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Several more days passed as the group trudged on through the mountains. Lulyn found herself becoming good friends with Bofur. Fili also seemed to notice something was happening between her and Kili, and became a good friend of hers as well. He eventually coaxed the story out of her about what's been going on.
The company found a cave to find shelter at night. The mouth of the cave looked straight at the mountain where the orcs hid. Lulyn still had trouble sleeping at night and she found herself worrying a lot more than she'd like. While Thorin went to assign people to watch, Lulyn offered to take first watch that night.
"You need your rest. We attack tomorrow." Thorin said as Lulyn crossed her arms.
"I'm not going to sleep anyway. I might as well be useful while I'm not sleeping." She argued.
Thorin glared. "Fine." He agreed begrudgingly. Lulyn smiled and hugged Thorin. "Thanks." She whispered. She pulled away with a smirk as the company gave them a weird look.
The night was quiet. A lot quieter than Lulyn would have liked. She stared worriedly at the mountain that lay in front of them. Lulyn wondered how many orcs hid inside that mountain, and how in Middle Earth they were supposed to go through with their plan. The thirteen of them couldn't just waltz in there and say, "Howdy! We are here to kill you all! We hope you don't mind!"
She sighed and leaned against the cave wall, playing with a thread from her very worn red dress.
The night drew on, Lulyn woke Ori up for second watch. Though Lulyn acted as if she were asleep, she lay there wide awake. Eventually, she was taken by sleep, and when it was time to get up in the morning, she found herself nodding off as she packed her few things. She wondered about the ponies, and if Kor had taken them somewhere safe. She worried for them. Brisa and Kor had been her only two friends after what had happened when she had her little meet up with Azog.
The mountain was so close yet so far now. They would reach the mountain by nightfall and attack. By dinner, Lulyn found herself wandering off to be alone, and when she was far enough away from the group, she sat on a log. Worry and fear overcame her. Lulyn rested her head on her knees and a sob escaped her lips. She let out everything she'd been keeping inside, she thought if she didn't do it soon, she might explode. She got herself together and looked up. She found herself staring into the dark eyes of Kili. She hugged Kili and didn't let go. "Kili, how are we supposed to do this?" She sobbed. "We're way outnumbered. I—I'm afraid."
Kili sighed and held Lulyn close, stroking her hair. "I don't know, Lu. But we've come too far to back down now." He squeezed her lightly. "Don't be afraid."
She sniffled and looked up at Kili as tears still flowed freely down her cheeks. He wiped one away with his thumb and kissed her cheek. "We can only hope for the best." He said, pulling the handkerchief from Lulyn's pocket and handing it to her.
She smiled and took the handkerchief, examining the purple embroidered letters.
"Come on, let's do this." Kili said encouragingly. He kept his arm around Lulyn as they walked back to camp. They quickly ate and then reached the mountain by sunset. Everyone set down their packs, hoping they'd be lucky enough to carry them on another adventure, and started toward the entrance of the mountain.