"Rotisserie dwarf? What's she on about?" the nearest troll to Ara exclaimed, moving towards the ranger threateningly. "Explain yourself!"

Aramorel smiled sweetly and put her hands up to show that show had no weapons and was therefore not a threat. "Roasting the dwarves over a fire will do absolutely nothing for the taste! You'd need a sprinkling of sage for seasoning, and even then that might not be enough. Dwarf is a delicacy, you know."

The dwarves on the spit yelled angrily at her, while a few in the bags kicked in protest to what she was saying. She simply kept her sickeningly sweet smile plastered on her face, trying to maintain an image of perfect innocence.

"Never mind the seasoning; we haven't got all night! Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on! I don't fancy being turned to stone," one of the trolls further back said. Ara's smile faltered slightly at this revelation, realizing exactly why Gandalf needed the trolls distracted.

"Wait! You're making a terrible mistake!" The hobbit, who was tied in a bag, started wiggling a little bit, glancing at Ara.

The ranger watched the hobbit stand up in his sack. "I meant, uh, with the seasoning," he added, looking from Ara to the trolls.

"What about the seasoning?" a troll questioned, narrowing his eyes.

The hobbit grinned slightly. "Well, have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up."

Ara laughed a bit in spite of herself as the dwarves began thrashing about in protest to the hobbit's accusation about their smell.

"What do either of you know about cooking dwarf?" the troll in the back asked.

"Shut up and let the lady and the, uh, flurgaburburrahobbit talk." The troll who seemed to be in charge of cooking moved closer to Ara and the hobbit.

"Uh, the secret to cooking dwarf, is, um..." The hobbit seemed to be running out of ideas.

"Yes, come on!" the troll urged.

"It's, uh..."

"Tell us the secret!"

The ranger had had enough. "You skin them first!" she cried triumphantly, causing an uproar from the dwarves.

The troll seemed appeased with this information. "Tom, get my fileting knife."

The troll (apparently named Tom) that had been ordered to get the knife scoffed. "What a load of rubbish! I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff 'em, I say, boots and all."

The other troll, who had been silent throughout most of the exchange, suddenly grabbed one of the dwarves in the bags and dangled him over his mouth. Ara broke character and kicked the hobbit lightly, trying to prompt him into thinking of something. He sputtered, almost kicking her back before yelling at the troll.

"No-Not that one! He's-he's infected!" the hobbit cried.

"You what?" asked Tom.

"Yeah, he's got worms in his... tubes." The hobbit flinched as the dwarf who had been picked up was flung back onto the pile of dwarves beside him.

"Are they infested with parasites? Disgusting! I wouldn't bother eating a parasitic dwarf if my life depended on it!" Ara proclaimed, scrunching her face up in revulsion.

The dwarves were having none of the parasite talk.

"I don't have parasites! You have parasites!" one of them, Ara thought it was the same dwarf who had first tried to rescue the hobbit, yelled at her. She tapped her finger against her lips and glared at him. 'If I had known these dwarves were this slow, I wouldn't have bothered trying to save them in the first place,' Ara thought quickly before one of the other dwarves, who had caught onto the plan, kicked those surrounding him. She rolled her eyes as the dwarves started yelling about how big their parasites were.

Tom was getting fed up with not being able to eat. "What would you have us do?" he asked, poking Ara hard in the shoulder. "Let 'em go?"

The hobbit and Ara exchanged a look before the hobbit shrugged. "Well..."

"You think I don't know what you're up to? These little ferrets are taking us for fools!" Tom proclaimed angrily.

"Ferrets?" Ara and the hobbit protested in unison.

"Fools?" one of the trolls yelled.

Suddenly, from a rock on the other side of the camp, the grey wizard's voice broke through the commotion. "May the dawn take you all!"

There was a loud cracking noise as the wizard split open a huge rock with his staff, and the first light of the morning sun suddenly lit up the camp. The trolls turned to stone almost instantaneously, and Aramorel let out a small sigh of relief.

She and Gandalf got the dwarves undone from their respective bindings, and after she had recovered her weaponry, the ranger was finally introduced to the company she had just helped save.

"Aramorel Fletcher, allow me to introduce the Company of Thorin Oakenshield," Gandalf said, gesturing to the dwarves as he began to introduce them. "Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori, and Ori, Oin and Gloin, call him Bifur and him Bofur, and him Bombur. And the leader of our company: Thorin Oakenshield himself."

The afore mentioned dwarf leader stepped forward towards Ara, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "And who is she to us, Gandalf?"

Ara frowned and cut in before Gandalf could answer. "I'm a Ranger of Ithilien. Gandalf invited me on this journey a few weeks ago, but... business... found me here."

"What kind of business?" Thorin asked, glaring at Ara.

"None of yours." The ranger crossed her arms, staring down at the dwarf. She wasn't too much taller than him, in all honesty, but she used the few inches she had over him to her advantage. She also wouldn't mind telling him that she had been hunting orcs, but his accusing demeanor was making her angry. They were locked in standoff for a few moments before Gandalf pulled them both aside.

"There are more urgent things to discuss than why Aramorel happened to be here at the same time we were," Gandalf told them, forcing the two to break their almost instantaneous coldness towards each other. "Such as why I asked her to join us in the first place."

"Why did you ask her?" Thorin questioned. "She does not seem to be a typical ranger."

Ara kept her arms crossed as she balled her fists. Gandalf sighed in annoyance as he saw that the dwarf and the ranger did not want to get along. "I asked her to come so that she may serve as a first line of defense for the heirs of Durin."

Both the ranger and the dwarf gave the wizard the same incredulous look.

"You want me to babysit some dwarves?!" Ara asked, furrowing her brow as she stared at the wizard. Thorin whipped his head around to scowl at the ranger.

"The heirs of Durin are not just 'some dwarves', Aramorel," Gandalf explained, looking quickly at the dwarf who was staring angrily at the woman. "They are the heirs to the throne of Erebor. They are royalty."

The ranger's frown deepened as she looked away from Gandalf to see Thorin glowering at her. "I'm going to guess that he's one of them," she said, nodding her head towards Thorin. "But you said 'heirs', which implies that there's more than just him."

Gandalf nodded and looked over at the company of dwarves who were mulling about behind them. "Fili! Kili!" he called. Two of the younger-looking dwarves jerked their heads towards the wizard and walked over to the group.

"Yes, Gandalf?" the blond-haired one of the two asked, looking over at Aramorel questioningly. The darker-haired one simply raised an eyebrow at the ranger and smirked.

The wizard turned back to Ara. "These are Fili and Kili, Thorin's nephews. They are the other heirs of Durin in our company." He regarded the two dwarves in question for a moment before speaking. "Aramorel will be your bodyguard of sorts, should she so choose to join our company."

Kili scoffed. "Bodyguard? Why? We can hold our own!" Fili nodded in agreement with his brother, appraising the woman carefully as he narrowed his eyes. She felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"Though I don't doubt your skills, it would do you well to have some protection on this journey. There are some who would wish to destroy the line of Durin." Gandalf looked out at them from under the brim of his hat.

The brothers were silent, exchanging a look before turning their attention to Thorin. "Is she really going to join us?" Fili asked.

Thorin looked from his nephews to the ranger in silent contemplation. Finally, he sighed, coming to a conclusion. "Should she wish to, she can." With that, he walked away, muttering to himself all the while. Gandalf followed after him, as he still had things to talk about with the dwarf.

Aramorel almost followed the wizard, but was suddenly distracted by the dwarf brothers.

"Are you going to come with us to take back Erebor?" Fili, who had suddenly appeared on her right, asked. She looked from him to his brother in surprise.

"I... Is that what you're going to do? I-I did not know you were going to Erebor," she stammered. "Erebor" was a name she had heard somewhere, though she could not place exactly where she knew it from, nor could she remember why it was significant.

Kili, on her right, grinned. "Yes, we're going to take back our rightful home from the dragon that dwells there now. It is our birthright!"

Ara stepped away from the brothers. "Dragon? You're going to fight a dragon?"

Fili and Kili looked at each other before turning back to her. "Of course!"

Slack-jawed, the ranger stared at the two dwarves before making up her mind.

"You won't last a second against a dragon alone," she declared, causing the brothers to scowl at her, "and there is absolutely no way I am going to miss out on killing a dragon."

Kili raised his eyebrows in surprise. "So you'll go with us?"

The ranger nodded. "Of course!"

The brothers grinned suddenly, and they each grabbed one of her arms and practically dragged her to the rest of the company, where she was given a contract to sign, swearing that she would protect Fili, Kili, and Thorin against anything that could do them harm.

Moments later, Thorin and Gandalf had everyone searching for a troll cave, which they found in a matter of minutes. The dwarves took to rooting through the treasure, and Ara decided to stay out of their hair while they buried the new-found riches. She found herself alone with the hobbit, whom she had found out was named Bilbo Baggins and was the company's burglar of sorts.

"You were good back there with the trolls," Ara said to him, gaining a quick smile from the halfling. "I was worried you were going to get eaten! I would've stepped in sooner if Kili hadn't jumped out and challenged them."

The hobbit shook his head slightly, chuckling. "I think you stepped in at just the right time, if you ask me."

Ara smirked, and the two stood in silence as they waited for the rest of the company to finish rooting through the troll hoard. A question presented itself in Ara's mind all of a sudden, and she looked down at the hobbit next to her.

"Why would a hobbit of the Shire come on an adventure like this?" she asked quite suddenly, realizing that she might sound a bit rude.

Bilbo, thankfully, didn't take the question the wrong way. "I suppose the Took in me won out against the Baggins," he answered, which left Aramorel more confused than before. However, before she could ask what he meant, Gandalf left the cave and handed Bilbo a dagger. Ara took that as a sign to leave them alone, though she did not get too far before Thorin yelled out that something was coming.

Taking out her sword, Ara followed the company as Gandalf rushed them away from the cave. They were stopped by a deranged man shouting "Fire! Thieves! Murder!" as he burst from the brush, being pulled on a sled by rabbits.

Gandalf knew the man, thankfully, and went to talk with him while the company wandered around for a bit. Ara sat down on a rock and inspected her sword idly, wiping the blade on her coat in a half-hearted attempt to make it shine. In an instant Fili and Kili appeared on either side of her again, sitting on the rock as well.

"So, Ara," Kili said, "can I call you that?"

"I suppose," the ranger answered, frowning slightly. She sheathed her sword and looked from one brother to the other. "What did you want?"

"We wanted to know more about you, since you are going to be our official bodyguard," Kili answered, grinning cheekily. "You know, how old you are, where you're from, whether you're any good as a ranger... things like that."

The woman shot him a glare at the implication of the last part, but crossed her arms and sighed. "I'm twenty-two, I used to live near the westernmost banks of the Anduin, and if I wasn't any good at being a ranger, I doubt Gandalf would have asked me to be your bodyguard."

Fili laughed and slapped her on the back, causing her to almost fall forwards off of the rock. "He's only messing with you! I'm sure you're a good ranger. Probably taken down plenty of orcs and foul beasts in your time, right?"

The ranger sputtered a bit, trying to find a way to answer the question without making herself seem like a complete failure. "Well, I, uhm, wouldn't say plenty, to be honest..."

Before the brothers could say anything, a chilling howl was heard by the whole company. Ara jumped off of the rock, followed by the two brothers, and knocked an arrow, looking around the forest that surrounded them for any movement.

"Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out there?" Bilbo asked, stuttering a bit as the color drained from his face.

"Wolves? No, that is not a wolf," a dwarf in a funny hat (Ara thought he was Bofur) answered, gripping his pickaxe tightly.

The ranger suddenly spotted a huge beast on the hill above Bilbo, the hat-wearing dwarf, and a red-headed dwarf. "Look out!" she shouted, pulling back her bowstring and letting the arrow fly over Bilbo's head as the creature launched itself towards the company. She hit the creature in the chest, but Thorin stabbed it with his sword for good measure before realizing another one of the huge beasts had come up behind him. Kili shot at it, and one of the tougher-looking dwarves hit it with his axe. Ara rushed over to the beast she had hit and pulled her arrow out of it, recovering the now bloodied shaft to her quiver.

"Warg scouts," Thorin seethed, pulling his sword out of the creature, "which means an orc pack is not far behind."

"Orc pack?!" Bilbo exclaimed, shocked. Gandalf moved towards Thorin angrily.

"Who did you tell about your quest beyond your kin?" he questioned.

"No one." Thorin stared up at the wizard.

"Who did you tell?!"

"No one, I swear!"

Gandalf shook his head slightly, looking around for any more surprise warg attacks.

"What in Durin's name is going on?" Thorin demanded. Gandalf looked back at him.

"You are being hunted," the wizard stated. Ara gripped her bow tightly, feeling her heart skip a beat in panic.

"We have to get out of here!" the axe-wielding dwarf said.

"We can't, we have no ponies!" one of the younger dwarves, Ori, told them. "They bolted."

Aramorel had to remember to breathe evenly when she realized exactly how much danger they were in.

Suddenly, the strange man with the rabbit sled spoke up. "I'll draw them off."

"These are Gundabad wargs!" Gandalf argued, turning quickly towards his friend. "They will outrun you."

"These are Rhosgobel rabbits!" the man exclaimed. "I'd like to see them try."

With that, the man took off on his rabbit sleigh, leading the orcs away from the company. Gandalf led them across the grasslands, telling them to stay together as they almost ran into the orc pack. Thorin passed Ara as they ran, muttering to her that she should stay near Fili and Kili. She obliged, hurrying to catch up with the brothers and keep them out of harm's way.

They hid behind a rock as they were almost seen by the orcs again, and Ara heard an orc on a warg step onto the rock they were hidden behind. Thorin looked at Kili and the two shared a silent thought before Kili knocked an arrow, stepped away from the rock, turned, and fired at the orc. He hit the warg, and just as the orc was about to give them away by blowing a horn, Ara moved to fire an arrow at it.

That did not stop the brute and its mount from making horribly loud squealing noises as they died. Ara grabbed the arrows from the orc and warg and tossed Kili's back to him. They suddenly heard the other wargs' howls getting closer.

"Now we've done it," Ara muttered in exasperation, just as Gandalf yelled at them to run.

The wargs were gaining on them as they ran. The company rushed down a small hill and into an almost bowl-shaped part of the plains, where they realized they were surrounded.

"There's more coming!" the ranger yelled to Thorin, who was looking around for some sort of escape.

"Kili! Shoot them!" the dwarf leader ordered.

"We're surrounded!" Fili shouted, taking out his sword as his brother started firing arrows at the orcs. Ara followed suit, making every shot with her bow count.

Gandalf seemed to have disappeared, and the dwarves shouted such, until the wizard appeared from behind some rocks and called to them.

"This way, you fools!" he yelled, and the dwarves hurried to the rocks, where Gandalf had found a small cave.

"Kili! Go!" Ara shouted at the dwarven archer, who had not moved to escape. He looked at her and bolted for the rocks, as Ara sent one last arrow firing towards an orc. She turned and rushed to the rocks, jumping and sliding into the cave right after Kili. Thorin followed suit, and they all waited in the cave to see if the orcs would follow.

A strange horn sounded outside, which caused Thorin to look up towards the opening of the cave in confusion. There were sounds of arrows hitting the orcs and wargs, and suddenly a dead orc rolled into the cave the company had hidden in. Thorin moved forward and pulled an arrow out of the dead orc, inspecting the tip in disgust.

"Elves," he said, throwing the arrow down in disdain. He and Gandalf exchanged a look, and Dwalin shouted that he could not tell where the pathway at the end of the cave led.

"Follow it!" Bofur exclaimed, rushing forward onto the narrow path. The company squeezed through the narrow passageway, and when the path opened up again, they were met with a surprising sight.

Aramorel stepped out of the pathway and gasped. A beautiful city lay in the valley before them, a city that she had only heard few tales of long ago.

"The valley of Imladris," Gandalf said, moving forward. "In the common tongue, it is known by another name."

"Rivendell," Bilbo murmured, breathless at the beauty of the city.

Thorin seethed in annoyance. "This was your plan all along, to seek refuge with our enemy," Thorin accused Gandalf, moving towards the wizard aggressively.

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield," Gandalf proclaimed. "The only ill-will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself!"

Ara hid a small laugh as she overheard the conversation, continuing to gaze out over the Last Homely House of the East. The wizard soon moved to the front of the company and led them down into the city.

(A/N: Wooo! Hellooooo! Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed this story so far. If you could leave a review, that would be fantastic.

Also. Rotisserie dwarf is possibly THE BEST phrase ever.)