The Archers of Erebor {ON HOLD}

Chapter 34

~~Avilan~~

The night had been spent celebrating the arrival of the company of dwarves and hobbit in Lake-Town. The master had invited Thorin and company to spend the night in his home, to eat and drink to their hearts content -which as we all know, can be an alarming amount.
Sometime during the night Bilbo managed the escape the loud and rowdy dwarves, for some peace and quiet. Avilan noticed him get up ad leave the party. She wanted to make sure he was alright, so she followed him out to a hallway, by a window. His face was illuminated slightly by the glow of the moon, along with the soft glow from the lanterns hanging on the walls. 

"Don't over think it. You'll just end up scaring yourself." She said from behind, holding a glass of wine as she leaned against the other side of the frame.

"It's just, aren't you dwarves scared? Or are you lot, just putting on brave faces because that's what you do." Bilbo sighed. Avilan was quiet for a moment, staring out in silence.

"Dwarves aren't made of stone, of course we're all probably scared, Bilbo. Some of us are better at hiding then others." She finished quietly, downing the rest of her drink and placed it on a table behind her.

"It sure doesn't seem like it. It seems like I'm the only one worried about bloody dragon waking up, and destroying everything."

"Bilbo, you can't afford to think like that! Honestly, we never would have made it this far if it wasn't for you!" She exclaimed, and pinned both of his arms to his sides, no doubt leaving small bruises. "We are all, worried about the dragon, Master Hobbit. But they have been waiting, years to get back what's theirs. So don't think for one second, that you are alone on this quest. Should something go wrong, you've got thirteen dwarves, and two half bloods at your side to keep your scrawny ass safe." She smiled and released his arms. "They will fight to the death to protect what's theirs, and you're part of that." She said and clapped him on the shoulder, maybe a little hard. "Good night Bilbo, get some rest. You'll need it." She smiled and turned to go back into the party.

"Where are you going?" He called after her. She turned and walked backwards, grinning.

"To get Kili to bed before he hurts himself. Not to mention Fili before he challenges someone to a fight." Bilbo chuckled and found himself a room for the night. It was large, similar to the room he had in Rivendell. He stood by the window to ponder the half bloods words. She was right though, he wasn't alone. They would keep him safe, and they would die for their own. He smiled at the thought. "If someone told me a year ago, that I would be on a quest with fifteen dwarves, I'd laugh in their face and say they've been smoking too much." He muttered to himself and turned to settling down for the night.

The next morning was full of sleepy, grumbling and slightly hung-over dwarves. After eating their fill of breakfast, the master had each dwarf fitted for his -or her- own armor, and suitable weapon. Soon they pushed their way through the crowd to reach the decent sized boat the master had given them to reach the mountain.

"You do realize we're missing one, don't you? Where's Bofur?" Bilbo asked, pushing up a helmet that was slightly too big for him.

"Probably still drunk from last night." Avilan grumbled, adjusting her armor. 'Is it so hard to make proper armor for women?' She thought bitterly.

'Most women aren't warriors.' Dastan reminded her. She rolled her eyes and pushed ahead after Balin.

"If he's not here before we set off, we leave him behind." Thorin said and finally
reached the boat. One by one they got on the boat, bringing weapons with them. Kili was about to step foot on the boat when Thorin put a hand on his chest to stop him.
"Not you. We need to travel with speed, you will only slow us down." He said, handing Ori a handful of weapons.