For some reason, Thorin was annoyed and grumpy the whole day. The company had decided to stop for a late lunch in a grassy meadow; mountains on the left and a grassy sloped hill leading down to a slow-paced-river on the right with an abandoned hut-like-house not too far from the destined lunch sight. Gandalf had tried urging Thorin to move on when he saw that the abandoned hut-like-house had once belonged to a farmer and his family. But Thorin wouldn't have it when Gandalf suggested traveling to the Hidden Valley. Thorin had gotten even more grumpy when Gandalf gave a valid argument about how Lord Elrond could help them because of having a map that couldn't be read. Thorin's mood had become even more sour when he pointed out how the Elves didn't help when the Dragon attacked Erebor, how the Orcs attacked Moria and desecrated the sacred halls of the kingdom of Erebor and the Elves didn't help. Thorin's mood only seemed to get even darker when he told Gandalf, "you ask me to seek help from those who betrayed my father and grandfather?"

Gandalf had tried pointing out to Thorin that he was neither his grandfather or father and snapped, "I did not give you that map and key for you to hold onto the past!" But Thorin only interjected, "I didn't know they were yours to keep!" Thorin's foul mood had angered Gandalf so much so that the Wizard had literally stomped off.

Now, while Bombur was making lunch, and the others setting up camp for the night because of Thorin deciding camp should be made for the night where the company had stopped for a late lunch, Raven decided to busy herself with some good old throwing knife practice by using an old, rugged dead tree as a target for her to practice throwing her throwing knives at.

After Raven drew a big red bullseye on the center of the tree, she drew out her throwing knives from within her holster while Thorin watched. The rest of the company, having finished with their tasks assigned by Thorin, also stopped to watch Raven, who didn't know she was being watched while she drew her throwing knives. Raven took a throwing knife with her free hand; pinching the handle between her thumb and index finger, drew her arm back and let the knife fly from her hand after whipping her arm out. Tok! Raven's throwing knife embedded itself into the rotting wood of the dead tree to the left by a hair off from the center of the bullseye. Raven repeated the process two more times. Tok! Tok! The throwing knives embedded themselves in the wood but still a hair off from the bullseye.

"You missed." A deep voice spoke behind Raven and she turned to give Thorin a hard look when she saw him and the others watching her. Holding a throwing knife out for the Dwarf to come and take, "If you think you can do better, then by all means, show me. Who knows, the practice might even cheer you up, given you've been in a sour mood all day." Raven moved her hand to the blade; gripping the blade closer to the tip and again, held the throwing knife out to Thorin, who had a displeased look on his face from the way Raven had talked to him. Raven ignored the Dwarf. "Go on," Raven urged. "If you think you can do better than me then by all means, show me." Raven gestured with her hand for Thorin to come and take the throwing knife from her, slightly smiling when Fili and Kili let out snickers due to loving how Raven had challenged their uncle, but fell silent when Thorin gave them a death glare.

Thorin gave in due to Raven stroking his pride with her words and walked up to the woman, his blue eyes still looking unhappy. Raven glanced up into Thorin's blue eyes when he stopped before her, lifting her hand that held the throwing knife. Thorin took the throwing knife from Raven's hand, loving how light the weapon felt. "Care to give me a demonstration?" Thorin's deep voice rumbled. Raven looked the Dwarf square in the eye. Eyebrow raised, "I thought you knew how to do it better than me," Raven reminded Thorin, whose mouth formed into a frown. "I mean with showing me how to hold the knife," Thorin shot back. Raven answered by grabbing hold the last throwing knife in her other hand. "There are a few ways you can hold this weapon." Raven curled her thumb and index finger around the handle of her throwing knife and then lifted her hand up so Thorin could see her thumb and index finger pinching the handle. "Or, there's this way." Raven flipped her throwing knife and caught the weapon by the blade; pinching the blade of her throwing knife between her thumb and index finger. "If you have a heavier knife, you use your middle finger for both positions."

Thorin mocked Raven's holds - starting with holding the handle of the throwing knife, pinching the handle between his thumb and index finger just as Raven had shown him. Raven adjusted Thorin's fingers' grip on the handle a tad so the handle was a bit more comfortable, then moved to his side and gave a nod that indicated for Thorin to give the knife a throw. Thorin drew his arm back and then let the throwing knife leave his grip when he let go of the weapon after whipping out his arm. The throwing knife sailed smoothly through the air and embedded itself into the bark of the dead tree. But missed the bullseye when the blade embedded into the wood beside the throwing knife Raven had thrown.

"Not bad," Raven commented and Thorin gave a slight smile. "With a little bit more training you'll be as good as me in no time." Raven walked up to the dead tree and removed the throwing knives. Raven walked back to Thorin and held two throwing knives out for him to take. But Thorin shook his head. Raven slid the throwing knives back into the holster. Raven was surprised when Thorin knelt down and, reaching around her thigh, grabbed the velcro strap and unstrapped the holster from around her thigh. Raven felt color rush to her face. "Now it's my turn to teach you something," Thorin remarked while he stood up and walked over to the dead tree. Thorin set Raven's throwing knife holster on the ground against the the trunk of the dead tree. "Really? What is that?" Raven asked, noticing Thorin removing his big fur coat that left him only in black trousers and a white tunic that showed half of his chest. Good lord he looked handsome. Raven raised an eyebrow at Thorin in order to hide her thoughts.

Instead of answering, Thorin charged at her. Raven reacted fast by bending her knees and held her hands out, ready to grab Thorin. But Thorin, having seen what Raven was thinking, grabbed Raven's left wrist, but Raven slipped her wrist out of Thorin's hold then aimed a strike toward his face with the palm of her other hand. Thorin brought his arm up to knock Raven's hand to the side with his own hand. Raven smirked and grabbing Thorin's arm, turned her body into the Dwarf and threw him head over heels to land flat on his back. Or tried, since Thorin managed to land on his feet.

Thorin quickly latched his hands around Raven's wrists and pulled Raven into his arms to wrap her in a hug to restrain her movements - tried to, since Raven firmly placed her hands on Thorin's shoulders and using her feet, flipped her body over him and landed on the ground. Raven couldn't believe how fast Thorin was, because no sooner than had she landed, Thorin had blocked a punch to his face when Raven whirled on him and felt the ground pressed flat against her back after Thorin used his leg to sweep her feet from out underneath her. Raven tried to punch Thorin when he appeared above her, but Thorin takes her hands and Thorin grabbed Raven's wrists and pinned her hands to the ground above her head, only holding her wrists with one hand, straddling her so she couldn't move, his face not far from hers. Thorins black hair fell like a curtain around Raven's head. In Thorin's eyes Raven read: payback. Raven only smiled innocently and Thorin shook his head while keeping his eyes locked with Raven's. "I knew you were strong, but I didn't know you were that strong." Raven breathed out. Thorin smirked at her and Raven felt her stomach flip. Thorin's eyes are darker than usual, while staring down at her. He's breathing heavily also, his lips slightly open. Sweat covered his forehead and chest.

Though Thorin won that match, he still stayed straddled on top of Raven. He studied her: purple gem eyes gentle but fierce, long purple hair splayed out on the ground around her, her body was strong and toned. Just when the sunlight was right, Thorin saw Raven's purple eyes catch in the sunlight and oh man, did they sparkle like two beautiful gems. The woman Thorin held pinned to the ground was truly a beauty. Not only did Raven's purple eyes glitter like beautiful purple gems, but the blood red diamond in the center of her forehead glittered a deep, beautiful Ruby Red when the sun hit the diamond just right! And the blue of her arrowhead tattoos! Thorin saw that the tattoos seemed to give off a sheen of lighter blue. This woman! Thorin thought, was unknowingly capturing his heart! Though Thorin sort of made that fact known to Raven when he claimed her by kissing her full on the mouth as a way of saying MINE! Thorin kept telling himself it was only because of the heat of the moment. Kept trying and kept trying to tell himself that all because he still fought the fact that Fairen - a Witch, had told him Raven was the one who was meant for him. Thorin still fought against admitting Fairen was right, despite the fact that he knew Fairen was becoming more and more right due to silently admitting that Raven was unknowingly capturing his heart while still pinning Raven to the ground and straddling her. Thorin knew that Fairen would keep being right if he didn't get off Raven, and Thorin refused to let Fairen be right by immediately forcing himself to get up off of Raven - especially when he realized their position; getting to his feet; reaching his hands out to help Raven up.

Raven sat up, grinned up at Thorin, and before Thorin could do anything, Raven had grabbed his tunic, then using her feet, threw Thorin head over heels over her, then pinned Thorin to the ground after landing on top of him; straddling him and pinning his hands and wrists to the ground. In Raven's eyes, Thorin read: now we're even. But Raven, in Thorin's eyes, read: no we're not. That one little distraction was all that Thorin needed when he felt Raven's grip lighten. He quickly grabbed Raven by her leg with one hand and wrapped his free arm around her back. Raven didn't know how Thorin had managed to get off the ground while holding her, but he had and the next second, Raven felt her back being pressed to a tree trunk; Thorin wrapping her legs around his hips to straddle her to him.

While Raven leaned her head back against the trunk and allowed her body to go slack, Thorin had a clearer view of the woman who unknowingly captured his heart: beautiful pale skin covered by a blue tunic that showed her bare chest, black pants, but what concerned Thorin the most, was that he could see some of Raven's chest and collar bone, and a little bit of the bones in both of her shoulders. Raven wasn't terribly skinny - actually she was toned and healthy. The bones just showed a little bit more.

"I'm not anorexic, Thorin."

Thorin absentmindedly cupped the side of Raven's face, causing her to jerk. "Are you eating okay?" The question caught Raven by surprise. Was he actually worried about her? "Are you worried about me?" Raven asked, noticing that the Dwarf's grumpy and annoyed mood had been long gone. He was about to reply when they heard shouts: the company searching for them. Thorin set Raven down and they walked back to camp.

Later that night, Raven had taken a bath in the river after her dinner. While she walked back up to the camp, the situation between her and Thorin replayed like a tape in her head: there she was, pinned to a tree trunk with the Dwarf straddling her to him so she couldn't free herself. Or so he thought, due to being Witch-Born, Raven could have if she wanted, but she dared not since she didn't want to give to much away to the Dwarf, since she was still getting to know him. Raven had been pinned and straddled, and she had seen Thorin's blue eyes fill with concern when he saw more detail of her body due to having a better view. Thorin knew she was toned and healthy, his concern was valid because of seeing a little bit more bone in her collar, chest and shoulders. Thorin had even cupped the side of her face. That had taken her by surprise. Raven sighed.

Raven entered the camp. Bare. That was odd. No one was at the camp and two of the horses were gone: Myrtle and Minty. Or was it Mincy? Not far from the camp - a league at most, Raven's ears caught the vibrations of yelling sounds that sounded like there was a fight. Raven made her way in the direction of the fighting sounds.

Indeed, Bilbo, Thorin and the Dwarves had put up a fight against three giant Trolls, because when Raven arrived at the scene, she arrived just as the Trolls stuffed the last of the Dwarves into burlap sacks and tossed them to the side. Thorin lay in a burlap sack behind Kili and Oin along with the others lying splayed out around him. Balin on Thorin's right side. Raven had arrived just in time to hear one of the Trolls, "I think we got the last of 'em."

After the Trolls complained about not liking being turned to stone, she watched an idea cross Bilbo's face and the Hobbit interjected, "wait! You are making a terrible mistake!"

"You can't reason with them! They're halfwits!" Dori yelled.

"Halfwits?! What does that make us?" Bofur asked.

"These guys are infested with parasites! I wouldn't risk it I really wouldn't," Bilbo told the Trolls while Raven walked to stand beside him, everyone's attention turning to her while she added, "we know you Trolls to get hungry real easy, real fast - and as much as we would like to let you eat whatever strikes your fancy, we can't let you three have the Dwarves…it's just…not negotiable." Raven's words seemed to shake the Trolls out of their shock.

"Who do you guys think you are to tell us what we can and can't eat?" asked the Troll that had asked if they had gotten all of the Dwarves. Raven began, " we don't think, we know," then added, "they're my Dwarves, and just as the Hobbit was telling you, it's not safe for you to eat them because they're infested with parasites."

"Did they just say we have parasites?" Oin asked.

"We don't have parasites! You guys have parasites!" Kili cried. Thorin, realizing what Raven and Bilbo were up to, gave the others a kick, giving them a look that made them change their tune. All of them chimed in about how they have parasites and how big the parasites were.

"What do you suggest we do with them? Let them all go?!" asked the Troll who had asked Raven who she and Bilbo thought they were to tell them what he and his two brothers could and couldn't eat.

That's when Gandalf appeared out of nowhere, coming to stand on top of a rock. "The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf cried epically and used the butt of his staff to break the rock in half and let the Trolls be turned to stone. The company looked to Raven and Bilbo and let out cries of laughter. Thorin actually smiled.

Bilbo hugged Raven. "I'm glad you're okay," Raven told Bilbo. But her mood was ruined when someone else directed their anger towards her. "I thought you said you could fight," Thorin snaps, giving Raven an angry look when she turned to look at him.

"Sorry?!" Raven asked, shocked.

"You didn't do anything and we were close to being eaten by Trolls!" He's now standing close to Raven to try and intimidate her. "How dare you! I distracted the Trolls until Gandalf came to help. So don't you DARE say I didn't do anything."

"Your friend is the one who got us mixed into that mess in the first place," Thorin argued and Raven, growing angry, closed the distance between them, forcing Thorin to look slightly down at her, not liking that due to Raven challenging him. Raven put her index finger against his chest.

"You listen to me, Dwarf! I don't care that you're a king!" Raising an arm above her head, Raven continued, "I have had it up to here with your attitude! First it was about the Elves! Now it's the fact that I helped Bilbo stall for time - the rest of you not thinking about that! You will treat me with respect or I'm gone! And Bilbo will follow! Now shut up and shove that stick back up your rear end before I hear you say anything else."

Thorin knew Raven was right about her helping Bilbo stall for time. He had let his pride get the better of him. Thorin watched Raven turn and walk over to Gandalf and then went with the others to search the cave nearby due to Trolls not being able to move in daylight. Thorin followed.

Raven and Bilbo stood outside of the cave while the others searched.

"Are you okay?" Bilbo asked Raven while they waited.

"I'm fine. The Dwarf is just a pain in the rear." Raven watched Bilbo nod in understanding. "Thorin definitely has a stick up his rear, that's for sure," Bilbo whispered and both he and Raven laughed.

Thorin and Raven didn't talk anymore after the fight. Raven stayed far away from him as possible, remaining in the back of the walking company since the ponies had run off. Balin decided to break the silence. "So Gandalf, how did you meet Raven?" It was an attempt to cheer the mood up while everyone was taking a well-deserved break.

"I want to hear the story too!" Kili sits closer, Fili doing the same as his brother. All of the other Dwarves move closer and Gandalf shares a look with Raven. Raven nods. "It's fine."

Gandalf began, "about four years ago, roughly, I found Raven laying on the ground under a tree. She looked hurt. I go over just as she's waking up and ask her if she's fine. Of course she wasn't, having just landed in Middle-Earth. I ask Raven how she had ended up in Middle-Earth. So she told me that she had opened up a portal using her magic, and had ended up in Middle-Earth.

Raven could only listen while Gandalf retold the story. She had used her magic to open up a portal to escape from being killed due to trying to save them by becoming a Vampire. Her friends had turned against her. Raven remembered being imprisoned by the Jonin and the Jonin guard trying to kill the Vampirism by beating her with whips and branding her with hot iron. Torturing her. Endlessly.

"Raven?" Raven looks to Ori and then to the others. "What happened?" Raven loved how sweet and innocent the Dwarf was. Raven turned around and pulled her tunic off so the others could see her bare back that still showed the scars from being whipped and branded along with cuts and bruises. Tortured. Gasps rose. Raven pulled her tunic back on and faced the company again.

"Where's your family?" Fili asked with sadness in his eyes, Kiki's matching the same sadness.

"Gone. I disowned them for allowing me to be tortured."

"Why we're you tortured like that?" Fili asked.

Raven looked to Balin and the Elder Dwarf nodded. It was time. "There was a war going on. The village I lived in was under attack and we were almost beaten. Until I killed the whole enemy single-handedly. The day before, I went out looking for a solution. I found one. I became a Vampire - a creature that is human, but immortal and dead. Becoming a Vampire came at a terrible price. I can't eat regular food because my stomach can't digest due to being dead. So I throw it back up. My body can't make blood of its own anymore because of being dead. So it relies on me to provide it with blood through consumption - animal blood. I wear an enchanted piece of jewelry so I can even be out in the sunlight. Nature turned against me. I can hear the sound of blood pumping through veins and I can hear the sound of beating hearts because of having a keen sense of hearing and I have a keen sense of smell. The only way to kill a Vampire, is by driving something sharp and pointed through the heart. And because of becoming a Vampire, I am scared to death of hurting all of you." Raven quickly shook her head and stood up and walked away from the group and their new campsite before they could say anything and see her cry.

Raven fell to her knees; hands flat on the ground, head bent and let tears fall.

"Raven…come here." A deep voice spoke up, filled with pity, as Thorin bends down to pick Raven up to hold her in his arms and carry her back to camp.

"I'm sorry, Thorin." Raven rested her head against his chest.

"Don't be." Thorin pressed a gentle kiss to Raven's head. Carrying her back to camp.