Again, please do not use the characters in the images without my permission. (I lost screenshots. Annoying.).

The next morning, I woke to a knock on the door. I bolted awake, as that sometimes happens. I opened the door after getting dressed quickly. Outside it stood Oin, the healer I remembered. I calmed my breathing, then said cheerfully "Good morning! How'd you sleep?" Oin stared at me. "Lass, be you alright? You was breathing quickly when you opened the door." "A nervous reflex I sometimes have. You happened to see the tail end of it." I replied without missing a beat. "Now come! We have a trip to get onto, do we not? And I still have to speak to Thorin.' I added silently to myself.

Oin nodded. "But first, I have to ask you some questions. First, will you be needing anything for yer monthly cycle?" I shook my head. "Age?" "I very much prefer not to share that. Otherwise you'll see me differently then how you do now." "Race?" I looked at him in strangely. "I'm afraid I can't disclose that." I said. "With luck, you'll find out in time." I skipped by him, not letting him ask any further questions.

Little did I know, Oin looked after me with a puzzled look. 'How can someone who acts completely cold in one instance act like a carefree child the next?' He wondered. He went to go tell Gandalf.

Meanwhile I found Starlight, and hopped onto her. She was a fairly good horse, and incredibly intelligent. I wouldn't give her up for the world. I had found her as a colt, half-beaten to death in the hands of a greedy horse seller. I had used one of my forms to scare him into giving his horses to another buyer/seller, and as payment for doing so I could choose one of the horses. I chose Starlight, and she had been loyal to me ever since. I never used a saddle, bit, bridle or anything else. I saw no reason to do so. She trusted me, and I treasured that.

Once we got on the road, Thorin looked at me questioningly. "We have a special trust. I'm warning you now, you best let her be, or she will bite." I said. Thorin nodded. "Moving on. What did you want to talk to me about last night?" Thorin just stared straight ahead. "It was that STUPID BET." he growled underneath his breath. "The one that Fili and Kili placed on us?" He nodded. "Oh, how DELIGHTFUL." I said with heavy sarcasm. "I'll be right back." Thorin glanced at me sideways. "Don't kill them." "Fine."

I slowed Starlight enough to walk beside the brothers, and said "So, Fili, Kili. You're about to regret asking me that question last night." They looked at each other in fear. "RUN." I growled. They sent their ponies into a gallop. I gave chase, with Starlight easily keeping up. Eventually the ponies slowed down, and I launched myself off of Starlight's back and knocked the two off their ponies in one clean shot. I then proceeded to give them several minor injuries and bruises. I didn't break any bones though. "NEVER make Thorin do a dumb bet again, or I will dismantle you." I growled in their ears. I stood up. "Now, let's get back to the company. Ride your horses at a trot so that you'll catch up." And with that, I swing back up onto Starlight and rode back to the group.

I trotted up next to Thorin. "Done." I said rather cheerfully. The others looked at me in mild fear, although a few were heartily laughing. Thorin was doubled over in the saddle laughing. I startled giggling like mad. Eventually it burst out into full-out laughter. I have been told that my laugh is a wonderful sound to hear. I wasn't realizing that Thorin had stopped laughing, and had frozen. Eventually I calmed down enough to where I was just giggling, and noticed that Thorin sat in silence.

I started feeling insecure, so I nudged Starlight to go a little bit faster. Once
I felt that I was far enough to be safe, I slowed Starlight down to her original pace. I stared at nothing in particular, and started singing without realizing it. I didn't brag about my singing, but secretly I thought I was pretty good. I was shy when singing around others though. For a while I just sat and sang, forgetting the world around me.

Two weeks or so later

I had kept my distance away from the group after that first day. Sure, they could be fun, but I felt like an outsider sometimes. There were inside jokes that I didn't understand, and it made me uncomfortable. We had just made camp, and I looked around and stretched. Something felt off, and I didn't like it one bit. The feeling made me want to hide from whatever was around, and fight it if it so much as touched anything that I cared for. It made me want to cough for some reason, and I didn't like it.

I went over to Thorin just before the wizard got there. "Thorin, we need to talk in private." He looked at me, confused, but followed me a little ways from the group. I looked him dead in the eye, and said "If you have ANY, and I mean ANY, amount of trust in me, then please, can we move? This place makes me feel like I'm about to choke. I want to hide in a safe place, and then destroy anything that touches anything I care about." My breathing was accelerating, so I stopped and took a shakey breath. I concentrated on breathing, the panic having set in.

Thorin just stared at me. I don't know what was going through his mind, but he nodded. "Alright. We'll move to somewhere safer if you're going to react like this. We can scout out this area once we're away to see what's making you panic so much." I looked up, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. "Thank you. You're going to have to tell them though. I have no weight with them." He nodded, and I went to go pack up stuff.

While he told them, I found and counted all of the horses, and breathed a sigh of relief. None of them were missing, which was a blessing. Once told, the everyone else started packing up. They didn't understand why, but Thorin was their leader, and they trusted him.

💖💛💙

Once we got far away from that area, we found a shallow, relatively dry cave to spend the night. I felt safe, and didn't feel like attacking anything. Thorin and Bilbo went to go scout out the area, leaving me with the other dwarves. I, being the shy person I am sometimes, stayed on one side of the cave watching the rain fall. Starlight sat next to me, helping me keep warm.

I saw movement, and drew my bow. Whatever it was, I was NOT about to let it take my friends. It turned out to be Thorin, Bilbo and Gandalf. I lowered my bow, and Thorin gave me a look of approval. Gandalf still wouldn't look me in the eye, and Bilbo smiled at me. The three came over to me, and Thorin said "I guess your feeling was right to cause worry, Neptune. There were trolls that would have eaten us all. I'm going to go tell the others what happened." I nodded, then he and Gandalf went over to the other dwarves. Bilbo stayed, and made small talk with me.

"So~" He said. "Do you have a crush on Thorin?" He asked. I thought about it. "Honestly, I don't know. He's nice, and he listened to me when I wanted to leave that spot. That part makes me happier, because I hate being ignored sometimes. And it's nice when he's happy, because it seems like I don't have to worry about anything. I have no weight with the other dwarves, and I am beyond shy. And besides, I'm far too outlandish. I probably make them uncomfortable." I said quietly. Bilbo sat in silence, then got up. "I'm going to go talk to Gandalf." He stated. I shrugged. "Alright. Talk to you later Bilbo."

When he left, I continued to look out, feeling protective of the dwarves. I didn't like that they might get attacked, or worse, killed. I didn't know them, but I knew that I would give my life to keep them safe. My bow drawn, Starlight by my side, and me wide awake, I kept watch.

With the dwarves

Bilbo had just finished telling the dwarves of what Neptune had said, and they all sat in silence. "How are we supposed to include her?" Kili asked. "We don't even know what she likes to talk about!" Fili said. "She likes stories, and just talking about random things. She asks a LOT of questions if she doesn't understand about a subject, and she'll listen to you." Bilbo said quietly. The dwarves looked at him. "How do you know this?" Balin asked. "She stayed with me for a few days before you all arrived at my house." Bilbo explained.

As everyone asked the hobbit questions about Neptune, Thorin sat in silence, thinking. Truth be told, he wasn't at all sure of Neptune, and didn't know what to do about it. She had made such a strange impact on him. When he was alone, and thinking, he didn't think about Erebor. He thought instead about Neptune. She always seemed so shy, and unsure about things. Was it really the same girl he had met at Bilbo's house? He looked over to her, and froze. Heat came to his cheeks as he stared at the image in front of him.

She was staring out at the rain, keeping watch, with her legs tucked beneath her and her bow drawn. Her horse was by her side, keeping her company. Her blonde hair was down for once, and spilled onto her shoulders and back. 'She's beautiful.' Thorin thought. He looked away after a time, to try to capture his train of thought. He kept glancing at her, despite his efforts not to.

💖💛💙

Back with me

After the dwarves plus the hobbit had gone to sleep, I stared out at the woods. The rain had stopped, and the moon had come out. I shivered. It was cold, and I didn't have the body warmth a dwarf had. I snuggled closer to Starlight, who didn't mind. I needed sleep, that I knew. I retreated into my mind, cursing my father the whole way. I hated him deeply, and he was part of the reason I couldn't sleep. It was also another reason why I had been so uneasy around the dwarves. They were all men, and they all made me slightly uncomfortable. I hated that I couldn't trust a little more, and tried to be as outgoing as I could to make up for it.

I decided that I wanted company, company that could talk. I surveyed the dwarves, thinking who would I be the most comfortable with. I chose Bilbo. Because although not a dwarf, he was still the one I knew longest. I went over and gently shook him, and he woke. I gestured him over to where I was, and he followed. "Hey Bilbo." "Hey Neptune. Can't sleep?" I nodded. "I needed some company that could talk." "Why me?" he asked curiously. "I'm most comfortable with you then the dwarves. And it's not their fault. I have trust issues when it comes to males." I said honestly. "Hm. They all thought they did something wrong. They're not sure how to approach you either." Bilbo said thoughtfully.

I tilted my head. "Explain." "You've been off by yourself most of the trip, and they keep trying to include you in their jokes. You seem cold to them I think. They were asking me a million and one questions on how to have a conversation with you earlier." Bilbo said that last part chuckling. "Oh." I said quietly. I leaned back a little, and sighed. "Well shoot. I didn't mean to make them uncomfortable. In all honesty, I was the one feeling uncomfortable. Ugh, I hate being me sometimes." I said a little tiredly. "What do you mean?" Bilbo asked. "Ya know how I was super outgoing when it was mainly just us two? And how I would chatter on and on? It's harder when there's unfamiliar people in a group, let alone different race and gender."

Bilbo sat in thoughtful silence. "Maybe try talking with just a couple of the dwarves for now, and then working on talking with them altogether." he said after a bit. I nodded. "Alright. Hey, do you think you could keep watch for a little bit? I'm about to fall asleep." Bilbo nodded. I made myself comfortable, yawned, and closed my eyes.

Hi~! This was a bit longer then I anticipated, and honestly I just wanted to get this done. Sorry if it doesn't make any sense. Next scene is when they enter Riverdale, AKA the place where peaceful elves live for the ones who don't know.

See ya later,

Neptunefoeva