Predator or Prey | The Hobbit

TWENTY-TWO

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Predator or Prey

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

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Later on that same day, everyone was doing their own thing. Bard was outside, away from the noisy dwarves who complained about every little thing. The dwarves were all huddled together on one side of the house, while Bilbo sat at the table drinking hot tea Sigrid made for him. Selene sat on the couch, that was close to Bilbo. She sat still, letting her eyes roam Bard's small home.

A muffled thump, reached her ears and Selene leaned over to the side to see what it was. It was Tilda who had stumbled and fell on her knees. The quilts she had hanging on her arms, luckily, cushioned her fall. When Tilda fell again, Selene swallowed her anxious nerves and quietly approached the young girl.

"Here, let me." Selene said softly as she crouched down to grab some of the quilts off the wooden floor. She avoided eye contact with Tilda, afraid she would scare the poor girl. Even though, the past few minutes she could see Tilda sneaking glances at her when Selene wasn't 'looking'.

"Thank you..." Tilda replied, finally on her feet again. She picked up the remaining quilts and carefully looked up at Selene, who stared down at her warmly. "Would you... Would you like to help me put these away?" She asked shyly.

Selene's lip formed a small, friendly smile. "I would love to." Her answer made Tilda smile, before she walked around the room picking up after the dwarves. Tilda following her.

When they finished grabbing all of the stuff they needed, Tilda led Selene to Sigrid's room where they sat on the floor and folded all the quilts quietly.

The peace and quiet was ruined when Selene heard Bain yelling. So, she immediately stopped what she was doing and rose to her feet, dashing toward the shouting.

She didn't realize how quick the sun had set when she reached the opened room. Half of the dwarves were outside of the door, while the rest and Bilbo remained inside, bumping into one another when Bain surprised them.

"You can't leave!" Bain told them, trying to put himself between Fíli and the door.

Gloin rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Out of the way, lad."

Bain stood his ground and gave the dwarves a hard look. He was not going to move. His father's order.

"Where are the lot of you going?" Selene spoke up, their widened eyes moved over to her figure. She was still in Sigrid's clothing – which looked odd on her, but her sharp gold eyes still intimidated them.

Thorin turned on his heel answering, "We're going to get weapons and then we're leaving. We don't have much time, Selene. Are you coming with us or are you going to stay here and make eyes with the Bowman?" The second part of his question came out bitter. It rolled off of his tongue like it was poison.

Selene was confused by his bitter tone for a moment, but soon realized how he mentioned Bard and 'making eyes' with him. Was Thorin jealous of Bard and her having small chats here and there? Selene couldn't believe it. She made no romantic gesture towards the man, yet, Thorin was still upset about it. So, she chose to ignore it. Thorin was always upset about something and it was always over something small. He should have known that she was not interested in Bard, sure he was handsome – but if Selene had her eyes on one person, then that person would be the one she'd grow to love.

"Fine." began Selene, "Leave. But if you get caught by the guards, you all are on your own." She turned on her heel and walked back to Sigrid's room where Tilda stood at the door, peeking from the frame.