A/N: A big thank you to taytayfanatical, PouringRain-BlazingStorm, Krushnazag and LadyPeggy for your lovely reviews!


Don't waste the day,

Decide, instead,

On how you will

Proceed.

The sun had just begun to crest over the hill of Overhill when Freya awoke in her bed. It would seem like any other day, but there was a creak in her joints that screamed of excitement and foretold adventures, for today she would have her own.

Her morning ritual remained the same, but with a quickened pace. Today she would not be late. She set to work selecting her clothes for the day as the kettle boiled: a white blouse with a little blue bow, a yellow vest, and a green thick double skirt, all topped with a light brown colored jacket. It was light enough to move around it, but thick enough to protect her from the elements.

Once the tea was done she poured herself a cup and sat at her small table. As she looked down into her cup, her bangs fell into her eyes and Freya wondered what she should do with her hair. All the dwarves had such long hair, and most of them had it braided. But wouldn't it be a fuss to deal with? She could try to braid it, but her brown hair was wavy and barely went to her shoulders, so it wouldn't turn out well. Freya sighed, hooked a lock around her pointed ear, and just decided to leave it be as she dug into breakfast.

Later she bustled around the house, picking up things and deciding if she would need them or not. This would be a long journey, and she had no idea when she would be back!

"Yes," Freya said, picking up a quill case that she had not packed yesterday evening. "No," she said to a book of poetry as she placed it on her desk. "Wait," she picked it back up again, "Urg! This is so hard!" she exclaimed, but she packed it anyway.

The next few minutes Freya packed a few more things, including a silver, intricately designed dagger from her mother. Where the woman got it, or why, Freya did not know. But after the woman passed away she gave Freya her home and all its possessions in it, rather than her older brother whom Freya had not seen in over a decade.

From her desk, Freya's cat was watching her pace back and forth through all the rooms in the house. Every now and then the hobbit would dash to the other side to pick something up, either say yes or no, and then dash over to another side of the house. After having enough of this, the cat opened its mouth wide and yowled at its owner.

Freya froze and turned around slowly. "Oh, dear. Nitwick!" She had totally forgotten about her feline friend. The cat could tell and just sat staring at her, disappointed.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," Freya stood, hands cupping her head as she stared at her cat. "I can't just take you with, this is dangerous! But I can't just leave you here! Oh, dear. What am I going to do?"

She drug her hands down her face and sat down on a stool. This was quite the dilemma. She sighed again as she looked up at her innocent cat who was staring at her.

As she stood up Freya felt tears in her eyes as she realized the best course of action. She walked over to her cat and picked Nitwick up, cradling him to her chest and digging her face into his fur. Freya sniffled, trying to hold back the fluids coming from her eyes and nose as she said mournfully, "I'm sorry, love. I can't, I just can't bring you with. You have to stay here. Or- or. There's nobody that I can give you to!"

The cat meowed softly as Freya lifted her head, rocking her arms to cradle him. She looked down into the cat's eyes, sorrowful, but she had made her decision. "You can take care of yourself well enough. And I'm sure one of the children will convince their parents to let you stay with them. If you want to. But I can't bring you with!"

She left Nitwick down as she continued to pack with a hardened resolve, pushing back tears. Her cat Nitwick was her dearest friend and only companion for the longest time. To part with him would be to part with her past. "But. Perhaps that's just what I need," Freya muttered as she stuffed the last book into her pack.

Freya walked around her home for a few more minutes, checking to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything. She was just about to pick up her pack and leave before she remembered something.

"What will happen to my home? I'm sure to come back eventually! But what of those nasty neighbors? I must leave a note to shoo them off." She then grabbed a thin board of wood and took upon it a carving knife and ink to inscribe:

I have departed on an adventure and I expect all to be in order once I return. Therefore I request everyone to stay off of my land and out of my home! This excludes my dearest brother, who will be allowed to reside here if he so choses.

Freya examined the sign. But it seemed to be lacking something. In a spur of the moment decision she wrote at the bottom:

I leave nothing to nobody. So stay out!

It seemed a bit mean. But it was her home and she knew that the other hobbits might try something. This would hopefully would keep their sticky paws off of it. She grabbed a hammer and nails and struck the sign to her door, at an angle so only someone who was in her garden, and not just passing on the road, could look at it.

Freya went back inside and looked for her cat. Once she found him she picked him up and smothered him with kisses and farewells. After a few minutes of just relishing in embracing him she set him down and grabbed her pack. She ignored his yowls as she opened a window so he could get in and out, set out all of his food, and walked out the door, locking it against intruders.

"I love you," she whispered to the door, listening to the cat scratch at it. Freya turned, dried her eyes with her sleeve, and began walking down to the east road.

The trek was uneventful. It was a calm day, and the ground had dried from the storm the night before. Freya was left in her thoughts and was not disturbed as she walked the five miles to Bywater. Which was both a blessing and a curse. She contemplated the sanity of this journey, as well as all that she might lose. But there were also moments where she just looked up and enjoyed the scenery of Hobbiton.

The hour long walk to the The Green Dragon, the name quite ironic, seemed to pass by quickly because the next thing Freya noticed was a bit hubbub of prancing ponies and loud dwarves. She had taken the path that went around the main part of the town, as she had no interest of walking through Bywater, and straight to the inn.

"Ah, Lady Freya!" Bofur exclaimed as he popped around a pony and caught sight of the hobbit walking to the company. "Glad for you to join us!"

"I'm not late, am I?" she asked, cautiously approaching the many ponies. Just how many were there?

"Nah, nah. You're not. We're just loading up the ponies now while Thorin's paying off the innkeeper," Bofur said leading Freya around the mess of ponies to where the packs were lined up and the dwarves were working... or resting. "Up you get!" Bofur cheered, kicking his brother Bombur's boot as the dwarf had fallen asleep on the bench. "You need to do some work, too!"

Bombur grumbled incoherently as he stood and began lifting all the baggages, packages, parcels, and paraphernalia to Dwalin and Glóin who were fastening them to saddles.

"Speakin' on which, why don't you pick out a pony, Lady Freya. They should all be pretty tame, so you shouldn't be worrying about temperament. Just find one ya like that doesn't have a pack on it yet," Bofur smiled as he began placing his own pack onto a pinto pony.

"Thank you, Mr. Bofur!" Freya said, smiling as she walked around to look at the ponies.

"Just Bofur," the dwarf laughed, "No need to be calling me Mister."

"Well, it's only polite," Freya stood on her tippy toes, trying to keep eye contact with Bofur as she walked through the maze of the ponies, but she could no longer see him as she was squashed between a grey pony and a white one. "But in that case just call me Freya, I'm no lady."

"Sure you are!" Bofur exclaimed. "But it's only fair, then I'll stop."

There was chatter as more dwarves came out of the inn and began packing their ponies. Freya was still wandering about trying to find one that didn't look like it was going to bite her head off.

She stopped at a chocolate pony and stroked its nose, the pony seemed happy to have company and blew into Freya's face, who then giggled. She was so enthralled with the sweet mare that she didn't notice a pack get slung over its back.

Freya cuddled her cheek to the pony's muzzle, and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she jumped back, surprised.

"Good morning!" the dwarf cheered as Freya cried out in surprise. The brown haired youth had stuck his head around his pony to greet the hobbit, but hadn't expected on startling her.

"Oh, sorry," he said sheepishly as he finished tightening one of his packs, "Didn't mean to scare you."

Freya's eyes were still wide with fright, hand on her chest as she tried to even her breathing. "It's... okay. Um." She pointed at him, questioning look on her face.

"Fíli?" Freya asked, trying to guess his name. The two youths were the only ones she hadn't met last night.

The dwarf rolled his eyes, "Kíli."

"Kíli?" There was a difference? Freya was a bit baffled, but she guessed it was to be expected. Apparently all dwarven siblings had common names. So Fíli must be his brother.

"Kíli," the brown haired youth said, smiling at her.

"Ah." Freya's mouth was gaping a bit from her confusion. "Um. Freya," she said, gesturing to herself.

"Freya?" Kíli asked, teasing.

"Now you're mocking me," Freya said as a frown formed on her face. She turned to find another mount but Kíli grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Wait," he laughed, "I was just messing with you." Freya crossed her arms and gave a 'humph'.

"Let's try that again. Good morning." He was still smiling at her. Freya gave a pause.

"Good morning," she said with a small smile.

"That's better," Kíli cheered as he playfully smacked Freya's shoulder, almost knocking her over.

"Er, I- uh. I need to find a pony still," said Freya as she rubbed her shoulder, casting the exuberant dwarf an annoyed look.

"Why didn't you say so? There's still that brown one over there, and that grey one..."

"You kind of took the one I wanted," Freya muttered, but it went unheard by the dwarf as he continued listing off the ponies apparently not claimed.

"And lastly this white one right here," Kíli said, patting the pony next to his.

"I told you already, Minty's mine," came a voice from behind Kíli. At least it didn't startle Freya, as she wasn't paying attention. She was instead trying to find a pony without a pack on it, standing on the tips of her toes trying to look over the packs and bundles of hair, but was rudely interrupted when Kíli grabbed her arm again and twirled her around to face another dwarf.

"Fíli! Freya, meet my brother Fíli. Fee, this is our hobbit gypsy, Freya," Kíli said beaming, happy to be the one to introduce his new friend to his favorite person.

"Would you just leave me alone!?" Freya snapped as she jerked her arm out of Kíli's grasp. She turned around and stomped off, leaving the two dwarves in a daze.

"What did I do?" Kíli asked his brother, mortified.

Fíli shrugged and placed his pack on his pony, "Women."

Meanwhile, Freya had finally found a pony that nobody had claimed, and she sling her pack over onto its back. The chestnut gelding jumped as she began tightening the straps to keep it on, as she grumbled angrily about dwarves.

"You're planning on riding in that?"

"What!?" Freya growled, turning to the person unfortunate enough to intrude on her silence. "Oh, Nori. I'm so sorry. Just- ah."

"Are you alright Freya?" Nori turned away from his roan pony to look at the hobbit who was rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. She stopped and looked at the ground.

"Just a bad morning, I guess. I'm okay now," she blinked away the tears that had formed from her frustration. It wasn't like her to be so irritable. She just wanted to get this over with and be on her way.

"If you say so," the dwarf shrugged, "But as I asked, are you going to ride in that?"

"Ride in what?" Freya looked down at her clothes.

"I doubt skirts are made for being ridden in," Nori said a-matter-of-factly as he turned back to his pony.

"All well respected women wear skirts. What do you expect me to ride in? I don't own anything else," Freya examined her clothes again. She didn't own anything else, but she did doubt it would be all that comfortable to be ridding with a skirt on. Besides, all the other companions were wearing pants.

"You're not a 'well-respected' hobbit anymore. You're an adventurer. A gypsy," Nori grinned at her as he finished tightening the girth of his pony, ignoring her frown, "How about this, you finish up your pony there and we'll buy you some trousers so you won't be a-rubbin' up your legs while we ride."

"I can't complain," Freya muttered, turning back to her pony. But she paused. She didn't know what else to do with it. She hadn't ridden in a long time, and her mother always tacked the ponies for her.

"Here," Nori cut in and fixed her pack, "You don't want that to be falling off." He tightened the saddle and fixed the stirrups for her, since her legs were so short.

"Let's go then," he told her, smiling as he ruffled her hair. Freya sputtered, annoyed at the action, but she followed anyway.

They wandered around to a general store, but Nori deemed whatever he was looking for unacceptable, and he walked out and in to a few more stores before they landed at a tailor's. Freya hung behind him as he talked with the clerk, they were speaking loudly and making wild gestures before they seemed to come to an agreement. The clerk walked to the back room and was gone for a few minutes before coming back with a large parcel.

"Five silver pennies," the clerk growled at Nori as he slapped him the parcel, "And no less!"

"Oh, um, here" Freya stuttered as she opened up her money pouch to pay for the parcel.

"It's okay," Nori said, staying her hand as he paid for and took the package. "It's a gift. From one adventurer to another," he said as he handed it to her.

"Thank you very much, Nori!" Freya cheered, smiling wide at his kindness.

They walked back to the inn and saw that almost everyone was mounted and ready to head out. Bofur, who was helping Bombur onto his mount called out to her to get onto her own pony.

"You can put it on later, once we've made camp," said Nori as he placed the parcel into her bag. Freya nodded, thanking him again. He mounted his pony as Freya stared at hers. Looking at the shaggy chestnut gelding now, she realized that the pony didn't look too friendly. She turned to ask Nori for help, but a sharp pain to her rear end startled her. She whirred around there her pony stood, looking much to innocent for her tastes. The fool bit her! Freya puffed her shoulders up and was prepared to give the pony a stern talking to...

"Up you go!" came a voice as Freya was lifted upwards and onto the back of her pony.

Bofur laughed at her fearful face as he placed her foot in a stirrup. "I'm surprised you chose this one, he's a loud little sucker. Was neighing the whole morning. Best to be left as a pack, if you asked me."

"Ah," Freya faltered. "Thank you Bofur. Well, the one I wanted kind of got stolen."

Bofur easily hopped onto his pony and reigned it in next to hers, "Which one was that?"

Freya gestured with her head, too afraid to move her hands from the saddle. "Ah, Kíli took it now, did he? You should have told 'em off, the spoiled kit."

"No. Um. He had her first," Freya said, looking at her own pony that was giving her an evil eye. She could have sworn she saw its eyes flash.

"Relax," said Nori as he drew his pony onto the other side of hers. "Just sit up straight, your pony will follow the others."

"Ya, we'll make sure nothing goes sour," Bofur said, smiling.

Freya began to relax, the two dwarves were a great comfort. They were so friendly, even though they didn't have to be. She smiled at them both.

The door to the inn closed and Thorin and Gandalf walked out. Gandalf scanned the company, counting to himself. When he saw Freya he seemed very pleased and nodded his head at her, but he seemed to be searching for someone in particular. Thorin mounted his pony and didn't bother to look at the whole of the company, but instead spied Fíli and Kíli still on the ground.

"Up you two get, and off we go!" said Thorin.

The company murmured to themselves and the ponies began to walk.

"Aren't we going to wait for Bilbo?" Freya asked.

"What for? We all saw how he was last night. There's no place for him here," Nori shrugged.

Freya grew downcast at that, how Bilbo acted was how Freya had felt.

"I, for one, think that the burglar's going to turn up," Bofur cheered, giving a wink to Freya.

"Oh, you still think he's going to show?" asked Nori, a glint in his eye.

"I do."

"You want to bet?" Nori grinned.

"You're the one who's going to be losing their coin. If the burglar's anything like our dear hobbit here, he'll show up before we touch the East Road!" Bofur laughed.

"Aye! Who wants to make a gamble of whether or not the hobbit's going to show!" Óin shouted, having listened in to the conversation.

A chorus of "Aye!" rang out, and soon all the dwarves save a few were betting. Even Gandalf threw his hat into the wager that Bilbo would show. However, only he, Bofur and Óin had bet that Bilbo would show. Everyone else had a large pot against.

"Aren't you going to throw in a bit of coin? Don't you have faith in your cousin?" Bofur asked, having tallied the stakes.

"Oh, I didn't know that I could..." Freya muttered, not sure that she wanted to get caught up in the gamble. "Well, a few coins couldn't hurt?"

"That's the spirit!" Nori cheered.

"Watch out," Bofur joked, "Nori'll cheat you out of house and home."

"Hey!" Nori protested and the dwarves began a good natured argument. Freya sat back in her saddle, having finally relaxed. Her pony was following Ori and Dori's ponies with ease, glad to not being bossed around.

"I suppose you need a name," Freya told the pony, who turned its head slightly to her and gave a loud neigh. Startled, Freya jerked back.

"I told you he was a noisy one!" joked Bofur as he and Nori chuckled.

"I think I have the perfect name for you, you bungle!" The dwarves laughed again at her irritation.

"I swear! The pony bit my rear earlier!" she exclaimed, only to have her companions lean over their saddles to keep from rolling off in laughter.

"What's so funny, I'm being serious. You said that all the ponies were nice! This one's a menace!"

"Well he is Bungle the pony, now. And I think he likes you," Bofur joked as the pony turned and chomped down on Freya's foot.

"Ow! That's just mean," Freya growled after jerking her boot from the horse's mouth. She leaned her feet back as far as they could go, since the pony seemed to be keen on taking another bite out of her boots.

"Anyone want to trade?" Freya called, but frowned as she realized the whole company was laughing at her, even Gandalf.

"No way!" the blond dwarf, Fíli, joked as he and took Nori's spot next to her. Her two friends abandoned her with a grin as they slipped in front of her.

"Maybe if you could talk to him he'll tell you what's wrong," Kíli said with mock seriousness, as he, too, slipped up next to her.

"That's absurd, horses and ponies can't talk!" Freya protested, looking in between the two.

"But if they did, what would they say?" Kíli continued with the same tone of voice, grinning as Freya was looking stumped.

"Hello, I'm Mister Bungle," Fíli joked, doing a fake horse snort. He and Kíli pulled fiddles out of their pack and began to do something Freya did not expect.

"A horse is a horse, of course of course,

and no one can talk to a horse of course,

that is of course, unless the horse,

Is the mean, old Mister Bungle!

Go right to the source and ask the horse.

He'll give you the answer that you'll endorse.

He's always on a steady course.

Talk to Mister Bungle.

People yak-it-ti-yak a streak

and waste your time of day,

but Mister Bungle will never speak,

unless he has something to say...

A horse is a horse, of course of course,

And this one will talk 'til his voice is hoarse.

You never heard of a talking horse?

Well, listen to this...

I am Mister Bungle"

Freya turned red, mortified at the whole company teasing her about her horse through song. How they could all sing a song that Fíli and Kíli just made up, Freya would never know. Bungle snorted, as if agreeing with the dwarves' song, and he stopped trying to bite Freya's feet.

"Oh, my," Freya said a bit stunned, after her face turned a little less red.

"You missed out first song, Ms. Freya! We had to sing you a tune," Kíli grinned. Fíli laughed with him.

Freya took a deep breath, trying to get her heart rate back to normal. "Um, thank you. I guess. That was lovely. Well, I'm sorry about earlier. I was just in a bad mood and I didn't mean to take it out on you," She apologized sheepishly.

"It's okay, you didn't scare Fíli too badly!" Kíli joked, looking relieved. Freya furrowed her eyebrows, Kíli was the one most affected by her rash words, why was he blowing it off like it was Fíli she insulted? She opened her mouth to continue her apology but she saw Fíli cast her an odd look as he and Kíli put away their fiddles.

Freya paused, and instead asked, "Do you all have instruments?"

"Of course," Fíli replied, "Us dwarves love to sing and compose music. We all brought our instruments with for entertainment. It's going to be a long journey."

Kíli nodded, "Me and my brother play the fiddle. Dori, Nori and Ori have flutes. Bifur and Bofur have clarinets and Bombur his drums. Dwalin and Balin play their Viols quite nicely, but they couldn't pack them, and Uncle Thorin plays the harp. Do you play anything?"

"Thorin's your uncle?" Freya asked, surprised.

"Yes, our he is our mother's brother," Fíli said.

"Well, com' on, do you play anything?" Kíli asked eagerly, cutting off anything more that Fíli was going to say about their family.

"I- I play the lute, but I haven't packed it," Freya replied.

"The lute?" Fíli and Kíli asked at the same time, with an odd tone of voice.

"What's wrong with the lute? It's a perfectly acceptable instrument!"

"But it's so..." Fíli started.

"Elvish!" Kíli finished.

"Well, what's wrong with being Elvish?" Freya defended her preferred instrument.

Kíli made an 'ick!' sound in the back of his throat as Fíli explained, "Us dwarves don't like elves very much. I apologize for offending your instrument. If you have the opportunity I would love to hear you play."

"It's all right, I suppose," Freya sniffed indignantly. "But, thinking of music and parties, how did you enjoy it at Bilbo's last night? Was it the first time you've been in a Hobbit Hole?"

"We got to eat food and knock things over. It was great!" Fíli grinned.

"We destroyed the place, it's such a shame. It was a really gorgeous home, if a bit small," Kíli continued.

"Small? Bag End is actually a large Hobbit Hole," Freya said, thinking how much smaller her own home was.

"Really?" Fíli asked.

"Ya, you don't need much to sate a hobbit," Freya explained.

"What satisfies you?" Kíli asked, leaning over to look Freya in the face. She turned to him looking a bit confused.

"I beg your pardon?" Freya didn't know where he was going with this. To her ears his question sounded lewd.

"What do you enjoy?" Kíli rephrased, leaning back in his saddle. He seemed quite comfortable up high on his pony, unlike the other dwarves who were still grumbling about the bumpy ride.

"I myself enjoy peace and quiet. And a good book. Nothing beats a good book. Therefore my 'small' home suits me perfectly," Freya said haughtily as she focused keenly at the road in front of her.

"Well, what do you like?" Freya asked after a moment of silence from the boys. She hadn't meant to offend them.

"Big rooms of course! And darker, not all those windows that Mr. Boggins had. Somewhere like the Blue Mountains. That is a gorgeous land for dwarves," said Kíli in a dreamy tone.

"The Blue Mountains? Where's that at?"

"Far west of here. We came from there, the mountains were our old home," Fíli said, also reminiscing.

"Do you miss it?" The boys snapped out of their devour. "Your home?" Freya elaborated.

"Aye, very much so. But we're hoping on making a new one at the Lonely Mountain," said Fíli.

"Why?" questioned Freya.

"Why what?" Kíli asked.

"Why go on this quest at all? What is this quest to you and your uncle?"

"That is a very long story," Fíli said.

"But in short, we're here for the adventure, Uncle Thorin's here to reclaim his kingdom," Kíli said with a shrug.

"Kingdom?" What did that mean?

"Aye, kingdom. Uncle Thorin is Heir to the Throne. He's the King Under the Mountain," Fíli said proudly.

"If we had a mountain," Kíli rolled his eyes.

"King!? That's a- hm," Freya thought a moment, "That makes sense. What does that make you two, then? Your mother would also be an heir, right?"

"Mother wants no part in politics. And since Uncle Thorin has no children of his own we're the next in line. Princes, if you will," the brunette dwarf smirked, trying to impress the hobbit.

"Princes? That's hard to believe," Freya laughed, causing Kíli's face to fall. Fíli rolled his eyes at his brother.

Freya saw his look and felt guilty. "Well, I mean-"

"No, it's okay," Fíli said, "We haven't had much 'princely' training. Mostly history lessons, fighting and basic politics that we catch from Uncle's meetings. We're not even sure which one of us would become king if something were to happen to Uncle."

"You, of course!" Kíli butted in.

"But that's okay, really. We are here for the adventure. But if we couldn't face the consequences or responsibility then we wouldn't be here," Fíli finished solemnly. Kíli nodded his head in agreement, looking at his brother.

Freya paused, glad to be riding a pony or she would have stopped walking. The depth and history of all that was going on around her was immense. The boy's responsibility was great, but not as great at Thorin's. He had reason to be solemn, not just losing his home but his kingdom as well. This was really not just an adventure for some of them, but a task.

She sat upon her Bungle and stared at the gorgeous scenery. Kíli and Fíli were silent, allowing Freya to enjoy the first moment of peace since this morning. Somehow they had drifted to the end of the company, and Freya could observe all of her companions. Instead she turned her eye to the woods at her left and right. Birds were happily chirping and Freya even heard a few frogs croak. Sun shown down, warming Freya's face as she turned to look up at the tree's canopy.

It was indeed a pleasant day, and a nice start to a very, very long journey.


Author's Note: Chapters 1 and 2 have been edited and slightly modified, but not enough that you have to go back and check. Sorry for the wait, I've been collecting my thoughts and progress of how I want this story to proceed, as well as going over the previous chapters.

Questions? Comments? Please review!