There was a chill in the air that not even the fire before her could quite diminish as the company rested in an alcove overlooking the plains. Athena was huddled between Kili and Fili in silence, trying to ignore the snoring that she already knew was coming from Bombur. After watching him inhale and exhale moths with each of his snores she refused to look over in his direction for the rest of the night. It didn't surprise her when Bilbo was woken by the loud sounds he created in his sleep and she paid little attention as he made his way to his pony.
She looked up when a shriek pierced the air and swallowed the last of her food while Bilbo asked what the sound was.
"Orcs," Kili told him, causing her to raise an eyebrow but otherwise remain silent at the lie he was telling.
"Orcs?" Bilbo asked as he hurried over to them, her unable to hide the chuckle at his reaction as she glanced away from the curious Hobbit and back to the fire.
"Throat cutters. There'd be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them," Fili joined in his brother's jest without missing a beat.
"They strike, in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood," Kili finished, she was unable to help the soft chuckle that escaped her when their laughter made it apparent that it was a joke.
"Leave him be, he's scared enough as it is," she scolded them, though her chuckles made her sentence come out less serious than she had intended. The trio's laughter was soon put to a standstill when Thorin spoke up.
"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?" He asked, no humour in his tone but instead only a quiet rage that dwelled within him, one that no doubt stemmed from pain.
"We didn't mean anything by it," was the closest thing to an apology that left Kili's lips, acting as if he had been scolded by a parent, but instead it was his uncle.
"No you didn't, you know nothing of the world," Thorin responded before he walked away from them all to take some time for himself.
Though she begged to differ with his words because Orcs had once taken something dear from her in the past. The memory of learning of her father's fall was one she could not forget.
"Don't mind him laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs," Balin reassured the trio as he approached and used his arm to lean against the cliff face, Athena raising her head to look over at him curiously. This was a tale that she was not familiar with despite the extensive amount of time that she had spent in the Blue Mountains with Thorin and his nephews. And by Fili and Kili's expressions, she figured that they had not heard it either.
"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had gotten there first," Balin began to explain, "Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race, Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king," at those words Athena lowered her head once more, witnessing the death of a loved one was never easy and she understood that pain all too well. "Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief, he went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him. A young Dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc," she felt the atmosphere shift from one of heartache to one of hope, finding herself enthralled in the story as if it were from a folklore instead of one of truth, "he stood alone against this terrible foe. His armour rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day, that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated, but there was no feast, nor song that night for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one I could follow, there is one I could call king."
It was only after the tale had ended that Athena realised the rest of the Dwarves had awoken and listened, she was too engrossed in the story that she hadn't even heard them rise from their beds and approach.
"And the Pale Orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked, the question directed at Balin but it was not he who answered.
"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago," Thorin practically spat out as he made his way back to the encampment and towards the bedding.
The look that Gandalf and Balin shared did not go unnoticed by Athena, who knitted her eyebrows together at the revelation that perhaps a certain truth is being kept from their king. Perhaps the Pale Orc is not as dead as Thorin would care to believe.
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The journey continued in the morning, there was little time for them to spare on rest. It was no lighter than it had been that night, the sun having yet to rise as the horses and ponies waded through the puddles that the rain left behind. Athena pulled the hood of her cloak tighter over her head to protect her hair, which lay against her back in a braid, from the torrential rain, protected from the harsh conditions that they were travelling in. Being wet wasn't something that she necessarily minded, but it was certainly uncomfortable when travelling. Seeing Bilbo drenched from the conditions struck her heart, he was miserable enough as it was being forced to ride on a pony.
"Do you wish to borrow my cloak?" She offered as she increased her pace so that she could ride beside him.
"Oh, no no don't worry about me. It's just a little rain," he dismissed with a polite smile, not wanting to part the woman from the only thing keeping her relatively dry, "it wouldn't do me much good now anyway," he continued, gesturing to himself with one hand with his other holding firmly onto the reins.
"You are right Mr Baggins, I should have offered it sooner," she responded as her lips curved up into a smile, she could not help the need that she felt to offer protection to the Hobbit, his innocence of the world was endearing to her, though it saddened her to dwell on it as she knew it would be soon be lost.
"Here, Mr Gandalf? Can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori asked the wizard who was riding ahead of them.
"It is raining, master Dwarf. And it will continue to rain until the rain is done! If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard," he countered, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his response.
"Are there any?" Bilbo asked.
"What?"
"Other wizards?"
"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards. Do you know, I've quite forgotten their names."
"And who is the fifth?"
"Well, that would be Radagast the Brown."
"Is he a great wizard or is he... more like you?" Bilbo's question caused a snort to escape from Athena, raising her hand to her mouth to stop the laughter that threatened to escape her.
"I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forestlands to the East, and a good thing too, for always evil will look to find a foothold in this world."
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The company decided to cease their movements for the meantime when they arrived at an abandoned farmhouse, it was obvious that it was no longer in use due to its decrepit state. It was barely holding itself together.
"We'll camp here for the night. Fili, Kili, Athena, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them," Thorin ordered.
The three of them silently agreed to the order as they dismounted their horses. They didn't manage to get far in their duties before Gandalf stormed past the group, stating that he had had enough of Dwarves for one day. Athena met gazes with Fili who only shrugged at her to signal that he also had no idea what had just occurred.
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"If we continue to watch these ponies for any longer I fear I will die of boredom," Athena commented with her head in her hands, perched on a rock as her and the Dwarf brothers sat beside where they were keeping the ponies as per their uncle's instructions.
"I cannot help but agree with you," Kili breathed out, the way that he fiddled with a pebble in his hands before throwing it into the wilderness emphasised how he felt inside.
"Surely we can at least go for a stroll? It's not like they'll run off without us knowing," Fili suggested, standing up from where he was previously seated on a pile of fallen leaves.
"Until someone walks up here only to find that we've disappeared," she responded, sighing a little while she glanced at the ponies before looking back at the Dwarves, "you guys should go. I'll stay and watch the ponies."
"That is hardly fair on your behalf," argued the youngest as he looked over at the woman.
"In all honesty I could use a break from your ramblings that I've had to endure this entire time," she shot back, the twinkle in her eyes giving away that her jab was all in good nature, her comment causing them to smile a little. She was nearly as bad as them when it came to their impulsiveness and lack of regard for the rules but this time she decided it was best to follow them.
"If you are sure?" Fili questioned, his face morphing from one of enjoyment to one of concern.
"Go! Before I change my mind and leave the two of you here instead," they did not need to be told any further before they left her to her own devices and disappeared into the trees that encased them.
As soon as they left her face fell once more, quiet was something she had not become accustomed to after spending two decades with the Dwarves. She was used to bellowing laughter and raised voices of merriment all hours of the day. Now the only sound that kept her company was the occasional snort of the ponies under her guard. Protecting ponies was something she thought she'd never have to be tasked with. Though it did not mean that protecting them could not be fun.
'Surely if I practice my archery there should be no problem? It's not as if the ponies are going to go anywhere and I'll be right beside them, if anything I'll be more prepared as I'll already have my weapon ready should anything threaten them.'
Her mind was made up, but when she reached out for her bow her hand met the open air, the only evidence that it had been lying on the ground was the quiver of arrows that nestled against the rock. Her hand hovered in the air as she stared at the empty space in confusion before she looked in the direction Kili and Fili had walked off in.
"Those little-" she cut herself off as she launched to her feet, rushing into the foliage and forgetting her watch of the ponies as quickly as it had begun.
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"She's going to kill you you know," Fili stated as he watched his brother shoot an arrow into the trunk of the tree.
"Not if she doesn't find out she won't," he retaliated.
He weighed the bow in his hand, smiling at how it seemed to fit so perfectly in whoever's hands held it. It fired arrows faster and smoother than his bow did, despite the Dwarves' disdain for Elves he couldn't help but admit how much lighter and well-crafted the bow was compared to those that his brethren made.
"It's Athena. Of course she'll find out. Remember the last time she caught you with her bow?"
Kili grimaced at the memory, shaking his head a little before readying himself to fire another shot, "then I'll have as much fun with it before she removes my head from my shoulders."
His fingers hovered over the arrow before he heard a yell pierce the air, out of instinct he let go of his arrow and it barrelled to the floor before he attempted to hide the bow behind his back, watching with wide eyes as Athena bounded towards them.
"Where is my bow?" She asked, staring between the both of them
They both shrugged innocently, but they were terrible at lying and she could see right through them. Her gaze landed on Kili, staring daggers at him as she held out her hand. Fili nudged him lightly with his shoulder and Kili sighed before pulling the weapon from his back and placing it in her hands.
As soon as the cool metal touched her palms she took the bow completely and inspected it for any damage, sighing in relief when she saw no extra scratch marks or carvings.
"I may have let you use it if you had only asked," she stated, giving Kili a pointed look.
"I have asked in the past, you always said no," he defended himself.
"That's because the one time I said yes you carved your name into it!" She exclaimed, pointing at the carving on the inside of the bow. True to her word, his name lay within the bow as well as Fili's beside his, though unlike his brother his name had lines marked over it from where he had tried to erase the etching. She all but murdered the both of them when she had found out.
"Okay that was twenty years ago you need to let it go at some point," Kili stated but shrunk back when she whipped her head over at him.
"You two are lucky I'm too tired to be angry," she muttered, relaxing as she slung the bow across her back, sending a small smile their way. She was not too tired to be angry, truth be told she didn't have it in her heart to be mad at either of the two as throughout the years they made their way into her heart, fast becoming her best friends. Her family. She did not have the resolve to remain mad at either of them for more than a few moments.
"Wait, if you're here, and we're here... who's watching the ponies?" Fili asked as he gestured to each of them in turn, the three staring at each other as realisation dawned on them before they took off running back in the direction of where they had left the animals.
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Once they reached the ponies they hurried to do a head count.
"Where are Daisy and Bungle?" Kili asked with concern quickly coming across his face.
"They're right here..." Fili spoke with confidence before trailing off when realising that his count was also missing the two ponies. "Athena, do you know where they are?"j
"Not here," she responded.
The three of them stared at the fourteen that remained, swallowing as it dawned upon them that two of the ponies had been taken under their watch.