Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit.
Thanks for all the responses, keep them coming.
In the small dark cave with only the sound of thunder and snoring to sooth the mind, Marie dreamt that she was back at Bag End as she would often do when sleep finally came.
But something was different with this dream.
All of Bag End was empty. No cupboards, no chairs, no crockery, no books. All but Marie's armchair was gone.
The fireplace had no simmering blaze, just ash and soot.
It left the hobbit hole with a cold atmosphere, unwelcoming and lonely.
Marie was sitting in her chair with a book in her lap, but there were no words. She flipped page after page, but all she saw were blank pages.
How long had she been reading a book with no story?
In the silence surrounding her, she thought she heard her name being called, but from where? She closed the book and rose from her chair.
She knew the voice, but couldn't place it. It was too far, too long ago in the mind.
Each step towards the front door felt like stepping on ice. It was so cold. Marie was hesitant to open the door, not fully knowing what was behind it, but the voice was growing more urgent.
The green door swung open, and all Marie could see was the green hills of Hobbiton.
Not a soul could be seen. Marie craned her neck to peer at the door.
Where was the voice?
There was but one lone figure running down the path, away from Bag End. Marie recognized the bright emerald waistcoat and blonde curls and ran out the door.
"Alistair!"
She had to follow.
She tore through the green hills past hobbit holes and fields, desperate to keep up with him. She called out to him to slow down, but to no avail.
She followed until the hills turned into dark trees that towered over her.
Marie stopped and tried to remember where she was ... and why she was running.
Alistair was nowhere to be seen. He didn't leave her again did he, or had she been the one abandon him?
"Where am I?"
"We need to now! Come on!" It was a different, more confident voice that cried out from the dark thicket.
Move where? Marie couldn't see the path ahead anymore, only the road back home. "I need to go back."
But a hand took her own and pulled her into the dark. It was large, strong hand, firm to the touch but warm.
She was dragged further into the unknown, each step like lead, but Marie could bare it, so long as the hand was there to guide her, to comfort her.
But this feeling of certainty did not last for long.
Marie could feel her hand slipping further out of the opposing force's grasp as she struggled to keep up. She willed herself to keep moving, but the strain was too strong and her legs burned with pain.
"Marie?" The voice she had followed whispered again and Marie turned her head to look back.
There was no one there.
The last remnants of warmth left her tired body as the hand finally slipped away, leaving her to fall to the ground, cold and frightened.
"No ...please." Marie whimpered into the dark, "Don't leave me."
Then the world went black.
The hobbit's eyes shoot open, seeking out what small light pieced the cracks in the cave from the outside world. She moved but an inch when she felt a sharp jab of pain from her fingers. They were crudely bandaged and tucked under her arms as Marie had waited for Oin's medicine to take affect before sleep. It seemed some pains needed time instead of ointments.
But her fingers were the least of Marie's concerns.
She sat upright from her damp bedroll and rested her head on her knees. Her dreams usually consisted of pleasant images and happy memories, sometimes presenting questions with unsolved answers. But this dream just left her feeling lost.
Lost and alone.
Marie hated it. Hated the cave, hated the mountains, and hated herself for going on this journey.
What a fine time for her to be struck with doubt and homesickness.
She scanned her eyes over her fellow company members with a conflicted heart and head.
'You know you'll not survive another day, and you only hold them back with your decrepitude attitude. Stay, and prove yourself. What can a hobbit offer to fighters like the dwarves other than food? You made a choice, stick by it. You'll never be accepted by Thorin.'
Marie rubbed her face harshly, leaving red lines from where the bandages had scratched her skin. She was a fool. Not even a Fool of a Took, just a fool.
With great care, she rolled up her bedroll, buckled her sword belt, slipped on her pack and slowly made her way over the sleeping dwarves. She stopped to make sure Bofur hadn't spotted her yet but he was fast asleep sit, still upright from his position as first watch.
'Bless him.' Marie thought. He would be tired after watching out for her all day. She wished she could at least say goodbye to him, but then she would have to say goodbye to all of them, then leaving would be harder to do.
No, it was better this way.
She stopped at the entrance to inspect the conditions of the storm, but it was a poor decision to make.
"Just where do you think you're going?"
Marie wished the rock would break open once more and swallow her up. But alas, she had been caught by Thorin of all people. His boots crunched loudly on the grainy bed of the cave as he approached her, but did not cause the company to stir from their slumber.
Whatever pride Marie had within her, she mustered it up and said in a monotone voice, "I'm going back to Rivendell."
"You give up our quest so easily for finer company I see."
"Must you presume to know me?" Marie snapped, but still kept her eyes down. "From there I'll take the road back to the Shire. I am of no use to you so I will not burden your quest any further." Marie went on.
Thorin raised an eyebrow. "If I recall, you seemed more than happy to joy our quest. When did this change of heart occur?"
"Since I almost fell off the side of the mountain barely hours ago."
"If every man turned back at the sight of doom, then there would be no tantalizing stories to marvel children."
"I thought I was only a woman and unfit for the Wild." Marie made clear her frustration at Thorin's earlier comment.
"Look at me." Thorin growled.
She did. She glared right into his bright blue eyes, establishing a connection they had never had before. Neither blinked or faltered, only stared at the raw emotions swirling within the depths of their eyes. "You have made it clear more than once that you have no desire for me to be here, so I will not trouble you anymore."
"So I may not presume to know you yet you may to your own conclusions about me now." If Thorin raised his voice any louder, he would have woken the company. "You are under contract, remember now. You must forfill ..."
"I pick pocketed handkerchiefs and watches for a laugh when I was a child, that doesn't qualify me for anything. Gandalf was wrong, I'm not a Took. I'm just a Baggins."
"What has that to do with who you are now?"
"You wouldn't understand." Marie shook her head, "I just want to return to my home, where I belong." She tried to leave, but Thorin was not done yet. He yanked her back by the crook of her arm, "As do I." He said, his menacing scowl dangerously close to her face, "Do not think that you alone know what it means to miss your home."
"Thorin?"
Both Marie and Thorin looked towards the corner where Bofur sat. Their argument had finally woken the look out from his unplanned nap. "Is something the matter? Marie?" Bofur's eyebrows knitted together when he saw how his king was handling Marie.
Before Thorin could explain their compromising situation, Marie felt something shifting beneath them, followed by the sound of rust metal scrapping against one another. Bofur and Thorin looked to their feet when they heard the noise. As if by instinct, Marie looked down at her side to gaze at her sword. She could faintly make out a thin glowing blue line just where the sheath and hilt met. Lord Elrond's words came flooding back to her.
'There is an enchantment on the steel. It will glow in the presence of Orcs and Goblins.'
Marie felt the shifting again, only this time the floor began to slip through a large crack that ran from one end to the cave to the other.
Thorin grip on Marie's arm only tightened to the point of hurting her instead of him releasing her. "Wake up. All of you!" He belted so loud they would have had no choice but to wake.
The final gear shifted and the floor opened like a trap door, sending everyone whether asleep or awake down into the heart of the mountain.