.
Another two seconds passed before the door finally opened to reveal the person. A male dwarf, with a monk-cut (while the remaining hair was long and well kept), a long beard, and tattoos all over the skin, she was able to see. He was dressed in very dark leather pants, a dark blue shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and well-worn but well-kept boots. He seemed to be freshly cleaned, his hair and beard slightly damp still, and it was freshly trimmed.
Not wanting to be impolite, Maya quickly got up and rearranged her gown.
“Dwalin,” he gave a small bow.
“Maya,” she inclined her head back in greeting.
Silence followed, a silence finally interrupted by the sound of the closing door.
Carefully, he stepped forward to not scare her away, reaching for something hidden within the shirt. A scroll.
Wedding Papers, I assume. I shouldn´t sign something I can´t read, but I guess there is always an exception to that rule. Like when it's either dying in the wild or signing my name on a dotted line.
A deep vibrating rumble pulled her out of her thoughts, and she realized it was Dwalin talking to her. Once he had her attention, he motioned to himself, the unrolled scroll making a signing motion, then her and repeating said motion. Maya nodded in understanding and reached out for the paper.
It indeed had a little dotted line at the bottom where she had to sign. The uncanny similarity to her own world made her let out a tiniest snort of amusement.
At least not everything would be new to her.
Not even trying to read the signs and words written, she accepted the offered quill and signed her name in her most beautiful lettering. It was, after all, an official document.
“Are we married now?” she asked, motioning from her to him and then making entwined rings with her fingers.
He must have understood what she meant, cause he answered with a firm nod before making the universal “more or less” hand spinning. Pointing at the document, he nodded, but motioning around, he made a grimace and shook his head.
So we are married but not really. Bet we have to fuck first- what is it called again: consummating it.
“Make it official first, huh?” She kind of sighed; she had a feeling that would happen since Dis made her wear what she was. And so she did the universal sign of “fucking / having sex” by moving her pointer finger in and out of the hollow of the other hand.
Surprised or shocked (maybe both, she could not tell) by her boldness, the Dwarf spluttered for a second, his cheeks and nose turning slightly pink, before sighing and giving a short nod with an almost apologetic look in his eyes.
“Okay,” she shrugged with her shoulder and crawled back on the bed.
It might not seem so, but she was nervous too, and also a bit scared. And no, she was not a virgin, having had some partners in the past. But howbeit he looked to be at least fifteen years or so her senior, he was not bad looking and definitely of a muscular build, he was attractive in his way, and she wondered if he had ink hidden beneath his clothes.
Dusting off her “Get to know Games” skills, she patted the area on the bed to her right in hopes of not scaring him away or being rude. Who knew what kind of traditions they had, and she had to follow to not mess this up or insult him. That would not be a good start to their marriage.
One step at a time, he closed the distance between him and the foot of the bed, where he stopped and slowly started undressing piece by piece.
Maya´s thoughts turned out to be true: he had ink all over his well-toned, and slightly hairy chest that went down the middle of his abs towards his loins.
His boots and socks were quickly followed by his trousers, making him stand before her bare.
And God did she pray that moment he was no grower, his manhood was bigger than any of her partners in the past, and even bigger than some she had seen in porn. If he turned out to be a grower, she was not sure if she would be able to make it through the night without being in pain during and in the time after.
In one quick motion, she had gotten rid of the gown and now sat bare before her husband as well.
“Dwalin, I do not mind fucking you, it's -”; she wanted to add more but chose not to, he wouldn´t understand at all, “- Just no kissing on the Lips, please.” He must have understood her gesture because he gave one firm affirmative nod before joining her on the bed.
With one of his hands, he started to slowly and softly caress her leg from her ankle up to her hip, his eyes trained on her face to catch any expression of fear, discomfort, or excitement Maya might have. When he had reached her hip and had repeated the same gentle movement on the other leg, he let his thenar rest on her stomach, his fingertips slightly grabbing her side. Centimeter for centimeter, he continued moving upward, all the while pushing her down, and once the are between his thumb and pointer-finger came to rest against the base of her left breast, the back of her head had made contact with the bed, and her breathing stopped for a second. Just as his movements did then.
He continued, though only a moment later, by engulfing her whole breast with that hand and leaning forward, his eyes still concentrated on her face, only to give the nipple of the right one a small lick that sent a good short shiver up her spine.
Satisfied with the lack of negative reaction on her part, he sucked it into his mouth and then placed kisses all around while still massaging the left one.
Soon, a small noise of pleasure gurgled in her throat; she could feel his smile over that against her skin, and he switched his way of giving attention. Another sound, this time more like a moan, left her throat, and she could feel her legs clenching together cause of the feeling he was giving her.
She had to give it to him: he knew what he was doing, and this was not his first time either. Lucky her.
Dwalin continued with his attention but kept it above the navel only, much to the annoyance of Maya. After a while, she was becoming wet quickly under his care, and her ability to tend to her needs was gone because she was too wet to be able to use friction anymore.
Another whine left her throat, and Maya was about to take care of the itch herself when one of the man's hands finally found its way between her folds, making her immediately moan and twitch in pleasure.
Her second Orgasm had just passed when she felt something else between her folds. Dwalin had settled his body between her legs and positioned his member against her entrance, his eyes searching for approval, finding it in a small nod. Her husband's movements were slow and controlled, almost too much so that she started to roll her hips in a show of content and encouragement. But not too much to make him uncomfortable in case he was taking his time for his sake and not hers.
She had always been a tactile person during sex, so her hands had started to wander out of their own accord, and she only realized she had started to feel up the man currently railing her to another shattering release when he suddenly froze in the middle of a thrust. One of her hands lay against his strong chest while the other had just started to ghost through the end of his beard.
His gaze unreadable to her, she jerked her hands away from him and mumbled a short apology while turning her head away in a submissive manner. With all she knew, she might just have done something completely forbidden or unwanted in his culture. With her arms and hands curled against her chest and beneath her jaw, she awaited his next movement. Whatever it might be.
After what felt like an eternity, he continued his thrusts, this time only more erratic and not as controlled as before. He was either angry with her, she concluded, or wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Neither did it sit well with her, and she cursed herself that she had not paid more attention to her actions. After all, her fate was bound to her husband's emotions and whims.
His breathing turned more erratic, his straight posture crumbled, and a deep groan left through his clenched teeth when he came.
And even though he seemed well spent (quite literally), he was able to keep his weight on her the whole five or more minutes he took to recuperate.
“Are we married now?”, she repeated the same question she had asked earlier, to which he nodded and sat up straighter, “Good.”
He rumbled something, the movements he added looked like he was washing up before motioning to her, and then the bath.
“Yes, Please. You can go first, though,” she smiled, but signed for him to go first, to which he shook his head no.
Scooting to the edge, she noticed small muscle twitches in her legs and lower belly that already told her the walk to the bath would be a wobbly one. And it indeed turned out to be.
The first two steps she took, she nearly fell to the floor, but managed to catch herself with an outstretched hand on the bed.
It had been quite a while since she had been fucked so good that she had problems walking.
Waddling to the bathroom, she felt both hers and his come blob out of her and trickle down the inner sides of her legs.
I would love a hot bath right now, but I guess a shower has to be enough for now. At least they have hot showers here. Should hurry so he can wash up soon, too.
Within a few minutes, she had washed up and gotten out of the room, covered in a big towel. Having nothing else to change into, Maya stepped out to find the bed with fresh covers and Dwalin only covered in his breaches.
“Dwalin,” she announced her return, “Do you have something for me to wear to bed?”, she continued when he had turned around and tried to make him understand by pointing at herself and then trying to mimic getting dressed.
“Mmhm,” he hummed before walking towards a wardrobe and getting out some fabric. It was one of the shirts he gave her to wear.
“Thank you. I am finished, you can go now if you want,” she smiled.
He rumbled something else before sighing, mimicking eating, and motioning towards a tablet filled with some fruits, bread, and drink.
Nodding in understanding with a smile, she took an apple and took a bite. She was becoming hungry after all, and also did not want to seem ungrateful.
Her husband took longer than she did in the bath; he, after all, had done more physical work than she had just minutes before and deserved a good hot shower.
Or cold one, she blushed, realizing she heard suppressed grunts and groans coming from the bath. It would be a lie if she did not feel hurt at that moment; apparently, their wedding night had not been satisfactory for him, and she was sure it was her fault. She thought about apologizing to him and how she might be able to make it up to him.
Undecided on whether she should go to bed, or if it would be rude to do so, Maya stood next to the bed waiting for her husband to return and for information on how the wedding night in the Dwarven culture would continue.
Her eyes had started to get heavy when Dwalin returned. His hair, beard, and whole body, if she was honest, were still wet and leaving small drops of water onto the floor. Costing the breaches their purpose of hiding his man (dwarf(?)-) hood. It was still semi-hard, and Maya figured the night might not be over yet.
“Soo…. Do we sleep, fuck some more, or … I don´t know what your traditions are.”, she spoke up when he looked at her with a questioning gaze.
Dwalin then pointed to the bed and repeated the motion she had done when talking about sleep, but otherwise did not move from his position between the bathroom and the untouched bed.
“Okay,” she shrugged, “Do you usually sleep on the right or left side? I don´t mind either, “ I guess this is your apartment. Don´t want to burden you even more than I am already doing with this.”
His answer was getting into the side of the bed closest to the door before pulling back the covers on her side to make it easier for her to join as well.
Thanking him with a soft nod and smile, Maya settled and was out as a light in no time. The last couple of days had been exhausting after all.