Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. This is Tolkien's world. I'm just living in it.

Through the Inferno

Chapter 6: Culture Clash

I sighed and looked over my shoulder. The rolling hills of Hobbiton had completely disappeared. The rest of Middle Earth was beautiful, to be sure, but something about that place stuck with me. Maybe it was because it was the first time I'd ever seen the countryside. Maybe it was just the natural beauty of the Shire. Whatever it was, I was grieved to leave it.

"Miss it already?" Bilbo asked and I looked back at his smiling face. I smiled and nodded. "I miss it, too."

"I've got no business missing a home that isn't mine," I said as cheerfully as possible. Bilbo looked at me a little sadly and shrugged.

"Maybe you'll have a home like it someday."

"Maybe."

"What was your home like?"

"I lived in a city," I said simply. Bilbo waited a moment and I sighed. "It's one of the largest cities in the country. Tons of people, but a few quieter areas if you know where to look. Um… well, it's dirty, but there aren't any dirt roads. Everything's paved. All the buildings are very tall. The tallest ones are called skyscrapers."

"How tall are they?" Bilbo asked.

"Uh, I guess maybe fifty stories, er, floors. A few have around one hundred floors."

"Hah." He sounded something between shocked and impressed. Balin looked over his shoulder with raised eyebrows.

"Skyscrapers?" he asked. "All above ground then?"

"Yep," I said, and I wondered how in a world with Minas Tirith and Helm's Deep and all these amazing structures a couple of measly skyscrapers were anything to sniff at. Then again, those were built with mountains supporting them, so maybe a hundred story stand-alone structure was pretty impressive.

We fell into a slightly awkward silence that I didn't have the courage to break. Fortunately, that did little to ruin my mood. I was in Middle Earth. I could just enjoy the scenery, and why not? It was absolutely beautiful. Every rock, every blade of grass, every twig was awe-inspiring. This entire world, something that by all rights shouldn't exist, was there before me, waiting to be admired. I smiled and closed my eyes, thrilled to know that when I opened them this world would still be there.

"How'd you learn to fight, lass?" Dwalin suddenly asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Did your father teach you?"

"No," I said. "I was trained by a master. Well, by a few, but one in particular helped me the most." I decided it wasn't the best idea to mention that the others refused to teach me after a few years. They said I wasn't learning the most important lessons. I wasn't following "the way," that there was an angry spirit in me. Master Sung had continued to teach me, though, because he said he believed someday I could release my anger; I just needed help.

"Do all girls learn to fight?" asked Bilbo.

"No," I said and shook my head. "Most people don't know how to fight. My parents agreed I should take lessons when I was young. I was… a little out of control, and my grandma said it was the best way for me to learn self-control."

"Out of control?" Fili said with a smirk. "You? I don't believe it for a second." I smiled and shrugged.

"I was a child. They're not always well-behaved."

"You certainly weren't," Kili nudged his older brother with his foot and the two began to bicker about their childhood.

"Is that how many warriors learn then?" Bilbo asked. "A master teaches them?"

"Some maybe, but most people who learn how to fight like I did just do it for exercise or something. I'm a rare case where I actually applied what I learned."

"You've been in battle?" Thorin was the one who asked. I hadn't realized he could hear me, or had been paying attention.

"Not the kind you're thinking of," I said. "I'd call them fights."

"There's a difference?" asked Bilbo, confused.

"Well, those words usually mean something similar, but I don't know. The word 'battle' just doesn't create the same picture in my mind as a fight. Like, I picture a battle as two armies clashing. I would travel around my city and search for people causing harm. Then I'd fight them and then leave them for the police."

"What's a police?" asked Fili. Oh right. That's not a thing here.

"I guess they're sort of like guards," I said. "But yeah, if I found people selling drugs or assaulting someone I'd just knock them out and leave them. It's not always easy, especially when they have a group."

"What are drugs?" asked Dori. Probably what you were smoking last night.

"They're…. ugh, I guess they're substances, like powders or liquids or whatever, that make you feel really good. It gives you a temporary high. But it can f–" I should probably watch my language now. "– mess you up badly, so it's illegal to sell, buy, or possess certain drugs."

"Do the police ever help you?" asked Balin. I laughed.

"They'd arrest me if they ever found me," I said. Every Dwarf looked at me, completely confused, and I laughed again. "I'm a vigilante. I'm not supposed to do what I do."

"But… you're a hero," said Ori. I smiled at him. What a sweetheart.

"I'd like to think that," I said, "but I'm still on the wrong side of the law. I'm supposed to leave dealing with crime to the police. That makes sense, unless the police force is as corrupt as it is." Oh, those fuckers hated when I did their job for them, especially when they purposely left the job undone.

"What would they do if they caught you?" asked Kili, a worried expression on his face. I shrugged.

"Probably kill me," I answered. The whole company looked outraged, and I felt a little warmth grow inside me. "Apparently I caused a lot of headaches for the wrong people. So, yeah, if they caught me, they'd shoot me right away. They're probably pissed someone beat them to it." Is pissed a bad word here? Ah, whatever. They don't seem to mind.

"That's ridiculous!" protested Nori. "They shouldn't kill you for helping them!"

"They don't want my help. These men get a kick out of the power they have, and some girl doing their job better than they are undermines their authority. They're not interested in actually helping the city. A lot of them actually help criminals as long as they get some kind of profit."

"And they hate you for interfering with their business," Balin figured.

"That about sums it up," I said. Everyone mulled over what I'd said and started grumbling. There were a few sounds of disgust and I felt like I was back in New York, listening to old men on a street corner complain about politics. That was a beautiful feeling.

"You are knowledgeable about Middle Earth," said Thorin and my eyes were drawn to the front of the company. He ignored a look from Gandalf and continued, "Why don't we know anything about… where you said you came from?"

"Earth," I said. "And I don't know. I thought that maybe since I knew about Middle Earth, you'd know something about another world, but apparently not."

"Apparently," muttered Gandalf and I smirked. I could tell he was irritated that he knew about as much as the Dwarves about Earth. He seemed to be a bit of an information glutton.

"Keep telling us about Earth," said Kili eagerly.

"If you don't mind, that is," added Fili.

"I don't mind," I said. "But I don't really know what to say."

"What are the names of the countries?" asked Gloin.

"I can't name all of them!" I said with a laugh. "I'll try to say as many as I can remember. Um, there's America, Canada, North and South Korea, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, uh, and France, England, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy, erm, and Russia, Switzerland, oh! And and Vatican City. Then there's China, Japan, India, Nepal, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, uh, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and… that's all I've got for now. There's like a hundred more, but I can't remember."

"Which one is your homeland?" asked Gandalf.

"I'm from America, er, the United States," I corrected myself. "The United States of America. North America is the continent, and then my country is a bunch of, well, states under the same government."

"Like an empire?" asked Nori.

"Sort of," I said, not sure how to explain my homeland. I realized suddenly that the U.S. was in fact very complicated.

"Who is your emperor?" asked Thorin. Yeah, you would be interested in that, Mr. Kingly-Majestic-Beard.

"We don't have one," I said. "The closest thing we have to that is our president, but he doesn't have that kind of power."

"How can an emperor not have power?" asked Dwalin.

"Because he's not an emperor," I repeated. "You see there are three branches of government." You're kidding. "The branch we're talking about is called the executive branch. That's the president." You're fucking kidding. "He's elected by the people every four years. He can only serve two terms though, just to keep one man from having too much power." I'm giving a Civics lesson to the company of Thorin Oakenshield. "He carries out the laws of the land, deals with a lot of foreign relations, and he controls our army." Wow, you fucking moron. Stupid.

"What are the other two branches?" asked Balin. Are you kidding? This shit bored me to tears in ninth grade!

"Well, those are the legislative and the judicial branches," I said. "The legislative branch is our Congress. They make the laws. The members of Congress are elected every few years by the people as well."

"Giving a mob unchecked power is unwise," said Thorin.

"It's not unchecked," I said. "The president can veto a bill, or stop a law from passing, if he disagrees with it. Then, if the Congress really wants the bill to pass, they can override the veto if they get a majority vote."

"Then the laws of the land are subject to the whim of the majority?" asked Thorin. I probably would have rolled my eyes if it had been anyone else, but Thorin Oakenshield was not the kind of person you gave attitude to.

"No," I said. "That's where the judicial branch steps in. There's a group called the Supreme Court that can judge whether a law is unconstitutional or not."

"Could you explain that a little more, please?" asked Bilbo. I finally escape school and now I'm a teacher.

"We have a document, the Constitution, which was written by our Founding Fathers. It describes how the government it supposed to work and how much power each branch can wield. It also describes the rights of the people, like freedom of speech and religion, and the states' rights. It keeps everyone in line as well as protects them. The Supreme Court is sort of like an interpreter. Like, if a law was being passed that said people couldn't criticize the Congress or something, they could say it was unconstitutional because it interfered with freedom of speech and then that law couldn't be passed." Stop. Asking me. About. Government.

"That all seems very complicated," said Ori. "Wouldn't it be easier to just have a king, like Thorin?" The Dwarves murmured in agreement and I laughed. Thorin looked over his shoulder at me and glared, and I had to ignore my immediate instinct to apologize profusely.

"It would be simpler, yes," I said, "but we wouldn't have a king like Thorin. They don't make men like him where I'm from." Thorin stopped glaring. "The United States wasn't always a country. At one point, it was a group of colonies, ruled by the king of England. For a while, the colonies and England got along, but then some laws were passed that took away basic rights or messed up the economy. So the colonies rebelled. There was a war, the Revolutionary War, and surprisingly the colonies won. The Founding Fathers were men selected from each colony to go to our first Congress, and there they voted for independence from England. They knew what they were doing was illegal and would get them killed, but they knew that it needed to be done. The king had abused his power. Anyway, so a few of them eventually wrote the Constitution and that's our government and has been ever since."

"Your country has a very colorful history," said Gandalf.

"You've no idea," I said. My head really hurts now.

"What are the customs of your land?" asked Dori. NO.

"Um, could you be a bit more specific?"

"How do you greet one another?"

"I guess a handshake or a wave. Sometimes a head nod, or if you come from a specific ethnic group you might greet people differently, like with a bow or something."

"There's no real proper way to do it?" asked Bilbo incredulously.

"Well, sometimes there is. If you meet someone in a business environment you'd probably shake their hand. Teenagers tend to just wave or nod their head. Then there are huggers… I don't like huggers." I shuddered, remembering the time I met a very hug-prone mom.

"How do you greet people?" asked Kili.

"Just how I greeted all of you. I just say my name."

"No bows or handshakes?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Never felt like it."

"Why is there no normal greeting in the United States?" asked Fili.

"You can just call it the U. S.," I said, "and I don't really know. It's probably because so many people from different countries go to live there that everything got mixed up and everyone just gave up on having a set way to do things."

"Why do some many people go to live there?" asked Ori.

"Opportunity. And freedom."

"What?"

"Other countries have it a lot worse than we do. People come to the U.S. because they need jobs or asylum from a corrupt government. I mean, all government is corrupt, but some are worse than others. They might have a military leader who's killing thousands of people or a civil war that's destroying the country. My grandma left for the U.S. when North and South Korea were dividing."

"It seems like her home country has a colorful history as well," Balin said with a smile. I shrugged.

"They're all the same stories, really. Someone wants too much power and they mess everything up."

"So even in other worlds, it's true what they say," he sighed. It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about, but then I smiled sadly and nodded.

"Above all else, Men desire power." It wasn't the first time, and it probably wouldn't be the last, that I acknowledged that humans were fucked up. Then I remembered an internet phenomenon that Em had shown me and I snorted. "But… not all men." She would've been pissing herself if she'd been there. Fuck, I missed her.

"I reckon you're right," agreed Balin and I bit back a smirk. "You don't seem too keen on power." Oh. I chewed on that thought for a moment before speaking.

"Well," I began slowly, "I do. Everyone does, I think, it's just on a different scale. I don't want worldwide domination. I just…" I just wanted my family back, but I wasn't about to say that out loud and start sobbing in front of everyone. It was too nice of a day and they didn't know me that well. Instead, I shrugged and left it at that.

I pondered everything Blair had said. She was a strange girl from a strange world, but the scenarios she had described were far too familiar.

Erebor, though a great and powerful city, had not been immune to corruption. Slander, extortion, blackmail, murder. Not every lord felt bound by honor. Not every warrior believed he was there to protect the innocent. It was not difficult to imagine her home, a world control by Men, was essentially in ruins.

Blair's world had sown deep distrust in her. All government was corrupt, all beings wanted power, authority could not be trusted. There was wisdom in her view of the world, but it was sobering to see someone so young be so cynical.

I wondered if I should be concerned about her. She came from a country born of rebellion and made her way in the world mocking those in authority. Admittedly, they were cruel rulers, but what if she believed she had a right to challenge anyone? She said she did not want a throne or gold. She wanted absolute power over herself. That was not necessarily good or bad. It all depended on who she was and what she did with that power.

I would keep a close eye on her to be safe, though I felt that she would do whatever she could to help us. After all, she had signed a contract, and legal documents were somewhat important to her people.

"What's the food like on Earth?" asked Bombur. We had camped for the night and I was blowing on a spoonful of stew to cool it.

"Well, a lot of it is weird. It's not really food."

"That doesn't make sense," said Bilbo slowly. How do you explain junk food, processed food to people who don't even have light bulbs?

"It's… well it's edible and everything, but a lot of it isn't like vegetables or meats or whatever. People just put a bunch of chemicals together and then you eat it. It's not really good for you, but it tastes pretty good, I guess."

"I don't understand how you can make food that's not food," said Bombur gruffly. I smiled.

"I don't know how they do it," I said, "but they manage."

"Do you have any actual food?" asked Bilbo. I nodded and sipped the stew. My eyes widened.

"Enough to know this is really good," I said. "Thanks, Master Bombur."

"If you insist on us calling you by your first name, you can bet we will expect the same from you, lass," said Bofur. I nodded.

"Thanks, Bombur," I said, and the cook nodded his appreciation.

"What's the real food like?" asked Kili.

"Pretty good. I mean it's pretty much the same stuff everywhere. Seasoned meats and vegetables and some other side dish. Some people act like food is so exotic just because it's a new recipe."

"Trying new food can be exciting," Bilbo said, seeming mildly offended. I smiled and shrugged.

"Didn't say it wasn't," I replied. "It's just that sometimes people make it seem like this whole big thing when really they're just eating beef and potatoes. Yeah, it's good, but it's the same play with different actors." Em's mom was like that. She was so proud when her daughter brought me home, like I was some prized doll showing how inclusive Emily was, like being Korean American made me a novelty. I was just a person. Yeah, my culture was different, but I grew up in New York same as the next million people.

"I'm sensing a story behind this," Fili said with a grin. All eyes turned on me and I sighed.

"My friend invited me over to her house," I began. This story was always somewhere between hilarious and sad for me. "Her dad was making dinner, and her mom got all flustered because maybe I wouldn't like the food they were having. It was just chicken and beans, and I like food, so it wouldn't have been a problem. But she was convinced I wasn't going to like it, because I 'wasn't used to it.' So… she ordered Chinese from a local restaurant. Do you see the problem here?" Blank stares. "I'm Korean. And she got Chinese. Because she thought I wouldn't like 'normal' food." Realization slowly dawned on each Dwarf and our camp was filled with laughter.

"That's incredible!" hooted Bofur. I grinned and laughed quietly with them. I had obviously been offended when that happened, but it slowly became a way to annoy the hell out of Emily. I had never seen her blush before her mother started dumping boxes of take out onto square plates. Then she covered up the English part of her fortune cookie and asked me if I could read it. She turned the same shade as her daughter when I gently revealed that I was, in fact, not Chinese.

It grew quiet except for a few hushed conversations as we finished off Bombur's stew. I sat by the fire next to Bilbo as Bifur collected the dishes. I enjoyed the almost silent night. The only sounds were the fire and the Dwarves speaking. Gandalf sat a little ways away, smoking his pipe and thinking. I watched him for a little while, wondering what was going on in his mind.

"Blair," Kili said, drawing my attention. He looked nervous. I didn't want to push him so I waited patiently for him to continue. "What is it like… What's it like?" I cocked my head, confused.

"If it's not too personal," Fili added. Oh…

"What's dying like?" I asked, and my mouth felt dry as they nodded. It had to be them, didn't it? I didn't mind the question, but how the hell could I tell them what it was going to be like? How was I supposed to do that? Fuck.

"You don't have to answer that, lass," Balin said and gave the brothers a hard glare.

"No," I said, surprising myself. "It's fine. It's not everyday you can ask that and get a real answer." I stared at the grass and tried to focus on what had happened to me rather than what would happen to them. Shit, what had even happened? "Well… it was pretty painful. But it was quick. I barely even realized what was going on. I mean, I knew, but I didn't have time to really think about it." I tried to come up with the right words to say. How could I explain this? How could I explain the feeling of life leaving you? I tasted blood and flinched before realized I had been chewing the inside of my cheek. Memories of a red spray on my face and the metallic taste filling my mouth flashed through my mind. I pushed them away and continued, "It's like… It's not quite like falling asleep. When I'm tired, I feel heavy, but when I was dying, I felt lighter somehow. Kind of numb, but still aware of everything, especially the pain." I shrugged. "I mean I wasn't really thinking about it that much." No. My thoughts were occupied with the asshole in front of me. With ending his sorry life. "I guess that's all I've got to say about that."

The mood in the camp had shifted. It was tense and somber, each Dwarf weighing the possibility that he would die. I bit my cheek again and looked down. I couldn't look at any of them, Balin, Ori, Fili, Kili…

"How old are you?" I looked up and found his eyes. Thorin was looking at me with an unreadable expression. Caught off guard, I immediately answered.

"Twenty-two." His eyes widened and suddenly everyone was looking at me again. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Twenty-two?" asked Dwalin incredulously.

"Yeah." He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"Twenty-two what?"

"Days," I said sarcastically, and when my joke fell flat I admitted, "Years. I'm twenty-two years old."

"Men do sometimes force their young into battle," Balin said as if he was trying to make sense of it. "But you were not compelled by any ruler."

"I was compelled by their mistakes," I defended myself.

"Twenty-two," Dwalin laughed under his breath. "I'd never have guessed."

"You died," Thorin said, seeming offended somehow.

"I did."

"So young?"

"Yep."

"You had so many years left in you."

"Humans don't have as many years in them as Dwarves." Like I was talking about a car or cell phone. And the warranty is such and such. Oh, and it has a touch screen.

"Humans live longer than twenty-two years," growled Thorin. Was he pissed that I'd died young or something? Big deal. People died before their time every day. He'd been in wars. He should have known that better than anyone.

"I've known people who died way younger than that." Thorin blinked and looked away. It seemed like that was the end of that conversation. I wondered if somehow this touched a nerve. Maybe they'd lost a lot of people like me, young and eager and full of promise… So not like me, but within my age group. Some random girl dropping out of the sky was the closest thing to contact with the dead. Maybe they were trying to tell every young person they'd seen die that it wasn't fair, that they deserved so much more. A lot of good that would do.

I stood up and stretched with a groan before walking over to Gandalf. He was looking up at the stars, a faraway look on his face. I settled down next to him and waited for him to speak.

"Who was it that died?" he asked quietly after a while. I felt my chest tighten. I didn't know if I wanted to talk about it, but I could give it a try.

"My sister," I said. "And my best friend, the girl I mentioned earlier."

"How old were they?"

"Seven and fifteen."

"How old were you?"

"… I was ten and fifteen." Gandalf stopped breathing for a moment.

"They died in your arms," he whispered. The words were so quiet I barely heard them. "You should never have had to experience something like that, my dear."

"I know." We were silent and watched the sky, the soft wisps of cloud passing in front of the stars. I didn't feel as empty as I thought I would. Maybe it was because Gandalf was sharing some of the weight with me now. I always thought that if I started talking about Em or Sissy or anyone, I'd just lose it. But I didn't feel like crying. I just felt calm.

I heard the Dwarves preparing to lie down and sleep for the night. Bilbo's voice rose above all the commotion as he asked if they really expected him to get any sleep on a pile of rocks. I smiled and looked back at them. It made something warm and comforting spread in my chest to see all of them settling down for the night. And it was real. All of it, everything, was real.

"You don't want to go back to your world, do you?" asked Gandalf. I chewed on my cheek and tried to figure out how to answer him.

"I don't think so," I said. "There's a lot of shit– sorry." He chuckled and shook his head. "Well, there are plenty of problems there, but this place isn't exactly perfect either. Back on Earth, there are a lot of things that I'll miss. We have good medicine and ways to keep clean and everything. I can't even shower or brush my teeth here. I can feel how dirty my hair is getting and my breath will probably be able to kill something tomorrow. But it's nice to get away from everything for once."

"Brush your teeth?" asked Gandalf. I laughed. Of course, out of everything I said, that's what stuck with him.

"Cleaning my teeth," I explained.

"Why didn't you ask on of the Dwarves for some chew?" I looked at him like he'd grown another head.

"Chew?" Tell me it means something different here.

"Yes," said Gandalf. "It cleans the mouth better than any paste I've ever tried. I plan to get a piece from Balin later, I think."

"Okay," I said slowly and stood up. Almost everyone was lying down now, trying to get to sleep. Balin and Dwalin were sitting up and smoking their pipes. I walked up to them awkwardly and addressed Balin. "Um, Master… I mean, Balin, could I have a piece of… chew?"

"Of course, lass," said the old Dwarf with a smile. He handed his pipe to his brother and dug through his pack for something. He pulled out a small bundle that he unwrapped. It revealed a pile of… something. He ripped off a small piece and handed it to me. I looked at the two Dwarves before hesitantly putting the "chew" in my mouth. I was expecting the nasty taste of tobacco to overwhelm me. Instead I tasted cinnamon. I blinked in surprise and chewed on the piece of… chew. It felt so familiar. I nearly laughed out loud.

"Gum," I said with a smile. Dwalin and Balin cocked their heads.

"What's that, lass?" asked Balin.

"We have something like this on Earth," I said. "But we call it gum."

"Why?"

"Haven't the foggiest." I could feel the Dwarvish gum really cleaning my mouth out. It felt like I was brushing my teeth while using mouthwash at the same time. How had people not come up with something like this already? Still, it was weird to be tasting cinnamon instead of mint. "You wouldn't by any chance have any mint gum-err, chew?" I asked. Balin frowned and shook his head.

"I've never heard of mint chew," mumbled Dwalin.

"It's my favorite," I said with a shrug.

"Well, maybe someday we can get some made for you," said Balin with a smile. I nodded and looked for a place to sleep.

Sleep would not claim me for a very long time. It wasn't simply because the other Dwarves were snoring too loudly or because the ground was uncomfortable. I was weary from traveling, but my mind had too many thoughts running through it to rest.

Erebor. Blair said that we would succeed. That gave me a new hope, a new happiness. I could have stayed awake for weeks just so I could think about it. Everything I had ever endured or would endure would be worth it just to see my home again. Now I knew it would finally be mine again and not in the clutches of that worm. There was hope for a future now, and it was difficult to keep myself from smiling like some young starry-eyed Dwarf in love.

I know who dies.

When I sent out the call for companions, I had warned them that they would likely die. I had expected to perish before Blair said that I would reclaim the Mountain. Now I knew that some of my companions might not live to see Erebor fully restored. The idea of that made my heart grow cold. But she said she wouldn't be able to stand by and watch them die. I had my concerns regarding her respect for authority, but I was confident that she would protect my Dwarves no matter the cost.

Now that my doubts of our mission were gone, I found my thoughts wandering back to the newcomers in our company. Bilbo Baggins confused me greatly. He was clearly not meant to be with us. He was useless. He could do very little other than complain or eat, and since eating was not always an option, he chose to do as much of the former as possible. Why had he come? Last night he had fainted at the mention of death. Now he was running towards it with open arms, whining about how difficult the run was all the while. Blair Yoon was also a mystery, despite answering any inquiry openly. She was woman from another world with complete knowledge of what was to come, or at least what was meant to be. And she was just barely a woman, having seen only twenty-two winters. She knew so much, had seen and endured so much.

Two people I loved very much died in my arms.

I remembered that day… the day I turned around and saw the Defiler holding my grandfather's head aloft. I had never felt so sick in my life. I had never felt more powerless, not even when Smaug took my home. Knowing that I had failed to save my family was the worst thing I'd ever experienced. It had been over a hundred years since that battle, and still the memory made my chest ache in a way unbefitting a king and a warrior. Still, I could only imagine what Blair had seen. What was it like to watch the life leave the eyes of those you loved? I wondered who it was that she watched die. Her parents? A friend? A lover? Perhaps I would never know.

A/N: I am an American.

This was difficult to write, so it took me a while to get this chapter up. I apologize. I know this is a lot of dialogue, but fear not, things will happen eventually. Please let me know what you think of all this nonsense!

Avalanet: YES BACON IS LOVE BACON IS LIFE I mean what... I am a fan of bacon. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I hope this one is to your liking as well, despite the lack of the breakfast meat god.

Kilataia: I DIDN'T RESPOND TO YOUR LAST REVIEW AND I RESPONDED TO THE OTHERS AND I NOTICED THAT A FEW DAYS AGO AND I AM A BAD PERSON I AM SO SORRY I LOVE YOU. I hope everyone survives too. That would be great. *looks pointedly at Peter Jackson*

: Oh, Blair will go through so much angst and so much emotional conflict. I should give the poor girl a break, but alas, writers are the cruelest of beings.

xSiriuslyPadfoot: I love them too. So much. Those two troublemakers. Thorin will most certainly grow annoyed the more his feelings grow, but for now Blair is just an interesting girl, not necessarily his crush. Jealous!Thorin will appear in the future. No worries!

echoi5004: I was planning on having Blair use Korean eventually as a kind of middle finger salute to the Dwarves for speaking Khuzdul in front of her. When she does that in Thorin's POV, I'll definitely come to you instead of Google Translate. Of course, it'd make sense for her to call at least her grandma a Korean name. Is Appa/Oppa just an affectionate title or is it specific? (I tried to use Translate on them and it didn't work so I need your help now!) Any nicknames or advice on the language is most appreciated!