A.N. Thanksgiving is over, which means, for my family, it is officially Christmas. Decorations are going up, and we are waiting desperately for the first snow storm of the season. Had some flurries, but nothing substantial as of yet. Fingers crossed!
decadenceofmysoul: Thank you! :D
Angie: I'm really enjoying finally being able to get into some of the romantic stuff. Due to the nature of things, it will probably remain sad for a while. I'm hoping to get to happy, just like in the vision.
ThePhantomismyLove: That is certainly the hope.
Aeglos3: Thank you so much!
Kelly: Wow. That is a huge compliment. Thank you!
SethAdoreVGC: LOL! That is by far the most enthusiastic response I've gotten, so thank you for that!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my original characters.

The pace Gandalf set was hard. They barely rested and remained at a fast walk most of the time. It may have caused Danica's legs to burn like crazy the first couple of days, but she didn't mind. Now that her course was set, she was eager to move forward, and was concerned about catching up with the company before anything disastrous happened in Goblin Town. She had told Gandalf what would happen and where they would be, so he was just as anxious as she was.

"How long would you say they will be trapped in Goblin Town?" Gandalf asked, just one of many questions he had been asking since she enlightened him to the situation.

"Um, about an hour?" any pleasure she had gotten from the scenery faded with the light as the sun went down. "They will stop to rest in a cave in the mountains which ends up being a trap set by the goblins,"

"Just their luck," Gandalf said disdainfully. "I know of an entrance that isn't too far from here. It should connect to the tunnels somewhere,"

"Somewhere?" she shot him a dubious glance.

"It will be fairly easy to find. Just follow the stench,"

"'When in doubt, follow your nose,'" Danica breathed under her breath, smiling when he nodded in approval. She wondered if he would remember and look back in this moment in sixty years. If she managed to live that long, she would have to ask him about it.

They fell silent when they came upon the mountain, rain pelting down around them in sharp sheets. It had started suddenly, but was strong enough that Danica was relieved when they found the cave entrance. The darkness was deep and complete, heightening all of her senses, including her anxiety. She tried not to think about what was coming, but it pressed in on her like a vice. To distract herself, she focused on the narrow, winding paths, barely visible by the light of Gandalf's staff. When they came to a fork in the path, Gandalf's earlier words proved themselves to be quite accurate. While one trail was musty but fairly inoffensive, the other made Danica want to never breathe again. It could only be described as a dastardly mix of rotten milk, fish, sulfur, and excrement.

"Be thankful you missed the troll's hoard," Gandalf said darkly, sensing her discomfort.

"Ugh," was all Danica could manage.

The path grew rougher and more pungent at the same rate. So far there were no goblins, but Danica knew that luck wasn't going to last. As if triggering some kind of cosmic response, footsteps and a horrible scratching sound began echoing off the cavern walls.

"We will have to use a spell of concealment," Gandalf whispered.

"Will it work for both of us?"

"Just stay close behind me," it wasn't a complete answer, and they both knew it. However, she did as she was told, too afraid not to.

There was no need for the staff once they walked the next hundred yards. Torches lined the path, which had transitioned from the mountain rock to rickety wooden bridges.

"Does that spell conceal sound as well?" Danica asked in a whisper as the wooden boards creaked beneath them.

"It will sound to them like the normal settling of wood. Now hush,"

More and more goblins began to surround them, skittering around them as if parted by water. Even when Danica thought for sure she would run into one, it would move from her path by some magical force. In those moments, she thanked God for Gandalf's powers. Sadly, that power couldn't save her ears from the horrible din that seemed to fill the entire mountain. It was raucous in nature and had the goblins in a frenzy.

"They're preparing for torture. We must hurry," Gandalf's statement was quite unnecessary as Danica had already sped up.

They reached an opening within the next few seconds which revealed the dais the dwarves were being kept on. The supposed song the goblins had been singing stopped quite suddenly as a different kind of bedlam took over. They must have seen Orcrist. Danica gasped when one of the goblins began lashing Thorin with a whip.

"Gandalf…" she murmured anxiously.

Without answering, he pushed faster still. By this time, the goblin king was near hysterical.

"Cut off his head!"

"Gandalf!"

Out of time, Gandalf raised his staff, then brought it forcibly back down. A flash of light and power snapped out through the cavern, flattening everyone to the ground. Danica crouched close to Gandalf's back, avoiding the blow. Dead silence followed, giving the only two standing time to reach the dais. Gandalf's words hummed incoherently in her ringing ears, but she did hear his call to fight. Like all the others, she readied her spear and jumped into the fray. All of the training she had gone through didn't come close to actual battle.

At first, she tried to remember all of the tips and techniques she'd been taught, but that only earned her a cut across the cheek.

"Wake up Dani," she chided, forcing her brain to shut off so instinct could take over.

Everything passed in a blur of blood and clashing metal. Every once in a while, she would run into one of the dwarves who would give her a surprised, but happy greeting. The one person she hadn't seen yet was Thorin. She knew he was around, but they were all too focused on getting out alive. Time moved perpetually too fast and too slow, but eventually the strain began to take its hold on her limbs, making each parry and strike increasingly difficult. Some strength returned when she finally caught sight of Thorin, hacking his way through a gaggle of goblins. He was just ahead of her, and couldn't see the two goblins who were about to jump down from above.

A burst of stamina kicked in, pushing her forward in time to intercept the falling goblins. One of them landed a blow across her chest with its blade, a blow hard enough to make her cry out. Irrationally irritated, she skewered the one who struck her, and was about to go after the other one but a very familiar sword beat her to it.

"Come on," Thorin grabbed her arm, pulling her along as he ran. "What are you doing here?!"

"It's a long story, but the bottom line is that I changed my mind,"

"That was not your decision to make,"

Danica's jaw dropped in indignation. "I beg your pardon?" she lashed out at what goblins she could one-handed.

"I thought I had made it clear that you should stay in Rivendell," he was angry, yelling at her while hacking away at anything that crossed his path.

"You did, and I was going to, but things changed and-"

"Enough chit-chat! Ye'll have time for that later," Dwalin glared at them as he ran past.

Sufficiently chided, focus returned once more to the task at hand. Thorin kept his grip on her arm, making it difficult for her to fight off any offenders that made their way past the blockade of dwarves in front of and behind her. More than a little winded, she was relieved for the sudden stop, until she realized, then remembered what had caused the stop.

"Oh no," she breathed as the confrontation between Gandalf and the Goblin King began. Thorin looked back at her for an explanation, but there was no time. "Hold on to something!" she yelled as the great, disgusting body hit the bridge, causing it to break, then collapse.

The moment she had said, "Oh no," with such dread, Thorin had been alert and ready. When the ground suddenly dropped out from under them, he pushed Danica down and held on as tightly as he could to the bridge, shielding her. The fall stole the air from his lungs, though he could hear the screams of those around him. Danica, however, remained silent. Their descent was only moderately slowed by a narrowing in the cavern before they crashed to the ground. He, Gandalf and Danica were thrown from the top, landing in a heap next to the others. Brushing himself off, he helped Danica up, then moved to help the others.

"Well that could have been worse," Bofur said, just before the goblin corpse came crashing down on all of them. They were all grumbling and groaning until Kili brought their attention to the sea of goblins scrambling down the crevice after them, then they were off again.

This stretch of running was blessedly uneventful, as they managed to exit the cave and break into the sunlight with no goblins barring their way. Thorin wasn't sure he had ever been so happy to see the sun. Due to the downhill nature of their route, they were unable to completely slow down for quite a ways. Once they did, many of them leaned on their knees or a tree to catch their breath. Though out of breath himself, he once again took hold of Danica's arm and pulled her to the side.

"You need to go back to Rivendell,"

"I've made up my mind," she said stubbornly, trying to pull her arm from his grip.

He saw the cuts on her cheek and across her chest, and very nearly growled in anger. Just as he was about to comment, Gandalf made an exclamation, wondering where the hobbit had gone. Everyone glanced around as if to make sure the wizard hadn't just missed him. Thorin looked to Danica, who shrugged. Incredibly frustrated, angry and bitter, he let her go and turned to the others. His opinion of their burglar hadn't been very high to begin with, but to know that the little coward had run off was almost too much to bear.

"We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone," his words had much of the company looking down in defeat.

"No, he's not,"

Seemingly out of nowhere, said hobbit appeared in front of them. After questions from the company, Gandalf tried to brush it off, but Thorin couldn't.

"Why did you come back?"

"Look, I know you doubt me. I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my arm chair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you, but I will help you take it back if I can,"

A warm silence followed Bilbo's words. Most smiled at him while Thorin digested his words. There really was more to this small person than met the eye. Suddenly his place in the company didn't seem like such a bad thing. After all, his heart was loyal and willing enough. The peace of the moment was broken by a howl splitting the air.

"Out of the frying pan…"

"And into the fire. Run. Run!"

They all sped down the hill, the approaching thunder of warg paws spurring them on. With dread, Thorin saw that their only escape would be off a cliff. A few of the faster beasts managed to catch up with them, but were easily dispatched. Since the rest were snapping at their heels, they had no choice but to scamper up the trees. Thorin got to a safe enough height, then began to check off the rest of the company. All but…of course.

"Oh, for the love of…" Dwalin's half-finished curse echoed what Thorin was feeling.

"What are they doing down there?" he growled, glaring down at Danica, who was helping Bilbo get his little sword out of a warg's head. The two barely made it up into a tree before the rest of the pack caught up. Thorin breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly averted his attention. The warg pack was retreating back to…no.

"Azog,"

Everything seemed to freeze around them. Tension closed in, squeezing like a vice. Danica kept a wary eye on Thorin as the pale orc sneered and mocked with words they couldn't understand, but a message that was crystal clear. Azog pointed his weapon first at Thorin, then at Danica before setting the pack on them again. A highly affronted "tsk!" came from Gandalf's general direction. Warg pack forgotten, Danica turned and pinned the old man with a narrowed look.

"What did he say?" her question was echoed by a couple of the other dwarves, including Thorin.

Gandalf hesitated long enough for the wargs to grab everyone else's attention. Even as her tree quaked, however, Danica kept her eyes on him.

"What did he say?!"

"He knows of you," Gandalf finally said. "I'm not sure how, but he knows exactly who you are, and that you know things. Things you shouldn't,"

Ice flooded her veins. "What else? What else did he say?" her voice wasn't very loud, but it somehow seemed to carry.

"I cannot,"

"But-"

"Not now Danica!" Fili yelled, pulling her focus away from the last tree. He had only called her Dani before, so hearing her full name out of his mouth shocked her.

"We need to move!" though an exclamation, Bilbo's words came out on a choked whisper. Just as he spoke, the tree beneath them cracked loudly and gave way.

They all jumped, barely righting themselves on the next tree before it, too gave way. As they jumped to the last tree, Danica, still gripping her spear, didn't quite manage to grab a hold, and tipped backward. Fili's hand shot out and nabbed her waist, pulling her in against his chest.

"Thank you," she breathed, barely able to talk past the pounding of her heart.

"Of course," he smiled then adjusted so they were both a little more comfortable.

"You knew," Thorin's low voice had both of them turning to look at him. His face was dark with anger and betrayal. Danica felt as though her stomach dropped out beneath her.

"I'm sorry,"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"We saw him in that dream, so I thought-"

"You may have seen him, but I could never make the figure out. How could you keep this from me?"

Their conversation was cut short as Gandalf started passing around the flaming pinecones. Fili let go of Danica's waist so they could both throw the miniature fire bombs, creating a wall of flame between them and the pack. For a brief, insane moment, Danica was reminded of the fire between the Hebrews and Egyptians in Exodus. Her train of thought, and the dwarves' triumphant cheers stopped abruptly when the tree beneath them finally caved under their weight. Unable to secure herself fast enough, Danica lost her footing and went tumbling to the ground. She landed hard on her back, knocking the wind from her lungs. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear cries of panic as the tree finished its fall. There was also the sinister sound of low growling getting steadily closer. Ignoring the creaking in her joints, she rose and faced the approaching warg and rider.

The sneer on the orc's face was enough to make her skin crawl, and filled in some of what Gandalf hadn't translated. She reached for her spear which had fallen next to her and brandished it. All of the orcs laughed, including the orc in front of her. Sitting comfortably in the back, Azog looked as though he were about to watch a particularly amusing game. They were toying with her. Half furious and half terrified, she spun her weapon, slashing the warg across the face. It reared and lunged, and though she was able to dodge the canine's jaws, she was blindsided by its rider's fist. The blow sent her sprawling back to the ground, stars dancing in front of her eyes.

"This has really not been my day," she muttered under her breath, scrambling to get up.

Unable to move fast enough, a large hand grabbed her by the hair and hauled her up. She gritted her teeth against the sharp pain, determined not to cry out. There was a chorus of protests and threats from the tree, as well as one voice that stood out and sounded much closer.

"Get your filthy hands off of her!"

A light spray of warm liquid splashed across Danica's face as the orc's grip suddenly loosened. She fell back, watching Thorin finish off her would-be captor and steed. Keeping an eye on the pack, mostly Azog, he backed up until he was next to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, helping her up.

"Yes, thank you," once more readying her spear, she faced the pack with him. When she looked over, his eyes were on Azog alone, reflecting the fire that surrounded them. "Thorin, you can't,"

"Why not? Something else you have forgotten to mention?"

She gritted her teeth against the frustration. "Please don't be difficult. Not now,"

He opened his mouth to retort, but a loud crack behind them caught their attention. The tree was barely hanging on and a few of the dwarves were losing their grip. Danica took a step toward the tree, but something moving just inside her peripheral stopped her. The eagles. She breathed a sigh of great relief. The eagles were coming, and she had managed to distract Thorin long enough to avoid harm. Or so she thought.

"Thorin, we need to-" except when she turned to him, he was gone. A further span showed her that he had charged Azog, and was currently flat on his back. "Damn it all to hell,"

Bilbo's little figure suddenly shot out past her, coming to stand between Thorin and the orcs. He was swinging Sting in front of him, but never needed to fight. The eagles came swooping in, scattering the orc pack around them. With half of the pack taken care of, Danica fought her way to Thorin. As she did, one of the eagles descended, claws reaching for the dwarf.

"Wait!" she called as it began to take off again.

It turned a giant eye on her, but did not stop. "Jump once I have cleared the cliff,"

Momentary shock jolted her as the eagle's deep voice resonated out. Still, she barely missed a step, sprinting toward the ledge, then off of it. The terrifying feeling of free-falling was long enough for her to yell out, but then she was safely on the great bird's back.

"Thank you," she said with reverent respect and immense relief.

"We are always happy to help the worthy in need, Little Nightingale,"

"Little Nightingale?"

"We have heard of your coming. You are one who can fly between worlds, and sings as sweetly as that which we call you,"

"How? How do you know of me?" first the orcs, and now the eagles.

"Take peace young one. We heard of you from the birds who migrate to and from the Hidden Valley. They were encouraged by your friendship with a particular falcon,"

The comment made her smile, even as her heart ached for Kaine. Dawn was now creeping over the horizon, bringing Carrock into view. Her eagle gently set Thorin down once they reached it, then moved away before fully landing. He bent down slightly so as to make Danica's own landing easier. Her first instinct was to go to Thorin, but Gandalf was already tending to him.

"He looks to be in capable hands,"

Now able to get a full look at it, Danica was stunned by the eagle's beauty. "He is," she said, lowering her gaze.

"Do not be afraid to look," when she glanced back up, the bird's eyes were warm and kind. "I assume eagles are not common where you are from?"

"Not of your greatness, no," hearing Thorin begin speaking to Bilbo, she had lowered her voice.

The eagle considered her as they listened to Thorin, then Bilbo. "It is time for us to depart," he said once Bilbo had finished. "It has been a pleasure Little Nightingale. May your heart never be caged, nor your spirit tethered,"

Touched, Danica dropped into a curtsey. She knew there were polite farewells already in place, but could not remember them. "Thank you,"

After bowing his head under his wing for a moment, the eagle returned and dropped a long, soft feather in Danica's hand.

"A gift. If ever you should need us, we shall come. Farewell,"

With some sadness, Danica watched the flock fly away into the lightening sky.

P.S. Another chapter done. ^_^ Fingers crossed for a faster update! Thank you for reading!