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Flakes of ash from the fire danced up into the dense leaves above. Y/n watched them soar. She couldn’t see the stars.

Y/n had spent the day with Kili, essentially on top of him, and it hadn’t been awful. He taught her all of the company’s names. Y/n took an instant liking to Bilbo. His voice was kind and he seemed less threatening than the others. The thing that first grabbed her attention about him was the fact he was shorter than every member of the group. Y/n had spent several hours of the day pondering what he was. The only possible conclusion, in her mind, was a Garden Gnome.

She chewed her lip and let her eyes drift out of focus. How had she gotten here? How was she going to get home? These thoughts had been occupying her mind all day. They soured her mood and spiked her blood pressure.

Y/n glanced to either side of her. Bofur sat to her right and Bilbo to her left. Fili and Kili were talking at the very limits of their camp. The group had eaten their dinner (three pieces of stale bread and dried meat) as soon as the first hints of night had settled into the sky. Y/n had helped Oin change her bandages. He’d applied a new type of ointment to the wounds. It was a murky green color and felt like oil. The bottoms of her feet were slightly numb.

Y/n looked down at her pajamas, they were filthy and stained. Her clothes were very out of place in this world. She felt like she was in the middle of a renaissance faire, or maybe the actual renaissance. Y/n glanced at Bilbo’s clothes. He looked like a weird little farmer. She looked down at his feet then back at the fire. She did a double take.

“Where are your shoes?” Y/n asked. Bilbo looked over at her. She elbowed Bofur to get his attention. “Where are his shoes?” She asked him, gesturing to Bilbo’s bare feet, which were stretched out beside her bandaged ones.

Bofur laughed at the incredulous expression on her face.

“What’s she saying?” Bilbo asked.

“She wants to know why you aren’t wearing shoes!” Bofur cackled. He had taken a not-so-wild guess.

“Oh, well Hobbit feet are very uncomfortable in shoes and we have very thick skin. Plus-” Bilbo began to explain. Y/n looked back at him with a black expression.

“Ah,” He said, “Right. You don’t understand.” He nodded at her.

“You should really get some shoes,” Y/n said, “Look what happened to me.” She gestured to her own feet.

Bilbo smiled kindly, if not a little condescendingly. Bofur slapped her on the back. “Aye, you got the right idea Y/n. That Hobbit’s gone out of his mind: going all this way without shoes! The thought!” His booming laugh rang out. Y/n smiled at him as he put his arm around her. He was nice.

“Alright I’m going to sleep,” Bofur said as he ruffled Y/n’s hair. “Night all. Wake me up when it’s my watch.”

Kili slid next to Y/n as soon as Bofur moved away. There were two blankets in his hand.

He gave them to Y/n and she took them with a grateful nod. Bilbo excused himself as well and joined the growing number of sleeping dwarves. Soon Kili and Y/n were the only ones awake around the campfire. Bifur was standing guard at the edge of camp; watching over the silent forest.

Y/n took a slow breath as she looked deep into the fire. Kili did the same.

“It’s a good thing we found you when we did,” He said.

“I wish I knew what you were saying,” She said.

“What happened to you out there?” He turned his head to look at her. She did the same.

“How did I get here?”

“I want to understand you,” He murmured.

“I want to go home,” She whispered; her mournful face illuminated by firelight. He took her hand in his.

“Where are your shoes my love?”

“Today I woke up in a forest and killed a spider as big as me,” Y/n’s voice cracked.

“I’m going to help you.”

“I’m so confused,” Y/n put a hand to her forehead. “How am I going to get home?”

Kili squeezed her hand, “I’m going to protect you.”

Y/n squeezed it back.