AN: A HUGE Smaug-sized thank you to all the people who have reviewed any of the past chapters. It really has kept me writing! I was having a bit of writer's block but your encouragement is helping me fight through it.

PS: On another note, was anyone else watching the live Q&A with Peter Jackson and some of the Hobbit cast? It was awesome! As well as the new vlog and sneak peek! So excited for the Desolation of Smaug!

EXTENDED EDITION FTW!

Chapter VIII

A Quandary for a Quest

The slumber that followed our meeting with Thorin was a shallow, fleeting one. I awoke several times that night in the small Hobbit bed to find myself panicked, fearful of a looming presence and confused at my strange surroundings. But then, I'd hear Gandalf's snores and remember. I was safe now.

It was early morning when I finally decided it wasn't worth trying to sleep again. I swung my legs over the bed, my feet easily touching the floor. I watched Gandalf as he slept with his eyes wide open. For a moment, I wasn't sure if he was faking or actually asleep but decided on the latter since I couldn't see any reason for him to pretend.

My muscles were sore and screamed as I moved, much worse than yesterday. Oh, how I wished I had an aspirin! Some kind of painkiller! I pursed my lips against the pain and tried to walk it off. I went over to the window and sat down, my knees drawn up to my chest. The sun hadn't come up yet and very few townsfolk were awake. From the window, I could see a man carrying an armful of timbre and two weary travelers heading towards the inn. I stayed there for awhile, too tired to form whole thoughts or do something productive, watching the village slowly come to life.

I really wanted a shower, or even a bath, but our small room didn't offer anything and I didn't feel up to wandering the inn for a toilet. I got up from the chair and headed over to my backpack. I had made an inventory of what items I had way back when I was first landed in Dol Guldur. There was hardly anything useful, but a few things could bring me a slight comfort, if nothing else. One of these such things was my roll-on perfume. If I couldn't get rid of my ungodly stench, I could at least make an effort to mask it. The perfume was a floral scent, jasmine if you know what it smells like. It wasn't very strong but I rolled it over my neck and wrists enough to make me feel better. I stowed it away just as Gandalf began to stir.

His eyes lost their glazed look and he blinked, finding me. He sat up and eyed my curiously. "Emily… what are you doing crouched beside the bed like that?"

I smiled at the use of my name. "Nothing," I replied, zipping my pack and righting myself. "I couldn't really sleep."

"Hm. That's truly a shame," the Wizard said. "Our journey to the Blue Mountains is no short one nor will it be easy, even in this season. You'll need to keep up your strength, not to mention recovering that which was lost during your stay in the old fortress, which means sleeping and eating regularly." He gave me a pointed look.

"It's not my fault I couldn't sleep," I defended and Gandalf made a 'humph' of disagreement.

He suggested that we grab breakfast as soon as possible as Thorin would most likely be eager to leave. The assumption seemed pretty spot on—I didn't peg Thorin as the stop-to-smell-the-flowers type.

I discovered how to use a chamber pot, which is a story for another day, and made fast use of my hand sanitizer as the Prancing Pony's idea of soap was a hunk of animal fat. Way to kill an appetite. In the short time it took to walk to a table, I had disillusioned myself with pancakes and coffee but, of course, they didn't even have a breakfast menu (or a menu at all). I ended up eating some kind of sausage and a few hard biscuits, drowned in melted butter. If I got sick later and died, I'd blame the food.

It was daylight out by the time we got done although still very early. Gandalf steered me outside towards the stables which were located on the side of the inn. I spotted Thorin by the gate, talking to some man whom I assumed was in charge of the animals' care. The Dwarf turned to us and gave me a look as if he were disappointed that I was still here. Thanks, you too.

"Best of mornings to you, Lord Thorin," Gandalf smiled. "I take it you slept well?"

"Well enough," he replied, his voice gruffer than normal. "I've gathered provisions already. Are you prepared to leave?"

"Yes, quite ready, thank you. The sooner we depart, the sooner we'll arrive and, of course, leave again if all goes well," the Wizard nodded. "Now, you were planning on taking horses? A smart decision; I fear the terrain will be less kind than usual as autumn begins to set in."

Thorin gave a grunt of agreement then turned to me. "Do you ride?"

"Huh?"

He took a deep breath and repeated in the most patient tone he could muster, "Do you know how to ride, Miss Parker?"

"Wha—A-a horse?" I stammered, looking into the stable then back to him. "Well, no… But, I have ridden an elephant once at the zoo." As if it compensated at all. More like sat on an elephant as the zookeeper walked us in a circle, but Thorin didn't need to know the details.

"Miss Parker will ride with me," Gandalf supplied, once it was deciphered that my answer was a negative.

Thorin nodded and paid for our horses, two mares—one brown and the other white with grey spots. Gandalf, unsurprisingly, took the white one. It struck me as odd that Thorin chose a horse instead of a pony but, since we were roughly the same height and I could manage a horse, had I the skills, it kind of made sense. The Wizard gave me a hand, and a push, onto the tall mare, which turned out to be not as embarrassing as I'd imagined. Gandalf mounted the horse in front of me and I had to hold onto the back of his robes as to not fall off once the creature began to move.

We started off at a moderate trot which wasn't too worrisome. After I got used to the horse's rhythm, I was able to let go of Gandalf and sit confidently without fear of falling off. The landscape changed from the wooded areas around Bree to that of a plain of vast rolling hills, green and lovely. I was content to just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

About an hour into our expedition, the sound of rushing water reached my ears. I sat up straighter and peeked around Gandalf. Just ahead of us was, as I expected, a river—not too monstrous but definitely more than waist deep, I'd wager. Luckily for us and our horses, there was also a stone bridge to take us over. The hooves of the mares clopped on the stones as we ambled over the crossing blended with that of the swift current's babbling.

"Does this river have a name?" I asked, deciding not to miss the chance to break the silence.

Gandalf was the one to answer, of course. I had a feeling that he enjoyed being a tour guide and showed off his Middle Earth trivia whenever he could. "This is the Baranduin, also known as the Brandywine River."

"Oh! Oh!" I exclaimed, jumping an inch off the saddle and earning a look of alarm from both men. I blushed. "Sorry, I just… I know that name."

Thorin gave me the best you've-got-to-be-fucking-insane look I'd ever seen before shutting his eyes and turning his attention back to the road. I swear, between my fangirling weirdness and Gandalf's vague, cryptic answers, I was waiting for Thorin to just stop his horse and call the whole thing off.

But he didn't, thank god. The only way to get him back on board would probably be to leave me behind. And that wasn't going to happen. Right?

The thought struck me as odd. I had always assumed I'd be part of the company when it finally came together but really, should I be? I couldn't fight at all. If anything I'd slow them all down. Besides, it wasn't like they needed my help. The mission is a success, right? Well… aside from…

I glanced sideways at Thorin as he rode beside us, stealing a secretive peek through my fringe.

There was always that aspect of the quest… The part where he and his nephews die…

My brows furrowed. Was there really anything I could do to stop it? They died in battle and even if I were there, I'd probably get killed first! The only thing I could maybe do to stop it would be to make sure the whole quest never happened. And that wasn't going to work—it was practically a done deal. I felt guilty at realizing that I sort of arranged it by introducing the two.

No. They would've met regardless. It's just fate… or the canon.

But… I wasn't canon.

Was I the wild card here? Did my being here mean I could change things? Or would they happen anyway or find a different way to happen? If I found Gollum and took the Ring from him, would I lose it somehow and Bilbo stumble upon it? Or would someone else possess it? Or would I never be able to get the Ring in the first place?

Could I save them?

I had no idea.

I was well aware of my promise to Thrain. Keep Thorin safe. Be his little shoulder angel and whisper reason into his ear.

I groaned and fell into Gandalf in despair, my forehead pressing against his back. Oh, what do I do?

"Are you feeling alright, Emily?" the Wizard asked, not sounding too concerned like he already knew the answer.

"Dandy."

He moved slightly, and I think he nodded. "Good. We have a long way to go before we make camp. Hold tight."

I had to turn my head so that I didn't look at Thorin. Curse my heart, I was feeling too guilty. I couldn't just do nothing. I hadn't an inkling of a plan but I knew that I had to try. Hey. Maybe that was why I was brought here. For some divine mission—saving innocent lives, or good people. Maybe they had a bigger role to play in Middle Earth. Maybe I'd succeed no matter what.

I kept my cynical self at bay. Deep down, I knew it was a foolish hope, that everything would magically fall into place. But I let myself hold onto the optimistic notion awhile longer.

Amid the swells of lush green land and the clear skies that crowned it, I spotted signs of life—chimney smoke and the colorful splotches of houses. The civilization seemed far off, so that I had to squint to see it clearly but it was unmistakable.

"Is that the Shire?"I asked with a smile.

"Indeed, it is," Gandalf replied. "We're right on the border of Hobbiton."

My smile grew, eying the few Hobbit holes that were closer to us. It seemed so peaceful here in particular.

There was a sudden shout and our mare reared up in a panic. I clutched the back of Gandalf's robes in reflex, saving me from taking a fall right over the horse's back end. Thorin's horse was shaking its head and pawing the dirt. With a whiny and a snort, our horse finally calmed down.

"What in Durin's name-?" Thorin's outburst cut off and I heard another man's voice below us.

"Watch where yer going!" cried a man from the road.

In front of us, was an old Hobbit with curly, white hair and a bulbous nose, carrying a knapsack filled with carrots. He shook he fist at us. "Nearly ran me over, you did!"

"Our apologies, Master Hobbit," Thorin nodded to him, sounding sincere. "We did not see you till our horses were near on top of you."

The old Hobbit thumbed his nose at the Dwarf-king. "Them big folk never see us, do they?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head reproachfully. "Only concerned with their big folk affairs and such. Always in a rush." He carried on his way, walking towards Hobbiton and once in a while, looking back at us to shake his head.

Despite his brashness, Gandalf chuckled. "It's a wonder our horses spotted him at all. Hobbits can be completely undetectable if they wish, and pass straight under people's noses. It is their nature."

Thorin still seemed ruffled by the encounter. "He was certainly light on his feet," he conceded, sounded begrudging.

"Oh, yes," Gandalf agreed and I noticed him pause for a moment, looking at the Shire with a thoughtful expression. "Yes, indeed."

Ding.

We passed the whole of Hobbiton, leaving the small doors in hills beyond my eyesight. I felt a little disappointed as it was one of my favorite places in the books and I'd have loved to explore. But we were on business, of course, and that meant no time to dilly dally around.

Once we veered off the road, the hills became much more prominent, arching high over the earth in great mounds much to the dismay of our horses. It had been hours and hours since we had left the Prancing Pony and it was now well into the late afternoon.

Thorin's horse slowed and ours followed suit. "We should make camp here," the Dwarf-king announced, looking around at the area. "I would have liked for more cover but in this landscape…" He shook his head and dismounted, and began unloading his saddle.

Gandalf helped me off the horse and I landed hard. I was pretty sure my bruises had bruises! I stretched and cracked my back then started shaking the pins and needles from my legs. Geez. The Wizard handed me two large bundles and told me to set them up while he secured the horses. They turned out to be bedrolls. Yay. I walked over to the area Thorin was setting up his own and set mine and Gandalf's down a few feet away—I wasn't sure of the appropriate distance to put them.

I glanced over at the Dwarf as he worked and I started to unroll the spongy mattresses. "All of my Girl Scout training's coming back," I joked and he looked up at me.

"What?"

"Girl Scouts… It's a selective... club that trains children to survive in the wild," I explained. And sell cookies.

"You have had survival training, then?" he asked, sounding skeptical.

I nodded. "Oh yeah. Got all my badges to prove it."

"Good," he replied shortly, ignoring my latter comment. "Then you will not mind starting the fire."

"The fire?" I squeaked.

Thorin gave me an impatient look. "The temperature will soon drop," he explained. "It would be wise to have a fire going beforehand, don't you agree?"

"Right. Course," I nodded. "I'll just… get that fire going."

I stood as Thorin resumed unpacking and glanced around. Gandalf was driving a stake into the ground to tie the horses to. I casually scrambled over and crouched beside him. "How do I start a fire?" I hissed.

He seemed keen on my predicament as he quickly replied without question, "Gather stones and as many dried twigs and weeds as you can."

I nodded in thanks and ran off to scavenge. I gathered what Gandalf had told me with limited difficulty and returned. The stones went first in a circle to keep the flames from catching and then I piled the dried plants inside. Okay. Looking good now I just need the fire. Er…

My first instinct was to grab two sticks and rub them together like how I'd seen in movies. To say the least, it didn't go as planned. I started getting annoyed. C'mon if cavemen could do it! No matter how vigorously I rubbed them together, I didn't see any sparks or signs of fire- the twigs just got hot and my hands, sweaty. I tossed the sticks aside. Instead, I tried spinning one stick in between my palms.

"What are you doing, Miss Parker?" came Thorin's annoyed voice from behind me.

"What's it look like?" I snapped, irritable at my ongoing failure.

He hovered over me, watching my sad attempt with dismay. "You won't start a fire like that," he told me. "Here."

Thorin's hand came into view and I finally stopped what I was doing. He gave me a small container with a 'D' shaped piece of metal attached. I stared for a moment before looking up at him, confused.

"Have you not seen a tinderbox before?" he asked, looking at me like I was from another world. Oh, hey.

"Of course, I have," I lied. "Thanks…"

I waited for him to leave before I tried to figure out how to use it. Inside the container were a long stone and bits of charcoal. Okay… The coal catches fire, right? I put a pinch of the crumbling black substance onto the bit of twigs. Now, the spark. I held the 'D' like brass knuckles (not that I had ever worn a pair) and took the stone in my other hand. I struck them against each other repeatedly, close to the charcoal. There were a few stray sparks but none caught.

"Are you having trouble, Miss Parker?" Thorin asked and I could tell he was losing patience.

"I got it."

I hit the two harder and faster but nothing happened. Damn it. I did not want to look like an idiot here. If I couldn't be a little helpful now, he'd be that much more difficult to convince into letting me tag along on the quest.

A flame sparked to life suddenly and I jumped back. I hadn't done that, had I? I looked up to catch Gandalf wink at me. I smiled back gratefully. Sure I hadn't actually done anything but Thorin didn't know that, did he?

The Dwarf-king looked unimpressed when I returned the tinderbox to him. "Thanks," I said to him, earning only a deep 'hm' in reply.

Fine. You just couldn't please some people.

I plopped onto my bedroll a little too eagerly, the hard ground beneath making itself known. I considered using my iPod but since the battery was already half gone, I held off. I'll have to at some point though—listening to The Lord of the Rings soundtrack while traversing Middle Earth was just way too tempting!

The sun faded from the sky and night was upon us. The air held a chill, causing me to pull on my purple gloves and scarf. Thorin and Gandalf sat together, smoking and talking quietly, going over details about what the quest would entail. I wasn't listening too closely but from what I could tell, Thorin would prefer a moderate-sized army while Gandalf thought it was better to be more discreet. I didn't blame Thorin for wanting to be super prepared—if I was going to face off against a dragon, I'd want the biggest, baddest army possible. Wait till he realizes he's going to be stuck with me and a Hobbit in his army. The Tharmy—get it? Thorin's army? Ahem… Well, it makes me laugh.

"Is something amusing?" came Thorin's gravelly voice.

I looked at him suddenly. Oh, crap, was that out loud? "Er… just thinking of a joke I heard before… a personal joke," I clarified, opting out of having to tell it. I sucked at improv.

He gave me a disapproving look before turning back to speak with Gandalf who, despite himself, inclined his head towards me as if to say "Watch yourself". The Wizard knew once the topic came up, Thorin would be fully against my coming with. It would definitely be in my favor to look competent.

I stood up and cracked my knuckles, trying to look tough. Neither glanced in my direction so I cleared my throat to get their attention. "I'm just gonna go scout the area and such," I announced coolly. "Make sure the perimeter's secure."

"We are atop a hill in a field, Miss Parker," Thorin told me. "There's no threat of ambush from this vantage."

I paused. I hadn't thought of that. Gandalf pinched the bridge of his nose. It was too late to backtrack my words now so I kept going, trying to outtalk the Dwarf-king and look smart. "That's exactly what they want you to think. What if they don't come at us straight on?"

I saw Thorin practically holding his breath. "And where would they be coming from if not along the ground?" he deadpanned.

"Tunnels," I said seriously. My first thought was balloons and I'm so proud that I didn't just blurt that out. Did they even have balloons?

Thorin didn't bother to reply, no doubt deeming me a waste of breath. So I trudged away from camp, if only for the excuse to get away from… him? The embarrassment? I didn't know. I just wanted to be alone, really.

"Don't stray too far," Gandalf called.

I walked back the way we had come and sat against a hillside, crossing my arms to keep in my bodyheat. I could just see the twinkling lights of Hobbiton on the horizon. I wondered what Bilbo was doing right now then realized how silly that was. If I thought about it, I knew exactly what he was doing. Having dinner, probably for the second time, or maybe curled up in an armchair by the fire, reading or smoking, or doing both. He was going about his quiet Hobbit life, completely at peace. Lucky. I smiled at the thought. For some reason, it made me happy, despite my own less than comfortable situation.

If I really wanted to, I could get up, walk off and meet him. It kind of scared me—knowing that I had such control. Even while at home, knowing that I could just walk out the door and keep going was startling. It was easier to pretend that I was in a bubble of routine—school, home, friends, school, home, friends. But now, I didn't have any of the three. Well, I could consider Gandalf a friend but I couldn't act like I had with Jen around him. I doubt he'd want to talk about boys or anything like that. Though, maybe, I could get him to talk about magic. That'd be cool.

I ran a hand over the small, white flowers around me and let my head settle in the grass. My eyes trailed over the stars in the dark blue sky, trying to pull out any familiar ones. There were none. I looked for the few I could recognize back home like Orion's Belt and the Big and Little Dippers but, unsurprisingly, they were nowhere to be seen. Of course. It didn't freak me out though. I had realized long ago that I was really in Middle Earth so the strange constellations were hardly unexpected.

After a bit, I decided to go back. I didn't want them to worry or anything.

Gandalf was feeding the horses apples and whispering to them while Thorin sat on his bedroll, running a stone over his sword. His eyes followed me for a moment. "Have you taken care of the tunnel diggers, Miss Parker?"

I wasn't quite sure if he was mocking me or trying to joke. But then he looked up and I saw the irritation in his eyes. Of course.

"Oh, just a few gnomes," I said casually, sitting on my bed, my back to him. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

It annoyed me that Thorin was so annoyed with me. I'm trying to save your life, jerk!

Gandalf came back from the horses and dropped a small satchel in my lap. "Eat," he said simply.

There were a few pieces of fruit and some scraps of dried meat inside. It wasn't very filling but I was grateful. Out of sheer boredom, I decided to go to sleep, pulling the thin, wool blanket up to my shoulders. I awoke once, finding Gandalf snoring, his staff rested on his chest and eyes cast up to the sky. I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw that Thorin was sleeping too, or at least he looked it. He was on his side, facing away from me. I watched him a moment longer until I was sure he was breathing then settled back into my bedroll to sleep.

Absently, I played with the gold piece in my hair, twirling it and tracing the runes with my nails. My fingers slowed and I simply held the braid. I searched the skies again, but this time, not for stars.