Hello! Not dead! Well, yet, anyway. Here's a shorter chapter, but there is more to come, very soon! I actually (for once) have the next two chapters written, and they will be posted shortly after this. I had a 9 hour car ride in which I didn't have to drive, and so I decided to actually write more for once. Enjoy! As always, I greatly appreciate any and all feedback! If there's something you want to see in the story, tell me, and I'll give it serious consideration.
"No, Ori, you don't understand! I… I can't." Asta nearly whimpered. The dwarven scribe furrowed his brow in concern at the wolf's tone. "Asta, why? Thorin is-"
"Uncle is what?" Ori yelped and stumbled back at Kíli's sudden question, as the youngest prince spun around from shamelessly eavesdropping and demanded. "And what can't you do, Asta?" The girl had jumped slightly as well at the prince's quick speech, but she moved instinctively to catch Ori as he stumbled back, and she righted him effortlessly. "My lord, I-"
Kíli frowned pointedly, and Asta ducked her head, shuffling her feet briefly. "Kíli. I was just telling Ori that I can't… Er…"
"Kíli! There you are! Fíli was looking for you. Or, should I say, he wasn't." Bilba said with a grin, stepping in lightly, going to stand between the werewolf and the scribe, looking at the prince with a light of mischief in her warm brown eyes. "He mentioned something about trading your favorite dagger to Nori for…something. I wasn't quite sure what, but he seemed to be a bit distracted. Now, let me think. Was it 'traded', or 'gambled'?"
Mild though the ruse was, it seemed to do the trick, as the young prince was out of sight in seconds, hunting down his brother for the imagined slight. Bilba turned to look at Ori and Asta with a mix of concern and exasperation in her eyes. "Can't leave you alone for two minutes?" Asta grinned sheepishly at her old friend, while Ori crossed his arms. "Tell me now, Asta. Why won't you tell Thorin what you are? Why have you hidden it from the Company? I'll admit, I was surprised and frightened when confronted by a black wolf the size of a warg where you had stood not seconds before, but when you and Bilba explained everything, I accepted it. Accepted you. Why do you think our king will be any different?"
Asta turned to face him fully then, allowing her eyes to spark a glow after glancing around to make sure all the other members of the Company were distracted by their own hushed discussions as they traveled through the depths of Mirkwood. "Because, Ori, I am a monster. A creature that he would put down at once if he found out. He'd see me as a threat to his people, and would not hesitate to kill me."
"Menu gamut khed!" the dwarf nearly shouted, before realizing the volume of his outburst, and flushing slightly at the wide-eyed glances tossed his way from the others who were closest. Whispering again, the scribe murmured sheepishly, "…Um, that is, you shouldn't say such things about yourself. You didn't hurt me! You haven't hurt anyone. So no, you're not a monster! You wouldn't hurt the Company. You protected us, in the Goblin Tunnels. You are a good person." he reaffirmed.
Asta blinked rapidly in surprise at the young dwarf's kind words, and she nodded briefly. "I am grateful. Still… I do not know that I could trust Thorin to listen first and kill later. If he decided I was a threat to his people… Please, Ori, you mustn't say anything! Please. Perhaps, once this quest is over, I can tell him then, but I do not wish to be killed or cast out before this quest is complete."
The dwarf acquiesced after a moment of thought, nodding reluctantly. "As you wish, Asta. I will keep my silence, as it is your secret to tell. But please, consider it. He might surprise you." The young dwarrow clapped her on the shoulder companionably, and then wandered over to walk beside Nori.
The wolf watched him go fondly, before she was distracted by Bilba. "Do you really think Thorin would kill you so quickly if he were to find out?" Asta just nodded silently. The hobbit huffed quietly, but did not argue, instead choosing to change the topic entirely, as she began to speak of Bag End, and how very much she missed her comfortable armchair by the fire after a long day. Asta listened contentedly, the love brought by the pack-bond thrumming warmly in her veins.
The evening, the werewolf eyed the alpha with no small amount of concern, as she recalled the sound berating she had endured after last night's events. Still, there was no way around her shift tonight. At least this was the very last forced shift of the month. If she could somehow conceal her activities this night, she might be able to last through the rest of Mirkwood, perhaps even to the Lonely Mountain herself.
"I'll take first watch, I don't mind!" Ori's cheerful voice drew her gaze away from the exiled king, and she turned to look at the scribe curiously, only to hold still in realization when Bilba stepped up beside him. "I'll sit with you. We can watch together. That way everyone else can get some sleep." Exhausted as the dwarves were under the dark gloom of the forest, there was no argument, and soon, all but the three who knew of the wolf among them were still. The moon's light slowly filtered through trees, and Asta fled.
Dwalin's eyes opened where he lay beside his king, and Thorin met his gaze. "Follow her. Find out where she's going, what she's doing, and then bring her back to camp. I'll deal with this in the morning. Make sure she doesn't leave again. The forest is too dangerous for games such as these." The powerful warrior nodded. "Keep watch, Thorin." The king's cousin advised. "Don't forget that paw print we found when we departed this morning. Something dark stalks these woods." Thorin nodded, and Dwalin rose, surprisingly silently for a dwarf, and departed into the darkness of the trees after the human, tracking her with relative ease.
