Thorns Before Roses

Chapter One

"If you call falling like two feet a long distance we're gonna need to have a talk." Her voice startled several of the dwarves into looking over at her. "In any case, I was drug here by force. I didn't get a choice in this."

"Miss Amber." Gandalf's warning only got a raised eyebrow and a laugh. 

"I'm not from here. I don't want to be here, but I have to. Anyway," she looked away from Gandalf to the dwarves, "just call me Amber."

"Miss Amber, could you put some clothes on?" A harsh glare hardened on her face as she turned to Dori. 

"I have clothes on. If you have a problem with then you can keep it to your damn self. I'm not changing just because my outfit offends your sensibilities. I have earned the right to wear what I wish. If you have a problem with it look away." She turned away from him to glare at everyone else watching. They looked away from her and back at each other. 

"Apologies, Miss Rays. We meant no offense to you," Balin said. Amber turned her eyes to him and upon seeing his sincere face she sighed. The old dwarf had always been her favorite in the movies, and it wasn't changing anytime soon. 

"I'm sorry for my outburst." She uncrossed her arms and looked over at Dori. "It's just that where I'm from women had to fight for the right to wear what they wanted. Many of us are still fighting."

"Right, now that Miss Amber as been introduced." Gandalf took the conversation back into his hands and away from the sticky situation. He held out a hand to the dwarves and waited for them to introduce themselves. 

Amber offered each of them a nod and possibly a smile. The dwarves were hesitant at first but went about introducing themselves. After the awkward affair the dwarves went back to getting things out of Bilbo's pantry and bringing it to the table. Not really sure about what to do, she went back to the entrance to her pack. 

She unzipped it and pulled it open. Inside there were a few pairs of clothes, tank tops and some jeans, and several bottles of alcohol. She was going to meet with her sisters at the campground with all of the drinks, and weed in her purse. Each of them had divided up what to bring and she was stuck buying the expensive things. But at the moment she wasn't complaining. If she had her favorite alcohol to get her through this quest then she was going to be fine. Hopefully the dwarves wouldn't want to try what she had. 

Pushing away her clothes she pulled out a bottle of rum. The golden liquid sloshed back and forth as she stood up and made her way back to the dining room. The feast was in full swing by the time she stepped into the room. An empty seat was left for her next to Gandalf and Bofur. She flopped down in the chair and started twisting the cap off of her bottle. None of the dwarves noticed her as she went about piling food on her plate. She was starving after everything that had happened. 

The dining room was full of laughter and general merriment of the dwarves. Amber was sipping on her bottle while watching all of them. She didn’t know how to go about the situation without either offending someone or ending up dead. Already the dwarves avoided looking at her and no one had tried to talk to her. Which she was perfectly okay with. As it was she was well on her way to getting drunk and passing out in a room; hoping to wake up on the ground back in her world. But that dream didn’t seem to be happening anytime soon. 

Amber leaned back in her chair and watched as the dwarves slowly dispersed into the Hobbit hole. She had no desire to go snooping or acquainting herself to the others. As it was, she was content to continue drinking at the table. The only one still with her was Bombur. The round dwarf was still eating a block of cheese with some kind of bread. It didn't look half bad of a snack but Amber had eaten enough until the alcohol munchies started. They weren't nearly as bad as marijuana munchies, but they still happened.