HEY PEOPLE! So very excited about his chapter, but I'm not sure if you all will like it, so please let me know if you do!
Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't really own any of this. Except, of course, Glenn and Tille and Adriana.
Enjoy!
The sky was cloudy when I woke up this morning. It was super strange. I was the first one up. I mean, that never happens to me. It was so quiet. Birds hadn't started yet, but it was getting lighter. Everywhere was covered in dew, making the grass feel cold on my bare feet. The air was crisp and refreshing. It worked a lot better than my usual pot of coffee.
"You alright lass?" I heard a voice ask from behind me. I turned around in surprise to see Bofur looking up from his bedroll by Bombur's feet. I noticed that he did not have his awesome hat on. I guess that makes sense.
"Yeah! I just woke up early." I smiled back at him. Bofur nodded in understanding before getting up stiffly and rolling up the thick clothe that served as his bed. I looked away again to stare out over the woods below us. This journey so far had been very peaceful.
Soon, the others began awakening. Tille, swung down, very chipper, from the tree she had nestled in that night. And, in the general busyness of the morning, Adriana walked into camp, a bundle of sticks in her arms. Enough to get a fire and breakfast started. Which we did. I'll tell you, those dwarves know how to cook! I managed to help a bit too. I figured I'd at least try to pull my own weight a little bit.
Fili wasn't talking to me. Well, it's not like he was shunning me or anything, he just got really stiff and awkward whenever I would talk to him so I just kind of dropped the conversation. My singing wasn't that bad, was it? Anyway, it was just a generally awkward atmosphere, so I rode on Gandalf's horse this time. The wizard was fine with that, though the rest of the dwarves kept watching Fili and I a bit more closely after that. Seriously, what is with these guys? Don't they have anything better to do? And, after a couple minutes of riding, I was given my answer. Yes, they did have something better to do. They could try (and fail) to not get soaking wet. It had begun raining almost as soon as we set off. It was miserable. Mostly for Bilbo. He didn't have a cloak. Neither did I for that matter, but Gandalf ended up shielding most of the rain for me.
"Here, Mr. Gandalf?" Dori called back from behind us. "Can't you do something about this deluge?"
"It is raining master dwarf." Gandalf replied. "And it will continue to rain until the rain is done." I chuckled at this. "If you wish to change the weather of the world, then I suggest you find yourself another wizard."
"Are there any?" Bilbo asked abruptly. Gandalf grunted slightly to the effect of I'm sorry, I have buckets of water falling past my and into my ears at dangerous and somewhat alarming speeds. What did you say? It got the point across. "Other wizards." Bilbo clarified. This time, Gandalf did hear the hobbit.
"There are five of us." The wizard explained. "The greatest of our order is Saruman, the white. Then there are the two blue wizards… you know, I've quite forgotten their names…"
"Aren't there only like… five of you?" I asked him, chuckling.
"And who's the fifth?" Bilbo asked, trying to keep the wizard focused.
"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown." Gandalf announced.
"Let me guess, he wears all brown?" I asked sarcastically. Gandalf ignored me.
"Is he a great wizard?" Bilbo asked. "Or is he… more like you?"
"Burnnnnn." I whispered to myself. Gandalf huffed slightly before replying.
"I think he's a very great wizard!" He considered this for a second, before adding. "…In his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others."
"Seems nice enough." I commented, trying to keep the conversation going. The silence from before was unbearable. My schemes however, didn't pan out, and we fell into quiet once more. The only sound to be heard was the sound of hooves and rainfall. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one who hated the silence. Because, presently, Tille and Kili had begun singing a duet. It went something along the lines of:
Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe.
Rain may fall and wind may blow,
And many miles be still to go,
But under a tall tree I will lie,
And let the clouds go sailing by.
And it was actually quite pleasant and very encouraging, considering the circumstances. And after they finished, they began again. This time, more of the dwarves joined in. And by the end, the entire company, save a select grumpy few who will remain anonymous *cough cough Thorin Adriana cough cough*, was singing the little song. This continued much longer than the quality of the song deemed worthy, but it was fun. And soon enough, we were camping for the night.
But Fili was still avoiding me. He was happy enough when we first got off the ponies that evening. And so, I, viewing it as an opportunity, tried talking to him with a light-handed comment. He, of course, stopped smiling immediately and got all stiff and insufferable. It was getting seriously annoying. So, when he was sent to go get firewood, I counted to ten and followed him.
"Who's there?" The golden haired dwarf asked warily looking behind him quickly.
"Just me!" I smiled briefly, peaking out from behind a tree.
"Glenn." His face fell and he turned away to collect more firewood. "You should go back to the camp where it's safe." I too frowned.
"I'll be fine. We aren't too far away from the others." I shrugged walking over to him.
"Still…" He started, continuing to face the other way.
"Still nothing." I snapped, my patience running out. Fili looked at me in surprise. "What's up with you?"
"What?" he asked in confusion.
"What's your deal?" I asked again. "I thought we were getting along pretty well! And now you won't even talk to me! Is my singing really that bad?"
"No, it's not that." Fili denied quickly.
"Then what?" I demanded. "What is it? Why are you avoiding me so much?"
"I don't know!" The dwarf snapped. Now it was my turn to stare at him in surprise. "I don't know why I'm acting like this! I don't want to! But every time I look at you, I just…"
"You just what?" I asked cautiously. Was he getting romantic or something? I felt my face flush just the tiniest bit.
"I just can't help but wonder what kind of maniac would get someone so young pregnant!" He blurted out at last.
"What?" Not what I was expecting.
"I'm sorry. You probably don't want to talk about it." Fili apologized quickly. "I just wonder how you can be so trusting after such an ordeal-"
"Wait, wait, wait…" I stopped him, motioning with my hands for him to slow down. "You think someone… forced themselves on me or something?" I asked for clarification. Fili just kind of stared at me for a while. "What on earth would make you think that?"
"Well, you don't have a courting braid like you would for the dwarves, or a ring as humans or elves would have…" He explained. Oh. "You don't have… anything. Except for that black dress."
"I'm starting to see how you connected those dots now." I nodded.
"How I what?" Fili asked in confusion.
"Connected the dots… you know what, never mind." I sighed. "What I mean is, I understand why you would think that." Why does pop culture have so many references in its language? "But, you're mistaken."
"You eloped?" Fili guessed, quite confused now.
"What? No!" I pinched the bridge of my nose, sighing. "I guess it wouldn't make any sense." Fili just watched me. Waiting for me to explain.
"Okay…" I took a deep breath. "There is no father."
No reaction.
"…You took that rather well." I commented, still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"I'm confused." He sighed. "What your saying doesn't make any sense."
"Remember when we first met?" I asked. "I mean, duh, yeah, that was like three days ago. Anyway, remember when I said weirder things had happened to me then not being wet after almost drowning? Well, this is one of them." I stated, gesturing to my bloated belly. Fili looked down at it for a while before looking back up at me.
"That's impossible." He stated plainly.
"I know it's impossible!" I groaned. "But that's what happened! See, this is why I don't tell people! They never believe me!"
"You can hardly blame them." Fili scoffed slightly, picking up more branches.
"You know what, forget it." I gave up. "Can you just stop acting weird around me? And return to talking to me like a normal person?"
"I guess." Fili agreed reluctantly.
"Not very reassuring." I rolled my eyes. He chuckled and stood up straight, looking at me.
"I don't think I'd ever be able to treat you like a normal person." He laughed. "But I can stop avoiding you." I blushed a bit again.
"Does that mean you believe me?" I asked a little timidly.
"Not really." He admitted. "It is impossible."
"Says the dwarf who's traveling with a wizard and a tiny man who lives in a hill on a quest to go kill a dragon." I raised an eyebrow. Fili shrugged. I sighed. "You know what, just forget it. We should head back before you bring back enough wood for a bonfire." I said nodding to the pile of sticks that had been steadily growing in his arms.
"Fair enough." He laughed. I smiled back. There's the Fili I know.
"Can I help you carry those back?" I offered.
"I can handle it." Fili shook his head. I took off the top couple branches anyway and began walking off. "Glenn?" He called after me.
"What?" I sighed, turning to look at him.
"The camp is that way." He said, pointing in the opposite direction.
"Right." I bit my lip and started walking in the right direction.
"Do you really get lost that easily?" Fili chuckled, following behind me.
"You're never going to let me forget this are you?" I sighed.
"Probably not." He admitted.
"Can you return to shunning me again?" I fake pleaded.
"But, this is much more fun." He grinned.
"Ugh, why did I even bother?" I laughed.
When we got back to camp, I was extremely aware of the many pairs of eyes watching us covertly. Or trying to be, at any rate.
"So, are you guys done being angry at each other?" Tille asked innocently as she bounced over to us.
"We were never angry at each other." I laughed. Tille gave me a yeah, you can say that but I totally don't believe you look. "We weren't! We weren't, right Fili?" I said, looking to the blonde dwarf for back up. He just shrugged. Very helpful. Tille looked back at me triumphantly. "Why are you smiling at me like that?" I asked warily. Tille just chuckled and walked off. I can see it now. Name: Glenn Shepherd. Age: 19 years old. Cause of death: extreme paranoia. And Tille definitely wasn't helping. But, the dinner was served and I forgot about it temporarily. Though I did see some moneybags being passed around in a very low-key manner. But I wasn't about to ask why. I was too busy eating all the supper while listening to Bilbo grumbling about the lack of meals.
"Bilbo… we get three meals a day." I pointed out before taking a big bite of a delicious roll.
"I know!" Bilbo exclaimed. "I don't know how you can manage."
"You're only supposed to have three meals a day. Well… big ones anyway, snacking is constant." I added.
"Maybe where you're from." Bilbo sighed. "But in Hobbiton, we would have breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, brunch, lunch, teatime, dinner and supper." I stared at the hobbit for a minute before looking down at my simple meal.
"I would love to be a hobbit." I said at last.
"You'd be a pretty good one too!" Kili interrupted from by the fire. "You've got the right, height and appetite, you even walk barefoot! And you look fat enough." He grinned cheekily. I through an apple core at his head, which he dodged easily, letting it fly straight into Dwalin's shoulder. The tough warrior turned his head in my direction as I squeaked a little and pointed at Bilbo quickly. Dwalin just glared at me and turned back to his dinner. Fili roared with laughter. Gee, what a great friend.
Yay! They're talking to each other again! That took awhile... not.
Anyway, please tell me what you think! I reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally want to know!
