Chapter 9 –Diversity-

It took a while till all the members became accustomed and relaxed around Star, Gandalf was already use to the dog, the Hobbit found him interesting, never had he seen such a large dog. I found Bilbo had a love for animals he actually had allergies that he slowly got over but he loved the horses and spoilt them, one in particular named Myrtle, I watched as he snuck her, an apple. I smiled sitting against Stars sleeping form as we look over the cliff keeping an eye and ear out for any trouble, Star used his enhanced sense of smell to see if there was anything amiss. I could hear Gloin snoring all night, it was normal for him and something we all became accustomed to except for the hobbit, many of us slept at different times, some at night others early morning and some slept on the back of their ponies. Fili, Kili, Thorin, Bilbo, Balin and Gandalf were still awake along with Star and I.

-Our first night camping I had been bombarded by Thorin's nephews one which was apprehensive and protective while the other flirted, Kili and Fili, "so you were to marry our uncle?" was the first thing out of their mouths "you know, I am still on the market if you're interested?" I looked to Fili, he was young and had a similar facial structure to Thorin's, but he was not Thorin, I smiled to them, "yes we were courting each other, it was a great opportunity for Elves and Dwarves to become closer in a sense." Kili spoke up defensive and accusing "so it was just politics then, was that all it was?" I heard the sharp edge to his voice however I pretended to not hear it and continued acting uninterested as I simply answered their question while we all slowly unpacked the ponies. "No we met, we liked each other and we decided to see where it went, it was actually Thorin who suggested the marriage be political in a way, however Smaug happened and everything went downhill from there."

The boys and a few others listening in, were brought to attention as Thorin raised his voice "quit lolly-gagging and get camp ready!" it was mainly aimed at his nephews however I also received a scornful glare, it seemed that even he held secrets from his family and kin, I wonder how much they really knew about what went on between the two of us. I had followed him to a secluded area as he sat down to eat a stew Bofur made for the rest, "we should talk and you know it, I thought you would have told your kin about us, apparently I am not the only one who keeps secrets." I noticed his frown, "I simply do not speak about pointless things," 'ouch that hurt.' I frowned back at him I was about to speak however Star came leaping through the bushes and quickly pulled up the brakes as Thorin went on alert, I had to place my hand on the hilt of his sword to prevent him from attacking, "this is Star."

The others were no better than Thorin, who had to yell for them all to stand down, "what is it?" Bilbo asked aloud as Gandalf spoke up explaining, "He is a warg, not like the orcs warg or a wild one, he was brought up with in the light and trained and loved by the elves, he is friendly and smart, you can say hi if you want." I smiled to Gandalf stating that so all would put their weapons away, Bilbo walked over to him as Star sniffed him and then knocked him over and began licking him, all reacted nearly attacking thinking he was trying to eat Bilbo. -

I heard a warg howl of in the distance, Star growled and began looking of into the distance his muzzle pulling back to show his sharp teeth. "What was that?" Bilbo asked not having heard a Warg before nor Orc's, "Orcs." Kili and Fili stated still awake and on watch, I was aware that Thorin had been resting nearby asleep but that sound woke him up fully, along with most of the company. "Orcs?" Bilbo asked in worry and shock, "Throat-cutters, there'll be dozens of them out there the lone-lands are crawling with them they strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep, quick and quiet, no screams, just lots of blood." Kili and Fili were purposely trying to scare and rile up the small hobbit, finding it funny, I spoke up to placate Bilbo's worries "it's actually the sound the wargs of an Orc raiding party, they make that sound all the time," "I've never heard Star make that sound…" I looked to Bilbo and said, "Star is different he makes a howl, long small and beautiful, there's no need to worry, Star is not like those wargs, and he doesn't like them getting to close for comfort, from here on out, we will be relying on him to keep us clear of said orc raiding parties."

I had noticed Fili and Kili were still smiling at the fact that Bilbo was still shaken "you think that's funny? You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?" Thorin was awake and up, he seemed angered by his nephews and for good reason, they had not been in the war between the orcs and dwarves many years ago, and they were lucky however I could see much of the anger and sadness built up in Thorin from all those years, I had been right in my guess of his attitude. "We didn't mean anything by it," Kili spoke up defeated and sorry for opening his mouth "no, you didn't, you know nothing of the world," I frowned slightly at Thorin, he was right but he did not need to get up the young ones for not experiencing what he did, he should be thankful that his nephews could joke about such things but at the same time, they did need to learn and fast. Balin stood up and joined the put-out youngsters. "Don't mind him, laddie, Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain...King Thrór tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first, Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs...led by the vilest of their entire race: Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc...had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began...by beheading the king. Thráin, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner, or killed...we did not know. We were leaderless; defeat and death...were upon us. That is when I saw him, a young Dwarf prince...facing down the pale Orc; he stood alone against this terrible foe, his Armor rent...wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day...that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied...and drove the Orcs back. and our enemy...had been defeated, but there was no feast...nor song that night...for our dead were beyond the count of grief; we few had survived. And I thought to myself then...there is one who I could follow, there is one...I could call king."

It was interesting to hear the story from that day, I instantly felt remorse when I heard what happened to the king and then Thrór I heard the general information from my Adar but Balin was so good at keeping records of events; a great story-teller like Gandalf, I looked over to Thorin, he stood tall even through all the things that had happen all over the years. "And the pale Orc, what happened to him?" Thorin joined us once more answering Bilbo's question "he slunk back into the hole, whence he came; that filth died of his wounds long ago." I could see the absolute disgust and hatred for the orcs in his eyes it was more powerful than his hatred for the elves. I had stood and walked over joining them, "were you there or at the mountain when Smaug attacked" I looked to Bilbo as he questioned me, I had noticed the whole camp was now aware and listening like they did about the orcs and what Balin had to say, I could answer but I would have rather listened to Balin's account of the attack.

I was about to ask Balin to tell the story but Thorin spoke up "yes she was, she came with King Thranduil and his elves, however he turned his back and left us to our fate, Hawley stayed and helped though, afterwards we went separate ways." It was brief and to the point, I looked to him as he did to me, however everything was broken as Star stood on all fours and looked in a certain direction growling, my proximity detection went off, as I looked to the opposite Cliffside and saw a small orc pack. I moved forward "what is it?" asked Thorin, Gandalf too stood up and moved forward, many got up on alert, as I pulled my bow and arrow out, notched it and looked to the three orcs on their wargs. Kili stood just behind me with his own bow and arrow, "what do you see?" I whispered just as I let my arrow fly "orc pack," I hit the one on the left, then instantly noticed and hit the one of the right, the leader orc and wargs made a dash back from where they came, "go!" I commanded Star who dashed off jumping across the gap and landing and leaping up to the cliff, he chased the others away and I heard the tell-tale sounds off Star fighting another warg. I could tell he was outnumbered I notched another arrow, I let it fly killing the warg trying to sneak up behind Star, once he was done snapping the throat of the warg he fought, he slowly sniffed the trail they came from, and then made his way back to us, I noticed him limping.

I placed my bow and arrow back in their spot, and made my way over to the other cliff, I searched the disgusting orcs finding a piece of paper, it was a bounty for Thorin and his company, to be killed and not to reach Erabor. Star finally made it back to my position, I could feel the others at the campsite a whiles away, they watched us but couldn't really see us. I gave Star some off my blood so he would heal quickly, we made our way back to camp, all were tense, "you have a bounty Thorin, the orcs already know of the quest and what you intend to do." I passed him the piece of paper, as Star laid down, he wanted to rest for a little while, he had been bitten multiple times and his front leg broken. My healing serum was doing its job but he was still not fully fixed yet, so rest he would, once he had enough strength and was fully healed he would scout ahead to see what our trail was like.

All were pissed and there were many accusations of who gave the information away, me, the wizard, Bilbo and even Gandalf asked if Thorin had told anyone, much to his annoyance. I sighed "it doesn't matter, at least we know who is hunting us, and they know our current location, we will need to tread carefully from now on." The trip from there on was a lot more tense, Star was too happy to scout and defend the group, he had allowed Ori to climb on his back and pat him. I smiled at the young dwarf, "I would hold on if I were you," I heard Ori scream as he was nearly launched off as Star dashed off through the woods and up ahead of us as he rode Star to scout ahead. I heard Thorin sigh at the others 'not taking this seriously,' I smiled to him, "he will be safe Thorin, plus you should relax more," the look he gave me said something like 'you're not my mother, or wife' 'but oh I could have been, that thought alone made me look down and feel a little sad in a way.' Nori had offered to do my braids for me, we had camped in a clearing one night and the flowers were blooming; he offered to thread them into my hair. I had preferred practicality over pretty however we had gone a long time without a shower or bath; I appreciated his offer and accepted his help it made me smell like flowers as we travelled. Fili eventually stopped flirting with me as he was scorned by his uncle for doing so, I smiled it was obvious he was still 'territorial' with me.

I watched as Thorin kept his eyes on my person, we still had much to discuss, I had personally wanted to rectify the love we once had and hopefully trust, we never really had trust to begin with seeing as dwarves and elves had a shaky relationship to begin with. Then there was the fact that what little trust we had was based off of our getting to know each other and being truthful and spending all our time together, that was what I wanted once more, but we were different people now and we had our own lives we lead and secrets. I looked to him once more, "Thorin, I wanted to thank you for letting me join your company on this quest…" Thorin was not as touchy feely as he once was "thank Gandalf he was the one who spoke on your behalf and the reason why you're here plus you can get us through Greenwood."

It made me feel like a tool for him to use and wield which made me frown and glare at him, he was no better than the rest that used me, even Thranduil used me to a degree however he became my best friend and I would help him when needed, otherwise he doesn't actually use me and depend anything off me, even when he can. It however was not as bad in this world as it had been in my own world, I was heavily relied on and used back home, meanwhile here it was more like a trade you do this and I will do this in return, so I wondered what Thorin was getting out of me being there. "Thorin~" I used a sweet voice but it had a edge of warning to it, he looked down to me walking alongside him, his eyes showed his challenge so instead I gave him a word of advice "it is not wise to use and treat those who help you as tools and to lord over them, especially if you are to become King, you don't want to be known as the mean king of the mountain do you?" I changed my tone and made it sound playful by the end of my sentence, I smirked at his scoff. "You haven't changed in the century and a half since I last saw you," "but you have a lot Thorin…" many listened in and were worried with our words "you got greys growing through," many chuckled and tried to choke their laughs much to Thorin's annoyance.

His ire was hot and pointed towards me, "Hawley I know we have history and familiarity but not right now," his warning rung through the area, "then when?" I demanded it had been annoying, us not able to converse alone together like we once used to, I also had not been able to tell him the truth without ears being present, I had determined a long time ago I would be honest with him, but still it was not the right time. Thorin had seemed frustrated with me, and the others inquisitiveness and questions of me and his past, many respected his wishes of not delving into his past, as he was not who he once was and that it didn't matter now, however the others were still interested in me. The strange Halfling elf who wore all black with weapons never seen before and a trained warg, the fact I knew Thorin and we had been close once upon a time, had them bursting at the seams with questions.

I had noticed Oin had many troubles with his hearing piece, it would need to be pointed at the area of noise just to pick it up and he could hear things like footsteps, bugs, wind and so on, just loud noises like words, voices large echoing sounds like metal on metal or a warg and orc call.
I had been thinking about all the ways I could improve it, even making a strap on device made out of lightweight silver to allow it to not be broken easily but also not heavy and giving it a full round body allowing more noise in and giving him better hearing. I simply saw how damaged the device had gotten over the years and how easy it would be to lose it, have it broken or destroyed; besides, it barely worked for what it was created for. We camped for the night, however there was an argument on whether we should or should not stay, Gandalf was against it, I noticed him wondering about the house and speaking that there was once a farmer and his family that lived there. It was enough to get Gandalf to demand that we move on, I scanned the entire area, I had seen nothing but trees, bushes, plants, logs, rocks, caves, hills, and mountains. I was not worried however then again seeing a farmer land and house fully destroyed would imply something dangerous in the area, but my scan picked up nothing, so I figured whatever it was had moved on.

I stood by their side as they argued, Gandalf got so angered and worked up trying to deal with Thorin and his stubbiness, I had to agree with the Istari that it was indeed difficult dealing with the young soon to be King. I watched as he walked off, I gave a nod to Star and he followed after the wizard as he left, I turned to Thorin, "sometimes you should listen to others and their wisdom and council…" he turned his frown upon me, "like how your King takes yours?" I sighed it always fell back onto this, the betrayal I and the elves dealt to him, I rolled my eyes. "I helped and I would have told you everything about me but there was too may people and ears about so it wasn't the right time. Besides, I had to return to Greenwood and you had to help lead your people, that is the reality not betrayal or hatred, Thranduil knew fighting a dragon would be suicidal…" I was cut off by Thorin, "but you face it and your fine, so tell me how did you get out of there alive?" I noticed his accusation "I gave him a riddle and then I did a hit and run tactic which led to me getting away." A look of unbelief crossed his face, as I admitted and told him the truth, I picked up on others listening in on us once more, and seriously there was no privacy around dwarves at all.

"I wanted to tell you everything, I was going to when you were to come see me, however Smaug happened and things just happened, I am sorry if you do not trust me, but when we met there was not much trust to begin with." He seemed angered to hear me "what do you mean; you came with your King to Erabor, for his gems of starlight that were not his…" I had cut him off, "they belonged to the elves and always have, you and I both know that, your grandfather- the King and my King made a contract and agreement that a necklace would be made with said stones and when the time came to give them over after payment your King backed out and denied another King or equal standing. Your Grandfather was too greedy and you know it, those were rightfully his, if he had demanded that I was to attack that day, and then the events leading up to now would have been very different." The anger in my voice and eyes showed my betrayal that his people showed the elves- my people when we first met. There was no trust when I landed eyes on him I was intrigued and he was different but that was it, he too must have seen something shinny of use to him, and that was why we courted each other, there was no trust till that week together and still then some or mostly on my part were lies about my life and history.

"If he had ordered you, you would have attacked?" I nodded "I was honestly riled up and ready myself, I felt anger towards your people however I was not surprised as your people are greedy, hell so are elves in what obviously belongs to them and so are man, all are greedy but Dwarfs are the worse- obviously." Thorin seemed to get a look in his eyes, like they were finally open to the truth, "you would have killed me?" his voice was lower and softer, a building anger in it, my heartbeat had risen and I was worried, "no I wouldn't have killed just disabled."

His eyes took on a very dark deep blue colour; they nearly looked black, "you were a wench just using me!" I frowned and shouted back at him, "says the person who only wanted me due to my looks and what use I would be for you and your kin, I was nothing more than another pretty jewel, you stated to me that my looks were the first thing to draw you in." He yelled "yes but then I feel in love with you!" He was panting for breath, and we were still in the dilapidated house as the others pretended to set up camp and not listen but they were. Thorin looked away from me, "and I fell in love with you, but I could not tell you the truth at the time, they were calling me a liar, witch, elven scum, to state what I was on top of that well your kin would have torn me apart, or called me a bigger liar or hang me as a witch." My voice had lowered and Thorin turned to me his eyes showing confusion and wonder, I missed the open pure blue eyes, he was smart and knowledgeable for a dwarf but if he denied me after learning the truth, he could tell others what I was, I was not to be used and as I have stated I do not trust him and he does not me, but I was determined to tell him seeing as I agreed to do that so many years ago.

"Tell me now, I think I have a small understanding or general idea of what it would be- your truth, but I wish to hear it…" "The others will hear as well…" "Then so be it, as I would not lie to them…" "you won't even tell them about how we met or the time we spent with each other, I held just trust in you, I was to tell you all about me, that makes me venerable Thorin but you would not give me the time needed and you turned your back on me…however it is not your fault nor mine, I decided this a long time ago, it was just the way things went, I spent a long time thinking of what if's." "What if you told me right now and then all can be decided and over with?" he asked me with softness, I was seriously considering it, I wanted to tell him so bad, but what I said earlier still stands, he had not even showed his own trust in his kin enough to tell them about his past or us, much less the war with the orcs and the complete story of his kin's past, hell his own nephews didn't know how he got the name Oakenshield. I looked down and sighed I sat heavily on the floor, allowing Pandora to pull me down to the ground, "Thorin…" but we were interrupted by Bofur stating dinner was ready, "after we eat?" he said I nodded but as he left I stated "I do not eat," he paused but then continued to go get his bowl of dinner.

I walked away in a clearing and looked up to the sky, the moon needed to read was tomorrow night, I thought it may have been one reason why Gandalf had wanted to move further into the mountain pass before setting up camp. I knew Thorin was angered with the fact that Gandalf and I said we had to stay in Rivendell just to get the map read, which was true or else it couldn't be read at all. I had noticed the whispers for the others in the group about the tension between Thorin and I and some had bets on what we will do and what the truth was, I smiled it was so typical of them, Fili put a wager on Thorin and I being wed already and no one knowing, Kili wagered that we were enemies made lovers for the two races benefits. Balin of course put his own wager that we were courting and in love but never finished the courtship due to circumstances which of course he was right, someone laid a bet that we already had a child together. Some made claims on what I really was, they had heard the conversation between Thorin and I some said I was orc, human, half-elf, Elven, Angel, demon, dragon in human form and the list went on, some made me laugh me being a siren.

But there was other whispers some noticing that I did not eat nor drink at all, Gandalf explained at the start of our journey that elves could go very long times without food or water and I was simply used to traveling light with nothing and not needing to stop for such things.

Fili had once seen my necklace when Nori had done my braids in flowers, I had pulled down my high collar and my necklace slipped out when I bent over to sit down, I had informed him it was a courting gift from his uncle when we first began our journey to see if we would be compatible and marry or not. He had asked me honestly if I would have said yes or no, I instantly said yes, I was sure this was what made the young man think that we were already married.

I laid back on the cool grass and looked at the stars, there was none of the installations that I was used to from my home world, I liked that we used to have star signs and mythology that no one knew if it was once true or if it was all fake kid stories from long ago that just changed over time. I had nearly fallen asleep when I realised that it was late- very late, Star had not returned to me, meaning he was still with Gandalf. I got up and moved towards the camp, it was barren and quite, I did a far searching scan, and I found three trolls a fire and all thirteen dwarves and a hobbit in sacks. I sighed and as I strode over to the semi-circle area with deaf feet, I grabbed out my silencers and screwed them onto the ends of my desert eagles, one in each hand I turned the corner or the large stone rock wall and when the three ugly trolls looked up and became aware of me I simply aimed and shot making silent sounds as all three ended up on the ground with their brains separated from their bodies by a gaping hole in their heads. "Seriously guys I left for like what an hour and here yous are laying around," some laughed and made sighs of relief, "can you get us down already, this is hot you know!"

I got Bilbo out of his sack first, so that he could help the others get out of their own as I picked up the large spit the group were tied to and laid them down on the dirt as I cut the rope away keeping them bonded. I noticed Thorin and a few looking at the Trolls heads to see the damage, "so that's what those things do," I had kept the silencers on them as I slipped them into my belt until I took them off. Thorin gave me a look that said we will talk later about this, it was then that Gandalf turned up, "oh thank the heavens yous are alright, I had made my way back when I realise the dangers yous were in, we are thankful that we have Hawley and that Bilbo was here to think of a way to stall the trolls, or who knows what would have happened."