His eyes stared around the dark, the only emitting from his sword or letter-opener as Balin had called it. Holding the blade, he glanced around, keeping an eye out for that creature that dragged the goblin away.

It was quite obvious that he was scared.

The ones who were more capable of fighting were all captured and worse, Scarlet was all alone up there and who knows what those creatures will do once they find her.

All he could do was hope for the best and find a way out of the dark.

It didn't help that all the caverns were all the same as he ventured through them, trying to keep a straight path. It was only one turn or two but somehow, those turns would lead him back to the collapsed mushrooms he had fell upon and hidden among when the creature came.

His thought then lingered to what the creature had dropped which was a golden ring that looked so ordinary and plain. He wasn't sure why he had picked it up and nor did he care at the moment. He had to get out now.

For what was probably the sixth attempt of getting lost, he groaned in frustration was ready to give up hope until he heard something. It sounded like a soft humming sound.

Looking for the source, he could see someone far off. A figure in the dark seemed to stand there and seemed to look at him. Once they seemed to make a sort of eye contact in the dark, the being soon sped away.

"Wait!" Bilbo called out, running after to follow the figure. It's a stupid decision, but what else could he do instead of wandering in the Deep alone. As he kept following the figure, he would only be able to catch a small glimpse before the person would run on ahead. All he knew was that the person was indeed taller than he, probably a race of Man or Elf.

As the twists and turns were made to chase after figure, he suddenly heard another voice echoing in the cavern halls. It was a familiar one, the one of that creature who bashed on the goblin's head. He soon forgotten about the mysterious figure and went towards that voice instead, the curiosity of what was the creature's whereabouts trumping his own need to escape this dark hell.

XxxxX

The thumping of drums could be heard in the distance, growing closer and closer.

"What is this?" the Goblin King demanded before his minion answered, "Found this little thing following us as we brought the dwarves. Tried to be sneaky, but I got the jump on it."

"And what is it? Looks too frail to be of this company," he said as the goblin flipped the girl over. Her short bangs covered her closed eyes as her hood was open. However, her sharp ears were seen as the Goblin spoke, "An elf child? Here? Ha! And it seems to be that of the females. Such a great feast I will have for tonight."

"You will not touch her!" Thorin heard Kili shout, trying to push past the goblins but his brother stopped him.

"What's this then? Dwarves worrying over an elf?" the Goblin King stated.

The head dwarf of the company seemed to look back as the drums began to echo louder and louder. They all turned to see the goblins bringing in contraptions and devices of sorts, all held together in such a menacing fashion that had put fear greatly in those weaker than the strong warriors of the group.

Soon the Goblin King sang:

Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung!
You'll be beaten and battered,
from racks you'll be hung!
You will die down here and never be found!
Down in the deep of Goblin-Town!

He then watched as the Goblin grabbed the unmoving body of Scarlet Deepdelver, seeing the limp form held in the large hand. However, his eyes soon noticed movement as her hand was holding on to something.

With a sudden swift movement, the girl's eyes shot open and the object in her hand was move and stabbed into the hand of the Goblin King. He yelped in pain, bellowing in rage as she flipped back. Her bare feet slipped a bit on the pile of weapons that they held, nearly kicking the Orcist away to Thorin.

However, the unsheathing of it as it was moved made a sound that seemed to make all the pale creatures stare at it. Soon, fear was sketched upon their faces. The Goblin King cowered to his throne, shouting out the swords name in fear. She was suddenly forced down to the ground, feeling leather slashing into her back. Yelping a bit in pain, she could barely see that the others were also getting the same treatment.

Her eyes then fell to Thorin as he was thrown back to the ground, held down as a goblin hurried toward the fallen dwarf with a chiseled bone knife. Another crack of the leather whips on her back and she felt a strong sting. It hit her skin and she could feel something trickling down her back.

Suddenly, a boom was heard and a blinding light shook the platform. All was silent and dark. She slowly pushed herself off the ground, holding her head as she was ready to stumble forward. An arm shot out, holding her up as she looked to see the familiar grey loose sleeve.

"Take up arms…" the old voice spoke, holding his staff and sword at the ready. Yet no one moved but she slowly stood up, greeted by a slight glanced by the wizard.

"Fight… FIGHT!"

As if those words were magical, the dwarves soon stood up and quickly grabbed for their weapons, each fighting against the goblins that tried to grab at them. Gandalf quickly pushed Scarlet to be a bit far away from the fray and also near the bridge that did not hold the most of the creatures.

Then she saw the Orcist on the ground and Thorin unarmed. Staring around, she saw that Nori was the closest. Calling to him, she pointed to the blade as he easily understood from Thorin's predicament on what she was trying to say.

A snarl was heard behind her as she turned to see a goblin ready to thrust his sword at her. Quickly jumping away, Scarlet then took out her rope dart and threw it forward. The goblin easily moved out of the way and was about to attack again when the whooshing sounds of the rope distracted him. It also didn't help that the girl seemed to move fluidly before the blade at the end of the rope sliced through his skin with each movement as he was close.

Soon, she threw the dagger again as it pierced into the creature's throat. Swinging it away, she could see the dark blood coating the knife and partially dripping down. Scarlet wanted to drop it, not wanting to feel it touching her fingers until she heard the Goblin King roar behind her.

Ready to defend herself once again, she saw that the Goblin King wasn't after her but at Thorin. However, the dwarf held the Goblin Cleaver ready as he swung downward. The large goblin coward away from the sword, the obvious ranting before was simply verbalizing his great fear of the blade.

Seeing him stumbling back, Scarlet noticed that if he were to move a bit more, he would topple over the edge and gone. Throwing her rope dart towards a stick pillar, she tugged hard as the obese goblin tripped backwards and over the edge, falling into the dark abyss. She was a bit surprised that she was able to hold that tensely as the impact of his foot hooking on to the rope just for that moment nearly jerked her down.

Scarlet and Thorin stared at each other as she felt slightly out of breath, standing a bit tall despite her height before sporting a relieved smile to see their faces.

"Follow me!" Gandalf called to them as they and the rest of the company hurried to follow. Scarlet saw Ori pausing to pick up sling shot. Rushing to him, she ushered him to head forward as all of them ran for their lives.

XxxxX

It was a disaster for him to even walk into the darkness without a real plan.

It was a mistake for him to even leave the Shire in the first place as he continued to run through crevices and narrow rocky halls. Bilbo had to find the way out before that Gollum creature could come and kill him. Even with a sword in his hand, Bilbo still feared the rock-wielding creature. He glanced around, trying to find that figure from before.

But what if that was Gollum earlier, just luring him to a death trap?

He couldn't think of that now as he found yet another crevice, trying to sidle through it. He nearly got through when he was stopped. Moving and trying to nudge through it, he looked down to see his brass buttons of his vest were keeping him from escaping to the other side. He grunted and strained, sucking in his gut but the buttons were just not letting him through.

The snarling had stopped but the pattering of feet were heard as he looked over to the path he had left behind, seeing the glowing eyes of Gollum now staring at something… at him!

He moved, panicking as he jerked his body to force himself through as Gollum snarled at him. "Give it back to us!" Gollum demanded, the high and croaking voice echoing in the cavern. He felt the end nearing, eyeing at the stone in the creature's hand and remembering how that same rock crushed in the goblin's head.

A hand seemed to grab him from the other side, unable to see who it was as he was yanked through, his brass buttons snapping off. He fell to the ground ungracefully before letting go the ring that was in his palm. It flew into the air as his instincts told him to catch it. It fumbled around his fingers, as if trying to slide away until it slipped on to his middle finger. Everything began to be hazed, like a dream but he was awake. He heard footsteps, nothing like his own or that of the pursuing creature. Looking around, he found a larger opening and saw someone retreating away. He was about to call to the person before he saw Gollum pounce out.

His breath was halted, feeling great fear as Gollum began to look around. His eyes seemed to glance the others, but for some reason, there was no recognition. He wasn't even staring at him for long, as if he wasn't there. Staring briefly at the ring on his hand, he wondered for just a second on just what was this accessory's magic.

"Thief!" shouted Gollum as he pattered further away from him, shouting accusations at the unseen hobbit. Bilbo then stood up, seeing the creature going further. If he was assuming that the hired burglar was heading for the outside, that means Gollum would lead the way back to the surface.

XxxxX

The dwarf company with Gandalf in the lead continued on fleeing from the goblins of the Deep, hearing their trills and snarls after them. Scarlet glanced back briefly to see that they were still on their tail. In a movement to deter their chase, she swung her chain whip as one of them got close enough to be whacked across the face and into the rock wall. She resumed her escape, trailing after Nori before goblins suddenly appeared in their path. Their momentum could not be stopped as they moved to a different path than the rest of the company as the female hobbit noticed that the others were also separated on their levels of the town.

Nori kept on swinging his knives at the goblins that got close as Scarlet swung her chain whip around. The pale creatures kept their distance but were obviously still going to tear them apart. She was too focused on what was trying to get her that she didn't realize where she was walking. A bump on her backside made her look over her shoulder to see the endless darkness, and that little distraction caused the goblin creatures in front of her to jump at her.

She quickly jumped back but threw her rope dart out to something, anything that will keep her from falling. Luckily, it snag into the rock face of the wall as she then swung down to the lower level beams. Rolling to soften her landing, she yanked on the rope dart the best before she saw Fili run past her. "Come on!" he called to her as she didn't hesitate to leave her rope dart behind and taking out the chain whip.

There were many twist and turns, near deaths for all of them. There was even a moment when a bridge was swinging back and forth and they had nearly lost Fili when it was cut lose to block the goblins' path. But in the end, they were able to save themselves as they were reaching the outskirts of Goblin Town. The feeling of freedom from the darkness of the Deep waved over her as Gandalf took the lead once again.

Suddenly, the Goblin King broke from beneath the wooden bridge that separated them from the rock path that could probably take them outside, his wart-covered chin wobbling in their view as he shouted, "You think you can escape me?!" Swinging his staff with the human skull, it nearly bashed Gandalf off the bridge but instead made him stumble backwards into Dori and Nori. Thankfully, they were able to keep him from fully falling on to the bridge as he was brought back forward.

Scarlet watched as the wizard swung his blade and cutting into the Goblin's stomach as the creature yelped in pain. Holding it closed the best he could, Scarlet's attention was soon moved towards the goblins that were screeching at them. Suddenly, another thump was heard that made the bridge beneath their feet jerk just ever so slightly.

"…this isn't gonna be good," she muttered as she looked back down just enough to see the support beams collapse and making the bridge fall down with them on it.


Alright! Finally got this chapter done! Sorry for the long delay. I have midterms this week and finally got around to typing this through a small writer's block. My muse has been leaning to other things but luckily I have the Hobbit movie and book to pull me back.

Hopefully I'll get another up either by the end of this month or midway of next month. Ta for now! Thanks for those you have followed this story too!