Home ↠ The Hobbit

IX. Stone

The next night had fallen and most of the company sat beside a makeshift fire that they had started, though Rivendell itself would have its own hearths they opted in making their own campfire outside their tents as it made them feel more at home underneath the watchful eye of the Elves.

"You all bathed in the fountain?" Athena asked through her laughter, sat next to Kili on the cot that he was occupying.

"Where else were we supposed to go?" Kili asked her in return, his own laughter almost outdoing hers.

"The baths?" She asked him, her laughs getting louder while she hunched over to try and stop the pain that the extensive sound of happiness was causing her, Kili having to hunch over himself as his own threatened to be heard in the entirety of the town.

Eventually the two settled down into a comfortable silence again. It didn't last long though as Bofur threw Bombur a sausage, the added weight causing the table underneath him to give way. Booming laughter filled the encampment from all that witnessed the display, her ribs once again aching as she held onto her stomach and tried to calm down from their antics.

Finally the laughter one again ceased, the Dwarves milling around in their own groups as they ate with one another and took joy in the time they spent with their brethren.

"If you chose to stay here, none of us would hold you against your decision," Kili spoke up, Athena looking over to meet his gaze with an unreadable expression, "you've been distant since we first walked into Rivendell. Believe me when I say I know how it feels to miss home, even one that you have not seen for so long, or one that you have never seen in my case."

"I did not say this was my home," she replied quietly, tilting her head to the side a little.

"You didn't need to say it. I look at you and then I look at this place and you fit right in. Even if your ears are the same as ours," he remarked as he leaned over to flick one of her ears with a chuckle, her laughing and swatting away his hand.

"I can't lie, I do feel enticed to stay. It's safe and familiar here, and there are people that I have longed to reconnect with. But I cannot leave you, nor can I leave Fili or the others behind. I did that once with someone, and I have never regretted anything more. This was once my home but now I'm not so sure."

Kili nodded at her words, the two sharing a soft and sincere smile. She came on this quest not just because she wanted to avenge the lives that were lost in Smaug's destruction, but also because she wanted to help the brother's regain what is rightfully theirs. Family is not limited to blood, and this was not the first time she had learned that. She longed to return to her own blood, but she would not forgive herself if she abandoned those that she had found so quickly. She made that mistake once and she was not going to do it again.

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The following morning the company was leaving Rivendell, Athena among them as they continued on their journey to the Lonely Mountain. Now with a deadline on their shoulders, it was more important than ever for them to make haste.

"Be on your guard, we're about to step over the Edge of the Wild. Balin, you know these paths, lead on," Thorin instructed, Balin agreeing and stepping to the front of the group. "Master Baggins, I suggest you keep up."

She noticed the way that he glanced back at Rivendell with a longing expression, longing to stay in the safety of the walls. As she passed him she squeezed his shoulder and sent him a reassuring smile which he returned her way, she knew exactly how it felt but now was not the time to look back.

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Their path eventually led them to a narrow mountain passage, the storm that roared above them blurred their vision and caused each of their steps to become more treacherous, the constant threat of falling over the edge looming over each and every one of the fifteen members that tread along the stone mountain.