The gentle falling of rain was what woke Tessa from the slumber that had overcome her. Her eyes fluttered open, but closed just as quickly when a fat rain drop hit her in the middle of her forehead. Rolling herself onto her side, she felt slick blades of grass beneath her, not the hard concrete that she had last been on. She once again chanced opening her eyes, more cautiously this time, and took in her surroundings.

She was lying in a field that seemed to stretch on forever in front of her, lush green grass rolling over subtle hills. Several yard behind her lay a line of trees, leading to only more trees. Neither the field nor the trees had been in the middle of town, which was the last place she had remembered being, and for a moment her heart quivered in her chest as she worried that someone had drugged her drink and left her for dead.

Except, she didn't feel dead. She actually felt quite nice, rejuvenated even.

And they had left Lillian and Sadie with her. Surely they couldn't have gotten all of them, Sadie had barely drank at all that night, choosing instead to look after her friends.

Lillian began to stir next to her, sputtering as the rain began to fall harder. With a groan she heaved herself up off the damp earth, looking from the still unconscious Sadie to Tessa. Her forehead wrinkled, giving away her confusion as she took in the strange landscape before them. Then, as if she had only just taken the weather into account, she glared up at the sky.

"Why is it raining?" she asked in a defeated voice. It was bad enough that she was in butt fuck nowhere, and no way of getting home, but now she had to contend with the rain too?

Tessa blinked at her companion, unable to comprehend why her first comment was about the rain. Rain was normal. Waking up in the wilderness with no knowledge of how you got there, however, was not.

Except that one Tequila Tuesday… but that had never been repeated.

"Tess?"

"Hm?"

"What's going on?" Lillian looked confused, even a bit scared. Inside she was terrified. She couldn't see a road anywhere, and the flat field allowed her to see for miles. Maybe there was one in the trees?

"I don't know." Tessa's voice was grim, as was the look on her face. It wasn't often that she was unable to get a grip on a situation and figure out what was going on, but right now she was grasping at straws. There weren't even tire tracks, so no one could have drove them here, at least not very closely to the spot they now lay. "Wake Sadie up and we can go see if we can find a road."

Lillian scowled at their still sleeping friend. Surely she'd have some idea about what was going on. She hadn't had nearly as much to drink as Lillian and Tessa had.

That thought gave Lillian pause. She had been shit faced last night, why wasn't she feeling like it? Surely she should have a headache or a bit of nausea or something.

But that thought was pushed to the back of her mind when the light rain around them turned into a near downpour. Lillian sighed to herself, pushing her wet hair out of her face and nudged her sleeping friend.

"Come on Sadie, get up," she grumbled, groaning when she noticed how muddy she was. Just how long had it been raining? Sadie didn't budge, so Lillian crawled closer to her, glaring all the while. How could she be sleeping through all this rain? If Lillian was in her position she'd probably wake up thinking she was drowning. "Sadie, come on dude, get-"

When her hand came in contact with her friends skin, she jerked it back away. She was cold, very cold. Lillian's eyes widened in fear as she looked the other girl over. Her chest was rising with breaths, but very faint, shallow breaths. Her skin seemed sallow, as if she was very ill. Had the cold and the rain made her sick? Or was something else wrong with her?

"Tess, she won't wake up."

"Shake her harder then," the other girl waved off as she shakily brought herself to her feet. She felt like a newborn fawn with the way her legs quaked beneath her.

"No Tessa, she won't wake up," Lillian insisted, still fearfully watching their unconscious companion. "She's cold, really cold."

In a panic, Tessa stumbled over to her friends, immediately checking the older girl's pulse. She sighed with relief when she felt the faint but steady heartbeat. She was alive, but she had no idea why she wouldn't wake up.

"Okay," she said slowly, looking at her friend's worried face. "I'm going to go see if I can find a road and ask for help. Stay here-"

"I'll go with you," Lillian interrupted quickly. "You can't go by yourself. And two of us looking for it-"

"Lil, we can't leave Sadie here unconscious. I have no idea where we are, or who could be around. Stay with her, I'll be right back."

She left no room for argument as she jumped back to her feet and took off in the direction of the trees. The saturated earth left her slipping and sliding in the mud, and in her frustration she seemed to be spending more time heaving herself up off the ground than actually running, but concern for her friends kept her going.

Her legs burned as she began to stumble through the undergrowth of the woods. Surely there would be a road soon, there had to be. They had gotten to that field somehow, and there was no road in the field as far as she could see. It had to be hidden in the trees, it had to.

Her foot caught on a root and she nearly tripped, but righted herself at the last moment, only to be thrown roughly to the ground. Her body hit hard, landing in a small puddle that had formed under one of the great trees. The flimsy summer dress that she had worn the night before was soaked through with the dirty water, but that was the least of her worries.

Tessa was more concerned with the knife being held to her throat, and the heavy body looming over hers.

"Why are you following us?" the body above her growled, dark hair hiding his face as he held the blade close to her neck.

"Wh-what?" she stammered, wriggling her body to try to inch away from the deranged looking man. He only pressed down upon her harder, noting in confusion that it was not the hard body of a thief or looter that frequented this road that he felt, but the soft body of a woman. Was this some sort of trap?

"Why have you been following us?" he reiterated, taking a moment to look over her. He was greeted with a delicately featured face. Her heart shaped face was marred with mud and small scratches from branches, but he was able to make out most of her features. Terrified eyes framed with long lashes stared up at him in terror, leading down to a straight nose that upturned just barely at the end, and plump, full lips that were parted in a way that in any other situation would have been quite sensual.

"Following who?" she demanded, moving her body with more force to try to throw him off. The knife made her weary, she'd be a fool if it didn't, but she would not let him see her fear. "I was looking for a road. My friend… she needs help."

"Oh does she?" he asked, almost laughing. Was the poor girl really that naïve to think that such a ploy would work? The damsel in distress trick was one of the oldest in the book. Surely the thieves could come up with a better way to plunder than that.

"Yes. She won't wake up," she explained in a frail voice, remembering the cold touch of Sadie's skin and her absolute unresponsiveness. "I don't know what to do. I don't even know where we are."

The fear in her voice almost made him believe her, almost. It was just too convenient, too risky. He couldn't go risking his life and those of his company for the soft body pressed to the ground beneath him. And he certainly couldn't risk letting their goods get taken from them before they made it to their destination.

"Please, help her."

It was the broken look in her eyes that won him over. She seemed too sincere and too scared, but he refused to go on his own, he wasn't that stupid.

"Fili!" the man yelled harshly, causing the woman to jerk in surprise. Another man came from the trees, watching the scene before him with trepidation as he tried to figure out just what his brother was up to. "Go get Dwalin and Balin. Tell the others to guard the caravan."

"Kili," the other man groaned, ducking his head and sending his honey colored hair over his shoulders. "You cannot be serious. Just because she's a girl-"

"Just do it," the dark haired man sighed, finally lifting himself off of Tessa but keeping his eyes on her. "It's not like she can do much damage anyway."

"But whoever she's with could," the blond man groaned, pulling on a braid attached to his upper lip. "Keep an eye on her. Don't move Kili. Nowhere, not till I get back."

The dark haired man, Kili, scoffed as the other took off through the trees, and only then did Tessa gingerly lift herself off of the ground, wincing when she felt a pain in her thigh. She must have landed on something.

"You're going to help us?" she asked timidly, feeling incredibly out of place when she finally took in the man's appearance. He was an inch or so taller than her, but significantly more solid and stocky. He certainly wasn't wearing normal clothes, he almost looked like he belonged at a Renaissance Fair. But the thick, worn materials he was wearing seemed much more realistic than any Renaissance Fair costume she had ever seen. His hair was long, to his shoulders, and loose, falling down in unruly, wet waves thanks to the rain.

Tessa bit the inside of her cheek to try to keep herself from staring. She always did have a thing for men with dark, long hair.

He looked at her through his hair and gave a sharp nod, unsure if he should speak to her or not. He did not want to give up any information to her, only to find that his initial thoughts were correct and she was, in fact, a thief.

Though, for the life of him, Kili could never remember a thief that wore so little clothing. She was in scant more than a night gown, and one much shorter than any his mother had ever owned. It ended well before her knees, revealing entirely too much of her long, smooth legs. Her shoulders were bare as well, left with only a thin scrap of fabric on each to hold up her dress. He was doing his best to avoid looking at her chest, he knew that with the way the dress was so immodest everywhere else, there was sure to be more on display than he was meant to see. And he'd already felt them against him enough to know that there wasn't exactly much binding them.

There girl was going to get herself hurt running around in so little clothing out here.

"Thank you," she spoke meekly, studying him from beneath her lashes. He grunted in response, but said nothing more. He was a strange man, both in dress and in build. He was taller than her, but he somehow seemed… stouter. As if his body wasn't as long.

Or maybe she was just imagining things.

"Where are we?" she chanced asking, almost fearing he would ignore her. His eyes shot to her briefly before falling back to the ground.

"About a day and a half's ride north of Bree," was his curt answer. Tessa's nose wrinkled in confusion as she took in what he said. Bree? She'd never heard of a town around her called bring. And what did he mean a day and a half's ride? Couldn't he just tell her how many miles away it was? And for that matter, what the hell was he riding?

Tessa jumped when she heard the trees move behind the man that was watching her, seeing the blond return with two older men behind him. One had thick, gray hair and an even thicker, bushy gray beard that was much longer than most she saw. His eyes crinkled in the corners like most that spent much of their time smiling. The other man, however, was a bit more intimidating. He was taller than his comrade, and much bulkier. The top of his head was bald, and covered with what appeared to be tattoos of strange symbols, while his hair was a dark brown. He just looked so angry that Tessa almost shied away, almost.

"What is the commotion for Kili? We're already behind schedule because of the rain," the gruffer looking man spoke, turning a distasteful eye to Tessa before looking back at his companions. "And where did you find a naked woman?"

"I'm not naked," Tessa spat, narrowing her eyes at the man even as he paid her no mind.

"Found her running through the woods. I don't know where her clothes are," Kili shrugged, still only able to chance short glances at the woman. He most certainly did not want to be caught staring. "She said that her friend is injured."

"If she's wearing her small clothes as well it would be no wonder," the gruff man groaned, reaching up to take off his… cape? Tessa couldn't remember ever seeing someone wear a cape. He held the heavy material out to her, watching her carefully. "Put this on before the lad goes and embarrasses himself."

She gave him a funny look, unsure of what exactly he meant, but followed his instructions anyway. She'd be lying if she said it didn't shut out some of the cold wind and rain. Only when she saw Kili blush did she realize what lad the gruff man had been speaking of.

"I- Thank you," she whispered, feeling a bit claustrophobic as all four of the men seemed to round on her. "I'm Tessa."

"Dwalin," he replied, nodding his head toward the field outside of the wood. "Now let's go get your friend and see to her injury."