Welcome back.

This chapter is one of my shortest so far which annoys me but at the same time I didn't want to overload it. This is more of a filler as I start with my main plans for Mirkwood. I hope that you all enjoy it none the less.

Thanks for the F/F - Sir Punchalot, Katt8500, Selyne Nightshade, larien37.

I only own little Todd.


Chapter 35 – Sick Roots

Gandalf had left the Company at the edge of Mirkwood, claiming to be needed elsewhere, and that he would meet them before the Mountain before Durin's day. Then as quickly as he had explained, he had ridden off in the direction of the South, the company watching in varying degrees of shock at his rather abrupt departure as his figure disappeared into the distance.

The weather had taken a turn as they all stood before the Greenwood, droplets of chilling rain was falling over them creating a dark and dingy scene. Todd felt as though it was the perfect accompanying weather to her mood, for she was definitely not feeling sunny at all. She had tried to suck up the sinking feeling within her, forcing herself to focus to bright and loving memories of her time with her family and with the company, anything she could possibly think of that was cheery to make her feel less desperate. She positioned herself at the back of the Company as they were ordered by Thorin to walk in twos upon the path behind him.

She settled into a walk behind the fourteen members before her, naturally there was an odd number of them that meant that she was alone at the back, but that didn't bother her in the slightest. She didn't think she could handle small talk whilst trying not to lose her mind. She was thankful though that they had all made it this far, after everything they had been through, they were still together and still a Company. She couldn't help but let a small smile fall over her lips as she recalled every single laugh she had with them, every up and down. Her mind was letting her recall all these memories as if it was the last time that she would ever see them in her mind and feel how amazing they were. She let her eyes drift over them, spotting Bilbo next to Bofur, both of them deep in conversation. She spotted Bombur and his cousin chatting away, Thorin up the front was pointing and frowning like he always did. The princes were laughing and trying to make Ori and Dori smile behind them. She prayed in that instance to Yavannah and Mahal that they would make it out the other side of this sick wood in one piece.

The path at the beginning was clear and well noticeable on the forest floor, and they followed it with no problems as it winded between rotting trees that seemed to get larger and larger the further into the wood they went. They were sickly looking things, that seemed to twist out from their own roots as if they were trying to squirm away from them. Instead of deep green moss growing from them, with leaves in varying shades, these trees were leaking orange sap that looked like if you touched it you would catch a disease and perish instantly. Therefore everyone was trying their bests to stick on the path and not touch any of it. There were hardly any leaves in sight that weren't brown and falling apart as if they had not seen the sunlight in centuries. Which she could believe, for the deeper they wound into the wood following the path, the darker it got.

It got to around midday when she started to feel sick to her stomach, every breath she took made her feel like she was going to throw up, and that feeling to her was the worst. As a child she had never handled being ill very well, and the more she thought about it the more she realised it was her Fathers fault. For Dwarves are a sturdy and strong make, and therefore hardly ever get sick, therefore if Todd and her Mother ever got sick he would go out of his mind. As a small child she had adopted her Fathers attitude of being scared and worried when ever she was sick, which as an adult she knew was stupid, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to be left alone and she wanted to just lay down and sleep for a solid week. She was also incredibly frustrated that the woodland around them had affected her as much as if had already. None of the others seemed to be taking as hard as she was.

She stumbled after the company then, her feet almost running away from her, as the made their way through the bent and broken trees that by this time had trunks that were as wide as small homesteads. There were even instances where the roots were all exposed, as if the trees were trying to lift themselves from the diseased and infected soil beneath them. A few times Todd had tripped, catching herself on the twisting roots before face planting.

She was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate on where she was treading let alone keeping her eyes and ears on the alert for anything that would wish them any harm. Thorin had wanted to make sure that she didn't let anyone fall behind or get lost, yet as her stomach flipped for what must have been the sixth time that day, she knew that she was the one most likely to fall behind and get lost. She could hear her Fathers voice inside her head telling her to 'buck her ideas up' and for her to 'stop with all the moaning like a wee babe'. Yet nothing seemed to clear her head enough for her to feel at least slightly ok.

"You ok lass?" She heard Bombur call from up head. She jumped at the fact that someone had called out to her. She looked up to him and saw that Bombur, Bifur and Bofur had paused and were both looking to her, Bombur with a worried look and Bofur with a look that she just could not place, which made her feel even worse. Bile rose to the back of her throat, she sucked in a deep stagnant breath before trying to smile to them.

"Yes, thank you… you go on, I will be right behind you!" She called, her voice wavering a little, but not enough for them to catch from further up the path. She waved them off as even more bile rose to the back of her throat before her stomach dropped suddenly. Bofur and Bombur had only just turned away from her before she was bent over and retching, throwing what little food she had managed at their lunch stop back up.

Once done she stayed bent over, sucking in deep breaths, waiting for her head to clear and her stomach to feel less like it wanted to kill her. Yet when that reprieve didn't come, she slowly opened her eyes, straightening back out and stretching. Once she had wiped her brow and taken a few more deep breaths so let her eyes search out the Company, just as they were disappearing round a tree trunk. She knew she had to get moving but her body was screaming at her, the itch revelling in her misery at feeling so sick. She quickly glanced back down to where she had been sick, her heart lurching at the sight of the pure black ichor. It was all as black as orcs blood, which made her conclude that there was indeed something very wrong with this wood and now something very wrong with her. Yet being who she was, she simply shook herself out and lurched back into a stumbling walk after the rest of the Company.


That night she hadn't even bothered to stay awake to receive her rations, they had literally decided to all stop for the night and she immediately fell down onto her knees and pulled out her roll. Everyone else settled out around her and went about their usual routine, no one really taking any notice of their Todd as she fell sleep before she had even unrolled her bed roll properly. When Bombur had reached where she was to give her the messily bit of bread and dried meat he huffed at the sight of her shivering, fitfully sleeping.

"Here, I shall hold onto it and see if I can wake her…" Bilbo offered from where he had set up close to her.

Upon him spotting her sleeping form through the legs of the Dwarves he had made his way to her side and set up next to her like he usually did. After her snapping at him the day before he had tried to give her a little space, not knowing what had put her in such a foul mood though was eating away at him. He had even had another go at trying to convince Bofur to ignore Throin's ridiculous order to leave Todd alone, yet the hatted dwarve still felt like he couldn't move against his King, which made Bilbo very frustrated.

"Hey…" He tried, leaning over and nudging her shoulder. "… Todd?"

"Hmmm?" She murmured, her face contorting as if she was in pain. Bilbo watched as she woke up, a hand going to her stomach as her face paled.

"Are you feeling sick?" He asked, placing his hand on her forehead to asses if she had a fever. She was warm, but not too hot so he sat back and let her sit herself up without him hovering over her.

"No, I'm fine thanks…" She tried, not sounding very convincing at all.

"Bombur gave me your ration, and you should definitely eat before you sleep" Bilbo stated, holding out the bundle with bread and dried meat hidden within.

"Oh, thanks Bilbo" She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks for waking me, I don't know what's come over me"

"There's no need to thank me, we look out for each other… that's what we do" He smiled, and there was no way that she could not return the smile when he looked to her like that. Like she was his family, like she was important to him. So she smiled, and this time it reached her eyes.

She took the food then and nibbled at it while the rest of the company set about digging in also. Oin and Gloin were trying to set up a fire, but the constant dampness of the wood and the fact that everything was covered in sickly looking moss meant that setting anything alight was increasingly difficult. After an age, both brothers gave up and sat back down with huffs. The company were in a strange mood, the conversations were fitful and about their homes. Fili and Kili were talking about all the things that they wanted to tell their Mother when they reunited with her, but then after reminiscing about their close calls and scrapes, Dwalin stated that it was probably best for the safety of Thorin's life that they didn't tell their Mother at all.

Todd tried her best to keep up with the conversations, but she kept very quiet. It was nice to listen to them talk about their homes, especially when Bofur started going on about how much he missed his little nieces, which in turn had made Bombur smile brightly. Bofur was telling a great tale about how Mina and Rina had been enamoured with two toys that he had carved for them before they had left for the Shire. After not speaking to Bofur for so long she had missed his voice greatly, how the mere sound of it would cheer her up and make her blush. Therefore she took comfort in hearing his voice as it flowed through her ears and filled her head. She concentrated on every word he spoke and how she could tell how he was feeling with his tones. Todd let herself lean back down into her bed roll, eyes closing as she listened and before long, she was fast asleep.