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We proceeded to look for land all through the night before, continuing on to the early dawn of the next morn. Bain had fallen asleep on my lap, exhausted from the previous night. Minor burns grazed the sides of his cheek, giving his face a reddish glow. I felt as if my body had become part of the boat. I ached from my charred skin and was completely spent from a long, restless night. My eyes were heavy and I had almost no energy to keep them open.
Just as I began to doze off, Bard shook my shoulder. "There!" He pointed. "The people have struck land!"
"Do you see the others?" I asked, stroking Bain's hair nervously.
"Not yet, but I'm sure they're not far."
"One may only hope," I muttered. I nudged Bain a little to wake him up. His eyes fluttered open. "We've spotted land."
He pushed himself up to get a look at the shore. "Da? Is that all that's left of us? We've lost so many..."
"I'm afraid so, son." Bard's eyes were glazed with sadness. "But with the treasure Thorin promised, we shan't worry. We can rebuild better lives for us all."
"He better keep his promise," Bain mumbled.
"He will," I began. "He is an honorable man, and will stay loyal to his word." As those words exited my mouth, out boat shifted up the gravel beach. I swung my body over the side and pulled our boat further up the shore to be sure it wouldn't drift away. After the boat was secured, I desperately looked through the crowd for any sign of Sigrid and Tilda or the dwarves.
My eyes scanned from left to right until I found a familiar pair of brown eyes amongst the frenzied faces. The eyes widened. I carefully moved my way past the rattled citizens as he maneuvered his way to me. I jumped up from the ground into his strong arms and wrapped my legs around his waist, feeling Kili bring me into a tight hug. I slightly cringed at the feel of my raw skin being pressed down upon. He buried his face into my hair. Kili took a deep breath, squeezing me a bit tighter than before. I let myself sink into his arms.
"I thought I'd lost you," he exhaled. "You ran into fire... and I could not follow."
I picked up my head to look down into his eyes. I cupped his face in my hands. "I'm safe, and I'm ever so grateful you are too." My lips crashed down onto his. He rose his head up to kiss me back harder.
He released and lowered me to the ground. His hands brushed my raw back. A pained reaction crossed my face. I let out a groan.
His brows came together as worry fell over his face. "What's wrong?"
I turned around and pointed to my back. "That bloody dragon gave me something to remember him by."
He gasped. "How did I not notice this? I-I'm sorry I should've made sure you were alright first." He stuttered, gently raising his hands to examine the burns.
