Raging Fire

Chapter 3; 'How To Cook A Dwarf'

Altáriël woke up from the sun shining in her face. The dwarves around her were still sleeping. She sat up and immediately laid back again, she and Kíli had talked until three in the morning. They were already friends, but now she had a headache. She got up anyway, the brunette was hungry. She looked around to see were they had actually made camp last night. They were in a forest near the Shire, the Old Forest maybe? Altáriël heard movements behind her, Bofur had woken up. "Good morning Bofur! Do you know where I can find any food? It's too early to hunt." She asked him, he lazily pointed towards some sacks and went back to sleep. She chuckled, even though she had a serious lack of sleep right now, her mood never changed. She searched for some apples, deciding that she wanted fruit. Floyd came galloping towards her as soon as she had her breakfast, she laughed, Floyd knew he would get an apple from her.
It didn't take a long time for the others to wake up, one by one the dwarves opened their eyes. Thorin groaned when he saw Altáriël sit against a tree, eating an apple. He was still tired, but Altáriël didn't care. "Hello Thorin! Did you have a nice nap? When are continuing our journey?" The king truly loved her like his daughter, so he decided not to ignore her. And besides, they had to get moving again. "We will leave in twenty minutes. Get some breakfast and grab your stuff." He then turned himself towards Altáriël; "Altá, I know you have a history with pick pocking, right? We don't have a burglar, for Bilbo has not decided to come. So you will now take his place." Her eyes went wide, she would enter the mountain first, after all those years! But she answered something different. "I bet Bilbo will come, just give him some time." Fíli heard her statement and nudged his brother. "I bet he won't. I'm willing to make it a bet, Altá." The girl was sure that the hobbit would still come, and how could she possibly say no to this? "Sure, 5 coins. Anyone else wanna join in?" She almost shouted, the dwarves of course agreed. The girl had made the bet with Fíli and Kíli and Gloin. Gandalf joined her side luckily, she knew that she would win this. Before Altáriël could make any more bets it was time to go. Duty called, and she hadn't saddled up Floyd yet! She got ready as fast as she could and jumped on her horse, ending up next to Oin.
"Wait wait!" the dwarves heard someone call behind them. Altáriël looked back, Bilbo had come after all! She never thought he would be able to catch up with them so fast. The dwarves stopped their ponies, and were surprised to see that Bilbo had indeed come, as she and the wizard had said. "I signed it!" Bilbo said with excitement, handing over the parchment to Balin. He inspected it and once he had decided everything was okay, Thorin had ordered that they had to give of the spare ponies to Bilbo. Altáriël was in the back of the company, trying not to doze off, somehow the lack of sleep combined with the slow pace they were travelling at made her tired. She was riding next to Oin, who spoke up next. "Come on Nori, pay up, go on." Altáriël laughed at Nori's expression and waited for her money to come. Filí then came riding next to her, handing her a sack with promised gold. "Here you go, lass. From now on I'll make sure not to mess with you. Gandalf was telling us that you had a fight in a bar before you came here!" The girl smiled dreamily at Filí, still half asleep it seemed. "Heya, Altáriël, you alright? You are as much of a daydreamer as my brother claimed you to be, he is as tired as you are. I don't want to know what you two were up to last night" Filí spoke again. The girl's eyes widened a bit, something she seemed to do every time she was surprised. "Kilí talked about me eh? Only good things I hope. And what we did was none of your concern." She winked trying to cover up a bit of happiness that the young prince had liked her so much he talked about her to his brother with a joke. "Yes only good things I promise. Like that you're part dwarf, see? he only spoke of good qualities." Filí said and winked back. "No , no, wait, stop! Stop! We have to turn around." Altáriël looked at the hobbit, what could possibly be wrong? "I forgot my handkerchief." Her question was answered. She looked at Fíli who had begun to laugh, and joined him. She watched as Bofur tore a strip of cloth from his clothing and tossed it to Bilbo; "Here! Use this." The dwarf chuckled. Altáriël couldn't see the hobbit's face, but she could imagine that he would look at it in disgust. Their leader ordered them to move on, and she was bored again. Fíli had left her side to talk to his brother. She nudged Floyd to run, they passed everyone but Thorin, she wanted to catch up with him, they hadn't seen each other for what felt like a decade. She told him how she would always shoot food out of some guard's hands, and how she was a respected person among the elves. Thorin didn't like her job in Mirkwood, and he made no effort hiding his hate for the elves. She didn't care though, she didn't like most elves either. She lived in Mirkwood to accompany Enelya. She hoped the dwarves would go through Rivendell. But reminding Thorin's hate for elves, her hope quickly faltered. She loved him, he had been like a father to her ever since Dale, but sometimes she wanted to slap him for his hate for elves.

"So, if you would put up a border there, it should be enough to protect this part." Enelya said. Going over the lines of the map again, she saw that she and Haldir had made great progress. She would have to dodge Legolas for another five days, if the prince would even stay that long. She was dismissed and decided to take a stroll through the forest, hoping the royal would have business with the leaders of the place. But she was wrong. While she was admiring the view of the river with the trees in the background, she heard someone approach her. She looked around and panicked. Looking around for an escape route, it was already too late. Legolas sat next to her and asked her what she was doing in Lothlórien. "I am here to escort the lady Galadriel to Imladris" she spoke the truth, wishing he would not ask about further plans. "Ah, I see. Lady Galadriel has told me of your business here, I wanted to see if you spoke the truth when I asked." Enelya looked at him, trying to read his face. Did he really not trust her? "I was only joking Enelya, of course I trust you, you're one of my best friends." Legolas laid back in the grass, finally able to relax after the mission his father send him on. He looked at Enelya, the late sun shone behind her, making her golden hair glow even more. When he looked at her face he noticed that she had seen his stare, and that she was now looking crossed-eyed. He smiled, liking her craziness. "What will you do after you go to Imladris, Enelya?" Enelya panicked, thinking of an answer. She asked herself what Altá would want her to say in a situation like this, knowing her well enough to predict most of her moves. "I was thinking about staying there for a while, see if lord Elrond has made any new medicine. What will you do after you are done here, Legolas?" The prince looked at her again before answering. "I will return back home, my father needs me to protect our realm from the spiders while Altá is away. You should come too, once you are done in Rivendell. I am not yet done with teaching you how to use a bow." "We could practice now? I mean, I was going to help out in the royal kitchens, but I really feel like a shooting lesson right now." Oh... was that too flirty? She could already feel her cheeks get warm. How he couldn't notice it was a mystery for Enelya, but he answered that he would love to teach her again. "Well, let's go then. Do you know the way?" Enelya asked, but Legolas said no. He did know of another place, somewhere hidden in the woods. He had stayed here a lot when he was younger apparently, and he had discovered the woods of Lothlórien. She followed the prince as he led her through the trees.