Ch. 10: Overhill

Kylie was relieved to find that the company had not left her behind. Balin said that it was nothing to be concerned about. A contract was a contract. However, she could tell that Thorin was not too happy about the delay. He declared that unless there were no more objections (and here he stared pointedly at Kylie), they would be leaving the next morning. And they certainly did. Kylie was drug out of her bed before there was even any trace of sun. It was too damn early, she decided as she stumbled down the steps. It was almost as if all of the coordination she had gained throughout the course of her life had vanished.

And they didn't even have coffee here.

She felt a little better when she finally saw the landing. But that was when Kylie Turney lost her footing completely and slid the rest of the way down.

"Ow! No, stop… oh…." She was flat on the bottom of the pavilion.

"And a splendid morning to you too!"

Kylie snarled as Kili stood over her. He just smiled as she struggled to stand.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" cried Bilbo, rushing over to help her up.

"Yeah I'm fine. It's good to know someone cares," she said, sarcasm directed towards the youngest dwarf.

"I trust you will not make this a habit?" said Thorin, walking past.

"I'm working on it," she growled.

"Good. Let's move." With that, the troupe left. Kylie looked back to see Elrond staring at them. She thought she could see him waving them off, but it was difficult for her eyes to make out.

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By the end of the first day, Kylie almost regretted deciding to travel with this group of dwarves. They were all just too… similar. It was nothing like journeying with the fellowship before. Each of the different races had something to contribute to the mix, so each member was seen as valuable. The majority of the dwarves clearly saw herself and Bilbo as tag-alongs. Although she and Bilbo never managed to have a conversation, she knew he felt the way she did. She saw it in his face. Last time, it was such a comfort to have Legolas and the hobbits. While they were masculine in their own ways, they held certain standards that helped make Kylie comfortable. The dwarves had nothing such.

Still, she knew she had to manage. She'd just have to no showering and very infrequent (and often awkward) bathroom breaks. Besides, it was all for her friends. Friends who were, for the most part, either not born or only children at this time.

That was certainly weird to think about.

"Kylie!" called Kili from behind her. "Do you know of any good traveling games?"

"Umm…." It had been nearly two days without an actual conversation. The question caught her off guard. "Games?"

"We're bored," said Kili seriously.

"Bored… wait…" Kylie didn't associate 'fun' and 'energetic' with dwarves. Gimli had been amusing at certain points, but he certainly never instigated fellowship bonding time. "Exactly how old are you?" she asked, not finding a better way to articulate her shock.

"82"

"77"

"Huh?"

The brothers laughed, but Balin rode forward to elaborate. "Dwarves live longer than humans. As a result, our age of maturity is much higher than that of humans."

"In other words we're almost adults," smirked Kili.

"So in dwarf years, you're about my age?" she asked.

"Well, how about we let the lads determine that," smiled Balin innocently.

"Fili, shall you do the honors?" laughed Kili.

"I'm eighteen, by the way."

Poor Fili started counting on his fingers. It took him several minutes, and even then Kylie was pretty sure he didn't get an exact number. "Just about," he said finally. "Although Kili's a little younger."

"So I have every right to an innocent game!" insisted Kili.

"Whatever you say!" Kylie shrugged. "But I don't know of a lot of road games. The only thing I know of is the Slug-bug game. You try to find a Slug-bug, say what color it is, and then you punch the person you're playing with, but…."

"Ridiculous!" snorted Dwalin.

"How are we supposed to see a slug from on our ponies?" asked Bofur.

"We can't!" cried Kili.

"Oh yeah… um… you don't have any slug-bugs here…" started Kylie.

"Of course we do!" cried Fili. "We have slugs and many other… AH!"

Unbeknownst to the rest of the company, Kili had dismounted and searched the grounds for a 'slug-bug'. Unfortunately for his brother, he found one. "Slug-bug black!" he cried, practically throwing his Fili off the horse.

Fili, in turn, roared out a fierce dwarvish battle cry and ran towards his brother. Kili was ready for it and shuffled to the side as Fili tried to tackle him to the ground. Then Kili jumped.

"For Erebor! For Thorin!" they cried as they tried to pin each other to the ground.

The king to whom this fight was dedicated, however, did not find it amusing. He slowly dismounted and walked toward the younger dwarves. "Fili! Kili!" he called out dangerously.

But they didn't notice him. Even worse, they were rolling around in the only pit of mud that likely lay between Rivendell and the Lonely Mountain.

"Fili! Kili!" Thorin grabbed the two of them and smashed their heads together.

Kylie gasped. "Oh don't worry about that, lass," said Bofur. "We dwarves have much harder noggins. It'll just snap them out of it."

"If you are finished," Thorin shouted at his nephews. "We have until Durin's Day to reach the Lonely Mountain, and there may or may not be orcs on our trail! Do you believe we have time for distractions as such?"

Both dwarves, now covered in mud, stood up. They both looked ashamed. "I am sorry, uncle," said Fili slowly

"Me too, uncle," said Kili. "I wish to make it up to you."

Then before anybody could react, Kili embraced his uncle. The dwarves all stifled laughter (some more successfully than others). Kili was not hugging his uncle out of love or remorse. No. The young dwarf was covered head to toe in mud. Now, so was Thorin Oakenshield.

"KILI!" yelled the indignant dwarf king.

That only made the other dwarves laugh harder. Even Kylie and Bilbo were laughing now.

"I love you too uncle!" Kili called, letting go of Thorin and sprinting to his pony.

That was the day Kylie decided not to suggest games involving something that hadn't even been invented yet.

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Although Thorin blamed her for that incident, Kylie was much happier after. Somehow, it helped her fit in with the dwarves a little better. Overall, it made next few days better. Then they reached the mountains, and the entire journey became almost unbearable. It was constantly storming. Literally. Kylie was not entirely convinced that something didn't watch them go into the mountain pass and open the heavens the second they did.

"Thorin! How are we supposed to anywhere in this deluge?" cried Balin. "We must rest!"

"Not until we find shelter!" Thorin called back.

Just then, Kylie slipped and fell on the path. She thanked God every day for the shoes Elrond gave her. They were much better than the flip-flops she had before. But unfortunately they had absolutely no traction on wet rocks.

"Stay up lass!" cried Dwalin, holding onto her.

"Dori, keep an eye on Mr. Baggins! Kylie, you stay between me and Dwalin!" called Thorin. Dwalin helped the young woman to the front of the line. She hugged the cliff wall and stayed right behind Thorin.

"Thorin! Come back!" called Fili up ahead. Thorin watched as his older nephew pointed frantically at the wall before disappearing. A cave!

"Hurry, get inside!" Single-file, they all walked toward the cave.

Suddenly, the unexpected happened. They were so close when a small cry filled the valley as Bilbo slipped on the cliff. He was sliding dangerously close to the edge. Bofur dove to drag him, but the momentum nearly dragged the dwarf along as well.

"Stop! Get into the cave now!" cried Thorin as he pushed Dwalin and Kylie against the wall. They all inched closer and closer until Thorin finally grasped Bofur's foot. He inched along until he grabbed Bilbo's other hand, bringing the hobbit back to the path. The two dwarves dragged the shaken hobbit into the cave.

"Whew!" cried Bofur, patting Bilbo on the back. "We nearly lost our burglar!"

"He's been lost ever since he left home!" growled Thorin. "He never should have left his hobbit hole. That's where he belongs. And do not even consider building a fire in this cave Gloin!"

"And check the back!" added Dwalin, who was practically dragging Kylie in at this point. "Caves in the mountain are seldom safe."

"They're not?" moaned Kylie.

"Goblins have been known to inhabit the mountains," answered Gloin.

"Goblins?" she squeaked.

Thorin glared. Clearly, he was not in the mood for anything that could possibly be mistaken for weakness.

Kylie shook her head and adjested her bedroll, making sure to put her weapons where she could get to them. Then she went to sleep. Or she tried.

At first it was a perfectly normal dream. She met up with friends, both from Seattle and Middle Earth, and raced them from one end of a a luscious green valley to another. Then the sun set and the temperature dropped. Kylie stopped. She couldn't put a finger on it, but something was wrong.

Very, very wrong.

She came to a halt and turned around. All of her friends were gone, but she was not alone. She was surrounded. She couldn't exactly distinguish who these figures were; they blended perfectly in the darkness. But the way they made her feel was incredibly familiar. She felt more afraid than she had ever felt in her entire life. Except once.

Oh no….

Kylie counted the shapes as they approached. There were nine of them. They all drew their swords simultaneously.

No….

They were feet away. How had they gotten there? Now that they were so close, Kylie recognized them. The Ringwraiths. The Nazgǔl.

"No!"

She whirled around. One the Nazgǔl had a horrendous iron crown that almost wrapped around his head. The Witch-King.

"So it is in you they place so much hope," he whispered.

"No…"

Kylie struggled as he reached out, the iron hand grasping her throat. She wanted to scream. She tried, but nothing could come out. There was no oxygen reaching her lungs, and nothing returning to her voice. She thrashed, trying to loosen the ironclad grip. But nothing was working.

"Kylie," he whispered.

She choked in some oxygen.

"Wake up lass!"

She thrashed harder, trying to hit the Nazgǔl. But her arms would not move.

"Kylie!" something pleaded.

Her eyes popped open to see Bilbo, Bofur, and Thorin all above her. The two dwarves seemed to be trying to hold her down and Bilbo just stared at her in a state of panic.

"Are you trying to awake the entire mountain?" hissed Thorin.

"No! You don't know… there were… and they were… and I…."

"Lass, calm down. 'Twas just a dream," said Bofur quietly.

"Yeah… yeah…." Kylie was still far from calm. It was not just that it was a bad dream, or a dream more horrifying than any others, but it was based off of memories that she really was hoping were gone. They hadn't bothered her much after Aragorn awoke her, or after she returned home. But now…. "I just want some air."

"I wouldn't…" started Bilbo. But he was too late. Kylie stood up so fast that she ended up falling flat on whoever was lying next to her.

"Ow!" said an abnormally loud voice.

"Sorry Oin," she said groggily.

"That's enough," said Thorin. Kylie felt two hands grip her shoulders and force her into a sitting position against the tunnel wall. She was almost awake now.

"Kylie, what was so bad about your dream? I don't want to probe, but you were tossing and turning…."

"I'm fine. Really. It was just a bad dream," she said simply.

Neither Bilbo nor Bofur nor Thorin believed her, but they did not have time to disagree. There was a loud creaking in the back of the cave. The four of them, and the now wide-awake Oin, all sat wide-eyed as the back of the tunnel opened wide.

"Wake up, wake up!" cried Thorin, brandishing his sword. It shone a brilliant white. Seconds later, the tiny cavern was infested with goblins.

A/N: In case you didn't notice, I took the artistic liberty to remove the stone giant scene. It was entertaining to watch in the movie, but nothing like that happened in the book. Also, for those of you who don't know, a "slug-bug" is a VMW Bug. We played that game in the car when I was little… so yeah….