"We'll camp here for the night." Arirua heard Thorin say as she rode, being that last one of the company to arrive at the campsite Gloin and Dori had scouted out. "Fili, Kili," the two brothers heads popped up, ready to receive their uncle's orders, "look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them." Fili nodded and Kili had a bored look on his face. Arirua rode up alongside him.

"Not excited about your job ponysitter?" she asked him with a snicker.

"It's most likely the most boring job Thorin could have given us. I guess he just wants to give us something that we aren't going to mess up." he replied. Arirua just shook her head.

Arirua slowly swung her right leg over the horn of the saddle and slide of Elenduriel very carefully, trying not to jar her arm again. Despite her efforts, her arm still hurt a little bit, but Arirua could feel that the pain was less than the previous times. She let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully it will be gone by tonight. She thought hopefully to herself.

After she had dismounted, Arirua was able to get a good look at the area. It was very lush and green; the grass was still slightly damp from the rain that they had ridden through earlier. The forest area they had been traveling through was sat on the edge of the field, looking green and full. The trees swayed in the wind that blew ever so slightly. Arirua loved being so close to nature like this. In a way, it reminded her of parts of Rivendell. The elves always lived so close to nature, something she had never experienced before. Turning her attention from the forest, Arirua noticed the small house that stood a little ways away from the fence that most of the dwarves had stopped their ponies at. It was in ruins. The house looked as if it had been ripped apart, by what, Arirua couldn't imagine. She noticed bits and pieces of what looked like the small house lying around the area. Something wasn't right about this. She then heard Gandalf murmur to himself while he was walking through the ruins of the house,

"A farmer and his family used to live here." Thorin, who was to busy telling Oin and Gloin to get a fire going, didn't hear what he had.

"Gandalf?" Arirua asked, now sure that something wasn't right. "Gandalf, what is the matter?"

"I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley." Gandalf said louder, knowing that Thorin would hear him this time. Thorin turned to him; Gandalf now had his full attention. Thorin walked through what was left of the door of the house.

"I have told you already," Thorin said, angered at the thought of the wizard even suggesting it, "I will not go near that place."

"Why not? The elves could help us." Gandalf tried to reason with the stubborn would-be king, "We could get food, rest, advice."

"I do not need their advice."

"We have a map we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us." Gandalf told him.

"Help?" Thorin asked with annoyance which was slowly turning to anger. "A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the Elves looked on and did nothing. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather and betrayed my father?"

"You are neither of them." Gandalf reminded Thorin. "I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past."

"I did not know that they were yours to keep." Gandalf let out a sigh of frustration and turned away from Thorin. Arirua, who had now gone back to Elenduriel to unsaddle her and get the things she would need from the saddlebags before Kili and Fili took her to be with the other ponies, watched him go. She quickly stopped unbuckling, even though she wasn't sure how she was going to get the saddle off with only one arm, and followed him.

"Everything alright?" Bilbo asked, speaking up after noticing something was wrong. "Gandalf , where are you going?"

"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense." he called back angrily.

"Who's that?" Bilbo questioned.

"Myself, Mr. Baggins!" he continued walking grumbling to himself as he went. "I've had enough dwarves for one day." Arirua stopped next to Bilbo, watching him go. She wished she could call out to him to stop, but she knew the wizard and she knew that he did need some time away from the company. Bilbo looked at Balin.

"Is he coming back?" he asked the white haired dwarf. Balin frowned and looked towards Gandalf, obviously not sure either.

"He will return; he always does." Arirua promised them. "Though, sometimes it is far later then you expect." Arirua quickly turned on her heel and began walking back to where she knew Elenduriel had been. When she got there, her horse was gone, along with the other ponies, but sitting in its place, was her saddle. She frowned at it, knowing very well she hadn't taken it off.

"The lad did it." Bofur told her. Arirua looked at him, curious which one he was talking about. "Kili took the saddle off before he took the horse."

"Ah, thank you for telling me." she said. Arirua couldn't help but smile to herself though.

Night fell quickly after they had set up camp. Soon the fire was built and dinner was being cooked and served. Arirua moved spoon through the soup that the dwarves had made, trying to find the vegetables. Giving up hope in finding any more, she looked up to see Bilbo looking out in the direction Gandalf had gone when he had left the camp.

"He's been gone a long time." Bilbo stated, pacing nervously.

"Who?" Bofur asked.

"Gandalf."

"He's a wizard! He does as he chooses." Bofur told him. Bilbo looked at Arirua, who gave him a reassuring smile.

"He will be back. Do not worry so Mister Baggins." she told him.

"See, even the lass knows he's going to come back. Here, do us a favor: take this to the lads." Bofur said, passing Bilbo two bowls filled to the brim with soup. While Bofur was distracted, Bombur tried to sneak some more soup. However, Bofur turned before he could sneak any into his bowl.

"Stop it," he said, smacking the spoon that was in Bombur's hand, "you've had plenty." Arirua laughed at the expression on Bombur's face. Arirua got up and walked over to where Bombur had sat down after he was denied more soup.

"Here." she said, passing him her bowl. He gave her a look, but took the leftover soup willingly. "I do not eat meat, but I do not want the food to go to waste." Bombur thanked her and smiled. She smiled back and turned back to walk past to the fire to where she had been sitting.

While she sat there, Arirua began to move her left arm, little by little. The pain had lessened significantly but it still hurt a little bit. After she was sure no one was looking, she pulled down her sleeve just enough to see the glowing was very dim now. That was her sign that the pain would soon be done, but she did not know when it would return. Arirua knew that they had become more frequent, which scared her. They had never been this close together, the pain intervals. They would happen weeks, up to months, apart.

Arirua suddenly frowned. She had not heard Bilbo return from taking the soup to Kili and Fili. It had been quite a long time, for taking soup to the brothers.

"Has Master Baggins returned?" she asked. The dwarves looked at her.

"Not yet." Gloin answered.

"I think I shall go check on him." Arirua said as she started to get up. "He has been quite a long time."

"He's with the lads." Bofur said, pulling his pipe out of his mouth. "He'll be…" However, before he was about to say that Bilbo would be fine, Kili and Fili came running out of the woods behind the campsite.

"Trolls have taken four of the horses." Kili said, very out of breath. Arirua noticed that he had the two bowls that had once been full of soup. Her eyes widened.

"Where is Bilbo?" she asked them, hoping they were not going to tell them that he had done what she was thinking he had done.

"He's gone to try and get the horses back." Fili answered her, breathing as heavily as his brother. Arirua closed her eyes.

Arirua quickly got up and pulled one of the daggers that was hidden in her boot out, ignoring that pain that was going through her arm from the motion. With her right hand she reached down and grabbed Lalar from its resting place next to where she had been sitting. The others followed her suit and quickly got to their feet, grabbing their weapons and started running to the forest. As Arirua started towards the forest, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Thorin standing over her.

"Not you." he told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked him, slightly annoyed that he was trying to stop her from helping her friend.

"You are wounded. You'll get yourself hurt more if you fight." Thorin told her. "You will stay behind and watch the camp."

Arirua looked at him, almost to astonished to say anything. Finally she found her words.

"I am fine." she told him, trying her best to keep her temper in check. "I am not a child; you do not need to baby me." Thorin looked her.

"You are part of my company and you will do as I say." Arirua bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying the things that were going through her mind. She stuck the knife back into her boot in front of him.

"As you wish." Arirua said, turning back towards the fire. She turned her head to watch the company disappear into the shadows of the forest. Arirua grunted and tossed Lalar down onto the ground angrily. She was not a child. She could take care of herself.

Arirua looked up at the stars, knowing that they were laughing at her mortality.

"Laugh away. You put me here! Please, enjoy my suffering!" she shouted up at the heavens. Arirua plopped down on the log with her head in her hands. When she glanced up, she noticed something. Sitting next to her was Kili's bow and his quiver, full of arrows. She had to leave her bow back home, which had upset her deeply. Grabbing it, she smiled. It was heavy, but still it was a very nice bow.

Suddenly she stood up, grabbed the quiver full of arrows, and began walking towards the woods, leaving behind Lalar and the campsite.

As she was swallowed up by the shadows of the woods she smiled. She would fight, just not how Thorin believed she would.

A/N: Soooo update :D YAHHH! Lol, trust me, I'm just as excited about finally getting this out to y'all as y'all are to getting it. Now I've gotta say something very important. Sense winter break is over, I now have returned to the dungeon that some people call school... therefore, sadly, chapters will be a little slower getting out there. Grades come first, well grades and church. BUT do not worry my readers, I will not leave you hanging forever. Hopefully I will be able to update on weekends or every other weekend.

Now, to the fun stuff. I LOVE ALL THE COMMENTS I'm getting :D They make my day. So, everyone who commented, thank you, you bring a smile to my face, which I need sometimes after coming home from school. Now, this is the new chapter... and I hope you enjoy it :D! Tell me what you think... love it? hate it? got a suggestion? got a question? I might answer the question in a riddle so I don't give away anything but... I'll still answer you :D Love you all :D Have a great week :D