Halien had caught five birds, so there was enough meat from one bird to feed three dwarves at least. Thankfully, the birds were large and plump, as they should be during that time of year. She pulled the stick holding the birds off the stand and one by one pulled off the birds. She handed one to Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur, one to Nori, Dori, and Ori, one to Fili, Kili, and Thorin, one to Bilbo, Oin, and Gloin, and one to Balin and Gandalf. Balin cut a portion of the bird and put it on a plate, asking if Halien could bring it to Dwalin. Halien nodded and took the pot from the fire and spooned out the potatoes and carrots onto their plates. Smiling, she watched as the dwarves began to eat their meal with much delight. She could hear their thoughts and chuckled to herself when they said that it was nice to have someone to cook for them and that it was far better than anything that they could have made. She brought the plate to Dwalin and smiled when he thanked her. She was as surprised as the others that he warmed up to her as much as she had. She suspected that it was because she had more than proved her worth to the company.
Putting the pot back on the fire- as it still had plenty left inside- Halien went over to the horses and ponies to make sure that they were fed and watered. She felt the hunger pains beginning in her stomach, but she ignored them until the animals were taken care of. The horses and ponies thanked her, grateful that she took so much time to make sure that they were taken just as well care of as their riders. Halien smiled and gave them each a treat: a peach for each of them that she had found near the spring they had stopped at. She had used her magik to extract the pits and planted them in the ground to grow new trees. The horses and ponies ate them graciously, enjoying the sweetness and thanking her for de-pitting them. Torwen urged Halien to eat something, but Halien shook her head. "I'm fine, Torwen." she insisted. Torwen didn't believe her but knew not to push it too much as she had grown as stubborn as a dwarf in the many years she spent living with them.
While the others were enjoying their meal, Halien pulled an apple from her pack and set off to the sideways, looking out over the cliffside they made camp on. Behind her, Thorin looked up and saw her by herself, barely eating anything. He looked down at his plate and saw that he still had a good portion of his part of the bird left, and having eaten his fill, he stood and spooned some more of the potatoes and carrots onto his plate, carrying it over to Halien. Kili and Fili watched as their uncle approached her.
"He seems to have quite the interest in that elf," Fili commented as he watched Halien accept the offered plate as Thorin took a seat next to her.
"She is strong, holds honor and family in high regard for one thing- something we all know Thorin takes great pride in," Balin observed. "She is an excellent hunter, an amazing cook- as we all can attest to she has skills that we could never dream of ever attaining that have been a valuable addition to our quest, and top it all off, she has an outstanding voice and she is quite the beauty. If I were still young, I probably would show her the same attention as Thorin has begun to. She is different than her father- what I know of him at least- and different from others of her kind. I can respect her courage and her effort to aid us."
"Halien is a good lass," Bofur added. "She has a good heart. She thinks of others before herself and always makes sure that they are taken care of before she considers herself. When she was in our town, Halien would watch the children when their parents were away and would play games with them. She helped the village doctor with her healing magik every day and she would sing and dance with us at festivals. If I didn't know better, I would say that she has become more of a dwarf than she is an elf. She will always miss her people, but she's a part of our people now."
Thorin sat next to Halien as she ate and he began to think: what if she truly is nothing like her father? She had spoken of the burning of Dale as if she remembered it as clearly as he remembered Erebor falling just ahead of the town. Could she have come back? No one could have faked the emotion she had when she told him that she had returned, that she had helped the people of Dale when her father would not. He knew that she had been in his village in the Blue Mountains, as he had seen her there himself. And now, here she was using her magik, her hunting skills, cooking every meal for them and showing him the utmost respect that one in her position would normally not. Thorin watched as Halien ate, smiling a little. There was an elf who was eating meat, enjoying the company of the other dwarves as if she were truly one of them. Though he may not care for her people, thus far Halien has proven that she is not like her father in the time that she has traveled with him, even more so than when she had by building herself a name in the east and continuing in the west. He was beginning to trust her again but wasn't sure how far that trust would go just yet. Perhaps she truly was not like her father and perhaps she was still the same adventurous and happy elf he had met long ago.
Halien, for once, was glad to have not heard Thorin's thoughts, though it might have been one of those times that she should have. The last month or so, she had been training herself as Torwen suggested to block out the thoughts of others unless she wanted to hear them. She had gained enough control over that power to where it was no longer an issue. She no longer felt dizzy, either, when the dwarves were thinking so loudly, all at once.
She began to enjoy the company of the dwarves. They seemed to have bonded fairly well, though it seemed to be just friends at the moment. Halien knew that if she were still in Greenwood, her father would be furious with her even spending this much time with the dwarves, let alone befriend them or fall in love with them. Halien had grown quite accustomed to the dwarves, almost as much as she had with the Grotsnev clan, and would even go as far as calling them her kin. She felt sorry for Bilbo, though. The dwarves hadn't yet completely integrated him into the company; he seemed to be more of an awkward guest in a nobleman's home. He kept to himself a lot, but at least Bofur was making an effort to include him in things.
