Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 8 of Gypsy. I want to thank those who have left reviews for this story. It does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story. Reviews truly help me keep going when it comes to writing. I hope that you guys enjoy this next chapter. Without further ado Chapter 8. ENJOY!

Chapter 8

Weeks had gone by and they had traveled far. They had stopped in Bree only for part of a day to pick up supplies. Tony was able to pick up some clothes that were more suitable for the weather and the adventure that she was on.

They were stopped at the moment for the night at the edge of the cliff.

Tony wasn't quite asleep yet in her bedroll. Her tired green eyes landed on Bilbo who had snuck away to be near his pony. She shot up when she heard screaming in the air. Her eyes are wide and alert.

"What was that?" Bilbo asked softly coming towards Kili and Fili who were near the fire.

"Orcs," Kili said solemnly as he looked up over the fire.

Another scream ripped through the air causing Thorin to jerk awake.

"Orcs?"

Tony got out of her bedroll and came over to the fire. She bit her lower lip knowing that there was much more than that out there.

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them." Fili said as he put his pipe in his mouth.

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood."

Bilbo looked away in fright.

Tony rubbed her arms softly shivering slightly. She knew that it was dangerous to talk about such a thing around Thorin.

Kili and Fili began to laugh softly.

"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" Thorin snapped as he looked at his nephew.

"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili said looking at his uncle.

"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin said walking off in irritation towards the edge of the cliff to look out over the Valley.

Tony bit her lower lip softly knowing that it was much more that was bothering Thorin than them talking about the orcs that were probably pillaging anything down below and killing anyone in their path.

Balin walked up to the fire near them. "Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs led by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King."

Tony winced a little knowing that this was the reason that Thorin was sensitive to the whole thing. She could only imagine what Thorin had gone through losing his grandfather and many others in the battle. Her heart constricted in her chest as she brought her hand to her chest. Her eyes wandered over to him seeing him stiffen slightly at the story.

"Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner, or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent…wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King."

Thorin turned away from looking out over the cliff to see the entire company staring at him. He walked between them towards the fire.

"But the pale orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked in confusion.

"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." Thorin said gruffly.

Tony took a soft breath and moved towards the edge of the cliff looking out. She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked out to the grounds below even though she couldn't see. She could only imagine everything that the orcs were capable of.

Kili looked at his brother. "You're still mad that she's on this with us?" He asked softly to his brother trying to keep his voice low so Tony wouldn't hear him.

"I don't understand why a woman would want to risk her life with the company. She doesn't have much skill."

"Fee, she's nice."

Fili rolled his eyes at what Kili said. "Nice you say? She knows nothing of our world. She got lost…"

"Fee you need to give her a chance. She's not going to hurt us. She has proven herself to everyone… but you won't give her a chance." Kili said as he looked over to where she was. "What would you do if you went for a walk and ended up in a place you didn't know…"

Fili let out a breath. "You're trying to get me to be nice to her."

"She's been learning the way of the sword from me and she's not bad at it and she's not rusty in shooting arrows anymore," Kili said his lips quirking a little bit in a smile. "She's trying."

Fili let out a breath.

"Talking about the orcs… it probably scared her," Kili said softly looking down.

"And you want me to talk to her?" Fili shook his head. "Me talking to her would only make things worse."

Kili looked up at his brother. "You should try talking to her at least a little bit… try to smooth things over."

Fili let out a groan getting up to his feet and putting his pipe in his mouth. "Sometimes I wonder if you like her more than you're letting on."

Kili's cheeks flushed. "I think she's nice and needs to be reassured that she's welcome with us."

Fili let out a breath shaking his head lightly and moved slowly towards where Tony was.

Kili watched his brother with a smile. Finally, he hoped that things were going to be smoothed out between them. At least that was what he hoped.

Fili stopped behind her. "Spooked?"

Tony turned to look at Fili. "Spooked? A little. That story didn't help about how I was feeling when I heard those shrieks in the air." She said rubbing her arms.

"You know we're far from them." He pointed out as he took a few puffs of his pipe.

"That may be the case, but it still concerns me if they're close somewhere where we can't see."

"You think that they're out there closer than what we think?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps. I know that you want to talk to me Fili." She said softly. "I know that you don't like me traveling with you."

"That's not it…"

She turned her head looking at Fili. "I know you don't like me. You must think I'm a distraction. Which I haven't been that much of one… I've been working on things very hard…" She took a breath. "I know Kili is just trying to smooth things over… but I don't want you to do that unless you want to do it yourself." She said before slowly moving away from Fili back to where her bedroll was. She slowly got back into it and covered herself up with it wrapping her arms around herself.

Fili came back over to where his brother was.

"I take it didn't go well," Kili said softly looking at his brother.

"She knows you put me up to it."

Kili let out a breath. "Well, she's not stupid. She thinks you hate her brother. And how can you hate her? Even Uncle doesn't hate her."

Fili let out a breath sitting down and rubbing his face softly. He didn't honestly know what to say. She had wiggled her way into their quest and had proven herself, but he just had a bad feeling. Something about her felt off. He wasn't sure of what that would be just yet, but he wasn't about to give up on the gut feeling that he had.

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This is the end of Chapter 8. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I tried my best to write this chapter out and make it as good as I could. Fili has a bad feeling about her, but why don't the others? Who do you think she should end up with? I haven't quite figured out the pairing just yet. But it could be Kili, Fili, or Thorin. Just because of how I have it set up. Who would you like to see her with? Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Reviews help me keep going when it comes to writing out future chapters. I hope to have the next chapter out soon. Until next time.