The Princess of Erebor Book 2 (A Lord of the Rings Story)(Discontinued)

Beginning the Journey

Lauranna woke up early the next morning, before the sun was up. She quickly grabbed her things, even though she didn't really need much to bring, only her weapons and bag of clothes, if hers got ripped. It reminded her of when she was here sixty years ago on the journey to reclaim Erebor. She made her way to the rooms where the Fellowship were sleeping. She found most of them awake, except for the four Hobbits.

"Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, wake up!" Lauranna shouted.

The four of them bolted awake. They looked around frantically until they saw her and calmed down.

"What are you doing in here so early?" Frodo asked.

"You guys need to get up and ready. You have ten minutes before we leave," Lauranna lied, since they only had thirty.

The four of them shot out of bed and started getting ready. She left with a laugh and met the ones who were ready in the courtyard. She nodded politely to Legolas, who returned it. Kili and Fili were sticking close to her, not wanting her out of their sight. Gloin and Thorin were acting overly protective, as a father and a friend would do. Dis was just getting used to having her around, knowing many details about her because of Fili and Kili's stories of her. The legend itself was well known in Erebor, with many inhabitants telling the story every night for their children. Fili and Kili's children demanded to hear Lauranna's legend every night before bed. And every night, Fili and Kili would oblige.

Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin arrived soon and glared at Lauranna, who shrugged innocently.

"What? It got you up," she said with a smile.

Dis chuckled at her. Thorin walked over and wrapped an arm around Lauranna's waist, as though afraid the Hobbits would attack her. He knew that they wouldn't, but he wasn't taking any chances. He had lost her once and wasn't going to let it happen again. But Lauranna knew that someone would die along the quest. And all her money was bet on Boromir dying first. They all set out once they were all there and turned to the left. Lauranna was leading, having been everywhere in Middle-Earth and knew the land better than the most experienced Ranger.

"Come on, slowpokes. Keep up, Boromir," Lauranna called, seeing that Boromir was falling behind a bit.

Pippin began to slow down and his breathing became heavy. Lauranna caught sight of that and doubled back.

"On my back, Pip," she said, crouching down.

Pippin hesitated but did as he was told. He wrapped his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist. She supported his legs with her arms and walked back to the front of the group. Gloin frowned and reached out.

"I can take him, lass," he assured her.

Lauranna looked at Pippin, silently asking if he was okay with the change. Pippin nodded and was handed over to Gloin, who didn't seem to notice him.

"Lad, I knew your uncle and he was always getting into trouble," Gloin said to Frodo, when they stopped for a meal.

"What type of trouble?" Frodo asked eagerly.

"He got captured by Trolls for one, nearly got completely lost in the Goblin Tunnels, went up against Azog alone trying to protect Thorin, among other things," Gimli said.

"Well, it was Fili and Kili's fault that the ponies were captured in the first place. He fell into the caves beneath the Goblin City and managed to get out because of Gollum. And Thorin was the idiot who decided to charge after an Orc Pack on his own. I went after him. Guess I never saw Bilbo run after him. I passed out soon after Thorin intervened to save me from being killed," Lauranna said.