The dwarves had stumbled upon hearty breakfast late the next morning out on the veranda. Before Bilbo had woken up, they had devoured most of it, but not quite all of it. Bilbo finished what he could before the others did.

"Where's Gandalf?" Bilbo asked.

"Out and about somewhere." Gandalf was not seen at all that morning. Neither was Camellia.

"Has anyone seen the lassie?" Balin asked as it neared close to noon.

"She's still asleep." Fili responded, laying out on the veranda.

"Asleep? At this hour?" As if on cue, there was a soft yawn and Camellia immerged from the hall.

"I heard my name."

"We were wondering where you were."

"Sleeping. I don't know what you weren't sleeping more."

"Things need to be done."

"We're going to be travelling again. The best thing you should be doing is sleeping, and eating." She stepped out onto the veranda. "Look at this!" She directed their attention to the table. "You have left all of the vegetables!"

"The green food?" Ori asked.

"Yes, all the green food."

"I don't like green food."

"Neither do I!" Camellia sighed and grabbed what was left for her breakfast. The day was quiet. Neither Gandalf nor Beorn was spotted until late that evening. Supper was laid out in the same manner as it was the night before. The animals that had been waiting on them were absolutely wonderful. They could not communicate to one another, but they had somehow knew exactly what the dwarven company wanted.

Gandalf had returned shortly before sunset and just before supper. He hadn't said much, he was much too busy getting his fill of food. He had eaten more than any of the individual dwarves had and even more than some of them combined.

"Where have you been, Gandalf?" One of them had asked, but he did not answer. He was engaged in sending smoke rings of all shapes, sizes, and colours into the air.

"I've been picking out bear-tracks." He explained that there have been bear meetings and he believed that Beorn was making it to some of them, but not all of them because there were far too many of them and of varying sorts: big bears, small bears, gigantic bears, etc. He further explained how he travelled pass the river and to the forest before returning. "I passed Camellia on my way back."

"How? She's been here all day," Bofur said, confused.

"She left several hours ago," Kili said. "She followed the animals out after lunch."

"Why'd she do that?"

"Ah, the girl's just curious," Gandalf said as he took a long inhale from his pipe.

"Why didn't she tell anyone?" Bofur asked.

"She told Kili, probably thinking he was the one who would notice her absence first. And she was right, if I'm not mistaken." A small blush came over Kili's cheeks. "I suspect she will be back soon. Perhaps, on her way now." But Camellia did not come back. The dwarves had gone to sleep without so much as a word from their spunky redhead. The moon was high in the sky when Camellia finally set foot back in the hall. A fire burned dimly in the hearth, bathing the sleeping company in its warm light. She crept over bodies and objects to her corner. Before laying down, she placed a light kiss on the cheek of her dark hair dwarf who was drooling onto his pillow. Kili had stirred slightly, but remained in a deep sleep there on the floor next to her. She stole his half disregarded blanket and closed her eyes, a small smile on her face. It wasn't too long before Kili pulled the blanket, and her, who was wrapped tightly in it, toward him. Camellia opened her eyes and saw nothing, but an abyss in the colour of brown. She had woken him.

"Oh, good, you're up. I'm back…now I'm going to sleep." She closed her eyes quickly.

"I remember my blanket being stolen quite indistinctly," he said as he lightly grabbed her exposed hand. "And I think a small redheaded girl took it."

"I think you're seeing things," she replied, opening one eye slightly. "I'm not a thief." She closed her eye and snuggled closer to Kili. He kissed the back of the hand he was holding.

"You are a thief," he whispered in her ear before pulling her closer and resting his arm on her waist. She curled against him and fell asleep.

The next morning, they were all awoken by Beorn. They enjoyed another large breakfast with him. Beorn was in a delightful mood; he sent them all into howls of laughter with his stories. They hadn't worried long where he had been because he had told them himself. Beorn had travelled over the river and right back into the mountains to find out if their story was true, which he did. He had also found out that the goblins were still using Wargs to hunt the dwarves, but the pairing didn't last too long.

"What did you do with the goblin and the Warg?" Bilbo asked.

"Come and see!" came Beorn's reply. The company followed Beorn around the house where they saw the goblin's head was stuck outside the gate and the Warg's skin was nailed to the tree just beyond it. Beorn was a ferocious enemy, but he was now their friend. He promised them all ponies and a horse for Gandalf along with weeks' worth of food which he packed so it were as easy to carry as possible along with advice: "Your way through Mirkwood is dark, dangerous, and difficult. Water is not easy to find there, nor food. Time has not for nuts and nuts are all that grows there fit for food; in there the wild things are dark, queer, and savage. I will provide you with skins for carrying water, and I will give you some bows and arrows, but I doubt very much whether anything you find in Mirkwood will be wholesome to eat or drink." He warned of a river that runs through their path, one that was black and strong. They were not the drink from it or bathe in it. He instructed them to stay on the path at all times and asked them once they had reached the gate of the forest that they send back the ponies and horse. His parting words were, "My house is open to you, if you come back this way again."

They thanked him with my bows and great vigour, but their hearts sunk at his grave words. Their journey was going to be more dangerous that they had previously thought all the while, the dragon still waited for them at their journey's end. They had taken half the day to prepare for the voyage to Mirkwood so they dined with Beorn one last time before they mounted their steeds and headed off. It took them just over four days to reach the gate at Mirkwood. The trees were dense and dark, making it difficult to see the path. They had to travel on foot through the forest now and without Gandalf. They spent the rest of the day filling up their skins with water and resting before they had to scurry through the forest the next morning.

Gandalf had left the following morning before the company had started in on the path. The forest was dark and gloomy and the path was narrow. They walked in a single file line on the narrow lane. There were squirrels and other things scurrying in the undergrowth and between their feet. There were grunts and other strange noises that echoed around them. There was no wind in the forest, or light. They had grown to hate the forest with as much passion as some of them hated the elves. There seemed to be no end to the trail. There seemed to be no hope of ever seeing the blue sky and bright sun again.

Nights were a lot worse. It was pitch black then. They couldn't see anything, except for the eyes of the thousands of creatures. The insects played games with them, diving in toward their heads, buzzing loudly in their ears, biting at their skin. Camellia had given up trying to help the dwarves with look out. As soon as they had settled down for camp, she wrapped herself in a blanket, curled up, and went to sleep. She wasn't going to have bugs and things flying around her, biting her, and bothering her. Creating a fire only made it worse: the light brought in thousands of new bugs and moths.

The longer they spent in the forest, the smaller their food supply became. They had run out of water a while back, but they had not come across any springs or rivers, except for a fast moving blacken watercourse. This was the one that Beorn warned them about. There was a bridge that crossed the river, but it was rotted through. The only thing left was two rotted posts at the river's edge. Bilbo peered over the edge.

"There's a boat! Along the far bank!"

"How far?" Thorin asked, taking a step closer to the river and squinting in the distance.

"About twelve yards." Fili began to throw a rope at the boat, hoping to hook it, but they kept missing.

"Stop," Camellia instructed. She grabbed the rope and tied it around the back of her arrow. Through the darkness, she aimed and hit dead centre on one of the seats. Fili pulled the boat toward them. The rope went taut. The boat wasn't moving. Fili continued to pull, but nothing. Kili tried to help, along with Oin and Gloin. Their combined strengths pulled on the rope until they were knocked backwards.

"I guess the boat was tied," said Bilbo as he scratched the back of his head. Camellia guided the boat back and forth between the shores as the dwarves loaded two at a time for crossing. Her weight was so insignificant that alone she didn't sink the boat at all; it was as if there was no one in the boat at all. Just as Bombur was about to get into the boat, the sound of hooves approached. A wild deer. It had bound over the river and bumped Bombur into the water.

"Bombur! Bombur has fallen in!" Camellia called. She threw one end into the water after him and the other end toward Thorin. "Pull as hard as you can!" The company used all their strength to pull Bombur ashore. He was already fast asleep.

There was the sound of a great hunt going on across the river, but they stayed silent. It wasn't until a great white deer and a few fawns appeared that anyone moved. Three dwarves hopped up and shot their arrows.

"Don't!" Camellia yelled at them. "You just wasted your arrows!" The deer ran off into the distance as the dwarves sat back down, disappointed. They had to continue on, trailing a sleeping Bombur behind them.

It had taken four days for them to reach a change in the trees. There was no undergrowth and most of the trees were beeches. The shadow had been somewhat lifted on this part of the forest. As soon as they reached this variation in the forest, Camellia started up a nearby tree.

"What are you doing?" Thorin asked, agitated.

"Getting an aerial view!" She called back. "This tree leads above the forest top. I should be able to see the exit from here." When she popped her head through the leaves at the top, she brushed some spiders. Making a face, she pushed them away. Looking around, she saw nothing but forest. There was no end it seemed. She climbed down in a hurry.

"What did you find?"

"Spiders. Lots of spiders."

"I meant," she cut Balin off.

"I know what you meant. The forest is vast. I cannot see an end in any direction, but if we continue north, we will reach the end."

"How long will it take?"

"A week at least, if we go our fastest with no stops, but that's unrealistic. At our current pace, with a sleeping Bombur in our wake, it should take about two weeks. We should try to move a little farther before setting up for the night." That night they ate the rest of their food and any crumbs left over. The next morning, they were all exceptionally hungry and tremendously thirsty. The only comfort they had was when Bombur woke up. He was angry he had awakened. His dreams were sweet; they were filled with feasts and parties, led by the woodland king.

"Don't talk of food," Oin grumbled.

"We're all starving," Gloin finished.

"Let's keep moving!" Camellia said, her spirits high. "The faster we move, the quicker we get out of here!" She charged forward, the company in tow. Bombur complained that his legs could not carry him and that he must stop and rest. "You will not! We've had to drag you along while you were asleep. You go to sleep again and we will leave you behind. We have lost days because of you and I will not have it again!"

"Fine!" Bombur cried as he threw himself on the ground. Just then, something caught Balin's eye.

"What was that? I thought I saw something twinkle…" They all turned to look in his direction and there was, in fact, a red glow shining through the forest. The light soon multiplied and they all started running toward it. As they got closer to the lights, the smell of roasting meats filled their noses and they ran faster. The treeline broke and a plain, lit by torches, sat in front of them. There was a large fire in the centre surrounded by tall elvish looking folk. The smell of meat was too much for some of the dwarves and they broke into the centre without warning, without welcome. The lights went out and someone kicked out the fire. Not one could see another and they tripped over logs and fallen dwarves. They had not bothered getting up, some even tried to fall asleep, but Dori's voice cause them to look over to the treeline again.

"The lights are coming out again over there…" They all jumped up. The lights were there, but so was voices and laughter. They all got into a single file line.

"Bilbo will go talk to them," Thorin said. When Bilbo went forward, the lights went out again, leaving them in the dark again. They could not find Bilbo in the darkness, that was until Dori tripped over him. Once the hobbit was back on his feet, they began walking. Light was off in the distance so they followed it. This light was much bigger, and the feast was much greater. The woodland king was sitting amongst the crowd, passing bowls around. Once again, the company was found out and the lights ceased to be. Name after name was called out in hope of finding one another. The dwarves and all found each other and Camellia hadn't left Kili's side, but where was Bilbo? He had wondered off and dozed against a tree and a large spider had found him. Using his short sword, Bilbo had stabbed the spider trying to tie him up.

Bilbo found more of the spiders, each of them talking. The rest of the company was tied up in a tree, about to become the spiders' dinner. Bilbo, fumbling in the dark, found a rock, a nice smooth one that fit right in the palm of his hand and he threw it. It had hit the spider and bounced, hitting the webs too, loosening them just a little. The spider was dead and the web was barely holding. Bilbo was quite good at throwing stones, hitting nearly every one of the spiders. He had distracted the spiders and lead them away from the webs. The remaining spiders were mad and running on rage. They had not thought much of the sword that Bilbo pulled. They were gone before too long and Bilbo rushed back to save the rest of the company.

The dwarves lay on the ground below the tree that they were just captive of. Camellia had fallen when the web was cut and had too short of a time to catch herself before hitting the ground.

"I am so done with today," she muttered as she rolled over on to her back. Her once broken arm had nearly been healed, but it still hurt immensely when she landed on it.

The spiders did not give up that easily. The fallen Bombur was surrounded by spiders once again and they were trying to tie him up again, but Bilbo started chasing the spiders, waving Sting around to and fro. He had slash the web connecting Bombur to the spiders. That was enough to scare the spiders off, but Bilbo had over-extended himself and he fell face first into a tree.

"I'll draw them off," Bilbo shouted. "Make your way to where we last saw those elf-fires!" They barely understood, what with their heads all in a mess, but Camellia got it.

"Come on!" She grabbed a hand and tugged. "Let's go!" She pushed who she could forward toward the forest clearing, but they didn't want to go. They all started to pick up rocks and throw them at the spiders. They sent a shower toward the spiders before running off. They were all very tired and weary: their steps were wobbly. The spiders were gaining on them, but Bilbo had appeared again and started slashing and bashing.

"Go! Go!" He shouted. They ran until they hit the opening where the elf-fire was. There was a sort of magic that the spiders didn't like in that ring. One by one, they began to fall into a troubled sleep.

They were forced awake by being bound and forced to walk. They were all brought forth before the elven king: Thranduil. Thorin was already there and had already been badgered with questions. The rest of the company, save Bilbo, was dragged in front of Thranduil. The Wood-elves were rough with them. Camellia fought against the rough grip on her arm.

"Let me go!" She shouted at him and she tried to wiggle out of his grip. She was shoved forward. Thranduil noticed her right away.

"Camellia," he started. She gave him an icy glare. He spoke to her in a language that the dwarves did not understand. Her gaze softened as she grabbed the hands next to her. Fili and Kili looked at her.

"Ron naa amin nosse," she told him. Camellia looked toward the dwarven company. She spoke again, but this time, in the common tongue.

"They are my family."