Disclaimer: Everything but my OC's belongs to Tolkien, the creator of Middle-Earth.
"Is it really alright to leave your room in such a state?" Asta asked Thorin. She had kept to the head of the company since she had longer legs than them. Thorin merely glanced at her for a second before turning his attention back to the direction in which they were heading. Not even an hour had passed and they weren't even half-way out of the valley. The sun was slowly making itself known in the horizon and the light returned to Imladris.
"I have no love for the elves. They may have taken us in, but they did not approve of our quest, not that I thought they would. I owe them nothing." Asta let out a silent snort and shook her head. This man, dwarf, was so stubborn. The rest of the walk was continued in silence until they, a mere hour later, closed in on the spot where they had entered Rivendell.
"Be on your guard." Thorin stopped and let Balin pass him by as he gave them his warning. "We are about to pass onto the edge of the wild. Balin, you know these paths. You will lead us on." Bilbo stopped and turned his gaze back to Rivendell. In the morning light it was absolutely astounding and awe-inspiring, even more so than in the middle of the day or when the sun set and disappeared behind the mountains. The waterfalls behind Elrond's house glittered in the morning light as it let the water fall all around it. It was almost like it glowed and he thought to himself that it probably did. Elves and their objects alike could glow in the right light or even without it. His heart felt heavy as he stared at the valley he most probably would not see again for a long time. He might never see it again, he realized. It all depended on the outcome of Thorin and his company's quest.
"Beautiful is it not?" He nodded at Asta's voice. She seemed to be standing close to him and he briefly wondered if she had walked back to him since the last time he had seen her she had been walking beside Thorin. He cast away the thought as quickly as it had come for again he felt his heart fall lower in his chest as he tried to drink in the image of Rivendell before he had to turn his back to it.
"Master Baggins!" Thorin called. Bilbo did not turn around. "I suggest you keep up." Now Bilbo did turn and after a while he nodded and left the valley without looking back.
Balin did not lead them through the pathways that Gandalf had led them through on their way to the valley. Instead he took them around and onto the top of the mountains that surrounded Rivendell. From there on he led them straight over the plains and hills.
"How did you end up in Master Oakenshield's company, Mr. Baggins?" Asta asked when the sun stood high above them. The hobbit, who had been in deep thought jumped startled and stared at the human woman beside him who began to take off her backpack. He looked at the others and noticed that none were making movements to make camp. When he turned back he saw that Asta had taken her pack off to put it on Thora's back. Stopping for only a moment she tied it so that it wouldn't fall off before she jogged up to the hobbit again with her sister right behind her.
"Well?"
"Well what?" He asked, having completely forgotten her question.
"How did you end up in Master Oakenshield's company, Mr. Baggins?" She repeated her question.
"Just Bilbo is fine, thank you." The Hobbit smiled before he recounted the tale of how he had told Gandalf that he would not, under any circumstances, join in an adventure. At supper time he heard knocking on his door and wondered who could be out at that time of the day. He had been mighty surprised to see Dwalin stand outside his door. He had been even more surprised when he, for the fourth time had gone to open the door and in rolled eight more dwarves with Gandalf behind them. He also told her how the dwarves had almost given him a heart attack over how they had treated his mother's plates, glasses and silverware. This caused her to laugh loudly and the others wondered what was so funny. When they realized what Bilbo was telling her about they could not resist adding their own twists to the tale.
"So you did not join them out of your own free will?" Asta asked and Bilbo pursed his lips while somehow shaking his head while at the same time nodding.
"Gandalf kind of made my Took blood boil. You see, I may be a Baggins of Bag-End but I'm also a Took, and Tooks are more adventurous than the rest of the Shire-folk."
"While Bagginses are like the rest of the Shire-folk?" Asta asked and Bilbo nodded. "We are completely respectable. We never even think of going on adventures. They're nasty, horrible things. They make you late for dinner!"
"Yet here you are." The hobbit who had straightened his back as he spoke of his family name proudly suddenly slumped at her words. "Yes, here I am." He muttered. She clapped his back and smiled.
"You seem to hold on well Bilbo. You've seen the elves, you have been in Rivendell and you survived an attack by wargs and orcs. I think that Took blood of yours is stronger than your Baggins blood." Again Bilbo smiled, wider this time than the last, and his spirits rose again.
"Thank you Ms. Asta."
"Please, call me Asta. You make me feel old." She joked and he laughed as well before getting a thoughtful look on his face.
"Pardon me asking you Ms. Ast- I mean Asta, but for how many years can a human live? I have never stepped out of the Shire before this adventure so I know very little about the humans."
"Oh some live to a hundred maybe, if they're lucky. And before you ask, I am twenty-one." Bilbo turned red in the face and muttered something about it being rude to ask a lady their age.
"That is why I told you, so that you would not need to ask and before you ask about Thora, she is already twenty-five." Again heat gathered in Bilbo's face and his ears turned red. Beside her, Thora barked in amusement but after that there were no more conversations for hours. When they were halfway to the Misty Mountains, a trek that had lasted for a week, they had a small break where they ate and rested for they had not slept a wink the night they stayed with the elves. Many of the dwarves fell asleep on the spot while the younger ones, Kíli and Fíli to be specific, kept awake and took the assignment of being look-outs.
Asta and Thora slipped away and went to a river nearby to freshen up. They had not been able to earlier in Rivendell and Asta at least had regretted that fact and was overjoyed when Thorin called for a break. The break lasted no more than an hour before they were all on their feet again, marching towards the mountain with greater speed than before. They hoped to reach it before nightfall the next day. That, they managed, but when they had climbed it and were on their way around it the clouds gathered and a thunderstorm had broken out.
The rain made the already tricky and slim ledges trickier. The rain and the wind both hindered their sight and drenched them to the bone. Not even a minute after Thorin warned them to be careful Bilbo slipped and fell forward but Dwalin and Bofur grabbed a hold of him and pulled him back, though they had almost fallen with him.
"This cannot go on, Thorin!" Asta yelled over the rain and the dwarf-king agreed. "We must find shelter!" He bellowed but just then Dwalin yelled out again.
"Look up!" They all did and did not hesitate even for a moment to flatten themselves into the mountain wall for boulders rained down upon them.
"This is no thunderstorm! It's a thunderbattle!" Balin cried out and Bofur stared amazed at the stone giants that moved and fought each other, seemingly oblivious to the dwarves, hobbit and humans, or perhaps they chose to be remain so.
"Well bless me! The legends are true! Giants, STONE GIANTS!" Bofur had to yell to be heard over the howling wind, falling rain and the sound of rock gnashing against rock.
"Take cover you fool!" Thorin bellowed over the noise and Bofur was hastily pulled back against the wall by his friends. Suddenly the ledge they were standing on began to move as well and they were nearly all thrown off their feet though they all held on to each other and tried to make sure no one fell off. They soon realized that they were standing on what resembled a stone giant's knees as it rose to engage in battle as well. As the knees moved apart Fíli and Kíli tried to reach for each other but Asta grabbed a hold of the blonde dwarf to stop him from falling of the ledge. Thora was standing in front of Kíli and howled to her sister in worry. Asta guessed that had Thora been in her human form her expression would probably mirror Kíli's. In fact she was certain that her own expression was a mirror image of the dark haired dwarf. They were momentarily blinded by the rain and darkness but when lightning struck Thorin saw that their giant had moved closer to the mountainside.
"Jump! Jump!" He ordered and ran forward, jumping onto the ledge and they all made it, none fell down the mountainside but half of their group was still trapped on the stone giant's knees. Suddenly their giant stumbled for it had been hit by another and the giant fell towards the mountain wall in front of them. In horror they watched as the other group was crushed into the mountain and they all cried out though none louder than Thorin.
"No! NO! Fíli!" Thorin ran across the ledge, despair thick in his voice for his sister-son had been part of the group that had been smashed into the mountainl. Thora howled loudly in sorrow for she thought her sister to be dead and they ran towards the smashed path as the giant fell down to the foot of the mountain.
"Fíli!" Thorin bellowed again and sagged against the mountain wall in relief when he saw that the whole group was unharmed. He hurried over to help them up on their feet when Bofur cried out in alarm as well.
"Bilbo! Where's the hobbit?!" The poor Halfling held onto the ledge for his dear life. He had jumped to avoid a sharp rock that had stuck out and had only just managed to grab the ledge before he fell. The dwarves threw themselves after him but he slipped and fell and only by pure luck did he manage to stick his fingers into a wedge in the mountain where he hang until Thorin jumped down on a small ledge beside him and hauled him up only to almost fall to his death himself, if not for Dwalin who pulled him up.
"I thought we had lost our burglar." Dwalin smiled in relief but over the crack of thunder Thorin's voice could be heard as he glared at the frightened Halfling.
"He's been lost ever since he left home! We never should have let him come." Asta found herself frowning at Thorin for she thought his words were badly chosen no matter if he thought them to be the truth. She could see the crestfallen look on Bilbo's face.
I'm more Baggins than Took He thought.
"It could have happened to anyone Bilbo. Don't worry about it." She tried to reassure the hobbit but it seemed to have no effect.
Thorin led them at a greater pace now, away from the stone giants, and found a cave which he ordered to be examined closely. Caves in the mountains were seldom unoccupied, he told them. While Dwalin investigated Glóin rubbed his hands together and said he would get a fire started but Thorin forbade it. They would have to make do with having their clothes dry as much as it could in during the night without a fire. Bofur was ordered to take the first watch and he sat down by the entrance to the cave while the others laid out their cloaks to dry but just when they had taken off the clothes that were soaked the most Thora shook her body and droplets of water was sprayed on everyone.
"Thora! Stop it!" Asta cried but when the wolf finally did stop she did not seem to regret her actions, even if she received several glares from the dwarves. She lay down on the ground and allowed none other than Asta to rest her back against the wolf's fur. She laid there for a few moments, just listening to their companions speak and get ready for bed before she spoke up again.
"Do you still want to hear our story? It will take time for Gandalf to catch up, so if you want I can tell it to the best of my abilities." Her voice had been soft and quiet, barely able to carry over the voices of the men but it immediately became silent for now every last pair of eyes and ears were focused on the girl and the wolf.
"Tell us." The command came from Thorin, who was watching them intently. He had no patience to waste waiting for Gandalf.
"Where to even begin." She said as she let her hand slide through Thora's thick fur.