Last time:

Once they finally reached their camp, Nariel noticed the Ri brothers giving her some looks that made her feel uneasy. She went over to her spot to lay down and discovered why they'd all been smiling the way they had been. All her belongings were covered in ink. Including her bow! Not seconds after she discovered hers, she heard a fairly girlish type shriek that she guessed indicated that Kili had found his stuff the same way.

Nariel spared a glance over at the Ri brothers and saw that they were now kind of snickering. It was either that or they were trying to keep their laughs in.

"This is going to take forever to get out," Nariel muttered as she looked at her ink covered things. She listened to Kili complaining to his brother for a moment before concluding not to mess with dwarves' things again or rather not trying to talk Kili out of messing with them.

...

A few days later, Nariel discovered that Gloin was quite the storyteller. He was constantly telling her stories about his family and about Erebor. Although a great majority of them were about his kin.

Gloin would tell Nariel of his little lad Gimli. How he would follow him around. How he would often be seen playing mock fights with toy weapons. How he was as stubborn as he was. Then Gloin would move onto the stories about his wife, Skadi. How she was so loving and caring. How she was so beautiful. How he'd never ever part with her if he had the choice. He'd then start telling her tales of Erebor. Of how it was before Smaug had come. Of course there was much more than that, but Nariel could not bear to go into details. And then there was also the fact that these stories were always repeated.

…

"Did I ever tell you about the time Gimli first started play fighting with the other dwarflings?" Gloin asked the Company. No one answered him for they had heard it many times since Goblin Town. However, Gloin took it as a sign that he had not told them yet.

"I'd gone out one day to the forge to get one of my axes fixed. I'd told Gimli to stay right where he was. When I got back home, he wasn't there…."

"Gloin, we heard this story yesterday and the day before that. I don't think any of us want to hear it again," Nariel said before glancing at the dwarf only to realize he hadn't heard her at all.

"And he was playing with his friends. Not the way he normally would either. They were using toy weapons…" Gloin continued on but by now most of the dwarves were no longer listening.

"So then I brought him home. He pleaded with me to teach him how to fight. At first, I told him no. He was too young for that. But eventually….." Gloin still continued speaking.

"Gloin, would you just please be quiet?" Nariel tried asking politely. The red haired dwarf still continued on.

"Gloin, for Valar's sake just be quiet!" Nariel finally said a little louder than probably necessary. Gloin finally stopped talking and looked up at the she-elf.

"Do you not enjoy the story?" Gloin asked eyeing her closely. Nariel shrugged and shook her head.

"No, I do. It's just that we heard it yesterday and the day before yesterday. I don't think any of us can really bare hearing that one again right now," Nariel replied looking down at the dwarf riding beside her.

"Oh, alright. I'll tell a different one then," Gloin said then launched into another story right away. Nariel merely rolled her eyes, and like most of the Company at this point, decided to tune out Gloin's voice.

…

Nariel soon also realized that Thorin wasn't much of a talker at all. Despite the fact that elves and dwarves did not like each other whatsoever, Nariel was trying her best to talk to him. She'd tried explaining her motives better for not telling them right away that she was an elf. She'd tried asking him what he was going to do when they finally reached Erebor to which he'd merely replied that it was none of her business. She'd tried having many conversations with him, but almost all of them had ended up being pretty one sided.

Of course whenever she'd start talking to Fili or Kili or any of the dwarves for that matter, Thorin would turn back and regard her with a cold look. But that was mainly when she was speaking with his nephews because as soon as he'd noticed that they'd started talking he'd order Fili and Kili to ride up next to him. The two would ignore him for a few minutes before he'd order them to come up to the front, usually with a much angrier tone in his voice. After this would happen, she'd tell the two young dwarves that it was fine if they left. They'd both nod at her then quickly move up towards the front. Now when Thorin would see her talking to any of the other dwarves, he'd just regard her with his icy look but otherwise would leave them alone.

Despite all this, Nariel had gotten Thorin to talk to her once. She had been riding beside him when he'd asked her how she'd known his father. She told him a story or two on how she knew Thrain, and they exchanged a few more words before Thorin simply nodded and rode ahead of her. But what Nariel did not know was that Thorin was now acting this way towards her because of the strange feelings that had started to stir within him about her.

...

"How did you know my father?" Thorin asked Nariel once he'd realized she was riding next to him. The fact that she'd known many of the kings of the dwarves had bugged him ever since she'd revealed that in Rivendell.

"As I may have mentioned back in either Bag-End or Rivendell, I travel pretty much everywhere helping those that need the help. My travels brought me to Erebor on more than one occasion," Nariel told the dwarven king.

"What was one occasion?" Thorin questioned her almost immediately.

"Well, I met Thrain on a journey that involved trading with Erebor. Quite the stubborn dwarf when it came to trading, but I didn't mind him as much as my companions did. We started talking about a trade between the two of us, but if somehow got off topic. He once asked me what I would do in a battle between elves and dwarves. I didn't know how to respond at the time. However on the next few journeys of trade to Erebor, I slowly developed my answer. And just as slowly as my answer came, my frienship with your father grew," Nariel answered looking over at the dwarf.

"So you just showed up for the trading then?" Thorin inquired staring straight ahead now.

"No, I would drop by occasionally for random visits. Your father didn't seem to mind them either. Once I actually spent some time playing with you when you were a dwarfling. And sometimes I'd offer him ideas on certain trades although I don't think he ever listened to them. I mainly knew your father from a trader's and diplomatic standpoint," Nariel told him. Thorin listened quietly and once Nariel was finished this time, he just nodded his head and pulled his pony ahead of her horse.

I realize that this may not be my best chapter and that I've left some things out or stretched them a little, but I was just trying to be creative. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave me a review?