Elena leans idly against the rail of a barge, behind the man steering it, named Bard, and innocently twirls a dagger between her fingers. The Company is all in the centre, around the barrels, and talking amongst themselves, though with her enhanced hearing, she can hear the conversation.

Keeping one ear on them, she asks Bard, "Seen many dwarves?"

"Not since I was a lad. Why dwarves as your protection?" he asks.

I pity the mugger, she muses. "I'm not much of a fan for elves. All thinking women are meant for the hearth, and taking care of their families."

"Is that not so where you are from?"

"Women are raised and educated, along with the men. Even taught how to use weapons. Everyone is equal at home, no matter how rich, or poor, you are. Doesn't even matter what kind of family you come from. You're accepted."

It's silent between them for a long while, before Bard finally asks, "Then why did you leave?"

"I'm on the return trip," she offers, pushing off the side, and striding over to the Company.

"What do you see, lass?" Gloin asks, having seen this side of her a few times.

"Stone pillars in the mist. Bard, you had better be one Hell of driver," she warns.

After a little while, they clear the pillars, all in one peice, though some of the Company look quite green. At Bard's insistence, the Company climbs back into the barrels, and Elena crouches between a few barrels, as low as she can get, without being seen. After a while of the man talking to the other men, a load of raw fish is dumped over them all. When they finally get into Lake-Town, Bard kicks a barrel over, and the Company takes that as their cue, popping out of their fishy hiding holes.

"That. Was. So. Disgusting," Elena cringes, pulling a fish out of her cleavage. "And everyone wonders why I dislike fish," she grumbles, walking off the barge, and follow's after Bard and her 'children', aware of their audience.

Bard leads them into the town centre, but they're spotted by some guards, and the Company tries making it through a shop. A guard is at the other side, and Thorin yells, "Back! Back!" The dwarves trip the men up, while Elena punches two guards in the face, knocking them out.

"What's going on here? Stay where ye are," a masculine voice orders, while the town's people return to their business, acting as if nothing happened, while the Company hides.

Bard rounds the corner, calling the man by name, and after a few words are exchanged, the guards leave, while the shop-keepers help hide the downed guards and the Company.

Elena peeks around the corner, grinning as Bard breathes a sigh of releif, and joins him, her hand clapping his shoulder. "That was good thinking, talking about his wife like that," she compliments.

The man chuckles lightly, before sobering. "We have to get you hidden. Come," he orders, leading the way. Elena nods her thanks to the town-people, before following the last of her brood, only they don't get very far, when a young boy stops them.

"Father! Father, the Masters' men are watching our home."

"Great! Now what do we do?" Dwalin grumbles.

"Any idea's, Elena?" Thorin asks, looking expectantly at her.

"Bard, does your home have a privy?" Elena asks, using the old term for 'washroom'.

"Yes. Why?"

Sighing, Elena looks up at the sky, "Well, I have only one idea. You fine gentlemen aren't going to like it, though."

"What is it, Elena?" Balin asks.

Her head lowers, and she looks them square in the face, "We're going to have to enter through his toilet."

Thorin hushes the Companies outburst of indignation, and almost regretting his actions, follows the girl into the lake. When everyone is in the lake, Bilbo clutching Elena's shoulders, they follow, as quietly as they can, after Bard, the man walking calmly to his home, his son with him.

Elena enters the house last, her soaking gear making it harder, while her heavy belt gets caught on the rim of the toilet. With an irritated growl, she drops back into the water, much to Thorin's shock, and undoes her belt. Her belt between her teeth, she climbs into the house, and allows Thorin and Dwalin to help her out. With her feet under her, the soaking wet, and thoroughly disgruntled woman, walks into the home, her heavy belt in her hand, as she sits as close to the flaming hearth as she can.

Bard's oldest daughter approaches, "I'm sorry, milady, but we don't have any more blankets."

Elena shakes her head, "It's alright. The flames are already working," she smiles easily, picturing the girl as her younger sister. "What's your name, if I may ask?"

"Siegrid, milady," she curtsies.

Elena waves her hand, "No need for formalities, Siegrid. I'm Elena," she offers her hand, which is taken, after a moment of hesitation.

After a moment, the girl leaves, and Bard approaches Elena, his heavy fur jacket in hand. "Here, put this on. I'd hate to see you get chilled."

Taking it, Elena smiles up at him, "Thank-you, Bard. If I may, where might I... undress?" The man bluhes deeply, but points her to another room, where the hunter disappears, drawing the curtain closed for privacy. Sure no male can see her, Elena sheds out of her soaked gear, shorts, and tank-top. Sighing, she peels off her bra and panties, and pulls her stele out of her boot. With a flick, she draws a heating rune into her skin, and feels it chasing the cold out of her, before fading just slightly.

Wrapping her hair into a bun, she grabs up a pair of needle-thin seraph blades, and sticks them through the coils, securing her hair in a messy bun. Lifting up the coat, she pulls it on, and seeing it doesn't close, she grabs her belt, and fastens it about her hips, effectively closing the coat. Grabbing up her whip, she coils it around her wrist, and walks into the crowded room.

Spotting Bard, not that hard, she weaves through the dwarves to him, "Excuse me, Bard?"

"Yes?" he inquires, looking down at her.

"Would it be presumptuous of me, to ask if I might hang my clothes near the hearth?"

"You may do that," he nods, looking away.

"Thank-you," she nods, and makes her way back to the room, where she gathers her clothes into a bundle in her arms, and makes her way to the hearth, where Siegrid joins her, and they pin the wet clothes to a line near the hearth. "Thank-you, Siegrid, for your help. Can I help you with anything?"

"No, that is alright, miss Elena," Seigrid shakes her head gently. "Just focus on getting warm and dry," she orders, gripping the Nephilim's shoulders, and pushing her down infront of the fire.

Relenting, Elena allows herself to be pushed down, and sighs, "Alright, you win. I'll relax. Just let me know if you change your mind."

Seigrid nods reluctantly, before walking away, leaving Elena with her dwarves.

Thorin, sitting beside her, slumps slightly against her shoulder, "I am glad you are here, Elena."

Elena slouches lower, and rests her cheek on the top of his head, "Happy to be here, Thorin."

"I know you miss your family, back in your own world. I am so selfish, for being happy you are here," Thorin sighs, relaxing more into her side. "Forgive me, for being so selfish."

Elena chuckles, "To be honest, Thorin, I'm happy here. Call me selfish, but this is the best time I've had. In a long while."

"You don't talk about yourself. Ever," Thorin muses. "Tell me something. Anything."

Lifting a brow, she asks, "What do you want to know?"

Thorin smiles at his win, "What's it like, hunting things for a living?"

Elena shrugs, "Not too bad, actually. We run across some nasty ones, but we handle them."

"Tell me about your family?"

"... My father was nice, but he was a hard man. Some would call him cruel. But he was loving. My mother, she was super, caring, and warm. My younger brother, he's such a nice guy. He went out of the way to rescue this girl, and she looks so much like my mother... I found out, not long ago, that she's my little sister."

"Must have been a hit," Balin comments.

Elena nods, "You have no idea. When she first came to the Institute, all she wanted was to rescue her mother, and I helped her, because she reminded me of mom. After a few days of looking, we ran into Lucian, my parents' best friend, and he told us the truth, that the girl, Clary, is my younger sister, and that our mother simply left."

Thorin grasps her knee, "Tell me about the people who raised you."

"The Lightwoods," Elena nods, grateful to the subject change. "They raised me as their own daughter, and I took care of Alexander and Isabelle, my two younger siblings. Even when Maxwell came into the picture, I was just so happy to have another baby brother to take care of," she smiles at the memories. "Even when he puked all over me."

The Company and family all chuckle at that, listening in.

"Your little brother, when did he come along?" Seigrid asks.

"Jonathon, he came to the city when he was eleven. He was going by another families name, and he didn't look the same as my baby broher. But, when we were all in the place mom was found, the truth came out. Jonathon looked so releived to have dad back, Clary looked sick, and I... I didn't know what to feel."

"Why not?"

Elena levels her gaze on Bard, "Because he stole my brother, let everyone think them both dead. He didn't know about my sister, she came as a shock. But faking his death, my little brother's, my mother's, and my grandparents' deaths, leaving me alone... I still don't know what to feel. Other then hurt," she admits, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Bard asks, getting to his feet.

"To keep watch," she says simply, pulling her glamour on, and becoming invisible to him.

"Where'd she go?" Bard demands.

"Easy lad, she's just in her glamour," Gloin offers, waving it away.

"Will she be back for supper?" Seigrid asks, still in the kitchen.

"When the lass is ready, she'll join us," Balin states, watching the window in the kitchen open, before sliding shut.

Elena climbs up onto the roof, and at the peak, she sits down, leaning back on her hands, and soaking up the familiar moon-light. After a while, she opens her eyes, and looks at the constellations, "The same. I'm glad of that," she murmurs, laying back, and throwing an arm over her eyes. Memories, both good and bad, run through her mind, and she smiles at them all.

After a while, she sits up, watching for any kinds of threat to her dwarves. She draws a few wakefulness runes on herself, and keeps her silent vigil throughout the night.


When the sun starts rising, painting the sky a brighter blue, Elena clambers off the roof, and back into the house, where everyone is still sound asleep. Bard's family is all in their respective beds, and the dwarves and Hobbit are snuggled into their coats infront of the fire. Shaking her head slightly, she tiptoes over the dwarves, and into the kitchen, where she looks for something to cook for breakfast.

Finding nothing, she slips back out the window, and jumping from roof to roof, finds herself near the bridge, the only walkable way in and out of the town. Jumping down, she sprints across it, and into the forest by the shore, and starts hunting.

When she returns to the house some time later, her weapons belt is laden with packs of meat. She slips into the house through the window, startling Bard, standing at the window, and she grins impishly at him. "Brought some breakfast."

"You went hunting?" he asks, taking in the smell, and sacks of meat.

"I feel just a bit like a butcher at the moment," she grumbles, removing the packs from her belts, and setting them on the table.

"I cannot thank you enough for gathering so much for us," he bows his head.

"There's more, if the crows haven't gotten to it yet."

"Wait, more?" Tilda asks, popping up beside Elena.

"I couldn't very well carry a deer on my back," Elena smiles, patting Tilda's head.

"You can't go back now," Bain says. "The house is being watched again."

Elena crosses her arms, "I hate when my movements are monitored."

"Wasn't your home being watched at one time?" Thorin asks, yawning a bit.

"Yeah. Damb Inquisitor, thinking she could treat us kids like common criminals," she grumbles.

"You were treated like a criminal?" Tilda asks.

Elena nods, "Because of my father. He turned evil, and did many things that made the Clave, our Heriarchy, look down on his children, and treat us with mistrust."

"No child should be treated like that," Bard growls.

"Didn't stop her. She got what she deserved, though," Elena shrugs. After patting herself down, makng sure she has everything she might need, she grins, "I'm off to collect the rest of that deer."

"Be careful, Elena," Thorin growls.

"Always am," she waves as she walks down the stairs. She opens the door a crack, and seeing noone there, slips out, and into the cold water of the lake.


When she returns again, she slips in the same way she left, and shivers as she drops the sacks of meat on the table. "Had to fight off a bear, trying to get some of it," she responds to Thorin's look of anger at the scratches on her face.

"You fought a bear?" Seigrid asks, stunned.

Elena rolls her shoulder, cracking her neck, "Not that easy. I wouldn't suggest it."

"Then, why did you do it?" Bilbo asks.

Dwalin claps her on the hip, "Well done, lass."

"It was trying to get the deer. Which, I might add, I stalked for the better part of the morning, so we could all have a nice big breakfast."

"It's very appreciated, lass, but you shouldn't have fought something that could... ah, kill you," Balin trails off, taking in the weapons.

"It's alright, after all, Kira came by, and wound up getting himself a big breakfast," Elena shrugs, like it's no big deal.

"Kira found his way through the forest?" Bilbo asks happily. "Well, that's a releif."

"Now, who's ready for some breakfast?" Elena asks, taking off the last sack, this one filled with fruit she'd found.


After breakfast, the dwarves and family children relax in the house, while Bard goes off to work, and Elena takes a bath. Wearing a glamour, she strips stark naked, and with the soap Seigrid offered earlier, she scrubs her gear and clothes, and then hangs them over a beam under the house. Diving in, she scrubs her body. Satisfied at her cleanliness, she climbs up onto the dock, braids her hair back into a single long plait, and dives back down, going for a swim in the brisk water.

After a while of swimming, she finds herself near the shore, and walks up onto it, and flops down onto her back in the grass, breathing heavily. The sun is nice and warm on her skin, and she lays in it for the better part of the day, drying, and tanning her skin in the process.

After rolling onto her back again, a shadow falls across her face, and opening her eyes, finds a pale orc standing over her, glaring down at her. Rolling to her stomach, she scrambles backwards, staying in a crouch, real fear racing through her.

The orc arches a non-existent brow, and levels his sword at her, saying something in the black speech, making the orcs with him laugh. He lifts his sword, and is about to strike, when an arrow flies out, knocking the blade off course. It swings down, just inches from her face, but slices into her shoulder.

Several more arrows fly out, and the orc's flee, though not before the pale one re-claims his sword, with a grin of victory. Elena looks towards the firing, and Legolas races out. Legolas rushes to her, and grips her shoulder, "Elena, are you alright?"

Elena grits her teeth, blushing now, and mumbles, "Never better. What are you doing here?"

"Hunting orc," he says, and then realizing her state of undress, turns beat red, and spins around. "You are naked."

"Duh," she snorts. "I was having a bath, then decided to sleep in the sun," she explains idly, clasping her shoulder. "Now, I'm going back to my dwarves. And don't even think about following me," she snarls, walking back to the lake.

Legolas arches forward, and takes her arm, "If you go to the mountain, you will die, along with those dwarves."

Elena shrugs his hand off, "My life is on the line every day. I fight demons for a living, remember?" she asks, wading into the lake.

"And how will I explain your death to my father?" he asks, wading in after her.

"The truth seems to work really well," she shrugs, the water at her hips, and she shivers. "Damn, this is cold."

"My father fell in love with your mother, when she was here," Legolas states, and Elena stops dead, and turns slowly to him. "I remember it. She was three months pregnant, when she came to us, and my father loved her. I never saw him look at my mother that way," he admits. "She was nine months along, and was in labor when she disappeared. Father was beside himself, and now, seeing you, he doesn't want to loose you. Least of all to a dragon."

Elena shakes her head, not knowing what to say, so settles on, "I have to get back."

He grabs her wrist, "Elena, please, he sees you as a daughter, and wants only your safety."

"My life was in danger since the moment I was born. Even before then," she whispers, and slips her hand from his grip. "If he so badly wants to save me, tell him to help King Thorin. For that, is where my loyalty lays," she says, walking deeper, and then diving out of sight.

When she gets back to the house, she's freezing, out of breath, her shoulder is killing her, and, to make matters worse, she'd had to slip through unseen. Poking her head up, she looks around, and finding no one looking her way, she hoists herself onto the dock below Bard's house, and slips behind her clothes, just as some of the Masters men row their boats into position around the home. Rolling her eyes at the antics of these men, she grabs her stele, and draws a glamour into her arm, and feeling it take effect, straightens up, and draws an iratze into her wrist, sealing up the wound from the orc.

Dessed again, and the feather down the front of her gear, she climbs to the roof, and slips in the window, then sheds her glamour as she sits beside Thorin, making him jump.

"We were getting worried about you, lass," Balin says, admonishing her.

"Sorry, but I fell asleep on the beach," she explains, nibbling on the apple she grabbed.

"Why were you on the beach?" Kili asks.

"Soaking up the sun," she shrugs. At their confused expression, she sighs, and explains, "Back home, it's fashionable for both women and men to to darken their skin, via lying in the sun."

"And you did that?" Thorin asks, taking in the darker tone.

Elena shrugs, "Yepp. Haven't had the chance lately, what with being in the middle of a war, and having all eyes on me, where ever I go."

"If given the choice, would you stay?" Fili asks. "Stay with us, in the Mountain," he clarifies.

Elena cocks her head, "I've never considered it."

"You will always have a home in Erebor," Thorin states, grabbing her shoulder.