After removing her armour, she changed back to the white nightgown that Bilbo and his cousin had given to her. She then quickly unbraided and brushed her hair, washed her face and other parts of her body with the jar of water and the basin she had in her room. She was glad that she had decided to go for a swim in a nearby lake and relieve herself in the woods. This meant that she did not require to visit Bilbo's toilet and risk bumping into Bilbo's howdy visitors again.

Katniss then quickly organised her belongings, followed by a few attempts to use her communicator, but again, she had no luck. She was about to blow the candle that was the only source of light in the room when a smothering humming noise called her attention.

Carrying the hand candle-holder, Katniss opened her room door and started following the gentle humming that was giving her goosebumps.

"Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

The image of the rebel's aircraft destroying the Nut came to her mind. Katniss didn't know who was singing, but his voice reminded her of her father's. She felt a desperate urge to see who that voice belonged to.

We must away ere break of day

To find our long-forgotten gold

She carried on walking silently and was surprised when she realised that it was Thorin who was signing. Gandalf was the only one present who seemed to notice the young woman hidden in the shadows of Bilbo's drawing-room.

The pines were roaring on the height

The winds were moaning in the night

The memories of the rubbles that District 12 had become after being bombed by the Capital invaded her mind. She could not do anything to stop the silent tears that stubbornly started falling down her face.

The fire was red, it flaming spread

The trees like torches blazed with light"

She closed her eyes and she could almost see Gale and the few survivors he managed to save, watching their homeland turn into ashes from the distance as their friends and family were burnt alive. Her tears carried on running free as she looked back to Thorin and his men.

And just like that, they were no longer a bunch of boisterous men seeking adventure and a share of a lost treasure. They were people that had watched their homeland turn into ashes just like she had. That realisation pierced her heart like a twisting knife, and she felt compelled to do something - to do anything she could to ease their pain.

"Can we help you with anything, my Lady?"

Katniss was taken by surprise when Thorin Okenshield addressed her, as she failed to notice that she had been spotted. All the eyes in the room were turned to her and she felt very self-conscious about her hobbit-sized nightgown that came up to her knees. She also felt grateful for the darkness of the room. With some luck, they would be unable to notice that she had been crying.

"Can someone give me back that damned contract?" she demanded after taking a deep breath to hide her shaken voice.

There was a little cheer from members of the company and Katniss witnessed some coins being exchanged by few of them.

"What made you change your mind?" Thorin asked as he unfolded the parchment and placed it on a table not far away from where she was standing and pulled a chair and gestured for her to sit.

"I lost my homeland too. It was completely destroyed. Burnt to the ground. Not by a dragon, but by the Capitol…" she told him before she scanned the document trying to find the place where she needed to sign.

"By President Snow. The one you seek to kill," Thorin gently concluded, and she confirmed with a nod. There was a deep recognition and understanding between them. Thorin knew nearly nothing about that strange human girl. But knowing that they shared the pain of losing their homeland was certainly something he could relate to.

"Just… if on the way to this quest I find any way to go back…"

"You will choose your family as you should. I won't hold you for it."

She nodded before she accepted the feather and ink that someone handed to her. She did require a few pointers on how to use it, as even a poor girl from the Seam's of District 12 had access to pens and pencils at school. So she signed her name the best way she could with Ori's writing set.

"Now go and have some rest, Miss Everdeen. We will leave after the first light," he informed her as he waved her off to bed. She answered him with a short nod to show that she understood.

Katniss almost felt happy when she was woken up at five in the morning by the alarm clock attached to her communicator. Nowadays, it was a luxury for her to be woken up by anything that wasn't her nightmares. She was glad to see that it was still very dark, so she should have plenty of time to pack.

After packing her belongings and smuggling some other things, Katniss washed her face, braided her hair in its usual style and dressed up for the day. After glimpsing the mirror for one last time, Katniss noticed that her eyebrows had started growing again. The young woman smirked as the image of the disapproving looks and comments that she would have received from Venia and Octavia if they could see that, popped into her mind. So she dismissed these thoughts as quick as they came, as she left the room to meet the rest of the company.

When she arrived in the living room, half of them were still sleeping. The majority of the others seemed to be busy getting Bilbo's place back to its original state as well doing some last-minute packing and sorting things out for their journey. Thorin was the only awaken dwarf that did not seem to be doing something important. He was just staring at the window while smoking his pipe.

"Too important to help out?" Katniss raised an eyebrow as she approached the leader of their company. Thorin scowled and moved out of her way.

Katniss just glared at him and went to the kitchen where she found three dwarves who were working on both cooking and cleaning. She found it amazing how quickly and in synchrony they seemed to move around. One man was throwing eggs straight from the pantry, while the other was catching them with his hands before he cracked them open at Bilbo's frying pan. The third one seemed to be cleaning Bilbo's oven.

"Hey, do you need a hand with anything?" she offered the man who was throwing the eggs to his cousin. However, when he answered her, with a series of gestures and foreign words that she failed to understand.

"What did you say?" Katniss asked, only to see him repeating the same incomprehensive gestures and words.

"Bifur doesn't speak Common since he got tha' axe stuck on his head," the chubby dwarf who was mixing the ingredients on both bowls informed her.

Bifur called her attention and pointed to the axe that, to Katniss's astonishment, remained stuck in his head.

"Oh my, does it hurt?"

Bifur said something else that she did not understand and threw her an apple, which she promptly caught.

"Is that for me?"

The dwarf nodded.

"Thank you," she said with a smile before she immediately started eating her present.

"He probably never had so much female attention in his entire life, lass," said the man with the funny hat who was in charge of frying the eggs.

"My name is Katniss…"

"Aye, we know. Bofur, at your service," he said, giving a small bow that included taking off his hat and putting it back on right away.

"What are you making, Bofur?" Katniss took another apple bite and tried to peak over his and the chubby dwarf's shoulders.

"Hamdu kharh ra hasas, a traditional dwarven breakfast."

"Wait, is that my game?" she went over the place Bombur was packing away some freshly homemade jerky beef.

"Oh, what?" Bombur turned around confused and saw Katniss examining the contents of the no longer full sack where she had stored her game. Now, the only thing inside were fur, bones and some of the offal meat he had discarded.

"You cooked my game?" she looked terrifying as she held Bombur by his collar and grabbed a kitchen knife with her other hand. All the dwarves were taken back by her actions.

"Release him. Now," Thorin demanded as he instantly appeared in the kitchen. It was as if he could smell the disturbance from the other side of Bilbo's house. He did not go to his weapons, but there was a regal authority in his voice that made Katniss drop the chubby dwarf instantly.

"He cooked my game!" she stormed angrily.

"Yes, he did. He did it because I told him to do so."

"I was going to sell it!" Katniss hissed before she stabbed Bilbo's wooden chopping board with the knife that she was still holding.

"And when exactly were you planning on doing that?"

She opened and closed her mouth as she wondered what she should answer. She knew that she would find people interested to buy her game at the farmers market that happened every day near Bilbo's house, but she also knew that Thorin was planning to leave that village before that.

"I don't know. As soon as I found a buyer…"

"I am not sure if you can see how impractical it would be for you to travel with us carrying all that uncooked meat. Besides, it states very specifically in your contract that one of your obligations within this quest is to hunt and share your game with the company…"

"Oh, is that so? Interesting, I was under the impression that I had signed that contract after I had done my hunt…"

Thorin grunted. Katniss crossed her arms in defiance. Every member of the company was wide awake now and they were surrounding them, holding their breaths as they watched their discussion as if they were witnessing a critical moment from the Hunger Games.

"That meat would have spoiled on the road long before we got anywhere near Bree. If anything, Bombur ensured your hunt didn't go to waste by turning it into jerky,"

"Thanks," she turned her head to the dwarf she had previously tried to attack before quickly turned back her attention to Thorin, "but that doesn't change that I am some coins short because of it."

"The price you can get from it has only increased now. Because of that, it is only right that you pay my company for their services…"

"What? This is absurd! I did not ask for…"

"Of course," he added quickly, cutting her off. "You do not need to pay us with money. You can pay us with some of your meat. Two-thirds of it sounds about right."

"Half of it!" she demanded.

"Two-thirds is the fair price," Thorin said.

"Fine!" she said gritting her teeth and stomping away from the kitchen. She was still not happy, but there was not much she could do about it now.

"Bombur, pack her share separated from the rest," Thorin ordered before he went back to his spot, near the circular window.

Katniss frowned at the black mare she had been given. She had never been an animal person. That had always been her sister's thing. Katniss on the other hand only saw animals as a good source of protein and the main income that allowed her to feed her family.

The same tattooed warrior that she made carry her game sack last night had his revenge by throwing a horse saddle at her. Horses were not a thing at District Twelve, and Katniss was completely clueless on how she was supposed to attach the saddle to the animal. She had no idea how she was going to ride the pony altogether. And she hated not knowing how to do something. So she looked around, trying to figure it out by observing the others and how they were attaching the saddle and their belongings to their ponies. Despite that, she struggled.

"Do you need a hand?" Fíli asked with a wink, not even waiting for an answer before he started fastening the ladder straps around the animal.

"Thanks, but I am sure I could have done this by myself."

"Yes, and we all saw how great you were doing it…" Kíli smirked as he gave her a bag making she give him a puzzled look. "Uncle asked me to give you this. It's your share of the meat…"

"Oh, right…" she looked at the horse trying to figure out how to attach that and her other things to the animal. Kíli seemed to read her mind and started doing that for her as well.

"Hey!" Katniss said as Fíli grabbed the meat bag from her hands. It took half a second for her to figure out what both brothers were doing.

"The right thing to say would be thank you, my Lady," Fíli gave her a flirting smile.

"I am not a Lady…" she grunted, "and where is Bilbo?"

"The hobbit is not coming," Fíli changed to a serious tone.

"I bet he is going to change his mind, brother"

"A wager? Count me in, Lad," the red-haired dwarf gave him a little tap on the shoulders.

"What do you think, Lady Katniss? Is Mr Boggins coming or not?" Kíli asked her.

She thought about it as she mounted her pony with much less grace than she had hoped for. Bilbo? That very same Bilbo that had almost a fit when she informed him that she would leave her game bag on his hallway?

"He won't come," she said, adjusting herself on her saddle.

"Tell me, Miss Everdeen, would you like to make a bet…?" Kíli asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. She looked at him from head to toe before giving him an answer.

"Sure, why not?"

It turned out that Kíli was right. Bilbo did come after all. Katniss scowled and rolled her eyes when the hobbit asked for them to go back to his house because he had forgotten to pack his handkerchief. Bilbo was way too gentle for staying too long in the wild. She would not give a week until he decided to go back to the comforts of the Shire. That meant that she lost half of her jerky meat to Kíli. Well, that wasn't too bad, considering the company were sharing their food supplies with her.

What was bad, was her lack of ability at horse riding. She had no idea how to control the animal, and it was obvious to everybody. Still, she refused to ask for help, much to their amusement. She was suddenly glad that tributes were given chariots instead of having to ride the horses. She would certainly never have gotten as many sponsors as she had if that was the case.

"Ooo... stop holding her like that!" Fíli approached her and her mare and got the reins from her hand.

"And how am I supposed to…" Katniss started arguing, but Fíli cut her off and held her hands in the right position.

"Hold it like this. Now, stop pointing your feet down. Keep your toes up. Yes, but don't keep them too down in the stirrup. Yes, that is better, just bend your knees and keep your toes up. And stop leaning forward!"

Katniss tried to ignore some complaints from some members of the company and tried to follow his advice the best way she could. She wasn't sure what all that fuss was about.

"Much better, my Lady," Fíli gave her a gentle head nod.

"I am definitely not yours, and certainly not a Lady."

"Lady Katniss," Kíli started, and ended up receiving a mortal glare from the only female member of their company for ignoring her previous comment, "don't they have poneys in the future?"

"Yes, of course we have. I just never rode on one before…"

"What do people use for travel then?" Bofur asked from behind her.

"Cars, trains, aerocrafts," she started, but then she realised by the look on their faces that nobody could understand what she meant by these words. "I mean, big machines made by men that can transport people on land or through the air…"

"You mean, like flying horses?" Bofur raised his eyebrows in amazement.

"Not quite," she said, not much in the mood to carry on with the conversation. But there were way too many eager ears waiting for her to elaborate her answer. "This is a difficult concept to explain if you have never seen one before. Just imagine that cars are like small metal carriages that don't need horses to pull them. Trains are similar but much longer, bigger, comfortable and faster. I rode on a train a few times, and it was so big that I had my own bedroom and toilet inside it. Aerocrafts are similar, but it is more like flying metal carriages… I only flew on military planes, but I am sure they must have some luxurious ones, similar to the train I described."

They all remained in silence digesting the new information that she had shared, until a small young man called Ori that still hadn't directed a word to her, decided to ask her another question.

"Er… Miss Everdeen? Did dwarves create machines like these too?"

Katniss frowned. She had heard that word quite a few times now, but she still wasn't sure about the meaning behind it.

"What are dwarves?"

The disbelief and astonishment of the members of Oakenshield's company was quite the sight. Even Bilbo and Gandalf, who knew her a bit better, were shocked.

"Lass…" Óin started almost dropping his ear trumpet so shocked he was, "you mean to tell us that you have been riding with us for almost a day and you still don't know what a dwarf is?"

Thorin was supervising his men setting up their camp for the night while Dwalin went to evaluate the woman's skills as she went out to hunt something for their supper.

The woman. Thorin did not know what to make of her. Stubborn as a rock. Reckless as an uncontrollable flame. Still, he could not help the mixed feelings that she seemed to ignite on him.

The first time he saw her, he was immediately forced to feel the sharpness of her arrow. Despite his public disdain about her shooting abilities, after looking at the neat damage that most of her game had presented, Thorin had been forced to admit that her skills with the bow were in fact impressive. Not that he would ever tell her that.

When he and his men were discussing the most important quest of their lifetime, she did not show any interest. If anything, she looked bored. But then, something happened that made her change her mind that evening. It was then that he learned that she also had gone through the pain of having her home taken away, and that was something he could definitely sympathise with.

When she was first invited to take part in that quest, she was outraged by the mere idea of endangering her life for a bit of treasure. But where was all that speech about not caring about gold when she learned that he had ordered his men to prepare her meat for the journey? She was arguing because of a bit of meat! Meat that she clearly had no trouble to find and gather if necessary. That contradictory attitude puzzled him.

He decided that she had the potential to become a big trouble during the journey, and it was better to keep a close eye on her. Thorin immediately enlisted both of his nephews to do that for him. They were younger like her, and because of that, the dwarven king assumed that she would be more likely to open up to them than to any of the others. Then there was the whole affair of her obvious lack of knowledge on horse riding and how amusing that had been for the entire company.

Her pride was astonishing. She would rather struggle than ask for help. Some of his men even made bets about when she would give up and ask for their aid. If his nephew hadn't taken pity on the poor poney who was having to endure her lack of ability, Thorin would be ready to bet the entirety of the Lonely Mountain that she would go through the entire journey, all the way to Erebor, without ever asking.

Firstly, he thought that her mistrust on them was due to the strains between dwarves and the race of men. But then he learnt that she didn't even know that they belonged to different races altogether. While some found it amusing, he found it a bit concerning that she had never seen a dwarf in her time. Did that mean that his race seized exiting or that they just went to seclusion? Either way, he had a feeling that she would not know the answer to that.