Hey guys! So, thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites!
Onwards with the next chapter!
(p.s this is rushed because I have tests soon and I need to study so I'm jamming whatever I can into this chapter that I'll edit later.)
*edited May 2017
Chapter Six: Marty McFly
Riding on a pony is not my ideal type of transport. With my butt aching, my thighs itching and becoming stiff, it is pure torture; trying not to throw myself onto the soft, safe, green grass is becoming harder by the minute.
But the view was slightly worth the pain. Waking up every day for the past 18 years to the sight of buildings, sky - scrapers and the dark grey of concrete and roads, this is something that just seems so, I don't know, surreal. The trees are large oaks adorned with full leaves; flowers of all colours of the rainbow bloomed everywhere. Whenever I had visited Connemara for a week in the summer, most of the time the sky had been cloudy and grey, with the fields lacking any flowers and mud being everywhere. Everything seemed to be drained of colour compared to this place.
I try to drink in the sight all at once, shifting around in the saddle behind Fili with my mouth agape.
"Will you stop your shuffling back there?" Fili mutters to me but I pay no head as my eyes are glued to a very pretty butterfly that is fluttering next to me. I don't understand how they can't be enchanted by the beauty of The Shire. Then again they've grown up to places like this so they must be used to it by now.
I reach my hand out, taking it away from the grip on Fili's waist, watching as the butterfly slowly perches on my index finger. Happiness swells up in me as a big grin spreads across my face. A fucking butterfly is on my fucking finger. This is bloody Tumblr worthy. Where's a camera when you need one?
"It's not my fault that this place is amazing," I answer as I watch the pretty butterfly flutter off to disappear in the fauna. "I grew up with hardly ever seeing grass or even seeing the trees this green."
"Where is it that you grew up, Miss Libby?" Ori asks as he continues to write in his journal while steering his pony. How the Hell does he do that? I couldn't type and talk at the same time, much less steer a horse. Reeling my mind back, I give a shrug at his question, despite him not being able to see the action.
"Somewhere really far away," I mutter, "I doubt I can go back now." I frown at this as I feel my eyebrows furrow together; does it even exist here? Would I end up like Marty McFly and slowly start to erase myself from my timeline? I hope I don't end up kissing my own mother though. Yuck. "I don't think it even exists anymore honestly."
This catches Ori's attention as he looks up from his journal to give me a mystified and curious look mixed with understanding and pity - lots of pity. A lot of the group is ahead of us with only Kili, Ori and Dori beside Fili and me. I suspect that Dori is only hanging back for his brother and not to engage in my ever delightful conversation. Kili, however, is right next to us that I swear his knee has brushed up against mine at least once or twice. Though he pretends not to be listening, I see that his head has turned slightly towards me.
Smooth, pretty boy.
"Why is that, Miss Libby?" Ori asks, his voice dropping dramatically. Because I think I've been sent back in time or I might be dead. I snort inwardly at that; like they'd ever believe that. But, then again, they have weirder things here; Wizards, Hobbits, Dwarves and even fucking Elves (apparently). Like, shit, I bet they could believe me if I tried to convince them. Which, I decided, would be something I would not try to do in case they thought me mental and locked me up in a loony bin.
Biting my lip, I let out a puff of air, weighing the risk of telling them. Yes or no? No or yes? I mean, I could lie to them and only tell them part of the truth like I did with Gandalf but the sneaky old man saw through my bullshit way too easily. What if they started asking questions and I tripped up? I realise I haven't answered Ori and I start to search for a lie. "Uh, well - "
"Wait! Wait!"
Oh, Bilbo, I could just kiss you right now!
Everyone pulls to a stop as I spy the little Hobbit come running towards us, holding the contract firmly in his hand. I feel a big smile break across my face at the sight of the out of breath Hobbit as he struggles to speak.
"I signed it," he puffs as he stops next to Balin's pony. Balin takes the contract, reading through it as though looking for something, maybe Bilbo's signature, I don't know. With a sigh, Balin looks up with a slightly pleased look on his face.
"Everything appears to be in order," Balin announces to everyone, "Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."
"Welcome aboard, mate!" I yell out. Bilbo meets my eyes and sends me a bewildered smile as though he can't believe he's actually going through with this ludicrous quest, fully aware he could die at any moment. Well, neither could I but I was practically roped into it more than he was. He had the chance to not go, unlike me thanks to a certain someone. (Looking at you, Gandalf.)
"Give him a pony!" Thorin yells, casting Bilbo a look that I can only describe as him basically saying 'stay - out - of - my way - you - little - shit' or maybe that could just be his natural face; Thorin is a natural grump and he usually looks like he's glaring at everyone and everything around him. And then everyone starts to move once again, making me yelp at the sudden jostle and grip Fili tighter, making his belt out a laugh. Jerk.
Now wait just a gosh darn minute.
"Do mean to tell me," I seethe through clenched teeth, "that there are spare ponies?!" I all but hiss at the Dwarf riding beside Fili and I. I could have had my own pony but no, instead I to have the utter delight of sharing one with this blasted jerk who's forcing me to hold onto him. Kili sends me a wry smile.
"We only had one spare," Kili explains nonchalantly. I scoff at this.
"And I couldn't have had it?" I squawk, "Instead of having to hold onto him?" I gesture to Fili in front of me, "also known as the jerk in front of me? Sorry, but I really don't fancy being told by your stupid brother to 'stop your shuffling'," at the end of my sentence I let my voice drop a few octaves so I sounded a lot like Morgan Freeman. Fili suddenly sends his elbow back, connecting lightly with my stomach. It wasn't a rough hit, more playful than anything, but it makes me glare at him.
"I am so not sharing a pony with you anymore," I dead pan.
"Fine by me," Fili teases as his brother chuckles beside us. Ass hats.
"No, no, no," Bilbo stutters, bringing me back to the situation at hand. "That won't be necessary. I'm sure I can keep up!"
Turns out me and Bilbo share distaste for horses. Poor bastard.
"I've done my fair share of walking holidays," Bilbo continues almost amusingly as I shake my head at him. Suddenly, without a word, Fili lets go of the reins, shoves them into my hands as he passes his brother a sly look. I know I should probably wonder what they're planning but all that's running through my mind is 'holy crap I'm driving a horse. Holy shit, I'll end up crashing it into a tree!' Please don't let your local Libby Fernwright drive a horse, it's a bad idea for both parties.
I scrunch my nose up as the horse bucks it head, hair flying everywhere. What the Hell even is this - this thing?
"I even got as far as Frogmorton once," Bilbo says nervously before, suddenly, Kili and Fili pick him up by the shoulders (with Bilbo letting out a very 'manly' squeal) and deposit him on a nearby pony that I just notice. Lucky duck, getting his own pony.
Gripping the reins almost instantly, Bilbo passes a glare to the two laughing brothers while I give him a sympathetic smile. When he got close enough, I clap him on the back while smiling genuinely, handing the reins back to Fili who looks far too happy for his own good.
"Good to see you again, mate."
Bilbo sends me a glare in return for my smile.
Talk about feeling the love.
Two days.
That's how long we've been riding.
Two fucking days; 48 fucking hours; 2880 fucking minutes; 172,800 God - damn, mother - fucking seconds.
We've only been allowed five minute potty breaks (where we had to go to the bathroom in the ground behind trees) and each and every passing moment is pure and utter torture.
I'm tired.
I'm hungry.
My ass fucking hurts.
I have a sneeze that will not sneeze out. (Is that a thing?)
But, more importantly, I need to pee.
My arms have turned to jelly at how long I've held onto Fili and I'm positive that when I get off the horse that the only way I'll be able to walk is if I do the crab walk. I can't even feel my legs anymore!
During the first day, even though I was slightly annoyed I managed to keep happy and tell a few jokes (that were more well received here than back home). The more I talked the more people seemed to be interested in what I had to say (which is a lot different than it was back home) even though the three people I talked to most were Ori, Kili and Fili. Ori constantly asks, quite shyly, about my 'homeland' (I tell him very little because for all I know it could have a ripple effect on a timeline or I could seriously fuck shit up). Kili and Fili, well, they just find any moment to tease and joke with me.
I do thoroughly remember throwing the core of my apple (that Fili oh so kindly gave to me; meaning he practically dropped it over his shoulder and onto my head, though luckily, I caught it between my knees just in time) at Kili's head when he continued to do an impression of my face when he told me of all the God awful creatures that awaits us in the wild.
I'm just going to say this once and once only: I will never be able to watch Harry Potter again and think Dobby is cute from the way Kili described Goblins. I mean, granted Dobby is an elf but Jesus H. Christ; the similarities are too striking for my taste.
On the second day, however, everyone has seemed to pick up on my bad mood because Ori keeps himself to himself while writing or doing whatever he does in that damned book, sometimes even flicking through my Irish book to stare at the vivid images. Kili and Fili mutter to each other in, what I think is, a less pretty and eloquent version of German. As I listen, I can pick out the similarities of the language that they speak and the one I'm able to understand the basics of, what with having gone through six years of it. Throughout their little argument (I know it's an argument because of how pissed off Kili looks and the annoyed yet amused tone of Fili) I pick up random words through out, when I'm bothering to even listen such as 'like', 'a friend', 'share' and 'me'.
Weirdest conversation ever I might say.
I let out a grunt as I snuggle closer to Fili's warmth with my eyes drooping. As I feel myself start to drift off into a fretful and uncomfortable sleep, our horse suddenly sneezes making me pull away from Fili with my eyes wide open and a shocked squeal escapes my mouth. The two brothers stop arguing as Kili sends me a smirk.
Jerk.
"Ich hasse Pferde," I mutter under my breath, quite under the impression that no one could hear me.
"What was that, Libby?" Kili asks almost immediately after I spoke, casting me a sideways look. I give a shrug as I snuggle my cheek up against Fili's warm and surprisingly comfortable back again. How I wish I could just fall asleep and wake up back in my own bed...
The sun is beginning to dip lower behind the line of sight, making the sky turn an inky red colour. It's funny; everything looks the same as back home (though a bit healthier). I gaze at the sky through my eyelashes, squinting at the blinding light. The clouds have become thin wisps, spreading across the blood red sky. I can see the bright, silver moon start to appear; it's a lot closer than in the sky back. I frown at the thought of never seeing the familiar moon of home, or the stars or the sun or anything really.
But most importantly, the internet.
"I said I hated horses in German," I mumble as I yawn, my eyes squinting and making everything blur.
" 'German'? What is that?" Kili inquires as he slows his horse's pace so that he was directly opposite of me. I stared at him for a moment; really taking in his looks. His hair was a lot longer than guys back home would have it; his dark stubble made him look a lot hotter even though I really preferred my guy's clean shaven. His ears though a fair bit larger than a human being's, weren't comically so. His dark brown eyes that were under a pair of heavy eyebrows shone with amusement and content, almost making me turn into a pile of warm goo.
Jesus Christ, Libby, I know you're emotionally horny but, for the sake of the children, control your emotional hormones.
"It's a - a language," I continue to explain through a yawn, "from where I from. I used to think it was a very angry language but turns out it's very beautiful. That language you were speaking reminded me of it. Come to think of it there are some words that are similar between your language and mine."
The two brothers share a look of raised eyebrows and Kili looks like he's about to delve in more on the matter but Thorin yells out that we're going to stop and rest for the night. We've left the beautiful sight of The Shire for something that I can only tell is a cross from rocks, mud and more rocks. And maybe more mud.
"Hallelujah! Praise be to the Lord Jesus, our Saviour!" I groan as I instantly let go of Fili and stretch my stiff arms over my head, sighing in happiness at a welcoming pop. Fili slides off the pony with undeniable grace while I kind of just stare at him.
"Uh, hey, little help?" I say sheepishly. Fili sends me a smirk and shoulders his heavy sword, the metal jostling together.
"I'm sure you can do it," the blonde Dwarf smirks as he walks off.
"You're going to get karma! What ever happened to being chivalrous or whatever the bloody Hell you guys are supposed to be?!" My voice has risen but Fili ignores me as he walks off. "Dude! Damsel in Distress over here!" I yell after him but get no answer in return, only a bark of laughter.
Bastard.
I let out a huff of annoyance as I shift in my uncomfortable seat. I hold my bag to my stomach as I painfully pull one leg over so that they chafe uncomfortably together. "Here goes nothing." I push myself off and, for a brief unsteady moment, I am standing on my feet.
And then I promptly fall over.
I get a mouthful of grass and dirt while I roll onto my back, staring at the light of the fading sun. "I fucked up. I fucked up very badly," I groan as I pull a couple of strands of hair from my mouth. Suddenly, the view of the red sky is blocked and instead I see Kili's rather concerned and adorable looking face.
Well, can't deny that the view has most certainly improved.
"Hello," Kili chirps.
"Hey there," I return as I hold my bag closer to my chest, fighting the blush that bloomed across my cheeks. Does he have to be so good - looking and funny and nice and sweet and Jesus Christ, I'm turning into one of those obsessed fan - girls, aren't I? "Little help, please?"
With a laugh, Kili takes my hand and carefully pulls me to my feet. Now, what I did next is possibly the most awkward and embarrassing moments of my life and I am still so happy that I did it because my God, he is just so swoon worthy.
"Whoops!" I purposely trip over my own feet and fall into Kili's arms, noticing the way his arms go around me as one of my hands is against his chest and the other grips his bicep. Hello there, Mr Bulging Muscle. I glance up to meet his wide - eyed gaze, noting how his has turned a dark red and I shoot him my most crooked and awkward smile ever.
Focus, Libby, this is a quest to defeat a live dragon, not the chance for you to somehow get a boyfriend. And we both know the first one is going to be the easier of the two.
"Thanks, dude!" I squeak as I pull myself away and flip my hair over my shoulder as I practically sashayed away, feeling so proud at my little action. As I walk past Fili I can see his eyebrows grow higher as he smirks, obviously having seen how I practically did throw myself at his little brother but he was the only one who saw it. I send him a little wave, wiggling my fingers, as I shuffle away, looking for a place far away to tinkle.
After, erm, finishing my business, I wander about before stopping to sit myself back on my heels, letting my hands hang as I rest my elbows on my knees. I can hear the low chatter of everyone back at camp and I let out a big sigh; I feel like an intruder yet, at the same time, I'm an outsider too. They're all buddy - buddy and besties for life and I'm just here awkwardly trying to weasel my way into a group that probably doesn't even want me.
Kind of like back home. Huh.
I mean, sure, I hung out with other people and got piss drunk but I never really actually had a friend. I was kind of always alone with only me, myself and I for company. And I'm not great company so that sucked. I remember how one time I caught pneumonia and I was pulled out of school for an entire two months.
Not one 'get well soon!' card and not even a friend came to visit.
I've kind of gotten used to being alone; sure, Dad was a great father when he wasn't working but that was the problem: he always worked. I always used to depend on myself and I used to be my own best friend. I know that I would have had a fleeting acquaintance but I don't think I've ever really had a friend. How sad is that?
I shake my head, freeing myself of all these pessimistic thoughts, as I reach into my bag and grab the brush. I hate the thought of leaving my hair down for so long and let it get so knotted and tangled but, actually having no elastic band or even a hairband, I'm forced to let it hang loose. Fucking Hell, I already can feel the pain of brushing it the next time.
After finishing a long, pain filled hair brushing session that left my hair silky smooth (though it was starting to become a bit greasy), I come back to the campsite to the smell of cooking food. "Ah, my one true love," I sigh dreamily. I clasp both hands together over my chest as I take a deep breath of the lovely scent. No one hears my comment as they're all broken off into little groups; Ori, Dori, Nori, Oin and Gloin speaking together (actually Ori's just off to the side writing in his journal); Bifur, Bombur and Bofur are in a separate group speaking in the same language that I heard Fili and Kili speak previously.
Dwalin, Balin and Thorin are the furthest away, speaking in low voices and obviously discussing something important.
I cannot see Gandalf anywhere, or the two brothers. The only one I see sitting alone is Bilbo, who's standing near the horses, petting one of them with his back faced towards the entire company. Gripping the strap of my bag and taking a deep breath, slowly making my way towards the Hobbit. What am I going to say? 'Hey, sorry for eating all your food and accidentally ruining your pants!'
I shake my head before stopping mid - stride; I decide to just leave it be and sit down far away from Bilbo, near Bifur, Bombur and Bofur. I take my bag from my shoulders as I root around for something to occupy myself with. With the dim light of the fire, I can see my things in my bag. God, I hope I have a hair tie in here . . .
"Well, lassie," Bofur asks, turning to me with a pipe in his mouth. I've recently started to notice how my hands are starting to shake what with my lack of cigarettes. I've come this close to even asking Fili for a puff of his pipe. "How are you finding this life on the road at the moment?"
I snort at his wording; "I wouldn't call it life on the road, more like my butt being put through painful torture for whatever it did in a past life," I sigh as I hear Bofur laugh.
"Colourful and strange choice of words there lassie," Bofur winks, "but you'll get used to it."
"I don't want to get used to it," I grunt unhappily as my shoulders sag, "I just want to go back home and live my boring life as a teacher."
The Dwarf raises his eyebrows. "You? A teacher? Why, I would never have believed it!" He starts to giggle (yes, giggle. It isn't the happy - go - lucky kind of giggle, no; it's the kind you hear in such movies as The Shining and so forth). I raise my own eyebrows at him, casting him a not so amused look.
"Oh? And what about you, Bofur?" I inquire, turning my torso towards him, "what do you do?"
"I make things," he answers simply, almost a bit too vaguely, "just like Bifur."
I look over to the Dwarf Bofur had mention; Bifur looked wild, almost feral looking. His beard was a mix of braids with grey threading black. His fingers where a blur as he continued to make something in his hands. "What kind of things?"
Bifur says something in that strange, yet familiar, language again and I manage to catch the word. "Toys? Like, what kind of toys?"
Bifur speaks again, holding up the now complete object in his hands. It's a pretty bird and looks oddly familiar. I shuffle closer to him as I carefully take it nimbly in my fingers. "What kind of bird is it?"
Bifur grunts something again and I cast him a smile while shaking my head. "A sparrow? I've never really bothered to learn the names of birds. My Grandpa used to take me out bird watching every summer and no matter how hard both he and I tried, I just could never remember the names of them. 'In one ear, out the other' as my Gran used to say."
I can feel the very intense eyes of Bofur, Bombur and Bifur on me as I playfully turn the bird in my hand. A smile starts to bloom across my face as I remember the little wooden birds my own Grandpa used to whittle for me before he died. As I glance up, I meet the very wide and shocked eyes of Bifur. I glance between the three Dwarves as I feel my smile slip from my face.
"What?" I question, panic swelling like a balloon in my chest. Oh, God, did I offend them by taking the bird? Oh, dear Lord, it's the bird, isn't it? Did I like, I don't know, agree to marry Bifur or something? Please, dear God, no. I really hope not. "What did I do?"
"You understood him," Bombur explains softly. I feel my eyebrows knit together; I understood him? How? "You understood Khuzdul."
"I understood what?" All these difficult names for everything are giving me bloody headache.
"The Dwarven language," Bofur explains kindly, "only those in Dwarven culture know it."
Aren't you the guys always calling me a Dwarf? It was starting to hurt my head how they insisted on calling me a Dwarf, yet had the need to explain everything about Dwarves to me. Instead of snapping back at them, I let out a sigh and return a shrug as I twirl the bird between my fingers. "I guess it has some similarities with a language from my own home." From peripheral vision, I see the three Dwarves exchange an unknown look. As I glance over my shoulder I see Kili and Fili step out from the tree lines to collapse near the fire, a shit - eating grin on Fili's face and a scowl on Kili's.
I quickly hand the bird back to Bifur as I smile kindly at him whilst getting to my feet. "Es ist sehr schön, danke," I tell him, bending down to collect my bag as I quickly turned on my heel to join Fili and Kili.
"Why does Kili look like you ripped the head off of his favourite doll and fed it to a dog?" I ask, bemused as Kili continues to glare at the fire with much intensity. I scuff the bottom of my converse shoes (Having practically spent my whole life in them, I have no trouble in walking for long distances in them) as I wind my hands behind my back, glancing at an amused Fili.
"He lost a bet," Fili sniggers as his brother quickly turns to him, casting a dirty look to his older and blonder brother. I quickly sit down with my back up against the large rock, legs straight out on the ground.
"It was merely a misunderstanding," Kili mutters as he takes a dagger from his belt and starts to twirl it around in his hand with much skill. I wonder what else he can do with his hands . . .
Oh, my dear, God what the Hell is wrong with me?! My grandmother would have a heart attack and would scrub my mouth out with soap if she heard what I just thought!
Thankfully, since moving closer to the fire, the blush that creeps up on me goes unnoticed. Thankfully.
I kick Kili's elbow lightly to get his attention and succeed in doing so. "Misunderstanding, pissunderstanding," I just have no control over what I say and think today, do I? "Don't look like he skinned your pet rabbit alive."
Kili's big, brown eyes widen at my words, "What?"
That's when I heard it; the most terrifying screech that ripped through the air and causes everyone to exchange glances with each other. I can feel my eyes widen as my heart starts to hammer in my chest. I, on a reflex, grip my bag as I meet Kili's eyes, clearly showing him the fear that suddenly appeared.
". . . What was that?" Bilbo asks, stepping back towards the group and looking as terrified as I am currently trying not to show.
Kili breaks his eyes away from mine to answer Bilbo; "Orcs."
I feel my stomach flip at mention of the horrible, nasty creatures Kili and Fili described to me; they were pretty confused how I couldn't know of practically anything and my answer was a shrug and 'my parents practically locked me away from the dangers of the world'. A few eyebrows were raised at that one, I assure you.
And thought of encountering them?
Fuck, no.
"There'll be dozens of them out there," Fili continues, smoking his pipe nonchalantly. "The Low Lands are crawling with them."
I stare at both the brothers in horror at how cool and collective the two brothers are. "You know, for talking' about blood - thirsty and cold - blooded monsters you guys are very calm."
Kili shoots me a look over his shoulder, his mouth quirking at the side. That conniving little twat!
"They strike," Kili continues, his voice taking on a death tone, "in the wee small hours of the night, when everyone's asleep." I know he's putting this on to scare the poor Hobbit (who is looking ready to shit his pants, I might gracefully add) but I tug my bag tighter to my chest, bringing my legs up to my chest, eyes darting to the edges of the darkness kept at bay by the light of the fireside. "Quick and quiet - no screams, just lots of blood."
Wow, thanks Kili, I'm pretty that's an image someone wants to get mentally scarred in their head for the rest of eternity.
However, Thorin gets to his feet as he faces his nephews. "Do you think this is funny?" He says to his two nephews, who quickly look very abashed and very guilty. I squint my eyes close as I try to get rid of the image. I don't get what much of what Thorin says because I'm too busy focusing on the image of not having my throat slit in the middle of the night.
When I open my eyes, I see Thorin stomp off to the ponies as Kili gazes down at the ground, looking ashamed. I shuffle my ass so I'm sitting next to Kili, bumping my shoulder with his, smirking at how guilty he looks. I do feel bad for him getting told off by uncle dearest, but scaring poor Bilbo might have been a step too far.
"Stop looking so forlorn," I say sarcastically, "it's not like he stole your favourite teddy bear. He'll probably forget about it in the morning." Though Thorin does look like to be the person who holds on to grudges for the rest of his life. Not that I was going to tell Kili that.
Kili sends me a look from the corner of his eye that I don't quite make out; his brown eyes swirl with tiredness and guilt. A slightly smile tugs at the corner of his eyes before he speaks. "Why don't you sleep," he sighs, "we have a long day ahead of us."
"If that's your way of telling me to shut up, it's a very kind way of doing so," I smile, as a yawn appears. I shuffle myself down onto my side, using my bag as a pillow after rearranging much of the contents in a way so that they don't hurt me.
As I slowly fade into unconsciousness, I vaguely hear the story the sorrowful and painful story of the dead King, and of lonely Thorin Oakenshield and his never ending battle to reclaim the Dwarven lost cities.
This is just a little peek into Libby's private life; I've got a lot more.
Also, guys, I know that German and Khuzdul have no similarities whatsoever and if this annoys you, I'm very sorry, but I've had this idea that what if they were and it kinda of incorporated itself into the story.
Thanks for reading!