It took two days of walking over hills and rocky bluffs to reach the base of the misty mountains. The weather was fair, and we made good time. Camping under the stars those two nights was something I would never forget, for not until our journey was over would we be able to rest in peace like that again. We were setting up camp that first night, and I took this time to try and get to know my companions better. Approaching Nori hesitantly, I stopped to watch as he finished building some sort of pyramid out of twigs. His head shot up when I stepped closer, snapping twigs under my feet.
"What are you doing?" I asked, curiosity winning out over nervousness under his questioning gaze.
"Building a fire." I flushed at his blunt answer, the tone clearly suggesting I should have known that. Pushing aside my pride I knelt down beside him.
"Can you show me?" Appraising me for a moment, he came to a decision and handed me two larger sticks.
"Rub them together until you get a spark, then hold it to the base of the pile. A bit of air and it should catch fire no problem." Sitting back, he watched me, the look in his eyes telling me clearly that he was only waiting for me to give up. I snorted quietly, but turned to the task. It was many minutes later, my arms beginning to ache, when I was rewarded with a small puff of smoke. I was about to celebrate when a small breeze came out of nowhere and snuffed it out abruptly.
"What's taking the fire so long, Nori?" Thorin's imperious voice stretched across the camp.
"The lass wanted to do it herself," he replied, his tone laced with amusement.
"Well, speed her up, we're hungry," he snapped impatiently. I felt a nudge in the back from Nori and growled, spinning the sticks faster. The dry wood finally caught a spark, swiftly turning into a flame much faster than I expected. I swore when a wisp of my hair fell over my face, getting too close to the stick and catching fire. Dropping the stick on the pile, I turned to frantically beating the flame out. The sound of laughter filled the camp as I sat grumpily by the now blazing campfire, the smell of burnt hair still filling my nostrils. Only Bilbo was desperately trying to hold his composure at the sight of my singed hair, a tiny smile the only indication of his valiant efforts at politeness. I buried my head in my hands in humiliation.
The next morning began much the same as the first. We broke camp at dawn, Thorin's commands lending speed to our travels. "We have far to go today, there will be no falling behind. Move out." I would have ignored his words had he not been looking pointedly in my direction. Hiding my annoyance behind a mask of polite indifference, I resolved to stay near the front of the pack. I shouldered my pack and strode ahead swiftly, choosing this morning's target of my companionship, the ever cheerful Bofur. He had seemed to be the most talkative, and I needed all the help I could get in keeping a conversation going.
"Morning, miss Lithuen," his cheerful greeting drawing out a smile as I pulled up alongside him.
"Morning Bofur." I merely watched him for a moment as we walked along, wanting to ask questions but hoping I wouldn't seem rude."Can I ask you something?" I stammered out. Relaxing under his open gaze and nod of acknowledgement, I threw out my question. "I heard you were a toymaker. What made you want to come on a dangerous quest like this?" His smile wavered for a moment, and he turned to gaze fondly at his brothers.
"For them," he said quietly. "I want a home where Bombur can cook all he wants in peace, and where Bifur can feel safe. The orc that left his mark on my brother left more than an axe, and took something besides." I followed his gaze, contemplating his silent brother. I had been afraid to approach the strange dwarf who only spoke in gestures and broken khuzdul, but closer inspection left me feeling less fearful. He had a kind look in his eyes, and I thought back to a memory of him sitting beside Bilbo the night before. I resolved to try and communicate with him over the course of our journey.
Evening was darkening the sky with shades of purple and red when we made camp at the base of the mountain. Thorin had ordered Nori to build the fire once again when the cheeky thief turned to me, offering the sticks with a bow. "Care to give it another try, lass? Perhaps we can even out that hair of yours?" I scowled at him and was about to reply when his brother Dori came bustling over.
"That's enough Nori. Keep that fire away from the girl, we don't want her getting an injury." I knew the words had been meant in kindness, but I huffed in annoyance all the same.
"You'd think I'm incompetent," I grumbled as I moved to sit on a nearby log.
"He means well," a shy voice piped up to my right. I turned to smile at Ori, the youngest of the three brothers. He had taken out a sketchbook, and I watched in fascination as he began to draw the company around the fire. Noticing my attentiveness, he offered me the small book. "Would you like to see the others?" I nodded eagerly, taking the proffered item and turning the pages carefully. It was full of pictures of the company, and the wonderful landscapes they had traveled thus far.
Turning to the page just before the one he had been working on, I blushed and scowled to see myself, sticks in hand, building the fire. He looked slightly embarrassed as I handed the book back, and I couldn't help grinning. "At least you didn't draw my hair on fire," I conceded. "They're very nice." Properly pleased, he began working on his latest sketch once more.
The morning of the third day we began our ascent. It started out easily enough, with a distinct rocky trail to follow. We went single file, holding to the cliff face on our left to stay on the narrow path. The days grew colder, and soon we were trekking over snow that never melted. It was as we were starting our descent that things began to go horribly wrong. I had lost track of the days by this point, and only knew we were getting lower when the snow turned to rain.
It was evening when the storm broke. I shivered, drawing my cloak tightly around me and hoping we would make camp soon. I felt lost and uncomfortable trapped out in the elements. We had been walking along in forlorn silence when Bilbo yelled in fright as his feet skidded on the slippery rock. He was quickly yanked back when we heard the sharp crack of thunder. "Look out!" I screamed as I saw a torn off piece of rock careening towards us. It hit right overhead, and we pressed ourselves against the cliff face as rock shards rained down around us.
"This is no thunder storm, it's a thunder battle!" Balin yelled. "The stone giants of legend are real!" We gasped in awe to see the colossal stone beings separate themselves from the mountains and begin attacking each other.
"We have to find shelter!" Thorin cried out, ducking to avoid another rock shower from above. We were about to move when the rock right under our feet gave a terrible crack and began to divide our group in two. All was screaming and chaos as we scrambled to get a grip on the giant's knees that we were now riding on. When another giant roughly slammed us into the mountain side, half our group managed to jump to the path. We watched in horror as the rest were swung out and away from us. A moment later the giant's head was ripped from it's body, sending it's knees straight into the cliff side. I froze in shock and despair to think of the others being crushed between the unyielding stone.
We all rushed forward as the body fell towards the canyon far below, only to stop in relief as we saw all our companions jumbled on the path only slightly worse for wear. As we checked each other for injuries I voiced a thought that had caught my attention. "Where's Bilbo?" I said anxiously.
"There!" one of the others yelled, pointing to the edge of the path. I could barely see two hands gripping the rock ledge, and looking over came face to face with a terrified Bilbo. We quickly scrambled to grab for his arms but only succeeded in nearly knocking him off. In a brave move Thorin swung himself out beside Bilbo and pushed him back up, almost falling himself. Finally we had everyone back on the path and were able to share a moment of relief.
"I thought we'd lost our burglar," a few of us said shakily.
"He was lost the minute he stepped out his door," Thorin snapped angrily. "He never should have left home!" I knew it was his nerves talking, but I still felt this very unfair. Bilbo had a sad look on his face as Thorin turned away from him, and I gave his arm a sympathetic squeeze as the others looked on uncomfortably. We quickly discovered a nearby cave and hurried inside for the night, intending to move on in the morning after a good rest. After the cave was explored and deemed safe, on Thorin's orders we settled down to rest with Bofur as guard.
Note: So, we have Lithuen starting to try and interact with the others now. She may not realize it, but her simple blunder has garnered her more supporters than she would think, simply due to comic relief easing the tension between them. Thorin still isn't happy with her though. They won't be on acceptable terms until much later.