Chapter 2

The cavernous room was illuminated dimly by endless piles of gold. A thick haze of dust hung in the stale air. There was dust everywhere—on the staircases, the arches, the walls. Every surface was drab with disuse.

A faint, puffing breath echoed through the stagnant air—

Holly opened her eyes, shaking her hair out of her face. Had she fallen asleep? The world rocked back and forth ever so slightly—ah. Right. She was on her way to meet Thorin's Company. She sat up straighter, rubbing one eye, then the other, unnerved. She never fell asleep without meaning to. Perhaps she had stayed up later than she'd intended.

Up ahead, she could see the dwarves riding in single file, chatting amiably with one another.

"Um. Hello…" she said, not quite sure how to introduce herself.

The dwarves turned around.

"Glad to see you could make it, lass!" Balin greeted kindly.

'Lass'… She doubted he remembered her actual name.

"Where is the hobbit?" Thorin demanded.

Nice to see you too, Lord Dark-and-Broody. "Don't know. Probably overslept."

"Fine," he replied. "Keep moving."

Holly glanced back at the way she'd come. She wondered if Bilbo would actually show up. She had obviously made an impression the previous night, but he could have changed his mind between then and now.

Her doubts were dispelled about fifteen minutes later when they heard a shout:

"WAIT!"

Everyone turned around again.

"WAAIIT!"

And who should come sprinting (struggling, really) down the worn path but Bilbo Baggins, the contract in his hand flapping in the wind.

"I signed it," he panted when he had finally caught up. He thrust the contract at Balin, who examined it.

"Well, everything seems to be in order. Welcome to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo Baggins."

"Dammit, I should have bet on this," Holly muttered.

Apparently a few of the dwarves had the same idea; most of them were tossing sacks of coins to one another.

"Come on, Nori! Pay up!" Oin said.

Nori tossed a bag of coins to Oin and moved his horse up next to Holly's.

"Did you think he was going to come?"

"Hm?"

"Did you think the hobbit was going to show up?"

"Oh, I knew he was going to show up," she asserted. Or, at least, she had been fairly sure.

"Why? You bribed him?" Nori asked with a cheeky wink that suggested he was not talking about money.

Holly blinked, crimson patches flaring up on her neck and cheeks. "E-Excuse me?"

The dwarf held his hands up in surrender. "Calm down lass, I was only joking!"

"I'd assume that anything Nori says is a joke," Bofur butted in good-naturedly, moving his pony between theirs. "If there's anything you need to know, lass, it's that this fella is just one big joke." The dwarf in question grinned at her, not bothered at all by Bofur's claim.

"Well, I hope you're joking about calling me 'lass'. I do have a name, you know," she responded, and was surprised when the two dwarves laughed.

"Okay then, Holly." Bofur reached over to clap her on the shoulder. "Welcome to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield."

At the front of the line, Dwalin turned to Thorin, eyebrows raised. "What do you think?"

Thorin sent another glance back at the young woman talking to Bofur and Nori. "She is intelligent, there's no doubt about that. But whether or not she will be able to survive in the wild is a different matter."

"And if she's not?"

"...Gandalf must have a good reason for wanting to bring her along."

Dwalin nodded, understanding his friend's uncertainty. "I know how much this quest means to you. Whatever happens, it is ultimately your decision."

Thorin straightened, donning the cast-iron determination he'd been born and bred into. "I know. And I'll do whatever it takes to get us to the mountain."

…..

A fine, misty rain began to fall as the Company made their first stop in Bree, a small, muddy town on the outskirts of the Shire. A worn wooden sign with The Prancing Pony engraved on it swung in the wind as Balin pushed open the tavern door. Sounds of laughter and the heavy scent of ale flooded the street.

"Wait a moment," Thorin said as Holly made to follow the rest of the dwarves into the building. "I need to speak with you. And you, Master Baggins," he added to Bilbo, stopping him as well.

They stood under the dripping, creaking sign while Thorin appraised them for a moment.

"You will be expected," he said after a moment, "to carry the same weight as everyone else in the Company in terms of responsibilities. And you will do so without complaint. And if we ever run into danger, your first priority is to get to safety. Do not try and help us fight. If I give you an order, you will follow it. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Holly answered. She considered adding 'sir', just to annoy him, but thought better of it. He could probably still leave her behind if he wanted to.

"Yeah, I can do that," Bilbo answered as well.

Thorin nodded. "Good." The three of them walked inside the tavern without another word.

It was clear they would need to earn Thorin's respect, if such a thing was attainable at all. Holly didn't care about that, though. She would do what he asked merely to show him that she could. She hadn't joined the Company to make friends.

Inside the tavern, the dwarves were seated at a long wooden table in the back. They were earning quite a few looks from the other patrons, though that might have been due to the various weapons strapped to their backs. A young girl, about halfway through her teens, was serving plates of meat and potatoes.

Holly stood to the side, uncertain if she should sit down. All the dwarves were laughing and talking with each other, like they had the night at Bag End. Perhaps she would wait outside. She wasn't that hungry anyway.

Ori noticed her standing there and moved over on the wooden bench, patting the spot next to him. "You can sit here, Holly!"

"Hm? Oh. Okay." She took a seat.

Holly tapped her fingers against the table, staring around the room. A sallow-faced man slouched against the opposite wall, smoking a pipe. A couple of hobbits sat at the bar, laughing with each other. Two cloaked rangers walked into the tavern in deep discussion.

"Are you going to have something to eat?" She looked up. It was the young waitress.

"Not hungry," she replied shortly.

"Nonsense!" Dori exclaimed from her other side. "You need to keep up your strength." He turned to the waitress. "She'll have one, too."

"I'm perfectly capable of getting food for myself," Holly said, miffed that he was trying to coddle her.

"Well, if you're not going to do it, someone has to," Dori countered with an air of finality.

What was she supposed to say to that? Was he actually concerned about her wellbeing?

Before she could reply, Balin spoke up from across the table. "So, Holly, tell us about yourself."

Such an excruciatingly vague and annoying question. "Why don't you tell me about yourself?" she deflected the inquiry easily. "You're from the Blue Mountains, right?"

Balin seemed taken aback by this, to say the least. "Oh. Well, yes. I was originally from Erebor, but, well, I don't live there anymore…"

Holly nodded sympathetically. Anything to keep the attention off herself. "What is it like in the Blue Mountains?" People always loved to talk about their own experiences rather than those of other people.

Balin did not disappoint. He began to describe life in the Blue Mountains, which was inhabited primarily by dwarves.

Holly was only half-listening to stories about forests and mines. It would take months to get to Erebor. That was a lot of time to be making conversation with the dwarves. Signing that contract was starting to look like a mistake. Holly knew she was better off alone. It had always been that way.

"Lass? You look a little pale." Balin's voice brought her back to the present.

"Have some ale. That'll make you feel better." Ori pushed a tankard of the brownish liquid in front of her.

Holly sighed. "Okay, what is this?"

"What's...what?"

"Why are you all being so nice?" she demanded.

When it became clear that she wasn't joking, Balin answered, "Well, you're part of the Company now, aren't you?"

Holly didn't see how that was relevant, and said so.

"We're in this together now," Balin explained. "We all stick together." Dori and Ori added their concurrence.

Holly nodded slowly. It must be a dwarf thing, she concluded. Loyalty and honor and all that.

What if she was expected to be nice back to them?

It wouldn't matter for long, though. Once the dwarves spent enough time with her, they would stop trying to be nice.

That was just the way things were.

….

A sharp scream ripped through the air.

Bilbo jolted violently at the sound, nearly dropping the apple he had been feeding to his pony, Myrtle. He scurried back over to where the rest of the Company was resting.

"What was that?" he hissed.

"Orcs," Kili replied.

Another scream. Bilbo's face paled considerably in the firelight. "Orcs?"

"Throat-cutters," Fili clarified, his face grim. "There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them."

"They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams—just lots of blood," Kili added solemnly.

Bilbo turned away, horrified. Fili and Kili exchanged a glance and smirked.

Holly sat up, having been woken by the screaming. Apparently they were trying to scare the hobbit with bloody orc stories. Hilarious.

"You think that's funny?" Thorin growled, standing up. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

Kili bowed his head, the very image of a scolded puppy. "We didn't mean anything by it."

"No you didn't. You know nothing of the world," Thorin muttered, walking a short distance away from the Company.

"Cheerful fellow, isn't he?" Holly murmured.

"Don't mind him. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs," Balin said softly.

Holly tilted her head back. Oh, good. This sounds like a very long, boring backstory.

"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But the enemy had gotten there first…"

Thorin could hear Balin talking about the Battle of Azanulbizar. Just the thought of it brought back a flood of bloodstained memories. The loss of his brother, his grandfather, and his father weighed heavily on his heart. He remembered the blood, the screams, walking over the corpses of his kin in search of his father. Azog's twisted, sadistic smile flashed red in his vision, making the dwarf glower.

"And the pale orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked.

"That filth died of his wounds long ago," Thorin said, walking back into the camp. He forced himself to relax a little. He would never have to face that nightmarish beast again.

Holly sighed and laid back down. Finally, they were done talking. It was a moving story, she supposed, but extraneous nonetheless. The battle at Moria had been ages ago, so why would Thorin still be upset about it? She knew where the past belonged: out of mind, lest it cloud one's judgement.

Bilbo took one last look at Thorin before settling down as well. He'd felt a surge of sympathy for the dwarf while hearing the tale. Although Thorin had seemed like a bit of a stick in the mud at first, Bilbo could now see the reason behind the dwarf's sharp glances and stiff shoulders—he'd lost almost everything. As the hobbit drifted off to sleep, he resolved to stick with the company for most of the journey, and help them get back at least some of what they had lost.

…..

"Put your hood on, lass, or you'll catch a cold," Dori insisted, pulling his own tighter around his head to ward off the steady downpour that was currently assaulting the Company.

"Hm? Oh. Fine." Holly drew her hood about her head, wincing as the pool of water that had collected there dumped itself into her hair. She'd forgotten to do so earlier. It was so much easier to devote herself to her thoughts indoors, where she didn't have to be bothered by nuisances like the weather.

"Mister Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori called to the gray wizard at the front of the line.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you would be best off finding another wizard."

Why am I not surprised? Holly raised an eyebrow. Maybe the only requirements for being a wizard were a staff and a robe, and the magical powers were something you had to actually work for.

"Are there any?" Bilbo inquired.

"What?"

"Other wizards?"

"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards, though I've quite forgotten their names."

"Alatar and Pallando."

"Hm?" Gandalf turned around.

Holly maneuvered her pony closer to the wizard's mount. "Those are the names of the Blue Wizards. The ones that you forgot about."

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

"And who is the fifth?" Bilbo asked.

"Well, that would be Radagast the Brown."

"Is he a great wizard or is he… more like you?"

Holly smirked.

Gandalf looked miffed. "I think he is a great wizard, in his own way. He prefers the company of woodland creatures to others. He resides in the forest to the east and seeks to protect it. And a good thing, too, for evil will always try to find a foothold in this world."

Holly let her pony fall back in the line again, bored with the topic. She'd heard about Radagast too, and he seemed to be even less of a wizard than Gandalf. Beside her, Ori gave a loud yawn.

"Hey, Holly."

This was the first time Ori had spoken to her since The Prancing Pony. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry if I was bothering you at the Prancing Pony. I didn't mean to make you upset."

"I wasn't upset," Holly responded. "And don't flatter yourself—everyone was annoying me, not just you."

"Oh," Ori said quietly, sounding almost disappointed.

Holly said nothing. She wasn't there to make friends.

They would all learn that soon enough.

So what do you guys think? Holly's not the most sociable person, is she? Kind of a bitch actually. Let me know what you think in the comments and feel free to favorite or follow, it helps me out a lot!

(Edit:11/23/14) I combined chapters 1 and 2, so the other chapter numbers might be a little off.