Fangirlatyourservice yes. You have to love Bofur. I'm still deciding if he will be the first to discover her secret or not. Eventually it'll be hard for her to keep it.
ThisUsernameIsIndecisive I'm glad you like it. I will continue whether you ask or not, but I'm happy you did anyway.
How come we are always riding on ponies? The whole riding situation is starting to hurt in certain areas.
"How's it going back there?" Fili yells. I forgot I'm riding with Fili now instead of Kili. Something about Thorin not wanting me to seduce his nephew. I really don't care either way as long as he doesn't yell or ditch me.
"My bum is sore." I complain.
"Yeah. You'll get used to it. I mean, the first time when I took a long journey on a horse, I couldn't sit for days." Fili says.
"Really?" his story seems somewhat exaggerated.
"Yeah. And on Kili's first riding trip he had to lay on his stomach if he didn't want to stand. Sometimes he even fell asleep standing up."
"Is that possible?" I ask.
"Certainly is. I've done it." Kili comes up beside us.
"When did you get there?" Fili asks hesitantly as if he hopes that his brother hasn't heard what he just said to me.
"I was wondering how Isabel was." Kili says, completely ignoring the question.
"I'm fine." I answer.
"Kili! Stay away from the woman!" Thorin shouts from the front.
"Uncle!" Kili shouts before he races off to the front to talk to Thorin.
"Was it just me, or did Kili just act really strange?" I whisper as I lean close to Fili's ear.
"No. It wasn't just you." Fili whispers back.
Right from the moment I fell off the horse, (When I mean I fell, I really did fall) Fili and Kili immediately started training. They would take turns training me in the art of swords and bows. Fili wasn't as nice to me as his brother, but I preferred the harder training. My weapon of choice was the bow because I didn't have to be close to my enemy to use it. Bilbo watches me practice constantly, on and off. By the fifth time he came over, he finally asked if he could be trained. The response was 'you're not a woman with 14 men and a threat of monsters'. Bilbo was very displeased.
When I started complaining about my back, they decided we should stop for two reasons: 1. My back hurt, and 2. Dinner was ready.
After dinner, there was a howling. "Orcs?" Bilbo asks cautiously.
"Orcs? Ha!" Fili laughs.
"Orcs are nothing to laugh about." Thorin says sternly. He came up from behind shocking us all, which is something he apparently likes to do.
"Will you ever just tell us you're coming instead of sneaking up on us with an unexpected entrance?" I ask unfazed. I think I see a smile play at his lips. Nobody else saw it.
"What happened with him?" Bilbo asks.
"Don't mind him." Balin says next to us. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs."
We all just look at each other then look at Thorin as he makes his way to an outcropping of rock. His back to us.
** "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. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs led 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. 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.
"That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent…wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield.
"Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived.
"And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King." Balin's story seemed to go on for ages.
"What happened to the pale Orc?" Bilbo asks. "What happened to him?"
Thorin turns around. "He slunk back into the hole from whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." **
"Are you so sure about that." I mutter to myself. I'm nearly positive that Thorin heard me. He scowled. I say louder, "So that's what happened." Fili and Kili look at the ground.
Thorin starts walking towards his bedding. There's a rustling in the bushes. I can't make out what it is. It looks very much like a…
"Orc!" I shout and point to the bushes from where I saw movement.
Instantly Kili moves. His hands instinctively move toward his bow and quiver and he shoots. There's a larger rustle in the bushes, which I assume is from the orc trying to get away.
"I missed." Kili says in disappointment.
Thorin starts growling. "How did I not see that!?"
"I don't know." I say as I pat Kili's back in an attempt to make him feel better.
"Thorin turns to me. "How did you see that?"
"There was a movement in the bushes when you turned around." I shrug.
"Hmm, too bad it got away." Fili says. Kili's face drops farther.
"How long do you think it's been there?" Kili asks quietly.
"Let's hope not for long." I reply.
Thorin grumbles something which I think was 'I hate orcs!' I can't blame him after what happened with Azog.
"Go to sleep, Isabel." Fili says next to me.
Kili pulls me down onto him and starts stroking my hair. "Yes. You too, Fili. Go to sleep."
"Hey!" Fili protests. "Why don't I get a lap to sleep on?" Kili just looks at him.
"Sleep!" I say firmly.
Silence.
Then a whole lot of shuffling to get to their sleeping quarters.
Sorry for the wait! I still wrote while on vacation, just not on here. I have it all in a notebook that I so cleverly keep hidden in plain sight, by which I mean laying on my desk just waiting to be opened. Thanks for reading and please review!