.

Chewing on her bottom lip, the elleth studied the runes again.

She had been trying to read them for nearly four days whenever the company would stop for a meal and or sleep, and so far she was stumped… Something she disliked.

So far they had only been on the road for less than a week, and as it was only the start, the dwarves didn't seem to be too sick of horseback just yet… She wondered when, exactly. She was fine with her stallion, Brand as she had affectionately called him, and Gandalf had yet to complain about his chestnut mare Rose; it was on the second day where she helped Fili and Kili get the ponies and two horses settled for a night of rest that they decided to name the steeds, and she thought the names were suitable enough for the ponies.

She had not spent much time trying to decode ancient languages in her childhood, and unfortunately, it was the same with the ancient dwarvish runes scrawled on the map. So she decided to hang it up for another day.

"No luck, then." Gandalf surmised as he was given the map back from the she-elf as he had started smoking his pipe.

Eäriel withdrew the small knife given to her by Kili and studied its handle; after finding the proper place for it, which had been at the back of her belt that held up her black trousers, she would pull it out every now and then to study the make. "I was schooled, yes, just not in decoding ancient languages." She replied quietly, tracing a slender finger along the silvery blade.

Gandalf puffed on a bit of smoke, "if I recall, you were mostly schooled in not pertaining to your studies as much as pertaining to combat practice." He had an amused look in his eyes.

"It was only until Uncle found out…" Eäriel gave him a look from beneath her brow, causing the wizard's lips to quirk up in further amusement regarding her childhood escapades. She glanced at the dwarves and lone hobbit slumbering –she could tell the former were indeed slumbering, judging by their snores—before adding softly in her tongue, "If I could somehow convince him that it would be wise to head there instead of trudge on without knowing what the runes say, then that would make this less of a headache."

"Which would not be wise if the suggestion came from your mouth." Gandalf quipped in like tongue, watching her glance again at the dwarves though he knew she was looking at one dwarf in particular, and he continued quietly, "You have worked hard enough to secure a stable alliance with him, and as your friend, I would not see you fail."

Eäriel's face softened slightly and she nodded, returning the knife to its sheath and looking at his wise metallic eyes, "very well, I will leave it to you… Between the two of us, I put more trust in the fact that you are more tactful with reasoning with kings." She agreed, lifting her bow from the ground next to where she sat as she straightened up to take night watch, as she had agreed to do so for the dwarves while they slept (which had been something she had done per courtesy towards Thorin when he had taken her back to Ered Luin with he and his men).

Gandalf nodded slightly to her as she left his company, watching her scale the nearby oak with little effort, a thin trail of smoke dancing from his pipe.

She had as much tact as he, though she would not use it until later on in their journey.

|} x {|

The water level of the river didn't look very appealing as it was the result of the sudden downpour that had plagued them for the last few days of their journey.

Bringing Brand to a halt alongside Rose and her rider, she looked at the river before them with a slight frown on her brow, before she looked back at the dwarf prince who was also eyeing the river from his place astride Bungo; their eyes met for a moment as she silently assured she would cross first, and she broke stares to look at the wizard and as he saw her plan she had, he nodded and let her lead.

The speckled horse gave a vain whinny of protest before the elleth murmured her assurance to him, and he began crossing the river, the water level coming just shy of his ribs as he crossed over to the safer part of the shore.

Eäriel smiled down at Brand and looked at the others, "two at a time, gentlemen!" She said, murmuring her praise to the stallion whose ears flicked and he shook his mane a smidge, causing her to gently pat his neck.

Gandalf and Bilbo went second, and the hobbit actually felt a measure of safety as he crossed with the wizard at his left; next went Thorin and Balin, and shortly after them the remaining eleven (Bombur had to cross on his own as he basically made up two dwarves) crossed, as the current slowly began to become choppy after Nori and Ori crossed.

Eäriel bit her lip as she noticed this, as did Gandalf, and she silently thanked the stars that Fili crossed safely on his gray pony; though as Fili's gray pony was calmer towards crossing, it was Kili's darker pony that panicked as the current threatened to take the pony with it, causing the dark steed to spook and lose its footing on the stones in the bank.

"Kili!" Fili shouted as he made to rush after his brother and steed that were carried away, before Thorin grabbed his arm to keep him from putting himself in danger; a neigh sounded then as the dapple grey stallion bolted off after the prince and pony with the elleth astride.

"H-help!" Kili cried from the waters that tried to drag him down, distantly hearing his pony neigh in fright from amidst the churning water, looking up as he tried to stay afloat at the horse that chased the current at top speed.

Good thing I bought this, Eäriel thought as she had withdrawn a long length of rope from one of the saddle bags, fastening one end to her stallion's saddle and the other around her waist; she readied to jump from his back just as they got close enough to the edge of the bank and Kili's head bobbed up again in the waters, and taking a breath, she jumped off her horse's back into the river. She gasped as she resurfaced and cursed the rain for causing the river to be so cold, swimming close enough to grab hold of the prince's arm and he in turn gasped her name in relief at finding she had rescued him, latching onto her until she pulled him to her chest and held fast. Bobbing down one more time beneath the surface, both elf and dwarf resurfaced and felt relief at that, as the former commanded her steed to halt in elvish.

The rope was drawn taut with a jerk that caused the elleth to gasp slightly in pain as the rope's tightened grip knocked the wind out of her for that one moment, before she felt they were being pulled back to shore, and she looked up to see Brand was being pulled back by some of the dwarves as the remainder were pulling on the rope that extended past the horse's saddle.

"T-thank you, Eäriel," Kili breathed in relief as they were reaching the shore, looking up at the elleth between dark locks that got in his face, a slightly sheepish smile on his face.

Eäriel chuckled slightly, "Don't mention it, Kili…" She replied with a small smile; they were pulled ashore with aid from Dwalin and Bofur, and both elf and dwarf shook the water off of them as the former undid the knot that had kept her connected to the other end of the rope.

"You idiot, what on earth was that for?" Fili scolded his brother with a quick embrace before both brothers walked off to where they had recovered the younger's pony, and even though the older seemed angry towards being scared out of his wits at nearly losing his brother, they looked as if the incident brought them closer if possible.

She believed that, anyway…

"What on earth were you thinking!?"

Eäriel winced slightly at being yelled at, and she exhaled slightly before turning her sights onto the ruffled dwarf prince, and for a moment she wasn't sure whether to believe he was angry or relieved or some concoction of both emotions. She straightened slightly from having been wringing out her dampened mane of hair, meeting his irritable blue stare. "The weather seemed nice enough for a little swim, what can I say?" She sniffed.

Thorin folded his arms over his chest, unmoving, as the irritable light in his stormy blue orbs lingered. "If I wanted cheek, I would not have asked you the reason of why you acted so recklessly!" He snapped. He was grateful she had saved his nephew, he wouldn't deny that as it seemed though she thought his nephews like her brothers, but some part of him that had softened to her plight long ago was shaken at the mere thought of her drowning… It wasn't like he could figure it out, because he couldn't. He just knew he deserved to be answered.

"And if I wanted an interrogation like if I had done something wrong when I clearly didn't, I would have stayed in the Woodland Realm!" Eäriel shot back hotly, sharply looking away as being interrogated made her bristle and think of less-than-happier times in her past, and she inhaled steadily to meet his slightly surprised stare. "How many centuries must pass before you learn that I am not. your. enemy, Thorin?" She asked evenly, curbing her temper enough to speak clearly to him. Nostrils flaring with an exhale, she watched the reality of her question become evident in his stormy orbs before she turned away to tend to her stallion, silently stating once again that she would not fight him and that she respected their friendship enough to withdraw from a row.

The dwarf prince's hands curled and uncurled at his sides and he groaned under his breath, stomping after her to remount his steed so they may continue for the remainder of the day.

|} x {|

Despite the slightly miffed manner he held with her for their slight row, he had let her take a break from night watch for the last few nights.

She wanted to believe it was because he saw she was trying to keep the peace between them, or perhaps it was some measure of chivalry he still retained from his younger days of being groomed as a prince of Erebor. Either way, it was a nice respite and she was pleased with it, so she said nothing.

The snores of the dwarves hummed in the clear night's air.

The company had taken refuge on an overlooking hill that had a stout rock carved inwardly, the covered post proving suitable for the princes who had been deemed the night watch for the evening. And as she did not require sleep like dwarves, men and hobbits did, Eäriel sat with the princes as a third set of eyes.

"Melan."

Shaking her head, she poked at the fire with a twig before feeding it to the flames. "No, there are two 'L's in the word. Try to sound it out." Off and on, she had been teaching –at the incessant puppy-dog looks from both princes; she would maim Kili one day for starting that— elvish to Fili and Kili. Mostly when Thorin was not within listening range, partially because they had promised to teach her Khuzdul in like; rather the Khuzdul they knew, so you can imagine at least several swear words had been thrown into the medley.

Scrunching his face up slightly, Fili tried again, "Mel-lon." He said slowly.

Eäriel smiled and nodded in approval. "Wasn't that hard, was it?" She said.

Looking to the sleeping dwarves beyond their reach, Fili caught the pale moonlight winking off Dwalin's head and he grinned, looking back at his instructor and saying, "Dwalin is a mellon-head."

Kili snorted in amusement as Eäriel shook her head but sported a grin in likewise amusement. "A friend to what, birds?" He asked cheerily. Unsurprisingly, he had been quicker to learn the elven tongue than Fili had; she still believed to this day that he had a fancy for elves… He was just blessed that his dear uncle did not know of that little secret.

The elleth chuckled, looking at their slumbering companions again when catching a hint of movement from among them, seeing a familiar head of curly hair straighten to make his way over to the ponies. Her eyes calmed and she smiled thoughtfully at the hobbit's kindness he showed to his little steed Myrtle.

"His head makes for a nice shiny perch for 'em, if you ask me…" Fili snickered, right before the amusement fled as a shrill screech cut into the night like a hot knife.

Eäriel stiffened from her place at Kili's left, her piercing eyes scanning the darkness beyond their camp with her dominant hand gripping the handle of a concealed dagger in the underside of her left vambrance. Seeing Bilbo jump slightly in place before he looked to them seated by the fire, she watched him dart over; for a moment his harried movement reminded her of a spooked rabbit.

Poor lad, he wasn't used to the frights the Wild had for them, and she pitied him for it.

"What was that?" Bilbo hissed as he dared a look over his shoulder at the darkness of the wood beyond their overlook.

Another screech sounded, only fainter than the first; Kili took a glance at the sky beyond the covering and mused, "Orcs."

"'Orcs'!" Bilbo parroted a bit more audibly, and the elleth didn't miss seeing Thorin startle awake at the word, the hobbit not mindful of the now-awake dwarf. Eäriel bit her lip to vainly dodge an amused smirk that fought to show when seeing he had been spooked.

"Throat-cutters," Fili supplied grimly, recognizing the fear on the poor halfling's face, taking a drag from his pipe as he added in the same tone, "the lowlands will be crawlin' with them."

Kili caught on to his brother's ploy and fought a smirk from showing as he added in a likewise-grim tone as he looked to the hobbit with warning, "Quick and quiet they are; no screams, just lots of blood."

When Bilbo turned away from the trio to look at the darkness with a newfound anxiety, Eäriel whacked Kili's head reproachfully with her hand and shot a likewise scowl at Fili. "I swear, you two…" She hissed.

"You think a night-raid by orcs is funny, then?" A low rumble sounded from Thorin as he stood to his feet to also look on his nephews with reproach, albeit his scowl was more effective.

Fili and Kili shared a look of guilt and resembled a pair of kicked puppies before the latter supplied quietly, "Didn't mean anythin' by it, Uncle..."

Thorin snorted, rather catty about being awoken for no good reason, "Of course not. You're still young, and therefore know nothing of the world…" He stated gruffly as he stomped off to be left with his thoughts that had resurfaced, arms folding at his back as he went.

Eäriel watched him go with a concerned look as she crossed her arms at her chest and sighed.

"Don't mind him, lads," Balin said as he leaned against the covering's rocky wall, looking at the princes and hobbit, following the elleth's gaze as he added, "Thorin's got more cause than most to hate orcs." Seeing a slight nod from the female, he began to recount the tale of the Battle of Azanulbizar, bringing back memories the older dwarves present could remember vividly as if it were only yesterday.

It was a fond memory as that is when they first met, she deemed, though the story was nothing to be happy about.

Thorin turned back to the others when Balin's tale ended and the night had seemed to turn calm afterward, as it left remnants of memories that were both glorious to have witnessed and bitter with dulled grief, seeing the dwarves that had been sleeping were now standing as if in salute to him… to their king. His eyes landed on their gazes warmed with determination until his blue orbs met the paler blue orbs of the lone elf, and he was briefly surprised to see her gaze showed pride, pride that was actually meant for him. A smile threatened to form as he gave a slight nod to his companions, returning to walk to the other side of their overlook.

"The pale orc… what happened to him?" Bilbo asked quietly as he recalled the Gundabad ilk that had been defeated by the dwarf prince.

Thorin scoffed in disgust at the mention, "Slunk back into the hellhole from whence he came; that beast died of his wounds long ago." He answered for Balin, continuing past the hobbit.

Gandalf and Balin shared a look; Eäriel looked at them and bit her lower lip as she hugged her knees and looked away.

Why would you delude yourself into thinking such a thing, Thorin…?

an: i did say "every few days", and last i looked "few" is akin to two-five min/hrs/days etc. also bc i wanted to post this chap before getting into the more exciting chapters i'm going to work on as soon as i post this. also, s/o to Blueeyedwolf33 for being an amazing author and for wanting to read my fic, i was and still am starstruck bc i admire her writing skills like bad okay okay. regular updates are staying the same, regarding tumblr, and i am surprised noone has reviewed this yet..? shocking. it's not mandatory, i'm just surprised is all.. anywho, that's that and until next update, lates! :)