These next couple chapters are my absolute favorites! Enjoy!
As the group continued, Orc attacks became less and less. The peace was unnerving. Lulyn kept a hand on her sword at all times, just in case the orcs were to ambush the company. Lulyn stopped when she realized something. "Thorin?" She said. Thorin and the company halted. "Is there a problem?" He asked. Lulyn hesitated. "There's fourteen of us...and likely thousands of orcs. What exactly do you plan to do when the time comes to fight them?"
Thorin glared. "We'll figure that out when the time comes." He said, trying to hide the fact that he didn't have a plan, and had no idea how they were going to defeat that many orcs.
Lulyn fingered her necklace and looked up at the mountains. The group was traveling through a mountain pass, with cliffs overhanging on either side. The pass continued on and turned a corner. Thorin looked up at the tallest mountain in the Withered Heath, which wasn't too far away now, and thought he saw an Orc race back inside the mountain when he looked up.
As the company continued through the mountains, the ponies became very nervous and fidgety. They were being watched. The company would constantly be glancing over their shoulders, they always felt eyes on them. Nowhere felt safe anymore. Fili and Kili would be constantly reporting sightings of orcs, but when the company went lookin for them, which they did...three times, they couldn't find any orcs.
That night, Lulyn found herself unable to sleep again. She sat up against a boulder and played with a pebble. "Can't sleep again?" A voice said. Lulyn looked up and saw Kili crawling over to sit next to her. Lulyn sighed. "Yea. This whole thing is pretty unnerving though. I carry a necklace that attracts orcs."
Kili smiled. Lulyn couldn't help but smile back when she saw his lopsided grin. She looked up at the hill behind them and climbed it. Kili followed her and found her staring out into the dark, noiseless night. They sat and looked out over the dark terrain. Kili sighed. "You know, Lu, I've been meaning to ask you, why did you come after the company?" Kili asked. Lulyn looked at Kili and raised an eyebrow. He looked at her like he wanted an answer. She sighed.
"I needed adventure. I wondered if things would be interesting with thirteen guys. It definitely is." She said.
Kili chuckled. "C'mon, what's your real reason?" He lightly punched her shoulder. "You didn't happen to follow us because of a certain handsome dwarf?" He winked.
"How did you know I came after Bombur?" Lulyn joked, acting surprised. She smiled. "It was unexpected. I mixed things up. I wanted family. It keeps life interesting." A cheeky smile spread across her lips. "Like this!" She said, shoving Kili down the hill with a laugh. She threw herself down and rolled after him, meeting him laying at the bottom of the hill. They laughed for a long time, looking up at the stars as they tried to get themselves together.
"So it was unexpected, eh?" Kili said, sitting up and raising his eyebrows.
Lulyn nodded and looked into the dwarf's dark eyes, also sitting up and hugging her knees.
"Well then, how's this for unexpected?" He said, leaning forward and gently pressing his lips hers. Lulyn smiled and returned the kiss, placing a hand on Kili's shoulder. She pulled away.
"That wasn't unexpected. I saw that one coming from the day we met." Lulyn said. Kili looked down. "But that doesn't mean I didn't like it." she smiled, and leaned in to kiss him again. Kili pulled her close and rested a hand on her cheek. They broke apart to see a shooting star fly across the sky. Lulyn looked back toward the top of the hill, knowing they would have to go back at some point.
"We should get back." Lulyn said, resting her head on Kili's shoulder. He smiled. "Well, yeah, we should. But it's a beautiful night, let's stargaze." He said. Lulyn smiled. "Okay."
Kili laid back with Lulyn to look up at the stars. She snuggled close to Kili as a chilly breeze blew, the cold nipping at her face.
For an hour or two, Lulyn and Kili talked and laughed, then eventually, they realized whoever was on watch would likely notice they were gone.
As the couple crested the hill, they saw Thorin was on watch, but he hadn't seemed to notice they were missing. They snuck back into camp and fell asleep.
The next morning, when Lulyn woke, she saw Kili asleep next to her. She didn't recall him falling asleep there, but she didn't think more of it. She looked around and was relieved to see no one awake. She got up and began making breakfast for the company. Bombur was the first to wake at the smell of oatmeal, he nearly jumped three feet in the air when he saw her cooking. Lulyn giggled, which probably woke the rest of the company. As she stirred the contents of the pot, Kili came and sat next to her. She looked up at him, and her cheeks grew slightly warm.
"Good morning." He said.
Lulyn turned her attention back to the oatmeal. "Good morning, Kili." She smiled.
"How did you sleep?" He asked.
"I slept well." She said. Why was talking to him so awkward now? She bit her lip and scooped the oatmeal into bowls, then she and Bofur handed out them to each member of the company.
"So are we...like, a thing now? Or..." Kili began.
Lulyn's cheeks grew redder. She simply shrugged. "We'll see." She smiled. She cleared her those and looked at her bowl.
The company packed their things after they finished eating and waited for Thorin's orders. He didn't say anything for a long time. He just sat and thought. Eventually, he noticed the company waiting for him to say or do something. So he mounted his pony and they started off.
Lulyn was up at the front by Thorin, speaking to him of what he was thinking about. He told her how peculiar it was that they hadn't been attacked by orcs for nearly a week now.
After a while, Thorin dropped the subject. "So, what were you doing with my nephew last night?" He asked.
Lulyn turned about twelve shades of red. "I, uh, I um...we... Why would you think we were doing something?" She stuttered in a highly undignified way.
"Well, for one thing, you two were missing for a few hours of the night...and you weren't exactly quiet." He smiled teasingly.
Lulyn was still very red in the face. "Well...uh...we..."
Thorin chuckled. "I may have a good guess." He winked. Lulyn gave a nervous laugh, and her cheeks were still hot, but she didn't feel as embarrassed as she would have expected. What puzzled Lulyn the most was the fact that Thorin was actually teasing her. Who was this and what did he do with Thorin Oakenshield? She shrugged it off and dropped back with Kili, who was being bugged by Fili to tell him what happened between him and Lu last night. "C'mon, please Kili?" Fili nudged Kili.
Kili punched Fili in the shoulder lightly and they laughed.
"Lu, what happened?" He asked.
Lulyn just smirked and shook her head. Fili frowned, but accepted the fact he wasn't going to get anything out of them. They would leave him guessing.
Lulyn found it hard to make eye contact with Kili without blushing slightly. They rode next to each other in a pleasant silence. The silence was broken though, by a screech. An orc screech.