Chapter Text
Thorin was not pleased with me when he awoke and it was morning. He glared at me all throughout breakfast, as well as the set off. He had grumbled to the other dwarves, quietly asking them if they had been woken up for watch, to which none of them said yes. I, meanwhile, didn’t seem like I had just pulled an all-nighter. I was cheerful, laughing brightly at a joke Bofur had made as I enjoyed the warm onion broth Bombur created to warm us up from the chilled night air. He didn’t approach to confront me until most of the dwarves were readying to saddle up. I, knowing he was waiting to find a quieter moment, lingered around the fire, slowly packing up my unused bedroll and blankets. “Why didn’t you wake someone for watch.” he grumbled, large arms crossed and dark eyebrows furrowed. “Because I stayed up all night.” I answered back, continuing to busy myself. “ That’s irresponsible.” he grumbled, Dwalin wandering over to see what the holdup was. “If you fell asleep we would have been left without a guard.” “I wouldn’t have. Plus, on the impossible chance I did, the birds would have been watching for me.” He quirked an eyebrow, incredulous. “Birds. Birds watching for orcs.” I held out one of my arms, and quickly, chirpy little songbirds fluttered down from the trees and landed, looking directly at Thorin, and Dwalin (who frankly just seemed confused). “Yeah. Birds.”
Thorin went quiet for a bit, but when I walked over to Eclipse, thinking the conversation was over, he followed, Dwalin asking what I did. Dwalin didn’t seem to take the news of my sleepless night any better than Thorin did. “Lass, you gotta sleep some. We can’t have anybody not at their best.” Dwalin said, gruff voice more concerned than I was expecting. “I’m just fine. Believe me, when I’m not, it’ll be obvious.” I still wasn’t making eyecontact with the two dwarven men. “Besides, you and the rest of the company got a full night of sleep, something that is rare and desperately needed for a journey like this. Wouldn’t it be best for me, someone who can go a very long time without need of sleep, to take watches while you all get as much rest as possible?” Thorin and Dwalin both grumbled again, little interjections of “but still”s and “lass-” but didn’t seem to be able to come up with something to say. “Well…Still, tonight wake somebody up just in case. I do not yet fully trust your…songbirds.” Thorin growled, trudging over to his pony and setting off, Dwalin following suit. “You alright, Lass?” Nori asked, his pony sidling over to Eclipse’s side. “I haven’t seen too many people square off with both Dwalin and Thorin over something and seem to come out successful before. What happened?” “I just stayed up all night. Killed two birds with one stone.” Nori looked at me, shocked. “How the hell are you keeping your eyes open?” Fili and Kili seemed to be drawn by Nori’s exclamation, but before mischief and my choice of no sleep continued through the crew, Thorin called for us to move out.
Bilbo, not seemingly aware of the…tension? (although that seemed strong, more like confused concern crossed with stubborn dwarves not used to losing in any regard.) began to happily chatter about the beautiful morning. It was indeed a beautiful morning, the sun was shining and the birds (one of whom was now residing in my hair, a cute little chickadee) were delightfully chirping. We meandered through the forest, which slowly petered out into rolling grassy hills spotted with the occasional tree. As the sun beat down onto the group, they started shucking off their massive woolen coats and furs. Bilbo almost started panting, refusing to be that improper, as if going coatless was improper. I myself shucked off my coat too, existing only in my bra and spandex, much to the chagrin of some and the delight of others. Bilbo squeaked and seemed to refuse to look in my general direction. The most interesting occurrences on the road beyond this, were the antics of Kili and Fili (who I desperately try to deny gazing at to myself. They were both wearing thin linen shirts with the sleeves rolled up to their elbows, allowing me to catch a glimpse of the geometric tattoos that spiraled around their forearms) and Thorin and Gandalf’s constant bickering at the front of the party. I internally cringed at Thorin’s cross mood, knowing that my obstinance earlier likely didn’t help, which I’m sure was only doubled from the heat. Dwarves were known to be people who preferred the cold. I couldn’t even fully tell what they were bickering about. However, when Gandalf mentioned Rivendell - causing me to perk up immediately - Thorin nearly blew a gasket.
Thankfully, Bomber and Dori’s whining about the heat cut through the bickering at the front, and Bifur’s exclamation of
drew the attention of everyone, other than Bilbo. Thorin, begrudgingly relenting to the immediate cacophony of the party begging to go for a quick swim to cool off, turned his fluffy steed over towards the river, accompanied by hoots and hollars. “What’s happening?” Asked Bilbo, confused at the sudden excitement. “Bifur spotted a river, and we’re going to cool off in the water now. The horses could probably need some water too.” After we dismounted close to the riverbank, the dwarves very quickly started sprinting towards the water, many of the younger (or more desperate) ones peeling off their sweat-soaked shirts and trousers as fast as possible. Bilbo, Dori, and Balin immediately reacted to the impropriety, Bilbo by squeaking yet again and turning around, while Balin tsked exasperatedly, and Dori nearly coughed out a lung yelling at them. I gathered the horses and led them down stream, and they gratefully started drinking up the cool water. I placed my hand in to test it out, it was pleasantly cool, and decently deep with a pretty present current rushing through. Perfect for a quick rest stop.
I laughed quietly to myself when I saw Thorin speed-walking over towards a rocky part of the river bank, thinking he must have been significantly more desperate for a dip than he wanted to seem. I nearly choked on my tongue when he shucked off his shirt. His back was incredibly muscular and broad, ridges visible from all the way over where I was standing. He had scars from blades criss-crossing his arms and back, but what was really impressive was the massive intricate raven tattoo stretching across the span of his form, wings extending down the backs of his also very muscular arms. I desperately averted my eyes, tying up the horses to allow them to graze to their heart's content. I smiled to myself at the ringing laughter of my compatriots, Gandalf settling on a stone, facing the treeline, puffing away at his pipe, furrowed eyebrows slowly relaxing as the leaf relaxed his frazzled nerves. I placed my coat, folded, on a rock, and magic swirled around me, changing out of my travelling gear into a swimsuit, a guazy sarong slung low around my hips, figuring I would launch the dwarves and Bilbo into a severe panic attack and maybe a few strokes if I wanted around in what would equate to underwear. Although, the state of dress a bikini top begets didn’t receive much better of a response once I was spotted, toeing into the cool water. Many of the more proper dwarves, Dori nearly passing out in the water, started loudly exclaiming in distress, Gloin climbing out to run and grab me a shirt, desperately trying to thrust it over my shoulders while trying not to look at me. Fili, Kili, Bofur, and Nori mind you, were trying to peek over to see what the fuss was about. Kili, who had been on his brother’s shoulders for some godforesaken reason, fell into the water in surprise, blushing scarlet. Thorin, who had reacted as if I was injured, also went slightly red, specifically his ears, and promptly turned around, not saying anything one way or the other. “Oh come now lads, let the lass wear what she wishes, half of ye’ are more undressed than she.” Oin grumbled from where he was wringing out his shirt. The others grumbled, but did as he said, although Gloin was not so pleased to receive a smack over the head from his elder brother. I didn’t pay it any mind, in all honesty. I found their protectiveness amusing, given how little we’ve been travelling together. And from what I knew of dwarves, I knew it came from a good place, a place of reverence, due to how precious women were to their culture. Ori didn’t seem to particularly care either way, which surprised me. He, in fact, was the first to approach me where I lounged against the river bank, giggling quietly to myself as the fabric of the sarong drifted in the river’s current. He was incredibly curious about the fabric my swimsuit was made of, which resulted in me explaining the wonders of waterproofing, and Ori excitedly reacting in turn.
We set off again, moods significantly improved, although they seemed to sour at the front of the pack yet again when Gandalf once again not-so-subtly brought up going to Rivendell to gain assistance from Elrond regarding the map. Thorin seemed to hold extremely staunch hatred for elves, something I understood due to his family’s long-lasting dispute with Thranduil and the elves of Mirkwood. I didn’t realize it extended all the way to the elves of Rivendell as well, and likely to the ones of Lothlorien as well by proxy. The rest of the party seemed much happier though, Fili and Kili back to their adorably charismatic actions, once again picking flowers from the side of the road, forming little wildflower bouquets and gallantly handing them over to me atop my steed, the both of them stretching their arms to reach me from their ponies. Kili even tied a bouquet to an arrow, and shot it over the heads of the other dwarves who yelled in confusion and disgruntlement. I caught it with ease, and found myself appreciating the artful and well-practiced movement of him angling his bow and sending off the arrow carrying the delicate package. I loved the little flowers, weaving them together into a flower crown, which I placed on my head when they both exited the line to flash me more winks and winning smiles. “Thank you for the flowers.” I smiled brightly at the two of them, Fili returning it and Kili looking to the side, blushing red. He had been much less confident with his gifting than he was before, bashfully looking to the side as he handed them off. It always made me giggle, making me think that despite his brash confidence, seeing me in my swimsuit had rattled the young prince more than he’d like to admit.
The sun began to set down beyond the mountainous horizon as we began to approach the forest. Bilbo was incredibly nervous and quiet, fiddling with Myrtle’s reins, generally restless. “Something on your mind, Mr. Baggins?” I said, looking at my charge to the side of me. “Oh…I’m sorry to worry you, Miss Aria. It’s just…We’re almost at the edge of the Shire.” Understanding crossed my mind. The shire was quiet…safe, gentle, beautiful. Even in the outskirts like we were now, we had had an entirely, and miraculously, peaceful commute. For all the dwarves poke fun (both in teasing and in genuine distaste, depending on who it is) at Bilbo’s peaceful and gentlemanly ways, he is much more than a home-loving bookish introvert who is too polite for his own good. He is also very intelligent, resourceful, and very aware of his situation. He knows, like most hobbits know, that the Shire is one of very few safezones within Middle Earth. Beyond the invisible boundaries, he may never approach another safe haven again until the journey is over, assuming he even survives it, which is very much up in the air for all of us, but especially him. He is the one who, provided I can’t break through to Smaug, will go in to nab the most precious, beautiful, and noticeable gemstone in the entire hoard. He is also the one who doesn’t have any experience in fighting, which I will make sure to rectify as fast as possible, but he is likely also very aware that he will be a rookie at best, and entirely inept at worst. And, knowing his thinly veiled cynicism, he would most likely believe he will be incredibly bad at fighting. “I’m sure it’s incredibly nervewracking, leaving the safety you are understandably connected to. But there are so many beautiful lands to explore beyond, lands I’m sure you’ll end up appreciating for at the very least their aesthetic beauty. And I’m hoping to begin teaching you some basic skills with a blade tonight after dinner, once Thorin chooses a place for us to bed down.” Bilbo nodded, smiling appreciatively, but based on his still down expression, I don’t know how much my words eased his worries.
A bristling Thorin called for us to settle down and dismount in a rundown, lifeless farm inset on a lovely grassy plane. I looked over to the dilapidated farmhouse, Gandalf’s eyebrows furrowed in similar disturbance. I handed Eclipse’s reins off to Bifur, who gave her quick pats on the nose before leading her over to a paddock where the ponies were grazing peacefully. As the rest of the company began bustling around, rolling out bedrolls and a few of them assisting Bomber in setting up a campfire for cooking dinner and warmth, I picked my way over the shards of dry wood and glass to Gandalf’s side. “I dislike the energy around this area, Mithrandir.” He hummed in agreement, before setting off down the ruined pathway, me on his tail. The both of us eased our way into the building, the hinges on the door shrieking in anger at being moved.
My suspicions were quickly confirmed once I entered. The walls were collapsed in, the bricks of the chimney clattered around in the back of the little house, hay from the thatched roof falling all around. However, the furniture that was undamaged, or at least less damaged, was not rotting or old in style, nor looted by goblins or bandits either. There was a thin layer of dust laying on the furniture as well, but significantly less than would be expected on a farmhouse that run-down by time alone. Gandalf had seen enough, making his way out and calling for Thorin’s attention. I was almost set out to follow, when a small glint of shining metal caught my eye. It was a little locket, incredibly simple in design, just smooth and oval in shape. I clicked the clasp, and it swung open with no resistance. Inside was a tiny drawing of a family of three humans, a mother, father, and little son. All three were smiling brightly, dressed in standard peasant garb. Not seeing any bodies, I prayed the three of them had managed to get away from whatever assailant met them, but the uncomfortable feeling deep in my stomach didn’t give me much faith that that was the case.
“-This is not a safe place to rest for the night, Thorin!” Gandalf insisted as I came out of the building. “Oh quiet yourself, at worst it would be some bandits we could easily handle. Besides, my kin are tired, and the sun is nearly gone. We stay.” Gandalf snarled, frustration evident in the face of one of the most stubborn dwarves that has likely existed. “Thorin, whatever broke that farmhouse, is much stronger and larger than mere human bandits. There is not nearly enough dust to denote that time itself was the criminal regarding its destruction. There was a human family living here, not more than two weeks ago.” I showed him, and Gandalf by proxy, the little locket. “Whatever it is, we will handle it! We are staying and that is final.” Thorin doubled down, pride in his and his kin’s abilities veiling logic. “Your stubbornness will get you and your people killed, Thorin Oakenshield!” Gandalf yelled, marching over to the horses to remount Shadowfax and set off on his own. “Gandalf, where are you going!” Bilbo called out, distressed. “I am going to spend time with one of the few people who have any sense!” He said, bitingly. “Who would that be?” Bilbo asked, fiddling with the cuffs of his coat, almost like he didn’t fully want to know the answer but asked before he could think about it. “Myself, Master Baggins, that is who! I am fed up with the ridiculous stubbornness of dwarves.” and off he went.
“Are you going to set off too, Miss Knight?” Thorin grouched, clearly fed up with the fact that the wizard stormed off. “No, I do still have a charge to take care of, my King.” I said, smiling ruefully. I was less than pleased at Thorin’s stubbornness, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Besides, I didn’t want to leave the dwarves, and most importantly Bilbo, alone with whatever that thing or things are. Thorin tasked Fili and Kili with pony watch while Bomber set about making stew with the help of Gloin and Dori. I pitched in as much as they would allow me as well, wanting to be helpful. Bilbo approached me as we worked, Bomber unceremoniously handing him a potato to peel with one of his knives. “Will Gandalf be back, Miss Aria?” I hummed noncommittally. “He should be, hopefully. How long it takes for him to return is the question though.” The brows of my fellow cooks furrowed, trying not to let the idea of the very powerful wizard not joining them for a significant part of their journey due to a minor spat get them too distressed. Eventually, the sun had set entirely, the moon bright, and Bofur handed two bowls of stew off to Bilbo, asking him to bring them to the princes.
The three of them were gone for much too long, I heard Eclipse whinnying from the distance and immediately felt myself getting incredibly antsy. Fili and Kili ran out through the forest, panting and gathering their weapons. “Trolls…Bilbo…ponies…help!” Kili panted out, clearly distressed from the situation. “Wait…trolls?” I heard Bofur exclaim. I immediately shrugged off my jacket, allowing my wings to extend out and feathers sharpened into swords. I plucked two, extending them into full-size katanas. “There are three trolls, stone trolls I think, and they took a few of the ponies and Eclipse ran after them. We then convinced Bilbo to do his burglar thing and go get them but we can’t see him anymore and don’t know how he’s doing.” I immediately set out, Thorin and the rest of the company busying themselves in gathering weapons. “Aria, by Durin what are you doin'?!” Dwalin whisper-shouted. “I’m protecting my charge.” I responded, rushing off into the forest, silent.
It took me a while to spot Bilbo, and when I finally did, he was quickly snatched up and Kili drew their attention. I stayed huddled in the bushes, waiting and watching, mostly analyzing their skills as I quietly slunk my way over to the horses and ponies. I slashed through the ropes, allowing Eclipse and the four stolen ponies to run off, Eclipse protecting them from the back. Bilbo seemed completely discombobulated, trying to keep to the bushes and hunker down away from the tree-trunk legs of the three trolls. I quietly appreciated the incredible skill of the dwarves. I could easily tell why Dwalin was Thorin’s second-in-command; he was quite frankly terrifying with all of his axes. I’m surprised he didn’t slice clean through one of the legs. Kili and Fili seemed to work in perfect tandem, and pulled off some frankly ridiculous stunts, and seemed to be so incredibly armed they might as well be porcupines. Thorin was practically tackling one entirely on his own, easily mowing them down with his battleaxe. He also seemed incredibly aware, constantly looking around at his surroundings, checking to make sure his company was alright. I smiled softly at his protectiveness.
Unfortunately, while I was off in my pathetic la-la land, Two of the trolls spotted Bilbo and scooped him up, promptly insisting to the dwarves that they drop their weaponry. This is when I decided to come in, slinking out of the bushes, and catching Thorin’s eyes, motioning for him not to react to me and stall as much as possible. He watched me cautiously, proceeding to very, very, very slowly drop his weapons one at a time. Some of the dwarves seemed to get the message to go slow, however Kili, bless him, immediately chucked everything he was holding to the floor with an obstinate look, protective of the little hobbit.
I proceeded to spread my wings and silently jump into the air, floating silently in the air. My blades lined up with their arms as their eyes quietly bugged out. I quickly raised my blades, white hot flame licking up the sides, and brought them down with a swift swish, the air singing, and cut through their massive arms like sticks of butter. The three trolls didn’t even realize it at first, as I quickly caught Bilbo as he plummeted, flying quickly over the massive flame before settling him back on his feet by the rest of the company. A chorus of screeches and yells started from the two trolls who were one arm down, screaming in pain and extreme distress as they watched two of their arms plummet to the ground. The third, still two-armed troll, started screaming in equal distress at his compatriot’s painful misfortune. All three started for me, to which I still, swords raised and ignited as I stood stoic in front of the dwarves. However, my additional intervention was not required, as I heard a familiar voice call out, “The dawn shall take you all!” before cracking a boulder in two, allowing for the faintest creep of sunlight to peek out from the horizon. Thankfully it was enough to turn the trolls into stone statues, Gandalf coming down to knock his staff against them. He met eyes with me, sending me a little wink. I ended up remembering Sam talking about Mr. Bilbo’s stone trolls. I guess these were them.
“Are you all alright?” I said, turning around to the dwarves, who were picking up their weaponry, while Bilbo just seemed absolutely shell-shocked. A chorus of “We’re alright-” and “Thank you Lassie-” was heard. “That was quite an entrance.” Thorin said, eyes twinkling. “I’m glad I trusted you to do your work.” He leaned against his axe’s handle, relaxed. “I’m glad I also got the opportunity to see you all fight, you weren’t kidding about your skills. I was quite impressed.” I smiled, meeting his eyes. They seemed warmer in the firelight, and the night sky once again paled in comparison to his hair, the silver shining beautifully under the moon. “I got the ponies free while you were fighting, Eclipse should have led them back to the rest of them by now.” Thorin hummed appreciatively, before his attention was drawn away by some of the other dwarves beginning to meander their way back. “Miss Angel! Are you alright?” Kili asked, running up to me with his brother walking up a little later. “Yes, I’m quite alright Kili.” I blushed when he took my hand, the calluses on his hands registering due to his bowstring. Much quieter this time, he quietly murmured, “I’m sorry about earlier by the way…in the river.” blushing as he looked away from my face again. The two of us brought up the rear of the group, Fili bounding over to Bilbo to make sure he actually could move his legs, not so secretly flashing his little brother a cheeky wink, Kili lunging to kick him in the back of the knee. “Don’t worry about it Kili, it’s just a swimsuit. Besides….” I leaned down to whisper into his ear, “I don’t mind you looking anyway.” I squeezed his hand before letting go, laughing brightly as the sunrise began to peak over the treeline. Kili seemed to need to reboot, before his cheeks blushed and he chased after me, catching my hand once again while whining about me teasing him.
We took a bit of the day to rest despite the sun, I made sure to tend to some of the ponies who were understandably traumatized. Fili seemed to jump his brother and tussle him to the ground, probably teasing him. Gandalf wandered over to check on his horse. “Gandalf, trolls tend to have hoards, right?” he nods. “Trolls have hoards?!” Gloin exclaimed, running to join the conversation at the hint of treasure being involved. This quickly caught the attention of the rest of the dwarves, Bilbo drifting over to my side, mind still reeling. I gently rubbed his shoulders soothingly, and the dwarves quickly set off to go hunting for a treasure hoard. “Eclipse, keep them safe.” I said quickly, her winnying in response. Nori, seemingly having a nose for gold, quickly found the hoard, many of them packing as many of the gold pieces into a treasure chest (and their pockets) as they could manage. “I lit up a few small yellow lights in my hand, making them drift deeper into the room, which smelled absolutely vile. A few armored skeletons wearing ancient elvish garb soon explained the reason why, as well as the copious rats and general trollish stench. A sword’s pommel caught my eye, something I recognized from before-time. I picked my way around the various bones, Thorin seemingly also catching sight of the weaponry in the back, and joining me to look over them. I smiled after I cleaned off the scabbard, the elegant pommel shining untarnished as ever in the soft light. “Mithrandir!” I called to Gandalf, Thorin looking confused and interested as the wizard made his way over. “I believe this is yours.” He smiled warmly at the sword, before taking it to clean off on his own. “Do you know this one?” Thorin asked, cleaning off a massive and elegant sword with a tooth for the hilt. “That is Orcrist, both forged by the Gondolin elves.” He said, Thorin’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “It would serve you very well, Thorin. It is strong and sharp, and will never lose its strength. You could not wish for a better sword.” He met my eyes, and proceeded to draw it, disturbing the copious cobwebs. Gandalf found a little sword and gave it to Bilbo, I recognized it as Sting, and the rest of the dwarves had looted the cave to their heart’s content. “It suits you well, Thorin.” I said, smiling brightly at him. He drew it, practicing some swings, the fur of his coat and his hair moving perfectly. I don’t think he could exist and not look handsome. I desperately tried to beat away the thoughts of his tattooed back, grateful the cave was still relatively dark. “It is well balanced. I suppose leaving it to rot here would be a waste.” He resheathed it, looking in my eyes as he clasped it to his belt, silver rings on his hands flashing. “Come now, little knight. I don’t think there is anything of value left to take anymore.” He smirked, offering a hand to me gallantly, which I took. He stepped ahead of me, leading me out of the cave, and I gathered the lights as we went. After reemerging, Fili, Kili, and Dwalin swarmed their king, looking admiringly at the sword. I proceeded to gently pick some stray cobwebs out of Fili’s well groomed hair, him turning around to meet my eyes, before smiling sweetly and reaching up to do the same for me. Unfortunately, the light hubbub and excitement of post won-battle euphoria was quickly squashed with the sound of a rustling, everyone immediately standing at attention, and I smiled to myself seeing Bilbo draw Sting, even though he was shaking like a leaf at the thought of facing the impeding threats to come.