The ruins of Dale are sound in parts, at least sound enough that they are able to find a house big enough for all of them to live in for a few days. The roof has holes that are hastily patched by Bifur and Bofur using tiles that have survived on other buildings. The condition of the roof means that the inside has survived fairly well, the owners of the house obviously having been out when Smaug came, the door had been closed and still locked, the furniture dust covered and a little rickety with age and abandonment. The soft furnishings, curtains and blankets and chair upholstery, almost crumble in their hands, and clouds of moths fly out of the closet when opened to reveal the tattered remains of once exquisite gowns. The dwarves aren't concerned with the condition of the furniture, however, all of it being made for Men and so less practical for them to use in any case, their greater concern is the roof and the floors, the stove, the chimney and the water pump outside. Billana finds herself in the garden, a small thing that she expects to find choked with weeds and brambles. It isn't as bad as she had feared it would be and as she eases her way through she spots familiar leaves, the broad leaves of a patch of potatoes, the spindly and dry remains of the leaves of onions and the withered fluff that she associates with carrots. She falls to her knees eagerly, digging her fingers through the cold earth to seek those treasures that she knows must be there.
She comes up with more than she can carry, although they are not in the best condition they will be edible enough, and she transports her find into the kitchen in time enough to hear Bombur and Balin debating whether they will have enough supplies to take them to the Iron Hills should they manage to retrieve the Arkenstone and escape without Smaug burning them all to a crisp. She sets her finds on a chair, the table being too high for her to reach, and tentatively interrupts them. Bombur's face lights up at the sight of the fresh produce, especially when she mentions that she saw a rather overgrown patch of rosemary in the garden, and he bustles off with a speed that surprises her to fetch both her left over finds and a good amount of the herb for seasoning. Seeing how happy the dwarf is with her meagre findings from this garden, Billana proposes that she take a few others and search the other nearby houses for similar treasures. Balin looks unhappy at the idea, but the thought of finding anything growing wild that might allow them to bulk up their supplies before heading for the mountain sways him. Fili, Kili, Nori and Dwalin are sent with her, along with a pony and as many old buckets and bags as they can gather. Billana thinks that they are possibly being overly optimistic, but the lack of people and abundance of wild food means that there are mice, rats, bugs and pigeons aplenty in the ruins. Smaug has little interest or use for such tiny things and they do not disturb him.
The first few houses yield very nicely from their gardens, including some rather woody thyme, and Billana is relieved to find a few squashes among the potatoes, carrots and onions that the company are able to gather. She also makes a point of scavenging unbroken pots, plates and mugs, though there are no preserved foods that will be of any use after a hundred and seventy years. The others manage to kill nearly two dozen pigeons, which seems excessive until Billana remembers that a dwarf can eat more than that on his own and her own senses tell her than even two dozen will not make a significant dent in the number of the birds that fill the ruins. They return with a very good haul of food, enough to last them several days at least, and Thorin nods in satisfaction when he sees it.
They eat well that night, eating the last of the venison, and they had even managed to find a small, sealed, cask of wine. They don't risk drinking it, but Bombur had seared the meat in some and the flavour it adds feels almost decadent after months with only the most basic of rations. They search a little more in the following days, and although the crop yields fluctuate, they find enough to keep them all warm and comfortable. Those of them not looking for food focus on firewood and though the house is a little cramped with fourteen of them inside it, they spend a comfortable enough four days in the ruins of Dale, leaving better supplied than they had been as even though most of the perishables and preserves had been too far gone to risk, there had been several barrels of salt which had allowed them to hastily cure another two deer. They store all of this carefully, the plan being to avoid waking Smaug and come back this way on the way to the Iron Hills to raise the armies that Thorin needs. Bombur, Gloin and Bifur are left with the supplies and the orders to gather more of everything that they can for when the rest of them pass through on their return in a few days.
On the morning of Durin's Day they all rise early, well before the sun has crested the horizon, and those of them going to the mountain gather their belongings. Billana's feet feel like they are full of lead and she barely touches her breakfast. Excitement is clear on the faces of many of the others, but Billana cannot find it in herself. If all goes well, she will go into the mountain alone and emerge with the Arkenstone. If it goes wrong she is liable to end up burnt to a cinder by an angry dragon, taking her friends and family along with her. Fili and Kili, too, seem to become more reluctant as the morning rolls on, withdrawing from the quiet excited chatter to walk beside her in silence, their hands gripped by hers and their faces grim. If she could, Billana would turn tail and flee, dragging Fili and Kili with her if she could so that they wouldn't be separated. She can't, because she cannot turn her back on the promise that she made all those months ago. A foolish promise that she had failed to understand the weight of, feeling nothing more than the desperation of finding a home where she could belong and be accepted. That's something that she shares with these dwarves, she knows, but she hadn't expected to find love along the way. She hadn't ever expected to find love and now that she has Billana has no idea if she can go through with her promise, no idea if she can risk losing this thing that she hasn't looked for and yet can't imagine being without.
She isn't given long to dwell on it, all too soon she sees the great gates of Erebor looming in front of them, the great hole where Smaug smashed his way in gaping and black. The part of her that still clings to her hobbit good sense wants to run screaming in the opposite direction and she halts in the path. Fili and Kili stop next to her and the three of them stop to stare up at the mountain until Thorin urges them all forward.
"Shouldn't we wait for Gandalf?" Billana asks, remembering the wizard's instructions clearly.
"I will not waste time that could be spent searching waiting for the wizard," Thorin shakes his head. "We have but this one chance, else it will be another year before we have the opportunity to find it. I will not risk losing it. Spread out and search." He orders.
The others fan out, moving closer to the mountain so that they can begin looking for a stairway that might take them to the high point Thorin has told them is indicated on the map. Billana doesn't. Instead she removes her pack and hands it to Fili, then begins to undress and she shivers as she debates the best form to take. Both of them realise what she is doing very quickly and where Fili objects, Kili follows her example, also stripping down so that he can take on his raven form and search from the air with her. Fili huffs but subsides, settling for kissing her forehead and reminding her to be careful. A single change will not be too draining for her, at least, not so much that it will leave her unable to do so again when it comes to searching for the Arkenstone later and she places a reassuring hand on his cheek before taking on the form of a falcon and leaping into the air.
This is a form that she has not worn in a long time, but while her raven shape is large and perfect for such tasks as carrying a heavy rope or flying with Kili, her falcon form has better vision. She realises her error soon enough. There are very few warm updrafts for her to use to aid her in moving up through the air or hovering in place. For all her eyesight is superior, the shape of a raven is better suited to this environment on a cool day such as this. Still, it doesn't take long until she finds a ledge cut into the mountain beside a carved dwarf that seems to have grown out of the very mountain. There are many such carvings on Erebor, there is even the remains of a shattered statue outside the front gates. They all have the same zigzagging geometric pattern up the front of their clothes but this one is different, the cut so deep that two dwarves could stand shoulder to shoulder with one another quite safely. She has found the hidden staircase.
Billana wheels in the air, aware that Fili has been watching for her, and distantly hears him shout that she has found something. A glance tells her that he is coming to meet her and she hovers where she is as best she can. An approaching group distracts her, however, and soon she is surrounded by ravens.
-Greetings, flock sister,- an elder says. She bobs in the air in respect and returns the salutation. -The prophecy is true, then, you have brought the stone-dwellers to claim back to their mountain halls.-
-I have come to help them try,- she replies, -success is another matter, and not reliant on me-
-Their success with be dependant on many things, sister- the elder tells her, -but your presence will be crucial. The flock is yours, should you have need.-
-I thank you- she mutters, -and I look forward to knowing you all better-
They leave with a chorus of well wishes, and Billana drifts down to Fili who waits for her with her clothes in hand and the others on his heels. She lands quickly, changing and dressing in the short time that she has before the remains of the Company arrive. She is happy enough unclothed in front of Fili and Kili, but the chill air makes that an unwise decision. Besides, while Nori may have become a regular bathing partner, Billana still has little desire to allow the others to see her undressed.
"Well?" Thorin demands when he arrives.
"I've found it," she tells him and points.
His answering smile is wide, perhaps the most brilliant that she has ever seen on him, and she returns it tentatively. If they have found the stairs, that means that the door is somewhere on the small landing at the top. By morning Billana will very likely be inside the mountain trying to find a jewel in a sea of gold and jewels. She shudders in Fili's arm as Kili lands nearby and begins the change back into himself. The time is almost on her and she wants to do nothing more than run and hide.
A.N:I know pretty much nothing about plants, apart from what my mother tells me, so I have no idea if there would still be veggies growing in the gardens after 170 years. Call it artistic licence. I'm nearly done with my assignments, thankfully, and am celebrating by posting a chapter. Yay!
