"Cassia!"
"Come on, wake up!"
"Come on, lass, breathe!"
"Cassia!" Something thumps hard against her chest and she gasps, choking. Strong arms flip her over and she vomits up what feels like an entire gallon of water into the mud. As she throws up, feeling seeps back into her body. She's freezing, her clothes soaked through, her throat and nose are burning and her head aches furiously.
"Are you all right?" Bilbo asks, pushing her sodden curls off her forehead. Cassia shakes her head.
"My head hurts," she whimpers.
"Aye," Thorin says, for he had been the one to wake her up, "You've a nasty bump. I'll have Oin take a look at it."
Bilbo pulls Cassia into his arms as Thorin leaves. "I hit my head when I went under," Cassia tells him as he drapes a blessedly dry blanket around her shoulders.
"Ah," he replies, "You're lucky Fili fished you out."
"He did?"
"Yes. Nearly drowned himself in the process. He went right back in for Kili after he got you out."
"Oh no!" Cassia gasps, sitting up and throwing her blanket off. "Kili! Is he..?"
"The lads are fine," Oin assures her, trundling over with his medical bag. "Wet, and significantly ruffled, but in much better shape than you."
"Oh, good," she sighs, peering over. Fili and Kili are sitting next to each other, appearing just as the medic said, but alive. Thorin is standing over them, clearly scolding them, and they have slightly sullen looks on their faces. Oin pokes at the bump on the back of Cassia's head, and she winces.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry, lass," he says, "how do you feel? Any dizziness or nausea? Any part of your body tingling or feeling unusually week?"
Cassia shakes her head. "I mean, my head aches something awful, but I don't feel dizzy, really."
"Good, good. You don't have a brain injury, then. Dry off and get warm. You should be fine."
Cassia pulls the blanket she had thrown off back up around her shoulders, and moves closer to the fire Bifur has started. Thorin is still scolding Fili and Kili just beyond her.
"...foolish and irresponsible!" he's saying, "you are old enough to know better, and when I allowed you to come on this quest I told you I expected a certain amount of level-headedness and responsibility!"
"But—" Fili starts.
Thorin talks right over him. "What would your mother say, if you didn't come home safe? I promised to protect you and do you really want to leave her alone?"
"Did you just expect me to leave them to drown?!" Fili cries.
"Of course not! But I expect you think before you act! Don't be impulsive! For Mahal's sake, lad! I'd expect something like this from your brother, but not from you! You're the elder! You're supposed to look out for him, but not at risk to yourself, you hear me?"
Kili opens his mouth, probably to protest being deemed the irresponsible one, when Cassia speaks up.
"I'm sorry," she says. Thorin turns and blinks at her.
"For what?"
"It's my fault. I should have been more careful at the river, but I wasn't, and we lost all that food and—!"
The dwarf silences her with a hand on her shoulder. "Lass," he says seriously, "it wasn't your fault."
"But—!"
"Don't trouble yourself over it. Mistakes were made, they will not be made again."
Cassia blinks up at him, and then nods. "Oh, I, uh… thank you?"
Thorin nods and pats her shoulder once, sighing and turning back to his nephews. "I've been too hard on you. Fili, what you did was very brave, but next time, wait for help, understand? And Kili, be a little more careful, understand?"
The two of them nod. "Yes, uncle."
"Good." The older dwarf then moves on to discuss something with Balin. Cassia sits down next to Fili.
"I think," Kili says, "that's the closest Uncle's ever got to admitting something was his fault."
"Huh?" Bilbo asks, coming over to the three of them with bowls of stew.
"That was definitely Thorin-speak for 'this was my fault, I'm glad you didn't die because of it'," Fili says.
"You mean he doesn't blame me?" Cassia asks. "That's a relief."
"It's probably cuz you're a girl," Kili says.
"What's that mean?"
"That's gotta be why he went easy on you," he continues, "because I can't think of anything else."
"Or I charmed him with my beauty," Cassia laughs.
Kili makes a face. "Eugh. He's so old though."
She laughs again. "I was joking."
The next few days pass without incident. One night Thorin sends Fili, Kili, and Cassia off to get firewood.
"How are you feeling?" Fili asks Cassia, falling back to walk beside her. She grins at him.
"I'm great!" she says.
"Really?"
"Yes!" She beams at him. "I've been having the most fun I've had in forever! I'm seeing things I've never seen, experiencing things I've never experienced!"
"You almost drowned," he says.
"Only once."
Fili chuckles softly at that, then sobers, looking her in the eye. Cassia feels a little uncomfortable under his gaze and turns away. "You know," he says gently, "it's all right to not be all right."
She forces out a laugh. "Who said anything about not being all right? I'm perfectly fine!" She pats his arm. "Truly, Fili, you needn't worry."
With that, she trots off, calling for Kili. In truth, though, Cassia isn't fine at all, but she'd never tell anyone. Her companions don't need to know that sometimes she wakes up gasping from drowning in her dreams.
"I bet I can gather more firewood than you, Kili!" She shouts.
"No way!" He calls. "I'll beat you!"
Cassia sprints off. "Five minutes, we meet back here! Whoever has more wood wins!"
Cassia kind of, sort of wants to die. She has no idea how she gets into these kinds of predicaments, but her she is… in one. Somehow, the end of her braid slipped out of it's updo and is now firmly tangled in a thorny bush.
"Hey, Cassia!" Kili calls, "Where'd you go?"
"Cassia?" Fili shouts.
"I'm over here," She cries to them. There's the crunching of heavy dwarven boots over the forest floor and then their shadows fall over her.
"What are you doing?" Kili asks. Cassia glares.
"You can't laugh," she says.
"Huh?"
"Just promise not to laugh!"
"All right! We promise, right Fee?"
"Aye."
Cassia looks away the best she can, the movement making her wince as it pulls on her hair. "I'm stuck," she says quietly.
"What do you mean, 'stuck'?" Kili asks.
"I mean I'm stuck!" She shrieks. "My hair is stuck in this bush and I can't get out!" Fili and Kili step back, startled. Then they snort.
"You said you wouldn't laugh!"
"I'm not!" Fili insists, biting his bottom lip in an effort to keep himself quiet.
"Yes, you are!" She wails. "I can tell!" Kili falls over cackling, making no effort to stifle his laughter. "Shut up, Kili! It's not funny!"
"Yes it is!" he insists, "It's hilarious!"
"No, it's not!"
"It is a little," Fili says. "How did you get in this situation, anyway?"
"None of your business!" she snaps, "Just get me out!"
Kili can barely stand, he's laughing so hard, so Fili steps up to help Cassia. He gives her braid a little tug, and she yelps.
"Don't pull it!"
"Do you want to stay stuck forever?"
"Just be gentle, you monster!"
"Don't be rude! Mahal's beard, is this how you treat everyone who tries to help you?"
"Only the ones who laugh at me. Shut UP, Kili!"
Fili grumbles and crouches down so he has a better view, being a little more gentle as he works to untangle the burrs and sticks from her curls. "I think you may be more trouble than you're worth," he mumbles. Cassia smacks him. "Ow."
"I can hear you, you know." There's a snapping noise, and some of the pressure on Cassia's head lets up. "Oh! You got it!"
"Almost, just… a little… more…" There's a bit more crackling and suddenly Cassia is free. She sits up with a whoop.
"Freedom!" She crows, running a hand over her head. Burrs stick her fingers. "Well, mostly."
Fili tugs at one of them, and she squeaks. "Ouch! Be careful!"
"Sorry," he says. "I think you'll need a comb to get out the rest."
Kili, who had finally been calming down, takes one look at Cassia's hair and bursts out laughing again. "You look like you've got a bird's nest on your head!"
Cassia leaps to her feet and lunges at him, snatching up a handful of burrs. "Get over here and see how you like it!"
Kili shrieks and dashes away, with Cassia in hot pursuit. Fili sighs and trots after them.
Kili trips over a rock and tumbles head over heels back into the campsite and Cassia pounces on his back, holding him down and shoving her handful of burrs into his already tangled hair. "Take that!"
"Ack! How could you?!"
"Payback!"
"You're a terror!"
"No more than you are!"
"Uh," Bilbo says, the first to speak up. "What's going on?"
"Revenge," Cassia says, standing up and brushing off her skirts. "Well deserved revenge."
"That's a lot of burrs in your hair, lass," Bofur says. Cassia blushes, remembering the state of her curls.
"There was an incident with a bush," Fili explains for her, dumping an armful of kindling next to the fire. "Here, I got this."
"Oh," Kili says, "I forgot about the firewood."
"Me, too," Cassia says, opening her pack and digging around in it.
"Clearly," Thorin says drily.
"Sorry," She tells him sheepishly, pulling out a wooden comb and plopping down, starting to work the burrs and sticks out of her curls.
"Oh, that is it!"Cassia shrieks, leaping to her feet and throwing her comb down. Fili, who had been dozing next to her, nearly jumps out of his skin, sending his pipe flying with a flurry of choking coughs. The other dwarves startle at the commotion, turning to stare at them.
"What?!" he chokes, eyes watering, "What's wrong?"
"I give up!" she cries, stomping over to her pack and opening it with a jerk.
"You've still got burrs in your hair, though," Kili says, patting his brother on the back. Fili had helped him get the debris out of his hair a while ago.
"I know! That's what I've given up on!" Cassia says, dumping all of her belongings out onto her bedroll and digging through them."
"So…" Fili says, shaking off Kili, "You're just going to live with burrs in your hair for the rest of your life?"
"Of course not," Cassia says, shaking out one of her skirts and tossing it aside. "Don't be ridiculous."
"You said you were giving up, though," Kili reminds her.
"I know, I know… AHA!" She lets out a triumphant yell, holding aloft a pair of scissors.
"What're you going to do with those?" Fili queries, settling back down to relight his pipe.
"I'm cutting my hair," Cassia declares. There is an instant uproar.
"What?!" Fili splutters, dropping his lit pipe in his lap. "OW!"
"You can't!" Kili cries, as his brother leaps up and shakes coals off his trousers.
"How could you say that?!" Ori, who had been watching that all go down, butts in.
"Miss Baggins," Thorin says gravely, "If you feel ashamed about the incident at the river, it was an accident that could happen to anyone."
Cassia blinks at him. "I'm sorry?"
"Aye!" Bofur adds, "it wasn't your fault we lost all the food. Accidents like that happen all the time when you're travelling!"
"There's no need to cut your hair over it!" Balin puts in.
"That's not…" Cassia starts, "There's burrs in it."
"I told you not to laugh at her, Kili," Fili scolds, punching his brother in the gut. "Now look what you've done! You've shamed her!"
"Ow! I didn't mean to!"
"Kili," Thorin says, "Do you have something to do with this?"
"Of course not! Don't blame me!"
"You teased her!" Fili says.
"So did you!"
Cassia is completely at a loss, looking around and blinking. Gandalf is no help at all, his eyes twinkling mirthfully, seeming quite content to let the craziness reign.
"I'm sorry," Bilbo says, half shouting to be heard over the ruckus, "But what's the problem?"
"She's trying to cut her hair!" Kili cries, stuck in a headlock from his brother.
"Aye!" Fili adds, "Tell her she can't!"
"Oh," Bilbo sighs, sitting back and relighting his pipe. "Is that all?"
"'Is that all'!?" Dwalin roars, startling the hobbit quite badly and causing him to singe the end of his nose. "It's her HAIR!"
"Yes…" Bilbo says slowly, rubbing the burnt appendage. "It most certainly is her hair. I don't have any say in what she does with it."
"But…" Fili starts, still holding Kili in a headlock.
"I'm beginning to think," Cassia interrupts him, "That we have very different customs surrounding hair."
Fili is so shocked by this, he drops Kili, who lands in a heap in the dirt. "You mean for hobbits it's not a disgrace to have your hair cut?"
"No? Why would it be?"
"Or your beard plucked?" Kili puts in, scrambling to his feet.
"Kili, you don't even have a beard," she cries. He gasps, offended, and covers his scruffy chin.
"It's coming in!"
"Hobbits don't have any traditions surrounding beards because we don't grow beards," Bilbo says.
"What?" Ori gasps, appalled. "None at all?"
"Of course not," Bilbo sighs, "I'm fully grown and I haven't got one and neither does any other hobbit."
"Well," Dwalin says, "We didn't want to assume anything."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bilbo glares, looking almost fierce.
"You don't braid your loved one's hair?" Kili asks, tugging on Cassia's sleeve. "You don't do First Braids? Or courting beads? Or Wedding braids?"
Cassia shakes him off, a little annoyed. "Of course not, Kili, I don't even know what those things are."
She stomps over to her brother and holds out the scissors. "Now that we've established the differences in our cultures concerning hair, Bilbo will you please cut these burrs out? They pinch!"
Her brother takes the scissors. "Sit down then. How short do you want it?"
"Just to my shoulders," She replies, "Any shorter and I might give someone an aneurysm."
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Bilbo asks, "You've been growing it out for a while."
"I'm sure." Cassia says. "I grew it out for a stupid reason anyway."
.
The haircut turns out pretty nice regardless of the dwarves protestations, the ends of her curls just brushing the tops of her shoulders, with not a burr in it to be seen. Cassia quite likes it short like this. "Its so manageable," she sighs delightedly, tying it back in pigtails. "No more complicated updos for me, thanks."
The dwarves obviously don't know what to think about this development, those bold enough to stare doing so with wide eyes.
"What?" She asks, glaring, "it's short now and theres nothing you can do about it, so stop staring!"
"I think it looks nice," Fili says reassuringly.
She gives him a wide smile. "Thank you, Fili."
He clears his throat and looks away, his ears turning red. "Aye," he mumbles, "no problem."
Kili punches him in the shoulder, kind of out of the blue, and the two of them start arguing, drawing the Company's attention away from Cassia.
"Huh," Bilbo says.
"What?" she asks, fiddling with the ends of her hair.
"Nothing," he replies. "You look nice. It's been a while since you've had your hair this short. Brings back old times."
"Aw, thanks."
"Hey," Kili says, coming over and plopping down beside her on her log, holding a bowl of soup. "You mean you used to have hair this short?"
"Aye, when I was a child." She eyes the soup. "That for me? And weren't you just fighting with Fili?"
"Get your own," Kili says, holding his food away from her.
"You owe me, though."
"I certainly do not!"
"You do! For teasing me!"
"Nuh-uh! Back off!"
"Don't try and fight him for that," Fili interrupts them, coming up with two bowls. He hands one to Cassia. "Here."
"Ooh, thanks," she gasps as he sits down on her other side. "You're my favorite dwarf."
He beams at her. "Really? Or are you joking?"
"I'm serious. You're the best, Fili."
"What am I then?" Kili asks, "chopped liver?"
Cassia sticks her tongue out at him.
"Is that a yes."
"Yes," she mumbles through a full mouth.
"Rude," Kili sighs.
She laughs and loops one arm through Fili's, leaning her head against his shoulder.
He grins down at her. "Is it odd for me to ask why you grew your hair out? You said it was for a stupid reason."
Cassia blushes. "It's a little embarrassing, to be honest."
"You don't have to tell me," Fili says.
"No," Kili interjects. "I wanna know why. Tell us!"
"Ugh," she grumbles, "fine, fine, but you can't tease me like last time, promise?"
"Promise," Fili says.
"Aye, we promise."
Cassia takes another bite of her soup. "I grew it out for a lad," she mumbles.
"No you didn't," Kili says.
"I'm serious!"
The two brothers stare at her, mouths half open in surprise. Cassia focuses on her food. "Well," Kili says. "What happened?!"
"Does it matter?"
"It matters! I want to know."
She sighs. "I wanted to get his attention, but he said he didn't like girls… like me."
"Like you?"
"Who went on adventures and caused trouble and had short hair. Can we stop talking about this?"
"So you grew your hair out to get his attention?"
"Yes! It was stupid!"
"Did it work?" Kili presses, "did it?"
"Yes," she mumbles, putting her head on her knees. "I grew out my hair and stopped causing trouble and acted like a proper hobbit lass and it worked and he courted me for awhile. And then I caught him kissing one of my friends behind the Green Dragon Inn."
"What?!" Kili splutters, indignant for her sake. "What a bastard!"
Cassia let's out a wry laugh. "Aye. He is."
Fili puts his hand on her back. "Who was it?" He asks softly.
Cassia turns and frowns at him. His blue eyes are blazing and he looks legitimately angry. "Fili…"
"What's his name?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"So I can punch him the next time I'm in the Shire."
Cassia grabs his arm. "No! Fili, you are much stronger than him! You might kill him!"
He scoffs. "It's not like it would be a big loss to the world."
"I'll help him!" Kili puts in.
"No! The two of you are not allowed to try and kill my ex beau."
"How about cut off his hair?" Fili asks.
"No!"
"What are you three talking about?" Bilbo asks, tuning back into their conversation. (He had been discussing types of pipeweed with Bofur.)
"What's her ex beau's name?" Kili asks.
"Who? Allen Proudfoot?"
"Aha!" Fili says. "We have a name!"
"No! Bilbo, how could you?!"
"I'm pretty sure your fall out with him was pretty much a public affair after you sent geese after him."
"Geese?!" Kili splutters.
Cassia ducks her head between her knees, hiding her face in her skirt. Fili pats her back.
"Did you die?" He asks.
"Wait, wait!" Kili says, "you can't say she sent geese after him and then not expand on that!"
"Can I tell the story?" Bilbo asks. Cassia stands.
"Fine, but I'm not going to be here. Goodbye."
She walks off into the trees as Bilbo begins the story.
The subject of Allen is still definitely a sore spot for her, maybe in a little while, she'll find it funny, but right now, only three months later, it still hurts. Because he broke her heart. She leans against a large boulder and tries to think of literally anything else.
There's a crack of a breaking stick behind her and she jumps, whirling around. Fili is frozen mid-step.
"Were you sneaking up on me?" She blurts just as he says,
"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you."
They pause, staring at each other, and then laugh together.
"I came out here to check on you," Fili says, walking closer to her.
"You didn't want to hear how I sent a flock of geese after my ex lover?"
"Mm, you've heard one story about lasses sending waterfowl after their exes, you heard them all."
Cassia lets out a laugh. "You've heard other stories like that?"
He leans against the boulder beside her. "Aye. How are you anyway?"
"I've been better."
"A bit of a rough week for you, huh?"
"Mhmm."
"Do you need a hug?"
Cassia looks up at him. "I wouldn't mind."
She steps into his arms and he gives her a tight squeeze, resting his chin atop her head.
"If you want," he mumbles, "I'll still fight him for you."
"I know you will. But you don't have to." She pulls back just enough that she can see his face, reaching up to tug lightly at one of his moustache braids. "It's been almost three months."
Fili splutters. "Three months?! Now I get why you ran away with us!"
"Please don't tell Kili. He'll tease me forever," Cassia begs.
"My lips are sealed."
A strange noise comes from further in the woods and Fili stiffens.
"What?"
"Can we go back to the others?" He asks.
Cassia frowns at him. "Is something wrong?"
"Let's just go back," he says, walking back towards the others. She trots after him, grabbing his hand.
"You know, if I was a crueler person, I'd be teasing you about this," she says.
"I could leave you out here to the mercy of whatever's out there in the dark," Fili tells her.
Cassia sticks her tongue out at him. "No, you wouldn't. You're too nice."
He rolls his eyes. "I hate you."
"No, you don't."
