Author's Note: Well, after I wrote this chapter I realized that I was taking a view of Laketown that was slightly more like the book—the people aren't quite so poor and the Master isn't quite so unfriendly.

Author's Note #2: I think Karra's hair might have become a character of its own by now. Maybe I should name it.

Chapter 28-Late Night Laketown Partyin'

"Here we are," the young girl said, opening a door and showing Karra into her room. "I hope it suits you well."

"Thank you, I'm sure it will," Karra said with a smile. The room was simple, with only a bed, a dresser, and a mirror, but it was certainly the nicest place she had slept in a long time.

After the Master had 'officially' welcomed to the town, the people had insisted on leading them through the streets, cheering. Karra had thought they were making too big of a deal of it, but hey, it wasn't like she didn't like the attention. After that, the Master had made another speech, then Thorin had made a speech, then they had eaten lunch, or whatever they called it here. Dinner? Karra could never keep that kind of thing straight. All this revelry had taken up a good part of the morning, and finally the Master had ordered that they be given rooms in the nicest establishment they could conjure up. The young servant girl had led Karra to this room, and here she was, still reeling a little from all the chaos. She plopped down on the bed, hoping she would finally get a chance to actually rest now. She glanced in the mirror and thought of something.

"Wait!" she called.

"Yes, miss?" The girl poked her head in the door again.

"Can I have a comb?" Karra asked. She didn't see one sitting on the dresser, and she was not going to pass up the opportunity.

"Certainly, miss." The girl dropped a curtsy and left again. Karra lay back on the bed, resting her head on the pillow. It felt nice, but after all the crazy activity of the morning, she felt as if she couldn't go to sleep if she wanted to.

The door opened and the girl entered again. "Here you are," she said, handing a smallish comb to Karra. She took it with a grin and thanked the girl.

"Are you…" the girl began, hesitating in the doorway. "Are you a dwarf?" she asked quizzically.

"Umm…" Karra said, briefly wondering what she should tell her.

"You don't really look like one," the girl said shyly, and closed the door behind her, leaving Karra to wonder whether that was a complement or not. She grinned. She was certainly glad she didn't have a beard.

She slid off the bed and walked to the mirror. The comb was much too small for her mass of hair, but it would do. She stared at her reflection for a minute, wondering where to even start. She finally just began in the front, but he first time she tried to pull the comb through her hair, it got stuck. It took her at least five minutes the extricate it, and as she stared at herself in the mirror, she began to realize it was kind of hopeless.

Looking around, she didn't see what she wanted. She walked over to the door, opened it again, and called down the hallway.

The same young girl appeared around the corner. "Yes?"

"Can I have a pair of scissors?" Karra asked, hoping scissors existed in Middle-Earth. Surely they had things other than knives and swords here?

The girl stared at her for a minute, and then it seemed to dawn on her what Karra was saying. "Your hair is lovely," she said shyly. "I don't think—"

Karra cut her off with a wave of her hand. "It's not lovely when it's like this," she said with a laugh. "Just get me a pair of scissors, okay?" The girl nodded and left with something of a shrug.

Karra stared into the mirror again. Her hair was lovely? She had never thought of it that way. Fun to play with, perhaps, and a bit of a nuisance, but certainly not lovely. And after dealing with it for months in the wild, she didn't really care anyway.

The girl returned quickly with a pair of scissors. "I…I still don't think you should cut it," she said, handing the scissors to Karra hesitantly. Karra only thanked her and shooed her out the door. As soon as she was gone, she turned back to the mirror. Pulling her hair back in a loose ponytail, she tied it again with the strip of cloth she had torn off her old shirt. The scissors were too small, just like the comb, but after hacking and snipping at it a couple of times, she had a pile of thick red hair lying at her feet.

She stared at the pile for a minute, wondering what to do with it. She finally just scooped it up and stuffed it into what she assumed was a wastebasket…well, she hoped that was what it was. Gosh, she thought, did she really have that much hair?

Her now-short hair looked ridiculously fluffy without the weight of the rest of it pulling it down. She dipped her comb in the basin of water that served as a sink and ran it through her hair, hoping to calm it down a little, but was pretty much unsuccessful. Her hair bounced away from her comb as if it were glad to be free. During her travels, it had grown nearly to her waist, and she felt free not having to carry the weight of it. She sighed and plopped back down on the bed. She wasn't sure what she thought of herself with short hair. The only time she had ever cut it this short was when she was ten years old. And she hadn't really been too worried about her appearance then.

There came a knock on the door. She sighed and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Would she ever get a chance to rest? Standing up reminded her once again how weird and light her hair felt. She shook her head and walked over to the door.

She opened it to find Fili standing there.

"Hi!" she said.

Fili stared at her blankly.

She raised an eyebrow. "I know, I know," she said, rolling her eyes. "I thought it would be more practical. And it's nice to know that you dwarven men notice when a lady changes her hairstyle," she added with a laugh.

Fili nodded. "It's practical," he said politely.

"You don't like it, do you?"

"Well…"

"I know. Dwarves like their women with lots of hair," she said and laughed again, this time a little nervously.

"No, no, I wasn't saying that…" Fili began, then trailed off. "It looks quite nice, really. Just different." Karra grinned, half glad to see that she wasn't the only one who could be awkward. "Anyway," he said, changing the subject abruptly, "I came to tell you that the Master—or rather the people—have declared a feast tonight in our honor."

"Oh. Okay," she said a little uncomfortably. "Well…thanks. Um, well…bye." She gave him a little wave as he turned and walked away. She stared after him, suddenly and sincerely wishing she hadn't cut her hair, no matter how much of a nuisance it had been. She sighed and plopped back down on the bed. Now what?

A ray of late afternoon sun peeked through the window of Karra's room, landing on her face. Her eyes popped open and she sat up. Would she ever get a chance to take a proper nap? She had just been dozing off!

Her afternoon had been a series of interrupted attempts to rest. First she had decided to take a short walk in an attempt to calm down from her hectic morning and night. Well, a short walk had turned into a longer one as she realized she didn't know her way around Laketown. Just as she thought she was really lost, she had bumped into the same young girl who had showed her to her room earlier, and who showed to her to her room again. Then she had realized that she still smelled of fish, and decided she should clean up before the feast. Then came the task of actually figuring out how she was supposed to take a bath here. She never did figure that out…she ended up just washing herself off in her 'sink' and scrubbing herself down with some soap that happened to be sitting there. She guessed they must have baths or showers or some sort here, but she didn't really want to ask some random person about where she was supposed to clean up.

And then, just as she was settling down for a rest, there came another knock on the door. This time it was another dwarf, coming to tell her the same thing Fili had told her earlier. She had politely thanked him for the new information, and closed to door politely in his face. And she had just begun to actually doze off when she realized how late it was.

She slid down off the bed and slipped her feet into her boots. Had all that seriously taken all afternoon? What time was it, anyway? She stepped out the door and realized it was even later than she had thought it would be. The sun was nearing the horizon. Why, she was probably late for the banquet! She began to walk faster, and then realized she had no idea where to go.

She stopped, looking around her. Not again! And now everyone was probably at the feast, so there would be nobody to ask. She sighed. How could she have lost track of time like this?

She leaned against the wall of a house, wondering what to do now. Did she try to find the banquet hall and inevitably get lost again? Or did she just sit here and wait for someone to walk by?

She didn't really have to decide, for a moment later, someone actually did walk by. Karra didn't recognize the woman as anyone she'd seen yet, and she hesitated a moment before calling, "Hey!"

The woman turned.

"Do…do you know where the…uh…feast is taking place?" Karra asked, fumbling a little with her words. The woman seemed to be looking down her nose at her, and it made Karra want to turn and run.

"Oh, you're one of those dwarves that arrived last night," she said with a sniff. "I've never really thought much of that old prophecy. Well, the banquet hall is down that street and around that corner, if you must know." And having completed the obligations of politeness, she turned and swept away with an air of snootiness about her.

Well, I guess every town has one, Karra thought as she walked down the street. Thank goodness the whole town hadn't treated them like that; they might be in jail or taking a significantly longer route to the mountain if they had. The fact that someone other than Bard knew about the prophecy intrigued her, though. If she ever got the chance, she would have to get her hands on this thing to see what it really was. Because if there really was a prophecy about them, that was pretty darn awesome.

Hearing the sounds of a crowd in the near distance, she began to run. She rounded a corner and found herself standing in front of a large-ish building with its doors thrown wide open. People filled the large room inside. She ran up the steps. Reaching the top, she caught her foot on the bottom of her skirt and fell to her knees inside the room.

Everything went quiet.

Karra looked up slowly. Had everyone seriously seen what she had just done?

The heads nearest her were turned towards the front of the room. She sighed with relief. So they weren't looking at her. She got to her feet and tried to peer through the crowd. She heard the Master beginning to say speak. She still couldn't see what was going on, so she contented herself with listening for the moment.

The Master introduced the dwarves with pleasure. From the tone of his voice, Karra couldn't quite tell whether he was genuinely happy that they had arrived or not, but the people certainly were. They cheered as the Master called the dwarves up to the front to be recognized.

A moment later, it hit her. I need to be up there too! She elbowed her way through the crowd as quickly as she could and dashed forward. She was the last one to the front, panting and out of breath, with her hair and dress still disheveled from running through the crowd. She grinned nervously out at the people and gave an awkward little wave. At least one person snickered and Karra tried not to flush.

Thorin stepped forward. Karra sighed with relief. He had taken the attention of the crowd off her little display of awkwardness. She stepped halfway behind another dwarf and wished she could disappear entirely.

Thorin began to speak, but was interrupted as the crowd gave a swelling cheer. When the noise died down, he began to make a speech, but since he was interrupted about every sentence by a cheer, he decided to keep it short, for which Karra was very thankful. In closing, he announced, "Let the feasting begin!" and led the company from the front of the room to a table designated for them. Karra purposely slid in beside Fili.

"You're here," he said with a grin.

"Yeah," Karra said dryly. "And I think everybody knows that now. Sorry I was late…I kind of lost track of time."

"I think we all did," he replied.

"Yeah, but—" she began, but her remark was cut short when a large platter of food was set on the table before them and she suddenly realized how hungry she was. She began to pile food on her plate along with the other dwarves.

"I'm sorry I was rude to you earlier," Fili said as soon as he had finished filling his plate.

"Rude?" Karra said blankly. "About what?"

"Your hair."

"Oh. I didn't think you were rude," Karra said through a mouthful of food. "Sorry." She swallowed and continued talking. "You were just surprised." She grinned. "I'm sure I would have been surprised too." She thought of Fili with hair as short as hers and wanted to laugh, but didn't. Instead she stuffed another heap of food into her mouth. "Mmm, this is good. I didn't realize how hungry I was."

A glass of something was set in front of her. She looked at it for a minute, then turned to the dwarf on the other side of her. "What is this?" she asked.

He took a large drink of his own glass. "Prime Laketown ale," he said.

"Oh." She set the glass down. She had already embarrassed herself enough this evening, so there was no way she was going to let herself drink too much of this stuff. Besides, her mom would probably have a fit if she knew her daughter was drinking ale.

The loud buzz of conversation drowned out any more attempts to talk. Karra finished her plateful of food and heaped more on. She knew she was being a greedy dwarf, and didn't care. She grinned thinking of how shocked she had been at the dwarves manners when she first met them. Now she was just like them. How shameful.

She heard a shout from the end of the table. "Come on, lads!" Bofur cried. "Follow me!" He began to sing a lusty tune, and soon the whole table was following him. Karra tapped her foot but didn't sing along, being the only one who didn't know the words. But pretty soon she was humming, and then she was picking up the words as they came. The song soon degenerated into hearty laughter and much drinking of the Laketown ale.

The feasting wore on all evening, and the later it got, the less contained it was. The laughter grew louder, and the people grew merrier, until finally the kegs of stronger ale were brought out. Karra couldn't help groaning; the dwarves were all 'merry' enough, did they really need any more?

Bofur raised his glass in the air, sploshing some out onto the table. "I propose a toast," he said with a large lopsided grin, "to the lovely lady in our midst." Sidling over to Karra, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She laughed and tried to give a little curtsy, succeeding only in tripping over the hem of her skirt again.

"To Karra!" cried Kili, jumping to his feet, and falling back onto his chair with a little groan.

"I heartily agree!" Fili said, raising his glass, then turned to his brother. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly. Karra grinned. At least somebody still had their wits about them.

Bofur took another large swig of his glass and clapped Karra on the back so hard she nearly fell over. She spluttered and laughed, plopping back down in her chair again.

The hum of conversation and rowdy laughter grew even louder. Karra figured it must be near midnight by now. She felt like she should be getting to bed soon. She scooted her chair to the end of the table and watched the crowd. She felt as if she were the only one not joining in the revelry. She sighed.

She was beginning to feel as if she must get away from all these people. She stood up and began to work her way through the people towards the door. A woman tapped her on the elbow and she turned.

"Are you one of the dwarves?" the woman asked. Karra nodded and tried to smile. "I've never seen a dwarf before," the woman said wonderingly. As if I'm a very good representation of one, Karra thought wryly. Before the woman could start a conversation, Karra disappeared into the crowd again.

Once out the door, she sat down on one of the steps and took a deep breath of the cool night air. The noise of the crowd was much less out here, and she already felt refreshed.

She sensed a presence behind her and jumped. She turned to see another dwarf standing there, silhouetted by the light coming from the doors. Her eyes managed to focus on him and she recognized Fili.

"Oh, hi," she stammered.

"I was wondering where you went!" he exclaimed.

"I just needed some space," she said. "Too much noise."

"And too many people drinking ale?" he said with a grin.

"Yeah," Karra agreed.

Fili sat down beside her, and or a moment they just looked around at the empty nighttime town. "Well…" Fili said after a minute. He motioned towards the doors.

"No!" Karra said emphatically. "I'm done with the party for the night. I think I might go to bed soon." She sniffed. "Do you realize you still smell like fish?" she said.

Fili laughed. "So do you," he said. Karra wrinkled her nose.

"Do I?" she said. "I guess I do." She sniffed again, and brushed his hair with her finger. "Don't tell me you still have fish slime in your hair," she said. Then she giggled. That had sounded funny for some reason. Fili chuckled. Their eyes met, and she giggled even more. Pretty soon she was giggling uncontrollably.

"Karra…" Fili began with a laugh. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know!" cried Karra, unable to stop another giggle from coming out. A thought popped into her head, and unable to stop another burst of giggles, she choked out, "There was a fish starting at me!"

"What?" Fili said with a chuckle.

"I just thought of…" she giggled again. "It looked so funny!" she gasped. "We were sitting there in the barrel, and there was this…this dead fish…and it was staring right at me…"

"Karra, what is wrong?" Fili asked, unable to keep a smile off his face. "Are you sure you haven't been…"

"No!" cried Karra, the corners of her lips twitching. "I didn't drink any of that ale! I'm just….I guess I'm just getting slapsilly." She began to giggle again. Fili chuckled. "Please!" she cried. "You'll only make it worse!"

"I think it might be time for you to go to bed," Fili said with a laugh.

"Yeah, me too," she said with another giggle. Her voice trailed off and suddenly she was very tired. "Yeah, that actually sounds really good," she said. "I'm so tired…" She slumped onto Fili's shoulder, not finding anymore giggles in her. "So much has happened today…"

"I understand," he said, patting her on the shoulder. "Come on, I'll take you to your room." He stood up and helped her to her feet. Realizing as she followed him how very tired she really was, she let him lead her through the streets of the town, vaguely wondering how he knew them so much better than she did. She wasn't even sure how much walking they did, only that they reached her room much sooner than she would have on her own. He opened the door for her with a smile.

"Thanks," she said softly. As soon as the door closed, she slipped her boots off and tumbled into bed. She was asleep within a couple of minutes.

I'M SEEING THE BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES TOMORROW AND JUST I'M SO EXITED AND NERVOUS AND EXITED. But that also means that I'll be taking a break on this story for a loooong while...I'll have to have time to figure out how I want to write the next section, the part that takes place during the last movie. But don't worry, you will get two more chapters. I have to the end of the Desolation of Smaug pretty much finished (pretty much…).