Imagine from imaginexhobbit: Imagine Thorin trying to teach you how to read a map.

"You are doing it wrong."

"Really? Does mister 'I even get lost in the Shire where there are road signs on every corner of the street' have something to say about my map reading skills?" you asked, looking up from the map in your eyes.

None of the dwarves dared to come near you when Thorin and you began talking to one another. It usually ended in you ignoring him and vice versa. This would last a few days before you slowly started to warm up to each other again.

And then it would start all over again.

Thorin stubbornly took the map from you. "You have to hold the map like this" he said. He stood next to you so that you could look along with him.

You leaned in to get a closer look. It was a detailed map of Middle Earth. Every mountain and every forest was painted on by the hand of a master. "So, we are here?" You pointed at the right side of the mountain.

"Not quite" Thorin said. "You have to look at more details on the map. What do you see around you?" He was actually trying to be patient with you this time.

You frowned. That was something you had never thought about... The only thing around you were many, many trees. It was clear that you were in a forest but which one...

You looked back at the map. There were at least five forests on the map so that didn't really help. What else?

Aye. How could you forget that? Bilbo and Bombur had caught some fish yesterday from the river outside of camp.

"We are looking for a forest with a river running through it" you said, focusing on the map once again.

Thorin nodded with a smile. "Very good. And how many forests are there with a river running trough them and are close to a mountain?"

"There!" You pointed at the north side of the mountain. "This is the forest called 'Blackwoods'. So the river we encountered yesterday must have been the river 'Scorch'" you said proudly. You put your hands on your hips and puffed out your chest.

"But you are not done with the map" Thorin said. His tone was serious.

Your shoulders sank a little.

He handed you the map. "Where are we in the forest? In which direction do we need to go?" He wore a smug smirk on his lips. It annoyed you greatly.

"Why don't you tell me? You seem to think you know everything better" you said. Why did he need to act like this after being nice? Man.

He stared at you for a moment before responding. "I do know everything better. You are more then half my age."

You huffed. "That only means that you are turning into a fossil. If it would say something about your brain it would be that it is decaying. Us younger ones can solve this map better then you old man." Instead of watching his reaction you tried to determine were exactly you were.

Thorin glared at you. How dare you speak like that to a king? "Now you listen to me" he began, his voice dangerously low.

"No, you listen to me" Balin interfered. He grabbed the map out of your hands before either you or Thorin could protest.

"A forest called 'Blackwoods'? With a river called 'Scorch' running through it. Thorin you should know better then this." Balin tore the map in half before his king's eyes. The two pieces were carried away by the wind.

"Did I not taught you everything you know?"

Thorin quickly closed his mouth after watching his old teacher destroying his map. He nodded. "You did."

"And did I not show you the map of Middle Earth several times? Even when you were a grown up who should have already been able to read a map properly?" Balin's eyes were shooting fire. You had never seen him like this.

Unconciously, you took a step back.

Thorin nodded, looking down at his boots like a dwarfling who was in trouble. "Aye, you did."

"THEN WHY DO YOU NOT REMEMBER THAT THERE IS NO SUCH FOREST IN MIDDLE EARTH? THIS IS THE WRONG MAP!" Balin shouted.

Now, normally Balin wouldn't treat his king this way but you don't know what happened prior to this.

For one, Thorin wanted an excursion around his kingdom so he could teach the younger dwarves more about their kingdom. The company was quick to volunteer and went along with him.

They had left three weeks ago on a trip that should have only lasted one week. Everyone was hungry and were starting to get irritated because everything was taking so long.

And not to forget the small fact that Balin knew Thorin and knew all too well about his leader's map reading ability. He had enough of it. He was not just going to stand here and walk around the mountain for another three weeks because his king couldn't read a map.

"Come! This way" Balin ordered. All dwarves got up and followed the elder dwarf.

Thorin was too emberrassed to walk up front with his old teacher. It was his own kingdom for crying out loud...

You patted him on the shoulder. "Maybe we can take classes together?" you offered with a smile.

He rolled his eyes. That was not going to happen.