Dawn crept over the hills and the sun glistened on the water. The flowers turned their heads to absorb the sunlight, their daily food. She lay on the hill and soaked up the weather" Just the way I want it" she thought to herself. Spring was here to stay and for once no cold weather and no snow. "Perfect, no one will see me up here" so she felt no need to hide her true appearance and she cast away the power that kept her looking "like one of them." A noise far off in the distance made her bolt upright, it was only a quit noise but it was close. She stood on the hill top and surveyed to area and there off in the distance, were a small troupe of dwarves, not but 20 miles away. No others could see them from where she was stood but she was not what she seemed. Quickly she closed her eyes and her powers shielded her natural complexion. "Another day in disguise" she thought and she sped off down the hill. The town she lived in was not a normal place, the town was built in the small lake it was located in, and that was why it was known to the world as Lake Town. She sat on the river bank and peered into the water and caught her reflection. Something shone in her auburn hair but it was not sunlight, for the sun had not fully risen and she was sat under a tree." Typical". She twizzled her fingers around the piece of hair that was shining and closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Again she looked in the water and saw her hair was fully auburn. She shook her head a let out a hearty laugh. She strolled across the bank but her feet ached from being trapped in her blue velvet shoes. She took them off and held them in her fingers and she dug her feet into the ground. The earth covered her feet and she began walking along again. She lifted her arm in the air and let her hand touch every passing branch. The leaves were budding once again. She did not realise how long she had lingered admiring to change of seasons until she heard murmurs coming from the forest. " They're hear, already, this cannot be right, unless I misjudged how far away I could see them or they have the speed of a horse" Her thought were interrupted as she heard their voices get closer. She quickly found a tree and climbed up to a branch she could follow the voices from and lay low and unseen. Then she them, dwarves, at least 13 of them, some singing and some as quiet as night itself, all dripping wet. Then she saw something which eluded her, he was smaller than a dwarf but had large feet and curly hair. She was curious to know what this creature was and where it was from, but her curiosity got the better of her and she wavered and nearly fell from the, but she managed to re-grab to branch, unfortunately this made a lot of noise. The dwarves had not seen but the unknown creature saw the rustle of freshly budded leaves and wandered away from the group to investigate. "Oh no, he'll see me" She scurried back down the branch but then she heard a voice:
"Bilbo, what is it?"
"O I thought I saw something in the tree, watching us" answered the voice she guessed belonged to the unknown creature.
Heavy boot crunched the fallen leaves as they approached "I see nothing, come we are nearly there."
She scurried back to the top of the branch as saw a dwarf with auburn hair just like hers leading 'Bilbo' away and regrouping with the rest of the troupe. "So Bilbo is its name, what a silly name!" She decided to follow the Company of Dwarves, as she called them, to see if they meant peace or violence or even if they would come to Lake Town. She jumped from tree to tree, tracking them like a wolf hunting pray, and managed to find out that they had just escaped from an enemy and they needed help desperately, for their quest. "A quest, Why here? Why now? There is nothing here but a village on a lake….." She looked, and there, off in the distance stood the Lonely Mountain itself "Erebor, that must be it, they are here to reclaim their gold, The King under the Mountain….." She walked to the edge of the branch and peeped her head out of the new leaves that had budded early this year and thought "If they are here for their kingdom then one of them must reclaim their throne, their birth right." She surveyed the group, all of them were looked strange compared to the people she had met in her short life. One dwarf struck as the head of the company, his face was stern and unhappy and his beard was longer than all the others. He wore a strange key around his neck, which showed that it was of great value to him. Her head was caught up in this new adventure that she did not realise that it was nearly noon and her father would be looking for her. She soon remembered this and tip-toed slowly down the tree, trying not to make a sound. She still followed them but only till they reached the river bank then they sat and discussed what to say to the head of the village. She was eager to listen but she had to get back home, she slowly back away and towards the bridge that connected the town to the mainland. She made sure that the company were unable to directly see her and she started running but her dress caught in a thorn bush. She pulled at it but it would not release. She screamed in distress but only realised that the company were close. She heard murmurs getting closer and fast approaching. She made one final tug and the bottom of her blue velvet dress ripped leaving a jagged edge. She hid behind a pile of leaves as the dwarf came into the clearing. She could see him; he looked considerably younger and more handsome than the others.
"Is there any one there?" a faint voice called
"No, I see no one" the young dwarf called back
He began to walk back so she ran out of the clearing and further towards the bridge. Little did she known the dwarf had turned last minute and had seen her long auburn waving as she disappeared.
She ran over the bridge and into the town. She passed all manner of people going about their daily business and accidently knocked a box out of a man's hand. He shouted curses at her but her mind was somewhere else. She ran into a small gap in a fence and found three people waiting for her. The first was a girl with long brown hair and she had soft brown eyes and wore a dress of green. The second was a boy with blonde cropped hair and piercing blue eyes and he wore no shoes for his father was a blacksmith. "Fergus, Harriea, forgive me I was caught in a mystery" Harriea stepped forward "What did you find?" "That is no matter now; your father does not know you left." The voice came from the third person. She had her short black hair pinned back. People thought she was a boy because of how short her hair was but they did not always see her wearing a dress unlike today. She placed her hand on the girls shoulder "Harriea, Fergus leave us. What about your families? What will think when they find you have left your chores undone?" Harriea and Fergus glanced at each other and dashed through the gap in the fence and out of sight. "Kyla, tell me what is this mystery you have seen?" The girl asked her. It struck Kyla but no one had called her by her name in such a while she had nearly forgotten it. "I saw dwarves, a band of 13 and a strange creature that went by the name of Bilbo, they came through the forest and discussed our town. I fear they are here to reclaim Erebor." The girl gave Kyla a look of disbelief "I do not think any would try to go back to the Lonely Mountain. It is lost to the Dragon that lives in its wealth."
"I… just know it Emilia. I need your trust with this." Emilia laughed a hearty laugh. "You have my trust." She embraced Kyla. They had known each other since Kyla had found Emilia wandering in the woods alone, lost. She had saved her than and she felt she owed Kyla a debt. "Now go, your father is looking for you." It was not a trouble to find Kyla's father, Bard, on a sunny day like this. He sat by the edge of town, fishing in the lake. The sun stood high in the sky and it gleamed and danced in the water. He sat on the edge with his head in clouds, as if he had gone back to his childhood. He looked up and saw her but she did not approach him for she did not want him to think she had done some trouble. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Just then bells began to ring and people crowded the streets. Kyla ran to glimpse what they saw. Dwarves. 13 of them and Bilbo. Greeted as if they were heroes and led to the mayor's home. Then she saw him, the same dwarf from the woods. Kyla felt her heart do backflips. Then his gaze met hers and he stopped and stared but she was no longer there.