Then

The laughing voice of a damling rings out. Though she's not very much of a child anymore. Emery leads her boys to the voice, and finally they catch sight of their sister. The three of them collectively sigh. Of course, they should've known she'd be here.

Flika leans against the wall beside a young dwarf, both of them giggling and blushing. The second one is Melmor, the dwarf who Dreamed vividly of the princess the moment he sprouted his first beard hair. To say the adults were shocked would be an understatement. Melmor and Flika are still quite young, having only just a few years ago turned sixty and grown into adolescents, in some eyes far too young to have already found each other. However, the young dwarf's dreams were of the more direct kind, with her appearing to him and bluntly telling him who she was. So what could they do? Mahal himself made the match. So now, a little over two years later, Flika wears his courting bead, both their parents having demanded they wait until they're older to move on to engagement beads.

Fili and Kili, being only fifty-two and forty-seven, respectively, still find the idea of romance gross. When they see the two of them together, they make faces and groan.

"Not again," moans Kili. Emery inwardly chuckles. They've been slowly warming up to their sister's beau, but that doesn't mean they like sharing her. The damling in question turns her head and catches sight of them. She grabs Melmor's hand and leads him over.

"There you three are!" she exclaims, to their confusion. "We were just talking about going to the meadow after lunch." The boys' eyes light up. Flika, you're too clever for your own good, Emery thinks amusedly.

"Aye," says Melmor, "and we were rather hoping to be joined by a few people. I wonder, do you happen to know where we could find anyone willing to come?" His tone is playful. It works, and shortly after lunch, he and Flika are giving the boys piggyback rides on the way out the gates. Joining them are Tari, Dolin, Dolit, Gimli, and of course Emery.

A game of Tag turns into a game of Stuck in the Mud. A game of Hide and Seek goes on past sundown. Dolin suggests maybe they should head back, but Tari and Gimli give him the biggest puppy dog eyes and they continue to play.

They should've listened to him.

Now

"We'll camp here for the night," announces Thorin. "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies, make sure you stay with them." The boys' faces turn slightly pink. All it took was one time - they walked away to grab a snack and the ponies ran off - and ever since, Thorin has always reminded them to stay with the ponies when watching them.

It's a strange thing, emotion. It has a physical impact on the body and therefore has a scent. Thanks to her extremely sensitive nose, Emery can tell he doesn't truly think they'll make that mistake again, he's just teasing. But oftentimes his tone is hard to read, like now.

"A farmer and his family used to live here..." Emery's ears pick up Gandalf's words to himself. She freezes in her tracks. This is...This is where... "I think it would be wiser to move on," says the wizard as Thorin is ordering a fire built. The dwarf walks toward Gandalf and their conversation is lost to her ears, as is all other sound. The trolls. She can feel her heart pounding. This is where the trolls attack...

"You alright, Lassie?" her head snaps to the left, where Kili is looking at her concerned from beside his pony. She could let him know there's danger. She could probably get Thorin to move them further on and avoid the trolls altogether. But...as much as she would like to do that, there are too many reasons not to. Orcrist, Glamdring, and Sting being three of them. Plus, without Radaghast and the Orcs pushing them toward the elves, the map will never be read in time to open the door. Besides, if the Company doesn't face the trolls, they will continue killing instead of becoming a stone landmark. So, her unpleasant decision made, she takes a breath and nods. She licks his nose to try to get him to laugh, but it doesn't work. He knows her too well, and the eyes are called windows to the soul for a good reason. There's much they give away. He gives her a look. The kind of look he gives her and Fili when one of them is trying to hide an injury or a worry. Knowing he won't be fooled, but also knowing she can't let him know what's wrong, she simply presses her forehead to his for a moment in comfort then grabs his saddlebag from the pony with her mouth and carries it closer to where the fire is being set up. She hears him talking quietly with his brother, probably about her strange behavior, but ignores it. There's nothing to be done except eat and wait, and maybe catch some shut-eye before nightfall. If she remembers correctly, no one will be sleeping for at least a day once the trolls make their appearance.

She's woken up by Bilbo's voice.

"He's been a long time..." he says nervously.

"Who?" Bofur asks.

"Gandalf."

"He's a wizard," Bofur says dismissively, "he does as he chooses. Here, do us a favor, take this to the lads." He hands Bilbo two bowls of soup. The smell makes Emery's stomach rumble loudly. Bofur laughs and fills another bowl as Bilbo walks away. "Here you are, Lassie," he says with a smile as he sets the bowl in front of her and scratches her ear. Oh that smells heavenly, she thinks. Bombur truly is an amazing cook. Though she's pretty sure he learned most if not all of what he knows from his wife. She gobbles it down in less than a minute, then sets out in search of her boys. She knows what they're about to find, and she doesn't want them to be alone for it. She walks through the trees, ears up and eyes alert, until she hears their voices.

"...uprooted these trees," comes Bilbo's voice.

"That was our thinking," Kili agrees.

"It's something very big," the hobbit continues, "and possibly quite dangerous."

"Hey," Fili gets their attention in a quiet voice, "there's a light." He waves Kili over, "over here." Emery follows and the four of them crouch behind a fallen tree, Fili telling them to stay down. Here it comes. From the direction of the fire, there comes grunting and laughing, and both dwarves' faces darken. Emery can't refrain herself from emitting a low growl, and her teeth involuntarily bare themselves in the direction of the flames.

"What is it?" Bilbo asks.

Kili's face contorts into an expression that frightens the hobbit to see on the young dwarf's face, and his voice drips with hate as he spits out, "Trolls."