The low mood carried on glooming around the hearts and souls of Oakenshield's company members. Little to no conversation happened during the next few days, as they continued to follow the Running River through the distance. The patches of green grass that stubbornly kept growing, despite all the desolation around it, were few and far between. They still made the most of it, as their supplies would not be enough to feed both them and their mounts.
Even Katniss, with her vast knowledge of edible things from the wild, was unable to pinpoint anything there that could be of any use for them. She immediately knew that if there were to be a Hunger Games in an environment like that, the only thing that would keep participants alive would be rich sponsors sending them food.
As they approached a hill, clearly overshadowed by the magnificence of the Lonely Mountain, they spotted some ravens that found a home on that peak. Katniss could already feel the taste of the bird's lean meat on her mouth, as she readied her new bow and aimed at the biggest of the dark creatures she could. However, Thorin was quick to push her arms down, preventing her from firing.
"Wha'?" She frowned at him.
"Not these, Katniss."
"Why not?"
"Not these ravens. They are our allies. We've built a strategic fortress there. Can you see it?" he pointed at what looked like the old ruins of something that had been once strong and majestic. Katniss looked at it, but she shrugged, not looking much impressed by it.
"You have birds as allies?" she squinted her eyes and twisted her lips, a hint of disbelief in her voice tone. Instead of Thorin, Kili answered her.
"Why not? Didn't your people exchange messages with that Mockingjay bird of yours? Why can't we do the same?"
To that argument, she nodded and put her bow and arrow back to its resting place on her shoulders. Fili and Kili's pony was trotting to the path that would lead them up Ravenhill, to the place where the old dwarven fortress used to be.
"Fili, stop," Thorin ordered, and his oldest nephew immediately pulled the reins to stop the pony he was sharing with his brother.
"I don't feel like we should climb Ravenhill just yet. We would be far too exposed," Thorin said, snuffing the small glimmer of joy that his nephews both shared immediately.
"What shall we do then, Uncle? The fortress could give us a better view of the state of the great gate," Fili asked with a frown.
"Aye, it could. But it is still not safe to climb it before we are certain the dragon is dead."
Thorin looked around his men, who were patiently waiting for his decision. He looked to the river, to the Lonely Mountain that they could already see behind Ravenhill. Finally, he gave a low grunt and looked back at the others.
"We are going to set camp here for a few days. With some luck, we will be able to catch some fish from the Running River. Staying at the base of Ravenhill should shield us from Smaug's if the beast decides to have a peak of its surroundings. Fili, Kili, Balin… and Bilbo. The four of you shall be scouting the land of the South of the Lonely Mountain, where Erebor's front gate lies."
"Me?" Bilbo squeaked with his eyes wide in shock from the front of the pony led by Balin.
"You have proven yourself to be a valid asset for this Company, Mr Baggins. You are small, and you can go unnoticed like no one else here."
Bilbo swallowed as he looked deeply into Thorin's eyes, but he did not dare say a word to contest Thorin's order. Soon, the selected four departed on foot with a light pack on their shoulders. The farewell to the quartet was short and gloomy, a mirror to the eternal mood that impregnated the air like a contagious disease.
Once they were gone, Thorin was quick to assign new tasks to everybody else who remained. The only two people who escaped these new assignments were both Katniss and himself.
"Why didn't you give me anything to do? Since we've left Lake Town, you haven't given me a single task!" she scolded him grumpily, frowning her brows and twisting her lips.
Thorin's eyes were wide open, and he looked at her from head to toe as if he was trying to solve a complex puzzle.
"I thought the reason was obvious, Mizin. You are my wife now."
"What does that have to do with anything? Just because I married you doesn't mean that now I am suddenly incapable of doing any work," she ranted, crossing her arms with annoyance.
"And who said you are not to do any work? Now, as my wife, your duties are to be the same as mine."
"Which are? I haven't seen you busying yourself with any of the tasks too, so…" her arms remained crossed, and the annoyance stamped in her face did not seem to go away.
"My duty is to look after them. And so is yours," Thorin said gently, despite the frown that ornate his semblance. "What do you think I do after I send everyone away with a task? Do you think I sit around braiding my beard?"
"It does feel like it sometimes..."
He gave a deep sigh and grumbled to himself in frustration. Once he was feeling calmer, he spoke slowly and methodically, with the tone of a tutor teaching his pupil.
"I look around. I see what needs to be done. I try to divide the workload as fair as possible. I ensure that everybody is doing what was asked. I try to see if anyone is struggling with their task, if someone is ill, or particularly tired, and if they are, it is up to me to sort that out. I try to keep my ear out for any possible conflicts or disputes and solve it before they even arise. Always thinking about what is best for the group as a whole, but also being considerate of everyone's uniqueness."
Both her eyes and mouth were wide open as she carried on listening to Thorin's monologue. He carried on talking, ignoring the change in her demeanour.
"The same way you looked after your sister and your mother, these people are my responsibility. It is my duty to ensure everyone is healthy, fed and alive. It is up to me to weigh down the risks and decide what we are going to do once our scout expedition returns. Anyone here will gladly do anything in their power to follow my lead and keep me well. But the truth is - it is my duty to serve them as much as it is their duty to serve me."
Katniss remained blinking on her spot for a long time before she could say anything.
"I… I never thought about it this way."
"That much is clear," he grunted, wearing a heavy frown.
There was another moment of silence where they just carried on looking at each other without exchanging any other words.
"That is why you asked me to assign the watch duty the other day. I found that strange. You've always been the one to do that…"
"I've always done it because it is what I should do. It is my duty. It is expected. They look at me for guidance. But as you'd reminded me at that time, I'm not alone anymore. How well did that go?"
"To be honest, I thought it would be easier than it was."
"How so?" he said, frowning and placing both of his hands on his belt.
"I forgot who had been on watch duty the previous day. Then I had no idea you didn't put me on the second watch because of my nightmares. I always assumed you did that because I am a woman."
He tried in vain to repress a small chuckle.
"Aye. You being a woman would be a reason strong enough for me to give you the courtesy of not doing the hardest watch. But especially in your case, Mizin, it is not advisable. I would rather have kept you out of watch duties once and for all, and none of the others would think less of you because of that. But I feared you would not take it nicely."
"You are not wrong. I would not take this well at all."
He nodded as if the confirmation of his beliefs gave him satisfaction.
"From now on, you are going to be the one assigning all the duties for the Company."
"What?" she gaped at him.
"You are a natural leader, but you're never the one pulling the strings behind it. You always have been a pawn in their games. It is time for you to learn how to be a complete leader."
"But you are their leader. Not me–"
"You are my wife. My half. My One. My word might be final, but yours carries more weight than anyone else here. If our mission succeeds and we reclaim Erebor, you will be ruling these lands alongside me."
Thorin looked majestic and regal like the king he ought to be, while Katniss opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of the water, as she tried to find the right words to express her true feelings about this to him.
"What if… what if I don't want to do any of that? What if I am happy with just going out on a daily hunt, and then warming your bed at the end of the day?"
"Aye. You can do that. And I would not expect anything else from you." He cupped her head with his large, callused hands. "But our people will still look at you for guidance. There is no running away from this, Katniss."
She bit her lips and looked away from Thorin, who approached her and hugged her from behind. She did not push him away, but she did not turn to face him either. The enormous mountain her eyes found instead reminded her of the attack the rebels had made in District Two.
That all felt like a lifetime ago.
"Do you remember who was on duty yesterday?" Thorin whispered, snapping her attention back at him.
"Dwalin, Dori, Nori, Oin, Gloin and you, I think," she replied after a small pause.
"You've been paying attention."
"Since you've put me in that spotlight, yes, I've tried."
They both shared a complicit smile.
"Then you are halfway there already. Dwalin, the boys, and I can do up to three-night watches in a row if needed. I will never ask any of the others to do more than two, but even that, only if I deem it extremely necessary."
"Is that why you chose Fili and Kili to scout the front gate?"
"Very perceptive, Mizin. But that was only partially the reason. I know they long to see these lands more than anyone else here. They have grown up listening to me telling them stories of Erebor of old. Also, they are young, agile, and they can be quite deadly in battle. I could easily have sent you instead of either of them, and even though that would make more sense in some ways, I felt like I wanted to keep you near me."
She chuckled at his cocky grin as she felt her face burn with that declaration.
"How about Balin?"
"I've picked Balin because he knows the land well. He will be a good guide and provide me with an accurate report on how things have changed, as he knows how it used to be. Bilbo, I already told everyone why I've chosen him to go."
"Poor Balin, though. Having to deal with these two," she said with a glint in her eyes and the shadow of a weak smile trying to sprout in her lips.
"Balin can control them better than I ever could. He will be fine. And If all goes well, they will be back in two to three days after exploring everything, depending on how far they judge it wise to approach our gates."
Katniss looked at the mountain that was hovering behind Ravenhill once more and then looked back at the others. Thorin gave a gentle tap on her shoulder and offered his arm, inviting her to hold it.
"Come on, Mizin. Let's look around and see what you can spot by observing the others working. Be attentive to signs that could help you to figure out what is the best order for watch duty tonight."
Katniss nodded, and soon they were doing rounds around the camp, observing what the others were doing. Her arm was wrapped around his, and he led her around as if they were hosting a ball on the salons of Erebor.
They walked to the small patch of grassy land, where Oin, Gloin and Bifur were tending to the horses and ponies. They have stripped all the animals of their saddles, and the dwarrowmen seemed to have reached an agreement to keep half of their mount on the grassy field, and took the other half to have a drink at the Running River. They all saluted Thorin and her as they approached them, but none of them exchanged any words besides that.
Then they passed by Bombur and Dori, who were mumbling something about the lack of dry firewood. Thorin and Katniss both nodded at them, who returned the gesture. When Thorin and Katniss were a bit far from the duo, Katniss turned to her husband.
"We are going to make a lot of smoke if we have to use wet wood…" she said with a frown.
"Aye. Not ideal. But it is not as if we were planning to let the fire burn throughout the night, anyway."
They carried on doing their rounds. Dwalin saluted them as they moved through where the dwarven warrior was doing his best to set some traps for the non-existent animals that they were hoping to catch. Bofur, Nori, and Ori were by the river bank fishing. Katniss was happy to see that they had already caught some game. Even though it was still not enough to feed all of them, she couldn't help but feel hopeful about dinner.
It was Thorin's sharp eyes, who noticed the small, but deep cut that Ori had on his hands. He got Katniss's attention with a gesture and pointed at the young dwarf hand. She understood it immediately.
"Hey, Ori. What happened to your hand?"
"Oh, this is nothing, Lady Katniss." He shyly hid his hand. The frown she wore made him blush and stumble through his words. "It-it is no-thing re-really. I-I…"
"Ori slipped on these wet rocks and cut himself with a fishhook. Ya know how uncoordinated the poor lad can be…" Nori said with amusement on his face, while Ori glared at him.
Without asking for permission, Katniss grabbed the younger dwarf's hand to take a better look at the cut. As soon as she did, she felt something turning around in her stomach. The cut looked worse than what she thought it would, and deep inside, Katniss was still that squeamish little girl who couldn't handle witnessing her mother do a mere stitching back at Twelve. She let go of his arm almost immediately after she got hold of him.
"Go see Oin," she said deeply, looking at him, but instead of doing as she ordered, he carried on gazing at her with a worried look on his face. "Now."
He didn't wait for her to repeat a third time, and without another word, he left them as quickly as his stubby legs would allow him to. Nori and Bofur snickered.
"Thank you. I was bugging him to do that, but he wouldn't listen to me!"
"Good." She nodded before walking away, leaving the two dwarves to carry on with their task. Thorin followed her closely. When they were outside the hearing range of the others, he finally addressed her.
"You are a natural, Mizin," he said, his eyes glimmering with pride. "This shouldn't surprise me. You've inspired an entire nation to fight in a war for you, after all."
"They fought for themselves. They fought because they all suffered in the hands of the Capitol. You know what they do. What they did. My story is not that unique," Katniss said, clenching her fists, despite her apparent calmness.
"You were the sparkle that ignited their fight. You were the face of the revolution."
"I've never asked for any of this. You know that. Everything I wanted was to survive."
"Aye. And survive you did. We are bound by Mahal's will. You are my One, my wife. This is your destiny. There is no point in fighting against this."
Katniss twisted her lips and scowled, but instead of protesting, she just looked away from him, focusing her attention on the Running River. After checking to see that no one was paying them any mind, Thorin slowly removed some hair that had left her usual braid and tucked it behind her ear. He grabbed her hand and noticed the still healing snake bite wound.
"Ori is not the only one who ought to see Oin."
"Thorin," she grunted in a warning tone.
"You know I mean well," he said as he tenderly stroked her hand.
"All righ'. I will see him later."
They remained to hold an intense glare battle for a while until Katniss decided to break it at last.
"Wanna go for a walk?" she asked with a glint in her eyes.
"Sure," he answered with an almost imperceptive grin on his lips.
The next few days dragged on slowly and quietly. Thorin remained privately mentoring Katniss in her new leadership role. True to his word, he carried on allowing her to be the one who decided on their daily activities from that day on. Even though Katniss wasn't comfortable in telling the others what to do, her struggles did not show, and Thorin did not mince words to praise her progress and boost her confidence when they were in private.
Not surprisingly to anyone, the newly wedded couple had started the new habit to take a few small scouting trips on their surroundings. All the other dwarves just exchanged complicit looks every time Thorin and Katniss left their presence in order to share a moment of seclusion. The new couple usually spent most of that time in a small cave at the bottom of Ravenhill that they had found the first time they went off on one of their multiple daily walks. However, if they thought anything of it, nobody dared to make any comment every time that Katniss returned with her cheeks redder than usual and Thorin's hair scruffier than he would usually allow being seen in public.
Before anyone had time to worry about the small scouting party that had been sent to Erebor's main gate, the three dwarves and their burglar returned. They did not bring back good omens.
"I bet the dragon still alive," Bilbo said, clearing sweat from his forehead with his handkerchief . "There was smoke coming from the inside of the mountain's gate."
"I told you, Bilbo. That proves nothing!" Balin said, frowning.
Thorin grunted but remained silent. Katniss exchanged a worried glance with Bilbo, before she followed her husband, who had already begun leaving the others' presence without a word. When she finally reached him, he had already begun to smoke on his pipe. He acknowledged her presence without sending her away. It took him a few minutes before he dared to open his mouth and allow out the dark thoughts that were going through his head.
"I could be leading us all to our doom," he admitted, not daring to look her in the eyes.
"So what? You already knew that was a chance the dragon would be alive. What changed?"
He raised his head to face her, ready to allow her to see his deepest weakness.
"You, Mizin. I should be protecting you. And here I am, leading you to the nest of a fire breathing beast!" he spat the last few words full of anger.
"You are not leading me anywhere, all right? I'm here because that is my choice. And If that dragon is alive, we will kill it together." She grabbed his shoulders with both hands, as she tried to make her point understood.
"How can you be so sure?"
"I've seen it," she blurted out, making him raise his eyebrows in shock. "In Rivendell. I was shown some images from a possible future…" she stopped and then looked away for a moment, as she remembered the not so auspicious images she had also seen at that occasion. Then she tried to mask her own fear and looked back at him, trying her best to conceal any doubt from her voice. "We will be fine."
He grunted and nodded, believing her words. She pulled him to a hug, and he allowed himself to befall on her arms again. The embrace shielded her face from his sight. She let go a sigh and whispered again, more to herself than to him this time.
"We will be fine."
Another day went by, and neither Thorin nor Katniss seemed inclined to make a call for the company to break camp. There was an overall uneasiness lingering in the air. Bilbo was undoubtedly the most agitated and proactive member of the entire company. Fed up of waiting for them to make a call, the little hobbit requested to see Thorin's map, and then he spent a few hours with his nose stuck on the old parchment. Before dinner time, Bilbo Baggins was urging both Katniss and Thorin to move on and explore the western side of the Lonely Mountain.
"We are running out of time. We need to find the hidden door, or it will all have been for nothing!"
The hobbit pouted, trying to control his temper the best way he could. All Thorin did was grunt. It was Katniss who, after looking from Bilbo to her husband, finally opened her mouth.
"He is right. We've been here for way too long. We should break camp at first daylight."
Thorin nodded in acceptance. Moments later, he began shouting orders to the others in Khudzul. That was the first time he had made any decision since he had begun to groom Katniss in her new leadership role.
Dawn came, and soon they were back on the road. As they moved deeper to the Western side of the mountain, larger patches of green grass seemed to appear. They were even able to trap a rabbit in one of their snares.
In time, a new routine was formed. They would go on a seemingly endless march during the day, rest at night, and then Thorin would divide them into smaller expedition groups on the following day. They repeated that a good number of times. When they were almost losing hope of finding the door before Durin's Day, Bilbo spotted a stone staircase camouflaged at an ancient dwarrow sculpture while he was in one of those scouting parties with Thorin's young nephews.
It was the first night since they had been dropped near Erebor that there was a feeling of excitement among the company members during supper. They were all curious to see the staircase that Bilbo and the young dwarves had eagerly described. The next day they moved camp to somewhere on the bottom of the staircase. The mere sight of the camouflaged stairs on the enormous statue of their ancestor was enough for the feeling of merriment to carry on for another night.
"We will climb it tomorrow," Thorin announced before he ordered them to set camp.
His excitement was such that he forgot he was supposed to let Katniss give out tasks and ended up doing that himself, out of habit. If she thought anything about it, she didn't mention when she laid down her sleeping mat next to his.
"He looks grumpy." She beamed as she pointed at the gigantic dwarf statue that was ornating the Lonely Mountain. She saw herself wondering if these dwarven sculptures still remained in place when District Two was there instead of Erebor. She suddenly wished she had paid more attention to her surroundings during her brief stay at that District.
"Durin, the Deathless. Our oldest ancestral," he answered, following her gaze.
"Why was he called Durin, the Deathless? Was he immortal like an elf?"
"No. But he had an abnormally long life."
"Why?"
There was a small pause. Thorin scratched his beard, as he wondered how much he should share.
"Some say he was blessed by Mahal. Others say that he was merely waiting to meet his One, Khajimel, who was born many years after the awakening."
Katniss raised her eyebrows. She remembered Balin telling her about the awakening, and how Mahal had made a wife to each father dwarf, except for Durin.
"Khajimel?"
"We don't know her real name, but we know that was how Durin used to call her. Khajimel, gift of all gifts. Some say she was a foreigner from distant lands, but in reality, there is very little we know about his One."
"How long is the lifespan of a dwarf?"
"This varies. Us, Longbeards, tend to have the largest lifespan, 250 to 300 years if we can reach old age."
The mental image of a three hundred year-old Thorin made her choke.
"Do you think you will outlast me?"
"No. I don't think I could bear it."
He made a movement to get hold of her face, and then he suddenly stopped halfway, his hand frozen in middle air as he looked around and realised that there were more people around than he would like. Katniss ignored his tenseness and got hold of his hand and gave it a light squeeze.
"It will be enough," she whispered, thinking about the images of their children that she had seen at Galadriel's mirror. He nodded before standing up and ordering the others to remember where they were and to lower their voices, as they were getting louder and louder by the second.
The morning came, and with it, Thorin ordered them to break camp and free their ponies. Some company members were deeply affected by that, while others didn't seem to mind abandoning their mounts to their own luck. Katniss, however, didn't feel any embarrassment in sharing her controversial opinion.
"We should kill one or two ponies and take their meat with us," she said without batting an eyelash.
Most company members looked at her as if she had grown another head. Thorin raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, but it was an outraged Fili who answered her.
"You cannot be serious!"
"What? Our provisions won't last forever." She crossed her arms in defiance.
"These horses have aided us! We are no trolls or orcs to feast on horse meat," Fili said in a slightly heated voice.
"Horse, rabbit, deer… What's the difference? They all can be eaten!"
"Aye, you are right, but thankfully we don't need to resort to that," Thorin said at last, looking from his wife to his nephew, putting an end to their discussion at once. "Do as I say, Fili, free the ponies and horses."
"This is wasteful." Katniss twisted her lips and gave Thorin a disapproving look.
"This is not Twelve, Mizin. I won't let you starve. I give you my word," he said with a gentle smile that warmed her heart, at least to some degree.
Briefly after that, the company began their journey up to the secret path that would lead them to the hidden door. It was no easy feat, climbing thousands of flights of stairs, carrying the heavy load of all their provisions and weapons. It was even harder when the dwarrow-made flight stair ended, and the real climbing began. They had to use ropes to aid them, and Katniss struggled. She was a naturally good tree climber, but she wasn't used to having to rely on things such as ropes to keep her safe.
After give grueling and exhausting days of climbing, blisters and new callusses and several near misses, they finally arrive at the door, right on time for Durins Day.