So that was a beginning special chapter for you in the point of view of Ember. From now on it'll be from a general point of view, you'll know what the characters are thinking, and when they think it. I may have some specific snippets of a chapter in the point of view of a specific person, but it might be rare. Alright, anyhoo, let's begin on this wonderful journey.
Ember rode at the back of the company with Fili and Kili. For brothers they got a long very well, speaking from her own personal experience, siblings tended to argue, irritate each other, or just not get along. But Kili and Fili were different, and Ember enjoyed that.
Ever since last night's events with Ember throwing a knife at Bofur, things were different. Most of the dwarves, especially Bofur and Dwalin, would not speak to her, and she felt like she did deserve it. But Kili, Fili, and Balin tended to talk to her, and it made her smile on the inside.
"I bet ten silver coins she doesn't show." Nori called. Ember felt a sly smirk tug at her lips.
"Ten silver coins? I think I'll take that bet." She said. The words flew out of her mouth, and she knew she couldn't take them back. Nori looked at her oddly before smirking as well, he nodded and smiled at Ember.
"Do you have the money to pay when you lose lass?" He retorted cockily. Ember pulled a small leather sack out of her own bag and shook it.
"Of course I do." She said smugly as more dwarves started making bets. Most bet Bilba wouldn't show, only Oin, Kili, Balin, Gandalf, and Ember bet Bilba would show up. Doubt started to fester in the deepest part of her stomach.
"Wait! Wait!" The familiar voice called from behind them. She stopped her horse quickly.
"Woah!" Ember called as she saw the Hobbit running. Her gold curls flew behind her, her blue eyes wild with the finding of her new found adventure. The dwarves stopped their ponies.
Bilba caught up to them.
"I signed it!" She said proudly as she handed Balin the contract.
Balin took the contract and inspected it with a pocket glass. He then smiled at Bilba.
"Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Mistress Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." The dwarves cheered, but Ember noticed Thorin slowly nodded and looked Bilba up and down, almost as if he were checking her out.
"Give her a pony." Thorin commanded.
"No, no, no, no, that that won't be necessary, thank you, but I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. I even got as far as Frogmorton once- WAGH!" Bilba's speech was cut off as Kili and Fili grabbed her by the back of her red velvet coat and put her on a pony. Ember laughed out loud, which didn't make Bilba happy.
Bilba was riding a pony and looking quite terrified. The pony neighed and tossed its head, making her quite uncomfortable. Ember rode close beside her, Bilba was on her left, Kili was on Ember's right, and Fili was to his right.
"Come on, Nori, pay up. Go on." She called. Nori tossed a sack of money to Ember; sacks of money began passing between the dwarves.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Oin called as he received his money. Ember smiled as she made sure all ten coins were there. Fili gave his brother a sack of money and gave a pouty face that made her delicately smile. Gandalf moved to the back and Bilba rode next to him. Ember's keen hearing picked up on their conversation.
"What's that about?" Bilba asked.
"Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you'd turn up. Most of them bet that you wouldn't."
"What did you think?" Bilba asked, sadness in her calm voice.
"Hmmm." Gandalf said before he caught a leather sack. Ember smiled widely.
"My dear lady, I never doubted you for a second."
Bilba sneezed loudly. Ember turned around to look at her.
"Ohh. All this horse hair, I'm having a reaction." She admitted to Gandalf. Bilba searched her pockets for her handkerchief. She was unable to find it, and she looked up in shock.
"No, no, wait, wait, stop! Stop! We have to turn around." The entire company came to a halt, and the dwarves started objecting and asking what the problem was. Ember groaned loudly and allowed her head to hit her horse's neck.
"What on earth is the matter?"
"I forgot my handkerchief." Ember let out a sigh that turned into a laugh.
Bofur tore a strip of cloth from his clothing and tossed it to Bilba.
"Here! Use this."
Bilba caught the rag and looked at it in disgust. The dwarves laughed, but Ember just looked at her with pity before they began to continue their journey.
"Move on."
"You'll have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilba Baggins, before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you; the world is ahead." Gandalf said to her before looking off into the distance.
The company stayed their first night several miles away from the Shire. Bofur made dinner around the fire.
"Alright, everyone get some sleep. We set out before dawn. Kili you take the first watch." Kili nodded toward Thorin before poking the fire again.
Ember curled up into a little ball under her cloak before falling asleep.
The first sound to be heard were the screams, not of men but of orc.
"Emilia take your siblings and hide. Whatever you do do not come out." The young Ember nodded to her mother before grabbing her young sister by the hand and placing her brother on her hip. They rushed under their parents bed, hoping they would be safe.
Emily was trembling out of fear next to Ember. Ember grabbed her little sister and pulled her close. Her little brother, in all the commotion had fallen asleep. They all heard the scream of their mother, blood curdling and loud. Emily rushed out from under the bed before Ember could grab her. Emery began to wake up and cry. The ten year old held her two year old little brother close to her trying to stop him from crying. But it didn't prevail, for an orc grabbed her by her hair, she screamed loudly as she thrashed around. She felt heat rising up in her body, and the orc yelled in pain before its claws dug into Ember's side. She let out a cry, loud and sharp. The orc dropped her and she slowly, in pain, crawled back under the bed. Her brother hugged her as he cried. Then the sound of orcs dying filled the air, and the sound flew to Ember and Emery's ears.
A cloaked figure in all grey appeared in their house. Ember and Emery held each other tight before Ember contracted in pain. The figure bent down.
"It's OK they're all dead. You can come out. I'm a friend of your mother's." His voice was kind and old.
"It's OK Emery, come on." Ember cautiously crawled out, her side bleeding heavily. Emery followed. She looked into the eyes of the man, he was old with a long grey beard, and a tall pointy hat. Ember cried as the pain continued to get worse.
The man binded Ember's wounds on the bed before showing them out. They cautiously walked out avoiding the bodies of orcs and humans. Ember let out cry as she saw her mother's body with her sister's body lying on top of it, both had been stabbed. Ember looked around, while hiding her brother from the gore that lay before her. She saw her father's body mangled and dead. The man took her small hand in his large one and put her and her brother on his horse. Ember cried and held her brother close.
She woke up quickly, a cold sweat ran down her neck. She breathed heavily.
"Are you alright?" She looked at Kili who was still awake next to the fire. Ember ran her hands through her hair before nodding.
"You were thrashing around and crying, nightmare?" She looked into his calm dark eyes before nodding.
"If you don't mind me asking, what about?" She breathed deeply before answering his question.
"My family dying." She practically whispered before she stood up and moved toward Kili. He smiled at her when she sat down.
"How? Again if you don't mind me asking." He asked and looked into her dark eyes. He wanted to know her, but he knew she was so guarded. She had a past, a story filled with hurt and pain. But still he wanted to hear it, he wanted to get to know what hid behind her dark brown eyes.
"An orc pack came, slaughtered everyone. They didn't want anything, just to kill for sport. Only two made it out alive after Gandalf came and saved us."
"I know you survived, who else?" Kili asked before he poked the dying flames again.
"My little brother Emery." She admitted quietly.
"Where is he now?" Kili asked and looked toward his brother.
"I'm not sure, I haven't seen him in over five years." She admitted before looking at Kili then at his sleeping brother.
"He cares about you, a lot. I wouldn't let that go." She said before she stood up and walked back to her things. He smiled and watched her. She curled up and pulled her coat over her again before she fell asleep. Kili looked at Fili and sighed.
Kili woke up the next morning, he fell asleep after Fili took the next watch. He looked over at Ember's things where he saw her flipping a knife in her fingers. She was looking at the ground, almost as if she were lost in thought. It was still fairly dark out, the stars were still out. He smiled at himself as the starlight illuminated her. Kili gathered his things and sat next to his brother.
"You didn't think I would notice you checking her out nadadith." Fili said to him.
"What? No I'm not checking her out." Kili felt the heat rise in his cheeks. Fili watched as his brother's face turned bright red.
"Yes, you were." Kili slugged his brother's arm when Ember sat down next to Kili.
"So what's the topic of conversation today?"
"To be honest, you." Fili said and Kili slugged him harder in the arm, Fili rubbed his now sore arm.
"Really, hm seems I'm a topic of conversation these days." She smiled and rubbed her collarbone, which was beginning to hurt upon the way she slept, but to her irony it was right where her scars began. She smiled at Kili then gave a playful wink to Fili, then she started to laugh. Fili snorted in laughter, Kili just watched her smile, he felt happier when she smiled over the way he saw her the night before, scared and sad. He smiled at her before laughing.
They set off just after dawn. Kili and Fili rode at the back, Ember rode in front of them with Bilba at her side. Ember noticed Thorin would occasionally look back at Bilba, he had a look in his eyes, one of curiosity. When Bilba would look at him, he would immediately turn around. Bilba would blush and look away, all before smiling shyly.
The breeze was cool as it fluttered through Ember's hair. Kili watched as she pulled her hair toward her back, it fell and stopped midway down her back. He watched as she twisted it and made it into a bun on the top of her head. She clasped it and he watched as she slowly moved part of her hair over her ears. She turned toward him and smiled. Her dark eyes sparkled in the light. When Ember smiled at Kili she felt butterflies scattered in her stomach and she turned around. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks, and she smiled to herself one more time.
"You're blushing." Bilba said as Ember snapped back into reality.
"What, no I'm not."
"Um, yeah you are. I'm a girl, I can tell when another girl blushes." Ember looked Bilba dead in the eyes, before giving a shy smile.
"Just keep it to yourself. I have a reputation."
"Whatever you say goes princess." Ember laughed and so did Bilba. She had never felt so happy to be with another girl then she did with Bilba. She could tell this was going to be a great friendship, or that's what she wanted. She gave a quick glance in her peripheral vision back at Kili, he was smiling with his brother. She felt herself calm down a bit.
The company had camped for the night near the edge of a cliff. As Gloin slept, tiny flying insects get sucked into his mouth every time he inhales, and they are expelled when he exhales. Bilba watched in disgust, then finally got up and walked around. Most of the dwarves are asleep; Gandalf, Fili, Ember, and Kili were awake. Bilba walked over to her pony and gave her an apple, after checking to see that no one was looking.
"Hello, girl. That's a good girl. It's our little secret, Myrtle; you must tell no one. sh, sh" Bilba heard a scream in the night air and became filled worried.
She ran over to Fili, Ember,and Kili.
"What was that?"
"Orcs."
Another scream was heard. Thorin, who was dozing, jerked awake upon hearing the word "Orcs."
"Orcs?"
"Throat cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them." Fili said, Ember just listened to the breeze and what Fili had said.
"They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood." Kili said, Ember knew that to be true.
Bilba looked away in fright; Fili and Kili look at each other and began laughing. Ember scoffed and crossed her legs, if she hadn't seen orc ruin, she would have laughed too.
"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" Thorin asked quickly, it scared Ember and Bilba, and it caused them both to jump.
"We didn't mean anything by it." Kili said shyly.
"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin scoffed.
Thorin walked off to the edge of the cliff and looked out over the valley; Balin walked up to Fili and Kili.
"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror 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 most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King. Thrain, 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. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no 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."
Thorin turned away from the view beyond the cliff; the entire Company was awake now and standing in awe, staring at him. Thorin walked between them toward the fire.
"But the pale orc? What happened to him?" Bilba asked Balin.
"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." Thorin looked into Bilba's eyes, and she turned away and blushed. The company fell silent.
"So Ember what did you do before the quest?" Kili asked her, his voice full of curiosity. She smiled and sighed.
"Well for the past four years, I was part of an elite group known as the Ithil. We used to number in the close thousand, now we only number four including myself. But about a year ago, I ran away.I couldn't take it anymore. So I left."
"What did they do?" Fili asked.
"The Ithil was an elite group of highly trained assassins, almost like soldiers." Most of the dwarves tensed up at the word assassins.
"So are you here to kill any of us?" Bofur asked Ember, they were the first words he had said to her since the knife incident.
"Darling, if I were here to kill any of you. I would have done it by now. I'm here to help, not harm." She smiled at the dwarves, some smiled in return. Others just looked at her confused, or upset. Kili had the biggest smile on his face, and Gandalf smirked at her. Fili looked impressed and Bilba looked a mix of shock and awe. Thorin looked amused and Dwalin looked surprised. Bofur looked almost relieved that he wasn't embarrassed by some girl in Bag End, it gave him a sense of relief that he was embarrassed by an assassin. Kili felt a little pride in his soul for Ember.
"So we have 13 dwarves, a hobbit, a wizard, and an assassin. We might actually have a chance in this fight." Bilba said with a smile on her face, Ember sent a shy smile to her, then one to Kili. Kili beamed at her and Ember laughed.
The company set out just after dawn. Rain began to fall. Whenever a raindrop would fall upon Ember's face, it caused her to smile. But, some of the dwarves felt differently.
"Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?"
"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard."
"Are there any?" Bilba asked.
"What?" Gandalf responded.
"Other wizards?"
"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards; you know, I've quite forgotten their names."
"Their names are Allatar and Pallando. I'm shocked you didn't remember that. They can control the weather." Ember responded to Bilba's question.
"Thank you." Gandalf said to her. She sent back a polite smile.
"And who is the fifth?"
"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown."
"Is he a great Wizard or is he...more like you?" Gandalf looked slightly offended Ember let out a loud happy laugh.
"I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the East, and a good thing too, for always Evil will look to find a foothold in this world."
Translations:
Nadadith- Little brother
Ithil- Rune
So this was chapter 2 for you guys, it was mainly a filler chapter but I liked it. Love you guys!