Never Back Again // The Hobbit, Fili X OC

The very serious journey

Emma woke up to the song of birds chirping outside, and soft sun rays on her face. Groaning, she opened her eyes, and stretched all her limbs until she felt ready to get up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Mornings were the worst, and yet she couldn't help but wake up early every day. Through the window she could see the idyllic scenery of The Shire on a perfect summer's day, the sun still hanging low in the sky. But the hobbits of The Shire were already out and about, carrying baskets of bread and fruit around.

Waking up in a warm bed, and being greeted with the soft bustle of a peaceful community made for a nice change. Her usual mornings were a lot colder, and there was always the worry of someone or something trying to kill her lingering in her mind. She liked the mornings in The Shire a lot more, she decided.

Once she had changed, she walked out into the hallway. The house was still quiet, apart from the snores a few doors down. Her stomach rumbled, but before she would have breakfast, she would be taking back what was hers. She had a good hunch who took her watch, she had seen the dwarf with the star shaped hair stuff his coat full of trinkets the entire night. Honestly, she would be more surprised if none of her belongings fell victim to his light fingers. The worst thing was that she couldn't even be mad at him, if anything she respected the hustle. But even so, she would not let him get away with it, she was the burglar and not him.

The first step would be to find his room, but since she didn't know who had taken what room, the only way to find out was to try every door until she opened the right one. Kind of risky, especially since it was already morning and the rest could wake up any moment now, but this was the best chance she had.

Luck was on her side, as the first door she cracked open turned out to be the right one. There was no time to celebrate the small victory though, she still had work to do.
Inside, the three dwarves were still fast asleep, judging from their loud snores. It was still very dark though, this room was on the other side of the hall and didn't have a window, being deep beneath the hill. It was both annoying, as this meant that she couldn't easily spot her watch, but also worked in her favor, as the dwarves were less likely to wake up without the sun.

She slipped inside, making a conscious effort to keep her steps as light as possible, and snuck to the bed on the far right of the room. She took a quick look at the dwarf in bed to ensure he wasn't about to wake up, and started sorting through his bag. If her watch was in his bag or his coat, she didn't know, but again, there was only one way to find out.

Luck had abandoned her, she had dug through his entire bag without finding anything that even resembled her watch. Moving on to his coat, which was dumped right next to his bed as if he had thrown it off after already getting in bed, she crossed her fingers and hoped she would be fast enough. Looking through the pockets without raising alarm turned out to be rather difficult, as the trinkets inside kept clinking against each other. But with some effort and a lot of internal cursing, the experienced thief managed. Finally, her fingers wrapped around her familiar watch, and she pulled it out with a grin.

Before she left, she decided to take some revenge. Putting her hand back in a particularly full pocket, she rifled a bit until she pulled out some coins and valuable looking gems. She may be an adult, but that doesn't mean she wasn't allowed to be petty from time to time.
Smiling to herself, she took one last look, only to see that the dwarves hadn't even shifted an inch, and crept back to the door. Making sure no one saw her exit the room, she quietly shut the door behind her. Once she was in the clear, she let out a breath and internally thanked Bilbo for having no creaky doors or floorboards.

As she found her way to the kitchen, she was surprised to see that she was still the only one awake. She supposed the others wanted to take this chance to rest up before the journey, god knows when they will have another chance to sleep in a bed in a safe house. And she was sure the amount of alcohol they had last night also contributed to the fact that they were still out cold.