A.N. Chapter 2! Or three...depending on how you look at it. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters and plot points.
Danica woke the next morning, having forgotten the events of the day before. Her dreams had been filled with memories of home, as well as images of the cougar she'd seen upon her arrival. Eyes still closed, she stretched, and reached out to pet her dogs, but they weren't there. Realization had her eyes popping open. The sight of Bilbo's guest room confirmed her current situation, and had her heart sinking. For a moment, she nearly fell victim to the despair building within her. Sitting up, she once again closed her eyes, and took a couple of slow, deep breaths. Her family was going to be panic and grief-stricken. Poor Tiana would likely blame herself. One tear managed to leak out, but she brushed it away. All she had to do was focus on the positives. She'd always been an adventurous, free spirit, and what better adventure was there than to explore a while, different world? Besides, Gandalf had already eased much of her anxieties the night before, and had said he could use that smoke every night.
Feeling steadier, she once again stretched, and then brushed her hair out with her fingers. Sadly, it would need some water before cooperating. Sighing, she held it up with one hand, and quietly opened the door. Thus far, it sounded like no one was up, so she padded as quickly as she could to the bathroom. Her hand was reaching for the handle when the door suddenly opened, sending her careening into Thorin. She gasped, heart lodged in her throat, and jumped back.
"Sorry," she whispered. "Excuse me,"
He looked at her, taking in her messy hair and rumpled dress. There was still something akin to frustration, but his features softened to polite neutrality. As with the night before, his appearance had her feeling unsettled. Hardly any silver weaved through his black hair, and his features, while worn with time and grief, still held the strength of a man in his prime. His beard was kept short, but full, and the two braids in front of his ears were woven with three different kinds of leather. She found herself exceedingly attracted to him, but was easily cooled off by how intimidating his ice blue eyes were.
"Miss MacKay," he acknowledged, walked past, then turned. "We will be eating momentarily before heading out. Gandalf has some supplies and more appropriate clothing for you,"
There had been a condescending edge to the tone of his last statement that had Danica frowning after him. Huffing a little, she put her hand on the door, then stopped.
"Thorin," he stopped, and looked back. "I wanted to offer my condolences. For your father,"
The statement had his countenance easing. "Thank you," he replied, then continued to the kitchen.
Danica looked after him a moment, then entered the bathroom. Though she wasn't exactly sure how the plumbing here worked, she was just grateful that it did. She kept the water cool as she washed her face, and rinsed her hair. Living without a toothbrush was going to be painful, but she managed to swish and scrub enough to feel clean. There was a lot that was going to be difficult to live without, especially as she'd never even gone camping. She wouldn't let that stop her. She refused to be the weak link. For the first time, she was grateful that periods would not plague her. When she got out, a few more dwarves were up, and the smell of eggs and bacon wafted from the kitchen. Gandalf was easy enough to find, and she even received friendly greetings from some of the dwarves.
"I had prepared supplies for a man, so the clothes will be too big, but they should work for now. We can always search for something better for you in Bree. As for the weapons, the sword will be too heavy for you, but the dagger will suffice,"
He handed her a bundle of clothes, and pointed to a pack very similar to that of the dwarves.
"Thank you," she smiled, and went back to her room to change.
She looked ridiculous. Even after tying the belt as tightly as she could, the pants were baggy. Everything was baggy. Without the leather jerkin and coat, the shirt had a tendency to slide off her shoulder. The boots would also fall off if they didn't have the laces to tighten them, and she had to stuff extra socks in the toes. How sad was it that she could be vain at a time like this? At least she would be warm. Sighing, she tied her hair into a braid, and went out.
Everyone was now up and scarfing down their breakfast. The atmosphere was one of eagerness and excitement. Danica snuck in amongst them to grab food. A soft snort had her turning to see Fili and Kili chuckling at her. They were doing their best to stifle the laughs into cups of tea, but were failing miserably.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she sighed. "I look ridiculous,"
That got a guffaw out of both of them, and had others looking over and chuckling.
"You do," Kili agreed. "But also adorable,"
She laughed. "Don't expect I'll be very intimidating looking like this, huh?"
More laughter, and then Bofur said, "Hate to tell ye Lass, but yer not really the type to inspire fear or intimidation, no matter what you wear,"
"You're probably right," she smiled. They hadn't seen her truly angry.
"Everyone, finish what you have. We leave in five minutes," Thorin called, already gathering his things.
"Don't worry," Balin murmured, moving closer to her. "He takes a long time to acquaint himself with someone new, and he just worries about your safety,"
She looked down at his kind, warm eyes, and greying hair and beard. He may look a little different than she would have expected, but he was still the sweet Balin she knew. Still, his words had her face shifting into a dubious expression. He smiled.
"I am sure you will prove yourself,"
"Thanks," but she wasn't sure. As she finished the scone that was in her hand, she looked around. "Shouldn't someone get Bilbo?"
"He's already up," Gandalf assured. "He made most of breakfast. I am sure he will be out momentarily,"
Thorin came back into view. "He'd better be, or else he will get left behind. Everyone, move out!"
Danica bit her cheek to keep from saying something about their leader's rudeness. All it would do would cause trouble. So, she fell into the organized chaos that was everyone grabbing their packs and rushing for the door. She tried to hang back for Bilbo, but Dwalin came behind her and ushered her out. Only a few hobbits had made their way into the morning air, and they all stopped dead at the sight of the small army moving toward town. Danica's cheeks and ears burned from all the stares, and when she tried to smile, she was met with suspicious glares. At one point, she saw the cougar walking with them, but up on a hill. It was large, and though she knew she should be afraid, she wasn't. However, any time they passed houses, the cat would disappear.
By the time they reached the Green Dragon, all of the attention had Danica feeling like she could melt a hole in a glacier. All of that discomfort disappeared at the sight of the horses and ponies tethered and waiting for them. Pure delight lifted her lips into a beaming smile when Gandalf introduced her to her horse, Shadow. Shadow was a silver and black mare, who was supposedly gentle to ride, but there was far too much spirit in her eyes for Danica to believe that.
"Ye sure ye can handle that beast?" Dwalin asked dubiously. "Ye can always take one of the ponies,"
"The horse I learned to ride on was bigger than this girl," Danica held out a hand for Shadow to smell, and then moved in to stroke her face and neck, cooing the whole time.
"I think the lass will be fine," Oin commented with amusement.
They were all preparing to mount when a small voice echoed down to them.
"Wait! Wait! Here I am!" Bilbo came running over to them, a large pack slung over his back, and a walking stick in his hand. Danica smiled while some of the dwarves exchanged coins. Bilbo stopped, breathless, in front of Balin.
Smiling, Balin gestured to one of the ponies. "You are just in time, Master Baggins. That is your pony. Tell us if you need some help up,"
"Uh…no, no thank you," Bilbo said, eyeing his docile beast nervously. "I've done a fair bit of walking, so- "
"You will slow us down," Thorin called from his horse, the only other besides Gandalf's and Danica's. "If you are to join us, you will have to ride,"
Looking both anxious, and put out, Bilbo put his foot in the stirrup, and proceeded to hop for a little bit, finally scrambling into the saddle. There was some head shaking and chuckling from the group that had Danica clenching her teeth. Poor Bilbo had such a long way to go to earn their respect. Then again, so did she. They rode out of Hobbiton, the houses growing sparser and sparser. With a look to her left, Danica realized that the cougar left with them.
Late winter melted into early spring, with plenty of cold and damp to go with it. For a while, there were inns along the road, so they were at least able to stay dry at night. Thorin, despite being used to, and preferring cold weather, found himself looking forward to a warmer change. It would make traveling more enjoyable, and he wouldn't have to listen to the griping and grumbling behind him. Surprisingly, the girl was not one of the gripers. She was obviously miserable being cold and wet all the time, but she held up without complaint. Some of that could have been the leaves Gandalf used in his pipe that he would smoke around the girl every night. However, it did take a few days for all of them to get used to their method of travel. Riding a horse all day left one terribly sore, and many of them couldn't walk by nightfall. The only oddity about their trek was a cougar that had been following them since Hobbiton. It was unusual for one to follow its quarry this long. Then again, it was unusual for them to pick such large quarry in the first place. Still, it never got too close, or tried to sneak up on them, so he mostly ignored it.
They stopped in Bree to pick up some more supplies, and take one day to rest. Nearly half of them had come down with a cold of some kind, including the girl and their burglar. Both had gotten dangerously close to falling off of their mounts, and the sheer quantity of the girl's sneezes had become pitiful. The moment they reached the inn, she went straight up to a room, and slept for 16 hours. Though Thorin did everything he could to stop it, Fili and Kili were the ones to share a room with her, and checked on her while everyone else ate.
"I could drag them to another room and tie them to the bed posts," Dwalin suggested at dinner. Both boys were currently seeing if she was well enough to join them.
"It's harmless," Balin said with a smile. "They are fond of the lass, that is all. Would ye fault them for making a friend?"
Dwalin shook his head. "She distracts them,"
"From what?" Balin snorted. "A long, wet, miserable road? We should all be so lucky,"
Thorin couldn't help the amusement at the brothers' bickering. Logically, he knew he should agree with Balin. After all, he knew what it looked like when his nephews were attracted to someone, and this wasn't it. However, there was something about the situation that bothered him.
A prickling sensation on the back of his neck had him subtly scanning the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few of the Company, including Gandalf, doing the same. In some of the darker corners of the inn sat men with dark, grungy clothing, and scowls. They looked like bounty hunters, much like the ones who had followed him when he'd first met Gandalf. He caught the wizard's eye, and both nodded grimly. The Company needed to get back on the road. Fili and Kili came down the stairs with both the girl and burglar in tow. Both of their guests looked better than they had the day before. He heard some excited murmuring, and looked over to see a couple of the bounty hunters looking directly at the girl.
Once everyone had sat down, he went over to the table his nephews sat at with their guests.
"Eat quickly," he said. "There are bounty hunters here, and we need to leave as soon as you are finished,"
All of their faces went serious at once. Fili and Kili immediately found the hunters, with the girl not far behind. Their burglar looked frightened.
"What does this mean?" he asked anxiously.
Before Thorin could answer, the girl spoke. "It means that the enemy has spies searching for us everywhere," she turned her silver eyes to Thorin in a rare moment of direct contact. "If they send word ahead of us, we could face ambush after ambush,"
She was right, if the hunters let them get out of Bree without a fight, that is.
"If they are like other hunters I have encountered, they will try to collect their bounty when we leave,"
Both the girl and burglar looked at the hunters nervously, obviously counting them. Fili and Kili, on the other hand, grinned with mischievous excitement.
"I wouldn't mind a little action," Kili said.
Thorin could see the exasperation he felt mirrored on the girl's face. Still, he doubted there was any way to avoid "a little action." He had them, and everyone else finish their meals, then sent them up to pack. In a decent amount of time, they were out, and heading to the stables. Gandalf had gone ahead of them to pay whatever fee would need to be paid. Then, he would take the girl and burglar outside of town, since neither could fight the broad side of a barn. Though he did not feel it would be necessary, Gandalf would then come back into town to help.
As they left the inn, he caught sight of the girl, and noticed that she wore a change of clothes. Still trousers, but ones that fit her better. In fact, everything she wore fit her better. The way her figure was now shown would only make her more of a target. Tearing his eyes away from her, he led the others back toward the stables. Gandalf must have gotten the clothes for her.
"You ain't goin no further," the hunters had trapped them in the road, and one stood forward to speak as their leader.
He really hadn't wanted to fight it out like this, but it looked like they had no other choice. "Alright, let's get this over with," he sighed.
The other dwarves made a quick, and sturdy circle around their most vulnerable members, and kept their eyes locked on the hunters. A couple of the hunters sniggered, while the leader, held up his hands.
"Now, now, I'm sure we can come to…some kind of deal," his beady, black eyes locked on the girl.
"No," Thorin growled instantly. "If you were wise, you would let us pass,"
A crowd was beginning to gather on the edges of the road, and while some looked like they would rather just stay out of it, there were some who were obviously itching for a fight. If it came to that, they could be in trouble. Especially trying to protect the girl and Bilbo.
"If I go with you, will you let them go, for now?" the girl spoke up from the middle of the group, then pushed her way to the front.
"Get back," Thorin demanded tersely. Unfortunately, the words were said, and the hunters looked intrigued.
"For now. I cannot promise anything past tonight," the lead hunter gave a disgusting smirk.
"That's enough," the girl nodded, taking another step forward.
Thorin reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "It most certainly is not. Now get behind me, and do as you are told,"
"Let the lady speak for herself," the hunter was frowning, and the tension around the crowd grew.
Behind him, he could feel Fili put a hand on his shoulder. "This could be our only chance," he whispered. "We can just follow them, and ambush them when Gandalf shows up,"
Having heard that, the girl pulled away from his grip, and made her way to the hunters before he could grab her again. His hand lifted, though she was too far away.
"Dan- "his voice cut off as Fili and Dwalin held him back. Her eyes locked on his for a moment, asking for trust, then looked pointedly up at the rooftops. After that, she was pulled out of sight by the hunters.
Following where her eyes had led, he also looked up, and saw a cougar pacing the roofs. It looked to be the same cat he had seen a few times on the road. He had never seen a wild cat behave like this before, and was even more surprised when it followed the girl and the hunters down the road. Somehow, impossibly, it seemed ready to help her. Until they could rescue her, he had to take some comfort in that. In the meantime, it appeared a couple of the hunters, along with some of the crowd, were not content with the peaceful conclusion to the confrontation. He looked back at the dwarves, who raised their weapons slightly. Bofur pulled Bilbo to the side, where a few peaceful women were standing by to help with whatever injuries may occur.
Turning back to some of the advancing men, Thorin lifted his own sword. He had some rage to work off.
P.S. Thanks for reading! Reviews and comments would be lovely!