Here we go again!

okgurl87: I'm very glad you liked the last chapter! Cinna is really not big, she's about as tall as Bilbo, however more slender and petite, so seeming even a bit smaller than him yet.

Eruwaedhiel95: Yes, Fili's just a sweetheart :D Kili's still a bit grumpy, yeah, let's see how long he can keep that up :D

Thanks to bloodyrose1294, colormespiffy22 and xBBx for your reviews! I really loved reading your opinions!

Also thanks to the followers and favouriters! I highly appreciate it!

Now on to the chapter! I'd love to hear from you! :)

"What's the matter with you?" Fili asked as he arrived next to his little brother who didn't look up at him as Bifur handed him the skull of an animal without any sign or word of explanation. Kili frowned, turning the skull over in his hands before he raised his gaze and shot his brother a questioning look.

"Pardon?"

Fili just raised his eyebrows at him pointedly. "You know exactly what I mean. I always thought you liked females of any sort, how come you're sending Cinna such dark looks?"

"I'm not sending her any such looks. In fact, I'm not looking at her at all." Kili answered, his tone slightly indignant as he threw the animal skull he'd still been holding into the bushes. Fili was about to reply to that, an incredulous frown on his face, when the brunet continued, his voice now gaining a very annoyed tint. "I'm just wondering what she's still doing here, is all. A fae doesn't belong here. We're on a quest, for Mahal's sake, she should go back to her trees and rivers, which apparently she knows so well."

Fili said nothing in return, simply giving his brother an odd look as he shook his head at him. He couldn't understand why his brother seemed so annoyed by the fae, for Fili found her rather entertaining and pleasant to talk to. Not to mention that she had helped save Kili from the river after she'd warned him before he fell in, though maybe it was exactly that which had hurt Kili's pride enough to foster annoyance. She wasn't exactly very hard on the eyes either and Fili was sure that even Kili would have had to admit as much if he were being completely honest. Why not enjoy her company as long as she was still around before they moved on?

"Well," Fili finally said diplomatically, causing his little brother to glance at him again. "I'm sure she'll be going back wherever it is she came from soon enough, you won't have to worry about that any more."

Kili just huffed quietly in reply as Fili shot him a last look before he turned and moved to walk back towards the red-haired fae who was currently having a rather animated conversation with Bilbo as far as he could see. Fili had made it halfway towards the little group when suddenly, loud cracks and noises sounded from within the forest to their right and he quickly spun around and drew one of his swords as Thorin shouted.

"Something's coming!"

"Gandalf –" Bilbo started from where he was standing next to the wizard and the fae who looked slightly puzzled at the sudden commotion that was going on around her. The hobbit was holding his small sword sheathed tightly in one hand, his wide eyes trained on the grey wizard. Gandalf talked over the Halfling as he walked further into the group who began running into the woods toward the noise.

"Stay together!" Gandalf called as he held tightly to his staff. "Hurry now! Arm yourselves!"

Cinna stood for a moment longer beside Bilbo as the hobbit watched the others go, curious as to what he'd do next. The Halfling slowly unsheathed his sword and looked down at it before he shot the fae a short look, nervousness shimmering in his eyes. Cinna merely tilted her head at him, smiling friendly before she motioned for him to follow the dwarves, which Bilbo did quickly, turning to check whether the fae was coming with him. Cinna only hesitated for a moment, her curiosity winning the fight against her fear of possible danger. They were in the woods, she thought, if the need occurred, she could still simply disappear into the leaves and never be seen again.

It was only a few moments until they had caught up with the company of dwarves and Cinna stood close to Bilbo as the hobbit held his sword clumsily in one hand, pointing it in the direction where the cracks of twigs and the rustle of leaves had now become considerably louder. The fae slightly strained her neck to have a better view from the very back of the group as suddenly, something big came crashing through the trees, accompanied by screaming. "Thieves! Fire! Murder!"

It took everyone a moment until they realized that it was no orc or other dangerous thing but a strange man on a sled pulled by large rabbits. As the expressions on the dwarves' faces turned into complete confusion, Cinna's face lit up with a bright smile upon seeing Radagast the Brown. She quickly made her way through the group, squeezing and ducking along the dwarves who all grumbled slightly as she passed them to get to the front where Gandalf was now addressing the brown wizard.

"Radagast! Radagast the Brown!" he exclaimed in surprise. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you Gandalf!" his friend replied, his tone urgent as he looked at Gandalf. "Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong."

Cinna frowned deeply at this, observing the brown wizard as Gandalf looked at him quizzically. "Yes?"

Radagast opened his mouth to speak and the fae watched him expectantly before he suddenly shut his mouth again, not saying anything. He opened his mouth again, only to close it once more right after, frowning in confusion. Cinna's eyebrows rose in slight amusement as she realized that the wizard had forgotten what he wanted to say.

"Oh, just give me a minute," he said then, scrunching his face up in thought. "Oh, I had a thought, and now I've lost it. It was… it was right there, on the tip of my tongue."

The dwarves watched with confusion and slight disgust as Radagast curled his tongue, a surprised look suddenly coming to play on his face. "Oh, it's not a thought at all!" he exclaimed with his mouth open and tongue sticking out. "It's a silly old –"

Cinna heard a few disgusted noises from the dwarves around her as Gandalf reached out and pulled a live insect out of Radagast's mouth.

" – stick insect!"

Gandalf only raised his eyebrows slightly at his friend before he turned his head and saw Cinna standing close beside him at the front of the group of dwarves, and he slowly bent down and held out the stick insect that was sitting on the palm of his hand. The fae smiled up at him as she reached out her hand and took the small animal carefully, gingerly holding it in her hand as Gandalf turned back to the brown wizard.

"Just throw it away," someone said next to her as she looked down at the little insect on her palm and she turned her head to see that she had been standing right next to Kili the whole time. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the dismissive tone of his voice. He raised his eyebrows slightly, shrugging his shoulders. "It's just an insect. Step on it if you must."

"Even small lives have worth, Master Dwarf," she answered him, her voice quiet but stern as she turned away from the brunet dwarf and walked a few steps over to some bushes, holding out her hand and letting the insect slowly climb from her palm onto the leaves. She watched until it was walking safely along the small twigs of the bush before she returned to her spot next to Kili, giving him a disappointed look. "It is a pity if you cannot see that."

Kili opened his mouth to say something but Cinna merely turned away from him and walked over to stand next to Bilbo instead who shot her a small smile as she reached him. He was standing near Radagast's rabbits, petting one of them behind the ears gently. Cinna smiled slightly to herself before her gaze wandered over to where Gandalf and Radagast were talking a few paces away from the company in private.

"This is not from the world of the living," the brown wizard was saying, showing Gandalf a blade wrapped in cloth. They shared a concerned look as Gandalf rewrapped the item and gripped it tightly.

"If what you say is true, I must talk to the White Council about this. I shall keep this for now, and bring it to Rivendell," he said, putting the cloth-wrapped package into one of the many large pockets of his robe.

Radagast just nodded but Gandalf still looked concerned, shooting a short glance over to the company of dwarves, who were all talking among each other before finally he nodded as well, sighing quietly to himself. "Very well," he started, "I shall –"

His words were interrupted by a loud howl suddenly echoing through the forest and he quickly exchanged a look with Radagast as they hurried back to the group. The dwarves all had their weapons drawn once more and Bilbo looked around nervously as he walked a few steps away from the rabbits. "Was that a wolf? Are there wolves in these woods?"

"There aren't," Cinna muttered to herself with wide eyes without anyone hearing her as Bofur spoke up at the same time.

"Wolves? No, that was no wolf," the dwarf with the funny hat said, looking around as another howl sounded through the forest, closer this time. It was only a second later that Cinna felt herself being roughly grabbed by the upper arm and pulled to the side, the sudden contact of skin on skin completely throwing her off guard, as she was not used to it at all. Thrown by the sudden strong pull, she lost her balance and stumbled into Fili as he pushed himself in front of her at the same moment that she saw a huge warg being taken down by an arrow between the eyes, shot by none other than Kili before it could bury its teeth in Thorin. Dwalin and Thorin finished the beast off with axe and sword.

The sudden danger rendered the fae momentarily immovable, her eyes wide as she saw another warg emerge from the bushes and jump right into their midst, knocking over one of the dwarves whose name she didn't know yet, one with braided grey hair. She flinched as Thorin reacted immediately and drove his sword into the beast's body, killing it without any mercy.

"Warg-scouts!" he said then, looking down at the dead beast with disgust. "Which means an Orc pack is not far behind!"

"O-orc pack?" Stuttered Bilbo and although Cinna felt frightened and would normally long have disappeared into the bushes by now, she oddly found herself stepping closer to Fili's back instead, one of her hands coming up to bury her fingers in the fabric of his coat sleeve. The blond dwarf only shot her a small sideways glance before he looked back at his uncle.

"Who did you tell about your quest? Beyond your kin?" Gandalf asked then, causing Thorin to frown at the wizard.

"No one."

"Who did you tell?!" Gandalf demanded again and Thorin's frown deepened, though Cinna saw his gaze shortly drift towards her before his brows knit together seemingly in dismissal of a thought he'd just had. The fae wondered what it had been, but there was no time to ask.

"No one, I swear!" the dark-haired dwarf said then. "What in Durin's name is going on?"

Gandalf's expression darkened slightly as he looked at the dwarf before him. "You are being hunted."

Cinna felt her brows knit together, her fingers digging deeper into Fili's sleeve. It was the large bald-headed dwarf, Dwalin, who spoke next.

"We have to get out of here."

"We can't! We have no ponies, they've bolted!" another said then and nervous murmurs ran through the company, the dwarves exchanging glances as they thought of what to do next. To everyone's surprise, it was Radagast who suddenly spoke up after not having said anything the whole time.

"I'll draw them off!"

"That is madness," Gandalf quickly replied, shaking his head at his friend. "These are Gundabad wargs. They will outrun you."

Radagast merely lifted his eyebrows at the grey wizard pointedly, nodding towards the rabbits that pulled his sled. "These are Rhosgobel rabbits. I'd like to see them try!"

Gandalf hesitated a moment before finally he nodded and turned to the rest of the company. "We shall wait until Radagast is out of the forest and then we'll make our escape over the plain."

The dwarves simply nodded in unison when one of them suddenly spoke up, pointing at the fae that still stood among them. "What about her?" asked Bofur and many of the dwarves only seemed to realize that she was still here now that he had pointed her out to them. Cinna shrank slightly behind Fili's back as their gazes suddenly all flicked to her, her slender fingers still on the blond dwarf's arm.

"She's coming with you, of course," Radagast provided from where he was now already in position on his sled, looking at them as if this were completely obvious. Many of the dwarves sent him dark looks upon that assumption, obviously not very happy with the proposal.

"No," Thorin said sternly. "She has no business with us. She can fend for herself."

"We cannot just leave her on her own, what if something happens to her?" Bilbo spoke, earning himself a dark look from the dark-haired dwarf but he stood tall beneath Thorin's gaze, nodding his head as if to make his point. Cinna felt a small smile appear on her face upon the hobbit's worry for her. It was very kind of Bilbo to care about her safety; she'd never had anyone worry for her before. However, she had never actually experienced danger – imminent, life-threating danger – as this before, anyway.

"Bilbo is right," Gandalf spoke then, observing the fae calmly where she still stood half hidden behind Fili's broad frame. The dwarf did nothing to step away from her. "The wargs will pick up her scent, and though you are fast, Cinna, you cannot outrun these beasts."

The fae shook her head slightly, her eyes filled with fear, and quickly turned as another voice joined the conversation. "But she can make herself invisible!" Kili said as he stepped forward, only shooting a short glance toward her. "She can disappear, I've seen it with my own eyes. They'll never find her."

"Just because you can't see her, doesn't mean she is not still there," Gandalf answered sternly, shooting the young dwarf a slightly scolding look. "She may not be visible but she won't have to be if these creatures pick up her scent. Her cover will not hold. They'll find her and they'll mangle her without any mercy."

Cinna's body went completely rigid at the wizard's harsh words, her eyes wide with the horror of them, and she shortly caught Kili's gaze as he looked over at her, his expression suddenly showing a small amount of worry now as he bit his lip. It was right at that moment that another howl sounded through the trees and they could hear the orcs shouting orders at each other from a distance, not yet visible from where they were huddled by a large rock at the edge of the forest.

"Enough!" Thorin ended the discussion abruptly, his face stony as he spoke. He shot the fae a short look, his eyes hard. "We have no time. She comes with us. Move, now!"

And with that, Radagast gave his rabbits the command to run and off he was in a flash of dust, crashing through the trees, drawing the orcs away from them. Gandalf waited a moment until they could hear the orc pack following the brown wizard before he turned to the company and urged them on. "Come on! Quickly!"

Cinna felt Fili grab her arm again, his large hand wrapping easily around her limb as he pulled her along behind him. They left the edge of the forest – and with it all that had granted Cinna safety before now – behind and ran into a rocky plain, moving along the large boulders that hid them from the orcs' sight while Radagast chased over the plain, orcs and wargs following on his heels. The fae ran along as they rushed across the plain, over and over hiding behind large rocks when the orc pack came too close.

Her breathing was fast and ragged, though more out of fear than actually being out of breath. She was used to running, did it all the time in the woods, and so didn't tire very fast. Fili's hand was still wrapped tightly around her arm.

"Stay together!" Gandalf urged them as Thorin ordered them to move again once the orc pack was out of immediate sight, hurrying them along the rocks only to hide behind another one not too long after so as to not be seen by their hunters. Cinna watched as Thorin held one of his companions back by the collar to stop him from running out of their cover.

"Ori! No, come back!"

"Come on! Quick!" Gandalf called and as they continued running, Cinna had lost all orientation, not knowing where the dwarves were taking her, but she still kept running as Fili pulled her along, for there was no other choice now. She did not even have the possibility to become invisible any longer, for there were not enough leaves, bushes and trees for it outside of the woods.

"Where are you leading us?" Thorin yelled towards Gandalf as the wizard led on, though he received no answer as the company followed him further across the plain and Cinna almost lost her balance once more when they suddenly took cover behind an outcropping of rock when Fili brought her to an abrupt stop by pulling her back. His hand left her arm and instead his own arm came to lie over her stomach as he pressed her into the stony wall behind them.

It was then that she suddenly heard it, the low growl that came from above their heads. Without thinking about it, the fae looked up, feeling as though her blood would freeze when she saw the large warg paw shuffling on the rock above her. Fili pressed her further into the stone and as her gaze flew back to her current companions, she saw Thorin nodding silently at Kili, who then lifted his arm to the quiver on his back, before he suddenly stepped forward and turned at the same time, notching an arrow and releasing it before Cinna could even blink. A pained howl confirmed that he had hit his mark as the warg and its rider fell from the rock onto the ground before them. The sound of their fight silenced quickly, but not quickly enough as Dwalin and Gloìn finished them off. The roars and screams had carried far and now the orc pack had become aware of the dwarves that were trying to escape in secret.

"Move," Gandalf urged then, as the pack stopped pursuing Radagast and instead turned to them, coming towards the company at full speed. "RUN!"

Fili grabbed Cinna's arm again and pulled her with him as they ran, along the plain and over a grassy field as the orcs began to surround them, slowly but surely.

"There they are!" Someone shouted as they came to a short halt, seeing wargs approaching from every direction. Fili let go of the fae's arm then and pushed her behind him as he pulled his second sword.

"There's more coming!" Kili shouted from a little distance away from them, looking back to his uncle for any kind of order.

"Kili! Shoot them!" the dark-haired dwarf shouted, having his own sword drawn and ready to fight as chaos erupted around them, many of the dwarves yelling frantically at the same time.

"We're surrounded!" shouted Fili as his little brother began to shoot arrows at wargs and warg riders, killing some of them as they came closer. The blond dwarf watched as the orcs came closer, shortly turning his head to the fae that was standing behind him, eyes wide with terror as she stared at the scene that unfolded around her. "Take the knife from my belt!"

Her wide eyes turned to him as he addressed her loudly, emerald green uncomprehending as he yelled at her. "You need a weapon! Grab the knife on my belt!" he repeated impatiently and now Cinna's gaze flicked to the belt around his waist before she reached out a trembling hand and grabbed one of the smaller knives that were strapped there. Holding it clumsily in her hand by the hilt, she gripped it tightly as he moved them both backwards to where Gandalf had been before.

"Where's Gandalf?" Kili shouted then and upon turning their heads, the company saw that the wizard had disappeared all of a sudden.

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin roared in reply, smashing his axe into the skull of a warg that had come too close. The dwarves gathered closer to each other near the rock they had last seen Gandalf by. Ori shot a rock at one of the orcs with his slingshot, to no effect.

"Hold your ground!" Thorin yelled over the plain as Fili rammed his swords into the body of a warg that had reached them, killing the beast and moving further back towards his uncle. It was then that they suddenly heard Gandalf's voice again as his head popped up from a crack in the rock.

"This way, you fools!" he called and disappeared again as Thorin called for all of them to move to where Gandalf was hiding. The dwarves slid into the crack one after the other and Fili, after killing another warg, turned and ushered Cinna in the direction. He lifted her by the waist without any hesitation and let her slide down into the crack before he followed, leaving only Thorin and Kili outside of the cave that the crack led into.

Cinna fell on the ground of the cave with a small groan as her bare arm scratched against the hard rocky surface, though she was quickly grabbed and pulled to her feet by Bofur before Fili came tumbling down into the cave, landing right where she had been before. The fae shot the hatted dwarf a grateful look and helped pull Fili to his feet as Thorin and Kili came sliding down into the cave. The blond dwarf gave her a little once-over to see if she was alright and she simply tried to smile at him before flinching violently and stumbling a step back when the body of a dead orc came crashing down into their midst from the top of the cave. Cinna shrank back against Bofur who was standing behind her, simply staring at the dead creature as Thorin unceremoniously pulled an arrow out of its skull.

"Elves," he concluded with a disgusted tone as he threw the arrow away. For a moment, they all simply stood together in the cave, catching their breath and listening to the elven horns that sounded from outside the cave. It was a moment later that Dwalin pointed out a pathway at one end of the cave that led away.

"I cannot see where it leads," the large dwarf said, looking at Thorin. "Do we follow it or not?"

"Follow it, of course!" Bofur exclaimed from behind Cinna and she flinched slightly at the sound of his voice, only now tearing her gaze away from the dead orc on the ground before her. She blinked dumbly for a moment, hesitating as the dwarves began to follow Gandalf down the pathway.

"Are you alright?" a voice suddenly came from her left and she quickly turned her head, expecting Fili but coming face to face with his little brother instead. Kili was looking at her questioningly, if ever a little worried, for he had noticed the way she had been staring at the dead orc before. The brunet dwarf eyed her attentively as she gave a jerky little nod, not believing her for a second. The fae looked shaken, her fiery red hair a wild mess, many of the colourful petals that she kept in it having fallen from it during the chase, her eyes were still wide and fearful, her bare feet mucky from the running through the dirt. There was a small scratch on her right arm that was bleeding very slightly, and she trembled all over. Her hand was clamped tightly around a knife that she didn't have before, though Kili combined rather quickly that it must be one of Fili's, which he had given her to defend herself.

With a small sigh, Kili reached out and touched her shoulder, feeling her skin cold beneath his touch as he gently peeled the knife from her grasp. She didn't even really seem to notice that she had still been holding it, only glancing down at it briefly before Kili sheathed it on his belt. He would give it back to Fili later.

"Come on, then," he muttered quietly, using his hand on her shoulder to lead her, the brunet dwarf turned her slowly toward the pathway. The fae didn't say anything as he guided her along the path after the rest of the company, and he didn't speak any more either, only kept his hand on her shoulder to give her at least some sense of security.