I walked through the dense forest, leading the company down an invisible path I've lodged in my mind over the years. I played with the necklace Fili had given me as we walked, climbing over logs that laid in our path. Bilbo stuck to my side, pushing away leaves that hung in our way.
"Where are we going?" Thorin questioned, waking a branch away with his sword.
"Somewhere, where orcs will never dare go and mortals aren't aware of." Gandalf answered, pushing a branch gently away as he continued walking. "A safe place to rest and gather a few more things before continuing the journey."
Thorin scoffed, "No place is safe from orcs, especially from Azog."
I smirked, "Oh trust me." I turn my head to look at the dwarves behind me. "They won't dream of setting foot in here." I added, before looking back ahead. I pushed aside the bushes to reveal a large lake with sparkling blue water, however, the lake wasn't too big as a person could walk around it in just a few hours. The sun's rays danced along the bright green grass and leaves, flowers of different colors sprouted from the ground, covering the grassy floor in a ray of colors.
Bilbo and the dwarves looked around in awe at the scenery before them, birds flying from branch to branch, their songs echoing across the forest. A doe and her fawn walked right past us without a second thought, leading her child to the water to drink.
"They aren't afraid of us?" Bilbo questioned, sounding a bit confused yet shocked.
"Of course not." I say, catching his attention. "They have never seen people before." I explain calmly, watching as the doe simply glanced at us before trotting away with her fawn following behind. The fawn stopped to look at us for a moment, before running after the doe.
I walked away from the group to place down my back Thorin gave me by the tree, before saying, "We can set up camp here. But no fires." I say firmly, gaining their attention. "Especially by this tree." I added, pointing to the large tree where I put my bag.
"Then how are we going to see?" Bofur questioned as he walked up to me with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Oh trust me." I say as I walk past him to walk by the shore of the lake. "There will be plenty of light at night." I say, crouching down by the water, looking down into it.
"Then how are we going to cook!?" Bombur questioned, most of the dwarves grumbling in agreement.
"Simple." I say, grabbing a hold of a large black rock in the water, dragging it out onto the shore with a small grunt. "You use this, leave it out in the sun long enough ... it'll cook about anything." I say as I walk away, leaving them there.
"Where are you going!?" Bofur called out after me.
"Wondering!" I answered back, walking into the forest. "You can't go out there alone!" I heard Thorin shout from behind me, but I didn't listen as I made my way through the forest, to the one place I must go.
Bilbo's POV
I watch as Saharia disappears into the brush. "Does she even listen?" Thorin grumbled, crossing his arms as he glared at the spot Saharia was just standing in.
"She does, she just chooses to ignore you." Gandalf answered, walking away from the group over to where Saharia's bag was.
"Should we go after her?" I question, looking away from the spot Saharia disappeared behind to look over a Gandalf.
"Leave her be. She has something she needs to do." Gandalf spoke, looking over at me sadly, before letting out a sigh. "For now, let's find some food." He spoke, his attitude shifting to normal.
Everyone agreed as we separated into pairs, Gandalf stayed at the campsite to wait for Saharia to return, while I was stuck with Thorin. Which I didn't mind, we were now on better terms than when we started out with, I would even dare consider us friends.
I scanned across the brush, looking for anything edible as Thorin looked up into the trees. It was silent between us, a comfortable silence, but silence nonetheless. "What do you know about Saharia?" Thorin asked all of a sudden.
I whirled my head around to look at him, to see he was now looking down at me with his arms crossed. I blinked up at him confused, "I beg your pardon?"
"You and Saharia have been close since the start of the journey. What do you know about her?" Thorin questioned once more, his stance relaxing as he spoke, going back to look up in the trees.
I sniffled lightly as I slipped into thought, not knowing what I was really allowed to say or not to say. "Well ... why don't you ask Fili and Kili? They hang out with her almost as much as I do. Or have you asked Gandalf, he's known her longer." I say, hoping for him to ask them rather than me. Saharia entrusted me with her secret, I really don't want to break her trust.
"I've already asked them, they don't really know much besides her personality and her book." Thorin put in, picking an orange from a tree, throwing it up in the air before catching as he turned his head towards me. "As for Gandalf ... he won't say much anyway."
I shrug, he was right about that. Gandalf would probably say something riddle-like, telling Thorin that he should ask her himself or that she's ... something. "Ok, what would you like to know?" I ask, eyeing a bush out of the corner of my eye with blueberries on it. Saharia loves blueberries, according to her anyway, I've never seen her eat them.
"Anything that desires importance." Thorin answered, as he picked a few more oranges from the tree.
I let out a long sigh as I started picking the blueberries, "Well ... um, her favorite color is coral, she also loves snacking on blueberries." I say, unsure of what he wants to hear.
He lets out a hum, "At least it's something I don't know."
I then straighten up after slipping a few blueberries into my pocket, seeming to think for a moment. "She's different from us." I start out, "In what she sees as home anyway."
Thorin looks over at me with interest sparkling in his eyes, "What do you mean?"
"She sees home as two different things. One is where you live, a place you go to after a hard day's work, a building I guess I should say. The other is the people that are around you often, like family and friends, the people that make you feel at home." I say, keeping my eyes on the berry bush before looking over at Thorin, who was looking at me in shock. "She asked me which one I missed in Rivendell." I spoke, looking back over at the bush. "I ... didn't really know what to say, so I said it was a bit of both. When I asked her... " I trailed off looking over at Thorin who was looking at me with interest. "She said she never missed the first option, but she misses the second option everyday, that she had others help her feel that way but the gap will forever be there."
"She lost her family." Thorin spoke after a small moment of silence, looking down towards the ground sadly. "But ... how?"
I begin to feel slightly nervous, unsure if I was allowed to say this or not. But ... we got this far, there is no harm in telling him. "A dragon." I answered, causing Thorin to look up at me in shock, his blue eyes wide.
Saharia's POV
I walked up to where two large trees grew, two smaller trees on either side of the larger ones. I went down onto the ground, criss crossing my legs as I placed my hands on my knees. "Hello mother, hello father." I spoke, nodding to the two large trees. "Brother, sister." I say, nodding to the two small trees.
"I have met a few new people. It's a whole group of dwarves! One of them is king of the Lonely Mountain, he also has two nephews with him." I say with a bright smile. "There is also a hobbit, he's very brave, even though he doesn't think so. Who knew something so small could hold so much!" I say with a bright smile. I let out a small laugh, "Don't get me started on Fili and Kili, they are bunch of trouble makers. This morning they stole Dwalin's axe and made him look for it for hours." I then looked down towards the grass as the wind picked up slightly, the sun's rays slowly disappearing over the horizon as I sat before the trees, telling the story from where Gandalf stopped by to the present.
I then noticed the darkening sky, looking up to see a navy blue taking over the sky. "I should get going." I say as I stand up, looking back over towards the trees. "Goodbye." I say as the wind picked up more, causing the trees to move in a wave like motion, as if they were waving goodbye.
I walked back into the forest, moving through the dense brush as I made my way back to camp. I find Gandalf, smoking his pipe as he leaned against a tree. I watched as he made smoke rings, seeming to wait for the others to return. "They haven't returned yet?" I question, stepping out from my little hiding spot as I walk over towards Gandalf.
"Not yet, no." Gandalf answered, watching as I sat down next to him, pushing up my bracelet Fili gave me a bit more up my arm. "Tell me my dear, how long has it been since you came here?" Gandalf questioned.
I think for a moment, looking out towards the lake before answering, "Around ... twenty years I think? Not too long." I look back up at him, the grey wizard humming in reply.
"I must apologize." Gandalf spoke, causing me to look at him with a raised brow. "I shouldn't have asked this of you, this is a secret place for you and your kind."
I shake my head, "It is fine Gandalf, I honestly would have recommended this place to be our next stop if you hadn't said anything." I smile as I watch the forest light up as the fireflies put on their light show. "It's safe and very peaceful here. Perfect place to gather our thoughts and rest." I look back up towards Gandalf, who smiled in agreement.
We then look over to where the bushes were rustling, walking out as none other than Fili and Kili, a bunch of fruits gathered in their arms. Following them, more of the company walked out, each one of them having an arrange of fruits. "Did no one find any meat?" Ori questioned, looking around at everyone with wide eyes.
"What's the point, we don't even have a fire." Dwalin spoke, agitation laced in his tone.
"But, I-"
"That rock ain't going to do anything!" Dwalin snapped as he dropped his load.
"Master Dwalin!" Gandalf growled in return. "You'll be wise to treat Saharia with respect, especially in her own home."
Everyone looked at me in shock, as their mouths closed. "Gandalf, you know this hasn't been my home in ages." I say with a small smile before standing up, dusting myself off. "I'll go find you boys some fresh meat. I'll be back in a moment." I walk off towards the lake, a frown forming along my lips. I do miss this place sometimes.
Third POV
Dwalin slouched his shoulders, looking down in shame as Saharia walked past the company, towards the lake. He gulped as he could feel Gandalf's glare resting on him. "She lived here? But there aren't any houses ... or people." Bofur questioned, sitting down not too far from the grey wizard as he began taking a bite out of an apple.
"Is there something we missed on our way here?" Dori questioned, looking at everyone for confirmation.
They all either shook our heads or shrugged, except for Bilbo that is who took his seat next to the wizard. "She never lived in a house, ever since she was born. She mostly slept right here in this area, played here, hunted here, learned here, and many other things." Gandalf explained as he smoked on his pipe.
"So ... she never had a single place to call home?" Kili asked, sitting down besides Bofur with a tangerine in his hands.
"Not a building no, but she prefers it that way. She hates sleeping on a bed, her favorite thing to sleep on is moss I believe." Gandalf explained, sounding unsure.
"And what about her people?" Dwalin questioned, shrugging off his guilt for the moment, and instead focused on the conversation at hand.
"Hm, they prefer to live solo until they find their lover at least anyway. Sometimes they stick around with their family but most of the time they go off to explore the world." Gandalf spoke with a small shrug.
"Then how do they know she is their queen?" Thorin questioned, crossing his arms.
"Not everyone needs a crown or kingdom to let their people know they are the ruler Thorin." Gandalf spoke with a small, knowing, smile.
"What about her family?" Ori asked innocently, both Bilbo and Gandalf exchanged a look if they should tell them, even Thorin seemed uncertain, not knowing if it was really his place to say.
"They died." Everyone turned around to see Saharia carrying pieces of boar meat in her arms. She crouched down in front of the black rock before placing two pieces of meat across it, the meat sizzling as it began to cook. "A dragon came through here, I was hunting at the time, far from here." Saharia explains as she watches the meat cook. "I came back to this place covered in ash, the lake blood red, and four bodies lying not too far from the lake." Saharia spoke as she flipped the meat before standing up, seeing everyone's eyes look away in sadness. "I was only a teenager when that happened, I wasn't found by Elrond till I was fully grown."
Kili then hit Ori's shoulder lightly, "Way to go."
"I was just curious." Ori mumbled, rubbing the spot on his arm where Kili hit.
"He's fine." Saharia says, smiling softly, "It happened a long time ago. Besides in my opinion, the forest looks much more beautiful than it did before." Saharia added, looking around for a moment before looking back over towards the company.
Thorin looked towards the ground, thinking she wasn't much different as himself.
??? POV
I sat on top of the pale warg, looking straight into the forest where the warg tracked their scent. "Should we go in?" An orc questioned, looking up at me, waiting for the command.
"No." I spoke firmly, guiding my warg away from the forest.
"But they are right there." The orc stated, gesturing to the forest with one of its fingers.
"Going in there is a death sentence." I say, the rest of the pack following behind me. "We will wait for them to leave." I spoke with a smirk, leading the pack away from the forest, to wait for them to come crawling out.