Chapter Two (Stars)

Camellia joined the dwarves in their camp that night. She wasn't tired, not in the least bit. She decided to find the ponies and send some time with the furry animals. She had arrived on her own horse, but she always gave him free reign, knowing he was smart enough to lead her where she needed to be or arrive when he was needed. Camellia found these ponies adorable. They were a mini horse, making them much cuter than the full size horses she grew up with.

"You can join us by the fire," a voice called to her. She began so engrossed with the ponies she didn't notice someone approach her. She was startled slightly. "We don't bite." Camellia turned toward the voice. It was the man from before, the one that had caused her heart to race and her face to flush. He was coupled with his blond headed brother.

"I don't know any of you," she muttered as she directed her eyes to the ground on his left. "I don't even know your names."

"I'm Fili," the blond brother said. She glanced at him.

"And I'm Kili." The both bowed deeply.

"At your service," they said in unison. This made Camellia smile. It was so different from everything she was accustomed to.

"We'll introduce everyone," Kili started.

"That way you know everyone," Fili continued.

"And you don't have to hide by the ponies."

"I wasn't hiding," she muttered, a bit ashamed, as she bit the corner of her bottom lip and looked toward the ground.

"What do you call this then?" Fili asked, a smile plastered on his face. She looked up.

"Socialising," she responded lightly, "I prefer the companionship of animals to that of people."

"Why is that?"

"They're peaceful," she stated as she shrugged her shoulders. "You don't see herds of goats or flocks of birds pillaging villages, destroying homes and families." She turned back to the ponies. "Most animals are cuter too," she muttered as she nuzzled the pony in front of her. The brothers laughed.

"Come on, flower child," Fili said, making Camellia turn to give him a look, "Let's introduce you to the group." Fili motioned, with a head point, toward the fire. She removed her hand from the pony's coat and started walking toward the group of dwarves surrounding the fire with Kili on her right and Fili on her left.

The addition of the fiery redheaded girl at the fire was noticed immediately, but no one said anything; they just stared. Camellia began to feel uncomfortable as all eyes bored onto her.

"You finally decided to join us, lassie?" Camellia didn't see who spoke, her eyes were focused on the ground, but she responded anyway.

"I figured, since we'll be travelling together for a while, I should, um, get to know, at least, your names…" She fiddled with her fingers as her eyes darted around, uncertain, avoiding eye contact. The dwarves suddenly jumped up and started rambling off their names and various other information. "Uh…" A smile crept onto her face. "I can't understand if you all talk at once…" She said, looking up into the group of excited dwarves.

"Dwalin," answered a sturdy balding dwarf. He had a husky voice that added to his threatening air.

"Balin," stated a shorter white haired dwarf. He had a calm air around him, Camellia noted.

"Bifur," spoke a slightly squinty eyed dwarf. His hair was turning to grey.

"Bofur," said a dwarf with some pretty wicked hair. Camellia noted that he seemed like a very fun-loving person.

"Bombur," declared a copper haired husky dwarf. He didn't have much of a beard; actually, it was just a moustache.

"Gloin," a darker copper haired dwarf said. He had nearly the same air as Dwalin, but it was a bit softer. Camellia theorized it was because he had a family at home.

"Oin," what looked like an older version of Gloin stated. If it wasn't for the severe difference in hair colour, Camellia would be unable to tell Gloin and Oin apart.

"Dori," said a dwarf that resembled her grandfather very closely. The only visible difference was the ears.

"Ori," a young looking dwarf said. He looked a bit absent minded.

"Nori," said a dwarf that had fashioned his hair and beard to make his head a six-pointed star. The complexity of their hairstyles had made Camellia feel a tad embarrassed. She could barely braid her hair and they had created masterpieces out of theirs. All ten dwarves bowed deep and spoke in perfect unison.

"At your service." Another smile appeared on her face. Fili and Kili lead her to an open spot next to the fire.

"So, Camellia – is it? – where are you from?" Dori asked.

"Forodwaith," she answered. Confusion overtook all the faces she could see. "It's north. Way north. It took about two weeks of constant travel to reach here by tonight."

"What way did you go?"

"Straight down. There's isn't much between here and Forodwaith. I think…" she began digging through her bag, "I have a map here…ah, there it is." She pulled out a long scroll and began unrolling it. From the fire's light, they could see a fairly detailed map. There were several circles off in the margins that showed captures from the centre of those places. "It's unfinished, but you can see that it's nearly completely flat from the mountains in Forodwaith to The Shire."

"Did you draw this?" Nori asked.

"Yes. I apologise, it's not very good." There was a large commotion where none of the words uttered were understandable. The map was taken from her hands and examined by everyone.

"…use of colour…"

"…such detail…"

"It's unfinished," Camellia started, "That's another reason I responded to quickly to Gandalf's request."

"That's why there's empty circles?"

"Yes. I can't fit everywhere on there, so I just put my favourite places."

"Forodwaith isn't on here," Oin stated.

"Just because I live there doesn't mean I like it. There are so few things to like about that prison…" she muttered. She gently retrieved her map and rolled it back up to place it in her bag.

"So, Camellia, tell us about yourself," Fili said, taking a seat next to her.

"And about this prison home," Kili verbalized as he took the other spot next to her. The other dwarves took seats elsewhere to prepare to hear her story.

"There's isn't much about me that's worth hearing." She stated simply. "I was born in Forodwaith a seemingly long time ago. It was a cold late winter morning, right before a storm; that's what my mum told me. Growing up, I lead a normal life, until I learned to walk. When I wasn't given enough attention I would break something. I once broke an entire set of crystal because my dad was much too busy with his work to pay attention to me. That was the first time I was given a physical punishment. As I got older, I became bored with having to do household chores and help cook the family meals so I would always sneak off to practise archery. My mum always encouraged me to dream, so I did. To this day, she was the only one who encouraged me to do anything other than chores. I think she could see how much I hated it. About twenty years ago was the first time I ran away from home. I don't understand who wouldn't. Forodwaith is barren. It's so cold and we always have blizzards. I swear, I think even the sun tried to avoid there." She paused, trying to find a new place to start. "There became a point, a bit after I learned to form coherent sentences, that physical punishment didn't work anymore. Most of my dad's peons still use it, but it doesn't get them anywhere. I actually enjoy taunting them. They never have that hard of hits and the battle of wits continues because when they try, it does nothing. It might bruise, but it never hurts, so I insult them." She paused again, letting her words sink in. "Boundaries are arbitrary lines that I adore crossing. If I acted as I was supposed to, I would be boring and life would be a drag."

"So you joined us," Bofur said.

"I saw it as the perfect opportunity. Look," she gestured behind her, "There's a huge world out there that our eyes only see a fraction of. My feet are small, especially when compared to the world outside. I want to know if the sky is blue everywhere and if the grass is always green. I want to live a life worth telling about, worth writing stories about. I want to be of legends and myths and how can I be that if I stay inside all the time? I taught myself how to fight so I can go on crazy adventures and experience the world first hand." She looked down at her lap. "My mother never got the chance to travel, so, for her, I'll travel and I'll tell her about it all when I see her again." Her voice got very soft.

"Why couldn't she?" Balin asked. She looked up and gave him a small smile.

"She fell in love and married. You can't travel when you're carrying a new life. My mother was never much of a fighter anyway. The only weapon she had ever held was a knife. And one must know how to defend oneself if one desires to travel this troubled world." She looked up. "The stars here, they're different from the ones I see at home."