Hello my dear reader, all rights go to J.R.R. Tolkien and to Peter Jackson as always, I only own my character Rose. Have fun reading and feel free to leave a review =)
"'Scuse me? You should probably get up..." It was the soft voice of the adorable dwarf in mostly knitted clothes that woke me up the next morning, but knowing that I probably wouldn't have to face another life or death situation this morning I simply decided to bury my face deeper in the pillows and continue to sleep. "Um...I really think you should get up."
He carefully nudged my shoulder with his hands, trying to get me to wake up. I mumbled something into my pillows and was just about to get my cold feet undet the blanket again when somebody grabbed my ankles and pulled until I was sitting on the floor. I was close to flipping Thorin off but knowing my luck the dwarves probably didn't even know what the gesture meant. "Get dressed and take the pack Gandalf left you with you. If you hurry you can eat here before we leave." Ori quickly hurried out of the room, followed by Thorin who slammed the door shut after he left.
I quickly grabbed the grey pack that was sitting right next to me, not quite believing that it was indeed from Gandalf and quickly untied the string that kept it closed. "Give Olórin my kind regards. Yours sincerely, your 'buddy'." I found myself shaking my head in disbelieve, with a massive grin etched on my face.
There was quite a lot of nice clothing in the bag, fitting pants like I liked them, some shirts similar to the one I was already wearing and strangely enoug, some modern age underwear. But the best were probably my new dwarf style boots, just as bold as the boots of the rest of the company, but surprisingly noiseless as I walked around once I was dressed. Not wanting to strain Thorin's courtesy any further, I quickly changed into some of my 'own' clothes, secured the bag on my back and walked outside.
I obviously wasn't the only one who wasn't too fond of having to wake up early as I witnessed Dwalin banging his head on the table as he fell asleep again and Dori as he nearly poured his tea on the table instead of in his cup. "Morning." I yawned and slapped Thorin upside the head on my way to Bofur who had pointed to the seat next to him. "A friend sends his regards, Olórin." I suddenly blurted out, looking at the grey haired wizard who suddenly seemed to choke on his pipe.
The breakfast went on without another incident and after we were sure that the lovely hobbit would not be coming with us, we made our way outside. "Have you ever been on a horse before? Or a pony for that matter?" Thorin asked me as I gave Minty, the pony he would be riding, an red apple I had stolen from what little was left in Bilbos pantry. "Nope. Can't be too hard though, right?"
A few minutes later I was sitting on Minty, holding onto the saddle for dear life. "I don't like this. I really, really don't like this at all." I shrieked in a tone high enough for only bats to hear as Thorin grabbed the saddle as well and hoisted himself up to sit behind me and elbowed him in the ribs as I heard him chuckle.
It took me some time to get used to the swaying of the pony underneath me and the awkwardness of the physical contact with Thorin, but after about half an hour I actually began to enjoy the journey. I clapped along with the dwarfs songs, listened to Bofur's stories and was just flipping through Ori's journal as I heard somebody call out behind us. "I signed it! Here, I signed it!" Bilbo was panting as he handed Balin the contract, but he still had a grin on his face until Thorin mentioned his pony.
"I feel you, bro." I said as I saw his terrified face with a hand on my heart. He probably didn't quite understand what I meant but he still seemed thankful for my compassion. "I think my butt fell asleep..." I mumbled after about two more hours and slouched my shoulders in annoyance, so much for beginning to have fun. Thorin sighed heavily behind me and quickly wrapped an arm around my waist as I threatened to slip out of the saddle as he took another turn.
"We will rest here for the night!" He suddenly yelled just as we reached some kind of small cavern on top of a hill, making me almost jump out of my skin. "Can you get off by yourself?" He asked after he had jumped off the pony's back, causing me to grip the horn again. I shrugged with one shoulder and decided to just roll with it. I literally slipped out of the saddle and on the floor, groaning as I rubbed my sore back.
"I take that as a no." Thorin muttered and walked off without even offering me a hand to help me up. I grumbled something into my non-existent beard and grabbed the hand Dwalin was offering me out of all people. I bumped into him as he pulled me up with a little bit too much force and gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder before I walked off again, wanting to find a good place for my bedroll before everybody had settled down.
In the end I had nuzzled into a crevice between Fili and Kili after we had eaten and was just a second away from falling asleep when I heard a loud shrieking that instantly made me shiver. "What the hell?!" I grumbled and got tangled in my blanket as I tried to get up. "It's nothing, calm down." Fili reassured me and grabbed my arm to keep me from falling. "That didn't sound like nothing."
I nearly bumped into Bilbo who had been startled by the noise as well and was now on his way to the two brothers to ask what was happening. "What was that?" I heard him ask in a frightened voice just as I made my way to the cliffs. "Orcs..." Kili mumbled, making me whip around. "Orcs?!" Both me and Bilbo asked in unison, making Thorin jump awake.
"They're throatcutters...lowlands must be crawling with them." I felt another shiver run down my spine. Why were they staying so calm? "They strike in the morning hours when everyone's still asleep...never leave witnesses, only lots of blood." I felt myself starting to panic and since didn't hear Thorin approach, I nearly found myself punching him when I suddenly saw him standing next to me. By the time Balin had told the tale of Azog the Defiler and how Thorin had lost his father and grandfather, I wasn't too sure if the tears that were streaming down my face were from compassion for Thorin our out of fright after I had seen the shade of creatures crawling around below us.
"They will not harm us tonight, you don't have to be afraid." He said in a low voice and squeezed my shoulder before he turned around to face his friends. "And what happened to the pale orc?" Bilbo asked after a while. Thorin scoffed. "That filth died of his wounds long ago." I surely wasn't the only one to doubt that, for I had seen the look Balin and Gandalf had exchanged.
I spent the rest of the night with harrassing both Fili and Kili who, after their uncle had spoken a stern word with them, had taken it upon themselves to make sure I was feeling safe enough tho get at least a few hours of sleep that night. I wasn't too surprised to wake up sandwiched between the two brothers, with Fili hugging me from one side and Kili from the other. Getting out of their grasp obviously wasn't an option since they only moved closer, squishing me further.
"Ngh...come on don't laugh!" I grumbled as I heard somebody chuckle next to me. Fili snored quietly and began to bury his face in my chest. "Thorin's not gonna be happy when he sees that, lassie." I heard Balin say as I began to wriggle around in an attempt to free myself. "Well, then don't tell him. Wake up Fili! Come on, we're leaving soon." I began shaking by him a little and by nudging his shoulder and after he didn't react I began poking his cheeks until he buried his face deeper in his 'pillow' and opened an eye.
To say he was a little embarrassed was a clear understatement, for the colour of his face made even a tomato look pale. I quickly wrenched Kili's arms off my waist, successfully waking him up in the process and walked over to where Fili was wallowing in shame. "Don't be like that, Fili. You simply made sure I felt safe enough to sleep and fell asleep yourself in the progress. At least you had a comfortable headrest." I winked at him, making him once again blush violently.
"What did you do to my brother?" Kili asked suspiciously, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. I shrugged. "Probably the heat. You tend to get warm if you sleep huddled together like we did." I lied, ruffling his hair before I gathered my belongings and put them back in my backpack. Our breakfast was rather scarce this morning and we quickly got on the road again for we still had a long way ahead of us and now the threat of an orc pack piled on top of that.