Chapter 3
Night drew in, and the company stopped for rest near the edge of a cliff. Eirian helped to set up the camp, but avoided Thorin, feeling as though staying out of his way was probably the best course of action. Despite his seeming acceptance of her, whenever she had tried to speak him on the trek (whenever she got two minutes peace from his nephews), he had given her curt answers or cold looks and she had eventually given up trying. Whilst setting up camp, she kept a watchful eye on Bilbo, but allowed him to roam around and begin to talk to the Dwarves; he had to earn their trust and approval.

Eirian had remained quiet through dinner, sitting near Fili and Kili; she felt more comfortable round them. She had, however, started to form a friendship with Ori. The Dwarf seemed to be younger than even Fili and Kili and, as such, had an air of innocence that drew Eirian in. They had talked for a while, and he had been fascinated with her tales of the exotic plants she had seen on her travels. The other Dwarf she had begun talking with was Dwalin. When she had first seen him, she had been immediately wary. Muscled, tattooed and armed to the teeth, she had kept her distance, thinking him to be as tough in nature as his appearance suggested. She had been pleasantly surprised when he had approached her, offering a sort of apology for Thorin's behaviour; he had been there whenever the woman had tried to strike up a conversation.

"Excuse Thorin, Miss Eirian. In our culture, women are protected so to knowingly put one in harm's way doesn't sit right with him."

Eirian had glanced at the leader, who was eating at the time, her opinion of him changing ever so slightly. She had nodded and accepted his reason, and the two talked for a while longer, with Dwalin's respect for the little woman growing and Eirian's admiration of him increasing all the more, and her wariness fading.

Now, Eirian had settled herself on a rock, with Fili and Kili below her, huddled in to a little alcove. Most of the Dwarves were asleep (including Bilbo), except for Thorin and Balin. Gandalf was smoking his pipe against a tree, lost in his own thoughts. Eirian looked down, where her bow and arrows were spread out; she had cleaned her sword earlier.

"You still alive, Eirian?"

The redhead peered down to see Kili grinning up at her. She smiled back, and he nodded, satisfied she was in no danger. She had caught the brothers doing this several times while they had journeyed on. Every so often, one or the other would ask her how she was doing, and check around them, scanning for the slightest disturbance. She had thought it odd, but with Dwalin's explanation that women were held in high regard in Dwarf culture, she had pushed it to the back of her mind; it was natural to them.

Eirian had begun to see the differences between the two after spending the day with them. Kili was loud and boisterous, always showing off and fooling around, trying to make her laugh. Eirian enjoyed his antics but she knew underneath his exuberant exterior, there was a serious streak that made sure his childish games were always held back. Fili, on the other hand, was quiet and kind. He seemed to always think before he spoke, and was continually friendly and patient with Eirian, especially when explaining some of the finer points of Dwarf traits. Eirian could see that Fili resembled Thorin physically (apart from the colouring of his hair and beard) and even a little bit personality wise – he was much more serious than his brother. However, he wasn't so grave as his Uncle and had a razor sharp wit that could surprise Eirian sometimes, eliciting a laugh that the woman wasn't expecting.

Eirian's thoughts were jerked back to the present by a shrill scream that carried in the air. She stood in one smooth movement, sweeping up her bow and arrows, notching one to the string. Below her, Fili and Kili looked up, on alert. The elder brother checked on the woman, touching his sword to make sure he was ready to leap to her defence. He had a feeling that she did not need protecting completely, but it made him feel better to think that he could defend her from danger. The small woman dropped from the rock to land lightly in front of the young Dwarves. Her eyes found that Bilbo was awake and staring round fearfully, standing near his pony.

"What was that?"

His voice trembled slightly, and he started as another scream spilt the quiet. Eirian let her arrow drop as she realised the cry was distant; they were not in any immediate danger.

"Orcs."

Kili spoke, his voice low and sombre. Bilbo's wide eyes turned to the three, terror starting in his eyes.

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them."

Fili piped up and Eirian raised an eyebrow as the Hobbit paled even more. They were deliberately frightening him and she was not amused but the brothers didn't notice the elder woman's disapproval; they were having too much fun with their game.

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

Kili's voice dropped to a whisper and Bilbo looked away in fright. The siblings exchanged a glance, and began laughing. Eirian glared at them, preparing to speak up but someone beat her to it.

"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by Orcs a joke?"

Thorin's commanding voice sounded from behind Eirian and she turned to find his dark gaze fixed upon his nephews. Their laughter stopped and they looked contrite. He gave them a disgusted look and stalked to the edge of the cliff, looking out over the valley. Eirian followed him with her eyes, and then turned on the two young Dwarves.

"That was in poor taste. You did not need to frighten Bilbo. There are things to joke about but Orcs is not one of them; they have killed far too many good people to be the source of fun."

Her pensive voice struck the brother's and they each mumbled an apology. Fili noticed the look of sorrow in her eyes, and wondered what had happened to her. The little woman intrigued him. She was not a race that Fili knew but admittedly, he did not know many. He had found her to be sensible and mostly quiet, but she was always ready with a smile and put up with Kili's bad jokes. Sometimes she would say something that would make Fili burn with questions, but he had held back; he did not know her well enough to pry that closely. All he knew was that she had obviously seen battle and lost something close to her. What, he didn't know, but he was determined to find out – he may not have been so loud as his younger brother, but he was just as stubborn. The blonde caught himself watching the redhead as she turned away, walking a few paces past them, and reluctantly pulled his gaze away.

"Don't mind him, lads. Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs."

Fili and Kili looked up as Balin spoke, the white-haired Dwarf having appeared beside them. Eirian had turned back as the elder Dwarf spoke, her eyes sparking with something that Fili thought was recognition but passed off as curiosity.

"After the Dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria, but our enemy had got there first."

Balin stopped for a moment, his eyes looking distant. Around him, the other Dwarves had woken up, and were starting to listen in; something told them that they needed to hear this particular story. Eirian turned her head, too, wanting to hear this story.

"Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, lead by the most vile of all their race: Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King."

The grief in Balin's voice could not be faked and Eirian found herself stepping forward, wanting to comfort him. Her eyes looked over to where Thorin was standing, feeling pity for him wash through her. Losing his home to a dragon was one thing…seeing your kin beheaded was quite another.

"Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed…we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us."

All of the Dwarves were paying rapt attention to Balin now and Eirian had found herself drawn in. She had moved to stand next to where Fili was sitting and she glanced down at him for a moment, seeing the look on his face. He had never known Erebor – he was far too young – but this story touched all Dwarves and she found herself pressing a light hand to his shoulder. He looked up at her and she gave him a small smile. He nodded lightly and returned his focus to Balin, who had started speaking again.

"That is when I saw him: a young Dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armour rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not so easily be broken. Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated – but there was no feast, no song that night. Our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived."

Eirian felt a burn race across her palms and she felt a tingle crawl up her back. She pulled her hand away from Fili, squeezing her eyes shut as she clenched her fists together. A flash of a great battlefield, strewn with the bodies of the dead, Orc and Dwarf alike, flashed across her lids and a whisper of a melody floated around her. Then, it was gone and she slowly opened her eyes, looking down at her palms. Faint white tattoos glowed weakly before fading and she swallowed hard. Grief was a hard thing to deal with and Balin had been holding on to his for a long while; she had not meant to delve in to it. The woman glanced round but everyone was too focused on Balin to see her small panic. Only Gandalf had seen and he just puffed on his pipe, watching her carefully. She caught his eye and lightly shook her head before looking back to Balin.

"I thought to myself then – there is one I could follow. There is one I could call King."

Balin was looking towards Thorin and everyone turned too. Thorin turned away from the view he had been gazing at and walked through his Dwarves, each of them staring at him in awe. Eirian lowered her gaze as he passed, showing him the respect he deserved. It was Bilbo who broke the silence, sounding curious.

"But the Pale Orc? What happened to him?"

Thorin looked over at Bilbo, a sudden fire in his eyes and Eirian shifted closer to her friend, not wanting him to be reprimanded for his innocent question. She understood that it may have poked at old wounds but she would not allow Thorin's wrath to be directed at him.

"He slunk back in to the hole from whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago."

The black-haired Dwarf fairly spat the words before striding away to his spot. After that, the other Dwarves went back to their business, most settling down to sleep again. Eirian walked over to Bilbo and crouched down in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Are you alright? You looked quite terrified when you heard the Orcs."

Bilbo managed to give her a weak smile but she saw the fear still lingering in his eyes. Gently, she touched his forehead and whispered a few words.

"Gall breuddwydion melys bendithia eich cwsg, fy ffrind."

His features relaxed suddenly and she smiled at the startled look on his face. She pressed a kiss to his forehead before standing and making her way back to the rock she had been sitting on. She was surprised to see Thorin standing there, conversing with his elder nephew. Eirian waited a few feet away, allowing them to finish before she approached, eyes flicking between the two before Thorin addressed her.

"You are on first watch. Fili will relieve you in a few hours."

Eirian nodded, her grey eyes fixed firmly on her feet. The dark haired Dwarf watched her closely for a moment before striding off to his spot on the fringes of the camp. Eirian looked up as he walked off, smiling faintly as he eyes landed on the slumbering form of Kili.

"I can take watch now, if you would like. You look like you could use some sleep."

Fili's soft voice startled Eirian a little and she turned round to find his gaze on her. They locked eyes, and the woman could see the genuine care. A little warmth rushed through her at the thought that he cared for her welfare, before she pushed it to the back of her mind. They did not know each other well enough to start confronting those sorts of feelings, and besides, he was only looking out for her like any new friend would.

"I'm fine, Fili. I feel I have taken the comforts of the Hobbits rather for granted – I have not travelled this far in one day for a while. You should get some sleep, though."

Eirian smiled at him and began to turn away but his hand on her arm stopped her. She froze, tensing at the sudden contact. As if sensing her panic, Fili withdrew his arm but stayed close. He fixed her with a look that so resembled Thorin that Eirian had to stop herself from grinning.

"Alright, but do not forget to wake me in a few hours – you need your rest too. Oh, and wrap up; it will be chilly tonight and I do not want you catching a cold."

His tone was authorotive and Eirian couldn't help herself: she gave him a little curtsey, pretending to sweep out a skirt.

"Yes, my lord."

Fili chuckled at her teasing tone and pushed her shoulder playfully. She shoved him back, grinning as they engaged in a play-fight. They only stopped when Kili shifted in his sleep and they froze, scared they had woken him. The brunette simply rolled over and continued to sleep. Eirian shook her head at Fili, a wide smile on her face. He helped her to clamber up on to the rock and she sat down, already scanning the boundaries of the camp and beyond for signs of disturbances. She mumbled a good-night to the blonde, her mind focused on keeping the camp safe. She was too engaged in her task as sentry that she didn't notice Fili watching her from below.

The blonde studied her, wondering for the second time what had happened in her life previously to make her so guarded. Sure, she was friendly enough but he had been taught how to read people's expressions – his Uncle maintained that a good King should know the difference between what someone was saying and what they really meant. There was a guarded look in Eirian's eyes whenever they had asked her a question about her life and she had avoided answering them and that closed-off look had never really faded. As Fili settled down next to his brother, he couldn't get his mind off of Eirian. Sleep began to claim him and he gave in, thoughts still on the mysterious red-head that had appeared in the group.

(*)

Ta-daa! An update! I'm not too sure about this chapter but I'll put it up anyway. This story is going to be a little slow because I want to try and build a good relationship between my OC and Fili. Please tell me if there are parts that need more explanation or need to be re-written because I don't want any of you to be confused or start disliking the story. Until next time!

Also, the language that Eirian speaks is Welsh. There will be phrases popping up through-out the story so I will put translations here. (Sorry to any native Welsh speakers - I used Google Translate. I am part Welsh but cannot, unfortunately, speak the language):

TRANSLATIONS

"Gall breuddwydion melys bendithia eich cwsg, fy ffrind." - May your sleep be blessed with sweet dreams, my friend