The Three Women Of Durin

The Aforementioned Battle

Morning came again, far too soon, and the girls found themselves being awoken by yet another dwarfish boot to the ribs. Groggily, the girls managed to get up and then pull Frankie up so they could begin getting ready for the day.

"Rossana!" Came the bark of Thorin's deep voice.

"Rosie!" She grumbled back with almost no thought, her eyes then turning to where the King stood. Thorin calling her Rossana reminded her of her mother telling her off, and that's just what she didn't need right now.

"Would you and the others like to go with Oin and Gloin to a nearby stable where you can pick out three ponies," He said, more of a demand than a question. Grumbling, Rosie accepted the pouch of coins that he held out to her, she then rounded up her friends and followed the two brother dwarves into the local stable.

It was...pungent. The strong smell of hay embraced the small group, it made the air seem thicker and harder to process through their lungs. They sucked it up (not literally) and walked further into the stables where they were greeted with a whole bunch of ponies and horses.

"Alright girls, go pick a pony," Gloin said running a hand over his marvellous beard.

"Oh, how I wished to hear that when I was 5," Cece smiled as she walked forward, her friends following with smiles on their faces. The girls asked question after question about which pony would be better for each of them and they continued to do so until the owner of the ponies cursed in some unknown language walked into the group of ponies and came out with three of the best and handed certain reigns to certain girls.

"There," He sighed before taking money from the dwarf brothers before saddling up the ponies. The three girls rubbed their hands over their silky fur and began cooing at them in a way the dwarves were certainly not used to. The group made their way back to the company where everyone was dressed and ready for the day's journey. Thorin said nothing to the girls when they got back, no one did, they girls however only clambered onto their ponies, and strangely the only person who couldn't get the hang of it was Frankie.

"Woah, Woah! Get a grip of yourself woman!" Rosie said through her giggles as she and Cece watched as Frankie was positively pulled around by her pony.

"I'm, trying, you, little-" Frankie called out before her pony fully chucked her off its back. Cece and Rosie burst into laughter at the sight of her friend dangling of a pony with her feet still stuck in the stirrups. Neither of her friends aided her as Frankie tried to pull herself back up onto her pony, with little success. "Can you help me?" She finally asked looking up where her friends sat calmly on their ponies laughing down at the sight of her.

"No, way, this, is, too, funny," Cece said through giggles. Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed Frankie and pushed her up straight, she twisted around to see a certain young brunette dwarf walking away from her and to his own pony.

"Thank you, my dearest friends," Frankie scowled as she rode up next to her friends, still getting used to having to actually direct the pony where and where not to go.

"Oh, no problem," Rosie smiled at her. "But it seemed that you didn't need our assistance in the end." She cheekily smiled. Frankie shook her head allowing her curls to fall across her face and in doing so covering her slightly pink cheeks.

"I ship it," Cece spoke up on the other side of Frankie.

"No," Frankie said dismissively rolling her eyes.

"You wha' lass?" Bofur asked riding up next to them. Frankie and Rosie stared at Cece, Frankie with a scowl and Rosie with a large grin.

"I um, ship it," Cece said again giving a small smile to Bofur. Bofur opened his mouth as if he was going to ask further before deciding against it and moving forward, shaking his head. Rosie chuckled as she watched Cece's cheeks light up in red.

"Screw you," Cece sighed at Rosie.

"I'm pretty sure it's not going to be me that's doing the screwing," Rosie said nonchalantly before covering her mouth with her hand not realizing she had actually said that out loud. This caused Cece to elapse into another fit of giggles and for Frankie's cheeks to burn an even darker shade of red than Cece's. The girls found themselves loosening up in the presence of the company, soon realized that it didn't really matter if the company liked them or not, they could have fun between themselves. They continued on the journey, the three girls quietening their chuckles and inside jokes as they admired the beautiful views.

"Is this really the beauty of New Zealand?" Rosie asked as they looked out on a far too beautiful mountain view.

"No," Cece breathed. "There be not a place on earth which holds as much beauty as this," She sighed dreamily.

"Okay, when did we start talking like we lived in Victorian England?" Frankie asked playfully as she moved her pony.

"What?" Cece asked innocently, Frankie however just rolled her eyes. The company continued travelling until it became too dark to see, they took cover in some mountains where they had a wonderful outlook on the scenery before them. Night fell and the girls found themselves huddling around the fire, sticking as close to each other as they physically could.

They flicked their eyes up to the prince brothers who were sitting opposite them, tonight was the night they would hear of Thorin's great defeat of Azog, the 'late' orc. And soon enough the noises filled the air, the girls glanced at each other before looking up at the small frightened hobbit, they watched as the prince brothers scared the small hobbit, talking about the orcs which annihilated homes. Rosie kept her eyes on the dwarf king, who seemed dismayed and unfulfilled by how his nephews so easily joked around with the thought of orcs.

"You think that is funny?" He growled walking away, being the drama king he is. Rosie stopped herself from rolling her eyes and she watched the warm smile on each of the prince's faces crumple.

"Thorin has more cause than most, to hate orcs," Balin said, looking down at the brothers with a soft expression. Rosie closed her eyes and laid back, listening to the story she had heard so many times in the movies. "After the dragon took the lonely mountain, king Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria..." Balin submerged himself into the story, Cece allowed the familiar words to wash over her, she practically knew them off by heart but to hear it from Balin himself was something else. Frankie, however, did not remember the story, she gripped on to Balin's words as did the others gathered around the fire, reminiscing about the well-known story between the dwarves.

Rosie near the end of the story opened her eyes to the stars and looked over to where Thorin was listening and ruminating the story he had lived with all these years. The wind blew softly through his hair, and Rosie could almost swear that his eyes were slightly glassy.

She clambered up, knowing that many eyes were fixed on her as she stepped over tree roots and uneven ground to make her way over to Thorin. He did not hear as she approached, he only noticed her when she sat down on the ground next to him, staring at the misty landscape before them, he looked down at her for a moment before he too sat down next to her staring at the magnificent scene. After a few moments of silence, he looked at the girl sitting next to him to find her with her eyes closed and the wind carrying her hair behind her. They did not talk, only shared the silence and were both grateful for each other's company.