Thanks to XxBlindXxAngelXx and heyjoon for your reviews on the last chapter and the whole story! I'm very happy to hear you like it :)

Here's another chapter! Let me know your thoughts! I'd love to read from you!

"Air," Bofur muttered one day, he was rather sure it was the eighth or ninth they had been in the forest though he couldn't be sure, as they were marching on. "I need air. My head is spinning."

Cinna heard him from where she was walking behind him, though she didn't bother replying. Her head was spinning, too, had been for days now. She barely noticed where she was going, simply knowing that as long as there were still dwarves around her she was on the right track. She was feeling groggy, almost faint at times, though she never said anything. Sometimes she could swear she could hear a quiet thumping sound around her and felt her heart adjust to the painfully slow pace of it, as though the sickness of Mirkwood was slowly starting to fester within her as well. And then there were the voices; the whispers and hisses that filled the air at times, though no one beside her ever seemed to hear them. For Cinna they were very hard to ignore.

"We found a bridge!" she heard someone call out then, and without having noticed it herself they had reached a river that cut right through their path, running slowly through the forest. Cinna shook her head slightly, blinking several times to try and get rid of the dizziness that had clouded her mind as the company gathered around the remains of a broken stone bridge. As the fae peered past Bilbo's shoulder, she could see that most of it was missing and had broken off. They would never be able to jump the distance to the other side.

"There must be another way. We could try and swim it," Bofur suggested with a shrug, eyeing the river warily.

"No, did you forget what Gandalf said?" Ori chimed up worriedly, shaking his head. "The stream carries an enchantment. We mustn't touch it."

Bofur tilted his head in silent agreement, while others murmured among themselves in frustration. There was no boat to carry them over, nothing on the other side that they could have hooked a rope on to climb.

"What about these vines over there?" Fili spoke up then, pointing to an abundance of thick vines that were hanging from the trees high above, tangled and cluttered over the distance between the two sides of the river. The blond dwarf reached out, pulling hard on one to test if they would hold if one were to climb them. "They look strong enough."

"Fili!" Thorin called out sternly, halting his nephew in his tracks. Fili sent his uncle a questioning look, which Thorin answered with a small nod toward another member of the company.

"We send the lightest first," he ordered and it was only as all eyes turned to the smallest and lightest member of the company that the clouds in Cinna's mind dissipated slightly. Her face fell as she realised everyone was staring at her expectantly.

Her mouth opened only to fall closed again as she was at a loss for something to say. A small, irritated huff was all that escaped her as the dwarves kept staring before she slowly made her way over to where Fili was standing. "Be careful," the blond dwarf told her as she reached out for the closest vine, gripping it tightly in her small hands as she made to climb across the stream below, eyeing her support warily.

Cinna didn't reply anything to her friend's words as she made her way across, the vines dangling precariously over the dark water while she moved forward slowly and with utmost care, afraid to slip at any moment. She would not usually have been so worried but she had come not to trust this forest over the past days. And indeed, she slipped no sooner than she had thought it, crying out in surprise and barely managing to grab onto a vine above her head to keep her from tumbling into the water.

The fae took a deep breath to calm herself as she stared down into the river, the dark water purling quietly beneath her. It was a strange feeling being this close to the slowly flowing surface, making her head feel heavy as though the river was beckoning her to let herself fall and dip into the water. Cinna shook her head vehemently, trying to clear her mind as she forced herself to move along further, regaining her balance and continuing her climb across. The fae didn't know how long it had taken her when she finally reached the other side, at last able to let go of the vines and jumping onto the bank. She landed with a small groan, shaking her head again as it began to spin once more.

She hadn't noticed the dwarves following after her as soon as they had seen that the vines would hold, all of them now tangled in the thick vines as they made their way across, and only when a heavy thud sounded next to her head did the fae look up to see Thorin being the first to have made it to the other side after her.

"Something's not right, Thorin," Cinna muttered quietly as she struggled to her feet to stand next to him. "This forest…"

Her words were interrupted when she suddenly saw the dwarf king slowly raise his bow, an arrow notched as he pointed it at something across the stream. Cinna frowned and followed Thorin's gaze, her emerald eyes widening slightly as she noticed a big white stag standing on the other side of the river, staring back at them out of big, curious brown eyes. It was the first animal beside the moths that Cinna had seen within these woods and her frown deepened as she looked back at Thorin.

"What are you doing?" she asked in nothing more than a whisper as the dark-haired dwarf pointed his arrow at the stag before he released it abruptly, missing the creature only by a few inches. The stag started up and immediately ran off into the thicket of the forest, disappearing from their view as Thorin lowered his bow again. Cinna shook her head at him. "You shouldn't have done that. It's bad luck."

"I don't believe in luck," the dwarf-king growled at her. "We make our own luck."

Cinna was about to reply to him when a loud splash interrupted her thoughts and both fae and dwarf turned their heads to see that Bombur had fallen into the river, his fat body getting tangled in the vines that prevented him from being carried away by the slow current. The fae inclined her head as the others began to fish a now unconscious Bombur out of the water, his loud snores penetrating the silence of the woods around them.

"You don't listen," she muttered more to herself than to Thorin, while the rest of the company were now making it to the bank one after another, as well. The fae's voice grew more irritated. "You never listen."

"And why should I," Thorin grumbled in return. "If you keep blabbering on about luck and the forest."

Cinna's eyes narrowed at the dwarf king and while her head was still spinning, her temper was suddenly rising along with the whispers in the air around her. "I am only trying to help, you pig-headed dwarf!"

Thorin's expression darkened considerably upon her angry outcry while the rest of the company looked at the small fae in shock at the sudden outburst. No one said anything as they watched her breathe heavily, her chest rising and falling quickly as she brought one hand up to hold against her forehead as though she was having a headache. Her gaze was set on Thorin but her eyes were unfocused, causing the dwarf-king to frown.

"You would do better to keep your mouth shut," he growled lowly. "We are in enough trouble as it is without you wanting to pick a fight."

"I do not want to pick –" Cinna started weakly, suddenly sounding incredibly tired as her hand fell from her forehead, the fae shortly clenching her eyes shut. Thorin merely turned away from her toward the rest of the company without paying her any more heed, glancing down at Bombur who was fast asleep on the forest floor. Nothing seemed to be able to wake him.

"Gather some strong branches," the dwarf-king ordered, suppressing a sigh. "We'll bind them together with some rope and use it to carry him. We mustn't linger here for too long, we have to get moving."

The dwarves did as they were told and while Fili was helping tie together the stretcher for Bombur, his gaze found Cinna sitting on a big root a little distance away from the rest of them, her head hanging low as she stared at the dirty forest ground by her feet. Fili sighed quietly to himself as he fastened a knot, feeling his heart sink slightly at how forlorn the small redhead looked.

Cinna didn't say anything as they hoisted Bombur's heavy body onto the stretcher and began moving forward again, four dwarves being needed to carry the sleeping cook through the forest, and indeed she remained completely silent throughout the remainder of the day. Fili didn't think too much of it at first, assuming that she was simply upset about what had happened and needed some time to calm down, but when her silence continued over the next day, he realised that something was wrong.

"I worry about Cinna," he murmured as he walked along beside his brother on a broader stretch of the path. Kili looked up, glancing to where the fae was walking further along the path on her own behind Ori and Nori. Fili followed his gaze as well. "She hasn't spoken a word to anyone since yesterday. And have you seen the circles under her eyes?"

"So she's not sleeping very well," Kili shrugged slightly. "None of us are."

"It's not just that," his big brother replied with a shake of his head as he ducked beneath a low hanging branch.

Kili shot him a small sideways glance. "Maybe you should talk to her if you're so worried."

"I've tried," Fili answered, sighing quietly. "She doesn't respond at all, just gave me a blank look and moved on."

"Then maybe she just isn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now," Kili suggested, glancing over at Fili and shortly reaching out to pat his shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sure she'll come around."

Fili gave a thoughtful hum as his gaze wandered back to where the fae was walking ahead of them. "Maybe," he muttered quietly, not convinced of his brother's words at all.

None of them knew how long they had been walking when someone called out for a rest and though Thorin wasn't happy about it, the stuffy air of the forest had gotten to all companions by now and their minds were clouded and confused and so he agreed. Some of the dwarves dropped onto the floor immediately upon his words, while others decided to keep standing, leaning their hands onto their knees and breathing in deeply.

"Is there no end to this accursed forest?!" Thorin called out angrily, frustrated beyond measure at how much time they were wasting in these woods. No matter how many days they had been following the path now, the trees seemed to go on forever and ever and they grew darker with every step, the ones surrounding their way now covered in big silver cobwebs. Thorin shook his head in annoyance as the company around him erupted in complaints about the forest, the prospect of their provisions running precariously low now, the air, the light and their friend Bombur who was so extremely heavy to carry.

"What is that?" the dwarf-king suddenly heard someone murmur next to him and he turned his head to find Cinna sitting on the ground a little distance away, her head buried in her hands. Thorin frowned slightly at the desperate tone of her voice as she looked up, her emerald eyes wide with a haunted expression. "The voices. Can you not hear them?"

"I hear nothing," Dwalin grumbled in reply, though the fae did not seem to hear him. "There is nothing in this forest. No wind, no light."

"We don't even know what day it is," Ori agreed in a deep sigh. "Or how long we've been here."

For a while, Thorin merely sat there listening to his men complain, his gaze wandering around the edge of the path they were on. It was true, their provisions were running low and if they didn't find a way out of this forest soon they would no doubt suffer the consequences. But Thorin would be damned if this quest ended with them starving to death in this accursed forest. The dwarf-king shook his head lightly, his brows furrowed when suddenly he saw something in the corner of his eye. Thorin frowned deeply, concentrating his gaze on where he thought he'd just seen a light. It hadn't been big and only very brief but he could have sworn that it had been there, flickering just off the path in the dark trees.

He waited another few moments with his eyes trained on the edge of the path when suddenly he saw it again, a dim glimmer of light that was shining through the trees. "There!" he called out, suddenly sure that whatever was causing the light would help them to find their way out of the forest sooner.

The company quieted down upon hearing their king's words, some sending him odd looks as Thorin suddenly stood and made his way through the group, pushing poor Ori out of his way, sending the young dwarf stumbling backwards. "This way!" Thorin called again, this time more urgently.

"But the path leads this way," Bofur interjected in confusion, pointing at the track they had been following, shrinking back slightly when he was met with the dwarf-king's dark glare.

"Do as I say," Thorin growled as he moved off the path and into the trees. "Follow me!"

The dwarves exchanged a few looks but complied nonetheless, none of them wanting to start a fight with Thorin when he sounded so sure of his intention.

"No, wait!" Bilbo called as he reluctantly stood as well, calling after the others as they filed into the trees one after another, leaving the path behind. "Stop! We can't leave the path!"

But none of his companions were listening and Bilbo looked over to where Kili was helping a pale Cinna to her feet, wrapping his hand around the fae's wrist to pull her along. The hobbit shook his head in frustration, a small crease appearing between his eyebrows.

"We must stay on the path!" he insisted but none of his companions were listening and not wanting to be left behind on his own, Bilbo finally followed hesitantly as Kili and Cinna walked past him into the trees. He quickened his pace to catch up with them, falling into step behind the fae who was murmuring quietly to herself.

Bilbo couldn't quite make out the words at first and only when the trees around them had swallowed all other noises did he hear what the redhead was saying.

"No," she whispered almost inaudibly, repeating the same word over and over again. "No, no, no, no…"