Fire and Water ThorinxMermaid!OC

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Loreth wiped some sweat off her brow as they approached a desecrated house.

The structure had collapsed and there was no sight of the inhabitants anywhere.

"What happened here?" Loreth questioned as she walked closer into shade. The journey on foot was far better spent as she didn't feel like such a burden anymore. But all this walking was definitely taking a toll on muscles she'd never used before. She was well overdue for a rest.

Gandalf inspected the ruins with a careful eye, "A farmer and his family used to live here."

"Used to?" She looked at the wizard,"And where have they gone?"

Gandalf sent her a look before turning to Thorin who was instructing his nephews to look after the ponies, "I think it would be wiser to move on."

The thought of more walking made Loreth outwardly groan.

Gandalf continued, "We could make for the hidden valley."

Thorin's came closer and shook his head disapprovingly, "I've told you, I will not go near that place."

Gandalf scoffed, "And why not? The Elves could help us. We could get food, rest, advice." The wizard tried to sound convincing. Loreth was also in support of this place with Elves.

Thorin's glare at Gandalf had her rethinking her support, "I do not need their advice."

"We have a map that we cannot read," Gandalf tried again, "Lord Elrond could help us."

Thorin looked a little hurt at that, "Help? A dragon attacks Erebor. What help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the Elves looked on and did nothing! You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather, who betrayed my father."

Gandalf was looking considerably more angered by this argument. Loreth stepped closer to see if she could be of help, "You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past!"

Thorin's next words were venom, "I did not know that they were yours to keep." It was enough to make Gandalf huff and puff and storm off in frustration. Perhaps the walking and baking in the sun had made him short tempered and cranky. Loreth could understand that, but it wasn't an excuse to take it out on Gandalf.

Bilbo saw Gandalf leaving from where he was taking tack off of Myrtle and called to him, "Gandalf? Where are you going?"

"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense."

"And who's that?" Bilbo asked.

"Myself, Mr. Baggins!" Gandalf roared and disappeared around some foliage.

Loreth sighed at the wizard's leaving.

"He'll be back." Thorin stated from beside her, having sensed her worry.

"I know." She looked back at him. A silence grew between the two. What was she supposed to say? She was getting hungry. As if on cue her stomach growled loudly from. Loreth grabbed her stomach sheepishly, her face going a hot.

Thorin chuckled, his frustration quickly leaving him. He looked to the biggest dwarf who handled the food, "Come on, Bombur, we're hungry."

We.

Loreth's mind went into overdrive. She shouldn't have thought that hard about the use of such a simple word. 'We' as in her and Thorin? Or did he use her hunger to group her with everyone else. She secretly liked to think it was the former.