DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters or happenings of middle earth. They belong to J. R. R. Tolkien and sometimes Peter Jackson's stuff might fall in too. I only own my OC. Please, feel free to leave any comments and questions. Follow the story in which ever way you would like, but make your thoughts known. Thank you!

~~~~~~~~~~Shishi~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 25: Thorin

The bloody hobbit is going to get us killed! The rain is beating down on us painfully and I can barely see ahead but he has the gal to be dangling from the ledge and I have half a mind to leave him there. The thought is completely knocked from my mind when Thia is dragged down next to him.

"Grab her!" I order loudly but not over the storm "Retrieve them!"

"Grab my hand! Thia!" Bofur stretches as far as he can but they pair remain stubbornly out of his reach "Bilbo! Come! Take it!"

I watch as the others try to reach the duo but they are too far gone. Thinking ahead, I start to shimmy down to reach them. Just as I am close enough to the twice damned hobbit, Thia grasps the back of his coat and throws him into Bofur's grasp. My heart leaps in my chest as the momentum causes her to lose her own grip on the stone and she tumbles a few feet. I am just barely able to catch hold of her wrist before she falls to her death.

"Ah!" she gasps out as her arm painfully snaps into an extended position, bearing her weight. Her mouth tilts in a small smile but I know what she wants to say "Thorin-"

"No." I tighten my grip on her wrist.

"You can't pull us both-" she starts again as my grip slides on the ledge

"I'm not letting you go." I try to lift her but our angle makes its impossible. I clench my jaw in frustration, as her weight is near nothing and were we anywhere else, I'd be able to lift the seer with ease "I refuse."

"I refuse to let you die here." She reaches up and tries to force my hand off her own. Her fingers slips on the slick leather but even through the gloves I can feel her shivering "I will be fine."

"You hardly have any control of your gift yet! You do not know this!"

She is not nearly strong enough to force me to release her, the differences in our strength are much too great. However gravity and the rain are causing her to slip faster than I can accommodate. I hold on to her fingers but I know I am going to lose her.

"Thia-" I try not to sound like I'm begging

"Trust me." she whispers but I don't. I can't trust her to return to my side. I can't trust her not die before she knows "I'll see you again."

Her face is resigned as her eyes meet mine and I desperately try to cling to her fingers but they are soaked with rain. I lose my connection with her hand and am left grasping her ring as I watch the woman plummet into the darkness.

"NO!"

I hang there hoping that this is an illusion or a bad dream. Even as Dwalin pulls me back onto the ledge, I am unable to accept the moment. No one speaks and the only sound is the thundering rain. I tightly clasp her ring in my palm.

"I... thought we had lost our burglar." Dwalin attempts to get us moving

"He's been lost ever since he left his home. He should not have come, he has no place among us." I growl in pained anger, snarling at the shivering halfling "We have lost someone who has more value in the palm of her hand than he has in his entire. Worthless. Body!"

He looks hurt and recoils as my presence bears down on him. It only serves to makes me want to throw him off the mountain after Thia but it would only make her sacrifice meaningless. I storm away and slowly the company follows. Finding a cave, we enter and after a thorough search and determining that it is empty, we settle down for the night. The scene is dreary and I can hear the younger members sniffing quietly at the events. I allow the company to mourn for our lose.

"Right then." Gloin says glumly "Let's get a fire started."

"No. No fires. Not in this place." I know smoke in such an enclosed area can be fatal "Get some sleep, we start at first light."

"We were to wait in the mountains until Gandalf joined us." Balin says emptily, clearly devastated. I stare back just as empty "That was the plan."

"Plans change." I reply without interest, clearing the floor of rocks "Bofur, take the first watch."

I lay awake rotating the small golden band in between my fingers. Its much too small to fit onto any my fingers past the first knuckle but I can't help but be strangely attracted to it. It reminds me of my Grandfather's ring, though I never felt the pull I am feeling now. I can vaguely remember Thia wearing the band but I never gave it a second thought. How could I have missed such an alluring piece of jewelry? 'Most likely because the bearer overshadowed it.' I immediately shake the intrusive thought from my mind. The ring is still warm from her flesh but if I didn't know better, I would think it had a heat of it's own. A shuffling causes me to turn my attention away from the ring and too the mouth of the cave. The voices are hushed but I can make out the forms of the Bofur and the hobbit.

"You're homesick, I understand."

"No, you don't! You don't understand, none of you do, you're dwarves!" the hobbit gestures wildly at my sleeping company "You're used to...to this life, to living on the road, death on your heels, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!... I'm sorry. I didn't..."

"No, you're right." Bofur gazes forlornly at around "We don't belong anywhere. I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do."

Thia lost her life to save this worthless welp and he can not even stay to honor her sacrifice? I tremble in anger and wish I really had thrown him off if this is how he repays her. I watch in scarcely concealed rage as Bofur pats the halfling on the shoulder but he notices something as the small male turns to leave.

"What's that?"

The halfling takes his sword out and it appears to be glowing blue. Sending my gaze to my own sword and finding it in a similar way, I recall that Gandalf said it means orcs or goblins are near. A hissing noise intrudes on the silence of the cave and I see the floor of the cave begin to crack open. Quickly sitting up, I call out to the company.

"Wake up. Wake up!"

It does no good, as the floor already splits open and dumps us from our spots. We fall so abruptly that I drop the tantalizing gold band in the mayhem. It tinkers of into the darkness and I can only hope, that like it owner, I will see it again.

New chapter! Until next time!