Blackfoot

Chapter 5

The next day, the weather changed into a heavy downpour. Selene silently wished as she trudged through the mud that she could shift, it was always easier to handle the rain as a wolf, she didn't get as cold, in human form, the rain stuck to her clothes and weighed her down. It was the first time she had fallen behind the company, trudging along at the back, her hair plastered annoyingly to her face.

"You alright back there Selene?" Bofur calls, seeing her moving slowly at the back.

"Peachy." She growls. "Just keep moving."

He chuckles. "You know, you could save your discomfort by simply jumping on a pony."

"I'd be less comfortable on a pony, trust me." She sniffed and shoved her hair out of her eyes.

"Your boots must be full of water, surely-"

"I'm fine." She didn't mean to snap, causing several of the dwarves to look around and she hung her head, avoiding eyes and grumbles to herself.

"Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" She hears Dori say and she looked back up as expectant eyes fall in the wizard.

"It is raining master dwarf. If you wish to change the weather of the world then you'll need to find yourself another wizard." He replies, almost annoyed.

"Are there any?" Bilbo asked.

"Any what?"

"Other wizards?"

"There are five of us." Gandalf says after a moment's pause. "The wisest and greatest of our order is Saruman, then there are the two blues..." he seems confused for a moment. "You know I've quite forgotten their names."

"And who is the fifth?"

"That would be Radagast, the brown." Selene smiles at this.

"How is old Radagast?" She asks from the back.

"A lot better without you around." He says and she laughs. "He was almost overjoyed to tell me you had run away."

"I was more than happy to oblige." She says and slips heavily in some mud, yelping as she crashes to her knees. Spluttering as several of the dwarves laugh, she gets up, her face red and her legs and hands now covered in mud. "Obviously nature disagrees with me." She grumbles, wiping her hands.

Gandalf chuckles. "You should be glad it is just the weather disagreeing with you Selene, there could be worse things."

She refuses to talk to any of them for the rest of the day then, Gandalf's comment putting the finality on her bad mood. Even as they set camp for the night, she wondered off on her own, much to the worry of a lot of them, but she returned in the early hours of the morning, still covered in mud, and laid down to sleep without another word.

Selene's mood was foul for the next few days, barely talking to any of them as it continued to rain, gradually growing more sporadic. The dwarves learnt to avoid her in this mood, as she'd snapped at many of them for simply asking her if she was alright.

It was on a morning that the rain had finally cleared, that Thorin approached her as she was shoving things back into her bag.

He stood just close enough so that only she could hear. "And you told me that I was moody."

Her gaze snaps up to meet his for a second before he walks away just as casually. Her eyes follow him as she processes what he had just said before a loud laugh broke from her, surprising everyone.

She spent that day happily on the road again, talking away to Fili and Kili.

She was in the middle of a story when they stopped suddenly.