You must tell Miley she cannot hear she cannot sleep you must tell her when the beginning middle and end of life converge upon the field of ice then is the time to act our fate rests in her you must tell Miley
The voice rushed through my dreams, jumbled, anxious, desperate. I knew that voice. I was sure of it.
Upon the Field of Ice
My eyes shot open to the waning dark of night. The air was filled with crickets and the blowing of the breeze. No snoring. That was a nice thing about this group, even though they were a bunch of dirty men, they didn't snore too much. I couldn't stand snoring.
I sat up, successfully woken but whatever weirdo decided it would be fun to send me weird dreams every time I tried to sleep. Now I knew how Harry had felt in the fifth book. Never getting to rest properly. It must have driven him mad. Well… kinda.
Looking around, I came to the conclusion that it would still be a few hours till the others would start rising and we would hit the road again. I curled back up and tried to fall asleep again. But the crickets' chirps pounded against my skull like a marching band. I found myself getting up again and looking around once more, this time for one person in particular. I wasn't quiet aware of what exactly I was doing when I shuffled through the sleeping company before coming to stop next to a certain dark haired archer.
My feet had taken me here, but I was unsure what to do next. Awkwardly, I sat down about a foot away, my back against stone. And as I sat there, I found myself watching him with fascination. He breathed slowly in and out, his chest rising and falling like the tide.
A small smile slipped onto my face as I watched. Gentle rhythms, lulling me to sleep. The crickets became only noise in the background. Then he grumbled and rolled over in his sleep. The spell was instantly broken and I couldn't help but give a little snort of amusement. Of course he moved just as I was about to finally get some sleep.
But I lent back and closed my eyes anyway. And waited for sleep to claim me.
It didn't.
And I was very tired and extremely bored when the others began waking.
Thorin was the first one up. He glanced over at me once, and once only. As if checking to make sure I was still there. Or hoping I had disappeared in the night. Either way, it wasn't a very friendly glance. Then the others began waking one at a time. When Miley began to stir, I walked over to her and crouched by her head, waiting until she was functioning enough.
"M?" She asked in a blur, blinking up at me. "What is it?" Then she yawned and looked at me again. "Oh, Nimm. Was something the matter?"
"Upon the field of ice." I replied. She frowned in confusion. "That's what the voice said. 'When beginning, middle, and end of life converge upon the field of ice, then it is the time to act.' I had the dream again."
Miley quickly fought off her sleepy haze and sat up. "Was it exactly the same? The dream?"
"Yes, well… mostly." I nodded. "It seemed a little more… rushed?"
"Rushed?"
"Anxious."
Miley frowned. "That's probably not good."
"I thought the same thing."
"Well, I'll think about it." Miley said. "In the meantime, we should both keep an eye out for this 'field of ice' I don't remember anything about it in the book."
"I have a feeling the book isn't going to be very much help to us." I told her frankly.
"I have a feeling your right." She agreed.
"Breakfast's ready!" Bofur called to the company. Sausages were dispensed amongst the group. During which, Thorin and Gandalf were discussing the road ahead. It didn't sound like it was going well.
"Mount up!" Thorin ordered everyone suddenly. "We've wasted too much daylight as it is." Camp was quickly packed up and dwarves began swinging into their saddles. Kili trotted up beside me and offered a cautious hand. I accepted it and he pulled me up into the saddle in front of him.
"Why do you always get to steer?" I sighed in slight annoyance.
"Because he's my pony." Kili laughed, tugging on the reigns to fall in line with the others.
"He? I thought its name was Daisy?" I made a face.
"His name is Daisy." Kili defended himself. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"You haven't heard the worst of it." Fili said as she and Miley trotted up beside us. "We had a hunting dog back in Ered Luin for a few years. You wouldn't believe what he named it."
"What?" I asked.
"He named it Barky." Fili made a face.
"I wasn't even twenty!" Kili said in his own defense.
"And how long ago did you name Daisy?" Miley laughed.
Kili grumbled under his breath. "Two… years ago."
I swiveled in my saddle to give him an incredulous stare. "There's no way in hell, I'm letting you name our kids!"
There was a moment of silence in our little foursome before Kili and I simultaneously turned beet red and quickly looked away from each other in embarrassment. Fili and Miley had burst out laughing in the meantime. Jerks.
"That was beautiful!" Miley chuckled, wiping a tear away from the corner of her eye right before collapsing into another fit of giggles.
"Something you want to share with me brother?" Fili asked mockingly.
"Shove off it." Kili replied angrily. This only made the other two laugh even more.
"Just ignore them." I mumbled, the heat not yet gone from my face. "The more reaction you give, the longer it'll take for them to drop it."
"The looks on your two's faces though!" Fili laughed, sending Miley into another round of fits. Kili urged the pony faster in annoyance, leaving the cackling duo behind us.
The two of us then fell into an awkward silence, neither willing to be the first one to talk about what had just happened. Instead, we just busied ourselves with paying attention to everything else, from the conversations going on around us to the constant swishing of ponytails.
Up ahead, I saw M riding on the back of Ori's pony. The two of them seemed to be conversing with an overly eager Rina hovering right next to them, the hugest smile on her face. It made me smile as well under my hood. Just a tiny smile though. She was still super annoying.
"Sorry about that." I spoke suddenly.
"What?" Kili asked in confusion.
"Back there, what I said… I… I mean it's ridiculous! We just kissed once and I start spouting off all this nonsense and everything! I looked like an idiot back there and made you look like one to. So I just wanted to say… sorry." I let Kili have a chance to say something, but when he did not I filled the silence again. "I mean I really have no clue why I said that even! It's not like I even what kids or anything, especially not in this crazy world. I mean, not that you're crazy. Just that this world is so different from mine. Obviously. Why would you think that you were crazy? That just doesn't even make any sense. Not that you make no sense. I wasn't trying to imply that… Okay, I'm gonna shut up now." My face flushed once more in embarrassment as I hunched over, wishing to disappear completely. Then Kili started laughing and everything got like… ten times worse.
I sighed. "You're mean."
"I'm sorry." Kili tried through chuckles. "But you should have heard yourself."
"Good to know I'm everyone's laughing stock." I grumbled. Kili's response was leaning around and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. Thankful it was quick and he straightened up again before I could get properly freaked out.
"Feel better now?" Kili asked.
"I almost took your nose off." I hissed at him.
Kili laughed again. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Seriously! Don't jump me like that."
"Right, right, sorry"
"You better be." Then it began to pour. I was thankful for my hood as bucket poured down from the treetops above. Then rain came, soaked everyone, dampened the company's moral, and promptly left. Thus leaving us all to sit in our drying clothes, which had turned uncomfortably stiff. My attention was drawn away from my currant predicament by the ruined house coming up in a clearing ahead. The trolls…
Is it a good thing or a bad thing that I have so many plans that I'm having trouble fitting the actual events into the story? I might have to skip Rivendell... hmmm
Reviews are always super appreciated!
