Disclaimer: The Hobbit and its various peoples and places are not of my creation, nor do I own them. That honor goes to their lovely creators.

I have come to the conclusion that the young ones do not realize we can hear them from here and that it is rude to stare. Who taught them manners? Surely not their uncle.

It probably was their uncle, Sith. What are you going on about anyway? Kelda thought back to the gryphon, absentmindedly fiddling with the pendant hanging around her neck as they traveled along the road. She was far more concerned with whether or not she wanted to dig into her pack and grab an apple to snack on than what the dwarves were doing.

Finally deciding that she did indeed want that apple, Kelda reached down with one hand and began to search around in one of her saddle-bags. She rifled around a moment and then smiled as she found one. Plucking it from the bag she immediately proceeded to take a large bite, sighing in satisfaction at its fresh sweetness.

Have you not been paying attention? They are discussing different scenarios about how you might have received your scars.

Kelda sighed, munching on her apple as she began actually tuning into the conversations going on around her. Most of the Company was either traveling in relative silence, speaking of the journey ahead of them or about matters entirely unrelated. She was, however, able to make out a debate going on between Fili, Kili and Ori as to how she might have been burned; at that moment Ori was tossing around the idea that she might have been dropped on a hot surface as a babe, while Fili and Kili were insisting that is had been Smaug who had done it; it had to be the truth, because their uncle had told them so. The skyling flexed her wings, tuning the three right back out as she tossed the finished apple-core aside. She was used to the stares and the whispers and over the years had become a master at pretending it didn't bother her.

Ignore them, Sith, they just don't know any better. Come, would you rather travel closer to the front of the line? I'm certain they won't mind. Besides, I promised Gandalf an apple before we left.

I would, in fact, Sitheiyra answered, quickening her pace so as to catch up to the wizard further along the road. Kelda once again reached into her saddle-bag in search of another apple, but instead found something else. She frowned slightly before pulling up a sack that she didn't remember having put in there. Curious, she pulled it open and as she looked in her eyes widened. Reaching into the sack, she pulled out a large red strawberry.

Well, I wonder where those could have come from, Sitheiyra said knowingly as Kelda breathed in the strawberry's intoxicating scent. The skyling took a bite, sighing wistfully before turning her gaze to Thorin at the front of the line.

He must have slipped them in when he had the bag, she thought, closing her eyes as she bit off the rest of the fruit. Mmmmmm…sneaky bastard.

Do you still 'intend to be offended for quite some time'? Or have I been proven right, once again, in saying that you'll now forgive him on the spot?

Shut up, gryphon.

Kelda ignored the Muzmulomil's laughter in her thoughts, reaching in the saddlebag for an apple as they finally came up alongside Gandalf's horse. The skyling smiled cheerfully when the wizard looked over at her and she stretched out her arm to offer him the deep red apple she held in her hand, her precious strawberries placed carefully in her lap.

"I recall promising you one of my apples."

"Ah, yes. Indeed you did," the wizard answered, accepting the offered fruit from Kelda's hand. "Thank you very much, Kelda."

"Please tell me you have more in that bottomless bag than fruit," Dwalin said, eyeing her. "You Sky-Folk like pastries; surely you have honey cakes or some such thing?"

"Oh, come now Dwalin, are you telling me you wouldn't have an apple if I offered one to you?" Kelda replied playfully, pulling an apple from the saddle-bag and waving it in front of him. The dwarf made a face.

"Not if I had any choice."

"Come on, be reasonable. I bought a whole bunch for everyone!"

"It's a long journey; will they not go bad if not eaten in the next few days?"

"Oh, I doubt that," Balin said from where he'd been listening a few feet ahead of them, his pony being second in line behind Thorin's. "Skylings are well known for their enchanted items. While everyone knows of the elves' enchanted weapons, the Sky Folk will enchant just about anything. Often to greater effect." Balin turned slightly in his saddle to look at Kelda. "What have you got on your packs, lass?"

"Well, they all have space enchantments. Meaning they're far larger on the inside than they appear. I can carry twice the amount in each than I could in an ordinary bag," Kelda explained. She pointed a finger to the bag she'd been pulling the fruit out of. "This one in particular also has an enchantment of stasis on it. Basically freezes time within the bag. No matter how long an item is in there, it will be as fresh when you take it out as it was when you placed it in. It's a difficult enchantment, though, so I've only got the one."

"I thought you said you cannot do that kind of magic," Oin said, looking over at Kelda suspiciously. "Have you been feeding us lies skyling?"

"Lies? No, of course not! What I said before is true; I am a War-Mage like my father before me. Enchantments are not my specialty, but my cousin Amva and my uncle Draxis both are Enchanters. They've done my enchantments for me," Kelda said, but seeing the older dwarf continue to give her the eye, she sighed dramatically. "Lopti's breath, I forgot how damn suspicious you dwarves can be. I'm not lying; ask Master Oakenshield, he'll vouch for me. Right?"

"Leave her be, Oin, she speaks the truth," Thorin ordered from the front of the pony-train without turning around, or even looking over his shoulder. It was the first thing he'd said since they'd left the shire. Kelda shifted her weight slightly in the saddle; it had also been the first thing she'd said to him since their conversation earlier that day.

No one else in the company calls him 'Master Oakenshield', in case you have not noticed.

Yes, well, they've all known him for the past one hundred and seventy one years. I have not. So if you don't mind I'll try to treat him with the respect due him as King Under the Mountain, Sitheiyra.

That means very little, in the scheme of things. I would think that his remembering your terrible love for strawberries would have put you past this odd notion of formality. If you would simply treat him like you used to everything would fall back into place.

It's not that simple, Sith.

It is, and I shall prove it, Sitheiyra said, before suddenly bounding forward to get herself side-by-side with the dwarf prince's pony. Kelda yelped at the gryphon's sharp motion, grabbing the saddle-horn to keep herself from getting flung forward. The coppery, sunset colored plumage on her head stood on end, much like a startled cockatoo, and her wings puffed out in alarm.

"Imhêr kethâm, Sitheiyra!" Kelda snapped, glowering sharply at Sitheiyra until she felt a steadying hand on her arm. She turned her head to find Thorin leaning over the gap between the pony and the gryphon, his strong fingers wrapped around her upper arm as he helped her straighten in the saddle. He watched her with an expression of warm amusement, a look she was still apparently fond of if the quickening of her heart was any indication. Kelda smoothed her feathers down with one hand, releasing a breathy laugh. As her lips curved up in a smile, she pulled one of the strawberries out of the bag in her lap and offered it to him.

"Berry?"

Thorin glanced at the strawberry briefly and then looked back at her, studying her for a moment before taking the fruit from her hand without a word. A bright smile gracing her features, Kelda turned around in the saddle and pointed at Dwalin, her pendant catching the light and Thorin's attention as she did.

"If fruit is good enough for Thorin Oakenshield, then it is good enough for you!"

"Ah, don't get your hopes up, lass, he's only taking it because he likes you," Dwalin teased.

"Well, of course he does!" Kelda said with over-exaggerated confidence, once again using her quick humor as a shield against all possible invading emotions. "Without me here he'd only be stuck with you lot, and who ever would want that?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that we're a group of strong, handsome, upstanding dwarves! Anyone with the pleasure of our company is doing quite well, I'd say." Fili responded, the rest of the company shouting their various agreements with his statement. Kelda gave a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"Yeah, you're alright for dwarves, I'll give you that. Still, you're not quite on my level of timeless, stunning beauty."

"Stunning beauty? Eh, I prefer my women with some hair on their heads and not chicken feathers," Nori said in response to the skyling's joke, though his tone was a clear giveaway that he was just teasing, too. Kelda was about to shoot a snarky comment back at the red-headed dwarf when she was cut off by an interruption that she had not been anticipating.

"Her beauty isn't up for debate," Thorin said gruffly. His voice grew quieter halfway through the statement as if the response had been a knee-jerk reaction and when he'd thought about what he was saying he'd been embarrassed by his own words. As if trying to make it look less like he'd just admitted something of his personal thoughts, he added, "The Lady Mage is a high-born woman, a Queen, and you must treat her with respect."

Kelda had been taken entirely by surprise by his abrupt remark and, for the first time in a long while, found herself unable to come up with any sort of response. She opened her mouth to speak, only to close it again and just look at Thorin as her skin began to flush red. The dwarf prince continued to stare straight ahead down the path as if nothing had occurred and as the rest of the company muttered to one another, no doubt about their leader's odd behavior, Kelda found herself looking off into the trees, trying to ignore the awkward silence. As she looked at the surrounding forest she remembered how easy it had been before. The contract had made it simple; she and Thorin would join together to strengthen the alliance between their peoples. Arranged, political marriages didn't always contain love, friendship or even civility, but they had been lucky and for the next nine years he had been a daily part of her life, up until Smaug had taken it all away, of course.

Something in the forest caught the skyling's eye, then, pulling her from her thoughts and making her peer more carefully between the thick old trees. She could have sworn she'd seen a flash of red wings within the foliage, red like the burning evening sun. She couldn't see anything there anymore, though, regardless of how she searched. Kelda frowned slightly and was about to tell Sitheiyra to stray from the path so she might sate her curiosity, but was interrupted by a softly spoken statement from the dwarf riding beside her.

"You kept it."

"What?" Kelda asked distractedly, looking through the trees once more before turning her attention back over to the dwarf prince. Thorin glanced at the pendant around Kelda's neck briefly before his ocean blue gaze rose from it and rested on her face.

"You've kept it," he repeated quietly as he searched her face, though she wasn't sure what he could be looking for. All she knew was that his expression was making her heart pound in her chest, like it might simply burst out of its own accord. The mysterious flash of feathers in the forest was completely forgotten as she looked back at him and tried to formulate something to say in return.

"I-"

"Wait! Wait!"

Kelda blinked at the interrupting voice, twisting around to look behind. The entire party mimicked her, everyone stopping their mounts on the path as they all peered in the direction they had come. There was a hobbit running down the road after them.

"Well now," Kelda said as she watched Bilbo run up to Balin, the contract fluttering about in his hand as he went. "It seems Gandalf was right."

I suppose it's a good thing you refuse to bet against a wizard, Sitheiyra said with cool amusement as Bilbo reached up to hand the contract to Balin.

"I signed it!" The Halfling exclaimed, watching as Balin took the contract and, producing an eyeglass from his pocket, inspected it closely. After a short moment, the elder dwarf looked up and smiled at Bilbo.

"Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."

The dwarves began to shout and cheer excitedly, enthusiastic about their new companion despite the fact that he was a gentle little Halfling, while Thorin looked Bilbo over with a shaded gaze; he wasn't impressed. Kelda wasn't exactly filled with enthusiasm, either, knowing that she was going to end up feeling like she had to babysit the Hobbit. She wouldn't be able to keep from throwing herself in front of any danger he might fall into; it was in her nature to try to take care of those weaker than herself, regardless of possible injury to her own person. It was a trait she'd gained while growing up trying to protect her little sister and cousin.

"Give him a pony," Thorin said, only barely managing to cover his irritation. As the group once again began moving, and the Hobbit could be heard going on about not needing a pony and going on walking holidays, Kelda sighed lightly and ran her hand over Sitheiyra's smooth black feathers.

"Well, it could be worse," she said with a mischievous little grin. "He could be an annoying Hobbit burglar."

The skyling received a flat, entirely un-amused look from the dwarf prince beside her and her smirk only grew as the two of them fell into comfortable silence. The wizard with them fell back in line, and Kelda glanced behind her again. Bilbo had been placed on a pony and seemed wholly miserable about it. Kelda was internally grateful that the Hobbit had shown up when he had; it had distracted Thorin enough to put off the conversation about the pendant, at least momentarily. She very much doubted he'd forget about it entirely, but at least she had some time to think about what she'd say.

You could always tell the truth.

Sitheiyra, please, Kelda answered, exasperated. Don't start.

You are making this much more difficult than it has to be, the gryphon huffed. Being with him was natural and easy, up until you actually thought about it.

Sith, it's-

It's not that simple? Yes, so you keep on saying.

"Come on, Nori," Kelda heard Oin say, pulling her attention away from Sitheiyra. "Pay up. Go on."

Nori tossed a pouch of coins over to Oin and soon enough others were being tossed through the air, passing from one dwarf to another. Bilbo looked about in confusion as the dwarves passed the pouches, laughing and talking among themselves as they did.

"What's that about?"

"Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you'd turn up," Gandalf answered. "Most of them bet that you wouldn't."

"What did you think?" Bilbo asked, and just as he finished speaking a bag of coins flew through the air to land in the wizard's awaiting hand.

"My dear fellow," Gandalf said good-naturedly as he put the pouch in his bag. "I never doubted you for a second."

As Kelda reached out to snatch the coin pouch tossed to her by Gloin out of the air, she turned to the hobbit and smiled cheerfully.

"If there's only one thing you take away from this quest, Master Baggins, let it be this; never bet against a wizard. If you do you'll always lose." She said as she placed the coins in the pouch on her belt.

"That seems like sound advice," Bilbo answered, eyeing Sitheiyra nervously as he did. Kelda sighed and shook her head; she supposed the Muzmulomil could be a bit intimidating, but this fear was something she was going to have to nip in the bud.

"You need not look so concerned, dear Burglar. Unless you're a prey animal or an enemy, you have nothing to fear from my darling Sitheiyra. She does not eat sentient beings…unless they're being needlessly annoying, of course. Then she might gnaw on them a bit."

Not on him. He's barely a mouthful, the gryphon commented idly, turning to look at the hobbit and humming in amusement at the way he flinched back.

"Forgive me if I find a large, wild beast a point of concern," the hobbit answered dubiously. "In fact, I'm a bit surprised the others aren't more troubled by it. Isn't it dangerous?"

"She. Not it," Kelda correctly sharply before continuing. "And Sith isn't a dumb beast, Master Baggins. Gryphons are highly intelligent beings and are capable of understanding and speaking many different languages, though they only speak telepathically, mind to mind, and are very selective about who they converse with. They are native to the same land my people originally came from several ages ago, far north past the Grey Mountains. Sitheiyra here is what is known as a Muzmulomil in the dwarf tongue, or Night Beast. They're the largest and rarest of the gryphon species and are named for, obviously, their dark coloring and the fact that they're nearly silent in flight. They're also known to be called Banshees, too."

"Banshees? Isn't that a legendary spirit that screams in the night, predicting the death of the person who hears it?"

"Exactly that, yes."

"What does that have to do with a gryphon?" Bilbo asked curiously.

"Well, different types of gryphons have different, unique special abilities," Kelda explained. "Muzmulomil can produce a scream so powerful that it can stun or, indeed, kill their intended target. Some have even been known to have damaged structures with the force of their shriek. Thus, Banshee."

"That…eh, that sounds-" Kelda watched Bilbo screw his face up for a brief moment before sneezing loudly, turning his head just in time to avoid sneezing in the Skyling's face. "That sounds formidable. Oh, sorry. All this horse hair, I'm having a reaction."

Bilbo started searching through his pockets, his expression becoming increasingly distraught as he couldn't find what he was looking for. After a moment he looked up, anxiety crossing over his face.

"No, no, wait, wait, stop! Stop! We have to turn around," he shouted. The entire company came to a halt, the dwarves objecting loudly, each asking in their own way what the problem was. Why the hold up? Kelda glanced at the leader of the group, able to recognize Thorin's obvious annoyance without seeing his face; it was in the stiffness of his shoulders and the way his head tilted back slightly as if he silently questioned the gods. The Skyling fidgeted in the saddle, pinching her lips together in a thin line to keep herself from laughing. She knew she'd earn herself a glare if he heard her.

"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked, looking over at the Hobbit.

"I forgot my handkerchief."

"By the Sky and the Stone," Kelda sighed quietly. "Really?"

He'll be the death of us all, worrying over a handkerchief, Sitheiyra stated darkly. Has the wizard lost his mind entirely?

He's a wizard, Sith. I think it comes with the territory.

"Here! Use this." Bofur said as he tossed a dirty strip of cloth torn from his clothing to the Hobbit. Bilbo, upon catching it, looked at it in sheer disgust, causing the others to all to share a laugh at his expense.

"Move on," Thorin called, and the group spurred their mounts to motion again, continuing their journey.

I tire of this Halfling, and all this walking, Sitheiyra complained, eyeing Bilbo coolly before shifting her wings along her back. We are far enough from the Shire to avoid causing panic. Let us take wing.

And leave all our friends here on the ground?

They are certainly welcome to join us, if they can to sprout their own wings, the gryphon answered, shaking her wings out a bit as she prepared to take flight. Kelda knew Sitheiyra was going to, whether she agreed or not. Make an excuse, if it will make you feel better, but do so quickly. I wish to return to the sky.

"Sitheiyra and I are going to scout ahead," Kelda said, not to anyone in particular but loud enough that any one of the group could hear. It was a statement of fact; she was hardly asking permission. She was a Skyling and even a crippled one didn't need the approval of any poor wingless soul to enter her own domain.

"Do not stray far, Lady Mage," Thorin ordered, turning to look at Kelda and her gryphon. "Stay within sight of the company."

"Yes mother," Kelda answered in jest as they trotted past him. This earned her an unimpressed scowl, one she answered with a brilliant smile. "You shouldn't frown so much; your face might get stuck that way."

If Thorin was going to make any sort of response, he didn't get the opportunity as Sitheiyra released an excited screech, causing the dwarves' ponies to shy away in fright. Unraveling her great wings, she pumped them with all her might, launching herself and Kelda into the clear sky.

Khuzdul Translations:

Imhêr kethâm- Burning bells