''Some of my relatives used to live in the Misty Mountains, near Moria.'' Bofur said amiably, his floppy hat bouncing up and down on his head as he rode. Brynna smiled at him, to assure him of her attention, before returning her attention to Myrtle's reigns. ''Me and Bombur used to go there to visit family, but them the goblins took over Moria, and all of those difficulties occurred. After that most of my family, other than Bombur and Bifur, moved to stay with kin in the Iron Hills.''

''Moria is a mine, if I'm not mistaken?'' Brynna glanced up at Bofur as she spoke, a relaxed smile on her face. Now that the saddle soreness had left her, the other dwarves found her to be very amiable company. Her doubts over the company and her place in the company had dispersed, and the knowledge that Gandalf, Balin, and Bofur accepted her helped.

''Yes, and a very great mine it is too. I believe that it is the greatest dwarvish mine in history.'' Bofur replied, lighting his pipe and sticking it in his mouth, giving her a toothy grin.

''I truly don't have much love for jewels and gems, I think the smaller things are of more worth.'' Bryn said, watching the dwarf's reaction.

''Oh, I hope you don't think I'm obsessed with treasure. I'll leave that to other dwarves. I'm no miner or king, I'm a toy maker.'' He replied, pulling a small object of wood out of his pack. He handed it to her, his brown eyes studying her face.

Self-conscious, she ducked her head, looking at the small animal. It was an Elephaunt, carved with flowers and trees. ''You have great talent. I wish I could whittle.'' She handed it back, watching as the dwarf beamed with pride. She couldn't help but smile around Bofur; he was so lively and happy. He was the exact opposite of Balin and Thorin.

''Oh, it don't take much talent to make this thing. I don't think meself to have much talent. I just carve it like any other dwarf.'' He replied casually, blowing a very large smoke ring. ''Now that takes talent!''

''You should have seen the size of my father's. They were all sorts of sizes, as small as a ring to as large as a wagon wheel. And I think you have very great talent, for a dwarf.'' She patted Myrtles neck, and rubbed her neck after saying this. Bofur had taken on a quieter air, and from the somber expression he bore, Brynna assumed he was thinking of darker times.

Not thinking much about it, Bryn urged Myrtle into a trot, slowing to steady walk when she came in between Fili and Kili. They were whispering to each other, but immediately got silent when she came up.

''Shush! I don't think he heard you.'' Kili hissed to his brother, beginning to whistle a tune.

''Might I ask what you two were talking about?'' Bryn assumed an air of obliviousness, pretending to ignore the big grin that was covering Kili's face. They were terrible liars; they were lucky it was her and not their uncle who had caught them.

''We were talking about…. Smaug, trees, and elves… Yep, that was all.''

''Right… Do I even want to know?'' Bryn said dryly, part of her wanted to know anyways, but the other part of her was worried and was choosing to stay blissfully unaware of what they were talking about.

''Probably not.'' Fili replied simply, chuckling at the look that crossed her face. ''Yep, probably not.''

''You boys are gonna discourage Mr. Baggins from even talking to us.'' Nori said, his shaggy palomino pony trotting up beside hers. He was much different from his older brother, Dori, who was very mannered and respectful. Dori was also very protective of his younger brother, Ori, who was the youngest dwarf in the group. Bryn had thought that the three brothers would be very close, but strangely enough Dori was not fond of Nori, and didn't like it when Nori was around Young Ori.

''I think I have enough patience to ignore Fili and Kili, it may just be the older members of the company who discourage me.'' After she said this she looked pointedly at Thorin's back. He was at the head of the group, Gandalf and Balin right behind him.

Bryn yawned and opened her eyes. The sun was just peaking the horizon, and dew covered the grass beside her. She sat up, rubbing her butt as she did so. Having her legs spread all day long was not her idea of fun, and neither was waking up each morning to a short breakfast and an even shorter-tempered Thorin.

Groggily, she reached for her pack, and was slightly disgruntled when she didn't find it. She clearly remembered sticking it next to her before she went to sleep. Brynna got up, looking around on the floor, around Bombur, she even snuck over to where Thorin had slept to make sure nothing mysterious had happened to her precious pack.

Thorin himself had his back to her, and was drinking a cup of hot tea. The tea had come from her home, but at the time she was not worried about the thievery of her tea. She looked under her blanket, and under her bad roll. Almost on instinct she looked up, and farther than she could reach, up in the canopy, was her pack.

Her eyes instantaneously went to Kili. He was full of mischief, always acted guilty around her, and knowing him, had done this horrible deed.

Brynna had half the mind to make him get it, but her forgiving side kicked in, and not without a grumble and a curse she had learned from Dwalin, she started trying to get her pack.

''What are you doing?''

Bryn gasped, and lost her footing on the branch, crashing back to the forest floor. Her bum hurt in multiple new places, and her arms were scratched from trying to stay in the tree. The only thing that kept her from crying was the fact that she had succeeded in getting her pack down.

''Some, miserable genius put my pack in the tree, and I have a good idea who did it.'' With that, Brynna sent a pointed glare Kili. He was rolling up his bedroll, sleepily conversing with his brother.

''I don't think Kili could get that far up, but I don't see why Dwalin or Nori would put it up there. Nori seems to be rather fond of you, and Dwalin well…. Is Dwalin?'' Bofur took another sip of tea, and then offered her a hand.

Bryn took the hand, and let him help her up. She lightly brushed the twigs out of her crazy ginger hair, frowning when a twig caught in one of her curls. ''I honestly need to cut some of this hair off.''

''Why in the whole of Middle Earth would you do that?'' Nori asked, his tone incredulous.

Bryn studied his expression before answering levelly, ''because it's so long, and it's getting in the way.'' She let out a low chuckle, and pulled out a small knife she had kept in her pack. Delicately she cut it even shorter, and with shock, realized she may have made herself look even more like a boy. The neighbors back at the Shire probably would have mistaken her for Bilbo.

''Oh my goodness!'' Balin exclaimed, looking at the hair on the ground.

''Bilbo! Why did you cut your hair off? You look so naked!'' Kili cried, picking up the fallen locks of hair.

''I just cut my hair! What is the big deal?'' Even Thorin looked shocked, and paused in his saddling of Minty to inspect her closely.

''Mr. Baggins, if dwarves treasure one thing, it's hair. It's like a sign of wealth and prosperity. We rarely shave or cut our hair,'' Balin leaned in closer to her, ''and between you an me, Thorin is the only dwarf here who has a short beard and hasn't gotten ridiculed for it.''

Bryn looked at her feet when she spoke, and almost felt like pulling a bag over her head. She hadn't wanted to bring attention to herself, in fact, she had wanted to deter attention, by making herself look more like her brother, or more importantly, any other boy. ''Well I'm sorry if I offended anyone buy cutting my hair. Hobbit customs are rather different than dwarvish customs I suppose.''

''They are very different, you'd be wise to remember that Master Baggins.'' Thorin said gruffly, handing her Myrtle's reigns. ''We don't stop until sunset, I want to make up for the time we lost this morning.''

Bryn mounted Myrtle, and ignored the pain of hunger in her stomach. She had a piece of jerky and some bread in her saddlebag; she could eat on the way.