#technoelfie

Before you even had time to ready yourself, both you and Gandalf were headed to Erebor. Perhaps Fili would forgive you if he knew the trouble you had been to just to see him and apologise for your earlier behaviour.   It was a strange experience travelling through the Mirkwood, far different from what you had expected. "Gandalf, this forest..." you paused as you started to feel your vision blur, you felt slightly nauseated, "I thought these lands belonged to the elves?" "And that they did." he spoke eerily, almost as if he was hiding something, "Gandalf?" "Forgive me, young one, I must concentrate, this is not your average path." you struggled to understand the Wizard, but he always did talk in riddles, ever since you can remember. It was almost what he was famous for other than his whizzpoppers and excellent fireworks.

The journey through Mirkwood was a long one, you felt as though you had been dreaming the whole way through, dreaming of more pleasant things, like Fili. You had thought about the times he had held you, the way his eyes would look into yours with a twinkle, the way he would kiss you so gently and pure. It was almost like you were there again, in the Blue Mountains with him. The day he kissed you under the moonlight and told you things you could have only dreamed of.

"y/n?" Fili's voice repeated through your mind, almost as if he was there. You opened your eyes to see something you were not expecting.

At first glance, you saw a young prince, blonde of hair and grinning through his braided moustache. 

"Fili?" you rubbed your eyes and tried your hardest to focus. He walked towards you and offered you his hand, you took it and felt the memorable warmth of his skin, you smiled. "Fili, I've missed you!" you said as you squeezed his hand lightly, "I haven't forgotten that night under the moonlight, the night you said you belonged with me, I haven't forgotten." you smiled through tears of joy when you went to squeeze his hand again and felt an absence. You looked down to your hand and saw nothing but the reins in your hand. Confused, you looked up again at Fili to find you were looking at a tree the entire time. "F-Fil-?" you were so pained and confused, you barely even heard Gandalf speak until he shouted loudly,

"Y/N!? You must follow closely!" Gandalf looked concerned as spoke, you really tried to focus but your mind kept failing you and feeling dosey. You thought you had almost completely gone insane before a beam of light had touched your skin and a gust of wind blew into your face, it was then that you had realised where you were. You looked around with your eyes squinted and there, tall before you was the Lonely Mountain.

"Erebor!" you whispered in disbelief, "It's just as my father said." The feeling of the warm sunset light kissing your skin and the refreshing cool air of the breeze made you feel much better. Walking through Mirkwood was difficult, you kept thinking you saw Fili and it made the journey twice as long, you longed for him.

Bard was a nice man, he thought logically, which you admired. It wasn't long before the elves of Mirkwood had arrived with provisions for the men of Laketown. You didn't think highly of the Elf King, you thought of him as a pretty little pixie, dim and witless. Although, word had reached you from a halfling that Thorin was sick and he had blocked the entrance to Erebor. You had thought about leaving Gandalf's side many times just to run to the mountain to find Fili, but, Gandalf just wouldn't let you leave. You had come all this way. It had taken weeks and weeks and weeks to get here and now that Fili was within your grasp, you couldn't even run to him. He didn't even know you were here. This evening, you sat looking out from the ruin of Dale towards the mountain where you could see a few torches lit, Fili could've been near one. Fili could be looking back! Every breath you took was just a constant reminder of each moment passing that you weren't with Fili. It was this moment that you felt your blood boil and you rose from your seat to find Gandalf when you bumped into the halfling who was headed somewhere. "Pardon me, must get going!" he spoke quietly as if he was sneaking, "You- Halfling... Are you-" "Bilbo." "What?" "My name is Bilbo." he said with a slight grin, "I'm sure you'd have a name too." "Y- Well, yes, it's y/n." you were confused, what is this Bilbo doing? "y/n? I know that name.. Why do I know your name?" "Bilbo, where are you going?" "Me? Oh.. Just... Just to the- uhm...  the- I'm going to the food trolley, you see... I'm a hobbit and we hobbitses are rather accustomed to large amounts of food." "The food trolley, yeah? I shall join you." you weren't hungry, you just wanted to see what the hobbit was up to. "No!" he gulped, "I mean, I just think you should stay where Gandalf can find you." Wretched Gandalf, you adored the wizard but his company had grown rather laborious.

Sneaking into Laketown was a pain in the backside. You were a slightly clumsy person, therefore sneaking wasn't on your resume. You had to climb up through Bard's toilet. You felt relatively relieved to come across people of your own kind, it felt odd though to see people of a normal size other than Gandalf. Although, Gandalf was quite tall as were elves. But it felt quite nice to be among people of your own race. Bard's home was damp, it was small and compact and definitely not the type of place in which you'd like to hide a company of dwarves, a hobbit and a human. You didn't like the smell of Laketown, it was incredibly fishy and the smell of damp wood that was most probably rotting away filled the scent as well along with the cold sharp air, it didn't complement the other well.

After Thorin had held your hand so desperately, he could barely keep his eyes off of you, even when you caught him looking, he didn't stop. He just smiled politely, his eyes looked so calm as if everything would be okay. But something wasn't right in his eyes, you couldn't pin point it but it was like his eyes looked differently at everything ever since he had seen the mountain up so close. You were practically on Erebor's doorstep and you felt as if the Thorin you knew was beginning to disappear. You hated every second of it. You wanted to know why you felt this way, maybe it was just a gut feeling but usually they're right, aren't they?

When the Master of Laketown had accepted the company with open arms, you felt  little more comfortable taking rest here, you weren't in a cramped room anymore, you could actually move around with freedom. They filled your bellies with hot food and prepared you for reclaiming Erebor. Boarding the boat to go to Erebor, you saw Thorin push Kili away, Kili looked exceptionally upset but you didn't know why. Fili stood and protested to Thorin about staying, you were confused and you didn't think much of it until Thorin came to put his hand on your shoulder. No. Thorin was not about to leave you behind. "You cannot come." he spoke sternly, it sent shivers down your spine and the hairs on the back of your neck began to stand. You felt a deep sickness lay in the pit of your stomach, you didn't want the company to get to the mountain without you. "No, Thorin, I'm coming with you!" "No, you are not." his voice was abrupt but you didn't want to give into him, "Thorin, you can't do this!" you felt a hiccup in your voice as if you were about to sob uncontrollably, "You can't just leave me here!" "I can, I will, I am. It is too dangerous." he placed his hand on your cheek and looked into your eyes almost as if to apologise. You rushed into his body and wrapped your arms tightly around his torso allowing a sob to silently fall from your lips. He gently embraced you and you inhaled his scent before he got into the boat and sailed off for the mountain, you had never had to hold in a wave of tears before this moment but you felt like if you even opened your mouth a complete flood of emotion like gushing water.

"Bilbo, I have made a mistake." Thorin spoke full of sadness, "What? What do you mean, Thorin?" said Bilbo, "If she were here, I would be able to protect her with my life, first hand. What if something happens to her at Laketown and I am not there to be at her defence?" the sadness still in his tone, "Thorin, she can handle herself. She learned from the best." Bilbo consoled with a genuine smile forming on his face, "You taught her everything she knows, she will be okay." there was a long silence as Thorin's eyes were dragged to the region of Laketown, "You love her, don't you?" Thorin still didn't take his eyes off of Laketown even as the boat sail further and further away. He did not reply to Bilbo but the silence between them made the answer clear as day.

It had been hours since the company had left for the mountain, you felt sick sitting on the brink of danger. What scared you most was not knowing how Thorin was, it was not being able to keep your eyes on him and making sure for definite that he would be alive and well despite he was a dwarf king and could manage himself, you still felt as if Thorin made a mistake leaving you here. There was a deep rumble and you felt everything around you begin to shake. You felt that deadly sickness grow in the pit of your stomach again, you felt like you had just eaten something dodgy and you were about to throw up, but your eyes were glued to the mountain. You could not take your eyes off of the mountain, no matter how hard you tried, Kili was screaming in pain as Tauriel chanted in ancient elvish in order to heal him, and yet you still stared at the mountain as if waiting for a sign. That's when you heard one of Bard's daughters scream and slam the door. Orcs. Not now. You didn't even have your bow or daggers. How were you expected to fight with no weaponry, damn elves, taking your weapons. You looked out the window to see a large company of orcs attacking from the roof of the houses, you were trying to deduce a plan in which to fight off the orcs but with no weaponry, the odds were not in your favour. You had no martial arts skills and frankly, fists against orc weapons was just a large factor that couldn't be missed out on. In the corner of the room sat the home made weapons Bard had offered you all before, you eyed them carefully before grabbing one with a spike at the head, this would made for a pretty standard dagger if you could wield it in a clever manner. The thoughts were racing through your mind of how you would use this piece of weaponry before the door was broken down by an exceptionally large orc, followed by a blond elf. He swung into the room with little effort, sliced across the neck of the orc and looked at the people in the room. He was one of the elves that took you back to Mirkwood, you weren't pleased to see him again and yet you still were relieved that the elf was here. Bard's daughters hid under the table as one orc after the other found their way into the building. Tauriel and the blond elf stuck their knives into many orc skulls, you used your spear-like dagger a few times to catch an orc on the tendon of their foot to make them fall, this was easy, the killing was left to the elves though.

You had no idea how long the elves had been fighting off the orcs until you looked around to see no more, you were dazed, had you just dreamed all of this? You clung onto the make-shift dagger in your hand, ripped it from the long stick it was attached to, you prefered to be up close and personal with your killings. It was also easier to hold that way.

You heard the rumble coming from the mountain again, silence fell over Laketown as everybody looked up to the mountain, you heard a woman whimper something about a prophecy but you didn't take it in. You saw something, something like a cloud of smoke rising from the mountain, you were confused but then you heard a giant blood curdling roar and you knew. Smaug had awakened.

The dark shadow of the beast was approaching and you felt your cheeks boil up at the inevitability of your own death. You didn't even want to think of what could have happened to the company, if Smaug was alive and coming to Laketown, he must be.. you couldn't bear the thought. You had to be strong, you had to escape Laketown, Fili, Kili, Oin and Bofur were still with you, as were Bard's children. It may have been a stab in the dark but you felt as if there may be hope still at the end of all things. The fire was searing, you felt as if your skin was being melted from your bones. You had been to hot countries before from when you were at home but that was nothing compared to the agonising ache that stung your bare skin. Every time Smaug flew just feet above your head you saw your life flash before your eyes and yet you still only thought of one person, Thorin. Every time Smaug spoke, you thought of how you wouldn't accept his death, how he just can't be dead. You had all climbed into a fishing boat just outside Bard's home with his children, Kili, Fili, Bofur, Oin and Tauriel. You felt as if you were trying to escape death, you had been through many near-death experiences whilst being in Middle-earth, but this one was going to stick with you. You had no idea how you would even escape the wrath of the mighty Smaug.

You had never ran for your life like this before, I mean other than before when you were chased by wargs but at least Radagast was throwing them off of your trail before. This time you had nobody, you had to run for your life. Wargs were exceptionally ugly creatures it almost looked as if it was cruel to let them live, they were fierce, big, so big their heads were almost the size of you, and so so ugly. They were about the size of a horse and you couldn't even begin to think what kind of dog this had been bred from. Nevertheless, they scared the absolute crap out of you. You heard someone yell something about climbing? Clever. You could use your skills in tree climbing to your advantage, being an extreme introvert had it's perks apparently. You hooked one arm around a branch and swung your legs in one quick motion allowing you to suddenly be off of the ground. There were so many wargs you had no idea what the plan would be, it was the most terrifying experience you had ever been through to say the least, it felt like a bad dream when the wargs were jumping up and  biting the branches, you wanted to scream and make them stop but that wasn't logical. One warg jumped up and managed to push the tree so hard that it began to fall, your stomach dropped. Utter fear shock through you like a bolt of electricity. The trees began to fall one on the other until you were all clinging for your lives onto one tree, at the end of a cliff. You felt sick to your stomach when your eyes met Thorin's and he looked like he had just seen a ghost.. Because he had. Azog. Thorin stood and began to walk towards Azog, the fear ripped through your body like knives through butter. Watching Thorin walk towards his inevitable death was just not an okay feeling. You clung desperately to the falling tree with all your might and yet all your focus was on Thorin, you watched as he approached Azog. He was running through the flames from the thrown from yourself and the rest of the company in the form of flaming pine cones. He was walking towards Azog as if he had nothing to lose, but he did, he had himself to lose. You couldn't let that happen, he meant too much, not only to you but to the whole company, to dwarves in general. Everything went a bit hazy but all you remember was Thorin holding an oaken branch just like he did before in the battle for Moria. Azog's warg knocked Thorin over with a mighty thud which sent vibrations of anger through your body, how could anyone hurt Thorin? How dare he. Azog's warg picked Thorin up in his mouth and crushed him, you heard the blood curdling belt from his mouth as he shrieked in pain, it caused a wave of adrenaline to bolt through your body, just like it did in the goblin tunnels, you had to do something! You stood up from the branch you were leaning on, and ran through the fire towards Thorin's lifeless body the fear struck you that he may be broken. Before Azog could behead the king an arrow shot past him and scratched his face violently, he turned to see you holding your bow. He laughed and muttered something in his dark language which only fueled your anger further. A heavy battle cry escaped your mouth as you twisted an elven dagger out of it's sheath from your hip (that you were sure you would never need but here you are) and threw in one swift motion at an orc creeping towards Thorin, your dagger now stuck firmly in between the orcs eyes, you looked at Azog and his expression fell, he looked shocked. A screech above you was heard, eagles? The eagles! Wargs and orcs were lifted into the air and dropped off of the mountain side, the orcs looked defeated. You ran towards Thorin whose eyes were shut and his breathing was slow, you searched his body for wounds but found none. To your relief he didn't seem wounded but maybe internal injuries? You hoped not. Although, Oin would surely have medicine for that. The eagles flew all around you picking up orcs and throwing them and letting them splatter on the ground. When one came to pick up Thorin you screamed, you didn't know anything about the eagles, Gandalf had failed to fill you in. Then an eagle picked you up and although you tugged and pulled away, he never let go of you, you thought maybe he was taking you to safety. Which of course was the case.

You flew to a high rock away from any orcs view or range. You were the first to land on the rock, you looked around to look for the others, you saw Gandalf, Bilbo, then Bombur, Dori, Nori.... Ori, Oin? Yes Oin, Gloin.... Bifur, Bofur..... Fili, Kili, Dwalin, Balin.... Thorin? Oh thank Mahal, Thorin was approaching. You ran to his body that was still in a sleep like state, you feared the worst but of course you would you knew no better. You sat next to his body and began to feel his chest looking for a pulse, it was slow but it was there. There was still hope. You brushed your thumb over his beard and leant over his body to look into his eyes, you looked up to see the entire company staring at you. "My lady... what are you doing?" Ori called to you, "Shhhh Ori, this is getting interesting!" Bofur nudged the young dwarf, "Don't be silly, I'm checking for signs of internal injuries." you blurted, you sounded way too defensive, of course, you had no idea how to check for internal injuries. You looked back down at the king whose eyes were flickering, "You're okay!" you hugged him tightly, pressing your head into his chest and wrapping your arms tightly, a grunt left his mouth and you realised what you were doing and you let go immediately, "Sorry!" you laughed it off.

Thorin sat up and you stood back to allow him room, the whole company was staring at him in awe. His honour will get him killed one day. "You!" his tone was overflowing with anger, he looked straight at you and he was furious, "What did you do? You could have been killed!" you didn't know how to respond, why was he angry? Everyone was alive? What was wrong? He started walking towards you and you felt a sickness lie in the bottom of your stomach, the last thing you wanted to do was displease him. You tried avoiding his eye contact by looking down, he lifted your chin slowly, you caught his eye line again, you felt so disappointed in yourself but you couldn't work out why. "I've never been so thankful in all my life." you felt his breath on your lips, a familiar tingle formed in your stomach causing you to feel weak. He pressed his lips into yours and a desperate sigh escaped your mouth into his as he pulled you closer to him allowing you to fall into him and grip firmly onto his collar. He deepens the kiss and then you both realised, you had an audience. You felt weak, your knees were so fragile. You could melt into him this very minute. Thorin's face turned directly to the company where they were all smiling, "About time I'd say." Bofur broke the silence, Thorin was still holding onto you, You blushed harder than ever before. Thorin just kissed you!

Large beasts, you had never even imagine spiders so big in all your life. They were bigger than you, after Gandalf had left you at the borders of Mirkwood you didn't feel entirely sure about going in without him, even though you felt safe with the dwarves you just didn't completely trust them after the last time you went on without Gandalf and ended up in Goblin Town. Just as if you had willed it upon them, you were under attack by giant mutant spiders. You didn't even see it at first, it was just a shadow in the darkness at first, but when you saw the eight legs and the big eyes that shone at you, you screamed a blood curdling scream attracting the attention of the whole company. Before you could whip out your bow and load an arrow, the beast flung itself at you causing you to fall to the floor with a cracking thud, it's legs almost pierced through your elven bodice and was crushing you violently. You heard a loud grunt as the beast was pushed off of you and you were surprised to see Thorin wielding orcrist in your defence against this spider that was nearly triple his size. You stood quickly with help from Fili and Kili, before you could ready yourself you saw many many more of these spiders. You pulled out your bow in one artistic swift motion and pulled an arrow out of your quiver and quickly and elegantly shot at the beast attacking Thorin, you caught him right in the centre of it's head with a loud crack, it fell to the floor. Thorin sighed, "You need to watch yourself instead of me!" he called over to you as he stuck orcrist into the skull of another spider, you grunted in response before you were knocked over yet again by another spider. Your head smacked the ground furiously causing a wave of pain to flush over your skull. A grunt in pain left your mouth and you felt a sudden weakness bore over you. You didn't see much as your vision went a bit hazy but you saw figures fly out of nowhere, the spiders fell to the ground and as you stood up you found yourself being pointed in the face by an arrow. You were too disorientated to even resist when the elves of Mirkwood stripped you of your weaponry and escorted yourself and the company to King Thranduil's kingdom. One elf was attempting to talk to you but you had literally no energy in your body to form any words, it might have seemed rude but he seemed rude with his tone anyway so you didn't particularly care.

Standing in front of the elf king was daunting, he was gorgeous no doubt about it but he treated you all like dirt. Especially towards Thorin. It angered you to watch Thorin take the wrath of the elf king, you could feel your cheeks burn red when he mocked Thorin about being a nobody. You could practically feel the steam radiating from your ears. He turned to look at you,

"My, my, my.. what have we here? you are no elf but you wear elven clothes from... Rivendell? If I am not mistaken?" he sounded so condescending, "You may be correct." you spoke bluntly, "Well, well, the attitude suggests you've been among the dwarves for quite a while," your eyes darted to Thorin who was glaring at Thranduil, "And what's this? Feelings for the dwarf king?" he laughed, you felt your cheeks burn up again but this time with a hint of embarrassment. "Well you're about the same size, although you're much prettier than any dwarrowdam" he lifted your chin with his thumb, his face was close to yours as if observing it. "Do not touch her." Thorin's loud voice echoed through the hall, "Oh, and you care for her the same way?" he began laughing again as he stood back to picture you both together, "Imagine that, the King Under the Mountain taking a human for a wife!" he looked around to his company of elves who were snickering at the both of you, "That is none of your concern," Thorin was positively furious, "since when did the elves take any notice in dwarves? You care not when our home was taken by a dragon!" he began spluttering curse words in Khuzdul which you still didn't understand despite being amoung the dwarves for such a long while now. "You lack all honor!" Thorin belted out, this sparked a flame in the elf king as he banished you all to the dungeons.

Good job, Thorin, getting you all locked away in the dungeons of Mirkwood wasn't exactly the idea you all had in mind. Thorin's cell was directly in front of yours, a narrow path way dividing you for guards to pass by. It must be nearly night fall by now, you could hear all the elves partying further up in the building, you overheard one elf talking about a "feast" or something in which all the elves would admire the stars. Kili was smitten with one of the elven maids, you were hardly surprised.

As you lay in your cell you looked over to see Thorin sitting with his knees bent into his chest and resting his chin on his shoulder, his eyes were piercing into you. He just watched you, you smiled at him but his expression didn't change, it kind of spooked you a bit but he just watched you so innocently. You rested your head upon the bars of the cell door as you looked back at him, he seemed frozen as if stuck in a trance. You thought about all the memories you shared with him, the way he taught you how to wield a bow and he so gently adjusted your arm to hold a proper position, how he talked to you so sweetly when he had no reason to treat you with such respect. You had almost forgotten about him ignoring you when his gaze broke and he looked down at his feet almost with a saddened expression. You still watched him although he did not face you, you still watched him like you always had, you didn't know it but you had loved him since you met him. He looked defeated, as if he had lost all hope but you didn't believe that Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain would lose hope yet. He looked at you again and you felt a bolt of electricity flow through your body as he looked so lovingly at you. He smiled so purely and it relieved you, you felt as though as long as he was smiling you could relax and be happy, no matter where you were. You thought back to Beorn's house, was he trying to make a move on you? Was he serious? He seemed so distant and yet he wanted your attention, in some ways it hurt you but in others you felt hopeful. You thought back to what Thranduil said about Thorin making you his queen and suddenly you became sad. This was only an adventure, you couldn't stay in Middle-earth forever despite how you longed to be with Thorin, you didn't belong in Middle-earth, you belonged at home with your books and your ever so depressing lifestyle. It's true, life in Middle-earth was truly more exciting, you felt like you had a purpose here. You had learned so many new things here and you felt as if you truly fit in somewhere but, you couldn't stay here. No matter how much you wished it. Your heart hurt as you thought about leaving Thorin, maybe you could take him with you? No. That's selfish, the dwarves need their king. Maybe you could visit? You would, although you had no idea how you ended up in Middle-earth to begin with. You watched Thorin with sad eyes as he looked back at you, although there was no exchange in words it was like you were having an entire conversation. A conversation about your lives and how different you were and no matter how much you loved each other, it would never be for ever. The silence was almost piercing until it was broken by a familiar hobbit who had come to your rescue. Your faces had all cheered up when you saw Bilbo with his tattered coat and hairy feet, there was finally hope in Thorin's eyes yet again. You loved that look in his eyes, it suited him well.

The goblins threw forth all of your weapons and you felt naked without your bow, despite only just learning how to use it. The goblins began to search you yet again and that gut wrenching feeling of utter sickness overwhelmed you again, the goblin who kept a firm grip on your arm was now searching your body for more, you felt violated and disgusted. Bofur piped up, he began coming up with a cover story as to why they ended up on the front porch of Goblin Town, something about seeing distant relations? You weren't really paying attention, you kept looking over to Thorin who was trying to hide his face. Before the Goblin King began to suspect your dishonesty you heard Thorin's voice pipe up, "WAIT!" his baritone voice boomed and shook you slightly, he stepped forth to show his face and almost immediately the goblin king knew who he was. "Well, well, well.. look who it is!" he bowed before Thorin mockingly, and addressed him as 'King under the Mountain' he continued mocking Thorin infront of the company and Thorin just looked at him without saying anything. "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head!" The goblin king smiled, this made your cheeks burn up and you felt adrenaline pump through your veins, you began to pull from the goblin holding your arms and you let out a grunt of anger, Thorin did not turn his head away from the Goblin King, however the Gobling King looked at you, "What's this? A human? Why are you here amoungst dwarves?" Thorin turned his head to you at last, his look was of fear, maybe you shouldn't say anything. Instead you just looked at the Goblin King through your furrowed brow and grunted furiously. The goblin king lost interest in you and began mocking Thorin some more. You hated watching Thorin be taken as a joke, he was a king to you, he had a fierce heart and a lion-like soul, with the mane to prove it. He was a king to you, despite only knowing him for a short while, he was a king. You had so much respect for Thorin Oakenshield you often doubted if it was only respect and whether it could have been more. Stop, stop being so stupid, you were just a human from another world. He'd never be interested in you. Besides there were more important things to worry about, like the fact that the goblin king had now just seen Orcrist, and squealed in fear. The goblins began slashing at all of you fiercely. Whacking and beating violently, you kicked and pushed at them trying to break free of the rodents that were practically suffocating you. They had you on the floor kicking and scratching like a child trying to break free when you were almost blinded by a bright light. Silence fell. It was Gandalf. "FIGHT!" You found your bow and you began unknowingly shooting out the goblins that came anywhere near Thorin, you felt so defensive of him, you didn't even realise a goblin jumped out from right in front of you until you felt a violent smack on your face, Fili screamed your name and Thorin turned to look, he saw you trip up over yourself but you continued to run through Goblin Town to escape. You felt broken. Your face hurt desperately but you were determined you were not going to fall. The adrenaline was flowing through your body like a drug and you just had to keep going.

You managed to get out of Goblin Town with your skin attached which was all that mattered and you were so thankful for the elven armour that you wore which you were sure was the only thing keeping you safe from deadly jabs. You had found yourself bent over your knees trying to catch your breath when you felt a big hand firmly grip your shoulder, "You fought well." Thorin breathed heavily, he spoke with a genuine smile form on his lips and you felt butterflies in your stomach, how did he do this to you? "Thank you" you spoke breathlessly and he could sense how tired you were, "Sit and catch your breath." he said as he brushed a strand of hair behind your ear leaving a swelling desire on your skin as it missed the feeling of his touch, you took in a sharp breath. "Where's the hobbit?" Gandalf shouted, you felt numb at this point, too numb to really know what was going on. Somehow you had escaped death for a second time and you watched Thorin thinking to yourself 'how does he manage to act so normal when he goes through this so often?' Thorin had been through a dragon attack, you had been through moving house, there was so much difference between the two of you that you just felt you had no room to feel sorry for yourself, you must buck up your courage and take this adventure every moment as it came. After everyone doubted the loyalty of the burglar, especially Thorin whom made it very clear he did not trust Bilbo, he finally appeared out of the shadow and gave a very heart warming speech about how he wants to help the dwarves reclaim their home. Thorin looked defeated and guilty for doubting the poor hobbit but Bilbo continued to look his happy little self despite all he had been through. You felt like you could empathise with Bilbo, there was an aspect of his life that you could see was similar to your own. You both had no experience in battle, you missed your soft beds and your books, in most ways, you were both in the same seat.

Before you set off again, you all decided you were hungry. All the running from goblins was a real work out and you had all earned a good feast. Well, feast is a bit of an over-statement, more of a cheap barbecue, Bombur was a good cook but there wasn't many ingredients to make a good meal out of, so you all settled for boar or deer that Kili or Thorin hunted down whenever they had the chance. You had just about finished your meal when you noticed Thorin looking out over the camp from afar, he hadn't eaten yet. That wasn't a good idea, he needed food after all of that. You got up to approach the king before you saw Dwalin go over to him and begin to chat, you made a swift bend over to tie your shoe laces, very natural, nobody would have guessed otherwise. "Just talk te him, lass." Bofur nudged you, "W-what?" you tried to look oblivious, but apparently that didn't prove so simple, "I can see the twinkle in yer eye from a mile off. His bark's worse than his bite, just talk te him." he gestured towards Thorin and you felt heat raise to your cheeks again, your stomach was swirling into a rollercoaster of butterflies. You looked at him for too long, you were beginning to attract attention from the rest of the company, Bofur nudged you again causing a brief sigh to escape your mouth. "It's love if I've ever seen it." Fili walked over to sit next to you, "you should talk to him, his-" "Bark's worse than his bite?" you finished his sentence, "-yes...." Fili looked confused, "Aye, lad, I've been trying to tell her." Bofur told Fili, "I do not love him!" trying to break the gaze from Thorin but you couldn't, it just proved a lie. "He's just a very respectable, charming and kind person and-" you caught yourself rambling then saw the smirks on the rest of the company's face, your face was glowing red. Did you actually just? Yes. Yes you did. You fool. "I don't love him though!" you tried to cover yourself up but this wasn't easy. "Really!" You didn't realise but you had caught everyone's attention, even Thorin had turned around, Gandalf was stood with Bilbo and even they were smirking in your direction, you felt utterly singled out. You didn't know how to make the situation any better so you thought to yourself, 'nobody will follow me if I go for a bath...' "Excuse me, I need a wash now." you rose from your seat and walked off towards the closest riverside in which you splashed cool water into your boiling face. You sat in silence for a while trying to collect your thoughts, why did Thorin make you such an awkward mess? Could he tell how he was making you feel? All you wanted to do was just grab him and kiss- No. Highly inappropriate. He's a king. A King! You're a nobody, just someone who stumbled upon them and they're burdened with. He wouldn't have these feelings for you, not after you had seen what beautiful people are around Middle-earth. He's so beautiful, he could have anyone he wanted. Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, you name it he could woo it. 

You had made it to a cliff side with a scarily broken up pathway, Bilbo slipped a couple of times and you were holding onto the side of the cliff with all of your might so you wouldn't fall. That fall played in your mind for a long while whilst you drowned out the noise of the company's mutter. Although it was storming right above your heads and the lightning kept flickering frantically you felt at ease, after all, somehow Thunder comforted you. However the rain made it extremely difficult to walk along this narrow path, you felt as though you were drowning, the rain was so thick and heavy that you could barely see in front of your face. You were lost in your daydreams about that kiss with Fili just earlier and what did he mean by "Oh, Mahal, no" and laughing? Were you some sort of joke to him? Were you that disgusting? Your thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud scream heard from Dwalin, "LOOK OUT!" he bellowed which shook you violently, you saw something dark from the misty rain approaching you quickly without warning, it must've been what Dwalin was referring to. You clung to the mountain side before what appeared to be a giant boulder crashed into the mountain side just above you. Thousands of pieces of rock rained down past you and you felt you had narrowly escaped being knocked out by one of them. "This is no thunder storm, it's a thunder battle! LOOK!" Balin then followed, Your eyes met a giant throwing giant chunks of the mountain which utterly terrified you, "Well bless me! The Legends are true! GIANTS! STONE GIANTS!" Bofur added in frantically. There was a giant battle amongst two giants that filled you with sheer fer because they basically came out of nowhere. Before you even had time to comprehend what was happening around you, the ground started to shake. Fili and Kili looked at each other in desperation, fear and sadness. "Take my hand!" Fili shouted at his brother, you stood next to Bilbo and Fili and watched as the ground moved before you and you could feel your heart sinking, what if you all fell? Before you could even knew what was happening you were about to crash into the side of the cliff, you felt a tightness grip around your hand when you turned to see Fili holding your hand with all of his might and looking at you with sincerity in his eyes, he looked terrified. A muscle in his jaw clenched as you all fell onto the cliff side. 

“NOOOO!” You heard a blood curdling scream which sounded like it came from the king, “FILI!” he bellowed

Fili hadn’t let go of your hand, he was still gripping onto you firmly which lifted your heart slightly, although you couldn’t help but feel confused, why did he chose to hold on to you when he had so many others around him? 

You felt weak and your eyes were shutting, perhaps something bad happened to you during the stone battle. Did you hit your head? All you knew is that you wanted to sleep. Sleep sounded amazing right now. 

“No! No no no! y/n, don’t sleep, wake up please!” you heard a voice call to you desperately but you couldn’t make out the voice. Fili? Perhaps. You felt a hand on your cheek and you heard the worrying cries of other dwarves, your body was being shaken violently but still you couldn’t wake yourself. 

When your eyes opened you were surprised to find yourself in a dimly lit warm cave, your clothes were still damp from the rain outside but you felt a lot better.

Everyone was asleep apart from Oin and Fili, 

“H-h-hello?” you whispered, your head was pounding. 

“Oh thank Mahal!” Fili mustered as he gripped tightly onto your thigh which sent a tingling sensation to your every nerve ending, 

“Leave her to rest for now, lad, she’ll feel better in the morn.” Oin gently felt your forehead, “I’m going to catch some sleep if I can, Fili, you keep watch.” 

“Of course, thank you dearly.” Fili sounded so thankful and yet what for? “How are you?” Fili whispered gently, 

“I’m- I’m fine, my head hurts but I- What happened?” you asked in a fluster of thoughts, 

“You hit your head rather hard, sweetling.” Did he just call you that? Your head was in a mixture of emotions right now, what was he talking about? you didn’t hit your head. Is he alright?

“Sweetling.” you mimicked him in a deep tone, you both giggled quietly, Oh did he look gorgeous, the deluge was still present on his skin and hair, he had taken off his large coat and draped it over your feet as if to attempt to keep you warm even though the damned thing was sodden through.  You pressed your hand on the top of your head and grunted in pain. 

“No no, don’t touch there, it’s tender.” Fili spoke so softly and it gave you chills, he seemed so concerned for you, he moved closer. He took your hand and rubbed his thumb gently over the palm of your hand where there appeared to be a small graze, probably from the fall. His touch alone could sooth you back to health. You felt utterly weightless under his touch and yet you still felt your heart sink when you thought about your kiss only hours before. 

You searched his bright blue eyes as if looking for the answer, but you couldn’t bring yourself to ask.  

Why could you not resist the cute little smirk he pulled at you? Why were you weak every time he looked at you this way? Why did you love him so much?

Love? Oh no not love. Surely not. 

Your chest felt heavy as Fili picked a stray hair from your face and tucked it behind your ear. 

“What did you mean?” you blurted out before thinking, 

“Pardon?” he smirked, to which you followed by explaining the whole “Oh, Mahal, no” incident. His expression shifted suddenly as if in uttermost discomfort. 

“You think that?” he looked hurt, but then he smirked again in his boyish charm, “Don’t be so petty, love.” he leaned in to give you a delicate kiss on the cheek, there was friction between you only building up. Why does everyone think you’re being petty? 

His eyes were so captivating, so blue and deep, you couldn’t see past him, it only felt like you two in the cave at this minute. 

You couldn’t say anything, he made you weak. 

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” he whispered, you felt the familiar feeling of his lips brushing against yours and you gave into your weaknesses, you fell into a deep kiss that felt heavy and longing. Desire filled the both of you, he knelt over you and pushed your lips apart with his tongue as he explored your mouth. He tasted so sweet, his scent was filling your nose, his manly yet sweet scent that was coated in the smell of rain. Your fingers curled in his hair as you ever so delicately ran your fingers over his beard and into his hair. The kiss grew fierce and filled with a burning lust. He pulled apart from you for a second to look at you and whisper something under his breath, you moaned back into the kiss and he pulled back again, 

“Don’t do that or I shall regret my actions.” he ever so politely put it, how charming. But you couldn’t resist. You moaned into him yet again, “You’ll regret doing that.”

“Why?” you asked with a cheeky grin,