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She watched the trees pass by as they kept trudging forward. "Pay up, Nori." She heard a dwarf say as an apple flew back into another hand.
"What was that about?" Bilbo asks as he looks at Gandalf. "Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you'd turn up." She turned her head to Kili, whose horse was next to hers.
"What did you think?" He asks her as she looks to the hobbit and then back. "I had a feeling he was coming."
Kili's eyes widened as he glanced at the sky, "Did she tell you?" He asked, making her give him a half smile.
"Huh." He said as he moved his horse back up to his brother. She smiled, hearing them talk of her and Annet's bond.
"No, wait, wait, stop!" Bilbo shouts, making them all halt. "Stop! We have to turn around." He tells them, making her pet her horse's side.
"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asks, and she sits up straighter, seeing Bilbo searching his pockets.
"I forgot my handkerchief." Bofur rips a piece off of the bottom of his shirt. "Here, use this!" He yelled back, throwing it to Bilbo.
She grimaced, watching Bilbo hold it up and smell it. "Move along," Thorin says, making them all continue their route.
She listened to them all speak as they made their way. She looked to the sky seeing only a tiny shadow of Annet.
Soon the sun came down, and it was announced they would make camp. It was decided it would be on the side of a mountain.
She then relaxed near the fire and leaned on the stone wall. "She is quite magnificent." A voice said from across the fire.
She looked over, seeing Fili and Kili both looking at her. "I know. Does he always snore so loudly?" She asked, looking over to Bombur.
"Every night." Fili answers her making her sigh and put her head against the wall. "That is great. At least Annet will sleep soundly." She mutters to herself.
Her head lifted as she heard a screech from afar. She felt Annet move only slightly as if to watch over them. "What was that?"
"Orcs," Kili answers, making her look over at him. "Orcs?" Bilbo asks as he hops his way over to them. She sees Thorin wake up alerted but soon calmed.
"Throatcutters. There'll be dozens of them out there." Fili says, making her roll her eyes, realizing what they are doing. "The lone lands are crawling with them."
"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone is asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." She scoffs as the brothers laugh.
"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" She brings her knees to her chest, holding them tightly. "We didn't mean anything by it."
"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin tells them as he makes his way to the cliff's edge.
"Don't mind him, Laddie," Balin says as he walks up beside her, leaning on the wall. "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." He explained as she placed her head onto her knees, looking at the leader of their group.
"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." She turned her head up to look at the dwarf beside her.
"The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin." Her eyes dropped as it seemed a little close to her.
Her eyes welled as she remembered what Gandalf had said about her family. She stood from her spot and walked away from the camp.
Gandalf and the rest watched as she left, but Gandalf was the only one who knew why. She made her way up the mountain and to her dragon
"Annet." She whispered as she hurried over to her dragon. She sat down, leaning on the warmth of her dragon. "I shall sleep with you tonight."
