It was early afternoon by the time the Company was ready to leave. Rin was sitting in front of the House, sharpening one of her knives and looking up at the sky from time to time. It was sunny and cloudless, promising a clear night. Good. Nothing lived at the peaks of the mountains, except for the Great eagles Rin had sometimes seen scouting the sky. But on the way up things lurked in the darkness, circling closer and closer, with the only thing keeping them away being the light of the fire. Weirdly, that was also what drew them in the first place.
Rin found it funny sometimes. Back when Greenwood had been safer and more travelers had crossed the forest, she herself had often hid just outside the ring of light their fires provided, watching them from the branches of a tree above or from the bushes. It had mostly been to make sure they weren't dangerous, but it was always funny to snap a twig or two and watch them jump. But that had been before the spiders. Before the forest had started seeming less of a home to the Woodland folk than to whatever dark thing had wrapped its claws around it.
Being able to see what hid in the darkness was not always a good thing.
At the corner of her eye, Rin noticed a tall figure approaching her. It didn't take a lot of effort to figure out who it was. Rin put the knife back at its spot under one of the leather cuffs she wore around her forearms and turned around to face Elrond.
She had been avoiding the elven lord for the last few days, not sure if she was angry at him, her uncle, the White council or all of them at once. Her anger had cooled down now, but the feeling of betrayal still lingered.
"Lord Elrond." Rin tried to make her voice as cool and neutral as possible. It came out colder than she intended.
"I wanted to have a word with you before you left. Concerning the journey ahead."
Of course. Rin wasn't in the mood to listen to another lecture, but she nodded. She didn't want to part Rivendell on bad terms with Elrond.
"I have not sent word to King Thranduil."
"You haven't?"-that was definitely not what Rin had expected to hear-"Why?"
"It is not my place. You will have the chance to talk to him yourself, and he will tell you the story better than I did."-Elrond stayed silent for a second-"The journey ahead is not an easy one, Rin. But I give you my blessing for it."
This somehow sounded reassuring. Rin wasn't even sure why. But she felt like she had to say something.
"Thank you. For your blessings, and your hospitality. I hope I will be able to repay it someday."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The climb up the mountains was worse than Rin remembered it. When she and Legolas had crossed them, they had gone through the northern side, where the rocks hadn't been quite as steep. As far as Rin could tell, now they were going southeast, and it was getting harder to ride on the narrow paths.
By the end of the first week they weren't even halfway up the mountains. The nights were getting colder and colder, and even Rin had to throw on the extra coat she had taken in her pack. Everything looked so cold and lifeless up here. She didn't remember if she had ever missed the green of the forest more.
The camps they made at night were in small clearings or next to the stone wall, staying out of the way of the wind. One of those nights Rin was sitting next to the burning remnants of the fire, rubbing the scar on her calf with her knuckles. The cold and the riding had made the muscles cramp and by the Valar, it felt like she had kicked a wall.
"Is there anything around?" Thorin asked quietly. He was the only one still awake.
Rin threw a quick glance around. Except for the occasional small rodents, there had been nothing since the moment they had started climbing the mountains. But still, it was better to be careful than dead.
"Except for the Warg over there?"-Rin chuckled under her breath as his eyes shot towards the darkness. As the only one who could see in the dark, Rin stayed on watch most nights and the only entertainment she had was messing with the Company. -"I'm just kidding uncle."
It took her a few seconds to realize what she had just said.
"Sorry…I didn't mean to…"-She had been listening to Fili and Kili call Thorin uncle too many times for the last two weeks.
Rin really wished there was a tree she could hide behind. The awkward silence that followed felt like it stretched for hours.
"You can call me uncle if you want to, Rin. I don't mind."
"You don't?"
"You are Frerin's daughter, and he was my brother. You are as much my niece as Fili and Kili are my nephews."
That was going to take some time to get used to. Still, it felt nice to know that maybe, just maybe, she was starting to fit in with the rest of her family.
"What was he like? My father, I mean."-Rin asked-"I know he was a brave warrior, but what was he really like?"
Thorin was silent for a second.
"You father was a wild soul. He didn't like staying at one place for too long, even after he met your mother. He was stubborn and impulsive, and often took too many risks, but would do anything to protect the people he cared about."
"Did his attitude get him into trouble?"
"More often than you can imagine."
Rin laughed. She had more in common with her father than she had ever thought.
Her good mood quickly disappeared as the whole mountain shook with the echo of a distant thunder. Bilbo was the first one to wake up, looking around frantically in a half-awake state.
"What was that?"
"That-Rin said, looking up at the sky-was an indication that tomorrow will be an extremely rainy day."