A Long Way From Home[Thorin Oakenshield] RE-EDITING! 2/60 DONE

~Chapter Thirty One~

It was a long cold journey across the lake. Bilbo had wandered over to chat with the man; thanking him for allowing him and these stubborn dwarves to come aboard his barge. He nodded to the hobbit, glad at least one of them seemed to have manners. Honor was in the opposite corner, away from the dwarves, starring into the fog.

"Honor." Bilbo spoke from beside her. She glanced over at him and half smiled at her cousin. "Honor what is going on? Why did he say the elf king was your father?" Bilbo questioned. The elf let out a deep breath, before speaking.

"Because....he is." She admitted as she turned to face him and she showed him the birthmark on her shoulder. The hobbit looked at, remembering when they were younger, the two of them spent hours trying to figure out what it meant, but Honor's mother wouldn't say and Bilbo even tried to ask his mother but she would divulge anything she might have known.

" Did he know about you? I mean before all this?" The hobbit dared to ask, but he could tell by her silence that the answer was clear. "I'm so sorry Honor."

"It doesn't matter. He's not my father. Erling was my father and nothing will ever change that." Honor stated in a quiet voice. Thorin watched the elf talking quietly with her cousin, he wasn't sure but he had a good idea about what and he still felt somewhat guilty for not saying anything to her when that thought had occurred to him.

"What out!" Bofur yelled, causing the others to stop whatever they were doing and look out in front of them, as they saw giant rock formations and the bowman stirred through the obstacles as if he had seen them miles away.

"What are you trying to do, drown us?" Thorin growled at the man. Honor was walking back over to Thorin as he began sharing words with the man.

" I was born and bred on these waters, master dwarf." The bowman declared. "If I wanted to drown you, I would not do it here." Thorin and Bared continued to glare at each other.

"He does have a point." Honor stated and Thorin turned to look at her.

"And what's that?" The dwarf prince hissed, as if he was slightly jealous of her taking the man's side.

"Well why would he agree to let us on, if he was going to drown us? He would have just left us stranded on that rock and the orcs would have drown us themselves." She pressed.

"I've had enough of this lippy lakeman." Dwalin grumbled. " I say we drown him ourselves; throw him over the side and be down with it."

"Oh, Bard. His name's Bard." Bilbo hissed, getting annoyed with the way the dwarves were treating this man that just saved their lives.

"How do you know?" Bofur questioned.

"Ah, I asked him." Bilbo admitted. Thorin smirked at the hobbit's stubborn attitude he had developed since he and his cousin had joined them.

"I don't care what he calls himself. I don't like him." The dwarf continued to complain.

"We do not have to like him." Balin pressed as he began counting coins to pay the man. "We simply have to pay him. Come on now, lads. Turn out your pockets." The dwarves began to grumble amongst themselves, having to give up their only money they had to pay this man. Honoria and Bilbo felt bad for not being able to help pay for their way across as well, but Thorin had insisted they were fine.

"How do we know he won't betray us?" Dwaling stated, quietly to Thorin as Honor listened in.

" We don't" Thorin pressed as he glared at the man one more time.

"There's, um, just a wee problem." Balin urged. "We're ten coins short."

"Gloin. Come on. Give us what you have." Thorin said.

"Don't look to me." Gloin hissed. "I have been bled dry by this venture. And what have I seen for my investment? Naught but misery and grief and--" He continued to protest but the others had stopped listening to him and were starring at something tall and in the distances, you could just make out the outline of the Lonely Mountain through the thick fog. "Bless my beard. Take it. Take all of it." Bilbo suddenly clears his throat to warn them of the approaching man.

"The money, quick. Give it to me." Bard ordered.

"We will pay you when we get our provisions but not before." Thorin stated, rudely.

"If you value your freedom, you'll do as i say." Bard hissed. " There are guards ahead." He added and they all turned around to see floating docks ahead.

"What do we do now?" Honoria questioned looking at the man and then Thorin.

"I say we fight them all." Dwalin growled.

" Why do you insist, always fighting our way out, when their is always another option." Honor pressed stepping towards the dwarf; getting slightly irritated by his answer for everything.

"Get in the barrels now!" Bard ordered them as they were getting closer. The dwarves didn't argue with the bowman's suggestion and began climbing into their barrels, some had to have two in one, since they had lost some of the barrels when they had been chased by the orcs down the stream. Dwalin glared at the bowman with anger and hatred but climbed into one of the empty barrels.

Honor was one of the last ones that wasn't in a barrel and Bard urged her to get in one now, before they see her. She looked around, most of them had a dwarf or 2 in them. "Honor! Over here!" Bilbo yelled at her in a whisper. She turned around to see her cousin waving her over frantically and she ran over to his barrel and climbed in it, just as the barge came to a stop at the docks.