Author's Note: Umm…wow, this chapter turned out short. I just couldn't seem to fit anything more into it!

Chapter 5-A Rainy Day with a Strange Ending

It was raining.

And this wasn't just your ordinary summer sprinkle. This was the kind of rain that soaked your clothes, and when it had finished with your clothes, went on to chill you to the bone. Well, Karra's clothes had needed a good washing anyway, but that still didn't make up for almost catching a cold. Or maybe actually catching a cold. She let out a loud sneeze. A moment later, she realized that she had sneezed directly into Fili's hair. Would she ever stop embarrassing herself in front of him? Or, well, in this case, behind him.

"Sorry," she muttered, swiping her hand through his hair in an attempt to wipe her sneeze out.

He turned around and said, "What?"

"I…." she flushed. "I sneezed in your hair." Suddenly realizing how odd that sounded, she began to giggle.

"I'm sure my hair has had worse things in it than sneezes," he said with a laugh, turning back around to guide the pony around a tree stump. Karra stopped giggling rather suddenly as a large plop of water from a tree above her landed directly on her head.

"Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" complained Dori. Or at least, Karra was fairly sure it was Dori. She had pretty much gotten everyone's names down by this time, but they were still weird. Seriously, Dori was a girl's name.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done," Gandalf said matter-of-factly.

"Well, that was certainly stating the obvious!" exclaimed Karra.

"So was that," said Fili from in front of her on the pony. Gandalf didn't seem to hear their exchange.

"If you wish to change to weather of the world," he continued, "You will have to find yourself another wizard."

"Are there any?" Bilbo asked.

Gandalf seemed a bit perplexed. "What?"

"Other wizards?"

"There are five of us," Gandalf replied. "The greatest of our order is Saruman the White. There are the two blue wizards; you know, I've quite forgotten their names."

"Wow, a wizard forgets things?" Karra asked. Fili chuckled. Apparently they were riding too far back for Gandalf to hear what they were saying; Karra was rather glad. She wasn't sure she wanted for Gandalf to hear her teasing him.

"Well, that would Radagast the Brown," Gandalf was saying.

"Is he a great wizard," began Bilbo, "or is he….more like you?"

Karra stifled a snort of laughter. She had just thought that she didn't want to Gandalf to hear her teasing him, and then Bilbo went and said something like that! She could imagine the look on the wizard's face without even seeing it.

"I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way." Gandalf sounded slightly defensive. "He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others…."

The rest of the afternoon consisted of some talk about the wizards, and after that, only a couple of spattered conversations. The rain seemed to dampen everyone's mood. Thankfully, it let up slightly before they made camp. But only slightly.

"Are we going to have to sleep in the rain all night," Karra grumbled as she slid off the pony. She had finally learned to get off herself, only this time, the ground was somewhat slippery, and she would have done well to let Fili help her. She slipped on the wet leaves, landing hard on her bottom. "Ouch," she complained. "I'm clumsy."

"Are you alright?" Fili asked, helping her up.

"Of course. Only a little muddy. As if these clothes weren't bad enough already."

Fili laughed a little. "You're not entirely accustomed to traveling."

"Thanks for stating the obvious. I'm surprised you haven't noticed that before." She was feeling a bit snappish, probably because of the rain.

"You can be fairly good at that, too." He smirked at her.

"Oh, stop it, you." She shook her head. "Excuse me; I'm going to go try to find a dry spot." As she turned quickly, the key that hung around her neck slipped out from behind her shirt. She quickly tucked it back in, but not quickly enough to keep Fili from noticing.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said quickly. "Just a little trinket that was my dad's. You haven't noticed it before?"

Fili unexpectedly put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back around. "May I see it?" he asked.

Karra shrugged. "I guess," she said, but hesitated for a moment.

"If it's nothing, why are you so hesitant?" he asked pointedly.

"Fine," she said, pulling the key out. "Here. You can see it." She carefully unlatched the chain it hung on and handed the key to him. "It's nothing, really. It's just a trinket of my dad's."

Fili was staring at the key. After a moment, he grasped it in his hand and walked away, obviously preoccupied.

"Hey!" Karra called after him. "My key, please…..please…..oh, never mind." I kind of hope he gives it back! she thought. What's the big deal about a key, anyway?

Karra awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of soft voices. She lay there for a minute trying not to eavesdrop until she heard her name being spoken. She recognized the voice as Fili's.

At this, she sat up and leaned forward, trying to hear what was being said. Eavesdropping was forgivable if they were talking about her, she reasoned. When she failed to pick up what they were saying, she quietly scooted a little closer.

"…one of the keys," Kili was saying. "What do you think?"

"I think it's obvious," Fili said. "It is one of the keys. But how would a woman from a faraway land have managed to get a hold of one of the keys? She said it was her father's."

"Perhaps her father knew of this land?" suggested Kili. "Should we tell uncle?"

"I don't think so; not just yet," Fili replied. "He had enough on his mind already."

"It wouldn't worry him. I think he'd want to know."

Karra wanted more than anything to just go over there and ask what they were talking about, but she wasn't sure if she should let them know that she had been listening in on their secret midnight conversation. At that moment, Fili looked up, and Karra was sure that their eyes met. She quickly rolled back over and closed her eyes. Lying there trying to act like she was asleep, she began to try to puzzle out what the conversation had been about. One of the keys? What did he mean by that? And how would she have gotten a hold of one of these keys, whatever they were?

Staring up at the stars, she fell to dreaming about her father.

Well, I've got your curiosity peaked now, haven't I? Mauahahahaha. I'm going to make you wait for an explanation. I am the author. I have power.

Just kidding. Sort of.

If you review I'll give you…let's see…somebody mentioned Thranduil. Okay, if you review I'll give you Thranduil. :D