Hi all and welcome to my first 'Hobbit' fic, 'A Heart of Glass'! This took many weeks to write and craft as I have so I hope everyone who reads this enjoys it immensely. Know now this story is officially complete and will be seeing a sequel soon. Be kind and review. I own nothing but my OC Rayna. Everything else is Tolkien's. Also, this is a Kili/OC fic with no major character deaths. If you don't like it, leave now. Thanks!

"Iii" = speech

Iii = thought

Chapter 1: An Extra Blade

The night was cool in contrast to the warmth of the spring day, bringing out the twinkling brightness of the stars above. There were few clouds and the moon was starting to crescent for the month, an image most beautiful to anyone watching. Only the lone traveler walking the well-worn paths and roads of Bag End, Hobbiton didn't have time to gaze up at the celestial body, only to look where she was going. The moon did aid her in her trek as the light of a lamp or torch would've done nothing for her eyes. Many had claimed her to have the eyes of an elf but she was certain the blood was thin or the trait a mere coincidence. But those same orbs of icy blue, almost translucent in color, held a wisdom only a well-aged traveler could have like her cloak helped hide her body that was thin but had a lithe strength no average human possessed. With her bow, her aim was often true and her sword was to be feared no matter just how brave, or stupid, her opponent was when facing it. Anyone foolish enough to take her on found they were not only outmatched, but unlikely to get away alive, all depending on the woman's temper. Glancing between the many hobbit hole doors, the woman found most looked relatively the same but could sense a tinge of magic guiding her. Only someone like Gandalf could leave such a distinct mark and get away with it. Her keen ears could already make out the loud merrymaking of deep, Dwarven voices, their shadows in the window of what she could only guess was the dining room.

That old man did warn of the robust little buggers, she thought, having taken her time in finding the home of her host, Bilbo Baggins. She would've approached earlier if not for another figure reaching door prior to her, his form also dwarf in size but no doubt someone not to be trifled with. This fact was made clear for as soon as he knocked, all noise in the house stopped and he was quickly let in. There was more talking but it was too muffled by the walls to be heard properly even by her keen ears.

I imagine they'll all be gathered now. She pondered, daring to take the path up to the house so her ears could better make out the deep rumble of someone's voice on the other side asking questions. Rather than pulling the bell, she decided to raise her gloved hand to the wood to knock, three times almost like a heavy warning bell's toll. All noise on the other side faded away again, leaving all in silence as the door creaked open once more. She'd timed her arrival well as a strong wind forced the door wide and put out a number of the lamps within a few feet of the door, making the edges of her navy blue cloak billow. Seeing fourteen men barely four feet tall and an elderly man ducking to keep from bumping the ceiling was an interesting thing to see, especially when most of their expressions were of curiosity and shock. The one at the forefront, a dirty blonde man in a vest, shirt and matching pants, as well as from his hairy feet no doubt the owner of the hole, became the focus of her attention as her gaze fell on him. The hobbit visibly swallowed, his throat and jaw tight and his sky blue eyes wide, not daring blink or look away in case the woman at his door decided to kill him on a whim. Her voice had never been light or feminine, but it was just enough to tell her gender, coming out low and promising injury at the slightest mistake. "Are you the owner of this humble home?"

"I-I am…B-Bilbo Baggins, a-at your service milady." The four foot man responded, his voice almost succeeding in keeping the fearful tremor out of it.

The unfamiliarity with the moniker was strong but only her control kept her gaze unblinking in the face of the hobbit's attempt at kind manners. Only a few had regarded her as such, and they'd either been drunk, mocking or the rare elf she didn't feel insulted by. "Rayna, at yours." She said calmly, bowing her hooded head slightly in his direction. When her gaze moved to look at the elderly man standing in the far back, more than a few seemed to relax. "Good meeting, Gandalf."

"Indeed it is." Gandalf retorted with a mirthful chuckle, scowling when no one else seemed intent on moving or speaking so he barked. "Make room, you louts! And someone get a light on."

In a rush of hard boots on wooden floors, the crowd of dwarves returned to where they'd been no doubt the main dining room of the hole, leaving Gandalf, Rayna and Bilbo in the main hall. Stepping inside, taking care not to get mud anywhere like her fellow guests, Rayna kept her focus on Gandalf and didn't take off her cloak, hood or weapons. If things didn't go well, she wouldn't be staying that long. So, she looked to the elderly wizard curiously. "Am I late?"

"Right on time, as always." Gandalf returned with a light chuckle, sobering with a frown on his bearded face. "I was concerned you wouldn't appear."

"Fears unfounded." Rayna said coolly.

The wizard's mustache shifted to show his amusement. "Indeed."

What Rayna had to say next was lost when one of the dwarves, his hair flowing, beard short and well trimmed, both raven-wing black, eyes of dark grey-blue flashing in annoyance as he hissed up at the wizard despite the object of his irritation standing so close. "Gandalf, who is this woman?"

"Our final member of the company, of course! And a most notable warrior and tracker at that." The aged magus responded kindly, knowing Thorin couldn't sense the flare of ire coming from the woman next to them.

Thorin's handsome face twisted irritably. "She is a woman, and this is not something someone like her should be doing."

"That's what all say before she proves them wrong. I suggest taking care what you express lest you wish to see just how fit she is for this quest." Gandalf warned, hoping the dwarf prince would take the hint and be silent on the matter. Unlike him, Thorin had yet to see the kind of destruction Rayna could bring.

A small voice interrupted, forcing all to recall their host, his bright blue eyes wide in uncertainty. "I'm sorry, quest?"

It's going to be a long night…. Rayna thought in dismay, glad that one of the young looking dwarves had the sense to vacate his chair for her, an older one finding her something to drink though she never uttered a word. She barely listened to the conversation about the mountain, the dragon within and how they aimed to get some fancy hunk of rock to reclaim the kingdom just to get the others to come forth and kill the beast. Her eyes had taken in the map Thorin had pulled out with interest, blinking curiously when she thought she saw something etched onto the paper by the lowest corner but didn't voice it. Especially when the dwarf prince didn't seem to notice it and kept talking of how they had to get into the mountain somehow. Granted what they were planning didn't awaken the creature and end up having to slay it by themselves anyway. She had to fight down a snicker when the hobbit, the poor, overwhelmed thing, fainted in the hall when one of the dwarves, Bofur, wouldn't stop describing how it felt to die by dragon fire. Gandalf ended up taking the poor man to a comfortable chair in his study while the dwarves busied themselves with idle chatter. Among this, one of the dwarves, Kili she recalled, decided to spend it asking questions. "Why are your eyes like that?"

"Like what?" Rayna said quietly, finding upon closer examination the dwarf to almost look like a much happier version of his uncle minus a proper beard as Kili's was no more than stubble on his sculpted chin. At least his brother looks almost nothing like that wet blanket. She thought, feeling a thrill of bafflement when the brunette dwarf before her smiled and pointed at his own eyes, the dark brown orbs full of curiosity.

"Earlier, they glowed." He said, tilting his head slightly as the dim lamps still hid the woman's face.

Against her better judgment, Rayna allowed a light chuckle escape her throat, taking most around by surprise. It was probably just my magic acting up, likely at seeing those strange letters on that map of Thorin's a few moments ago. This one's rather observant for a dwarf, she thought. It was the most noise she'd made all night. "It happens. It's one of my many talents."

"So are you really coming with us?" the blonde, Fili asked, his brilliant blue eyes taking the human woman in with an equally curious gaze.

Rayna nodded slowly. "If your uncle allows it, yes. I see no point in arguing with someone with the head full of the stone your people mine all year long."

"Are you an elf?" another of the young dwarves, Ori suddenly voiced, earning a collective stiffening of the people around, and a slap over the head from Dwalin.

Under her hood, Rayna could feel Thorin's gaze on her from across the room where he stood by the doorway. From the way they had gone silent, a lot seemed to depend on her answer, so she gave an honest one. "No, my heritage is unknown, even to me." the woman said casually, not the least bit bothered. "Anyone who could've told me about it either died or lost track of me when I was young. Such things don't matter."

"How can they not? They could've been your family!" Ori demanded, Fili and Kili looking too awestruck by her words to say anything.

Rayna chuckled again, this time the sound almost dark in nature. "Say what you like, but it's difficult to appreciate something when it was never there in the first place."

"That's a harsh thing to say." Kili declared softly, a scowl settling on his brow, aiding Rayna's belief that he looked far too much like his uncle.

"Expect nothing less for the rest of this venture." She returned just as quietly, glad the shadows hid her smirk. He probably would've flinched away from it.

Persistent as ever, Ori was leaning forward in his seat. "Could we at least know what you look like?"

Rayna blinked, feeling her body become like stone without her permission, the hackles on the back of her neck standing on end. You can't deny them, not forever. She thought as she came to a decision. Wordlessly, she pointed with a gloved finger to the nearest candle, the dwarf nearest do it ended up being Balin. Hair and beard pure like snow, the portly dwarf set the candlestick down on the table closest to the woman, who slid it closer. A hush seemed to come over the room for even Thorin was eying it all curiously. Dramatics aside, Rayna pushed her hood back to reveal cream skin and slightly curly brown locks helping frame her sharp and possibly primal face, the dark locks flowing down past her shoulders. The shortest of it acted as bangs while the rest was held back in a tail that was lazily sitting on her shoulder. Having the hood out of the way also revealed her ice blue eyes, their coloring so pale they were almost translucent even in the dimness of the room. But the one detail that got their attention were the scars: long and almost red, the marks were that of a beast and came dangerously close to cutting into her left eye though the most it did was cut her eyebrow in half and mar her skin. The shortest on sat near her chin with the longest went from the middle of her forehead, across the bridge of her nose and along her cheek. Rayna had to fight down a toothy smile when even Thorin's mouth became slightly agape at the sight. Next to her, Balin seemed the most disgusted by the sight. "Who would do that to a woman?"

"Not who, what." Rayna pointed out, leaning back into her chair and away from the light, taking comfort in the shadows. "It didn't live long enough to do much else."

"Is there no way to undo this?" Oin pressed from where he sat with his hearing horn lifted to receiver her answer, his rage palpable. Stubborn dwarf or not, as a healer all lives were precious to the aged dwarf.

Rayna merely shrugged, having faced reactions like his before. She'd feared rejection and little else. To see someone get angry over an old wound of hers was odd but something she could deal with. "Many have tried, all have failed. I have others just like it, and will probably receive more before my life is ended. This path is of my choosing."

"Such is a hard road to take. You would wish to do nothing else?" Dori, the silver-haired dwarf who was probably just as old as Balin, inquired from his seat, shock evident.

"If I did, I'd have done it already." Rayna pointed out shortly, forcing herself to calm so not to cause a fight without meaning to. "The hour is late. We should rest if we're to leave on time." she said after a moment, rising from her chair and slipping out through another doorway.

Behind her, Balin was already speaking in a tired voice. "Come along lads, we've a good long ride in the morning."

No one really protested to this, content to clean up the mess they'd made and settle in what had to be a sitting room for a late night smoke. Bilbo awoke from his fainting spell just in time to hear the dwarves sing a rather depressing song of their losses that had Rayna wondering what it was like to lose such things. She shrugged it off, as she saw pondering such things was pointless. When all lay down for the night, Rayna all but vanished only for them to be astonished at seeing her lithe form in a nearby tree outside the house. Her ice blue eyes fell on them filing out the house to where they'd kept their horses, jumping down from the spry branch to make a number of them jump in shock, her landing silent even then. As she had neglected to bring a horse, Gandalf was able to get one off a nearby farmer for a decent amount of coin. Not that she was about to cause a fuss over not needing one, Rayna took rein of the chestnut anyway, liking how it didn't look at her with fear in its soulful eyes.

It must not smell my true nature yet. Came the dark thought that Rayna swatted away, enjoying the lazy ride through the sun and ignoring most everything save anything dangerous that might be ahead. The day was warm and as her companions had already seen what she looked like, Rayna forwent her cloak, having folded it up for later in her bag. Like her cloak, her clothes were of fairly good make, her pants a deep grey while her tunic matched it with a tinge of blue to the wool. Her jacket was of roughly the same make and worked better than the cloak at keeping out the elements than hiding her form. Her boots, like her gloves and bracers, were of dark brown leather that completed the ensemble, their worn appearance helping her fit in with the slightly shorter rabble of dwarves. Shifting her feet in the stirrups, Rayna pondered whether she needed a new set of boots or not as she'd repaired them some weeks ago but the footwear were old but reliable. She made a mental note to deal with it later.

Nearly halfway out of Hobbiton and back to Bree, Bilbo came running with a pack strapped on and the lengthy contract unfolded in the wind as he ran to catch up. Thorin, ever the irritable fellow, declared him part of the company and told the others to spare him a pony. It took some juggling to free the brown pony of a majority of the luggage it was hauling, making room for the very out-of-place Halfling. Seeing all the money pouches being tossed had definitely been interesting, as was Gandalf's bet coming to fruit. Watching the hobbit out of the corner of her eyes and seeing how uncomfortable he looked sitting in the saddle, holding the reins like they'd be torn from his hands, Rayna found a smirk lifting one side of her lips. "You should stop that."

More than one person started at her voice, Kili seeming to take keen interest even as Bilbo stared oddly at her. "Why?" he asked, uncertain.

"She thinks you're uncomfortable and thus, making her nervous. Relax, and she's less likely to throw you." The brunette woman returned casually, not about to make fun of the hobbit and his poor riding skills. Quite a few people were listening in after all, for lack of better to do.

Still, the hobbit's deep scowl was amusing, sky blue eyes glancing between her and the steed just under him. "How do you know?"

"First time on a horse?" she queried.

"First time…on a pony." The hobbit admitted rather awkwardly.

Rayna's chuckle came forth like music to their ears, light and brief, distant and half forgotten. "There's a first for everything." She said, giving the hobbit her full attention. "Take a deep breath, hands down, shoulders squared, and spine straight. Head up."

Watching the hobbit do as she commanded one after another was dangerously comical but seemed to put the horse under him at ease and fill the Halfling with wonder as he gaped in his awe. "How did-?"

Rayna's chortle bubbled up like a devious noise. "Just try not to fall off. Seeing you be dragged off is only so amusing."

Bilbo's jaw worked even as Rayna let her horse trot a little slower until Gandalf was next to her, his wrinkled face contorted in disapproval. "Must you be so contradictory? I certainly hope you gain a more affable outlook when this trip is concluded." He scolded, the frown he wore showing how put out he was.

"Must you ask me to be someone I'm not? It'd be like asking you to stop smoking." The woman shot back, taking the wizard off guard.

Already he was stammering as he done the night before when the dwarves had demanded to know how many dragons he'd slain. "Well I-."

Rayna's answering snicker was low but not cruel. "See? Now if you can get Thorin to not have a small brain, then we can talk about my attitude." She said, causing the elderly magus to frown almost petulantly. The sight of his childish expression made her smirk. "I can say this however: you know how to pick 'em."

"Indeed." Gandalf lamented, still looking annoyed, the end of his pipe clicking against his teeth noisily.

"Hmph!" Rayna mocked, forcing down her mirth so to avoid more staring.

A few days on the road had made them rather comfortable with each other, though there were times where Rayna wondered just what Thorin had been thinking to get his nephews involved in his quest to reclaim their old home. This was proven when while out seeking provisions, Rayna caught Kili trying to get at a particular sprouting plant he clearly didn't recognize. Just as he was about to pull it up, she called out. "Don't pick that!"

Jumping at her shout, the brunette man whirled around, baffled. "Why?"

The urge to roll her eyes was strong but she ignored it. It's not his fault he doesn't know anything about the plants here. "Unless you want to turn over half the party red with marks or half dead in pain, try the other one. No, the next one. Yes, that one." she instructed from afar, glad the young dwarf picked a much more edible plant near the poisonous one. The brunette man examined the plant he'd been told to get instead curiously, soon looking about for more, using it as a template for others that might be nearby.

Relieved that the dwarf had listened, her attention was drawn by a shuffling of leaves and grass somewhere to her left, her keen ears leaving her deaf to all else. She could barely make out Kili's voice, the dwarf sounding faintly worried as he called out. "What is it?"

"Stay here." Rayna said absently, pulling her bow and an arrow from the quiver on her back as she didn't hesitate to jump silently into the brush.

"But—hey!" Kili shouted after her, his eyes searching but finding no sign of the woman at all, which disturbed him.

Gandalf's knowing chortles stopped him from shouting like a fool into the trees, turning to see the wizard's amused smile. "Do not worry, she'll return. You'll find her senses are keener than most. Distractions are bound to occur."

Having witnessed the whole thing, Thorin seemed truly interested in things now. "How well do you know this woman, Gandalf?"

"Well enough to know most of which attracts her attention is rarely good, and even then she's unlikely to ignore it. Like all Men, her curiosity is boundless. Aside from this, she is as enigmatic as the world around us: showing all yet hiding it at the same time."

"That makes no sense." Fili complained, walking closer to the horses with his collection of herbs clenched in his fists.

Gandalf's laugh was deep and kind. "It's not meant to."

Nearly an hour went by, the afternoon waning as the dwarves settled to camp as their worry over their only female counterpart grew as the day faded. Before the hour's end was struck, Rayna appeared, not even hurt or winded with a large six point buck over her shoulders which she dropped near the fire the others had built. The largest dwarf, and their cook, was slack jawed even before the human woman said curtly. "Bombur, dinner."

"By gods, you expect me to cook that?" he asked, his eyes wide at the prize before him.

Rayna scowled, puzzled. "You cannot?"

Faltering under the intensity of her gaze, Bombur stammered. "I can, I merely-."

Ice blue orbs rolled in their sockets, the brunette woman quickly losing patience and growling. "Move over then."

"W-what?" Bombur stuttered helplessly as Rayna pulled a knife from her belt, the blade a simplistic elegance like the blade at her hip none of the dwarves had seen yet.

Turning the dead animal onto its side on the stone they'd come to rest on, she called out to the only other person she knew was good with food. "Bilbo, come help."

"Yes, of course I—oh my." The hobbit muttered when he approached just in time for the stag to be stabbed forcefully, the blade's sharp edge cutting through thick skin and muscle with careful accuracy. Ever a master at this, Rayna made sure any blood and guts spilled away from the camp and into the grasses. Already her work was drawing a crowd.

Looking up, she found most were standing around, watching. Irritated at their lack of action in settling in for the night, her lip curled as she ordered. "You don't help, you don't eat."

Scowling just as irritably, Thorin was soon speaking up. "You can't-."

He didn't expect for the human woman to stand up and point the bloody knife at him, her face promising violence when she cut him off with a snarl. "Say what you want, prince, but not everyone grew up in a realm of riches and splendor only to lose it all to a giant flying lizard. You help, or you don't eat. When you kill our next meal, you can decide how it's done."

Thorin blinked at her sudden hostility but didn't back down, glaring back as ice blue met blue grey. Only Gandalf's deep voice kept anything else from happening. "Rayna, that's enough." He warned, becoming the focus of her ethereal orbs instead, the wizard speaking in cool tones. To say the whole camp was now on edge was an understatement as Gandalf calmly went on saying. "He meant no insult."

Rayna stood quietly for a moment, eventually letting out a loud huff. "Fine." She growled, and began to complete her task while calling out. "Bilbo, get the pot on. Bombur, show me your herb collection. What you don't have we can find."

"O-of course!" Bombur declared, giving Thorin a shy glance of apology as he reached for his pouch of herbal provisions. Rayna took it wordlessly, muttering softly between organizing the herbs and getting the meat ready. With Bilbo as her unofficial aide, the woman toiled over the pot with a fevered attention. Any who tried to get a piece early ended up being beaten away by the wooden spoon she used to stir the concoction, dividing her attention between the brew and the biscuits she had Bilbo making on a skillet. The meal came to fruit nearly an hour later, Rayna taking her share and vanishing into the shadows to stand watch until someone else took her place. In her absence, sounds of delight over her skills sounded off from each man, a few demanding seconds in their eagerness to make their delight last longer than it had. Even Thorin gave a few begrudging comments on it only to be teased over it the rest of the night by his fellows. Little did they know the impish grin Rayna wore in the darkness nearby, taking silent joy in their praise. The smile remained until Nori came to relieve her, after which her face was a calm mask. It didn't stop her from smiling on the inside though.

Rayna's senses weren't truly appreciated until several weeks later when they'd settled into a cozy alcove of rock and trees, the sky clear and the wind fresh. They were having another share of her venison stew with fresh biscuits when the distant howl of a warg sounded off over the breeze. Everyone looked up, surprised by the sound, Rayna stiffening and almost drew her bow out of reflex. The practically feral Orc mounts weren't to be underestimated, a mistake she'd yet to make in her years of traveling the lands between the Shire and Mirkwood. Wargs mean Orcs and Orcs mean trouble. Not good. She thought, sniffing the air experimentally on how strong their scent was. It was barely there, which meant they were just downwind from them, not close enough to be a threat. Close enough to be a concern though. Rayna thought over Fili and Kili teasing Bilbo with what the foul dark elves were known for. Their remarks came to a stop when Thorin went into his tales of dealing with Azog the Defiler in his attempt to take back the Moria mines.

"I heard about that battle. To know so many were lost was astonishing." Rayna stated with just audible awe in her tone, ice blue eyes shining with a rare show of sympathy. "It was a noble effort, at least."

Thorin blinked, hiding his surprise well behind his solemn nod. "Thank you."

"Death by the Orcs isn't new to me either." The woman remarked, frowning. "We should be on our guard tonight."

"What is it?" Gandalf asked, sitting up straighter where he sat, pipe in hand. Thorin frowned, as did some others.

Blinking at the question, the brunette woman didn't avoid it. "Their scent is in the wind, but only by a hair. They are close. If they're here for us, they're biding their time." Rayna told them, sending a disapproving glance to the siblings, who cringed in response. "Telling childish stories will do nothing to soothe the dead who fell by their claws."

"We were just having a laugh." Fili said, the excuse sounding well-worn.

Rayna scoffed, irritated at how little the pair seemed to know. "Making it much easier for them to find you to make you scream, so they can be the ones laughing instead." She growled, turning her attention back to Bilbo. "There is at least two miles between us and them. You should be able to sleep easily. For tonight."

The sandy blonde hobbit only nodded, relieved. Tilting his head at her, Balin spoke up in his ever-patient voice. "If I may, who did you lose to the Orcs?"

The human woman stiffened, watching the elderly dwarf carefully to see if the question was an honestly curious one. She wasn't about to look away to see if the others were staring back, finding the older man's inquiry to be true. Her voice was so quiet, it felt like a ghost's whisper instead of her usual, strong tones. "Brothers of mine, by sword rather than blood and the closest thing to a family one like me has ever had." Rayna paused, glancing down at her bowl that was more than half empty, suddenly finding what remained unappealing. Setting the wooden bowl aside, she picked up her bow from where it'd rested against a rock, not meeting anyone's gazes as she stalked off, muttering aloud. "If I'm needed, I'll be in this direction."

They had no choice but to watch her go, knowing not what to say in the face of such a statement. It was, notably, possibly the only time she and Thorin would ever get along on anything for some time.

Like with all things, the growing camaraderie and ease didn't last long, and like most mischief in their group Fili and Kili were the cause. It had been a few hours since Gandalf had wandered off in a huff over the argument he and Thorin just finished. The dwarf prince was being stubborn as usual, though over what Rayna had paid little mind. Her attention was on keeping all safely within the camp and seeking any prey worth eating as the venison stew she'd put together had only lasted a week. She was puzzled at the lack of prey animals in the woods of late but knew they had enough problems. Nearly all the dwarves (save Thorin) had hounded Rayna for answers to her skill but she gave little clues, changing the subject too quickly for any of them to protest, distracting them with daily tasks. It had been close to a month since they'd left Hobbiton and Rayna was losing her patience with them and their pestering. All the while, Gandalf just sat back and watched with a smile as the dwarves became more and more insistent in learning all they could about her. She was already running out of vague responses to give to throw them off. Yet, of all the dwarves, Kili seemed to be patient in his questioning though he was still overenthusiastic about everything else he was tasked to do. Fili was roughly the same, though he seemed only a tad more cautious than his younger sibling, both earning puzzled frowns from Rayna when they kept her company for more than five minutes. Even Ori was smart enough to leave her be after just three. Thorin barely talked to her, and when he did, it was mostly to tell her which way they needed her to scout and little else, if that. Not that Rayna cared. It was bad enough Thorin was in a sour mood the whole time over some such thing. So long as the dwarf prince didn't show her any disrespect, she would do as he asked. Within reason, naturally.

Other than Gandalf stomping off some hours prior, Rayna had allowed Bombur to cook by himself as she'd found nothing to eat that day. As Bilbo wandered off with a pair of bowls for the brothers watching the ponies, Rayna finished her share in silence and leaving the bowl to be found at a convenient time after using a bit of water to clean it out. As she wasn't on watch for some time, she decided to climb the nearest tree for a small doze, trusting Balin more than most to wake her up when it was her turn. As they'd passed slowly through the forest, a part of her mind was ill at ease over how off the place felt, like something had been thrown out of balance and making it less welcoming than usual. Still, Rayna pushed it aside in favor of sleep. If she was lucky, nothing crazy would happen while she enjoyed her well-earned rest. Wrapping her cloak around her body and using a blanket as a pillow, Rayna settled on the strong branch and slowly fell into a comfortable doze.

Unbeknownst to her, Bilbo was being talked into infiltrating a troll's camp to get back the ponies Fili and Kili had 'lost'. Exactly how they'd achieved this Bilbo would never understand as he was opposed to the idea from the start only to find Kili was good with words in the right moment. Not to mention he knew he couldn't fight them when the young dwarf brought up his manufactured occupation as a burglar, giving him no choice but to leave the two bowls of soup behind to circle around and reach the makeshift paddock the ponies were in. Neither of the dwarf siblings wanted to admit to making an error in their task of keeping an eye on the animals. It didn't take their uncle long to find out either way as they couldn't leave Bilbo to deal with the trolls by himself and naturally, the older dwarf had been furious. Soon he was raging at them, his face twisted and red. "How could you let this happen!? You were supposed to stand watch!"

"We were uncle! We don't know where the trolls even came from and we were there the whole time. Yet we heard nothing!" Fili declared, Kili tightlipped as he glanced between his sibling and his uncle worriedly. The last thing they needed was for a fight to start.

Thorin growled only to sigh, annoyed but defeated. "No matter. We must get the horses back if we're to make our time. Gather your weapons and be ready to fight."

As all of them moved to obey, Balin spoke up, his words firm but cautious. "What of Rayna, should she not join us?"

Glancing around, Thorin had to fight down the deep-seated growl of frustration when his eyes couldn't spot the human. Dark eyes glared at Balin. "Where is she?"

"She sleeps, up there. Her watch was next." The elderly sage responded, pointing up at the woman's barely perceivable form through the thick leaves and branches of the oak that was near their campsite. Kili couldn't help but blink in awe of how high up she was and how strange it was to actually more or less see the woman sleeping. The only real times any of them actually saw her was when she was riding with them, foraging or helping around camp. The rest of the time, it was as though she was a ghost in their midst, appearing and vanishing at will. His attempts to befriend the human were going at a snail's pace as she was still rather unaffected by the various times the rest of their company had tried. As far as Kili knew, Balin was the only one amongst them who was making any real traction with the woman.

His thoughts were interrupted when his uncle snarled, glaring up at the woman's form and taking up his sword with a hard expression. "No time. We deal with this now."

Balin said nothing, glancing briefly up at the branch where the human woman he'd come to like much as a friend and daughter slept, unawares. Not about to disobey his prince, the white-haired dwarf picked up his sword and joined his kin to face one of many obstacles to come.