Bloodstained (Thorin x OC)

Disagreements

Agarwaen woke to sunlight filtering in through the windows. Several dwarves still laid snoring around her, but some were missing. She sat up and looked around, but the house was otherwise empty. After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she got up and checked out on the veranda. Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, Dori, Gloin, and Bifur all sat around the table out there, helping themselves to breakfast.

"Where's Beorn?" She asked.

"Ah, good morning lass. We were just wondering about that actually. Gandalf doesn't seem to be around either. We just found a rather large set of food out here when we were looking for them." Balin explained.

"Oh." She was confused. Why were neither Gandalf nor Beorn there? She figured she'd have to learn the answer to that question later.

Her stomach grumbled at the sight of the breads, honey, jams, milk, and pastries on the table, but she wasn't sure if she should go and sit. Neither Fili, Kili, Bofur, or Bilbo was there to invite her over, and she felt an overwhelming sense of awkwardness around the older dwarves, who were now silent and looked at her. Even if she was now a member of the company, she didn't want to overstep any boundaries. She was about to go back inside, but Balin called after her.

"Are you not hungry, lass? There's plenty here for everyone."

"I just...I wasn't sure if you, well, if you wanted me out here with you." She answered.

"Of course we do. We need to go over our travel plans for the rest of the journey as well, if you don't mind." Balin said, patting the bench beside him. She nervously walked over and sat down across from Thorin. She swept some hair out of her face, before filling a plate with some bread and jam. Everyone else was silent as they ate. Nori broke the silence as he shuffled out onto the veranda, asking where Gandalf was. He was given the same explanation as her, and he ended up taking a seat beside her.

"So," Thorin laid out his map of the northern half of Middle Earth. "How long should it take us to reach the mountain?"

"Well," Agarwaen began, "My advice is to take the old forest road. It will bring us a little farther away, and we'll have to travel through the marshes at the end, but the road itself will take about a fortnight, the marshes might add about three days, and then another fortnight to travel from the edge of the forest to the mountain."

"We have thirty six days to reach the mountain, and we have to prepare for delays. That's cutting it a little close. What about the old elven path?" Thorin pointed further up the map.

"It's overgrown and takes us dangerously close to Thranduil's kingdom." Agarwaen shook her head.

"Alright, but how long would it take, assuming we don't run into elves?"

"Still about 17 days or so."

"So we're looking at 33 days or what, about 25?"

"That little bit could make all the difference." Dwalin said.

"Not if we have arrows in our skulls." Agarwaen countered.

"Is the path guarded? Or even visible from his kingdom?" Thorin asked.

"No. But I still think it's too close. Not to mention we would have to cross the enchanted river."

"The enchanted river?" Balin asked.

"Yes, anything that falls in or touches the water falls into a deep sleep for Eru knows how long. I remember there being a bridge at one point, but I'm not sure about now. The river branches out from the forest river, and ends near the mountains over here. Going around it either way would add an extra week."