Five - Pt. 4 -

Chapter 5 in which Sarah makes a discovery and an unlikely bond...

For once in my life, I felt like the tallest person in the galaxy.
Literally everyone around me was shorter and I loved it.
You don't know the pain of everyone else always being taller, even other girls.
Unless, of course, you're short too, then, may God be with you, you poor unfortunate soul you.

"Uhhhh...where do I start?"
Where DO I start? I certainly can't start a conversation off with 'I was kidnapped', especially when your kidnappers could show up at any minute and any ounce of respect you have earned from your new friends kicks in and they try to protect you, there would be a major crossfire.
Sooooo, yeah.

"Well, let's see...as I told Kili Pie here, I wanted to go out and..try things. So..I met with these four men along the way who, helped me, on my travels. And they're...sort've..assisting me in.. going to new places and--stuff." You filthy little liar.
"And um..." I licked my lips and looked away for a moment.
"--I dunno, things just haven't been working out since I got here...."
Scratching my scalp, I moved my eyes to the ground and took a deep breath.
This wasn't easy..forming a story that was simple and pure and innocent to a bunch of mythical shorties.
I first had to carry in secret my real identity and now the affiliation of my traveling companions. great.

But there was one part I COULD spill the beans about.
"Upon arriving, we were soon captured by the elves...and taken to their king, who decided it was best to...execute us." I nodded slowly as I stared straight at Thorin.
"But uh-- the king's son and the captain of the guard...Legolas and Tauriel...they...took pity on us and..broke us out." I did a shrug. "We escaped, and I wind up getting some help from some....." oops..
"...Local wildlife." I eyed the others.
Thorin had a hateful look in his eye. His racism was kicking in.
But he said nothing. He held his tongue.
"--We made it to the river, but..it went haywire and the only way safely across was this fallen tree that stretched to the other side-- so I volunteered to go first since I'm the lightest...and well, the tree's middle wasn't strong enough, apparently, and it snapped and I fell through. The water carried me, throwing me a bunch of times to the bottom, of course...but it carried me off and I went unconscious."
Gentle clap of the hands.
"And then I woke up. To you guys."
Finished... I held my tired head and rubbed my sore eyes.
"--So...I'm separated from my companions, hopelessly lost and now I can't find my medicine that Tauriel gave me which was the ONLY thing that's gonna help---" I paused.
"Medicine?" I knew Thorin couldn't resist. My eyes moved his way.
"---Ever since I've gotten here, I've been really sick...and she said that medicine was gonna cure me. That was my only chance, but now it's gone.." Sigh. "..I lost it."

Thorin looked to Kili.
Kili shifted. "I asked the others if they saw it; they did not, uncle."
Thorin looked down, somewhat disappointed, it seemed.
I rubbed my temple, stressfully. "This day has been a very fine reflection of my life."
I heard a chuckle. "Well..you wanted adventure...I imagine you got it."
"hnnnnnnnn...."
"But the real question is," I glared at Dwalin and his big suspicious mouth.  
"How do you know of us? You seemed too familiar with this company on our first encounter."

Dwalin

All eyes looked to me in remembrance. I shifted, uneasily.
...
What do I even say?
"...I do like apples."
All of them, and I mean all of them, shared the exact same confused expression.
"...I beg your pardon?"
"No, I'm not."
"I--" "We--" "uhh..."
"No sir, Alabama is the capital of Russia & Country."
"I don't think--"
"Um.."
"..."
"Just send her back."
Dori pat me on the back and I bowed my head in shame.
"Miss Sarah...are you feeling alright??"
"What? Speak up, sir." I was so mean, I could hear him perfectly.
"How are you feeling?!" Dori rose his voice a little, still trying to be polite, bless his soul.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak Arabic, it's just not my way."
I could actually feel the frustration evaporating into the air.
"I'm so sorry." "It's fine." "I need that medicine." "Yes, you do." "Desperately."
"We can see that."
"So anyway, I need to be useful." I set my bowl down and sat up straight, taking a deep, tired breath.
"Agreed."
Well gosh, Thorin.
He gestured my attention to the others. "If you'd be so kind as to help them collect some more firewood.."
I glared at the others. "....Wood...I'm to collect...wood.....ok."
I rose up and started off, "Ok then, boys, let's head out."
"Head out where?" Gloin questioned.
"Yeah, sorry, we're already out. Off, then."


Gloin

My new sort've friends nodded their heads and got up, as well, already making off to work.
"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go!"
"Miss Sarah! Why didn't you eat your supper?!"
"Let's off-to-work a little faster, gents!" I hurried away.
~
Forgive me if I'm spoiled by modern food, or better yet, substances with flavor, but honestly.
I don't need to stoop so low.
But it wasn't the food that was making me nauseous.

The forest was still pesky and I didn't trust it. For good reason, it seemed.
The elven magic was working it's voodoo on my brain and stomach.
But ya know.......picking through that area...having a little time to myself, away from the others...
it got me thinking.
What if.......the forest....wanted  me to be found by the dwarves??
What if it purposely disrupted the natural flow of the river, the tree to fall across and to wind up breaking beneath me, and have the water current change and carry me off to the dwarves?
I dunno......the entire trip so far had been absolute bonkers, so y'know, I probably wasn't too far off.

And why was I even getting sick, what was up with that?
Ugh, it was all strange and I didn't understand any of it.
I just wanted to visit Middle-Earth, not all these complications.
Why was everything I wanted met with such hostility and retaliation and I was literally just standing there every time? Just deal  with it, world. I have an opinion, I have wants, I have needs, ugh.
And then this whole matter of me losing the medicine and that god-awful headache I kept having....
speaking of which, ow.
No seriously, OWWWWWW.

My stack of firewood fell from my arms as I immediately gasped and grabbed my head.
My poor, sore, throbbing  head.
I couldn't help it anymore. Not one bit.
I collapsed to my knees and ground my teeth to sawdust as the pain became greater and greater.
Pretty soon, it got to be completely overwhelming, and the pain was expressed, quite verbally, as I began to yell. Hot, excruciating waves of the most ballistic pain imaginable hit me like an explosion.
I didn't know what to do with myself, except just sit there and hurt.
The pain was coming like never before.
I and my entire body fell on my side and I started to shrivel like a dying bug, as my head literally felt like it was about to erupt like the Pompeii volcano.
It was winning. Whatever was happening to me was winning and I couldn't do a thing about it.

Girls would probably be blubbering at this point, for sure---but me, I usually counteract the chance to cry with losing my temper. In other words, I get angry.
I tensed my whole body up so tight and screamed against the brutality my own body was causing me.
But alas....there was nothing I could do to stop it.

That's when I heard very distant rustles..and then..
"Miss Sarah?..." "Lady Sarah..??"
...
"Miss Sarah!!" "Oh no..!"

The rustles became footsteps that rumbled all the way to me.
Here, I was rolled away from my current position, and on to my back.
I couldn't SEE who came to my aid, for my arms that now were clasped around my head blocked my vision...but I recognized the voices.
Bilbo and Dori, bless their souls.
For some reason, those two seemed to be quite fond of little old me.
That's where I heard a third voice..
"Hey!...There you are....what are you doing??....what are you looking a----"
I heard what sounded like another pile of wood fall to the ground and spread out like a shock wave.
"Oh no!! Miss Sarah!!" Bofur went into a scramble. "WHATTA WE DO, WHATTA WE DO?!"
"Get her to Thorin!" The two yelled as they struggled to try and get me up.
"Oh!--right--yes--of course!" He hurried back to camp. I heard a distant, "Thorin! Thorin!!"
"GET! GET HER TO THORIN, NOT CALL FOR HIM!"
Bilbo was rather unamused.

I couldn't let this go on. "I'm alright, I'm alright!" I shooed them off, trying to hold myself up, still in pain.
"Begging your pardon, miss, but you're in no sort to be running about. You be getting your rest, get some strength, and I'll fetch you up some more stew as soon as you wake again."
"But--" I tried. "Miss.." I failed.
"Please forgive the rudeness, ma'am, but hush."

.....Well.

"Yes, he's right, miss Sarah..." Bilbo added in. "..you need rest."
The two shorties struggled and struggled to get me moving.

Honestly, though...if all that was to eat was left-overs upon consciousness....I didn't want to wake up.
- - -
Sooner or later, indeed.
The rest of the company, upon hearing Bofur's squirrel squawks, all rushed to the scene in a frenzy.
Poor Bilbo and Dori were losing their strength trying to help me and were beginning to cave in.
Kili and Bofur were the first ones to help out. Ori tried to squeeze in hurriedly, but there was no room, so he stood back, no doubt feeling helpless.
The other dwarves flapped their arms around and made a lot of confused noises as they watched their brethren struggle to help me.
Thorin pitched in, which was unexpected...but Dwalin, who was arguably the strongest and toughest among the dwarves, just stood there, watching in amusement.
Why, I oughta...

"Hurry, bring her back to camp!" Thorin yelled, behind me.
The rest of dwarves either ushered us or went behind us to recollect the firewood.
Oops. I now felt utterly useless; I couldn't even bring them firewood.
- - -
Back at camp, the dwarves added the wood to the fire and it burned brightly as the forest became darker.
I was rested against a rock, a large cloth tucked underneath me to give me some cushion.
"Is that better?"
"All good." I lied. I just wanted them to go away and let me rot in peace.

"Before you know it, lady Sarah, that ache will be gone upon some proper rest!"
Dori smiled, bowed and walked off.
Easy for you to say! That's what I thought, too, when I woke up in my cell.
But the pain kept coming back, with a vengeance.
Sigh......but thinking about it, perhaps I was somehow distracting the party.
They certainly were acting 100% more civilized than they were in the story, being in this forest.
The spiders were no where to be found..and the elven magic, however wretched it was, seemed to be behaving and not toying with all of our minds. Or maybe it was just focused on me right now.
I WAS an outsider.
Who knows, though....maybe me coming to the lot was a good thing....
perhaps, even, it was not  an accident.

As I settled (or at least tried) Bilbo gave a good long look at my clothes.
"You certainly have strange garbs....for a--a lady..of course."
I chuckled, painfully.
"They're customary where I come from. Or at least they should be. I don't exactly follow the 'status quo' laid out for gals. I'm rather a bit of a rebel.."
He smiled at this.
"You know..." He peeked behind me, then leaned in close, flopping his little hand.
"--I'm a hobbit.." Yes, I know. "--We aren't supposed to BE outside of Hobbiton.."
I glared at him and his smile returned. He shrugged. "--but here I am."
I smiled as best as I could. "...yeah.."
I turned my head away for a moment.
"Are you a very long way from home?"
I looked back. "...you can say that.."
He paused. "Do you have..any family?"
I breathed a painful breath. "..lots."
Another pause as he nodded his head. "..Do you miss them?"
I paused myself and wound up zoning out on a tree ahead of me.

Miss them...my family...home...I hadn't had time to think of that...I was so busy with all this nonsense, I didn't stop to think..hey...what about  my home? What about  my family?
This wasn't any picnic and I did  miss them.
I actually felt terrible now for just leaving them.
Then again....it wasn't really my choice.
I either I went along with my villainous companions or I died.
Quite simple, really.
Until I get done with what needed to be done...my family would just have to wait for me.

I removed my hoodie to cover me with as a blanket sort've thing.
My upper torso needed to quit being greedy and share the warmth.
Not that I don't like the cold, it's just that my hands were getting dangerously numb.
Bilbo didn't approve of this, though.
"No, no!"
He got up and went to his things, making me freeze in place--
he then came back, with a REAL blanket in his possession.
He lifted it up, standing over me.
"Here..." He then opened it and spread it across me; it smelled of horse, but whatever.
"---to keep you warm."
I smiled, faintly, and looked up at him. "Thanks.."
Sweetest hobbit ever. ♥
He was every ounce as nice as he was in the book and movies.

I shifted, the pain of my headache coming back.
"Now get outta here, half pint...I need some rest."
He paused for a moment, then nodded. "Oh--well--yes, sorry.." He smiled, then bowed his tiny head & walked back to his spot. "Have a good evening! Or..rest of it...sleep well!"

I laid there alone, every so often peeking at the dwarves, who were all having seconds of the horrible tasting stew, most of them huddled around the fire. The wood we collected was put to good use.

I was still in massive pain, but I managed.
All this....still felt like a dream. A dream I wanted never to wake up from.
There are pro's and con's to everything, naturally.
Such as this bLOODY HEADACHE I WAS RECEIVING.
This was NOT the way I wanted to visit a fictional land, body!!
*sigh*
Again, there was nothing I could do. I was stuck.
Incurable, in pain, in depression, in tired, in lost...lost...crap.
I was lost. The others. The others I hadn't even thought about.
What those four louts must've been up to in my absence now had me worried and shifting uncomfortably.
No supervision for villains means trouble and mischief and murder and mayhem and oh meh gawrd,
what had I done. stupid weight and gravity. If I hadn't have fallen, I mean, really.
All five of us were in a strange new world; a timezone zero of us fully understood.
They did everything the hard way here and we were all privileged modern monkeys..
so how exactly could we manage?

I held my head....ugh, the pain was returning so strong.
Hated it with just as strong a passion.
No fair my dream finally coming true and I was the one who was ruining it!

I sighed, tiredly, for what felt like the millionth time; then I turned on my side.
I was now facing the dwarves, who were all laughing and cheering merrily,
as they went on for many minutes, eating and conversing.
Before I knew it, my vision began to blur and fade...and I slowly drifted off, little by little-
all sound and clarity becoming distorted and foggy.
My head gently rested against the rock's surface, my body relaxing more and more,
until my brain caved in and decided to let me rest.
Finally, actual REST. I mean like, rest - rest.
You have rest and then you have REST.
I was getting actual sleep and it felt like heaven.

And this time, I was dreaming.

- - -

Now naturally, I've been dreaming my whole life.
But this time, it was different. I already felt like I was hallucinating everything else.
This was just weird, though.

You probably know that feeling by now.
That feeling where in a dream, you stand there and experience an uncontrollable set of events...
and you feel like, all funny inside, cuz it's all just so weird but familiar and you know and see what's happening almost in second person view, yeah?
Like you're seeing yourself seeing everything....anyway.
Me, though, I was feeling a rush I can't even begin to describe.
And it wasn't bad. In fact, I loved it.
I was packing in tons of energy and felt like I was...I don't know.. powerful.
Next thing I know, I felt like I was literally flying. And it was awesome.

Unlike most dreams, I could actually watch my dream create itself.
At first, everything was pitch black for what felt like forever, but was in reality only a fraction of a second.
And suddenly, boom.
An enormous strobe of light turned everything around me white. Yes, I was blinded.
I put my hands infront of me as if the source of the light was infront of me, but it was everywhere.
Coming from all sides. My eyes were hurting, so I wanted to close them- but I couldn't.
Something  wouldn't let me.
I felt helpless for a moment, until not a minute later, everything around me changed;
and I mean EVERYthing.

Something suddenly grabbed me simultaneously and I was pulled forward as my surroundings went backwards.
Speed of sound wouldn't even be a good description for how fast everything, including myself, was going. We were going so fast, I could feel my head splitting.
In the corners of my eyes, I could actually see images. Flashes is all they were.
Scribbles filled my head and nothing was clear. It was here I made the mistake of looking...
and then bam; everything was clear.
The images I was passing were ones of characters. So many characters.
More than even I had ever seen.
I tried to name them all in accordance to their appearance, but it was impossible at this speed.
I tried to stop this, but the force that had a hold of me wouldn't allow it.
It was as if a magic force field popped infront of everything and was preventing me from controlling a thing.
My mind spun, my vision blurring.

I tried to move, but it was useless. I had no control.
So I went back to the only thing I could do; try to make out the images.
I knew the faces passing me at once, as well as the names. As soon as I concentrated.
But it wasn't just characters I was seeing.
...my parents..my friends....Spencer....??

Spencer...I never did hear back from him. I admit I hadn't thought of him much after that night.
But the images I was now seeing weren't images at all-- it was full motion...like a movie.
Right before my eyes, I watched it happen. Spencer..he was in trouble.
Almost like a blur, I saw him being dragged out from a vehicle by large quantities of strong looking men dressed in black, unable to escape.
I could tell he was screaming and yelling, but his voice came out silent.
Everything came out silent.
I wanted to help him, I tried, but I was just as powerless.
Before seconds could pass, he was brought into a strange looking building, where he disappeared inside.
I couldn't follow him. I wiggled my body, but nothing would budge. This was stupid.

Without my consent, I was shown something else. Or more like several things.
My room. It was empty.
Then my sort've car, which was still at the Pizza Hut parking lot, except it was being towed.
Not my beetle!! :(
But it was still dark outside, what the heck?
Yeah, wait, then I saw a crowd scattered about the area. And police. And men in suits.
And men with notepads.
And Buck, the guy I order pizzas from, he was there talking to the men.
Everyone either looked worried or intrigued, and I now knew why.
I was gone, missing. For all they knew, I had been kidnapped.
Well, actually, that's exactly what happened, so...

Then I saw a limo. Then...a man....tall...with light hair....and another man..shorter...with a--
crap, they disappeared!
Oh come on!

Then another scene took place..two men..they stood over something..or someone.
And they were wearing weird looking suits.
I couldn't make out their faces, though.
But I do know that they were grinning, so they must've been some sick creeps.
Well, I didn't have much insight on that one, either.
I now saw darkness...an actual area with nothing but darkness.
And in the middle of that darkness was a large orb..it glowed..and in it, I could see me.
I was laying down..and then..well..that's when a figure appeared.
I could see them clear as day-- but my mind again prevented me from saying who.
Even the name was blocked from my thoughts. I couldn't guess.
How infuriating that I was looking at someone and I knew who it was,
but I couldn't know who it was.
?Ss;w;ls
Anyway....no-name was standing infront of the orb...or you know, behind it?
My view was further off, where their side--and partial back-- was facing me.
That's when I saw what they were doing.
They were watching me.
I was being watched.

And like that, the scenery changed. sigh.
And I was quickly transported to a subway. No, not the restaurant.
The train type-thing area. The one where you get on the train type-thing.
Subway station or whatever.
It was filthy and noisy. I looked at the ground and what?
This time it was different; it wasn't just perspective, I was there.
I stood amongst the filthy environment and looked around..
that's when I spotted.... him.
That boy. That boy from before.
The boy I only saw twice, but he stuck in my head like a bad song.
That boy I thought I recognized, but did I?
I looked at him and I knew.
Something.
I dunno what I knew.
But I knew it.

He was bending down and looking for something on the ground.
I hurried around him and bent down, as well. I got close to him...could he hear me? Could he see me?
Gawrsh, he was beautiful.
Sorry, I can't help myself..

He was feeling the ground; why, how should I know?
But he looked focused, so it must've been important.
This was the longest I'd been around him so far, for more than just a few seconds,
so I got a chance to study him.
His hair was all pretty and black and shaggy and just barely covering his eyes.
His eyes, from what I could see, were such a bright green, they didn't even look real. They glowed.
And he had the palest skin. Paler than me, even.
He was so unnatural and ridiculously attractive, it hurt. A man's not allowed to be prettier than me.
Ok, I know I should shut up about this junk, but he made my heart flutter.
I'm serious. Being around him was...different.
He made me feel secure...and happy...and excited..and everything all at once.
I never felt this around anyone else, and believe me, I've been around people.
Look at who I was traveling with.
This guy had some real voodoo working on me.

Well...he apparently found what he was looking for. Cuz he grinned real wide in a majorly adorable way...
I mean, seriously, look at dem pearly whites..but what passed his lips made me jaw drop to da flor, mon.

Found ya, Sarah

HE KNEW MY NAME, WHAT?

Miss Sarah??

....?!?!!?!

Miss Sarah!

ZOOOOOMMM!!!!!!!!!!


WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT

What was happening?!
Everything shattered like glass all around me, almost in slow motion,
and before I could do anything, mystery boy---well, he was gone.
He was zooming away and becoming smaller and smaller.
No! Come back, you handsome devil!
He was gone and so was everything else.
That's when I realized HE wasn't the one zooming away..I was.

I was being pulled away at lightning speed again, everything around me exploding in chaos.
And yes, I screamed. You would, too.
The blinding strobe of light returned and I couldn't see anything
and then my body sprung forward, me gasping like a fish out've water,
breathing like I had just come back to life, and I was dazed and confused
and I sat there staring forward like an idiot, as my head came back to reality.
I was breathing a bit difficultly.

In the corner of my eye sat Bofur.
I glared at him, still hyperventilating, and he looked a little reluctant at first,
but he wound up smiling, holding up a bowl. "Food."

~ ~ ~

Goodie. Woken up just to eat the pot stew again.
I'd rather sleep and perish, honestly.

I sat at the log from before, with all the dwarves laughing and eating,
as the forest seemed to be getting even darker. My head still boggled at what just happened...
as well as me waking up to characters for the upteenth time.
Still couldn't get past it. I don't think I'll ever get past it.

"How long was I out?" I asked Balin, still in a daze.
"For many hours, my lady. I noticed you were starting to stir, so I fetched Bofur out to wake you."
He gently patted my shoulder. "Feel any better?"
I was tired and groggy and yuck..but I nodded my head, even so, albeit reluctantly.
"Yes...a little..but it won't last long. I need to find that medicine if I want any chance of being normal again.."

I looked to the pot the others were crowding over.
"What're we having? Lunch? Breakfast? Dinner?"
"Just a late meal before we all go to rest."
I glared at him. "Sooo you'll all be sleeping soon?"
He nodded, preparing his bowl to get some stew.
My face crinkled with disgust at the thought of the food. "Left-overs?"
"Actually, we found a rabbit!" Nori said with pride. "We're having rabbit stew!"


Nori

Oh dear..rabbit stew?! I'd rather have pot stew!
Why couldn't they have found a moose?! Or a deer!
I only eat kosher meats, you see. I know I'm sounding like a total food geek, but it's true.
And I know it's said you can eat something if you're desperately hungry or if someone offers it to you,
you shouldn't offend them, but I just didn't wanna take any chances!
I wasn't that desperate and I just--no.
"Uhhh..no thanks. I already ate..still full from that..you guys need it more than I do."
I tried to contain the creaks coming from my stomach as I held it, tightly.
I swear, I was going to get so fat when I got back to civilization, from all the pizzas, hot dogs, burgers
and spaghettis I was gonna devour.
But truth be told, I already eat like a pig and no matter what I do, I always seem to stay skinny.....
yes, I'm one of those friends.

Bofur pouted a little. "Are you certain?"
"I'm always sure."
Such glum dwarves. neehhhhh.
"Are there any moose in the area?"
"None that we can find."
"jskjsjjksjkwj"
"What?"
"Gesundheit."
I rubbed my eyes.
I really, desperately needed that medicine. Or perhaps just to get out of that forest.
It was the only area I had been in since entering Middle-Earth.

Yet again, the thought crossed my mind; the others. Where in the heck were they?
Did they not see that I was carried off in a certain direction?! Balin told me I'd been asleep for hours--
and who knows how long I was laying on the ground when the dwarves found me!
So how long does it take?!
Not to mention, what if they were lying about the T.A.R.D.I.S.?
What if they had every intention of leaving me?
siggghhhh....wherever they were, I prayed they would find me quickly.
As much as I loved the dwarves, I didn't wanna stay in Middle-Earth forever.
My villainous companions were my only ticket out've there.
I had other places to be.

Dori broke me from my thoughts when he smacked Bifur's hand away from the pot (you know, the axed-head dwarf), whom was attempting to sneak in second helpings of the stew.
The usually polite dwarf began jabbering on about him picking and what not.

I don't know why, but the scene amused me.


Bifur

"You're up!" I instantly set my vision on Bilbo, who smiled upon seeing me.
I smiled back. "Hey, Bilbo.."
Standing with him were Kili and Ori. The two young dwarves looked quite pleased to see me.
They all came in and sat with me, preparing to eat their stew.
Bilbo noticed I was foodless. "Don't you..want any?"
I glanced up at him as I huddled with myself.
"not hungry..."
He sniffed. "I see. Well, did you sleep well?"
"Yes, thank you."
"How does your head feel?"
I glared at Ori. "Alright..for now."
"What's this medicine you're talking about? What's it do???"
I cleared my throat.
"I----really don't know...actually. Tauriel told me it would cure any ailment I had, so...
I'm not even sure if it's gonna work or not."
I looked around. "Maybe I just need to get out've this bloody forest."
"That sounds lovely, but we've been trying at it for days.."
Kili went back to his food, shaking his head.
"This forest really is cursed..."
"Or the elves are just mean. Which they are. I know firsthand."
I waved my finger around. "That Thranduil is the most racist pig I've ever met."
"Thranduil..??"
Confused Bilbo was confused.
I looked back at him.
"The king of the elves here in Mirkwood. Careful, man..he'll arrest you just for having hair prettier than his." "Sounds rather cruel."
"He IS cruel. If I hadn't have gotten out've there when I did, I would've been executed..and my company."
I sniffed. "He's tall and arrogant and mean and racist.."
I then made a nasty face. "And blonde."
such disdain.

I waved my finger around again.
"See, another bad encounter with a blonde! I swear, every blonde I've come across this week has been utterly rude and spiteful to me! They hate me!"
"Not all  blondes are cruel.." Ori said, quietly.
Even though I'm sure he had no clue what I was talking about.
"True," I went along, anyway.
"But most of them I've seen have been rather nasty...though I do have some pretty good blonde friends. My buddy Aja Killian, for one. And Jordan..and...and Mike..."
I shrugged.
"Three out of four of my siblings are blonde. Not to mention their spawn. So I'm a bit surrounded."

I shivered and folded my arms, going back into my huddling procedure.
"All I need out've life is an attractive, tough and sassy dark-haired chap with a bad-boy flare and I need him to give me four dark-haired little babies that will help me terrorize the universe."
Kili shifted a little next to me. Oh, don't you dare, sir.
"--And a tad bit taller than me." I casted my eyes at him. He scooted back.

"Which brings me to the question, miss Sarah.." Balin did a grin. "Are you betrothed?"
I looked to Balin and his big mouth. Why would you say such a thing?!
"uhhhhhh....."
Remember, Demens. Lying will get you no where in life.
I gulped. "George Washington was the first president of my people!"
I thrashed my head around. "I mean, my country!"
The dwarves sat in silence.
"..George?" "Wash and Ton?" "First?" "President??"
"I have a language that will blow your mind."
I felt so cold inside. An unsettling shiver ran down my spine.
I made that shiver sound that shivering people make when they shiver and my teeth rattled.

"Blimey, girl, answer the question!"
A WAY OUTTA THIS, A WAY OUTTA THIS.
Please!!
. . . . . . .
I eyed them all, worriedly, and took a few minutes to process......
My head bowed in sadness.
"....no."
This would be the end of me.

"Ah, quite the crime, that is!" I heard one dwarf exclaim, who happened to be Gloin.
And the others laughed in agreement. Eavesdroppers! "You're a beauty, you are!"
aww! If I were an ordinary gal, I would blush. ^.^
I just smirked and looked away. "Shuddup! You guys just aren't used to female folk.."
These hordes of charmers, I just couldn't take it.

"Well..." Balin announced, standing up with an empty bowl.
"I think it's time I retire for the night...sleep well, brothers."
They all bid their companion a good night and he walked off to his bedding.
One less dwarf made the environment feel lonely.


Balin

Thorin stood up.
"That goes for the rest of you...let's all get our sleep. We resume our quest in the morning."
He looked to me. I blinked. "Will you be accompanying us, Lady Sarah?"
I---I---I don't know.
I just..shrugged. He needed an answer, for he tilted his head down, giving me THAT look.
I blinked again. "Um---we'll see."
He nodded. It was good enough for him. "Now move on! We've wasted enough time."

Oh boy, here we go. Pushy obsessive Thorin. If it's not the elves, it's the dwarves.
I just couldn't get away from anything.


Here, have a Bombur

The company stirred and prepared for bed.
Bilbo patted me on the shoulder and bid me a good night.
Thorin did the same. The others didn't know me well enough yet to say much of anything.
Ori up and gave me a hug. A tight hug. I couldn't breathe.
And he smiled brightly at me. "Good night, m'lady..." and he walked off, happily.
Bofur approached me and slapped me on the back. I wheezed.
"G'night, Lady Sarah! Have lovely dreams tonight!"
He shuffled off.
Kili was the last. He came up, smiling at me, and he looked gosh darn adorable.
"Good night..." He took my hand and gave it a single kiss, bowing in accordance.
"...My lady."
I blinked. "...g'night."
He smirked away, leaving me infront of my rock.
I looked down at it.

Honestly, though...as much as I needed to...I couldn't sleep yet. I just couldn't.
I shook my head and brushed myself away from the area.
After what had happened, I was reluctant.
Which was worse...massive pain in the head and uber icky sickness....
or trapped in the dream world with absolute no control over what I see, where I go and I'm dragged to God only knows where until I'm woken up? No thank you.
The things I had seen were haunting me and I needed to separate myself for awhile.
Even if it meant enduring a little bit of pain on the way.
I'd rather rot into a bush than go through that again.
I was gonna go back to sleep eventually....just not right at that moment.
Not until I was prepared for what I would face.

So while the others slept or went to sleep...I departed from the company....
and wandered on my own to dark, soundless solitude.

---to be continued---