It was the next morning. Honoria had not been invited to the meeting with her cousin, Gandalf, and Thorin. Thorin had argued that the elf would make things worse, but Gandalf insisted it would be good to have her presence with them. And poor Bilbo was stuck in the middle of all this and didn't know what to do, but be quiet and hope neither of them would hit him during their disagreement with each other.
The hobbit filled his cousin in about last night's meeting with Lord Elrond. The elf had deciphered the hidden clues on the map for them, but it was clear that Lod Elrond didn't think they should continue with this quest and would probably do everything possible to make sure they didn't leave Rivendell.
Bilbo and Honoria went separate ways for the day. The hobbit went exploring the home of Lord Elrond, and the half-breed went for a walk in the forest. Honor found the trees to be peaceful, and calm. Unlike being surrounded by dwarves all day long. She was getting used to them now, most of them had somewhat accepted her. Thorin was still unsure of her. As she walked along the path, she found it to be too quiet and she had to admit to herself that she was missing their silliness. The elf wandered deeper into the forest, and she heard the voices of several dwarves not far from where she was and found them no problem.
" I am sick of eating elf food, we need meat!" Dwalin grumbled and others rang in agreement.
"What's going on?" Honoria spoke up, causing a few of the dwarves to jump. Thorin on the other hand was not surprised she had found them.
"Were going hunting, want to come along Honor?" Kili asked with a grin on his face, wanting to see what this elf could do.
"Sounds fun!" She exclaimed.
"No!" Thorin's voice rudely interrupted. "Hunting is a job for the menfolk, not for a young woman. It's not safe."
"She's an elf, laddie what see what this little lass can do." Dwalin piped up. Thorin huffed at him.
"She doesn't even know how to shoot a bow and arrow." Thorin growled. wishing the others would take his side. While Thorin tried to argue with the others, Honor asked Kili if she could borrow his bow and arrow.
"Give me a target." Honor challenged, causing the dwarves to stop arguing.
"Your serious?" Thorin asked her. He searched around, wanting to find the most difficult spot. " Hit that tree." He instructed her. It was quite a far distance through the trees, but she wasn't going to back down. She stood in place, aimed her arrow, pulling it tight and with one quick second, she released it, it soared through the air, passed the trees and was a few inches off from where Thorin had wanted her to hit.
"Not bad lass, I say she qualifies." Balin proclaimed.
"She missed." Thorin scuffed.
" Well, you did give her quite a difficult target to hit, and she didn't miss it by much. Give her a chance Thorin." The elder dwarf pressed. Thorin let out a noticeable sigh.
"Fine, we should all go in pairs." Thorin ordered. The dwarves began calling the names of their partner. Dwalin called his brother.
"Brother!" Fili yelled at Kili. Nori and Ori were next and Gloin and Bofur had insisted in being partners leaving Thorin and Honoria.
"Looks like your with me grumpy." Honor joked and the dwarves had to muffle their chuckles. Thorin glared at them all with a look of thanks a lot on his face. They all split up into different direction, all with a hope they would find a stag, and have meat for dinner instead of something green. Thorin and Honor, didn't speak too each other but kept their eyes open for any sudden movement of an animal. The dwarf also kept ac close eye on the young woman. He was baffled by her, she was not like other women he was used to back in Ered Luin or even in Erebor.
Fili and Kili were not too far from where Honor and Thorin were searching. "Brother look." Fili whispered to Kili. The younger dwarf turned in the direction his older brother pointed in. Fili pulled out an arrow slowly from his quiver and readied it in his bow. The dwarf raised his aim so he was sure to hit his target, that was still in the clearing, eating the grass, clearly unaware of their presence. Kili nudged Fili in the arm, causing him to release the arrow through the air. The arrow struck the tree beside the stag, spooking it and it took off in flight through the bushes right in Honor's direction. Thorin was a few feet away from her and heard the chaos coming behind them. He turned around to see the beast coming at full charge towards them.
"Look out!" Thorin yelled at her. The elf turned around, unable to move when the dwarf grabbed her from behind, moving out of the way just in time before the animal knocked into them both. Unfortunately Thorin hadn't calculated that they were near a hill and two of them went tumbling down the embankment. both yelling wishing to come to a stop on this ride. Honoria fell over a hump in the hill and landed on the forest floor, letting out a harsh grunt. She was about to get up when she was knocked back down and let out another grunt when something pinned her to the ground.
The elf finally opened her eyes only too see a pair of intense blue eyes staring back at her. Their eyes locked for a second. Thorin had completely forgot where he was. Honoria could feel her heart begin to race when she noticed Thorin moving closer to her." Thorin, you're squishing me." Honor muttered.
"You two alright?" Fili called out. Thorin snapped out of his daze, removing himself off the woman just as his nephews and the other came down the hill. The dwarf quickly got off the ground, hoping the others didn't see him the way he was just a few seconds ago.
"Were fine." Thorin mumbled. Kili reach with his arm and helped the young elf off the ground. Thorin took a glance at her, and saw the dirt on her face, and without realizing it, he brushed it off her face, and the others looked at their leader strangely. Honoria raised an eyebrow, wondering what caused him to do what he just did.
"Thank you." She stuttered awkwardly, feeling her cheeks heat up from his touch that oddly felt nice against her skin. What are you thinking Honor, you don't like him. She cursed at herself in her head.
"We should head back." Thorin quickly urged them and started heading back up the hill in front of all them, before anyone could say a thing. The elf walked behind the others, wondering what just happened back there when they were alone for a few moments before the others showed up and then his sudden action to touch her. She wiped the rest of her face with the back of her hand, thinking she was still covered in dirt. The dwarves let out their grumbles of disappointment of not catching anything and would have to eat elf food for another night.