The rain had always put Anaynah in one of two moods. The first one was that of euphoria. The feeling of droplets of water, the smell of the thick monsoon air.
The second was that of anger.
And at that moment she was angry.
Their journey the next morning was early and to make things worse, it had been pouring down on them all day long. The company trudged their ponies and horses along the mushy grasslands and woodlands.
Anaynah was soaked from head to toe. Her cloak was proven to be quite useless, as the heavy rainfall has seeped through, fully saturated.
The mood was glum and everyone too was aggravated by the earth's temperament.
"Of all the seasons, we chose the beginning of winter to undertake this journey." Kili huffed under his breath. Anaynah walked along with the brothers beside her, they too thoroughly saturated.
"Well there's our leader," Anaynah said nodding her head towards Thorin who rode a few ponies up ahead, "why don't you take your complaints straight to him, Kili?"
Fili snorted at his friend's remark as that instantly quietened his brother down as he would not dare question his uncle's decisions. Anaynah sent him a playful wink.
Looking around the forest around her, Anaynah realised she was bored out of her mind moving at this slow depressing pace.
"I shall be back, I'm going to go have a look ahead," she said to the young brothers as she nudged Haldor into a trot.
As she moved up the side of the line, she slowed down when she noticed the Hobbit fully soaked and without a cloak or warm jacket.
"Oh, Bilbo dear, can I offer you a spare cloak?" asked the Ranger as she came up beside him.
The poor Hobbit looked incredibly uncomfortable as he blinked the water out of his eyes.
"Uh no thank you, that's quite alright. I think it's a bit late anyway." he politely declined as he awkwardly referred to the fact he was already drenched.
"Well, do forgive me for not offering it sooner."
"Here, Mr Gandalf?" Anaynah turned her head to see Dori calling out to the front of the group, "Can't you do something about this deluge?" he suggested.
"It is raining Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done," Gandalf replied and Anaynah could not help but chuckle at his snarky comment.
"If you wish to change the weather of the world then you should find yourself another Wizard."
Bilbo's ears perked up.
"Are there any?"
"What?"
"Other Wizards?" Bilbo asked in curiosity.
"There are us, the greatest of our order is Saruman the White. Then there are the two blue Wizards... You know I've quite forgotten their names.
"And who is the fifth?"
"Well, that would be Radagast the Brown."
Anaynah smiled at the mention of the fifth Wizard. Though she had not had the chance of meeting him yet, she had heard many a tale from Gandalf of his love for nature.
"Is he a great Wizard? Or is he more like you?"
Anaynah snorted loudly at this remark from the Hobbit. Though she was sure he meant no offence, he surely could have thought of a better way to phrase that as Gandalf appeared slightly offended at the comment and the Ranger's reaction to it.
"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." Gandalf replied, moving past the fact Bilbo accidentally insulted him "he keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the east, and a good thing too for always evil will find a foothold in this world."
______
The day quickly neared its end and it was time to settle again for the night.
The company finally approach what appeared to be an abandoned farmhouse. Thorin briefly scanned the area before he turned his pony around to the group.
"We'll camp here for the night!" Thorin instructed "Fili, Kili, Anaynah! Look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them!"
The trio all shared a glance before giving a solid nod.
The company began to discount their steeds. Anaynah noticed Gandalf was reluctant to make camp here, however, her interest was in the location he mentioned.
The Hidden Valley.
Was it Gandalf's desire to seek out the Elves? Thorin in however was adamant that he would not venture near the place, which bought slight comfort to her.
It didn't take much longer before Gandalf was fed up with Thorin's stubbornness and stomped off towards the forest.
"Gandalf, where are you going?" Bilbo's worried voice sounded.
"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense." The Wizard replied with frustration.
"And who's that?"
"Myself, mister Baggins!" He exploded, Anaynah slightly taken back at his outburst, sharing a wide-eyed look with Kili.
He stomped off into the woods as he muttered to himself about the stubbornness of Dwarves.
"Gandalf!" Anaynah called out nervously as she broke into a jog down the hill to catch up with the Wizard. Gandalf's demeanour softened as he saw the Ranger approach him, stopping when they were a few ways away from the Dwarves.
"You must be on high alert, Anaynah. These Dwarves will end up getting us all in deep trouble." He sighed as he looked down at Anaynah, her brows coming together in desperation.
"Which is exactly why you can't just leave us!"
She pleaded trying to reason with the Wizard. He smiled gently as he gripped her shoulder in comfort.
"Do not fear, young Anaynah. I shant go too far from you." With a final squeeze of her shoulder, he turned around and walked back into the woods, leaving a very anxious Anaynah to her thoughts.
______
Fili leant his head further back into Anaynahs thigh as her slender fingers wove through his blonde locks. He was thoughroly peaceful as he drew breath in her scent, her hands threading through his hair as she braided it with ease.
Anaynah too found it soothing, she had always braided his hair when in the Blue Mountains, and Fili never once complained as he loved to have the intricate braids running through his locks. He also loved the feeling of being so close in her presence.
He stifled a wince as he tugged a bit too hard for his comfort. He did not complain as he did not want her to stop. Watching the ponies was boring enough, might as well find the odd thing or two to do.
Kili let out a heavily exaggerated sigh followed by a heavy groan.
"I do believe I shall be passing away from boredom." he threw the stone he had been fiddling with into the forest as he sat upright from his log. Fili smirked as he let out a sigh of relaxation.
"I must say I agree, brother. However, at this moment I cannot complain too much."
Anaynah blushed gently at Filis's reply.
"Excuse me for not wanting to be put through torture!" Kili gestured to Anaynahs braiding his brother's hair.
Anaynah scoffed slightly offended,
"It is not my fault you cannot sit still, you are just like a child when I try to braid your hair!" she clapped back.
It was true. Unlike his brother, Kili found he did not enjoy his hair being braided and just left it as it was. The number of times Anaynah had tried to tame his mop was unsuccessful. He would simply whine and complain.
"I would not dare try again." Fili let out a hearty laugh and Anaynah grinned widely.
Oh, how she had missed these two. Though the feeling of home was still unknown to her, when around the brothers she believed that was what it felt like. Similar to what she felt with Jahan.
Her thoughts travelled back to him. What he must be doing right now. He has left for his scouting task shortly too after Anaynah departed. She missed him too now greatly. She knew he was not one for solitude and he would niss her presence greatly. It was hard for her to make such strong connections and then simply leave. But she knew better that than to risk her loved ones getting hurt.
Or herself.
Anaynah finished off the last braid and added the delicate beads to the ends, Fili ran his hands through his hair inspecting her fine work. She then wrapped her arms tightly around Filis's neck from behind, he sank back into the embrace, the heat of her skin sending warmth into his skin. Anaynah sighed in contentment with the Dwarf prince in her arms.
"What would you do without me." the Ranger teased, Fili chuckling in response
"Oh, I'm sure we would manage just fine." he taunted her back as he looked up at her.
"Well now don't leave me out!"
Before the pair could comprehend what was happening, they saw the dark-haired Dwarf running full speed into them, lunging forward and tackling them down.
Anaynah fell backwards off the log she was perked upon, with the two brothers falling atop her. It is easy to forget how heavy Dwarves are despite their small stature due to their broad build. And she was reminded of that with both of them landed on her, taking the breath out of her lungs.
The trio grunted in pain and they rolled over away from each other, each one now with a set of bruises and sore spots.
Anaynah sat upright, groaning as she rubbed the back of her head where now a lump was forming.
"Kili, you-"
Turning around, she saw that the brothers quickly got up to their feet and scrambled away into the forest behind them.
Her brows came together in confusion.
What in Valar are they up to?
The Ranger got up to her feet and rubbed the sides of her head, still frazzled by that sudden occurrence. She adjusted her clothing, attaching her sword sheath to her belt and her bow-
My bow!
Anaynah searched around in alarm as she realised her weapon was missing, and that's when it struck her, she knew exactly where her bow was.
Kili and Fili chortled amongst themselves as they jogged away with Anaynah's weapon.
"You're gonna want to run faster than that brother, for if she finds you with that-"
"I just want to have some fun with it while I have the chance!" Kili protested as he notched one of his arrows into the string.
"She loves this piece of wood, do you forget what happened the last time she caught us with it?"
Kili paused for a second as his mind found that memory. He grimaced before shrugging and sending his arrow into the tree in front of him.
A yelp sounded from behind the tree. Kilis's eyes widened in nervousness. Anaynah stepped out from around the tree, her eyes travelling from the arrow that had only just missed her head, to her bow that was in Kili's hands.
"You nearly shot me!"
Anaynah exclaimed as she marched up to him in annoyance. Fili sucked a breath in through gritted teeth as he knew Kili was in for it.
"And with my own bow at that!"
"Key word being nearly." Kili defended himself with a sweet innocent smile to try and get out of the predicament he had found himself in.
Anaynah scoffed at the Dwarf's cheek before snatching her bow from his grasp.
"You know I've always loved its craftsmanship, and you never let me use it!" he protested.
"Well I wonder why that is!" Anaynah exclaimed with sarcasm as she pointed to the shaft of the bow, where Kili and Fili's names had been etched into it many years ago when the pair had first got ahold of her weapon.
He laughed nervously.
"You need to let that go, it was a- Ow!"
Kili was interrupted by a solid smack from Anaynahs bow on the top of his head.
"I guess I deserved that."
Anaynah rolled her eyes as she slung her bow over her back. She chuckled lightly. In truth this had all been slightlytly amusing to her, for she had not the heart to truly be mad at them. It had felt just like old times when their was much less to care for in her life.
"Hang on," Fili broke the silence as he held his hand up with an anxious look on his face "if we are here, and you are here... Then who is watching the ponies?"
Anaynah shared a look of realization with the brothers before taking off as fast as lightning.
______
"12, 13, 14, 15..." Fili trailed off as he realised not all their animals were accounted for, "Anaynah?"
The Ranger was relieved when she saw Haldor was resting in the same spot she had left him, her happiness short-lived thoughts she realised she could not see the other ponies. Turning back around to Fili, she shook her head.
Kili came too from the bushes behind them.
"Theres no trace of them."
Kili huffed out breathlessly.
He marched up and joined the two as they all started absolutely petrified at the sight of the remaining animals.
Two of their ponies were missing and it was their fault.
________
Lil wholesome chapter with a bit of humour for you. I did get the idea of the bow from someone else story but I just can't seem to remember who! If you do recognise it let me know of you know where its from so I can give credit :)
- I <3