Fool for u

Tall tales and crappy tales

The Company travelled the entire day, through more forests, over hills and beautiful grassy plains, never stopping to rest once. Periwinkle took everything in. No matter how many times she has travelled and how many sights she has seen, she never failed to look at the world in awe and wonder. There were so much more to see that she feared she would not live long enough to see it.

But despite the scenery and the sunny weather, not much was said throughout the day. Everyone was either sulking - Thorin, feeling embarrassed for their behaviour - Fili, Kili and Dwalin, or staying quiet to keep the peace - literally everyone else.

At least her little prank the previous night bore fruit. Thorin asked her about the route a few times that day, especially when they came to face more than one path. Periwinkle would give him a direct answer, no dilly-dallying, and he would follow her advice. No more and no less were said.

And the result?

They travelled smoothly with no grasslands and raging rivers crossing their path. It was no surprise that Thorin ordered his Company to keep going while they were maintaining such a pace and making such good time. Although, a whole day of horseback riding would soon be evident in the Company's muscles and backsides.

By dusk, Periwinkle began feeling the effects of riding in her back and legs. Usually, she would stop along the road and rest, but she was in a Company now. She had to fall in with their rules, which meant when Thorin said they could rest, they could rest. If Thorin said to ride on, they ride on. It did not bother her that much, though she would have loved to stop here and there to explore the sights.

But for the love of keeping the peace and the somewhat respectable relationship she and Thorin had, Periwinkle kept her mouth shut and shifted her weight from one butt to the other every few minutes.

At last, to everyone's relief, Thorin stopped near the edge of a cliff and deemed it a good spot, "We'll camp here for the night."

The dwarves all groaned as they dismounted their steeds, stretching their limbs when their feet hit the ground. Periwinkle stood on her toes and reached for the sky, making sure every muscle in her body had been well stretched out, although it did nothing for the ache in her back and butt.

"Oin, Gloin, get a fire going." Thorin began handing out orders, "Bombur, start with the food. Ori, take care of the ponies. The rest of you, start setting up camp. Fili and Kili are on the first watch."

Periwinkle slowly raised her hand, wincing at the sharp pull in her shoulder muscles, "Permission to go hunt?"

"Granted." Thorin sent her brief glance and added, "Take someone with you."

She blinked, wondering since when he was concerned about her hunting alone. Was she that obvious with her sore muscles?

Nonetheless, for the sake of the peace, Periwinkle searched through the few dwarves who weren't assigned tasks already, wondering who she should ask to go with her. Bilbo was an option, but her hobbit friend was already occupied, helping Ori with the ponies out of his own free will. Perhaps Dwalin? They were on good terms.

However, she already knew when it came to choosing a dwarf in general, it would be Bofur. For some unexplainable reason, she would always choose him.

She unloaded her pack from Bramble and dragged her feet to camp. After quickly unrolling her bedroll on the first open spot she could find, Periwinkle grabbed her bow and made a beeline for the funny-hatted dwarf on the other side of the fire.

Bofur was joking around with Bifur and Bombur when he caught the shadow that fell over him. He slowly raked his eyes upward the figure in front of him, the smile on his face growing the more he saw. At last, he met the lass' eyes. It was springtime in his stomach when butterflies erupted inside him and fluttered around, even reaching his heart.