A/N: Here is chapter 7. Lately, I've been reading some other Kili/OC fics and I feel mine is lacking something, if you read more than one and could offer some advice, it would be much appreciated. I would love to progress in my writing and some lovely feedback has already been given to me, which I feel helped a lot. Also, this chapter is a bit more filler, there should be some action in the next one though! As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter and please, I would absolutely love some criticism

UPDATE 8/23/14: Chapter 7 is reviewed and edited

Chapter 7;

The morning after, Thorin had taken up the sunlight's job and awoken the company. Kira groggily looked up, the world in front of her still blurry as her eyes hadn't completely adjusted. She looked up to see most of the rest of the company hopping up, as they had done many times on previous mornings. She stretched when she heard a yell, "Hurry up, breakfast has started."

Biting her tongue, she didn't allow the groan to escape her lips. It wasn't the best impression and she wasn't sure that Thorin was entirely convinced on her being here, though he had allowed her to join the company. She stood up and walked over to the fire they had made to grab her meal for the day. It appeared to be more bacon and eggs; seems as though many things would be repetitive.

She took her own portion before sitting down. Thorin began to speak as everyone had settled down, "I haven't said anything about this yet, but should danger fall upon us, and it will, we all fight for each other. I will have no man running off on his or her own; we stay until each one of us are accounted for. Is that understood?"

The company nodded and Thorin continued, "Good, now mount your horses. Since Bofur thinks we won't get to the Lonely Mountain fast enough, we will be going a bit faster today."

Kira had to remember to shut her mouth once more; she knew how awful it was to keep at a gallop, or even a fast trot for long periods of time. By the looks of the other's, it seemed as though they weren't too pleased by the thought either, particularly Bofur. Even so, she walked over to Rhedwr Tân and quickly hoisted herself upon the horse. Not a moment after, the long line of horses had begun trotting and she found herself at the back once more.

As they went on, she thought, 'Ever since last night and hearing about the orcs, I've felt less protected than ever, I really should be more alert today. It's finally sinking in just how dangerous this mission is. That nightmare was terrible too; the orc story buried more in my mind than I wished it had. I don't think I've slept so badly in a long time. Nonetheless, it has forced me to face the reality of the situation. A reality all too grim. The more I think about it, the more I realized why most of the dwarves are cheery. It is to lighten their own moods, to keep their minds off of what may happen.' She looked upward to see three dwarves laughing as a squirrel fell from a tree. She added, as an afterthought, 'Or perhaps some lack intelligence to think that far ahead.'

She then heard someone call, "How'd you sleep princess?"

Turning her head, she looked back to see Kili with a toothy grin. She huffed good naturedly before responding, "Oh, not too grand, but I'm fine beardless."

She watched as he felt his chin subconsciously. She giggled rather loudly and smiled before he said, "I choose to have it shaved."

Kira took a moment to turn back and look at him, before raising an eyebrow and skeptically saying, "Oh I'm sure you choose, just the same way I choose for my hair to be brown or I choose to be only 5' as a human woman. You'll have to face the facts. After all, a beard is typically a male dwarfs' pride and joy, is it not?"

He looked a bit disheartened by the comment and Fili put a hand on his arm. She realized, as dread settled in her stomach, she might've crossed a line and figured that adding the pride and joy part was uncalled for. They were just beginning to be friends and she had said gone to mess it up. She offered, "Then again look at me; I am rather small for a human. My friends call me dwarf on occasion, midget was another nickname."

Kili rode further forward, at a faster pace and she realized she flinched as she realized her wording of dwarf, another blow to all of their egos. Fili said, "He'll be fine, he just gets temperamental is all."

A sigh escaped her lips, and her shoulders fell as she added, "I suppose, but either way. That was rather harsh; it didn't mean to come out like that." She paused to refocus her thoughts. She forced the guilt to subside and then asked, "And how did you sleep?"

He smiled as they continued trotting in line. He responded, "Better than I thought I would for it being early in the trip. I suppose being around all of my old friends and uncle has helped me quite a bit."

She nodded, understanding how family and friends could help one. She asked, "How did you get to know all of them if I may ask?"

Fili looked at her, curiously, and commented, "Sure, a bit of storytelling wouldn't hurt. Thorin had been around some when I was younger. Being my uncle; he made time to see me. I met most of the rest as I went about my usual life; I actually hadn't known Bombur or Bifur beforehand. One interesting meeting though was Oin. The first thing he did when Thorin had introduced him was he tried to stab me. He took out his iron short sword and tried slicing open my stomach. He refused to give up as I backed off; I remember that I had been backing up so much that I nearly fell over my own feet. Finally when I parried his block, he put his own sword back in its sheath and smiled widely at me. He insisted I put my sword away and shook my hand. I remember him saying, 'Good lad, good reflexes.' It was the strangest thing I'd encountered to that date and I had just barely turned 25 at the time."

Kira, once again, laughed. She commented, "It seems very strange, especially to look at him that way and then compare it to the conversation I've had. Out of curiosity, is that normal?"

The blonde dwarf allowed a chuckle to escape his own lips before saying, "No, rather the opposite. Dwarves, as you may have seen, introduce themselves with an 'at your service' in a formal environment. If informal, a simple hello will do."

The archer said, "Oh, well, I feel stupid for asking all of these questions, sorry."

He returned, "Not a worry, better to ask then assume. When you ask, at least it shows you are striving against ignorance."

After a nod, she said, "You seem awfully wise for your age, are you sure you are only 39?"

Another laugh came out, before responding, "I'm quite positive. The others tend to hang it over me that I am the youngest. Believe me."

She smiled and they continued on in a comfortable silence, Kira allowing her fears to relax away, if for just a little while.

It had hardly been three hours since they set out when the first drop of rain fell. It began lightly drizzling, and it was even better than before. In the heat of the summer, it had been getting just a bit hot and this was a nice cool down. At least she thought so. Then, the rain began to pour down harder, making the journey less then pleasant, but tolerable. Finally, the precipitation began coming in torrents and the ground below them had slickened with mud. Everything and everyone was soaked to the skin. By the looks of it, everyone had grown miserable in the small amount of time.

Looking onward, Kira saw that Bilbo was the only one without a hood or hat of some sort to at least protect his head. She thought, 'Poor thing, looks rather sad with his hair glued to his head like that. His feet must be freezing as well.'

Once the rain had come, they had been completely silent. No one wanted to talk in that moment. It was almost as if talking would make it worse and keeping quiet would allow the rain to lighten up. And yet, it let even more disappointment sink into them.

As the downpour continued, they had come up on a forest past the hills and Kira hoped that it would bring them some protection. When they entered though, the rain kept going hard as ever. The trees would take some of it, but then let fall very large droplets intermittently. No one was sure which was worse. Finally, someone spoke up. Based on the voice, it was either Dori or Oin. She listened as he said, "Here, Mister Gandalf. Why don't you do something about this deluge?"

Gandalf replied, "It is raining Master dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard."

A sigh escaped the girl's mouth, as of now; this rain didn't look like it intended to stop ever. Surely it had to end sometime though, it had come from the east going west and they came from the west going east. Sometime, it would end, but that sometime wasn't right now. Mr. Baggins voice then came up, "Are there any?"

Gandalf boomed, "What?"

"Other wizards," Mr. Baggins explained.

"There are five of us," Gandalf reasoned. "The greatest of our order is Sauroman the White. Then there are the Blues, well I've quite forgotten their names."

"And who is the fifth?"

"That would be Radagast the Brown."

"Is he a good wizard or is he more like you?"

Kira held down a laugh, that was bold of Bilbo to say. She, on the other hand, didn't want to seem outwardly rude to Gandalf and kept her mouth shut. She looked to her side to see Fili holding in laughter as well. Both their eyes sparkled in amusement. It had taken her mind off of the rain. Gandalf continued, "I think he is a very great wizard… in his own way. He is a gentle soul, prefers the company of animals to others. Keeps a watchful eye over the vast forestlands to the east. And a good thing too, always evil will look to find a foothold in this world."

Bilbo made a grunt, seemingly satisfied with the answer and Gandalf said, "Yet enough of wizards, I believe it is near time for our midday meal. Thorin?"

Thorin nodded, but said, "We must find some shelter first if we ever expect to get a fire going. Fili, Kili, look for shelter."

As the two brothers took off at a gallop to scout, Kira was left in the back once more. She sighed loudly and tugged her hood tighter over her head as the rain was coming in the direction of her face. Bofur, who was now closest to her, tried lighting up his pipe obviously to no avail. She questioned, "Why even try to light it? It's pouring rain, it's impossible for a fire to spark up now out of all times."

He turned backwards with a smile and she decided to trot alongside him. He said light heartedly, "You never know what will happen Miss Kira. I've seen stranger things than a fire in rain. It's always good to hope as well."

He tried lighting it once more and it actually sparked, long enough for him to get his pipe going. He then laughed and said, "As I said, you never know what will happen. According to you, I've just done the impossible."

She nodded, smiling as he took a heavy drag, before blowing out a bit of smoke. She added, "You men seem awfully fond of your pipes."

Bofur looked down at it a moment, "I admit, I've become rather attached to it. Gives you a content feeling though lass, sometimes helps sort things out."

She merely nodded; getting caught up in what she thought it would be like to smoke a pipe. She has heard that it puts you in a different sort of mind, gives you a new perspective on situations. It blurs things to an extent as well, sort of like alcohol, but less of an effect. It was then that she heard the pounding of hooves in their direction and turned to see Fili and Kili talking to Thorin. 'Well that was awfully quick,' she thought.

Thorin said, "Just ahead, there is a small rock enclosure. It'll do to get things cooking, but we can't stay long."

The group headed up and there was enough room for all of them as well as the horses. Kira dismounted before walking over to the center and she saw Nori trying to make a fire. She offered, "Need some help?"

He responded, "That would be lovely."

She took up a stick in her freezing hands and tried vigorously twirling it against another one. With enough of rubbing and her hands warming up rather rapidly, a spark came off and lit up the branch. They had to scuttle quickly to find dry tinder, but there were a few sticks and leaves underneath the rock. Looking at the fire, Kira felt proud she had made it or at the very least helped. She then remembered her mistake earlier. She headed over to the two youngest dwarves and tentatively started, "Kili. Listen, I'm sorry about what I said, I didn't mean it like that. I just find it odd that you don't have a beard and it seemed unusual, I mean you don't look like the type who can't grow one. You are a dwarf after all, and I hadn't ever seen one without a beard before and I suppose I'll just stop talking now." She slowed down a bit, as his glare on her hadn't changed a bit from the moment she opened her mouth.

He gazed at her, his stone cold face showing no remorse. And the guilt came up once more, his eyes growing colder and colder until it all broke. His eyes squinted as he laughed, changing to a joyful countenance, before saying, "It's fine. I didn't think too much of it after a bit, I don't mind being shown what's true. Just forget about it. So are you going to eat with us princess?"

She smiled widely, relief washing out the old guilt, "Only if you'll allow me beardless, or do you prefer midget?"

He looked at her and said, "Beardless will do just fine, and I'm rather tall for a dwarf at any rate."

Fili added, "And what am I, average?"

Kira responded, "Oh, terribly so."

The two dwarves and one human headed to the fire to get their food as they chuckled. They then returned to their previous position and Kili asked, "So we've told you a story or two about us, you have anything interesting up your sleeve?"

While taking a small bite of rabbit, she thought. Then something simple came to mind, "Nothing great, just a few hunting mishaps. You two would obviously know how it is having a brother; they tend to be the slightest bit troublesome. One time, my brother and I had split up in the woods and I thought that I saw a deer. I tried creeping up on it and got within range, it had moved a bit, but nothing noticeable. I got out my bow and let an arrow fly when my brother, formerly known as the stag, stood up and the arrow grazed ribs as it flew past. It wounded him lightly and I apologized profusely, but our father put some salve on it and it healed. From that day on, my brother wore green instead of brown when we went hunting."

The two laughed and she joined in, feeling at ease. The rain was even letting up a little and she noticed that the others were eating quickly. Evidently, they didn't have much time until departing. She also noticed that the dwarves had at least learned to keep their mouths closed when chewing, something she was grateful for.

Besides a few side comments, not much talk went on before they were on the road again. The rain had lightened considerably to the point where it was drizzling. Everyone was still wet and cold, but it was better than before. Kira half-heartedly said, "I wonder if we'll ever meet danger."

Fili responded, "Don't worry, it will come. Just be content for now that we are safe."

Kili added, "As safe as one can be with a group of rowdy dwarves anyway."

The three smiled as they went forward, keeping to the path. Kira tried to keep her mind off of danger, little did she know, they would be meeting it all too soon.