Wow. Another Chapter already? This is awesome. I feel like JJ Abrams giving you guys a new Star Trek movie, anyways, here we go.
Everyone was awake bright and early the next morning. Balin sat in a chair and looked at the contract in his hand. Ava stretched and yawned before coming up to Balin. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and said, "Leave it. You never know." Balin smiled and nodded. He stood and placed the contract on the chair. Ava then found a small parchment and left a note with the contract.
Soon enough, everyone was on a horse and riding away. Well, Ava wasn't. She was actually walking between the Princes, laughing at their stories of their childhood in the Blue Mountains.
"How much you willing to bet he won't show up?" Nori asked.
"I'll take that bet." Kili countered. "He'll show up."
"No, he won't, Kili." Fili said.
"He will." Ava said.
"How do you know?" The blond prince asked.
"If he reads my note, he'll come." She smirked.
"Are you willing to bet anything on that, lass?" Bofur asked.
After thinking briefly, she smiled. "If he doesn't come, you can braid my hair."
That made some heads spin. Especially Bofur's. "You sure about that, lass. I'm not the best-looking Dwarf of this company."
"Don't say that. You look good." She smiled. "But if that's how you feel, then you have to give me a moon-lit dance if he does show up." Ava said with confidence. She then continued walking along side the Princes with a more confident stride.
Bilbo woke up to a silent, empty house. No one was there. He walked around, searching for any sign of someone still being there. He found none. At first, he was happy. He finally had his hole to himself. But saw the contract on one of his chairs. And next to it was a small note.
"You Only Live Once"
That made him think. Was he really living?
Ava had decided to introduce a friend to the Princes. She lifted her wrist and whispered, "Time to wake up." A light flashed and a small, white fox appeared in front of her. It yipped and jumped into her arms. It then started licking her face. "Polaris! Stop it!" She laughed.
"Who is that?" Fili asked.
"Polaris. My familiar. He's very affectionate." She tried to explain as the fox kept licking her face. She finally put him down and made him walk beside her.
Some of the Dwarves were complaining about even coming to the Shire. most of the complaints were from Dori and Gloin. But everyone stopped when they heard "WAIT!"
Ava smiled when she saw Bilbo catching up to them.
"I signed it." He said with a grin. He passed Ava to give the contract to Balin.
"Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to company of Thorin Oakenshield." Everyone cheered for the Hobbit. Except for Thorin.
"Give him a pony." He stated.
That made Bilbo tense up. "No, no, no. That won't be necessary." Ava continued her stride and passed Bilbo with a smile, Polaris following close behind. "Thank you. I can keep up on foot. I've done my fair share of walking holidays. Even as far as Frogmorton once." The Princes came up behind the Hobbit and lifted him up to put him on one of the ponies.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Ava said as she walked alongside Myrtle, Bilbo's new pony, with her fox trotting alongside her feet. "But I don't believe Frogmorton is nearly as far as our destination." As if to agree, Myrtle bobbed her head and neighed. This caused Gandalf to chuckle.
The Dwarves who made bets started to pay. This caused Bilbo to ask, "What's that about?"
"Well, they took wagers on whether or not you'd show up. Most of them bet you wouldn't." Gandalf answered.
"And what did you think?" Bilbo asked.
Gandalf then reached up and caught a pouch of coins with a smile. "My dear fellow, I never doubted you for second." This gave Bilbo some confidence.
Turning to Ava, he asked the same question. With a smirk, she answered, "If I doubted you, I wouldn't have left the note."
Bilbo then sneezed. "This horse hair. I'm having a reaction." He searched his pockets, but to no avail. "No, wait, wait, stop." Everyone stopped for the Hobbit. "We have to turn around."
"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked.
"I forgot my handkerchief." He answered.
"Here." Bofur called. He tore a piece of his coat off and threw it at the Hobbit. "Use this."
Bilbo caught it with slight disgust, causing some of the company to laugh. "Move on." Thorin called from the front.
Ava raised her hand to Bilbo, motioning him to hand over the cloth. He did so and watched as she made a snow ball in her other hand. She made the snow melt and merged it with the cloth. It was as if the cloth was being washed on it's own. Once it looked to be clean the water vanished, leaving only a clean, dry cloth. Ava handed it back and continued her walk. Bilbo smiled as he wiped his nose with the cloth, happy that it was clean. Gandalf only sighed and began to explain to the Hobbit, "You'll have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins, before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire. But home is now behind you. The world is ahead.
When they stopped for the night, Ava helped to set up the fire. It wasn't her gift, but that didn't mean she couldn't get the wood needed for it. Once she gathered the wood, she turned to the forest where she got it from and bowed. Bilbo noticed this and turned to Gandalf. "What is she doing?"
"She's thanking the forest for letting her gather firewood." He explained. "Starlytes have a sixth sense of the world, knowing life resides in all things. She merely thanked the forest for giving her permission to use the wood for the fire. And it is only respectful to thank those who give you something."
Ava saw Bofur helping her brother prepare the stew. When the only thing left to do was wait for the stew to heat up, she made her move. "You owe me a dance."
The Dwarf turned to Ava and smiled. "Indeed I do." He stood and walked with her to small clearing before the cliff. She held her arms out and smiled, waiting for him. Bofur smirked and wrapped his left arm around her waist and took her left hand in his right. Dwalin saw this and pulled out his viola to play a slow tune. The moon shined brightly that evening, and it made Ava's hair sparkle. She smiled brightly and pulled herself closer to Bofur, letting her head rest on his shoulder. But she quickly pulled from him and she seemed to glide across the ground. Her hair flowed like water. It was then that her eyes opened, glowing bright blue. A dark-blue symbol grew on her face, in the middle of her forehead and along the bridge of her nose. As she spun, she let her voice rise from her throat. The stars seemed to grow brighter. And when she stopped, the stars dimmed back to normal. The mark on her face faded and eyes returned to normal. The Dwarves were in awe. Just staring at her. But Polaris ran up and jumped in front of her, wanting to be picked up. She picked up her fox and walked back Bofur. With a smirk, she said, How was that for a moon-lit dance?" She set Polaris down and went to sit at the cliff's edge.
Gandalf chuckled, causing the Dwarves to turn to him, wanting an explanation. "What she just demonstrated was her true identity. What you normally see with her is her mask. But apparently, she trusts you lot enough to take it off." He then leaned back against the tree to finish smoking his pipe.
After a while, some of the Dwarves were asleep. And the noise they were making wasn't helping Bilbo sleep. He decided to go to the horses, having something for Myrtle. Ava saw him giving his pony an apple. It made her smile to see them getting along, and in doing so, stroked Polaris as he slept next to her. But a screech cut through air, causing Ava to turn back. It was definitely something not wanted to be close to. She heard the teasing from the Princes, and it was not something she liked. She then heard somber foot steps coming toward her and saw Thorin moving to stand next to her. She couldn't help but ask, "What was Micah like?"
At first, he was silent. Believing she offended him, somehow, she decided to leave it be. "She was beautiful." Thorin suddenly said. Ava turned back to him to listen. "I wanted to marry her."
"Did you ask her?" She asked.
Thorin chuckled. "I did." He nodded. "And she said she would. She made me feel as if I could conquer any mountain in the world." He then frowned. "But she died locking the slug within Erebor. And the Elven king only stood by to watch."
Ava had tear brimming in her eyes. She choked as she said, "I'm sorry."
"Hopefully, when we conquer Erebor, I can restore to it's former glory for her. Give her a proper burial."
The Starlyte looked sad. It was horrible to lose someone like this. So, she then said, "Starlytes only love once. We give our hearts to the one most important. The fact that she wanted to marry you definitely proved her heart was yours. We don't love easily. But when we do, it's fierce."
The words seemed to comfort him. "What happens when your one love dies?" He asked.
"We become hollow. Our heart will die and we become very easily manipulated. We then eventually die. But our deaths are different. We turn to ash. The ashes spread. And where they land, it becomes full and fat with life. Through our deaths, life is born."
He turned around and saw the company standing to look at him. He looked at Ava and gave her a hand to stand up. Once on her feet, she walked toward Gandalf to stand next to him. She didn't listen to what everyone else was talking about. She just stared into the darkness past the cliff edge. She knew for a fact that they were being watched.