The Pale Orc screamed in anger when we flew as far away from him and into safety. I laughed and flipped him the middle finger and then turned forward. Victory was ours!

"Thorin!" exclaimed Fili looking anxiously at his uncle who was lying unconscious in the eagle's claws. I frowned and tightened my grip. I felt sorry for Thorin because he really did not deserve such a death, but I felt even more sorry for his nephews, Fili and Kili-especially for the older Oakenshield. From Fili, in case of Thorin's death, is expected to assume the role of the ruler and become the new king under the mountain, and it would be too much for him. Not that I doubt Fili, on the contrary, I know that he would make a great king but he is too young to put so much responsibility on his shoulders.

I move my eyes from Fili and my stare meets Kili's- equally concerned as his older brother's stare-if not even more. I try to hide my nervousness and made a reassuring smile in Kili's direction.

"He'll be fine." I tell him, trying to overpower the sound the wind. "He's just unconscious." I continue, although I'm not sure of my own statement. Kili smiles lightly and noddeds his head in gratitude turning toward Fili so he can comfort him. I feel my heart being torn in two while watching this.

I was too busy looking sadly at Fili and Kili that I did not even notice that the eagles began to circle around a rock, going down lower and lower. It was only when I was yanked by Bilbo that I had noticed that it was time to jump, but it was too late. Thank God that the distance between the eagles head and the ground was not too big otherwise I would have stumbled and broke every possible bone in my body. We jumped, lightly landing on our feet. I took a few seconds to regain balance happy that I can feel the land underfoot.

The Eagle slowly lowered Thorin to the ground making sure that it does not hurt him in the process. Gandalf had immediately rushed to him going down on his knees and putting his hands over Thorin's head, mumbling some strange words. The dwarves were circled around them, me and Bilbo in the background, waiting for some kind of response from Thorin. I bit my lip to the point where I could already taste the blood, so instead I started to mess with my fingers, praying that Thorin would be good.

At the beginning of the group I heard a faint laugh from Gandalf accompanied by the words, "Yes, they are alright." The dwarves gathered around Thorin and then I saw him being raise to his feet, and he was conscious. Immediately I felt relief as if a weight was lifted off my chest so, suddenly filled with happiness, I grabbed Bilbo and pulled him into a hug.

"He's alive!" I squeaked, jumping.

"That he is." Bilbo said, patting me on the back with a smile. I saw by his face that it was the same weight that had lifted from his chest. He cares about Thorin, just like me but it's much harder for him to admit it.

We turned to our company, huge smiles on our faces, and saw Thorin who's watching us with a strange look.

"You two ..." He uttered in a deep voice on the verge of bursting. Our smiles immediately disappeared and were replaced by grimaces and a surprised look. "What were you two doing? You almost got yourselves killed!" he continued, slowly limping towards us. I was frozen in place squeezing Bilbo's hand for support. From his firm grasp, I concluded that he was equally surprised, and a little scared as I am.

"Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you had no place amongst us?" He asked Bilbo with a stern look, and then turned to me. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and looked behind Thorin's shoulder where my eyes met with Kili's. I think I saw a hint of encouragement on his face, but I was not sure because I was immediately brought back by Thorin's stern voice, making me look at him.

"And you," He began, looking me straight in the eyes. "Did I not tell you that you would be weak and defenseless?" He asked. Bilbo and I lowered our gaze down towards the floor, clutching each other's hands for support. Then we had the biggest plot twist in the history of the plot twists;

"I have never been so wrong." Thorin said with a sigh, suddenly hugging me and Bilbo. I was so shocked that my mouth was half open, and my eyes looked blankly at dwarfs. Kili caught my stare and smiled at me, and then a smile also spread across my face.

The dwarves all celebrated and cheered while Thorin backed away from us, smiling at Bilbo.

"I'm sorry I doubted you." He said to the little hobbit who just shrugged.

"I would have doubted myself too." admitted Bilbo. "I'm no hero, I'm not a warrior ... I'm not even a thief."

I smiled at Bilbo and patted his shoulder and he smiled back.

"Oriana," Thorin said, motioning for me to come closer. I awkwardly walked over to him as he leaned closer to me, his mouth near my ear.

"There are many things that still have to learn but you've earned my approval." He whispered to me, a smirk on his lips as he stepped away and crossed his hands behind his back. My face was completely flushed while I watched in complete shock.

Thorin continued to smirk until he looked over our shoulders, and then his face became totally awestruck. Bilbo and I both turned to the direction where he was looking and I could feel my the air disappears from my lungs. The view was literally a "breathtaking" one.

"Wow," I muttered, glancing over the view. "That's a really big mountain."

"Is that-" Bilbo began, looking at Thorin who nodded slowly.

"Erebor," he said. "Our home." he added. You could hear in his voice that he was proud of his home and you could even hear the determination to regain their homeland back from Smaug the dragon. That was something I admired a lot. At that moment, I truly believed that we will succeed in this goal.

"All right," said Gandalf. We turned to him and saw that he spoke with one of the eagles-The Eagle king.

"Take us where and how far you can! We're already deeply grateful to you. But at this very moment we're starving," said Gandalf, shifting his view to us. I nodded and put my hand on my stomach that was making a sound of a dying whale. I was very hungry.

"We can do something about that." Said The Eagle King, taking off with his Eagle friends. At first, I thought that they had blown us off and left us to starve to death, but when they returned after a few minutes with the meat, a satisfied smile spread across my face. Bombur, bless his soul, cooked the meat and we ate until we could no longer breathe.

I got up and approached the edge of the cliff (but not too close, because knowing myself I'd tripped on thin air and fall) and stared at the mountain. So there hides the big scary dragon we'll have to kill. From this it doesn't look so scary nut I know as we approach it that it will get more dangerous.

"Are you alright?" I heard Kili's voice. I looked beside me and I see him looking at me worriedly. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, just tired." I say. He nods and then his smile turns in to an amused grin.

"What did Thorin whisper to you, when he talked to you and Bilbo?" He asks. I freeze in place while my face slowly flushes and my eyes widened.

"He, uh, thanked me for what I did." I quickly said. Kili looked at me suspiciously but thank God did not ask anything more. Together we went to the rest of the company where we settled comfortably and fell asleep- at least I did.

THIRD PERSON VIEW

Little did Oriana and Bilbo know that the rest of the company was still awake, smoking their pipes and talking about the two of them.

"Who knew," said Balin. "That one little hobbit and a petit girl would be the bravest ones amongst us."

"Aye," said Dwalin. "Mr. Baggins and the lass continue to surprise me by the day."

Kili smiled and looked at Oriana whose head lay still in his lap. She was long asleep with her lips slightly pursed, muttering unrecognizable words in her slumber. He laughed softly and moved away her hair that fell on her face, stroking her cheek. Aside from his mother, Oriana was the most beautiful she- dwarf he had ever met. She was not like the rest of the girls from his village and he likes that about her, she was different.

"I think we can all agree with one thing." Gandalf said with a small smile as he watched Kili. "We are all very pleased that Mr. Baggins and Oriana joined the company."

The dwarves nodded and mumbled a quiet "Yes , of course. " between them.

"That we are." Kili mumbled with a small smile, and then he leaned against the wall sinking into a deep sleep, with his hands wrapped securely around Oriana.

Here is another long-ish chapter! :D

I really had fun writing this and i hope you enjoyed reading it! As always, reviews are hugely welcomed and appreciated! ;)

Until the next update! Lots of love! xoxo