Chapter III: One Step Forward, Three Steps Back

A/N: I'm having a lot of fun writing this story. It's good to be back in this fandom. Sorry about the long wait. A lot has happened since the last update. Thanks go to Blondiezhere for the translations of the Khuzdul via Dwarrow Scholar!

Rivendell wasn't too far from the beginnings of the Misty Mountains. It was one of the valleys in the foothills leading up to them.

The past few days had been quiet. Too quiet. Ashara felt the urge to cause some minor mayhem, primarily directed at Thorin, who she felt needed to lighten up more than a bit.

As she took a bite out of her lembas, an idea came to her. It was a good one, and she had been on the receiving end of it once, courtesy of her brother Erudan.

When Oin had relieved her of her watch (she'd tried to explain that she didn't need much sleep to no avail). Once Oin was occupied, Ashara got to work on the prank.

The following morning was sure to be interesting!

Balin woke up first the following morning. He nodded a greeting to Bofur, who was standing the last watch. Then he saw Thorin.

Birds of all types were flocking around and even on top of him.

Fili and/or Kili.

Balin also noticed that the she-elf was still awake. He wondered if she had even gone to sleep the night before.

Thorin slowly woke up. He'd slept like a hibernating bear.

Cooing birds near him, wakened Thorin completely. As he opened his eyes, he realized just how many birds there were and how close they were to him.

Birds were on him, from his chest to his boots. They seemed to be pecking at bread crumbs that covered those places. The birds flew off at his bellow, "FILI, KILI, GET OVER HERE! NOW!"

His nephews came running. Fili asked "What is it irak'adad?" Both of their faces were filled with nothing but innocence.

"What the devil were you thinking, wasting all that bread for a prank?"

While Thorin was tearing into his nephews, who were laughing at the fact that bread crumbs were still stuck to his clothes and that birds were still pecking at them, Balin was looking over the rest of the company. Bofur was snickering at Thorin from behind. Bombur was getting breakfast ready. The others were in various stages of waking up.

Balin looked over and saw the she-elf (he needed to work on calling her by name), Ashara was running a whetstone along her hand and a half sword.

He wondered briefly, Would she have pranked Thorin or is she just ignoring the tomfoolery? Balin had never known an elf to have much of a sense of humor though.

Ashara only looked up from sharpening her sword when Balin turned around. He likely had suspected her, but dismissed it as a possibility.

She had not intended for Fili and Kili to get into trouble. They reminded her of Erudan in some ways. But judging by the way their uncle was shouting at them, they were not unknown to play pranks.

They might prove to be worthy partners in crime at later date, Ashara thought.

Before breakfast was served, Thorin brushed off all the lembas crumbs. She could barely restrain her smirk at the sight.

The rest of the day was spent walking. The Company was nearly out of the foothills and in the mountains themselves. They made good time, only stopping when it was nearly dark.

Ashara chugged the rest of her canteen. Today had been a thirsty day for her, it was now dry as a bone.

"You thirsty lass?"

Ashara turned around. It was Bofur, with a friendly smile on his face.

"Yes, I could use something to drink."

Moments later, Bofur handed his flask, Ashara took at good sized quaff.

As the burning liquid hit the back of her throat, she spit it out.

"I'm sorry Ashara, I thought you would be used to it," Bofur apologized.

A deadly calm voice cut through the air with, "What were you thinking, giving her that?" Thorin's eyes looked like chips of ice with the glare he was skewering Bofur with.

"Ashara was thirsty," Bofur replied, well aware of the iciness in Thorin's tone.

"She has likely never had anything stronger than wine before. You are ibnith lucky she did not vomit," Thorin snarled before turning towards Ashara asking, "Are you alright?"

Ashara knew an expression of surprise was on her face before saying, "I've been better. What was that... stuff?"

"It's a bit of a mouthful in Khuzdul. In the common tongue it translates as "White Lightning"," Thorin replied.

"The Dunedain have something similar but they call it Moonshine. I've never had it before, but my brother Erudan did once, and he'll never touch it again," Ashara had a smile on her face from the memory.

Thorin nodded before saying, "Drink some water. It'll make you feel better."

Has Hell truly frozen over? Thorin is being nice to an elf, Oin thought as he helped Bombur with dinner.

Ashara, once she was feeling better, decided that she would help Bilbo learn how to use his short sword without harming himself.

"Are you sure I won't hurt you," Bilbo asked yet again.

"Bilbo I've been using a sword for a very long time. You don't have to worry about me," she said with a smile.

She started with his footwork first, not letting the hobbit touch his sword yet, instead they were using sticks in place of bladed weapons.

Fili and Kili were watching the lesson, wanting to see how elves taught swordplay.

"Move your feet, Bilbo," Fili suggested as the hobbit was moving jerkily.

Bilbo was getting frustrated. He'd not been able to land a single hit on Ashara. She was just too bloody fast and even he, with his limited knowledge of such things, could tell she was not going at full speed. Ashara certainly wasn't moving as fast as she was when she was fighting with Thorin.

She'd practically been a blur then.

He could remember some of his Took relatives saying that when you saw two masters of the blade, you would know it and that it was like watching poetry in motion.

Even though the match had been incredibly violent, the movements of the pair had been fluid.

Dinner was eaten quickly and much to Bilbo's chagrin and dismay, he and Ashara were back at it. He had a very bad feeling that he would be feeling awful come morning.

As if she'd read his mind, Ashara said, "You'll be feeling pretty bad for a bit before you get used to the work."

"Bilbo, there are many words I could use to describe how you will be feeling, and none of them are appropriate to be used around a female," Kili said with a look towards Ashara, who's only reply was an eye roll.

"At least he's still on his feet. You and your brother would crash to the ground the moment your irak'adad and I let you stop," Dwalin growled.

"My brother and I had similar troubles as well when we were first learning how to use weapons. It took a lot more time than either of us liked, but eventually we were able to move without being in agony," Ashara added.

"How long does that last," Bilbo asked, praying to Yavanna that it would be short.

"It varies from person to person," Ashara replied as she sat down and leaned back against a tree before saying, "We can be done for the night Bilbo. Go get some rest."

"Ashara you don't need to prove yourself. Get some rest tonight," Balin suggested to the elf when she said she'd do it again.

"Balin, I can go a while without sleep," Ashara said back. The white haired dwarf was one of the easier ones to talk to.

"Ashara, you stood a watch last night. And even when it ended, Kili noticed you did not sleep."

"I wasn't tired."

"You can stand a watch tomorrow night, get some rest." The tone in Balin's voice made it clear that he would not be changing his mind.

As she stalked across the camp, her sharp ears picked up Thorin commenting, "Why won't she sleep? Does she not trust us?"

If Ashara wasn't imagining things, she detected more than a hint of snark in the dwarf kings tone.

You don't know very much about elves, do you?

Like the morning before, Thorin woke up quietly. After a quick check over, he ascertained that there were no bread crumbs on or near him.

Instead, there was a hissing noise, followed by a series of loud pops, that had him bolting to his feet.

Kili and Ori came running in. The popping began to die down once they reached the fire pit.

"What in Mahal's name was that," Kili asked.

As Thorin looked around the fire, he found the remnants of a small firecracker.

Something this small was only meant to make noise, Thorin thought to himself.

He looked around the camp. Again everyone was in various stages of wakefulness.

The only other completely awake person at the moment was the she-elf, who had started rekindling the fire. When she was done, she made a spit, and began cooking fish.

"Where did you get the fish?"

"There's a river nearby," she replied without looking at him before saying, "Is there some problem?"

Thorin stared at her as he tried to figure out whether she had been the one to set off the whizzpopper. The she-elf's face betrayed nothing.

Ashara was right. I do feel awful, Bilbo thought to himself as walked alongside Oin.

He watched enviously as the elf was ahead of the group as light on her feet as she always seemed to be.

The walking was peaceful for most of the day, until he heard her snarl, "So you aren't troubled by the burden of proof? I should have known that you would have tried to pin anything out of the ordinary on me!"

"Who else would have done it," Thorin growled back.

"I'm sure there are mischief makers in your group," she muttered.

"Why did you come along anyway?"

"Well Mithrandir can be *very* persuasive. Then there's the fact that these bloody swords won't work right if I hadn't. And, as a perk, I get to make your life difficult. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Bilbo could tell from the tone, that Ashara had a toothy grin on her face. Which could pass for a smile if one wasn't being overly picky.

If the dwarves had anything to say about her argument with Thorin, they kept it to themselves.

Ashara did not like how she was feeling at the moment. She liked being in complete control (or as close as she could get to it), and ever since she drew Lightbringer, she had not been in anywhere near as much control as she would prefer.

The next few days were quiet. No more pranks were played. Fili was still curious as to who had gotten his uncle so good with that bread and the birds.

Fili personally had no problem with Ashara's presence. Among other things she had asked both he and Kili assist her with demonstrations for improving Bilbo's skill with a blade.

Bilbo needed to see how one person could fight against two opponents.

When she'd drawn Lightbringer, Thorin asked "I thought you couldn't use that sword?"

Ashara's reply was, "Oh I can use Lightbringer, just not when I'm fighting you."

Without warning, the three of them went at it.

Ashara was very hard to hit, and when he or Kili did hit her, it was only a glancing blow. She was only able to land glancing blows on them as well.

The match had been going on for a bit, with neither side gaining any real ground. In a moment of desperation, Ashara did a move that managed to knock both of his swords from his hands and with another flick of her wrist, disarmed his brother as well.

"That was a good match. Thought that move you did was great, you'll have to teach me how to do it," Kili said as he picked up his sword and put it back in it's scabbard.

"It was one of the best matches I've had in about a century. I did not expect the move to work," Ashara replied as she hand Fili back his two swords back to him.

"This one was much more fun to watch, than the one between you and Thorin in Rivendell. It looked like you two were trying to kill or at least seriously harm one another," Bilbo piped up.

About five days later, the Company stopped for the night near a mountain lake. The water was clear.

"Do you think it's safe to drink" Bilbo asked Ashara.

Before the elf could answer, they heard several loud "YAHOOS" as the bulk of the dwarves jumped into the lake. They were likely scaring the fish, with the noise they were making.

"Not anymore," was her reply as she put her pack on the ground.

"Hey Ashara, come on in, the waters nice and cool," Fili shouted.

"Watching from here is just fine thank you very much," Ashara shouted back with a grin. Fili and Kili had warmed up to her considerably since the sparring match they'd had for Bilbo. Not that they'd been rude beforehand, far from it. It was nice having some brother figures around. Ashara missed Erudan horribly.

After she'd taken off her armor (Ashara was thankful that it was easy for her to get on and off with little to no help), she noticed that Fili and Kili were walking up, soaking wet and dripping, with identical crooked grins on their faces.

Ashara had a feeling as to what they were up to as she asked, "What are you two up to?" She'd also walked up to them.

"Oh nothing much. Just getting out of the lake for a little bit," Kili replied in a would be innocent tone.

Before she could even make a remark, the two dwarf princes grabbed her by the arms, and started pulling her towards the lake.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It," Ashara said as she put up some resistance.

The only reply she got was "TOO LATE!" as she was launched into the lake. Ashara hit the water with a shriek.

She decided to let them wait and make them wonder if something hadn't happened to her. When they hurried back into lake to look for her, Ashara swam under water, and yanked them both back under the surface.

Once they all resurfaced for air, splashing erupted between the trio and the rest of the dwarves in the lake.

I haven't had this much fun in too long a time, Ashara thought with a smile on her face.

After everyone left the lake soaking wet and shivering, Ashara walked towards her pack. Once she got to it, she began to walk towards the woods.

"Where do you think you're off to," Thorin asked.

"Going to change out of these clothes. Can't be in them all night," Ashara replied.

Due to his knowledge of plants, Bilbo had been sent to find mushrooms. Unfortunately, he was became quite lost.

He'd found some good mushrooms though.

When things were looking familiar again, Bilbo ran smack dab into Ashara. The mushrooms went flying.

"I'll help you pick them up, I'm sorry about that."

It would figure that as soon as they got to the High Pass, a massive storm broke.

This has got to be one of the worst storms I have ever seen, Ashara thought as she tugged her hood up again.

Bilbo had nearly lost his footing several times and he wasn't the only one. Ashara herself was also having trouble.

"We must find shelter," Thorin shouted over the storm.

Dwaling shouted "LOOK OUT!"

Ashara looked up and saw a huge boulder flying through the air and shattering as it hit, with shrapnel and debris falling down on the Company, which was barely avoided.

"This is no thunderstorm. This is a thunder battle. Look," Balin called out.

Through the pelting rain, Ashara could see the rough of something very large and roughly humanoid shaped.

"Bless Me! The legends are true. Giants. stone giants," Bofur seemed transfixed by the sight of the being who had just thrown the biggest boulder Ashara had ever seen in her life above the Company and into another stone giant.

"TAKE COVER YOU FOOL," Thorin roared. As rocks began falling, they chipped away at the already narrow path.

She was standing on the other side of Kili when he called out, "Fili, grab my hand!"

Ashara's eyes went wide as the Company was torn apart by a growing chasm. It seemed as if she was on one knee of a stone giant along with Thorin, Kili, Balin, and Nori.

They were all brought back together again when another stone giant headbutted the one they were on and his knees slammed together again. The Company was doing everything they could to not get crushed by falling rocks or another stone giant.

When things calmed down slightly, Dwalin asked "Where's Bilbo?"

They were all looking around when Ashara saw out of the corner of her eye a pair of hands on the edge.

Moving so fast that the others could barely see, she dove and managed to grab Bilbo's hands right at the moment he slipped, with Fili and Kili holding onto her.

She shouted, "Bilbo, hold on!" Getting him back up was going to be difficult, since both his hands and her gloves were slippery.

Thorin was suddenly on Bilbo's other side on the ledge, "He's mad," Ashara thought as she pulled Bilbo up while Thorin pushed the hobbit back onto solid ground. He nearly fell himself as he got back onto the path, with Dwalin dragging him up.

"I thought we lost our burglar," Dwalin commented as he stood up again.

"He's been lost ever since he left home. He should not have come, he has no place among us," Thorin growled.

By some miracle, there was a small cave nearby, into which the Company crowded into.

Ashara had been drowsing a bit when she heard Bilbo blurt, "You're dwarves. You're used to travelling on the road not belonging anywhere!"

She tuned out the conversation and looked over the dwarves. Most were sleeping. However, Thorin was awake and listening to the conversation between Bilbo and Bofur.

"What's that," Bofur queried.

Ashara looked towards Bilbo and saw the blue glow of his sword. She flicked a nod at Thorin.

Thorin shouted, "WAKE UP!"

Before anyone could even move, the ground fell out from beneath their feet.

A/N 2: And we have a cliffhanger. ;) The next chapter will open with a brief vision of the short term future via Elrond, then back to the Goblin tunnels. So...what did you all think of this one? I love hearing what you all think. :) SSD

Translations via Blondiezhere which she got from Khuzdul Scholar.

irak'adad- uncle

ibnith- damn (or something close to it)