Chapter Eleven

After a very quick layover in Bree, three days later, where she actually had to enlist Nori to pick up the gear she needed, as Oakenshield wouldn't let her out of his sight. Which was extremely frustrating. He was treating her as a fauntling, something she hadn't had to endure for several decades. She could understand it if it had been another member of the company doing it, not that she would have accepted it, but she would have at least understood. However, she was the Mistress of Bag End and although that seemed to mean nothing to him, it meant a whole lot to her.

The first few weeks that they were on the road after that was extremely trying. She could tell that many of the dwarves wanted to be more friendly with her, as they'd been in her Smail, but with the idiots attitude towards her, they were being standoffish. It had only taken a few days to get everyone's names in place, not that it was helping her to become closer to any of them.

Dori seemed to have a large chip on his shoulder. Either that, or he was the biggest mother hen that Iris had ever seen. She watched him fuss over Ori constantly, driving the poor young dwarf crazy at time. Dori kept a very short leash on his youngest brother, not letting him out of his sight (poor thing even had to argue to go to the bathroom on his own some days, which Iris did find humorous). She could tell that if Nori would put up with it, he'd be under the same thumb, but he had an independent streak a mile wide. For her, that was a bonus though, as he was one of the very few that spent any extended time with her.

Gloin and Oin, although were pleasant, didn't speak to her other than a few grunts here or there. Except for in the beginning when Oin asked if there was anything she needed as a female on their trek. It had taken Gloin interpreting for her, to get across that she didn't need anything from him. She could take care of herself.

Both Balin and Dwalin sent her looks of regret from the front of the line, but she understood why they had to separate themselves from her while their leader was being a dunderhead. As the brothers were his advisor and his guard, respectively, she couldn't expect them to spend any time with her as well. At least they weren't rude to her. To make things easier, she stayed towards the back of the pack, trying to stay out of the way, and out of Oakenshield's daily glares.

Fili and Kili seemed to be about the same age as Ori, she guessed between twenty-five to thirty years older than she was. Yet, they acted as if they were in their tweens. At times, they were sequestered close to their uncles side, getting lessons from Balin, that Iris could tell they wanted nothing to do with. And at other times they were causing mischief with everyone down the line. Where she was the odd one out, she seemed to take the brunt of their foolishness, with her bags going missing the evenings, or on one memorable occasion her binder being strung up in some trees after she'd taken it off to rest more comfortably. Even Oakenshield had taken exception to that one and had given them quite the earful, putting them on latrine duty for a few weeks afterwards. It had at least slowed them down a bit in their foolishness, but she knew it wouldn't be long before they were acting at their finest once again.

The most welcoming out of everyone, other than Nori, was the Ur family. She found she had a soft spot in her heart for Bombur, he would have made a wonderful hobbit, and would probably have settled in quite contentedly there. Even with their limited resources, he could make a meal fit for a king every evening and frequently allowed her to chip in. He'd even admitted to her, that he also had a clause written into his contract about the amount of food he was to be given, because of his shear size. He needed to eat more than the average dwarf. As such, he had no problems with setting aside small portions for her to nibble on throughout the day. If she didn't know what little she did of dwarven culture, she would have though one of his parents was a hobbit, if it wasn't for the fact he was so much larger than herself.

Bifur, although she had a hard time communicating with him, was a delight to be around. He usually spent many hours of his day on the back of his horse carving the most intricate of contraptions. Once he was finished with them, he would hand them over for her to take a look at. Taking great pride in the praise she gave. She truly wished she had the courage to tell the two of them that they were family. She felt like they'd welcome her with open arms.

Which brought her to Bofur. She couldn't keep her aloofness with him for long. He was just too cheerful. There was something about him that made her want to befriend him. She could see why her mother fell in love with him. How he could be her Heart, but what she couldn't understand was how he could have given up on her. He fussed over Bombur, worried that his little brother wasn't getting enough food, though not as obnoxiously as Dori would. He checked Bifur's axe on a regular basis, though Bombur did too, as if it was something they did frequently. He always had a happy tune to sing, a joke to tell or a hearty laugh when others joined in. He would strike up conversation with anyone, feeling no shame in moving up and down the line to pester whomever caught his sight. From time to time he'd even try to get her to tell stories of her family, but she kept most of it to her cousins and the antics that Tooks and Brandybucks could get up to. She didn't want to tell him just yet who her mother was, wanting to get to know him first before letting that cat out of the bag.

Gandalf on the other hand, was just as annoying, yet as jovial as she remembered him. Not that she got to spend much time around him, as he spent most of it at the front of the line with their illustrious leader.

The only real problem she had being around so many people, was the fact that she really needed to shave in the morning. Dwarves were the only race where the women had beards, and it was well known that Hobbits didn't sport them at all; unless they were the Stoors, but they were strange to begin with, they liked water. She'd taken to requesting the final watch of the night, so that she could do so without being seen. Of course, there were days that Oakenshield wouldn't agree, and she did have to give him props for trying to be fair, she did take watch most nights, where the others only took it every three to four. On those days, she tended to wear her hood up, hiding her barely there whiskers.

The one time that the boys tried to pull her hood down on those days, found him with a crossbow in the face, with faster reflexes than anyone had ever expected of her. Though none of them would have probably noticed, she wasn't taking that chance. As soon as she did it though, she feared for her life. She'd just threatened what were essentially princes. Instead, she spent hours answering questions about the small handheld crossbow, and finally showing the boys and Nori how it worked.

She didn't notice how one dwarf in particular was watching and listening in all the closer.

Next chapter: The Wargs howl and story time.