Thank you Pallysdeeks and SuperWhoVenger214 for your reviews! And again, thank you for sticking with me through this fanfic, I promise it will be finished within the next six months! It is my number one priority right now.

"You did what?" Riley slurred, shooting clumsily out of bed to face Shayla, who had only just made her way into the bedroom after walking back down from the outpost with Kili. It was well and truly dawn by now, and it seemed that Riley was still drunk.

They were certainly going to have a fun day ahead of them, Shayla thought as she crawled under the covers of her bed, hoping Riley would do the same.

Unfortunately for her, Riley had already stumbled from her bed and over to Shayla's, sitting heavily on the floor so that she was eye level with her friend. Shayla sighed and rolled her eyes at Riley, who was still waiting for her answer.

"I kissed Kili." She mumbled under her breath, hoping that Riley wouldn't hear her and move onto another topic, like the fact that she was severely intoxicated.

"Why did you kiss Kili, Shayla?" Riley drawled, the words spilling clumsily from her mouth, the alcohol not smothering the fire of her words but instead the delivery of them. "Out of anyone you could kiss, why did it have to be him?" Shayla glared at Riley, knowing this was how the conversation would go. Fortunately for her, her mind was slightly more switched on and it didn't take long for her to turn the tables on Riley.

"Well, I wasn't able to choose anyone, now could I? Especially when you've got Bofur covered."

There was a silence in the room for several moments as Riley waded through the murkiness that was the unfolding conversation, though once she clicked, there was no hiding it.

Certainly not with alcohol coursing so strongly through her bloodstream.

Riley's cheeks turned a shade of crimson and she begun to stumble her way through excuses and rebuttals, but in her drunken state she couldn't control the façade.

Shayla smirked and sat up, the change in topic a welcome one as she begun to interrogate her friend.

"You like him, don't you?" Riley's eyes narrowed at Shayla and she stood, dramatically storming back to her own bed and throwing the covers over herself.

"I'm not judging, Riley. Bofur is really nice. I even promise I won't judge you if you kiss him." Shayla added pointedly, which was met by some inaudible mumbling that Shayla knew were insults.

"I've never seen you drunk before. It's highly amusing." Riley pulled the covers from her face, her glare unrelenting.

"I don't get drunk, for obvious reasons."

"Is it because you like being in control, or is it because you're scared that someone will find out you're not quite the bitch you try to be?" Several moments silence passed once more in which Shayla was sure Riley would spew forth more colourful and insulting words, however it didn't happen. Riley's half sleepy, half drunk, muffled voice responded with one simple word.

"Both."

Shayla smirked at her and rolled further into the blankets, hoping that she would get at least a little sleep before the tournament begun. Remembering how happy Riley was at dinner spurred Shayla to speak her thoughts before Riley gave in to her drunken stupor.

"Last night was the happiest I've seen you Riley. You deserve to be happy, more than anything." There wasn't a response and Shayla thought she had fallen asleep before she spoke the words, but Riley laid quietly, trying to absorb what her friend was saying, and possibly even beginning to accept it.

They had fallen asleep for what felt like only minutes, before there was an urgent knocking at the bedroom door. Shayla jolted upright and Riley let out an irritated groan at the offender.

"Shayla, Riley, Durin's Tournament is about to begin!" Bilbo's voice sounded on the other side of the door that Shayla was quick to open.

"Shit!" She exclaimed, stuffing her feet into the boots she had been wearing for weeks now, pulling the blankets from Riley as her bleary eyes glared at both Shayla and Bilbo.

"Come on Riley, get up!"

The complaints that left Riley's mouth were numerous and unrelenting, continuing all the way to the passage that led to the Tournament fields.

As they hurried down the corridor, they could hear Fili's voice echoing through, calling the start of the annual Durin's Tournament. They slowed as they reached the light at the end of the passage and hesitantly entered a far bigger cavern than Shayla and Riley had seen thus far.

The onyx walls travelled upwards and inwards, creating an almost domed expanse, something much more extravagant than the football or rugby stadiums they had seen on TV back home. The cavern, which acted much more like an arena as opposed to an extensive cave, was lined with grandstands that you would see in a gladiator's colosseum. The walls built high with rows and rows of seating that reached to meet the far edges of the space.

It was so incredible that even a severely hungover Riley still found several moments to appreciate the effort exerted to create such a beautiful space.

Bilbo led the two up a set of stairs to their right and across a row where they found Sigrid, Bard and Arya. The crowd in which they sat looked as though they were mostly human, Shayla noted thoughtfully.

The family smiled at the late comers and gestured to spare seats next to them, as though they had been waiting for them to arrive.

They sat, and Shayla turned to Bilbo, wondering about several absences.

"Where's Josh? Kili? Bofur? Half of the company?" Bilbo leaned into whisper in Shayla's ear, keeping an eye on his father, who was announcing those due to adjudicate the events.

"Josh is in Dale with Bard and Bain reassessing and fortifying defences, and most of our direct kin are doing the same here in Erebor, including Kili. The arena is not even at half the typical turn out for this event." Shayla looked around her at the seating, noting how much emptier it seemed on further inspection. There were full sections that were completely vacant.

"Amelia, Balin, Bofur and Ori are in the King's box across from us," he murmured, discretely pointing to a section that jutted out from the rest of the seating. "The remaining members of the company are preparing for the tournament itself."

Shayla nodded, though she couldn't help but feel disappointed that she could not visibly see Kili. Their attention was quickly focused back on Fili as he announced the altered structure of this year's event.

There were various competitions in which individuals could compete. Sparring was the main category, with specialisation in weapons such as daggers, swords, axes and warhammers, as well as hand to hand combat and medley, where it was the competitors weapon of choice. There was also an archery and dagger throwing division, which would be completed much quicker than the sparring, and were therefore to begin and finish on the first two mornings.

The fixtures would draw out over the course of the three weeks and be limited to a maximum three hours per morning, however, to allow work to continue in defence of the cities.

There would be two bouts competed per morning, per fixture, starting the third day, until the winners were crowned. Each fixture's bouts would be randomly allocated, with Fain and Jessika being shown no leniency in terms of who their opponent would be.

Thankfully for the sleep deprived Shayla and hungover Riley, the trials that morning lasted just under three hours. There had been many more entrants into the dagger throwing, with almost thirty Dwarves participating compared to a measly six in archery. Each event had three separate trials, where the referees observed and kept score of each participants ability.

The first tested precision and accuracy, which involved hitting targets from various distances, attempting to hit critical kill areas. The second tested resourcefulness, and included being able to build their weapon from various items, and using their final product to hit a target some fifty metres away. The final tested abilities under pressure, and included moving targets and Dwarvish soldiers attempting to thwart their attempts at hitting said targets.

An older and more experienced Dwarf from the Blue Mountains won the archery contest after around an hour, whereas the dagger throwing contest took several hours for obvious reasons, concluding a third of the way through the contestants to resume the following morning.

Fain hadn't competed during the first morning, instead due to complete his trials the following day. Shayla and Riley were thankful that they were able to head back to the chambers straight afterwards and sleep for the rest of the afternoon until dinner.

Unfortunately, the radiating cheer and alcohol-fuelled festivities from the previous night did not ring over into the following dinner. After naps that spanned the entirety of the afternoon, Riley and Shayla ate dinner with Bilbo, Amelia, Joshua, Sigrid, Bard and Arya in almost complete silence besides a quiet conversation between Amelia and Sigrid.

Bilbo had told them prior to dinner that Sigrid, Bard II and Arya had moved into a sleeping chamber within Erebor, just until Josh was confident that the threat of attack had deteriorated. The thought unsettled Riley; if they had been cleaning spare chambers and already moved some of Josh's family to the safer city, the risk that they would be attacked on the way to see the Elves dramatically increased.

Her mind conflicted with her heart, a battle that seemed pointless; as soon as she made up her mind to force Shayla to stay in the halls of Erebor, her heart would tell her not to be selfish, to help her friend. Then, when her heart had control over her resolution, her fear would get the better of her and the logical portion of her brain would choose self-preservation over selflessness. Frustrated, she scrunched her eyes closed in an attempt to drown out her thoughts, but they were determined not to washed away.

Those thoughts haunted Riley throughout the night, taking grasp soon after Shayla had fallen asleep and not relinquish until the early hours of the morning when exhaustion finally consumed her.

Sorry about the small chapter, I had to cut it off from the next one otherwise it would have been huge. Next chapter will be out by next weekend!

Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone following my stories! I appreciate all of your favourites, reviews, follows and private messages. I hope that you have a safe and fun time over the next few days!