Thorin glanced back down the line of horses to his youngest nephew Kili and the girl, Hilary whose arms were wrapped tightly around his waist much to Kili's enjoyment. Fili was riding beside them talking away to her much to Kili's displeasure. This is why Thorin was against bringing her along. She would be flaunting her brown curls and batting her eyes at them which would end up distracting them. Thorin heard her laugh which made Fili put his hand over his heart and sighed

"Your laugh floats through the air like a melody of harps and makes the gods above smile". Thorin noticed her redden before turning her face away. Kili glared at his brother causing Fili to give him a smug smile.

"She is quite a character isn't she" chuckled Gandalf who rode up beside Thorin. Thorin turned to glare at Gandalf

"Quite" he said shortly "Will you tell me your reason for bringing her here?"

"The time is not right Thorin" Gandalf answered.

"Will it ever be the right time?" Thorin snapped "This is my quest Gandalf, she is already distracting my men" he said nodding to Fili and Kili who were now showing off their swords they retrieved in battle to her "She is a liability, first a Hobbit and now a girl"

"Time will change your opinion of them"

Thorin snorted "And how do you know this? We barley know the Halfling and the Human"

Gandalf smiled down at the Dwarf "Looking. That is the answer"

A warm lavender and orange glow canvassed the west sky. The sky grew darker as it stretched from one end to the other. Hilary huddled in tighter to Kili's back seeking warmth from his fur cloak. The clothes he gave her were not the best insulators. She watched the sun lay to rest. It disappeared behind the thin horizon. She had never seen anything so beautiful. She lived her whole life in big cities never seeing a proper sunset. Unless you count the times she saw them in movies. It was even hard to make out the stars with all the pollution in the air. During the journey she thought of home, of her friends and her Mother. She hated to think of the pain her Mother was going through when she heard of Hilary's disappearance.

At the age of two she lost her father at sea, so she was told. Ever since then her Mother seemed to lose her light.

The photos Hilary found of her parents together were interesting. Her Mother's smile was brighter and real not like it is now which is small and forced. Hilary never knew her Father but from the stories her Mom told her she wished she had.

"My Lady?" Kili's voice interpreted her thoughts

"Hmm?" She answered

"Are you well, you have been quiet for a long time" he chuckled.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just never seen a real sunset before" she answered without thinking. Kili turned his head to look at her from the corner of his eye. She was looking at the tree tops just where the sun set only moments ago.

"You never? Why is that?" he asked astonished

"I grew up in a city where the buildings are high and are lit by artificial light. You would never look out the window because you would only see building after building and on the occasion drunken people throwing up onto the road"

"That sounds horrible, even as a child your Father never took you out to the woods?" Kili asked interested

"He died a long time ago"

"My lady I am sorry to cause you pain"

"It's okay, I never knew him"

They remained quiet for the rest of the journey until Kili saw Thorin jump off his horse. "We will be making camp here" he whispered to Hilary. She nodded in response silently thanking God because she was tired and was ready to collapse. Kili jumped off his horse and turned to help Hilary down. She helped him unpack the horse and walked over to the campsite. The Hobbit known as Bilbo was kneeling over a rock beside the fire and was chopping mushrooms on the smooth surface. He looked up and smiled as he saw Hilary approach

"Ah Miss Hilary, I do hope you like mushrooms" he said hopefully

"Thank you and yes I do like mushrooms" she smiled back as she sat down beside him "Need a hand?"

"I-I suppose you could help me chop the food? Would that be alright?" he answered nervously.

"I see no problem in that" she replied kindly. They got busy cooking the stew which consisted of more meat than vegetables. After a few minutes of comfortable silence between them Bilbo asked

"Is it true what the dwarves say?"

Hilary gave him a confused look "Care to clarify?"

Putting down his utensils her turned to look at her "So is it true that you are from another world?" he asked slowly

"Apparently so" she answered

"I see" he paused "what's it like there?" The Dwarves heard this and turned to listen. Hilary looked around at the surroundings. The luscious green trees not affected by acid rain, the stars that shown brightly in the cloudless sky and not being dimmed down by street lights, the sounds of owls and crickets and not angry taxi drivers or people fighting in the streets after losing a football match, the river below glowing in the light of the stars and not green and shopping trolley free. She looked back up to the awaiting dwarfs

"Different" she said shortly