Ho boy. Got a fun new chapter for you guys. c:

Also, important announcement at the end, but it can wait.

Onward!

The Loudest Silence

Chapter Ten

The Prancing Pony was fairly quiet that night – I mean, if you ignored the neighboring rooms full of snoring Dwarves. The darkness was broken by moonlight through a scuffed window, which I was glad for. Laying on my side, facing away from the other room's occupant, I counted the specks on the dirty panes in a sad attempt to lull myself to sleep. I was absolutely exhausted, and yet.

I suddenly regretted reading all those smut fics that featured Thorin and wood that was not his Oakenshield.

Just… count the specks, Jenna. Count. For the love of all that is Tolkien, empty your mind, go to sleep, I told myself over and over. It was like having a sexual dream about a coworker and then having to see them the next day, while acting like your mind hadn't conjured images of their nether regions. That is to say... it was awkward.

It had been easy during the day not to think on it, while I was surrounded by activity and other people. Lying awake with only my guilt was a bit different, especially when the source of said guilt was annoyed that I wasn't snoozing yet. After the first fifteen minutes of window-staring, he promptly told me to go to sleep. I forgot how observant this ray of sunshine was, but I guessed that was sort of required to survive around here, particularly for someone like him.

Nearly an hour had gone by when Thorin cleared his throat with obvious meaning, causing me to huff and flop over onto my stomach, shoving my face into the pillow. Didn't this guy ever sleep?! Wasn't he the one who said we had to leave early? Why wasn't he concerned about getting some rest? Holy ravioli, his paranoia knew no bounds.

I thought back to when Gandalf left the room, after I stared at the door in apprehension so long that it was probably considered rude. When I faced Thorin again, he'd told me exactly the last thing I wanted to hear.

"We have been on the road not even a week, and already you've managed to bring about trouble. If you believed I would let you out of my sight after this evening, then you are poorly mistaken, Miss Hollander."

So yeah, there was that now.

On one hand, I thought he was placing an unreasonable amount of suspicion on me. On the other hand, however, I tried to observe it from his perspective.

Thorin didn't know me. I was a stranger to him. He didn't know why his family's map was on my shoulder. He was informed by a wizard that I was from another world, picked out by celestial beings to go with him to help reclaim his homeland. I couldn't fight. I wasn't strong. I had no survival skills or magic powers. Better still, I had no voice. It was like the Valar just handed him a potato and said, "Here you go, this is your divine intervention."

God, no wonder he was annoyed.

As silently as possible, I peered over at Thorin from my smothered position on the pillow after a few minutes passed. His big fur lined coat had long been taken off, draped over the back of the little chair I vacated earlier, and he was sitting at the head of his bed. With his back leaning against the wall, he had his leg propped up and an arm resting on that knee. The way he was staring at the door, I thought it might catch on fire. He looked simultaneously frustrated and a bit… what was that? Contemplative? Worried?

Thorin slowly closed his eyes in a scowl and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his angular nose. For a moment, I thought he'd caught me still awake and was about to tell me to go to sleep again, but no such thing happened. I realized he was just stressed as hell, and suddenly felt bad for keeping him up with my own ridiculous guilt. People read smut. It's what they do. Get over it and be an adult, or prepare for the most awkward road trip ever, I scolded myself.

Thorin was suspicious of me, though he was also just a generally cautious person too. He didn't want anything jeopardizing the quest, and already I had nearly caused a brawl in the street. (Technically all I did was hide behind the Dwarves, but still.) I was sure that all he saw in me was a bundle of trouble and questions, but if I was going to change anything at the end of this, I needed to show him that I could be trusted.

For some insane reason – out of all the Hobbit fans on Earth – I was the one picked to come here. Yavanna made it pretty clear what I was meant to do, and dammit, I was going to help Thorin and his nephews no matter what it took.

Starting by going to sleep so this Dwarf could take a chill pill.

As per my luck, I was going to have an awkward road trip regardless of what I did or didn't read.

I was woken by a heavy 'THUD', dragging me from whatever weird dreams I was having. With a frown, I blearily pulled my face out of the pillow and looked about for the source, but realized it came from another room when muffled laughter followed. Sounded like someone fell or something, and I knew it must have been time to get up already.

Still mostly asleep, I noticed Thorin was no longer in the room with me and neither were his weapons or his coat, though the ink and papers were still on the table. I didn't think anything of it as I got out of bed and reached for my bra which, yes, I had discreetly taken off the night before. Being indoors after two days of camping and sleeping with it on, and knowing there was only more to come? Of course I was taking advantage of one night of comfort. Like hell if I was sleeping in that thing just because a male was around, and I had blankets, so it hardly mattered.

Like I've mentioned, I was not a morning person. That was mostly since A.) I enjoyed my sleep, as normal people tend to and B.) my brain did not fully work until at least 10:00. The sky outside the window was still grey, barely showing any sunlight yet, so I was a bit of a zombie.

This being said, I only take half the blame for what happened.

My borderline unconscious mind thought there was no point in dragging out the weird partition thing, because it was only going to take two seconds to put my bra back on. So, I tiredly slipped off my shirt and laid it on the bed for a single moment, preparing to put the undergarment on, when the door opened.

I immediately crossed my arms over my chest and froze in place, suddenly very much awake. There was, of course, no way for me to give a warning of my indecency without a voice.

Thorin wasn't even looking my way when he came in. He was walking towards the table to get the writing utensils, evidently under the impression I was still asleep, while saying, "Miss Hollander, if you wish for any sort of breakfast, I suggest you get – "

He only made it three steps into the room before coming to an abrupt halt, noticing that I was not, in fact, asleep anymore.

Warrior and King he may have been, but he was still a guy, and I had never been so glad to have a distracting tattoo covering my arm. It was largely distracting for him in particular, which was even better. The map pulled Thorin's attention away from the obvious, giving him just enough time to recover himself and quickly avert his eyes to the floor. Meanwhile, my face burned with the heat of a thousand suns.

"Breakfast has already begun and we will be leaving Bree directly after," he restated in sudden exasperation (like I was the one who walked in on him), already turning to exit. Still keeping his gaze pointed downward, he tacked on a last minute, "My apologies," and made his leave, swiftly closing the door behind him.

Honestly, the whole thing took less than 30 seconds.

My mouth was still slightly ajar, and I stared down at my shirt lying on the bed. It mocked me.

It had only been four days. Four days into a seven month long trip and already…

I shoved my face into my hands.

Oh sweet baby Jesus.

At this rate, getting eaten by a Warg was starting to look like a pretty attractive option.

I eventually found out the thud had been Bombur falling out of bed at the mention of breakfast. Bofur cracked up while telling us all about it over our quick meal in the dining area, using the same table we had the night prior. I was still trying to process my embarrassment, so it really didn't help when Bofur pointed out that my face was the shade of a tomato and began asking why. My answer was just to shake my head wildly, staring at my food, and get him to stop the questions before the others overheard and became curious too. He caught on – thank all that is holy – and instead went for the angle of taking my mind off of whatever it was.

By the time we were out the door and I fastened my gear onto Stormy, my mood had lifted significantly. The combination of Bofur's antics and having an adorable pony to greet me – not to mention my sturdy new boots, along with a full tummy – was enough to put me back on track. The sun was barely peeking up, so this was a great turn of disposition for me, considering.

I was scratching at Stormy's ears while waiting for the Company to finish their last minute things, casually surveying who was doing what. It was also partially to keep a lookout for Thorin, who I decided I would just… avoid for the remainder of the quest. Or, y'know, for the rest of my life. Not the most realistic expectation, but my denial was comforting at the time.

I finally noticed Thorin speaking to Fili and Kili about something, their faces serious. I normally just would've thought yeah, okay, so they're talking, and moved on… but then Kili nodded at something and glanced my way out of the corner of his eye. Obviously he didn't count on me already having them in my sight, and quickly shifted his attention back to Thorin in a way that said, 'oops, shouldn't have done that'. What the frickle…?

"Good morning, Miss Hollander," said a familiar voice, breaking my concentration on the royals.

I turned to greet Bilbo when he walked over to me with his pony. I gave a smile and continued my previous petting of Stormy, while he gingerly patted his own jittery steed. Despite having spent half a week with them, the Hobbit was clearly still unsure of the animals and I snorted at his hesitation without meaning to.

"What's so funny?" Bilbo asked, seeming almost offended.

I just shook my head and rolled my eyes before holding out my hand for his pony to smell. She gave a few whiffs before snorting harshly, probably upset that I didn't have a treat for her, but allowed me to pet her nose a decent amount before moving her head away with a bob. Bilbo watched this for a moment, stroking her neck.

I lifted my eyebrows at Bilbo with a tilt of my head, as if to ask, 'Okay?'

He nodded back to whatever message he saw in my face, saying, "Hobbits hardly ever use ponies for riding – mostly just for pulling carts and such. Even then, it's typically a mule and not a pony. We prefer to keep our feet safe on the ground, so my experience with them is very limited, you understand."

Nodding, I formed an 'oh' with my mouth. I supposed this made sense. Honestly, I would probably be the same way if I hadn't been that kid who overstayed her welcome in petting zoos and watched animal documentaries nonstop.

"This is likely to be the longest consecutive amount of time I'll have ever spent with one," Bilbo said, staring at his pony with a thoughtful gaze. There was a pause, and then he added, "I've decided to call her Myrtle. It suits her, I think. Did you name yours as well?"

I nodded, mouthing, 'Stormy.'

He just kind of looked at me for a second, utterly confused, asking for clarification, "Stroppy? Er… no, then? Normy?"

A sigh escaped me as my head shook a bit and I looked away, massaging my temple. He picked up on the obvious 'nevermind', thank goodness, and gave me an apologetic smile. This muteness was getting real old, real fast.

Hardly a moment went by before I realized the others were hopping onto their ponies, preparing to leave, and I quickly did the same. Bilbo once again mounted with all the finesse of a wounded turtle, but he really was getting better, so I gave him a thumbs up, receiving a look of skepticism in return.

"Sooner or later I will have that down," he murmured, readjusting on the saddle.

I snickered and trotted up beside him as we set off, leaving behind the Prancing Pony. The Hobbit and I were near the back of the party, and I briefly wondered why Thorin hadn't made me ride closer to the front, what with the "not letting me out of his sight" thing. After this morning though, it was very possible he decided to chuck that plan out the window. This was fine by me, quite frankly.

While I thought on this, my peripheral caught an odd movement from Bilbo. I glanced over to see an incredible frown on his face as he leaned forward to look around me, squinting at something far away. When I turned to investigate the street, whatever it was must have vanished, because all I saw were people milling about the shops and stalls. I looked back to the Hobbit with a clear question.

Bilbo flicked his eyes to me, then back to the spot, before dragging them to me again slowly. "It's nothing, Miss Hollander. That is… I don't believe it was anything to worry about," he said.

I was unconvinced, and let it show.

His attention was fully on me by that point, and his brows had gradually let up a bit when he answered, "I'm sorry. I just thought I saw – well, it's early, and I only caught a glimpse, but it appeared to be one of the fellows from last night, beside that vegetable cart."

Fellows from last…?

Shit. Upon understanding who he meant, I whipped my head back to scan the area again. They hadn't been there a moment ago when I checked, so I don't know why I thought they might have been the second time. The idea of those creeps watching us for any reason whatsoever just made my skin crawl, but I didn't see any sign of Jean or Gavin.

"I do believe it was nothing, Miss Hollander. I wouldn't fret over it – as I was saying, it is early and my eyes aren't quite functioning as they should be yet," Bilbo tried to reassure me, realizing the distress he'd caused, though he clearly didn't believe his own words. "It was likely just my imagination playing tricks."

I just eyed him critically for a few seconds as we left the gates of Bree, knowing full-well that this dude had great eyesight. Yeah sure, okay. You didn't see anything and my name is Peter Jackson.

"What seems to be the matter up here?" a sudden voice to my left asked. I was startled to see Fili riding right next to me, having joined us while I was distracted by my worry. Where did he even come from?

"Yes, what happened?" Kili asked me, coming up beside Bilbo. "You looked a bit spooked."

I turned to the Hobbit for him to answer, and he took a breath before saying, "As I already assured Miss Hollander, I don't think it's anything to fuss over. I simply saw – well, thought I saw – one of those Men from last night, just now. The ones they told you about over dinner."

Bilbo's tone shifted slightly when he glanced my way, as if checking to see that I was buying it.

"It was definitely not either one of them though. Hair was all wrong," he finished. "Nope. It was just my imagination."

"Even if it weren't your imagination, she has nothing to be afraid of with us around," Fili declared when my doubtful expression hadn't let up. "We were taught by the best."

Kili said as well, "There's no chance of anyone getting past us, so you're perfectly safe."

It was meant to be comforting and for the most part it worked, but all I could think was, Yes, absolutely nobody is getting past your guard. Especially not, oh I don't know, a giant troll carrying some ponies?

Since it hadn't exactly happened yet though, this wasn't very fair to them. I wound up forcing myself to take a deep breath, visibly relaxing my body so they wouldn't get a complex, and at the same time showing that I trusted them. If I gave trust, hopefully I would get trust in return.

"See? She can tell that we know what we're doing," Kili commented to his brother. I fought back an eye roll, and wound up blinking a few times to cover it.

"It's just a precaution," Fili said carefully, looking to me. "We thought maybe you would feel more comfortable with us around, especially after the ordeal last night. While on the road, at least?"

Kili said with pride, "We'll be like your own personal guard. And we make excellent conversation, if I do say so myself."

The whole thing was weirding me out, honestly, so I just nodded slowly in my confusion.

Bilbo then joked, "I don't suppose that offer extends to me as well?"

There was a long pause. Apparently Kili did not pick up on the joking part, and whisper-yelled over to Fili, "Did… did he say anything about Mister Boggins?"

Fili shrugged, looking equally unsure.

"It's Baggins, and we can both hear what you're saying, you know," Bilbo interrupted. "And who is 'he'?"

That's when the light bulb came on, and I scowled. Of course.

I suddenly knew why Thorin hadn't bothered to keep an eye on me.

Bilbo apparently came to the same conclusion, seeing my huff of indignation. "Oh… Is this about the… M. A. P.?" he spelled out, like it was a big conspiracy.

Now it was my turn to stare at him, dumbfounded, gesturing to my ear and throwing my hand out in a, 'What were you hoping to accomplish?' move.

"Well, pardon me. I thought it was supposed to be hush-hush," the Hobbit said in response.

Fili sighed with a smirk, informing us, "Yes… it is more or less about the map; and yes, it needs to stay confidential, but I don't think the grass is going to tell anybody." He gave a vague sweep of his arm to outline the fact that we were riding through a gigantic field.

"You do have a point there," Bilbo mumbled to himself while gazing around awkwardly.

Fili turned to me with an apologetic look, while I continued to give a weak glare. He said earnestly, "We're sorry if it's upset you. Please don't misunderstand – it's not that we think you're up to something, it's just that Thorin can be a little…"

"Cautious?" Kili threw in.

"Exactly," agreed Fili, pointing at his brother momentarily. "Cautious. He means well, though, I swear."

I gave a doubtful glance to the blonde. Cautious was one way of putting it, that's for sure.

Kili said reassuringly, "We'd likely be over here regardless, Miss Jenna. For someone who can't speak, you are quite fun to talk to, and you're one of the strangest people I've ever met – in a good way, of course!"

Attempting to frown at him failed when he gave me those damn puppy dog eyes. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay mad at these dorks and heaved a sigh, rolling my eyes with the smallest of smiles. They took that as a good sign, their mood lifting almost instantly.

While we stopped for a brief lunch later on, I separated from the princes, and Bofur asked how I was holding up, joined by Bifur and Bombur. I shrugged my shoulders and wobbled my hand a bit, giving a smile, since my only real problem was the soreness. (Which was actually getting a little more bearable, thank God.) I was only a few pony-lengths away from them at any given time, but it was still nice to know they were interested in my wellbeing.

Bifur patted the spot next to him and I happily plopped down as we ate. He jabbered something and made a squishing motion with his palms together, confusing the daylights out of me.

Whatever it was made Bofur laugh a bit and he said, "Give the poor lass a little more credit than that."

I quirked my brows in question, glancing back and forth between them. Bofur realized I had stopped eating, noticing my expression, and chuckled with slight guilt.

"Bifur's just surprised ye haven't been squashed by your pony yet, the way you attract trouble," he explained. "Don't take no offense – he's quite right."

My consternation was plain as day when he laughed again, and I looked over to Bifur. As soon as I had him in my sights, and he knew that I knew what he'd said, there was suddenly a very interesting leaf that needed picking up. He set it on his shoulder while he spaced out, and I deadpanned. That little shit.

"He's gotten bad about doing that," Bofur muttered with amusement, staring at his cousin.

I just shook my head and watched Bifur add another leaf to his shoulder pile as I continued to eat.

Bombur was, for some reason, always under the impression that I needed larger portions than what I was consuming. Dwarf portions were impossible for me. Contrary to what my pudge would say, my actual stomach never did hold very much at once, which resulted in me having to fight not to get a massive helping thrown at me. I mean, at least I knew the Brothers Ur would never let me starve if they could help it. This was a plus.

During the break, I also managed to evade all eye contact with Thorin whatsoever. The small achievement left me feeling both relieved and just the slightest bit pathetic, though, so any internal celebration was short-lived. I knew he wouldn't let me shy away for the whole journey, because obviously, I had plenty more questions to answer. Whether Thorin was allowing me space because he assumed I would be embarrassed about that morning, or because he himself was uncomfortable about not having knocked, I had no clue. Either way, the temporary gap in questioning glares was appreciated. Maybe I should just flash people when I wanted them to stay away from now on.

Fili and Kili joined me again once we were back on the road, ever the faithful watchmen… er, watch-Dwarves? Bofur had managed to swipe Bilbo from us, and I could hear the Dwarf giving a loud hoot at something Bilbo said, while the princes on either side of me conversed.

"We've never had reason to be around the women of Men all that often," Fili said after a while. "But from what I've seen so far, you aren't exactly… conventional."

Crinkling my face, I was unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I could tell he wasn't trying to be rude.

"Your mannerisms are all wrong – different, I mean," Kili added, correcting himself quickly. "You're more relaxed than the ones I've met, and you don't bother sitting with your back stiff as a board. You sit however's comfortable, like us!"

I snorted. So I sat like a dude? Or did I sit like a Dwarf?

"And you clearly favor pants to skirts. That in itself is unusual for a lady who doesn't fight or travel very often," said Fili with a glance to my sweatpants.

Kili gave me a cheeky grin, "See? We already have so much in common – I too prefer pants over skirts."

I clamped my mouth together trying not to laugh, raising my eyebrows in an, 'Oh really?' face.

"It's true," the brunette continued. "The Dwarrowdams were just too jealous of my beauty, I couldn't wear them anymore lest my life be at risk."

At that, I did throw my head back with a mute laugh, satisfying Kili's inner comedian. Yeah, okay. Maybe Thorin was paranoid, but I could have worse people for spontaneous security. Like Dwalin. Good grief, I could not imagine how awkward that would be. I don't think he would be the type to talk just because I couldn't. Fili and Kili, however, were more than alright with chatting back and forth while I nodded at this and that, trying to keep me in the conversation without me actually being able to converse.

I wondered for a moment if that's why Thorin chose them – because he knew how they acted and how their personalities would lend a hand to the situation – or if he just thought they could use the extra skills testing. Maybe both. Either way, I was glad I hadn't been saddled with more stoic babysitters, and allowed myself to enjoy their light-hearted camaraderie as we rode on.

Finally a more laid-back chapter conclusion. (I do love me some cliffhangers though.)

Also, ANNOUNCEMENT: Chapter 11 is the last one that I have fully written and ready to upload, so after that, updates will likely be more spread out. (Unfortunate, but I do have a job and a life, and fanfiction doesn't exactly pay for food. LoL) I'll try my best not to make you wait forever and a day, but good content takes time - which, according to you guys, this qualifies as good content? Haha, I will never be over how much positivity you all have sent my way.

Speaking of, don't forget to review! What did you enjoy most? What did you like the least? I want to hear every bit of it~

Thank you all again, so, so much. ; w ;

Until next time!