I jolted awake suddenly. I could not have been asleep very long at all, for Fili and Kili were still on watch nearby. I could see their dim silhouettes, black against the light of the low fire, and could hear them murmuring to one another. I turned over and stole a glance around at the rest of the camp. Bilbo Baggins was laid down right beside me, fast asleep, his mouth hanging open slightly. All around, the firelight illuminated the outlines of the sleeping dwarves, and the outline of Thorin Oakenshield, who was not sleeping. He was sat with his back against a tree trunk, staring into the fire, but his eyes were glazed over, and I did not suppose it was the flickering flames that were consuming the dwarf king's mind.

I sighed and rolled back over so I was once again facing the dark shadows of the trees that surrounded the clearing. This was not how I had expected things to turn out. Though I would have been lying if I had said I did not feel a great deal safer surrounded by the dwarves and their weapons and skills in fighting. But I was supposed to be on a quest to discover myself, not get wrapped up in a Company of dwarves' business! What was their business anyhow? Lady Lorienna had told us nothing of why a group of dwarves were in Rivendell, and had forbidden us from asking them about it. But surely now it would sense for me to know what they were up to? Though, I thought, thinking of Thorin Oakenshield's previous adventures, perhaps I would rather not know.

One of the dwarves gave a great, shuddering snore, and I jumped slightly. I heard Fili and Kili's gentle laughter, as I finally drifted off back to sleep.

Someone was shaking my shoulder. I swatted them away, annoyed.

"Go away," I muttered. "Ask Tahadrial..." Who was bothering me at this hour? Perhaps it was Lady Lorienna, though she always took Tahadrial down to the dwarves now in the mornings now.

"Come on, wake up!"

"Oh, what-

I snapped open my eyes ready to shout at whoever was disturbing my sleep, and found myself face to face with the brown-eyed Kili.

"Oh good, you're up," he said, grinning. "We were worried we were going to have to throw a bucket of water over you or something." He grinned again, stood up from where he had been crouched over me, and walked over to join the rest of the dwarves, who were breakfasting by the fire. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. Was this what an adventure was supposed to feel like? My whole body was stiff from lying on a forest floor all night, and I longed for a nice warm bath and perhaps a few more days of sleep. I closed my eyes for the briefest of moments, with absolutely no intention whatsoever of going back to sleep, and the next thing I knew, icy cold water was hitting my face with great force. I leapt up, spluttering.

Fili and Kili were stood, Fili holding a now empty bucket, both having difficulty suppressing laughter.

"I did warn you..." said Kili.

"Here, I made you these," Ori said, now coming over as I continued to splutter and look furiously at Fili and Kili. Ori was handing me a pair of woollen trousers that had clearly been made from one of the thick woollen blankets.

"Oh, wow..." I said, taking the trousers from Ori and holding them up against myself. "They're really...Thanks, Ori."

The dwarf beamed, and walked away to join the others at the fire.

Well, I thought, the woollen trousers were better than my ripped skirt that was now sodden with water.

"Another sausage, Thorin?" Dwalin offered as I gathered up my cloak and trousers and made to find somewhere to change.

But the dwarf king waved away this offer, his head cocked towards the forest as though listening for something.

I continued on my way, and found a thick tree to change behind. It was still very dark in the forest under the thick canopy of trees, and away from the firelight in the clearing, I found it difficult to see what I was doing. But I eventually struggled into Ori's homemade trousers, which were too short in the leg and too wide in the waist, and braided my hair back, and was beginning to feel much more awake and alive as I made my way back to the camp.

However, when I got there, the fire was out, the clearing was swamped in darkness, and I couldn't make out the dwarves anywhere.

"Hey, what's going-

But my question was stopped short when a hand was clamped over my mouth.

Thorin Oakenshield pulled me with ease behind a tree, and it was then that I noticed the dim outlines of the other dwarfs, making for similar hiding places.

"Orcs," breathed Thorin in my ear. My heart leapt into my mouth. Orcs! How dangerous! How thrilling!

"Be prepared to attack on my command," murmured Thorin to Dwalin, who was positioned next to us. Dwalin nodded in the darkness and silently withdrew a sword from his thick, leather belt. The weapon was long and lethal-looking. I stared at it in awe.

We remained in this silent, hidden manner for a lot longer than I thought we would. I kept expecting a pack of orcs to come swarming in, and for the dwarves to break out into some epic battle. But after a while of nothing but Thorin's heavy breath on my neck, I stopped waiting for this to happen with bated breath, and actually began to drift off, pressed still between the thick furs of Thorin's coat, and the rough bark of the tree. But I very quickly was brought back to my senses when the pressure of Thorin's body up against my own was lifted, and I was left to slide down the tree trunk, quickly jolting awake.

"That was close," Thorin was saying as the rest of the dwarves began emerging into sight. "Much too close. The sooner we get out of these woods the better."

"What happened?" I asked Bilbo as the group began to congregate together. I was annoyed with myself for not paying attention to what was probably the most exciting thing to happen to me to date.

"Orcs," said Bilbo, hitching his bag up over his shoulder. "Two of them. But they just skirted around the edge of the clearing and went again. Didn't seem very bright creatures, if I'm honest."

"Are any of them?" I asked. "Bright, I mean. I thought orcs were renowned for being stupid."

"Foolish; yes. Stupid; no," said Balin, who was listening nearby. "They know how to form alliances when they need them. They've rallied troops in vast quantities enough to strike fear into the hearts of men and creature alike. What they may lack in intelligence, I assure you, they make up for in number. Orcs do not make good enemies; there's a lot of them and none are intelligent enough to reason with. A deadly combination."

"So then...why are we enemies with them?" I asked. "Is there no way of...reconciliation?"

"Do you know nothing of the world?" Thorin, who had obviously been listening to our conversation, broke out suddenly. "Orcs have been slinking around in malevolence too long. They're past reconciliation or reasoning. They've chosen their path of evil, and will never steer from it."

"Surely nothing's as definite as that..." I began.

"This is," Thorin growled. Then, to everyone else; "Come! We must move on. Its nigh on time we left this dreadful place."

"Don't worry about him, lassie," said Balin when Thorin had moved away. "Thorin's got more reason then most to hate orcs. You're no doubt familiar with his battle with Azog, the pale orc."

"Yes," I said, looking wistfully at the dwarf king's retreating back. "Thorin Oakenshield was one of my childhood heroes when growing up."

Balin followed my wistful gaze to Thorin. "Is the real thing not living up to your fantasies?" he asked, with a quiet, knowing smile.

I smiled weakly back. "Something like that."

"Aye, don't be too harsh on Thorin. There's more to being a hero than swinging a sword about defeating a few enemies. In time, you'll come to realise that Thorin Oakenshield is every bit the childhood hero you always thought he was."

Balin smiled wisely once more, and went to join the others.

As we set off into the forest, still only dimly lit due to the thick trees, I found myself suddenly in charge of a large sack of tools; spoons, shovels, even a hammer or two. "Might as well make yourself useful," Bofur had said with an absurd amount of gaiety as he loaded me up with the sack. And now, I was puffing along at the back, trying extremely hard to keep up. I was remembering Thorin's warnings about slowing the group down. I didn't much like the idea of being left alone in the forest with orcs wandering around, however thrilling and exciting that notion sounded.

"Keep up!" Thorin called from the front of the group.

I gritted my teeth and hauled the sack further up my shoulder. Bilbo was only a little way in front of me, so I jogged on to walk with him.

"Perhaps I'm not cut out for adventures after all, I said, panting. "Not adventures of this sort anyway."

"Sure you are," said Bilbo, mopping his sweaty brow. "You just need some time to adjust to this way of life. I know I did."

I thought about this for a moment. Bilbo continued; "Do you know, when I first joined the dwarves on their adventure, I wanted to turn back to fetch a pocket handkerchief I'd forgotten!"

I grinned. "I expect that didn't go down too well with the great Thorin Oakenshield."

Bilbo laughed. "No it did not!" he paused. "But the point is, no one can start off a great adventurer; they're not born, they're made! Trust me, by the time we get to Erebor; you'll be just as adventurous as these dwarves!"

"Erebor?" I said, stopping in my tracks. "Your final destination is Erebor?"

Bilbo looked at me, stricken. "I shouldn't have said that!" he cried, looking about to see if any of the other dwarves had been listening. But se were still quiet away behind Bombur, who was at the back of the line of dwarves. "Promise me you won't tell anyone I told you our plans!"

I blinked. I was still thinking of what Bilbo had just told me. The dwarves were going to Erebor? But what business did they have there? Unless...

"Thorin wants to take back Erebor," I breathed. "That's his reason for this quest, isn't it? Isn't it?"

Bilbo was now looking more scared than ever. "Shhh!" he cried. "Oh curse my fool of a Tookish mouth! No one is supposed to know of Thorin's plans."

We began walking again, while my mind went through a series of emotions; triumph that I had worked out the dwarves' plans, thrill at how exciting these plans were, and fear at how dangerous they were.

"But surely it doesn't matter if I know now?" I said. "Aren't I now part of the Company anyway?"

"I don't know..." said Bilbo. "You haven't signed the paperwork..."

I laughed. But Bilbo's serious face told me he wasn't joking.

"You're kidding, right?" I said. "There's actual paperwork?"

"Well I had to sign some!" said Bilbo.

A few hours later, we stopped to rest by a stream, and I had not been collapsed on the floor by the trickling water two minutes, when Balin approached me with a fist full of papers.

"What's all this?" I asked, eyeing the many sheets with distaste.

"Paperwork," said Balin, and I had to fight not to laugh as I caught Bilbo's eye behind Balin. "Just read it through, and sign at the bottom. It's just to make everything nice and official."

He smiled cheerfully, and handed me the papers. I began to read them, struggling over the many words used to relay information regarding confidentiality, rights, damage limitations, rewards, etc. When it got to a section on risks, I was shocked to read the words 'incarceration' and 'incineration' among other such horrific fates. I looked about, startled, and noticed Fili and Kili sitting nearby. I scrambled over to them, brandishing the sheaf of paper in their faces.

"Please," I said. "Tell me. Are these risks...are they...are they likely?"

Kili peered over the knife he was sharpening, and read the paper. Fili's eyes performed an identical sweep over the list of risks. Then, their eyes met each other's, and finally back to mine.

"Well?" I said.

"Yep," said Kili.

"Very likely," said Fili.

"Likelier than likely, I'd say."

"I'd say almost definitely."

"I'd say definitely, definitely."

I stared at the pair of them, the innocence in Kili's brown eyes not quite reaching Fili's blue ones.

"Hmm," I said, not convinced. "Well perhaps I won't sign this thing then..." I wafted the papers about.

"Don't mind the lads," said Bofur, coming over and brandishing a feathery quill. "Just sign the paper before Balin has a fit. He's already jittery about you staying with us overnight without having signed anything. Here," he handed me the quill. "And sign quickly. Thorin's anxious to get away."

"We've barely sat down," I grumbled, taking the quill and making my mark. My name looked rather small and insignificant underneath 'Thorin son of Thrain' and 'Balin son of Fundin', so I drew a smiling face next to it.

"Nice," said Kili, who was scrutinising my artwork over my shoulder. "That's exactly the sort of professionalism Uncle Thorin is looking for in a member of his Company."

Shocked, I made to grab the paper back and scribbled out the drawing, but Bofur was already taking it away to Balin.

"Do you think I will get in to trouble for it?" I asked.

"Oh yes." Kili's face was very serious. Then, it broke out into a broad grin, and he clapped me on the shoulder before bounding over to join the others, who were beginning to move on. I stared after him.

"He's joking," said Fili. "Uncle Thorin won't even look at that paperwork. It's only for Balin's records."

I exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Kili's just a practically joker through and through," continued Fili. "He can never resist showing off." There was an affectionate tone to the way Fili spoke about his brother, but also a touch of something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. Was it sadness? Disapproval? I wasn't sure.

"Nothing like you, then," I said, gathering up my sack. I meant this as a joke, after all it had been Fili who had thrown a bucket of water over me that morning. But Fili looked strangely wistful at my words.

"No," he said in a strange voice. "Nothing like me."

I asked Bilbo about this curious conversation once we were trudging once more through the forest.

"Don't you think it was a bit...odd of him to say that?"

Bilbo shrugged. "Sounds a bit like sibling jealousy if you ask me," he said. "Brothers always have a bit of...well, rivalry, don't they?"

"Do they?" I shot back. "I haven't got any brothers or sisters. I wouldn't know."

"Oh, sure they do. In fact, I once knew these brothers who..." I allowed Bilbo to speak at length of the various sets of brothers he knew, and the rivalries they'd faced. His voice washed over me and, while I seemed to be listening on the outside, inside I heard none of it. I had been struck suddenly by an immense feeling of misery, and, while it would have been quite inappropriate not to mention out of character for me to do so, I could have easily sat down there and then and wept. It was a sudden feeling, a realisation almost, that I was completely alone. I had always been alone, ever since the death of my parents. Though there may always have been people in my life, there was never a bond for me with anyone. Not like with a family. Even people I considered my friends, like Anneli, were perhaps not as close to me as I had thought at the time. We certainly were not close like brothers would be. Well, sisters, obviously. I looked longingly at the back of Fili and Kili's heads, wishing I had some relationship like that in my life. I wanted to have someone I could have rivalry with, someone I could worry about and care for. I wanted someone to worry about me. No one in Rivendell had ever been worried about me. I wondered whether they would have noticed if I'd died. Probably not. They wouldn't notice that I'd gone missing at all; or if they did notice, they certainly wouldn't care.

I continued in this melancholy state of mind for the remainder of the day. We snaked through the forest, winding in and out of the trees and not, as far as I could make out, sticking to any sort of path. For all I knew, we could have been wandering around in circles. But eventually, the darkness began to lift, the thick leaves and branches began to thin, and I could tell that we were reaching the outskirts. The light that begun to protrude through the thinning trees, however, quickly evaporated, and night time seemed imminent. We broke through the edge of the forest, and out on to a grassy slope, where I was struck by the most breathtakingly beautiful landscape I had ever seen. It was like an illustration in a book, only much, much better, as I was seeing it in real life. The sun was setting down over huge, vast mountains that flanked a valley that was concealed in shadows. Either side the stone walls of the mountains climbed high into the sky. I stared at the scene in awe.

"We should camp here tonight, Thorin," Balin was saying to the dwarf king.

But Thorin seemed reluctant to do so. "We should keep moving," he said. "I don't like the idea of us being so close to that forest."

"But everyone's exhausted, Thorin. And it would do us no good to go off into the mountains in this darkness."

"I thought we were supposed to wait for Gandalf before going in to the mountains?" said Gloin. "I thought that was the plan?"

"Plans change," said Thorin, gruffly. But he turned to Balin and said; "Very well. Get a fire going then."

"Where is Gandalf?" I asked Bilbo, as we threw down our bags and sprawled out on the floor, worn-out. It had suddenly dawned on me that the great wizard was not among the Company, and hadn't been since I had trespassed upon them the previous day.

"Back in Rivendell," muttered Bilbo, struggling into another cloak. "But we had to be on our way. We had to leave."

"Why?"

"Because Thorin was anxious-

"Anxious to get away," I finished. "Yes, I gathered that by the way I caught you all sneaking off in the middle of the night. What if some of the dwarves weren't fully recovered or something?"

Bilbo ignored my last question. "But isn't that what you were doing?" he said coyly, raising an eyebrow. "Sneaking off in the middle of the night?"

"Uh, no!" I said, indignantly. "I was setting off on an adventure to discover myself! To discover my true purpose in life. A journey of enlightenments."

"Oh, that sounds painful," said Bofur, wincing as he handed over some bread and two bowls of stew to me and Bilbo. "Too much discovering for one person, I think."

I ignored him. We took our stew and sat around the fire with the other dwarves, and I was just beginning to feel relatively cheerful compared to the misery of my emotions all afternoon, when there was a howling sound that cut the air and the cheery atmosphere like a knife.

"What was that?" squeaked Ori.

"Was it a wolf?" asked Bilbo.

We all looked in the direction in which the noise had come from.

"I'll go and have a look around," I said, standing up. I had been waiting for a chance to do something daring and adventurous all day, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to do so.

"Sit down," snapped Thorin. "You've got no idea what's out there. You're as bad as my nephews."

He waved to Fili and Kili to sit down as well, for they, too, had stood up, reaching for their weapons.

"Worry not, lass," said Balin, who sat next to me on my left. "That was the cry of the She-Wolf. They'll mean no harm to us. They're not our enemies."

Thorin was still casting wary glances around at the trees. "I'm still not satisfied that they are the only creatures out tonight, though," he said.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," said Balin. "But there's plenty of us to keep watch." He smiled kindly up at Thorin, but the dwarf king did not return the gesture.

The night went on. After supper, some of the dwarves retired to their blankets for sleep, and Thorin muttered something about getting rest and wandered away from the fire too. Gloin cast a glance around, and then leant forward and murmured to the rest of us; "I think it's time we cracked out some of my homebrewed mead."

"Oh, yes," agreed the dwarves readily. "I need something to warm me up on a night like tonight!"

It was strangely cold out on that grassy slope. Despite the heat of the summer and of the forest, out there on the exposed cliff face, there was a chill in the air that my travelling cloak did not quite account for.

Gloin produced a large bottle from under his cloak, passed round several glasses and Oin, Bofur, Fili, Kili, Bilbo and myself all accepted the drink from him.

I peered at the thick liquid in my glass. It glowed amber in the firelight and, when I took a sip, I felt it burning all the way down my throat and into my stomach. All the dwarves, and even Bilbo, were glugging down their drinks all in one, so I quickly tipped the glass back to my lips and followed suit.

Phew, I thought when the glass was empty. It was certainly warming.

"Another glass, I think," said Gloin, holding out the bottle.

"Of course," said Bofur. "It's not strong stuff, is it?"

"No, no, no," said Gloin, waving away Bofur's question with vigour and filling up our glasses again. "Not in the slightest."

I was already feeling slightly light headed at the speed in which I had drunk the first glass; I had never drunken mead in my life, but thought it would be rude not to accept the second drink. The same went for the third. And, by the fourth, I didn't care.

The evening began to take on a hazy, dreamlike sort of feel. I could see and hear everything that was going on, but it was all strangely out of focus, like I was watching through ill-fitted spectacles. Bofur began telling very funny stories, or rather, they were stories, that I suddenly found very funny; roaring with laughter practically after his every word.

"Keep it down, girl," chuckled Oin. "Or you'll wake Thorin up and have him on our case."

This I found even more amusing than the story that had made me laugh in the first place.

"Oh, can you imagine," I said, grasping at Bilbo's arm with rapture. "Thorin Smokenshield coming on to our case!"

I laughed again. Bilbo shook my hand off his arm, his eyes darting about woozily.

"I think I've had enough mead for one evening," he declared, standing up unsteadily. "I'm going to floor. I mean bed. I mean, I'm going to sleep."

"Oh yes," I slurred. "Oh me too, I think."

I went to grab hold of Bilbo's arm to join him in the walk over to the other sleeping dwarves, but found that I was merely grabbing at thin air. Bilbo had already staggered away.

"No, don't go to sleep!" cried Bofur enthusiastically filling up all the glassed once more with Gloin's slowly emptying bottle. "The fun is just beginning!"

Kili began to sing; "Oh, the fun is just beginning, the fun is just beginning..."

"I really shouldn't have give you lads any of this mead," said Gloin, looking doubtfully suddenly at his bottle. "Your uncle would have my head if he found out!"

"Oooh, let's tell him!" I cried, hysterical. "Oooh, let's tell Thorin Oakenshield that Oin or Gloin or whoever you are gave his little nephews mead and then we can-

"Little nephews?" exclaimed Kili. "Who are you calling little nephews?"

But I wasn't listening, I was already striding over to where I thought Thorin was lying asleep, hugging myself with delight for no apparent reason.

But before I got there, I was tackled to the ground by something heavy.

"Ow!" I cried. "Get off me! What are you doing?"

"You were about to wander off the cliff face you idiot!" cried my attacker, their warm, mead fragranced breath flowing over my face. As I blinked rapidly, Fili's face came into focus.

"Oh gosh, really?" I said, unconcerned. "Oh how terrible..."

Fili hauled me to my feet. "I thought you said that stuff wasn't strong, Gloin," he said, dragging me back to where the others were sat. "But personally I feel like I'm swimming, and Revel just nearly killed herself."

"Hmm, yes. Well," Gloin looked contemplatively at his bottle of mead. "It's not very strong. I expect the girl's just not as used to it as we dwarves are, eh?" he chuckled. "And she's not as robust as the rest of us!"

"Excuse me," I said, piping up from Fili's knee, where I had suddenly found myself. "I am very robust thank you very much, I assure you I-

"Yeah," said Kili. "It's Thorin's little nephews who need to worry, isn't it?" The dwarf was glaring suddenly at me, his dark eyes wild.

"Hey, I don't see what your problem is!" I cried, wrenching my head away from Fili's knee with difficulty and glaring back at Kili. "I saved your life once, remember?"

"No, not really," shot back Kili. "But that's hardly surprising if I was dying and required you to 'save' my life!"

I blinked at him, feeling the mead swimming around in my brain. "That is actually an excellent point," I slurred. "And very well made, might I add..."

Kili's face broke out into one of his grins once more and clapped me and Fili on the shoulders. "Oh this is a brilliant night," he said.

"Well it may be the last one for a while," said Oin, and the atmosphere immediately quietened. "For tomorrow we go up into the mountains, and who knows what that will bring?"

There was silence for a moment, while the dwarves contemplated this fate, and I contemplated throwing up in Fili's hood.

Then, Bofur held up his glass with the last few dregs of mead in and said; "Nothing is certain but this; no mead can ever, or will ever, top that of Gloin, son of Groin's!"