Angels on the Moon (A Hobbit Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

“I wonder why he doesn’t like her.” Fili turned to look at me.

“What?”

“Thorin, why do you suppose he doesn’t like Alissyanna?” I asked again.

“I think he does, in his own way. You know our uncle, he has always been a little untrusting of newcomers.” He replied plainly.

“Hey, where is she going?” Fili and I watched her leaving. I went to stand up but was stopped by Bombur. He pushed me down and shoved a bowl of rabbit soup into my hands, and one into Fili’s. We thanked him then ate a little.

“Speaking of her, did you see that last night she had scratches all over here face?”

“Yes, they weren’t there when we first met her.”

“I wonder where she got them.”

“Maybe while walking in the… hang on.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t she say that no one goes into the Old Forest yesterday before we departed?”

“Yes.”

“Yet, she went into the Old Forest.” Fili had a point, why would she go into a forest that no one else goes into. We were silent for a little while, everyone had finished eating and many had gone to sleep. My brother and I were sitting by the fire. We heard something, Bilbo, who was next to the ponies, was the first to speak.

“What was that?” I looked at Fili, he winked and I continued on.

“Orcs.”

“Orcs?”

“Throat cutters. There’ll be hundreds of them out there. The low lands are crawling with them.” Bilbo turned and looked at us, a bit frightened.

“They strike in the wee small hours when everyone’s asleep. Quick and quiet. No screams, just lots of blood.” He turned back, looking out over the cliff. I turned back and looked at Fili so he couldn’t see me smiling.

“You think that’s funny? Do you think a night raid by orcs is a joke?” Thorin growled.

“We meant nothing by it.” I said.

“No, you didn’t. You know nothing of the world.” He strode away, looking over the side of the cliff. Balin told us the story of Azog, Uncle seemed to be very angry about the subject, so we dropped it after the story was done.

I heard the muffled sound of footsteps. Everyone looked in the direction where they came. I saw Braig first, he looked back down the path, head bowed low. Alissyanna appeared after a few minutes, she had one arm pulled close to her chest. She had a bad limp and a fresh new layer of scratches all over her face. Her hair was tied back, revealing her bare arms, which were also covered in deep cuts and long scratches. She smiled weakly and Gandalf helped her take a seat by the fire.

“What happened, child?” Balin asked, as he dabbed at a nasty cut above her brow.

“Damn horse stole my boots and threw them in the tree. When I got up there I lost my footing and promptly fell down, hitting every branch on the way.” I could tell she was lying, we all could, but we nodded, not having any other good explanation for all her injuries.

“Kili, grab my pack, I need you to sew this gash on her arm up.” I reached for his pack and found what I needed. I came over and kneeled down beside her.

“So it’s Kili.” She said looking at me, her blue eyes reflecting the stars. I nodded, smiling slightly, I couldn’t find the eye of the needle and was getting a tad bit frustrated, I sighed and tried again. She reached up and took my hands in hers. It felt like someone had just put my hands in ice. I wanted to jerk back, as an instinct, but I stopped myself. She took the needle and thread; she got it ready and tied the ends, then, with a small smile, handed it back to me. Balin helped her sit up and Braig laid down behind her, she leaned back and sighed, holding her arm out. I did the first stich; she didn’t even bat an eye. I hurriedly did the rest of them, periodically looking up at her and making sure she was alright. She had her eyes closed leaning back against her horse. I pulled her shirt sleeve down and she didn’t open her eyes.