The Company had left in the very early hours of the morning, Thorin had given a last look for Anyekia but to no success. It was now nearly midday and the Company were coming upon the Misty Mountains, they would come to the path they needed by nightfall.

"Will Gandalf be able to catch up with us?" Bilbo asked, he was dearly missing Rivendell and not having the wizard around was not helping him feel safe.

"We will wait for him in the mountains, once we've found somewhere secure." Balin says. "Hopefully he won't get held up too long."

"Let's just make it to the mountain pass first and worry about the wizard later." Thorin grumbles, there was a hawk circling above them and it wasn't helping his mood.

"I'd feel a lot better if he'd come with us." Bilbo mumbled.

"We don't need the wizard to get to the mountains Bilbo," Bofur said cheerfully. "These lands are as much ours as the Elves, so we should know them fairly well."

"Clearly not well enough to know that you are going off course."

The Company stopped and looked around and Bilbo was the first to spot her. Anyekia was sitting cross legged up on top of a large boulder, she was once again in her armour and a cloak was sitting loosely on her shoulder, the hood down and she was casually eating an apple, a smirk on her face.

"I would hate for Gandalf to come along and find you lot wandering the wilderness." She laughs and calls down the bird that was still circling. The hawk lands on her shoulder and she breaks off a piece of apple and feeds it to it, it gratefully takes, eating it quickly before Anyekia passes it a piece of paper rolled small. It takes it and nuzzles her affectionately before flying off.

Thorin was smiling. "Nice of you to join us."

"Technically you're joining me, I left hours before you did." She throws the last of the apple away and slides down the boulder, walking over to them. "If it wasn't for my little friend there I wouldn't even have known where you were."

"Did Lord Elrond let you come then?" Balin asks, giving her a knowing look.

"No." She beckons them. "Come on, you're about an hour off course, luckily easily fixed by a small short cut."

The dwarves were watching her though, she faces them and raises an eyebrow.

"What? Don't worry, by the time Elrond gets my note we'll be on the mountain path, he's not going to send an army of elves after us." She tries once again to continue but they still don't move. "Alright, what is wrong?"

"It's not that we don't appreciate your help lass," Balin starts. "But if you are not up to this-"

Anyekia rolls her eyes. "Let me worry about myself Balin, I've been dealing with this most of my life, I can handle it." She gives a meaningful look at Thorin, who was sharing the concern going through the Company. "Seriously? You were the one who asked me to join, and you are going to question it now? I'm going to follow you either way, just so you know."

Thorin gives a snort of laughter and hides his smile. "Come on, let's get moving."

She rolls her eyes and mumbles something about dwarves under her breath before leading them on.

It didn't take Anyekia long to get them back on the right path, and soon they were making their way up the steeper slopes, each pulling their cloaks around them as they got higher.

A rumble in the air made Anyekia look to the skies, they were growing dark and quickly, she could smell the rain coming in the air.

"This is no easy path at the best of times." She says, more to herself, not realising that Thorin was standing next to her.

"We'll make it through."

She jumped, looking at him. "Sure, just hope it's just the storm that hits tonight." She moves on before he can say anything and he just shakes his head with a smile.

The rain hit them hard and fast. They were all soaked through in a matter of minutes, even with their hoods up. Thorin was in the lead, closely followed by Anyekia, he'd insisted as they'd gotten into the more dangerous part of the path. The wind was howling around them, the rain stinging their faces and the thunder crashing above them.

Bilbo slips along the path, luckily being caught by two of the dwarves and pulling him back against the wall.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin yells, his voice almost being drowned out by the wind.

"Look out!" Dwalin bellows.

The Company looks up just in time to see a giant boulder flying towards them, they shout and brace themselves against the wall as it crashes into the mountain above them.

"This is no storm! This is a thunder battle! Look!" Balin points out and a giant stone figure walks towards them.

"Well bless me, the legends are true. Giants! Stone giants!" Bofur yells and is quickly pulled back as another giant appears, throwing a rock at the first.

The mountain starts to break around them and with frightened shouts, the Company finds themselves separated, each on a separate leg of another giant. The giant was hit, half the Company hurriedly moving back onto the mountain as it crashed back to the wall, they watch terrified as the rest of them held on for their lives as the giant joined the fight.

The moved along the path as the giants moved, following as best they could, before suddenly, the giant was hit and crash down further along the path.

"No!"

They rush forward, fearing the worse, but were relieved when they saw them crumbled together.

"We're alright," Balin gasped. "We're alive."

But Bofur quickly noticed that one among them was missing.

"Where's Bilbo? Where's the hobbit?"

The dwarves panicked, looking down to find poor Bilbo hanging off the edge of the cliff. They tried to reach him only for him to slip further. Thorin jumps off the edge, holding on with one hand to help hoist the hobbit up, the other dwarves grabbing Bilbo and quickly pulling him to safety. Thorin was about to follow when his hand slipped, for a fraction of a second he thought that it was going to be it, when he jerked to a halt, hand holding his tightly.

He looks up stunned into a pair of frightened brown eyes. Anyekia had caught him.

Dwalin reached down and grabbed his other hand and they both pulled him up, Anyekia backing away almost instantly.

Thorin went to say something to her, but one of the dwarves made a comment about almost losing Bilbo, and this distracted him. "He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us."

Anyekia bit her lip as Thorin stormed past her, looking guiltily at Bilbo who was shuffling nervously, still looking pale and terrified.

The small cave they found just fit the whole Company, Anyekia sat near the entrance, letting the dwarves work out what they were going to do. She was cold, but that wasn't what was bothering her. There was smell in this cave, she knew that she recognised it but couldn't quite pick what it was, there was too much else going on.

"Get some sleep, we start at first light."

This got her attention and she looked up at Thorin as Balin approached.

"We were to wait in the mountains until Gandalf joined us. That was the plan." Balin said, looking concerned.

"Plans change."

"Thorin-"

"He's right Balin," Anyekia says, causing both men to look at her. "We should not linger here. The mountain path is not known for being safe. Gandalf will have to meet us on the other side."

Thorin almost seemed to ignore this, simply shooting at Bofur. "Bofur, take first watch."

Bofur looks less than happy about this but says nothing.

Anyekia remained near the entrance, watching water drip from the ceiling as the storm continued outside. Most were asleep, Bofur was sitting a little further in smoking his pipe, and others were still stirring. She wasn't in the mood for talking and Bofur had quickly got that message.

She didn't regret her decision to leave, but she was certainly thinking a lot about it.

Movement caught her eye and she noticed Bilbo getting up and packing up his things, once packed, he started to move to the entrance, Bofur noticed.

"Where do you think you're going?" He whispered.

Bilbo looked at him nervously, but with determination behind his gaze. "Back to Rivendell."

Bofur looked terrified. "No. No. No. You can't turn back now. You're part of the company. You're one of us."

Bilbo almost laughs at this. "I'm not though, am I? Thorin said I should never have come, and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins, I don't know what I was thinking. I should've never run out the door."

"You're homesick! I understand."

"No, you don't!" Bilbo says, slightly angry, and Anyekia understood. "You don't understand, none of you do, you're dwarves! You're used to…to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!"

The two felt quiet, Bilbo realising what he said and looking uncomfortable.

"It's alright Bilbo," She says quietly and notices Thorin listening out of the corner of her eye. "Let him go Bofur, it is his decision to make."

"I'm sorry. I didn't…" Bilbo started.

But Bofur gives a sad smile, shared by Anyekia. "No, you're right. We don't belong anywhere." He rests a hand on Bilbo's shoulder. "I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do."

Anyekia nods at Bilbo as he turns to leave, but a small glint of blue catches both her and Bofur's eye.

"What's that?"

Bilbo pulls out his sword and sees it glowing blue and Anyekia feels her stomach drop.

"Goblins!" She hissed.

At the same time, Thorin sees the floor beginning to crack beneath them and he scrambles to his feet.

"Wake up. Wake up!"

It was too late though and they found themselves falling deep into the mountain.