THE LAST HEIR OF ISILDUR

CHAPTER 4

꧁ The Misty Mountains ꧂

The company left the Valley of Imladris at dawn, unseen. After a day's travel, the fifteen fellows camped on the slopes of the mountains to spend the night.

During the journey, Arya had got to know better the dwarves and the hobbit. The young woman found them very funny. They had strange manners, of course, they could be rude and vulgar at times, but they were also sweet and with a tender heart. However, the thing she liked the most was their happiness, she didn't understand how they could be so cheerful and carefree knowing what they would face, but she hadn't laughed that much for years. That excluding Thorin and Dwalin, who were mostly in a bad mood and isolated from the group.

Once off the horses, everyone started to prepare their bed for the night, while Bombur lit the fire and began to cook dinner. Arya dropped her things a few feet from the others, placing them between two spikes of rock, where she had found a point comfortable enough not to cause her back pain.

"You shouldn't stay there, you'll feel cold that far from the fire. Come closer, there's room next to me and my brother."

Said a voice at her shoulder.

"Kili don't stress out the lady, if she didn't get close maybe it's because of your smell!"

Bofur scolded him, causing the young woman to giggle and leaving the dwarf baffled.

"Don't worry, Kili, I put myself here not to be a burden."

Having said that, Arya moved her belongings next to those of the two brothers, meeting the smiles of both. They had already grown fond of her, even if they had known her for just a day. They thought she was a sweet and kind girl with an easy laugh. The only downside they found in her was her privacy: Arya didn't talk much about herself and her past, the few things they knew were what she had said to Fili during their meeting the night before.

When Bombur stated that the soup was ready, Arya immediately offered to help Fili and Kili distribute it. The two brothers were more than happy to accept her help: the sooner they finished bringing it to the others, the sooner they ate! The last portion was Bilbo's. Arya had read a lot about hobbits while at Rivendell, she had learned that they were lively and sociable creatures, dedicated to a simple life, mostly rural, which was why she was wondering how such a person ended up in a similar venture. Bilbo, although, seemed different from the traditional hobbit stereotype, always kind and sociable of course, but, in the eyes of Arya, he had something more: perhaps courage, resourcefulness for sure. However she had found him particularly quiet during the trip, he seemed almost sad to have left Rivendell.

"Bilbo?"

She called him to attention, seeing him with his gaze lost in the void, and then handed him his portion of soup.

"Oh thank you, Arya."

The hobbit smiled at her, taking the bowl.

"Everything all right?"

She asked him, sitting on his side, you could sense genuine concern in her voice.

"Yes, I'm fine thank you. I was just lost in my thought."

"And what were you thinking?"

"What it would be like to stay in Rivendell."

The hobbit replied, lowering his gaze, a tone of melancholy in his voice.

"Why didn't you stay, why did you go on?"

Arya then quietly asked him, being careful not to demand too much.

"It was the right thing to do."

He asserted with confidence, and then smiled in the direction of the young woman. Arya found in those words the confirmation of what she had previously thought: Bilbo was different from the other hobbits, there was courage in him, along with a good dose of loyalty and fortitude.