Gandalf's Apprentice

Chapter Seven: Broody

***Leandra's POV***

Thorin was angry when I was waiting for them on the path. After a small dispute, it was over and I won.

Now I rode beside Gandalf, happily laying on Steel's back like a lounge chair. A load of blue west farthing dwarf lilies were braided into his mane.

"How did you manage to find one of the Miras?" Gandalf asked as I was sniffing one a lily in my hand.

"Well, dear teacher...my horse was put down due to a stall mishap involving a groundhog who now adorns a hobbit's wall. You can never really fix a horse's broken leg and the hobbits don't have the skills to treat it...I put her down myself." I said as my eyes began to burn at the memory of how scared the poor girl was.

"Losing a horse is like losing a dear friend, elves especially get attached. So much so that it is said the two souls become so bonded that the horse shall live as long as its master. You've already named him haven't you?" Gandalf asked inquisitively.

"He is Lord Steel and he is my big ol' baby!" I shifted on Steel's back, laying on my stomach, hugging him.

He neighed happily. "I love you too." I giggled and Gandalf rolled his eyes.

"Oh! Steel slow down and walk with Bilbo, please? I have to give him something." I asked and he obliged.

"What are you going to give me?" Bilbo asked.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out his handkerchief. I handed it to him with a wink and he quietly took it with a "thank you".

"Don't mention it, Bilbo. I've got your back on this quest...I'll keep Thorin or anything else from killing you while you sleep." I smiled and he looked nervous.

"But when will you sleep?" He asked.

"Elves do not sleep, Master Baggins. It's really one of their more unknown traits, seein' as they all have so many places to lounge about." Bofur explained.

"Hannon lae, mellon nin." (thank you, my friend) I said and he smiled with a nod.

"Gandalf said that you were...from another world...that you were human...how much do you know about this world?" Bilbo asked quietly.

"Everything, just like how you're 50, Thorin is 136, Gandalf is over a thousand, King Thranduil is over 6,500 years old...I believe I'm actually the youngest in the company...awesome." I chuckled, looking up at how the sun light passed through the tree canopy.

"Do you do magic? Or just...make fireworks?" He asked.

"I am Gandalf's student, if you ever get the chance to see him in action, especially when magic is involved, he is a formidable man to face." I said simply and draped my arm over my eyes, bored with the burning light.

"But what about you?" He asked.

"I am learning, but I'm strong, I can feel it in my bones...but I can move things with my mind, so that's interesting." I shrugged.

"Ehehe...I'm a Jedi." I whispered to myself and saw a leaf fall from a tree.

"Bilbo, watch this." I said and focused on the leaf. "Bela ed' templa..." I said softly and plucked a few more leaves from a nearby tree. They were green and fresh.

They floated to me and I spun them around Bilbo then had them land in my hand in a perfect stack. I crushed them in my hand and thought of cold.

The leaves turned to ice, which I made into snow...in a ball. I smirked at Bilbo and sat up on Steel's back. "Yoohoo, Thorin!" I called.

He glared over his shoulder at me and I threw the snowball at him. It exploded back into a leaf form. He jumped so badly that he nearly jolted off his horse.

"WHAT!?" He bellowed.

"Just saying hi, Broody! You can go back to your brooding now...it was funny." I laughed and got a snicker from the princes and Gandalf.

I heard every word he mumbled under his breath. "I'm still an elf! I know what a bilgeshtipe is, Thorin. Damn me then for trying to make you laugh...that's a goal now! I will get a smile out of you! Maybe even a heartwarming hug!" I proclaimed.

He was less than pleased, but he'll come around eventually...