A Hobbits Tale

Chapter 12

We walk over the hills and under the trees hardly stopping, Thorin wanting to push on until nightfall.

I pull out my sketch book and flip through all of my drawings. I have one of each of the dwarves as well as one of Bilbo and Gandalf. I'm not really sure how long it has been since we left the Shire but it feels like many months.

"What've you got there?" Kili asks as he sees the drawing of Ori.

"My sketch book. I've drawn many pictures of the company." I hand him the book and he flips through it looking at each one.

"You're quite talented." He turns the book sideways and looks closer at it. "And you have an eye for detail. You have the metal ends of Fili's mustache perfectly....."

Fili looks back at us when he hears his name. "What about me?" He asks curiously.

Kili shows him the drawing. "Y/N is quite the artist. Look."

"Do I really look like that?" Fili asked with shock written across his face.

"Yes. You're quite handsome." Kili looks up as if asking 'what about me.' "You both are." I quickly revise my statement.

"Can I look through these?" Fili asks as he flips back to the beginning of the book.

"Sure." I shrug. "Just don't smudge them. Or get them dirty. Or wet." I tell him.

He nods absently as he flips through the pages. "Woah.... You're an amazing artist...."

I blush. "Thank you." We come to an opening to a forest and I see a waterfall conning down a cliff. "Let me have that back for a moment." I say with my hand out for it.

He gives it to me and I stop and quickly sketch the falls. "Y/N! Get back up here!" Thorin yells at me when he realizes I'm not with them.

"Give me a moment!" I yell back. "I'll catch up!"

Thorin just shakes his head and keeps walking towards path through the underbelly of the falls.

I finish the sketch a few moments later and run to catch up with them. When I finally do catch them they are passing just behind the water.

I catch my breath and fall into a steady pace beside Bofur. "So the lads are saying you're an artist. That you've drawn us all?" He asks me with curiosity in his eye.

"Yes." I say with a laugh. "Would you like to see?"

"I'd love to." He says with a goofy smile.

I hand him the sketch book and he studies each drawing until he turns to a drawing of himself laughing. His cheeks turn a slight shade of pink and he looks up at me. "When... When did yeh draw this?"

"In Rivendell after that table collapsed under Bombur. I couldn't get the image of how happy you looked when you were laughing out of my head. So after you fell asleep I sketched it out and have been working on it since." I smile shyly. "Your eyes light up and you look happy. I had to draw it."

He smiles, his blush deepening. "You are amazing Lassie. You truly are." I smile as he finishes looking through the sketchbook and hands it back to me. I put it into my pack.

He intertwines our fingers and kisses my hand gently. Not saying a word. We continue up into the mountains walking side by side and holding each others hand.