Kokonoa: A thousand years have passed...and we still do not own the Hobbit. Only Vallen. And a Dragon.

Vallen: But, I am a Dragon. And only about a year has gone by.

Kokonoa: Yes, but I mean another Dragon. A prettier Dragon. More awesome.

Vallen: Thanks...

Faela: Well, Vallen is-

Kokonoa: Actually, we kinda own more Dragons, not just Vallen and other said Dragon, because...-rambles on-

Faela: ANYWAY, we do not own any of Tolkien's and Peter Jackson's work!

Chapter 6

"Stay and keep yourself hidden as best as you can. Do NOT let them see you." Her father had instructed as distant roaring of angry Dragons could be heard from outside.

After the alarm had been sounded that the fortress was under attack, her father's first decision was that she should be brought to safety, so they had hastily departed the great hall. They barely made it to the next room before the sounds of crashing and a loud, familiar roar could be heard behind them. Her father immediately gave her the order to hide. The room they were in was rather large, so she had hastily scuttled towards the nearest corner and slipped into the shadows, her dark scales fitting in perfectly with the darkness. She sat down and wrapped her wings protectively around herself, hiding the silver gleam of her claws and horns, and trembled slightly as the sounds of furious growling and large footsteps grew steadily closer.

Her father seemed to stand up straighter and, after making sure his child was well hidden, turned towards the large doors of the room just as two Dragons burst through them and landed a mere few feet in front of the great black Dragon. They were slightly larger than her, with grey scales and bloodied talons, but were still quite a bit smaller than her father and nonetheless roared at him ferociously.

"Vikenti!" a rumble came as another Dragon stormed through the doors and built himself up in front of her father. She gasped as she recognised who it was.

Though his glowing orange eyes seemed to be almost burning with rage and his golden-brown scales had spots of fresh blood on them from recent murders, the young Dragon recognised her teacher almost immediately.

"Evaris! What is the meaning of this?" her father snarled impatiently, not seeming at all fazed by the three enemy Dragon's threatening behaviour.

Evaris gave a low growl. "You know exactly what the meaning of this is. Did you not think this day would come?! You have doomed us all!" he roared. "You are the reason we continue to be cursed. You and your abomination shall pay with your lives for all the suffering you have caused!"

The two silver Dragons charged at the black Dragon, but he merely swatted them away and then engulfed them both with a blinding flame from his mouth, and while the two temporarily blinded Dragons tried to locate him and snap at him, Vikenti raised his massive wings and then quickly slammed them down, crushing the two Dragons' skulls as if they were made of eggshells. Before the Black Dragon could turn to his remaining foe, Evaris charged at him with a furious roar and they both crashed to the ground, causing the fortress to shake beneath them.

She watched in horror as her father was pinned to the ground on his back and tried in vain to snap at Evaris. The brown dragon only hissed at him and then sunk his teeth into the King's throat, tearing off a large chunk of flesh and scales, and then flapped his large wings, pushing himself away from the larger Dragon's body. Vikenti gave a roar of pain and shot a ball of fire at Evaris, who easily flew out of its way and roared triumphantly as the loss of blood weakened the Great Black Dragon more and more and drained the life from him.

"My lady!" a voice suddenly hissed right next to the young Dragon's ear. She jumped and looked to her left to see two glowing, purple eyes looking down at her.

"Molniya!" She squeaked, recognizing her mentor. Molniya was Evaris' sister and had the same colour scales, only a few shades darker, but was slightly smaller and more feminine in shape than her brother. Not to mention she had always been much kinder. "My father—"

"There's nothing I can do for him, little one, I'm afraid he will pass away soon now. As much as I grieve his loss with you, however, we have no time to mourn." She quickly turned her head towards Evaris, who was still savouring his victory and breathing flames in triumph. Turning back to the younger Dragon, she whispered, "My brother has gone mad – you must go south and leave this kingdom! Now, child! I will make sure to distract as many of them as I can." She pushed her towards a nearby window with her great head, causing the young Dragon to almost fall on her face. "Good luck living among the prey!"

The young dragon jumped out of the window, into the cold air of the night, and barely managed to spread her wings to stop herself from falling to her death. She landed gently and quietly on the ground and looked around, struggling to calm herself. Even a human could hear the sounds of the battle nearby, of her father dyi- No. He had made her promise to survive no matter the cost, and she would. She had to. She was the only one left.

She was standing in the courtyard, and clouds were covering the moon, making the darkness a useful asset to her. The gate was nearby, and smashed to pieces, and she was about to make a dash for it, when she noticed two dark-grey Dragons standing guard in the shadows.

She silently bounded over to the shadows by the gate, and was contemplating how to slip through it, when she heard Evaris bellowing from the window she had come from. She then spotted Molniya jumping out and gliding gracefully towards the other end of the courtyard, several guards following closely behind her. The two grey guards who had been standing by the gate quickly dashed after her, and she immediately took the chance and ran soundlessly through the gate and on until she reached the edge of the nearby cliff. She heard Evaris roaring once more, but this one served to simply make himself be heard. She turned around and spotted him hovering over the fortress, facing the cliff, his glowing, orange eyes sticking out from his dark silhouette.

"You cannot escape me, little bird," he shouted into the forest. "I will find you."

"M-miss Vallen. Hey, wake up!"

Vallen gasped, immediately grasping the hand that had touched her shoulder, and then heard a slight whimper. She opened her eyes to see a pair of innocent, and slightly bewildered, brown eyes looking down at her. It was Bilbo Baggins, and she was currently crushing his hand in her grip. She quickly released him and sat up, trying to calm the terrified shivers that threatened to rack her body.

"Forgive me, Master Baggins," She apologised, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She could still hear Evaris' voice echoing in her mind. "I...I was having a nightmare."

Bilbo rubbed his wrist and nodded. "I figured you were. You were tossing and turning and seemed not to be breathing, so I thought it best to wake you. It must have been quite a dream!"

"Yes, it was." She sighed, and breathed deeply, letting the morning air calm her down. "Though it was no different than all the others I've had over the years."

"Is there no way to be rid of these nightmares?" Bilbo asked, trying to be helpful. She found his concern genuinely adorable, although she knew he couldn't help her.

"There is, and that's exactly why Gandalf asked me to join in this quest." Vallen explained. "The Dwarves are seeking to regain their kingdom and I'm coming along to exact revenge on the Dragon. I believe he killed my father." She didn't know if Smaug really was the Dragon who had killed her father, but her gut feeling, and the evidence Gandalf had relayed to her, had made her believe that it was indeed Evaris who had destroyed Dale and was now living in the Lonely Mountain.

"You...you want to kill the Dragon. A Dragon?" Bilbo asked bewildered. "Dragons are...they're Dragons! They can't be killed by one warrior, not even if all of us tried together, we could not take down this Dragon!"

Vallen smiled humorlessly at him, somewhat flattered by his awed description of her race. "Bilbo Baggins, there are many things you do not know about me." She stood up and looked up at the sky. It was still very early – the sky was just beginning to brighten. "And again, thank you for waking me."

"...Of course. My pleasure."

As the little Hobbit walked away, Vallen studied the woods around her. They had camped in a meadow surrounded by a small forest that was practically teeming with deer, and since the company seemed to be running low on meat, she decided on going hunting. Not to mention that hunting always helped to soothe Vallen whenever she had a nightmare.

Fortunately, there was a set of fresh deer tracks right at the edge of the camp, meaning there had been deer there that night. And Vallen knew that whoever had been on watch while the deer were there, was either asleep when he shouldn't be, or was simply too lazy to get up and do the company a huge favour. Vallen had often wondered if Dwarves ever actually hunted – she never actually witnessed the hunting part, only the cooking part. As she gathered her bow and quiver, she imagined what it would be like if the company ran entirely out of food and didn't go hunting. They would, no doubt, all be skinny eventually.

Vallen paused, amused by the thought. Skinny Dwarves. She couldn't even imagine such a rarity.

"Psst! Vallen!" She immediately wiped the smile from her face and turned towards the sound of the whisper to see Kili and Fili trying to quietly hurry towards her, with bow and quiver slung over their shoulders. Kili might as well have shouted her name, for everyone in the camp stirred, and Gloin tried throwing his bag at Kili, groaning, but missed. "Are you going hunting?"

"Well, yes. Hence the bow and quiver filled with arrows." She noticed a bright sparkling in Kili's eyes and gestured to the woods. "Would you like to come with me? There's a group of deer sure to be nearby."

Kili beamed with excitement as Fili simply said, "Sure, we'd love to come along. We'll get to see which one of you handles the bow better."

By the time they had entered the forest, a soft morning mist had surrounded them. Nonetheless, as they followed the trail, the scent of deer grew stronger, and she knew they were nearby. The two Dwarves were surprisingly light on their feet, not nearly as silent as Vallen was, but still, she found it impressive. Dwarves and hunting. This would make for an interesting experience.

They soon came to a clearing, and, closely scanning the area, she spotted them at the far end of the clearing. Three rather large deer stood behind two trees, craning their necks to reach the leaves. She signalled to Fili and Kili and they nodded, readying their bows. She regretted not having told the Dwarves which deer they should shoot, for once they had released their arrows, Vallen and Kili had shot the same deer, and Fili had accidentally hit the tree nearest the other two. They immediately dashed away. Swiftly, Vallen notched and released another arrow, piercing the larger remaining doe's neck. She dropped to the ground just as two more arrows flew past her head, one hitting a tree. Vallen sighed.

"Fili, we're here to hunt deer, not to slay trees." She said, making her way to the two kills they had made.

"I-it was Kili."

"What?!"

She examined the first deer and noticed that Kili had hit his mark right next to hers, and she raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Not bad, Kili. " When she pointed out the reason for her praising him, Kili's face immediately brightened with such pride, that Vallen couldn't help a small smile forming on her lips as well. She turned to Fili and pointed at the arrow that had been planted in the tree right next to her, and he scowled.

"I'm much better with the sword and axe!" He protested, and Vallen chuckled.

"Of course you are. Now help me get these two back to camp..." her smile dropped as she saw the surviving doe run towards them behind him. The way it was running, she was sure it was being chased. "Fili, move!"

"What?" Before he could turn around to look, the doe leaped high, but not high enough, and one of her hoofs hit the back of his head, knocking him down. She flew over Vallen and the dead deer and dashed away as soon as she landed.

"Bear!" Kili shouted and Vallen was about to take out her bow, when Kili added, "No, take care of Fili! I'll take care of the bear!" He nocked an arrow and released it, hitting the large black bear right between the eyes. Vallen hurried over to Fili, who had been lying on the ground, and knelt next to him.

"Fili? Fili!" She shook him slightly, but he gave no reaction, other than a small moan. She could still hear his heart beating, but the back of his head was bleeding slightly. He had been knocked unconscious. She looked up just as Kili released another arrow and the bear dropped to the ground, twitching, and then moved no more.

"Kili, take Fili, we need to take him back to camp immediately," Vallen commanded. "He's unconscious and bleeding. He'll live, but it would be best if he got help as soon as possible."

After making sure the bear would not move again, Kili ran over to her and slung Fili's arm over his shoulder, standing up and carrying Fili with him.

"Can you carry him?" she asked, and when he nodded, she hurried over to the nearest doe and bent down to pick her up, hoisting the creature over her shoulder. She silently cursed when she realised she couldn't carry the other deer at the same time without looking unnaturally strong, and then hurried after Kili as fast as she could without arousing suspicion.

"Your brother seems to be very unfortunate when it comes to hunting." Vallen observed.

"He doesn't usually end up with concussions, if that's what you mean." Kili said, adjusting his brother's weight on his shoulders. "But he hasn't gone hunting very often either. Neither have I, now that I think about it. Uncle Thorin used to take us hunting when we were children." He suddenly grew serious and frowned. "He will not be happy about this."

"Hmph." Vallen scowled. "Let me deal with Thorin. None of this was your fault. Not even I expected a bear to show up here. Or that a deer feared a bear more than our group. I also did not expect the deer to be this clumsy."

"Still. Thorin will most likely try to blame either me, or you. You, I think. He doesn't seem to like you very much."

Vallen shrugged. "Neither am I very fond of him, but I will do my best to make sure you two won't be blamed. It was my plan to go hunting alone in the first place. Don't you worry about it."

The walk back to camp was, fortunately, short. They reached the outskirts within a quarter of an hour. As soon as they entered the clearing, Vallen removed the deer from her shoulders and turned to Kili.

"Rouse Oin and bring him to Fili," she instructed. Then, with a slight grimace, she added, "I'll wake Thorin."

Vallen made her way across the camp to where Thorin lay sleeping. She hesitated, taking note of the tense lines in his face. He was dreaming, and it did not appear to be the pleasant kind.

She kicked him lightly in the leg, cautious of the possibility that he might attack her if he woke up too quickly. Most warriors did when they were disturbed too abruptly. He did not react, except to frown even more. Vallen kicked a little harder. Still no response. With an exasperated sigh and no small amount of trepidation, Vallen reached down and grasped Thorin by the shoulders, and then she gave him a firm shake.

"Thorin, wake up!" she hissed in his ear.

Within an instant, Vallen found herself seized by the throat and flipped onto her back. Thorin's massive hand wrapped around her neck and held it tightly. Out of instinct, Vallen retrieved one of her daggers from inside her knee-high boots and held it at the ready. It was more for show than anything else. Not having it out would make her look defenceless and weak, despite the fact that she could easily break him in half if she wanted to without the weapon.

"What are you doing, woman?" Thorin rumbled in his deep voice. Vallen narrowed her eyes at the title. They had been travelling together for about a couple days now, and she had yet to hear Thorin call her anything other than "woman". It made her want to pummel him.

"I have a name, Oakenshield," she growled at him.

He ignored her. "I believe I asked you a question."

"And I believe you are crushing me."

"You disturbed me."

"You're still crushing me."

They glared at each other, neither willing to submit to the other. They stayed in that position, with Thorin on top of Vallen, for what seemed like an eternity, each attempting to stare the other down. They didn't even move.

Vallen generally would have begun to feel impatient about now, but part of her was enjoying this little wrestle for dominance. There was something about their little banters that made the Dragon inside stir and grin. It was... fun.

"Uncle? Vallen?"

Kili's voice floated over to where Thorin and Vallen lay. Before they had a chance to react, Kili rounded the boulder that separated them and stepped into view. Vallen felt her face and neck grow hot as she anticipated what was about to happen. There was no time to move now.

"Vallen did you wake Unc-" Kili stopped dead in his tracks and stared open-mouthed at the two of them on the ground. "Oh! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"You're not interrupting anything Kili," Thorin spoke calmly, as if he was used to explaining these sorts of situations all the time. "She was just about to explain why she woke me up this early."

"He attacked me," Vallen offered as evidence.

"Oh. It's Fili," Kili explained. "He's been hurt."

At those last three words, Thorin immediately got to his feet, pulling Vallen along with him by the arm. As soon as they were standing, Vallen shook off his grip and moved out of his reach. Thorin ignored her and moved to Kili.

"Where is he?" he demanded.

"I left him with Oin. He's taking care of him."

Thorin nodded. His face was a stone mask, but Vallen could tell that he was worried. Suddenly, he made a gesture to the both of them, signalling for them to follow, and he strode off around the boulder. Vallen and Kili followed suit.

Fili had apparently woken up while Vallen had been away, as he was now sitting up with his back against a tree and his head in his hand, while Oin was examining the bump on the back of Fili's head. Fili looked up when he heard the three of them approaching. He locked gazes with Vallen, smiling sheepishly, as though embarrassed. Vallen smiled back, vaguely relieved that he did not blame her for his accident. Then he noticed Thorin coming, and his smile faded and was replaced with plain embarrassment.

"What happened?" Thorin demanded as soon as he came close enough. Oin did not seem the least bit perturbed by Thorin's brusqueness, as if he were used to it.

"The lad's took a nasty bump to the head," he replied. "He'll have a bad welt on his head for a while, but the lad should be fine."

Thorin nodded. "Thank you, Oin."

"Aye, aye. It was no problem," Oin smiled good-naturedly. "I'd better see if I can wake up the others. The sun is up already."

Thorin was silent while Oin hobbled away, his arms crossed as he scowled. As soon as Oin was out of earshot, Fili and Kili both bombarded Thorin with a flurry of explanations. Thorin held up his hand, halting the both of them.

"One at a time. How did you hit your head, Fili?" he asked, his voice somewhat strained. Fili's eyes darted to Vallen for a split second before they returned to Thorin. He swallowed, as if nervous.

"Kili and I were out hunting for deer. One of them had started at something nearby and leapt over me," he added a rather convincingly sheepish smile. "The deer's back hooves clipped my head as it went over. Oin told me that Kili carried me back."

To be fair, the half-truth was fairly executed, in Vallen's opinion. The delivery needed improvement, but, all in all, it was very good. Being a master of speaking misleading truths, Vallen could spot one a mile away.

She found it odd, however, that Fili felt the need to make sure that her name was not mentioned. They were not friends, exactly. Yes, they were both a part of the Company, and, as such, they had to be on friendly terms in order to work together. The closest Vallen could come to an explanation was that he was trying to keep her out of trouble with Thorin. But for what purpose?

"And how is she involved in this?" Thorin asked, referring to Vallen.

"She is standing right here. I helped carry one of the does back, and I woke you up," Vallen responded testily, careful to follow Fili's example of limiting her involvement. She would ask him about it later. "The animal is over by the tree-line, and there's another one out in the forest."

"And what were you doing there to begin with?" There was a sharpness to his voice that made Vallen want to raise her eyebrows at.

Fili opened his mouth to speak, but Vallen was faster and spoke before he could. "I woke up early. When I saw the tracks near the camp, I decided to follow them. Apparently, so had those two as well."

The half-truth came as easily to her lips as recalling a favourite food would be to another person. Lying was never an option for Vallen. It went against every moral that Vallen was raised by when it came to lying. Lies, according to her father and her mentors, are a weak, last resort for lesser minds. But holding back was not lying.

Thorin nodded a little absent-mindedly. Fili and Kili both visibly relaxed at, what appeared to be, Thorin's acceptance of their explanation. But Vallen was not so easily fooled. He knew that they weren't giving him the full story. Vallen could see it in his face. However, at that moment, Thorin apparently decided not to act on it.

"Kili, go rouse Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur. Tell Bombur that he has the venison that he's been wanting," Thorin ordered softly. "Fili, if you are able, go with your brother and help them harvest the deer. You both should learn how to skin a deer. It's a valuable skill."

Fili got to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily, and followed Kili to the other end of the camp where Bofur, Bifur, and Bombur were sleeping. Vallen tarried there with Thorin for a few silent moments, watching as the stone mask settled over his features again, and then she turned to leave.

"Do not take advantage of my nephews, sell-sword." The command startled Vallen a little, as she had not been expecting Thorin to speak again, least of all to her. But the surprise of the sudden command faded quickly and was replaced with a budding irritation at being ordered unnecessarily. And at being called a 'sell-sword'.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Fili and Kili are young and have little knowledge of the way the world works," he said, turning to face her. "They are used to defending our people's women from embarrassment or chastisement. It is customary for us to do so, and no Dwarf would dare take advantage of that. But you are not a Dwarf."

Vallen felt her eyebrows raise high into her forehead. She cleared her throat. "Just what are you implying exactly? How would I take advantage of them? I did nothing worth being defended from."

Thorin did not respond, staring pointedly at Vallen instead. She frowned at him for a long moment as she was trying to figure out what he was trying to tell her. Vallen thought over his words and there potential meanings before she finally understood. And when she did, she burst out laughing.

"Oh, this is beautiful!" Vallen managed to choke out in-between laughs. Apparently Thorin did not seem to share her amusement, as he simply glowered at her with his arms crossed.

"What is it that you find so amusing, woman?" he growled. At his tone, Vallen's laughter doubled and she found herself bending over, she was laughing so hard.

"Oi! What's happenin' over there?! Is someone dyin' over there?" came Bofur's heavily accented voice from across the camp.

"No, everything is fine! You need not concern yourself," Thorin called back. Striding over to Vallen, he seized her by the arm and pulled her upright, growling in her ear. "Calm yourself, foolish woman. I fail to see what is so funny."

"You think I'm interested in them," Vallen chortled, feeling her laughter beginning to slowly subside. "You think I was with them this morning, don't you?"

"Am I wrong?" he challenged.

She smirked. "Very wrong."

Thorin released her arm and stepped back, eyeing her suspiciously before he reluctantly nodded. "Good."

"Why is that 'good'?" Vallen asked, imitating Thorin's voice and crossed arms. She raised an eyebrow and smirked at him saucily. "Careful now. I'm close to believing that you were jealous."

He snorted, giving Vallen a 'you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me' look. Vallen did not believe for one moment that Thorin Oakenshield had been jealous, but that did not stop her from grinning at him as if she didn't believe him. It was an opportunity too good to miss.

"I say good, because I have seen many women who have attempted to play with their affections," he explained. "My nephews are very young. I do not wish them to be taken advantage of."

Vallen stood quietly, arms crossed, considering what he had said. A part of her stung a little bit from his almost-declaration of his distrust for her. He was right to distrust her. Vallen would have done the same. If a mysterious stranger with an uncaring and dangerous persona showed up and caught the attention of her closest living relatives, Vallen would be just as concerned as Thorin. She could not fault him for wanting to protect his family.

"I take it that you don't trust me," she stated matter-of-factly. "To be perfectly honest, I don't blame you. But you can trust that I won't do anything to harm your nephews. Intentionally, at least. I promise you that."

Thorin's head cocked ever so slightly to the side and eyed her curiously, as if he were trying to solve a puzzle. His ice blue burned into her with the intensity of one determined to uncover a great mystery. The look made Vallen feel a little uneasy, but she refused to look away. To do so would be to admit to weakness. What weakness, Vallen did not know, but she could tell that he was looking for one in her.

"This is the second oath you have made to me in two days," he said finally. "Do they mean so little to you?"

Vallen frowned, shaking her head sharply. "Quite the opposite, I assure you. Where I come from, a promise is always kept. To not keep a promise is an unpardonable sin."

Thorin did not speak. He was likely chewing over her words, but Vallen couldn't tell. There was something about his countenance that made it almost impossible to read him. She would have better luck interpreting the emotions of a granite statue than Thorin. Unlike the night before, where she believed to have caught a glimpse of his soul, almost nothing leaked past the stone mask that he wore now.

Vallen would be lying if she said that the mystery of what lay underneath the mask did not interest her. If there was one remnant of her old personality that remained with Vallen still, it would be her insatiable curiosity when confronted with a puzzle, coupled with an unending well of persistence. The combination had gotten Vallen into trouble more times than she'd care to admit, but it never stopped her before and it wouldn't stop her now.

Thorin turned to the side, as if he was about to stride away but had paused before he took a step. The barest traces of a frown decorated his brow.

"All the same, be sure you do not break this promise," he said, meeting her eyes with a chilling gaze. "I do not forgive or forget easily, woman."

Vallen snorted. "If you continue calling me that, I might seduce both of your nephews anyway, just to annoy you." She smirked at him, a hint of mischief in her cat-like eyes.

"No, you won't." And, with that, Thorin strode away, around the boulder, and out of sight.

She chuckled softly as soon as he was out of sight. He was right. One half of her was amused that he detected her sarcasm at all, while the other half was concerned that he was reading her better than she was him. Vallen shrugged off her worry. It took years for him to begin to understand her. What chance did Thorin have?

Pushing aside the dark thought for later, Vallen made her way over to where Bombur was teaching Fili and Kili how to skin a deer. Apparently Ori had been invited to join the lesson, but he had turned a shade of green and was trying not to watch. Off in the distance, Vallen could hear, who she believed to be, Dwalin hauling the other deer back to the camp.

A small, ragged breath, too low for anyone else to hear, came from Ori. Fili and Kili were so engrossed in learning the new skill that they didn't pay any attention to poor Ori, who was trying so hard not to be sick. Bombur had noticed, but he appeared torn between speaking up about it, or just ignoring him. From the small amount of time Vallen had travelled with them, she had quickly learned that Bombur spoke only when spoken to.

She walked towards Ori and grabbed his arm right as she passed him, forcing him off the ground dragging him a few feet away from Bombur, Fili, and Kili. "What—"

"Walk with me, Ori." She said kindly, pulling him back on his feet. "I believe you've had enough deer skinning lessons for today. There'll be plenty of chances to learn more during our quest."

The young Dwarf seemed about to object, but then his shoulders slumped in defeat. "A-alright." Behind him, Bombur caught Vallen's eye, and gave a quick nod of thanks. Vallen nodded in return and lead Ori to the edge of the camp.

"Was this your first time watching the process of skinning an animal?" Vallen asked when they had gotten past hearing distance from the other Dwarves.

Ori shook his head. "No, it might be the third or fourth. But I never get used to it. The first time I watched, I passed out." He lowered his head with his fists clenched. "It was embarrassing, and Dori is still scolding me for it to this day."

Vallen wasn't quite sure why he confided such a personal experience to her, but nonetheless she felt sorry for the little Dwarf. Though she had gone through much worse at his age, she had learned enough about the other races to know that some were gentler than others and the young ones had a certain limit to vulgar sights before it would corrupt their minds.

"Dori most likely would not share my opinion," Vallen said, making it her goal to cheer the young Dwarf up. "But I don't think it matters that you can't skin an animal like anyone else, or that you don't have the heart to slay one for no reason other than to survive. Your strengths lie elsewhere. Your writing, for example. I have learnt much from books, what has happened where, which people had been involved, and I got to know people without ever having met them."

She smiled as she recalled the years she had mostly spent reading in the tiny cottage before Gandalf had paid her an unexpected visit. "And I am convinced that you are the only one in this rabble with the skill to record this dangerous quest we are on into your journal, and you will survive to make sure the whole world knows how the Dwarves of Erebor reclaimed their mountain." She looked into Ori's face and saw that it had resumed its normal colour and there was a determined sparkling in his eyes. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you, Miss Vallen!" A smile crossed his face. "You're right, I think. Even if I'll never be able to skin a deer without turning green or passing out, it's not that important. Dori and the others might be really disappointed, but it won't be the end of the world. Besides, we've got a Dragon to kill, and that's much more important!"

"I...yes. Exactly!" She still did not have the heart to tell him it would be impossible to kill the Dragon even if all the Dwarves tried together, but as long as this thought kept the young Dwarf going, it wouldn't matter until they arrived at the mountain. She looked back towards the camp and noticed that Fili, Kili, and Bombur had long finished and all the others were packing up and preparing to move on. "Well, I think it's high time we continued on our journey, don't you think?"

Ori looked towards the camp as well and his eyes widened as he realised that he would be late if he didn't begin packing soon. "Oh, yes, you're right!" He was about to dash away, but quickly turned around and bowed quickly and clumsily to Vallen. "Thank you, again, Miss Vallen!" He beamed at her and then joined Dori and Nori in collecting their things. Vallen sighed. She could never quite resist the urge to help the troubled, but the closer they came to the mountain, the more stress she would experience herself. And she was not sure that she was ready to face that kind of darkness again.

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry we took so long on this chapter! It's been pretty hectic lately for the two of us lately. Schoolwork and writer's block haven't been very kind to us this month. We're considering going on a mini-hiatus until things calm down and we can think properly.

Anyways. Thanks you guys so much for your reviews! They make us very happy and inspire us to write. We really appreciate it.

Next up (spoilers) will be the little adventure with the trolls. It might be a while before we have the next chapter up. However, in the meantime, leave a review and tell us what sorts of stuff you would like to see happen in the battle with the trolls. We look forward to hearing your suggestions!

And, as always, press that little button down there and leave us some reviews. Please?