Stay With Me [Thorin Oakenshield]

Chapter 9: Into the mountains

The company spent another day in Rivendell before enjoying a final meal and preparing their leave. They had been careful not to alert the elves to their departure as Gandalf had confirmed that they would most likely try to hinder the progression of their quest. 

Louisa had spent the day improving her sword fighting skills with Fili and was quite content with the progress she had made. They were eventually joined by Bilbo, who was less eager but acknowledged the relevance of them learning how to fight. Knowing that they were able to defend themselves, at least to a certain degree, calmed her nerves a little. She found herself merrily fooling around with the dwarves in the evening, relishing in the luxury of safety and comfort for as long as she could.

"So, lass, how's your training coming along?", questioned Balin, who was seated next to her over the joyful chatter of his kin. Louisa smiled at the kind dwarf as she looked over at him. "Quite well actually.", she responded proudly. "I'm dangerously close to giving up on archery but I don't think I'm too bad at sword fighting." Balin returned her smile and went to respond when he was interrupted by a rude scoff next to him. Noticing Louisa's smile falter a little, he turned to his brother, who was seated on his other side, in dismay and raised a questioning brow. Dwalin felt their gazes on him and glanced at Louisa sceptically. "I'll believe it when I see it.", he said haughtily. 

Louisa sighed in frustration. Out of all the dwarves she found Dwalin to be the hardest one to get to warm up to her. From the moment they had met, he had held her with disdain, as he doubted her value to the company, and she had not yet been able to convince him otherwise. "Well...", she trailed off a little as she made sure that there were no elves nearby and lowered her voice a little. "Seeing as we're leaving tomorrow, I don't think that you'll have to wait for long to see my skills put to the test. Who knows what we'll face in the weeks to come. I'll bet anything, those wargs are still out there.", she muttered. 

Dwalin grumbled something in response when he was interrupted by an ominous creaking sound. Louisa glanced in the direction of its origin only to realise that the sound had come from the strain of Bombur's weight on a wooden bench. The sound had also caught Bofur's attention who was quick to dismiss the sausage he had just withdrawn from the fire. "Bombur!", he called as he tossed the sausage to his brother. Ever the enthusiast for food, Bombur caught the sausage swiftly. However, this was quickly followed by a louder creaking sound that served as a warning before parts of the bench flew in every which direction, as it collapsed under the weight. 

The dwarves and hobbit burst into joyous laughter. She scanned the company for her friend from the Shire, hoping that he was enjoying himself as much as she was, only to realise that he was walking away from the rambunctious dwarves, apparently lost in thought. She considered going after him but thought better of it, knowing that he might need some time to himself. And so, she turned back to the dwarves, enjoying their last night within protective walls.

The next morning the company rose quietly at dawn and departed from Rivendell. They had made it a fair distance from the elven home when the first rays of sunlight touched its roofs and rivers. Slowly but steadily they ascended along the narrow path on the mountainside as Thorin spoke up. "Be on your guard.", he said. "We are about to step over the edge of the wild, where we are unprotected, once again. Balin, you know these paths. Lead on." He turned to allow Balin to pass and made sure that everybody was keeping up when he noticed Bilbo turning back to take a last longing glance at Rivendell, that seemed infinitely peaceful in the glow of the early morning hours.

Louisa who had been further at the back of the company, caught up to him and smiled upon noticing the wistful expression on his face. Wanting to give him a moment, she silently passed him. However, his moment was cut short as Thorin spoke up once more: "Master Baggins, I suggest you keep up." Bilbo turned to glance at him and nodded as Thorin fell into step behind Louisa.