"I still think we should just pretend we forgot-"

"No, Gloin. For the very last time, we are returning the ponies when we get to the border of Mirkwood," Oswin glared at the red haired dwarf. He was most determined to find a loophole in their promise to her uncle. But there was none; when they reached the border of Mirkwood, they would retrieve all their bags and such from the ponies and allow them to return to Beorn.

Honestly, Oswin didn't see why this was such a disappointment. At least they got the horses for a little whiles. She herself wanted to have them longer, but she knew that it wasn't an option. So she was content with her new pack of items and a couple of days on her own pony. Well, her shared pony. Oswin was settled comfortably against Kíli once more.

The dwarf prince chuckled and they both watched as the bulky ginger dwarf warrior huffed and urged his pony a bit more ahead in the group. Oswin shook her head and spoke up, "Finally, I win."

Kíli chuckled and added, "And we're alone on the end again." That made her smile, and she just knew that Kíli had a mischievous smirk on his face or something of the sort.

She shifted herself on the saddle so she was somewhat facing him and sighed, "We haven't gotten to spend much time together, huh?"

He shrugged and pointed out, "Well, you did just learn you were put into a magical sleep and you're apparently some ultimate force of good. I still find that entertaining. I mean, you are good, but you being an ultimate force of anything is fairly hard to believe."

Oswin glared playfully and argued, "I'm an ultimate force of stupid talking. Remember, I nearly got myself stuck in a Bone Crusher for my big mouth." The prince shuddered at the memory. Not that she was too pleased about it either. Returning her head to rest on his chest, she changed the topic, "I wonder if I inherited my mother's absolute horrid ability to decide what is and isn't practical."

She, of course, was talking about her chest. After a good ten minutes of attempting to shift through everything, she had given up and summoned Kíli and, begrudgingly, Fíli.

After getting it all out, they'd counted a total of eighteen different blades of various size and design, a bloody cross bow, a regular bow, a quiver, at least fifty arrows if not more, four relatively practical travel dresses that were mostly the same in different colors, one fairly nicer dress that was a bit more scandalous but her mother had apparently made it from handmade lace according to Beorn, another traveling dress that was technically a white blouse tucked underneath a black under bust that was attached to a black and blue layered skirt, a more conservative blue gown, three cloaks, one fur lines cloak, a very thick and soft bedroll, a black leather water skin, a case that held glass vials that she assumed were for medicine, a journal, three pieces of armor for a female, a nice silver ring, a set of black leather gauntlets, a set of leather arm braces, two black drawstring pouches, a thick silver cuff with a dark sapphire embedded in it, a nice wooden bowl that one of her brothers had actually made for her, a set of lock picking tools, a brown leather drawstring pouch filled with various precious stones and gold and silver pieces, a soldiers kit with two small blades for rudimentary cooking and a thick needle for either sewing or stitching wounds, a belt with a crest she learned to be her family's, and two glass vials of what Oin identified as a lavender oil meant to help sooth headaches and another as an herb extract meant to be a pain reliever.

But, Beorn had been correct, there was no way she could take all of that with her. Instead, Kíli and Fíli had helped her pick which weapons to use herself on top of what she already had before aiding her in distributing them to the others. Her uncle had mentioned her mother wanted her better armed than any king, and what better way than make sure all her companions be properly armed.

Dori hadn't been keen on Oswin giving his youngest brother a very sharp and dangerous looking hunting knife. But, Oswin was adamant, and eventually shoved past the older dwarf and walked straight over to Ori, putting it in his hands and informing him that he had been promoted from a slingshot to a hunting knife. But she made sure to add for him to keep that slingshot handy.

The only one they had had problems figuring out was the crossbow. None of them were too skilled with one, but it was eventually discovered that Kíli was the only one with any ability to ever try it. His aim was quite good, it was just a matter of the throw back power when shot. Beorn and Gandalf both thought it wise Kíli have a couple of practice shots before they left. The first shot had been when they learned just how strong it was.

The cross bow had such a punch that the dwarf had gone flying backwards into Bofur and Oswin, and the arrow aimed at the tree had embedded itself so deeply they hadn't been able to remove it.

Kíli spoke up, removing Oswin from her thoughts, "Possibly. Though, I'm sure your mother was completely unaware that you would wake up early and would be on a journey when you received the chest."

Oswin chuckled and rested against him, just watching the path ahead. She was perfectly content just to sit there in Kíli's company and not be bothered. She had been happy enough to spend time at her uncle's house, to get answers she so desperately needed, but that didn't change the fact she wished she had had more time to spend with Kíli.

The path was straight and flat, the ponies seeming to know it rather well, so Kíli let the reigns rest on the saddle horn and settled her arms around Oswin. She smiled and let her eyes close slightly, hearing her prince speak up, "Would you like to talk about it?"

She knew he was referring to the world she had been hidden in, and the one she left behind. It wasn't that she was having a hard time, though she wasn't having an easy time. But it was relatively hard to adjust to the fact that she was all alone, that something she hadn't chosen had put her friends and family into Death's direct path. And to find that they had died centuries ago?

Shifting once more, she opened her eyes and sighed, "I can't even mourn them properly. I can barely remember them, let alone the dream. I have almost no memory of the past, and I absolutely hate it. I can't remember my childhood, my brothers or sisters, my parents, any family. I only remembered Beorn because I saw him and it yanked forwards any memories I had of him. What if that's the only way for me to remember? I won't see my mother or father again!"

Kíli hugged her tightly as she got teary-eyed. It was so difficult, to realize it could take so long to remember any memory she had had previous to the sleep. No one would ever really understand what she was going through, hard as they tried. She knew that and she didn't hold it against them. Hell, she hoped no one would ever understand her plight, it was painful enough for her.

Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he told her quietly, "That's not true, you will remember. It is hard now, sure, but when we reclaim Erebor and this is all done, you will, I'm sure of it. It's difficult to try and remember anything now, we are on a quest right now, remember?" Oswin let out a small laugh, sniffling a little as she fought back tears. He had a point, it was hard to remember a past life when they were currently on a relatively difficult quest to reclaim an entire mountain from a bloody dragon.

Realizing that despite the reassurance, her past was a sensitive topic, Kíli changed the course of the conversation, "You know, when we start on the path through Mirkwood, you should probably put that dress back on." When she turned to glare at him, he quickly justified himself, "Because it's mithril!"

Oswin scoffed slightly and argued, "That bloody dress is like a big ol' target. It's bright white, not to mention the fact that it's a dress! Everyone immediately realizes that I'm there, and that I'm a girl. That really isn't helpful, for them to realize that."

The other ponies had slowed and soon, the entire company was taking part in their discussion, all of them coming up with both pros and cons of the mithril dress.

Ori made her most favorite point, "If he doesn't want to wear it, I don' think she should have to." Because quite honestly, she didn't want to wear a dress, let alone a bright white dress.

Thorin argued, "It's armor, despite it being a dress, it be best you have the protection. Bloody elves could open fire at any moment."

Oswin rolled her eyes and reminded the king, "One elf, one single elf made a dumb decision not to help you. That does not speak for an entire race, Thorin. You really have to get over that, it's quite tiresome."

Nori spoke up at that point, snorting, "Defending the leaf-lickers doesn't look good on you, Oswin."

Gandalf came to Oswin's defense, "Now, now, Master Dwarf, I think you should be less unhappy with Miss Oswin's lack of prejudice. I will not be with you should you come into contact with the Mirkwood elves, and it be best you have at least one in your company who can speak to them without shoving both of their feet down their throat."

Oswin burst out laughing at that, smirking triumphantly. Gandalf was indeed right. It would be in the entire company's best interest for Oswin to do any speaking should they be forced to come face to face with the wood elves. Though, it was plenty obvious the entire company would try their absolute hardest to avoid the taller race at any cost.

Though, both Gandalf and Oswin were more than aware that avoiding the occupants of the Mirkwood Forest may not be entirely possible. Oswin herself didn't expect them to be able to avoid the elves. She herself was simply prepared to have to deal with them, and somehow get the dwarves to not utter any of their offensive names for the elves. She was quite sure that grass-shaggers, leaf-lickers, and tree-humpers would go over well.

Authors Note: Alright, so, chapter 24 is finally up! Sorry about the wait, my updates definitely won't be as quick anymore because my cousin is getting married and I got roped into being a bridesmaid.

Probably gonna wait a bit on the stories, since I'm more invested in this one. Anyway, you know the drill, reviews feed mah soul ^^