After she explained Sieyara's condition to Beorn, he was more than willing to allow her to stay with him until their journey had concluded; she had over heard him and Gandalf speaking and apparently he wasn't fond of dwarves, but hated orcs even more so he was willing to help them. Thankfully, Sieyara was human and he apparently liked them even more than he hated dwarves so he agreed to keep her safe to the best of his ability. Beorn had warned her that when he was the bear, he could not control himself as well as he did other forms, but he would make sure she was safe in the house before he changed. Heather was thrilled to leave her sister so soon after reuniting with her after months of searching, but it was the right thing to do and the safest thing for her. Having her travel with the dwarves would be a stupid idea, considering Thorin wasn't excited that she was their new burglar instead of Mr. Baggins. He probably wouldn't want an injuried girl with them anyways, saying stuff about slowing them down and make the journey more tedious than it needs to be. So, before Heather retired to her lovely cot, she had Sieyara squared away with Beorn and her living arrangements.
The night was peaceful and filled with bugs buzzing over head and animals causing an occasional whine or moo. Heather felt these noises were calming to her, besides being chased by goblins and orcs riding wargs. The bugs, such as bees and flies, were bigger than she had remembered which caused her to panic a little, she wasn't exactly scared of bugs, it was more of an undying passion to kill them all. The bigger the bug, the bigger the problem, she would often say to Sieyara. Bugs were necessary for life, she knew this, but she still hated them. She couldn't stand spiders, they were the worse. Eight legs, six eyes, and pincers by their mouths, it was absolutely disgusting. She hated spiders the most, crawling all over the place, biting people in their sleep, and laying eggs to multiple their race. It practically killed her knowing that, on average, a person eats eight spiders a year in his sleep.
With the calm night around her, she fell asleep, actually sleeping for the first time since the poison arrow and causing her to sleep in Elrond's palace. That was weeks ago. Even though the cot was simple and creaked as she rolled over throughout the night, she felt like she was in heaven, sleeping on a cloud. However, her sleep was interrupted by the old wizard, gently waking her up. He was pushing on her shoulder, rocking her awake. She moaned at the slightly illuminated wizard with the dawn sun raising. "Wake up, it's time we've had that little talk," he allowed her to roll over and rub her eyes, trying to adjust to the small light in the room.
She forced herself upright and tried to follow Gandalf's movements with her eyes. Heather shook her head to wake her up more, which didn't help to much. The young woman stood up among her sleeping companions and tracked the old wizard's location from the pushed hay and open door to the outside. She stepped into the early morning light and found Gandalf standing on the porch. Heather stumbled next to him and followed his gaze into the vast unknown.
"So, you're finally going to tell me why my sister and I are here?" she questioned the old wizard.
"Yes, it's vital that you know why I have brought you here and why you became the burglar Thorin needed for his journey."
"I'm listening."
Gandalf sighed and began his story, "It started about six months ago, when I had encountered a strange vision; one that has predicted the future. It wasn't a long sighting, but I knew exactly what was going to happen at the end of this journey to The Lonely Mountain."
"What did you see?"
"I saw a massive battle, one that consisted of five armies."
"Woah, five? Why so many?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but I believe it has something to do with Thorin's gold and treasures. This journey so far has already drawn the attention of the goblins and the orcs. Others will know of this quest to reclaim the mountain. More will come to the Battle of Five Armies. And a terrible fate will fall onto Thorin and his nephews."
"Will he lose his treasure or the throne?"
Gandalf looked at Heather with a grime look. "My dear, they will die in that battle."
Heather was silent and looked away from Gandalf. She never figured that any of them would die because of this journey. It all seemed like a dream, as if she wasn't really there. Maybe it was because it wasn't her world. She knew this world possessed dangers and this journey was a life-threatening risk, but she never imagined that anyone could actual die. Her feelings for Thorin had grown more than she cared to admit, and now that she knew that he was meant to die, she felt her heart break. She fought back tears by shutting her eyes and avoid Gandalf's concern stare.
"How can you be sure? What if you're wrong?"
"My visions rarely happen, but when they do occur, they are never wrong; unless something is done to prevent the event."
"So, we can prevent Thorin, Kili, and Fili's death?"
"Potentially, I have a theory."
Heather frowned at the old wizard from his lack of positive answers. "And?"
"I suspect that, in my vision, Thorin is fighting merely for the treasures that lay in The Lonely Mountain; willing to die to defend the legacy of his grandfather." Heather began nodding her head, understanding the situation their company leader and his nephews were in. "Fili and Kili are willing to follow Thorin for any reason, they too perish in this magnificent battle. Because he was willing to do for the treasure, they were too."
"How does this involve my family?"
Gandalf lifted a hand, as if telling her to be patient. He continued, "As I have said, I have a theory. What if Master Oakenshield had another reason to fight, something to live for?"
"He'd be more determined to fight and survive the slaughter."
"Exactly! So, I had to figure out what thing could Thorin fight for besides gold and jewels." He looked at Heather and she waited for him to continue. He didn't say anything, he simply raised his eyebrows and nodded at her. It took her a moment to realize that he was talking about her.
"Me? You mean for Thorin to fight for me?"
Gandalf smiled as his reply.
"Why me? What makes you think he'll want to fight for me instead of his treasure?"
"Lady Heather, has he not already kissed you?"
Heather's eyes shot wide open and her face became a cherry red. She didn't think anyone had seen that; in fact, she thought it was a dream considering she woke up and he was gone. She moved her eyes away from the wizard, slightly embarrassed of the moment they had shared.
"I-I didn't think anything of it. More of a grateful gesture for getting them out of the Goblin Tunnels than anything else," she sputtered out, trying to convince him.
The gray wizard chuckled at the apparent naivety of the young woman. "Believe it of whatever you wish, but I know that it was more than 'a gesture.'"
"Fine, okay, so what exactly do you have planned for The Battle of Five Armies?" Heather was obviously uncomfortable about talking about the kiss so she quickly changed the subject.
"I have nothing planned, except you."
"What can I do?"
"Lady Heather," Gandalf changed his tone to a more irritated one, "Have you've not been listening?"
"I'm just confused as to have he'll fight for me when he's constantly worried about his treasure."
"Make him realize that there is something worth living for; display your emotions for him, in a way he cannot refuse."
"Mhmm," Heather thought how she would be able to accomplish such a feat. She never had a serious boyfriend back in her original world, how was she supposed to make Thorin an offer he couldn't deny?
The two of them remained silent as the sun raised over the forest in the distance. Heather's mind began to wander, contemplating her 'master plan' to practically have Thorin fall in love with her. This seemed like an impossible task. Or was it? He had already kissed her, that had to mean something. Suddenly, she remembered the short discussion about Gandalf bringing Sieyara alone to this world, in order to fulfill his theory about the dwarven prince. She couldn't help but laugh out loud at the thought of petite, delicate Sieyara, who never held a sword in her life, and who was crabby if the air condition in the house wasn't on high enough. The thought of her and Thorin together was a scream, absolutely hilarious. Gandalf looked confuse at the laughing human and raised an eyebrow to her.
"What's so funny?" He asked, sounding a little hurt.
"I'm just remembering that you thought Sieyara would have been a better choice for Thorin than me, originally."
Gandalf smiled when he realized that she was laughing about his initial plan, not for the straying Thorin away from death. "She seemed like she would need saving in the battle," he said, beginning to laugh with Heather.
"Oh, she most definitely would."Heather admitted.
The two of them laughed for a minute before someone interrupted them. Speak of the devil, it was Thorin himself.
"What's so amusing?" he asked. Gandalf and Heather both turned to face him, with bright smiles on their faces.
"Simply enjoying the morning, Master Oakenshield." Gandalf quickly lied. Thorin obviously didn't believe them, and crossed his arms. Heather was afraid of saying anything so she stayed silent as Gandalf did all of the talking. "Come now, we should be preparing for our journey, not basking in the morning daylight," Gandalf said to Heather, throwing all of the blame to her for their random talking on the porch. Heather dropped her mouth as the old wizard smiled and walked back into the house; leaving Heather and Thorin alone.
Their eyes met; Thorin's brown eyes determined to find out what the two were talking about and Heather's green eyes simply trying not to give anything away. She cleared her throat and pointed off to the distance, turning her head away from Thorin. "There was this, um, bird," she began to lie, "it was peeking at the ground when-" she never got a chance to finish lying. When she turned her head back to him, Thorin had stepped forward and wrapped his massive hand behind her neck and pulled her down to have their lips meet. She was caught off guard and simply stood there and let the kiss occur. A quick moment past before he pulled his head away from her's and he released his grip on her neck. Their eyes met again, this time Thorin's eyes were cheerful and sincere. Heather was still shocked that he had done that.
"You're a terrible 'on the spot' liar." he smiled and used his thumb to gently rub her cheek. Heather was still surprised and dumbfounded. She didn't say anything. "Mhmm, get ready." He reclined his hand away from her entirely and turned to leave. "We eat, then leave. Be ready." He left her on the porch, completely shocked that he had actually kissed her again. All of a sudden, she didn't see saving his life from The Battle of Five Armies that impossible.
During the morning breakfast, Dwalin had brought up the topic of the injured Sieyara traveling with the company. Beorn had explained that she was staying behind and was going to be well taken care of, so the dwarves could leave immediately. Heather felt that it was better that Beorn had said it, because if she would have Sieyara would have probably punched her. Instead of talking for the rest of the meal, everyone stuffed their faces and chugged their milk and water. Heather felt like she was eating like a man, but she didn't care; she was trying to completely fill her stomach before they would endure more weeks with rations or no food at all. She wasn't the only person who thought so; all thirteen of the dwarves ate ravishingly, and paid no mind to manners this time.
After the meal, everyone quickly packed the supplied Beorn had generously gave them and jumped onto their respective ponies. Heather took a moment, while everyone was preparing, and pulled Sieyara to the side room, so the dwarves wouldn't see.
"What do you want? I know I'm staying," she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"I want to give you this," Heather held up the backpack that held all of their technology from their world. Heather knew bringing it along would only be more weight and risked the dwarves finding the components on the back. It was just too much of an unnecessary risk. "Please, keep it with you, hide it if you have to, but don't let Beorn see it."
"So, I'm your bag-girl now?"
"Sieyara! Stop it, I'm giving you everything that's in here, that means that new iPod you've wanted and a knife. Keep the knife on you, in case Beorn changes in the house, and listen to music to pass the time."
"You act as though you're not coming back for me," Sieyara glared and reluctantly grabbed the backpack.
Heather remained silent for a moment, very close to just telling her sister that a dragon was waiting for her at The Lonely Mountain. She bit her tongue and knew better than to tell her anything more about the journey.
"You are coming back, right?" Sieyara suddenly became serious and concerned for her older sister. "Heather, tell me you'll be back, that we're going to go home together."
"I can't lie, not to you." Heather said, visually breaking Sieyara's heart. "I might not come back from this, and if I don't, I want you to bury this backpack and everything in it with me. Then, you start your life in this world and, if you find a way, go back to our world. Leave my grave and go without me."
"I couldn't leave you," Sieyara said, beginning to get teary eyed. Heather bit her bottom lip, forcing herself to not cry, but to display to her baby sister that she was stronger than when they were still in their home world. "I couldn't."
"Whatever you do, just live your life, and don't you dare follow me." Heather glared at her sister, giving two meanings to her sentence. She didn't want her sister to be alone, but if that meant keeping her safe, she would leave. She also suspected that if Heather did die, that Sieyara would commit suicide, so she wouldn't be left alone again. The only way to stop her from doing that was to purposely tell her not to. "But I'm sure I'll be back, so don't stay up for me." Heather gave a weak smile and held back her own tears. Sieyara began to silently cry. Heather peaked over the wall and saw that the dwarves were nearly done packing. This would have to be quick.
Heather gave her sister a tight hug, forgetting of her multiple injuries and held her. Sieyara cried into her shoulder for a moment, but then moved away from her. "You have to go," she said.
"Yeah," Heather smiled and gave a quick kiss on her sister's forehead, "I'll be back."
"Maybe," Sieyara corrected.
Heather patted her on the shoulder and left the room, leaving Sieyara to stand there as the company finished packing and began riding to The Lonely Mountain.