The company was crossing the Misty Mountains; the trail was narrow and dangerous, with a cliff on one side and a sheer drop on the other. There was a fierce storm in the air, with lightning, harsh winds and rain all around.

"Hold on!" Thorin shouted. As Bilbo walked, the stone beneath his feet gave away, and he started falling into the chasm; Dwalin managed to pull him back in time. "We must find shelter!" Thorin shouted.

"Watch out!" Dwalin shouted. Everyone look up and saw a massive boulder hurtling through the air; it hit the mountainside above them, causing rocks to fall all around them as they pressed themselves against the mountain. Lucy shielded Tony as Fili and Kili shielded them both.

"This is no thunderstorm; it's a thunder battle! Look!" Balin shouted pointing. A stone giant reared up from a nearby mountain; it ripped off a massive boulder from the top of the mountain.

"Well bless me, the legends are true. Giants; Stone Giants!" Bofur shouted as the giant threw another boulder. It hit a second giant that came around behind the company.

"Take cover; you'll fall!" Thorin shouted. A few dwarves pulled Bofur back.

"Hold on!" Everyone pressed themselves to the wall of the mountain as the rocks beneath their feet began to give way from all the vibrations and from the impact of the falling rocks. The ground between Lucy's legs started to split and she looked down in horror. She grabbed onto the nearest body; Kili saw the ground splitting and tightened his hold on her while pulling her and him onto one side. Fili grabbed onto Tony and did the same.

"Kili!" he yelled. Fili reached out his arm as the halves quickly split. "Lucy!"

"Tony!" Lucy shouted from beside Kili, she tried to reach out to him but Kili quickly grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back so she didn't fall. Tony watched from beside Fili as he was moved farther away from his sister. Bilbo and Tony looked up as the giant they were on started to get up.

"Oh god we're on one!" Tony shouted. One of the giants head butted the one they were on causing it to fall back and spread its knees. Kili's half of the group quickly ran to get off of the knee they were on and onto a non-living part of the mountains. They all looked back at the others still on the giant.

As two of the stone giants fought with their fists, the dwarves, Tony and Bilbo held on tight as they were flung around. Fili kept an arm locked around Tony's. The giant they were on defeated the one it was facing but the first stone giant threw another boulder at the head of the one they were on causing its head to break off and smash above the group that wasn't on a giant. The giant's knee flung around in front of the other group and Lucy's heart flew to his throat as he heard her brother's scream as they flew by. The giant fell and its knee headed straight for the rocks. The other half of the Company watched in horror, as it appeared to them that the other group of the Company had been crushed, when they saw the knee move back with no one on it.

"No!" Thorin shouted.

"Tony!" Lucy screamed.

"No!" Thorin shouted again. The hurt stone giant lost its footing and fell down the chasm. "No! Fili!" The group rushed to the spot where the others had appeared to have been crushed, but they were safe.

"They're all right! They're alive!" Gloin shouted to the others behind him.

"Where's Bilbo? Where's our Hobbit?" Bofur asked.

"There!" Ori shouted. Bilbo was hanging over the edge with just his finger tips, his eyes wide.

"Get him!" Dwalin shouted. Ori dived onto the ground and tried to grab Bilbo's arm, but Bilbo slipped and fell another few feet before he caught another handhold.

"Grab my hand!"

"Bilbo!" As the dwarves tried to pull him up unsuccessfully, Thorin swung down on the cliff next to Bilbo and boosted him up, where the others pulled him to safety. Dwalin tried to lift Thorin back up too, but Thorin lost his grip and began falling too; however, Dwalin, with much effort, was able to pull him back up. Bilbo was panting against the wall.

"I thought we'd lost our burglar," Dwalin said. Bilbo looked up.

"He's been lost ever since he left home." Thorin said. "He should never have come. He has no place amongst us. Dwalin!" Thorin nodded for the dwarf to follow him. Lucy and Kili made their way past the others and saw Fili and Tony helping Bombur up. Lucy's heart was pounding in her ears and she had to lean on her knees to catch her breath. Kili put a hand on her back and she looked up at him to see they shared similar expressions. Kili moved towards the two and pulled his brother into a hug. Lucy watched the two before she pulled Tony to her chest. He surprised her by hugging her back just as tight.

Thorin and Dwalin found a cave nearby for the night.

"It looks safe enough," Dwalin said.

"Search to the back; caves in mountains are seldom unoccupied," Thorin said. Dwalin searched the cave with Tony's flashlight, after being told how to use it.

"There's nothing here," he said. Gloin dropped a bundle of wood on the floor and rubbed his hands.

"Right then! Let's get a fire started," he said.

"No, no fires, not in this place," Thorin said. "Get some sleep. We start at first light."

"We were to wait in the mountains until Gandalf joined us. That was the plan," Balin said.

"Plans change. Bofur, take the first watch," Thorin ordered. Everyone laid down to try and get some sleep. Lucy lay near Fili and he noticed she was shivering; her hair and clothes were still a bit damp.

"Lucy," he whispered. She opened her eyes to see him looking at her. "Come here." She quietly moved forward and he wrapped an arm around her, his large hand slipped beneath her coat and warmed her back as he rubbed it slightly. She snuggled into his chest, her head under his chin. "Better?" Lucy nodded. He gently pressed his lips to her hair. "Get some sleep," he whispered tracing circles on her back with his finger slowly.

…

The Company was resting in the cave; all the dwarves were asleep except Bofur. Lucy was asleep between Fili and Kili; Kili had his back to hers in an attempt to help warm her. Tony lay above their heads across the three of them. Bilbo was only pretending to be asleep and stealthily opened his eyes to look around. Seeing that no one was watching, he quietly rolled up his blankets and packed his things. He grabbed his walking stick and he started to leave the cave, tiptoeing over the sleeping dwarves.

Bofur, who was on watch, saw Bilbo trying to leave. He jumped up and tried to stop him. They whispered so as not to wake the others.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bofur asked. Bilbo stopped and turned to look at him.

"Back to Rivendell." Bilbo said. Bofur got up.

"No, no, you can't turn back now; you're part of the Company. You're one of us."

"I'm not though, am I? Thorin said I should never have come, and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins, I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door." Thorin, who was awake, stared thoughtfully at the wall as he listened.

"You're homesick; I understand."

"No, you don't, you don't understand! None of you do - you're dwarves," Bilbo hissed. "You used to - to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere." Bofur looked hurt, and Bilbo was repentant. "I am sorry, I didn't..." he cleared his throat and looked down.

"No, you're right." Bofur looked back at the others. "We don't belong anywhere. I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do." Bofur smiled and placed his hand on Bilbo's shoulder; Bilbo soon turned and began to walk away. "What's that?" Bofur asked.

"Hm?" Something was glowing; Bilbo pulled his sword partway out of its sheath and saw that it was growing bright blue, meaning Orcs or Goblins were nearby. Thorin raised his head as he heard strange machinery noises and saw cracks form in the sand on the floor of the cave.

"Wake up. Wake up!" Thorin shouted. Before anyone could react, the floor of the cave collapsed and fell out from under them; the floor was really a giant trap door. The entire Company fell down a chute, slid through a tunnel yelling and screaming the whole way before they landed in a giant wooden half cage. As they struggled to get up, a horde of goblins attacked them. The dwarves tried to fight them off.

"Look out!" Thorin managed to pull Tony's hat off and shoved it at Lucy. One look and she could tell he wanted her to hide her face as much as she could. She frowned but did, hoping it would stay. Bofur, thinking the same thing, quickly took off his own hat and shoved it on her head. It would do a better job of hiding her face and the fact that she was a woman. The goblins took away their weapons and bags, and dragged them all away. Fili tried to make his way to Lucy as she was searching for Tony. Tony somehow managed to find her and grabbed her arm. Thinking it was another goblin Lucy tried to push him off but stopped when she saw it was him. A look of relief washed over her face and she pulled him to her.

As the company was lead away kicking and yelling over a bridge, Bilbo was somehow missed by the goblins; not seeing him they left him behind. Nori looked over his shoulder and saw Bilbo ducking on the ground. Bilbo scampered behind some railing to hide as he watched the goblins proceed through the tunnels. Bats flew in the darkness. Bilbo drew his sword, which was glowing bright blue, and slowly followed the goblins. Suddenly, one goblin jumped out in front of him and rushed at him with his sword. After a brief fight in which Bilbo barely managed to keep himself alive, the goblin and Bilbo both fell over the edge of a platform and fall through the darkness.

Lucy resisted the urge to scream or say anything that would give away the fact she was a woman. She tried pushing the goblins off her but they kept grabbing and pinching to move her and the others forward. Thorin grabbed her arm and pushed a goblin off of her.

"Both of you stay close to me," he said to her and Tony who still had a firm grip on her other arm. Thorin turned his head to look at them and felt a pang in his chest when he saw how terrified they were. "Nothing is going to happen to you." Lucy met his eyes and nodded.

…

The goblin horde brought the Company through a vast network of tunnels and wooden bridges to the throne room and platform of the Great Goblin. The Great Goblin was a massive Goblin sitting on a throne, holding a mace topped with a skull. He was far larger than any other goblin, and was incredibly ugly, with warts all over his swinging chin. As they got closer music started from the goblins above them with makeshift instruments.

"I hear a song, coming on!" The Great Goblin started to sing and dance around as the Company was pushed towards him. Lucy kept a firm hold on Tony's arm and he on hers.

"Snip snap, the black crack

Grip, grab, pinch, and nab

Batter and beat

Milk 'em, stammer and squeak!

Pound pound, far underground

Down, down, down in Goblin Town

With a swish and smack

And a whip and a crack

Everybody talks when they're on my rack

Pound pound, far underground

Down, down, down in Goblin Town

Hammer and torch, get out your knockers and gongs

You wont last long on the end of my prong!" He stabbed one of the globins before flinging it.

"Clish, clash, crush and smash

Bang, break, shiver and shake

You can yell and yelp

But there aint no help

Pound pound, far underground

Down, down, down in Goblin Town!" The Great Goblin spun around a few times before returning to his thrown, stepping on a pile of goblins that screeched under his weight. "Catchy isn't it? It's one of my own compositions," The Great Goblin said.

"It's not a song," Balin said. "It's an abomination!" he shouted.

"Abomination, mutations, deviations, that's all you're gunna find down here," The Great Goblin told them. The dwarves', Tony's and Lucy's weapons were piled together. The Great Goblin jumped off his throne, trampling several goblins, and approached the Company.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, Your Malevolence." One of the goblins, Grinnah, said. Lucy was thankful she had a baggy coat on and Bofur's hat hid her face well enough and Tony was thankful they were both so short. Lucy was hugging Tony to her, so his extremely curly and frizzy hair ended up looking like it was her beard.

"Dwarves?"

"We found them on the front porch."

"Well, don't just stand there; search them! Every crack, every crevice," The Great Goblin commanded. The dwarves pushed Lucy and Tony in the middle as Lucy hugged Tony closer to her. The goblins searched the dwarves thoroughly, throwing away whatever they found. Oin's hearing trumpet was thrown on the floor and crushed underfoot. Tony watched with a deep frown as a goblin took his game before throwing it away. One of the goblins found Nori's bag and dumped out everything he'd taken from Rivendell.

"It is my belief, your great protuberance, that they are in league with elves!" He handed the Great Goblin a candelabra. The Great Goblin turned it over.

"Made in Rivendell," he read. "Bah – Second Age, couldn't give it away!" he exclaimed, and tossed it aside. Nori had a guilty expression on his face as Dori turned to look at him.

"Just a couple of keepsakes," Nori explained.

"What are you doing in these parts?" The Great Goblin asked.

"Don't worry, lads – I'll handle this," Oin offered as he stepped forward before Thorin could.

"No tricks!" The Great Goblin said. "I want the truth! Warts and all!"

"You're going to have to speak up," Oin said. "Your boys have flattened my trumpet," he said holding it up.

"I'll flatten more than your trumpet!" The Great Goblin roared, and walked toward Oin.

"If it's more information you're wanting, I'm the one you should speak to!" Bofur offered as he moved forward. His braids defied gravity as they curled upwards without his hat. The Great Goblin paused. "We were on the road…well, it's not so much a road as a path…actually, it's not even that, come to think of it, it's more like a track. Anyway, the point is we were on this road, like a path, like a track, and then we weren't! Which is a problem because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday." Dori moved forward.

"Visiting distant relations," he added.

"Some inbreds on me mother's side," Bofur explained.

"Shut up!" The Great Goblin shouted. "If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the youngest." The Great Goblin pointed at Ori.

"Wait," Thorin said stepping forward.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror; King under the Mountain." The Great Goblin bowed exaggeratedly to Thorin. "Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you… nobody, really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A Pale Orc astride a White Warg." Thorin looked up in surprise and disbelief.

"Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago."

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" The Great Goblin laughed, then turned to a tiny goblin sitting in a basket and holding a slate. "Send word to the Pale Orc; tell him I have found his prize." The tiny goblin wrote down the message on his slate; cackling, he then pulled a lever, causing his basket to start sliding down a system of ropes and pulleys into the darkness.

…

Dozens of goblins carried massive instruments of torture on their shoulders, bringing them to the Great Goblin. Meanwhile, the Great Goblin was dancing and singing lustily.

"Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung. You will lie down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin-town."

Grinnah was examining the weapons the dwarves brought with them. He picked up Thorin's sword, Orcrist, and slid it a few inches out of its sheath. Recognizing the sword, he gasped in horror and threw it down. It landed in view of all the goblins. Also recognizing it, the goblins howled in fear and rage as they retreated from it; the Great Goblin ran rapidly to his throne, trampling many goblins on his way. He spoke loudly, pointing at the sword.

"I know that sword! It is the Goblin-Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks." As he spoke, Grinnah and the rest of the Goblins began whipping the dwarves with ropes and leaping upon them, biting and slashing. "Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!" Goblins held Thorin down, and one of them pulled out his knife and prepared to behead Thorin.

Suddenly, there was a massive explosion of bright light; a shockwave ripped through the area, flinging goblins in the air and destroying the torture machines. Everyone was knocked down, including the Great Goblin. When the force of the explosion had passed, most of the lights in the area had been snuffed out; in the background, a shadow with a tall pointy hat walked up. It was Gandalf, holding his staff and his sword, Glamdring. Light slowly returned to the area as the goblins and the dwarves slowly looked up, recovering from the shock. They all stared at Gandalf.

"Take up arms. Fight. Fight!" Gandalf shouted. The dwarves quickly got up and begin fighting the goblins, Tony and Lucy grabbed their swords – Lucy making sure to also grab her bag, though some things fell out – and fought as best they could, mostly on the defensive. As goblins ran at Gandalf, he killed them with his sword and staff. The Great Goblin, still lying on the ground, saw Gandalf's sword and pointed at it, crying aloud to his goblins.

"He wields the Foe-Hammer, the Beater, bright as daylight!" Some of the dwarves reached their pile of weapons and began tossing the weapons to each other; they used their weapons to defeat the goblins around them. Nori, while fighting, landed on the floor; the Great Goblin ran at him and swung his mace.

"Nori!" Dori shouted. Thorin jumped forward and deflected the Great Goblin's blow, causing the Great Goblin to stumble backward and fall off the edge of his platform, falling to the depths below. The rest of the Company and Gandalf continued to fight.

"Follow me. Quick! Run!" Gandalf shouted. Cutting down the goblins around them, the company and Gandalf ran along a pathway leading away from the throne. They were running through the suspended passageways of Goblin Town, with hundreds of goblins running after them. "Quickly!"

"Faster!" Dwalin saw several goblins running at them from in front. "Post!" he shouted. He and some of the dwarves cut a guardrail post from the side of the path and they held it out in front of them like a massive spear. "Charge!" He and the other dwarves charged at the oncoming goblins and swept them away with the long rail. Dropping the rail, Dwalin pulled out his axes and began knocking aside goblins. The rest of the company did the same. Gloin hit one goblin who fell and landed on another suspended path, breaking the path and dropping all the goblins on it into the darkness below. The rest of the Company also fought the goblins around them with their various weapons and fighting styles. Several goblins snarled as they swing on ropes toward the dwarves.

"Cut the ropes!" Thorin shouted. Thorin, Tony, Lucy and a few of the other dwarves cut the ropes holding a raised platform in place; the platform fell outward, entangling the goblins swinging on the ropes. As Kili fought, several goblins started shooting arrows at him. He deflected some arrows with his sword; he then grabbed a nearby ladder and dropped it on the oncoming goblins. Kili and some of the other dwarves ran forward, pushing the ladder and the goblins it had trapped in front of them. As they approached a missing area of the path, the goblins fell down into the darkness; the ladder, however, acted as a bridge for the rest of the Company to cross to the rest of the path. As soon as they crossed it, Dwalin broke the ladder, preventing the goblins from following them.

"Quickly!" Gandalf shouted. The Company continued running through the maze-like paths; they got on a section of the path suspended by ropes from above. They sliced some ropes, and the pathway swung away from the rest of the path, approaching a different path as it turned.

"Jump!" Thorin shouted. Bofur, Balin, Kili and Ori managed to jump to the other path and Kili quickly turned to catch Lucy; however, before the rest could jump, the suspended path swung back like a pendulum to where it started and several goblins leaped on.

"Tony!" Lucy shouted as he swung his sword. Dwalin grabbed Tony and as the path swung back again, he and the rest of the dwarves and Gandalf managed to jump to the new path as well; Fili being the one to cut the ropes as he jumped, causing the swinging path and the goblins on it to fall. The Company continued running through the tunnels, killing all the goblins in their way. Gandalf struck a rock above them with his staff, causing the rock to fall down and began rolling in front of the Company, squashing all the goblins in their way.

Soon, they approached a bridge between two walls of the cavern. As they tried to cross it, the Great Goblin suddenly broke through from underneath the bridge and pulled himself up onto the bridge, in front of the Company. As the Company paused, hundreds of goblins approached them from all sides

"You thought you could escape me?" The Great Goblin asked. He swung his mace twice at Gandalf, causing Gandalf to stumble back and almost fall. The Dwarves caught him and pushed him back up. "What are you going to do now, wizard?" Gandalf leaped forward and struck the Great Goblin in the eye with his staff. The Great Goblin dropped his mace and clutched his face in pain. "Ow, ow, ow!" Gandalf stepped forward and sliced the Great Goblin in the belly; the Great Goblin fell to his knees, clutching his belly. "That'll do it." Gandalf swung his sword again and sliced the Great Goblin's neck, causing him to fall down dead.

His weight caused the bridge to start shaking; suddenly, the section of the bridge on which the company was standing broke away from the rest of the bridge and started sliding down the side of the cavern. The bridge slid at a terrific speed down the cavern's wall, demolishing everything in its way; the Company held on, screaming in terror. Thorin kept an arm around Tony while Dwalin had one around Lucy so they wouldn't fall off. The bridge slowed down as it slide between two walls and landed at the base of the cavern, breaking apart and burying the Company in the timber and wood. Gandalf got up from the pile of wreckage and inspected the rest of the Company who were still stuck in the wreckage.

"Well, that could have been worse," Bofur said. Suddenly, the heavy corpse of the Great Goblin landed on the wreckage, squishing the dwarves further. They all cried out in pain.

"You had to jinx it!" Tony groaned.

"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin shouted. As the dwarves extricated themselves from the rubble Kili, who had fallen face up, looked up and his eyes widened as he saw thousands of goblins running at them.

"Gandalf!" he screamed.

"There's too many! We can't fight them" Dwalin shouted.

"Only one thing will save us: daylight! Come on! Here, on your feet!" Gandalf shouted. Everyone got up quickly, helping each other out of the rubble, before they ran away, following after Gandalf.

…

Once everyone was outside, they didn't stop until they were well away from the mountain. When they did stop Gandalf paused to count how many dwarves were with him. The dwarves paused to collect their breath.

"Five, six, seven, eight...Bifur, Bofur...that's ten...Fili, Kili...that's twelve...and Bombur - that makes thirteen.. Lucy… Tony…" Fili gave Lucy a quick chaste kiss before he pulled her into a tight hug with a relieved sigh as Kili put a hand on Tony's shoulder. Fili put his forehead against Lucy's as he held her face with a smile, glad she was safe. "Where's Bilbo? Where is our Hobbit?" Gandalf asked. "Where is our hobbit?!" he asked louder.

"Curse the halfling! Now he's lost?!" Dwalin shouted.

"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin said.

"Don't blame me!" Dori shouted.

"Well, where did you last see him?"Gandalf asked.

"I think I saw him slip away, when they first collared us," Nori said.

"What happened exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf shouted.

"I'll tell you what happened," Thorin said. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it!"

"No, he wouldn't do that!" Tony shouted. Thorin turned to him.

"He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone."

"No, he isn't," Bilbo said suddenly coming out from behind a tree. The dwarves looked up in shock and relief. Gandalf laughed as he spoke.

"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!" Bilbo strode forward into the group; he patted Balin affectionately on the shoulder.

"Told you!" Tony exclaimed happily.

"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili said.

"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?!" Fili asked.

"How, indeed," Dwalin said. There was an awkward silence as Bilbo tried to think what to say. In the end, he gave a nervous laugh and put his hands on his hips. Gandalf was the only one to notice Bilbo sliding the Ring into his waistcoat pocket. The wizard looked a bit perturbed.

"Well, what does it matter? He's back!" he exclaimed.

"It matters! I want to know: why did you come back?" Thorin asked.

"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 armchair. 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." After Bilbo spoke, there was silence as the dwarves thought about what Bilbo said. Gandalf smiled slightly, happy that Bilbo had changed so much - for the better. Suddenly everyone heard the howling of wargs and the Company members realized they were still in danger.

"Out of the frying pan..." Thorin said.

"...and into the fire! Run! RUN!" Gandalf shouted.

Old Word Count: 4,458 New Word Count: 4,726