Warnings: None.

The day after Durin's Day, very early in the morning

Kíli

I was standing outside, my hood half pulled over my face and my quiver with arrows and my bow slung over my shoulder. It was cold and misty, but I did not care much. I had loved mist and shadow since I was just a little Dwarfling; they made great hiding places at hide and seek.

I shifted and stared into the distance, for as far that was possible.

By the end of the day, we would have reached the edge of Mirkwood, and after that, the adventure would truly begin. I shivered at the memory of the huge spiders that lurked inside that forest. I was not sure what would have happened to us if Bilbo or the Elves had not been there to rescue us.

My mind wandered to Tauriel. I was going to miss her, for sure. She had tried to convince me to take her with me, but I refused; I did not want anything to happen to her. Of course that was a foolish thought, for the chances were bigger that I got hurt instead of her – even better, the chances were bigger that I got hurt because of her than that she got hurt –, and she had told me that at least five times this morning, but I had decided that I could not risk losing her. Not in this war. Not if Thorin had forbidden her to come, both of us, actually, and if she had to sneak in only to risk her life.

If you asked me, I would let her do whatever she wanted, but there was a limit. There was no way I was going to possibly let her die because I needed to be reckless again.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Uncle Thorin's voice, counting the Dwarves that went with us, and coming closer. I pulled the hood even farther over my face, so that only my mouth and chin would be in the light, and hoped he would not recognize me. I stiffened when he tapped my shoulder, but he only said "One hundred and ninety-four" and went on to the next Dwarf.

I let out a breath from which I had not known I had been holding it in. Just when I did that, I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Daydreaming, hm?"

I did not look up.

"Kind of," I replied. "Preparing for the journey, I guess."

Sam chuckled.

"You know, it's not a big deal, really," she said, sounding half lost in her thoughts. "I've done the math, and we should be back in less than five weeks."

I sighed.

"I know that. The problem is just that we might not come back at all."

The redheaded girl's head snapped towards me, and we locked eyes. She seemed angry, all of a sudden, although I was not certain why.

"You listen to me," she said sharply, "if you, or Fíli, or Thorin, or Dís, or whoever's important to those people or for the future of Middle-Earth, dies out there, I swear I'll go back and fix it. Even if I break a thousand rules and they'll wipe my memory for it. Promise."

I did not know who 'they' were, but I decided not to ask about it. Instead, I stuttered: "T-Thank you. I truly appreciate that."

"You'd better. I'd risk forgetting you all."

Her voice suddenly grew vulnerable. I was just going to say something to comfort her, tell her that she probably would not even have to break the rules, that we would all be fine, but I was interrupted by Thorin's voice.

"We are leaving!" he yelled as loudly as possible. His words were repeated by several other Dwarves at different places in the group, so that everybody would hear it.

"Follow me!"

And so the journey began.

A/N:

This chapter (and the next chapter as well) is really short, so I've decided to do a double update. The next one ends in a cliffhanger. Just so you know.