Finally we've come to the most well known scene in the book and movie! Hopefully, I've managed to make it unique.

Summary:
All alone in the dark, Bilbo must figure out a way to return to her companions.

When I woke, I immediately wondered if my eyes were really open at all. It was dark. Darkness pervaded every sense of mine that even as I turned my head, I couldn't see anything more than just the inky blackness that was my entire world.

I was alive.

That was a good a sign as any, I figured, and rolled over to try and get my bearings as best I could.

My side ached horribly still, pain made raw again from my movement and when I fully sat up on my knees, I once again was made to understand that there really was nothing but darkness around me. With eyesight not even an option, I felt around the ground for what had broken my fall, touching the soft texture of what felt strange and nasty before I stood up.

Whatever I landed on felt gross and creepy, my face still in a grimace of disgust as I looked around and tried to see if there was any little speck of light to be found. Off a little ways in the distance, I caught the very faint glow of my sword and slowly stepped forward, fear of the unknown making my progress slow as I went towards the light.

There was a wall. I clung to it in relief, following along its rough surface slowly until I was able to reach out for the weapon. It was glowing faintly, warning me that goblins were far off but not too far that I wouldn't need to be concerned about them. I looked up, wondering if I could probably climb back up since I had indeed fallen down to where I was now. One glimpse at the wall and I knew that was a poor idea. It glistened with moisture and even if I could think to climb it, my ribs wouldn't have allowed me that while hauling up my pack.

Speaking of pack... Using my sword as what source of light I could, I patted myself down, making sure that everything was still well attached and in fine enough shape. My clothes were somewhat wet and definitely smelling as if I had rolled around in mold for far too long.

I searched the area using the sword as best I could but I was still unable to see much further than a few inches from wherever I directed the weapon. I gazed down at where I landed and squinted. Mushrooms. Oh, alright then. Mushrooms...those weren't so bad. Don't even know what all the fuss was about with thinking they were strange and nasty.

I looked around again.

What would I do now? I couldn't climb back up and I couldn't cry for help. I had no other means of light aside from my sword and even if I traveled in the direction where it might glow brighter, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to go that way. Any further away from the goblins and I would be completely in the dark.

Despite being a Hobbit and not instantly given to panic concerning the dark, even I had to admit that being down here – where ever I was – was not a particularly pleasing thought. Yes, I wasn't panicking at the moment but that didn't mean I wouldn't given enough time in the near darkness. I had to find some way out and I would need to do it by myself.

All by myself.

I looked back up where I assumed I fell from and thought of the dwarves; what became of them after we were separated? They were taken so quickly by the goblins and now given however much time passed between me being knocked out and then, were they even still alive? Goblins were nasty creatures and given the numbers that came for us after falling through the tunnel, I wondered if Thorin and the others would have been able to defend themselves? Even if they had, were they injured? Were they injured badly?

I fretted with worry over them, wanting to climb back up the wall where I came from if only because it seemed like the quickest method to get back to the others.

A thought passed my mind though; why was I worrying over how to get back to them? Before this entire fiasco with the goblins, I was on my way back to Rivendell and I was literally caught in the middle of leaving! I had decided to leave and was doing as such! I had resolved myself to not care about the dwarves and their quest anymore so why was I bothering with seeing if I could help them now?

I knew the answer immediately. I didn't even need to think of it to know completely. I still thought dearly of all of them. Bifur and Bofur who so recently became like brothers to me and the others who I still didn't want harmed. I still cared for Fili and I thought of Kili too. Despite everything that Thorin had been doing the past few days, he protected me from the goblins...

I had to find a way back to the others. If I couldn't find a way using the cave walls, I would just need to find it through the cave passages.

I adjusted my backpack and squared my shoulders but for all my gusto to begin my search for the way out, I still moved slowly from the fear of what was unknown in the darkness. Even with the sword, I was afraid of what was hiding out there. I thought I heard noises as I moved along the coarse wall but I couldn't feel anything against my body so I knew it was only a trick of my mind. Whenever a real sound came, I wasn't able to place it accurately. Something against my shoulder, a brush against my leg. A tingle on my face. I knew I was scared.

I wandered along in the dark, slow moving and with my worry growing in strength every passing second. Even with my hand registering the feel of the rough rock wall and the other acting as my lighting, I still felt like I was overwhelmed by the darkness. More than once I had to stop because I just felt like I would be lost in the darkness forever.

More than once, I had to tell myself that I could do this. I could continue if only I caught my breath.

I wandered until I was tired. I wandered even after I was exhausted.

Slow shuffling step after slow shuffling step, I continued down the long passage, not knowing where it was leading, only knowing that it was twisting and turning faintly. The darkness pervaded everything. I stopped. I went. I stopped again. I pressed on. I knelt down because I felt small. I got back up to continue on. Darkness everywhere. I jumped in fright when a flutter of wings and tiny animal squeaks whirred around me, stopping and practically seeking comfort from the wall just so that I had something to ground myself.

It was darkness all around me.

I closed my eyes just because it felt like it would help keep the unknown horrors of the cave away from me. If my eyes were shut, it was artificial darkness. A blackness of my own choosing.

When the bats finally could not be heard any longer, I opened my eyes again and looked around with the use of my sword again. I had to keep going. I had to pull myself together. I wasn't going to be of any use here by myself and certainly not if I was just going to stay in one place. I couldn't count on anyone rescuing me down here. I needed to help myself and I could only do that by moving forward.

Resolved to start moving again, I only made it a few steps before my feet stepped in something gross feeling and oozy and I found myself stumbling back in fright. For as slimy as whatever it was that I stepped on, it wasn't on my mind for long since when I stumbled back, I hissed in pain from the sharp sting of a rock on the bottom of my foot.

Even though my Hobbit feet were toughened from years of walking barefoot, even things like rocks could wound me if caught at the right angle. I knew as soon as I went down on my knees that it had broken skin. I could feel it when my hand went down to touch the cut and definitely knew it was going to be more than troublesome when I held up my hand to my sword and saw fresh blood.

I tried to look for the rock that hurt me, wanting to see if maybe anything was on it that I should concern myself with but the second I went to do so, I was sure that I saw a flash of gold. I squinted in the darkness, not sure if what I was looking at was quite real. I moved my sword down and reached for it, surprised when my fingers came away with a tiny ring. Just a simple, little ring. Nothing more. I held it up to the light, turning it in my hand for a moment before I just decided to pocket it. A ring would do me no good down here anyway.

I looked around again, sighing deeply when I felt my eyes burn from exhaustion and closed them for relief.

What was wrong with me? I wasn't even away from the dwarves for more than... I don't even know how long, but I couldn't have been away for long and yet I already sported a new injury to add to what seemed like a rapidly growing list. My head was pounding from where I most likely hit it on landing into the mushroom patch, my foot was stinging, and my ribs hurt. What was next? Getting myself wedged in between cave walls? Did I even have to wait long until some goblin found me down here to kill me?

I sighed in frustration over where my thoughts were going because in all honesty, this was probably Thorin's major concern all along. From the very first moment I left his sight, I had a penchant for getting into trouble and I had unfortunately kept to such a pattern at every turn. Literally whenever Thorin wasn't looking at me, I was either getting into trouble on my own or making trouble with the brothers. The only time I ever seemed to make him happy was when I was within eyesight of him!

My eyes opened in realization.

This was Thorin's fear.

I was currently living in it. If Thorin was actually alive somewhere above me, he would be thinking of it whilst trying to deal with the issues before him. He would be thinking of me separated from the company and probably at the mercy of goblins doing whatever tortures his mind could think of. He would think of me being hurt, unable to get back to the safety of his companions. I would be somewhere so far removed from where he could protect me.

How much these thoughts must have haunted him in Rivendell and all along the road...

I fancied I understood what he'd been thinking of back then but I realized as I cowered in the darkness that Thorin hadn't thought of me being a burden while somewhere surrounded by his company. No, Thorin imagined me here, right here where I was at this very moment. All alone and without anyone nearby to protect me. For each moment he allowed himself to care about me, he would have always seen me here in this darkness where he could not follow.

I stood up and started to move along the cave's wall.

I had to get back to him if only to show him that I could take care of myself and persevere when I had to. I was a Hobbit and we were made of tougher stuff than all the Big Folk gave us credit for. I wouldn't be a burden to him or his nephews and certainly not the rest of the company. I would find my strength as Fili said I would and I would do it with each small step by small step along in the darkness.

Fearful but resolved to my new courage, I made my way along the passage; limping with my newest wound and trying to keep my breathing under control because of the ache in my ribs. I followed the wall until I felt the rough surface suddenly curve away from me. I stopped in my uncertainty, unwilling to move forward without the wall for fear of what it meant. I didn't want to walk off some huge cliff out of hastiness.

Holding up my sword for any bit of light in the darkness, I squinted and leaned as far as I could in any direction and saw that while the wall continued on, I was actually at an opening. I had been wandering through a passage way that had unknowingly led up. I must have been making my way down ever since where I was now looked to be some sort of underground cavern.

I didn't want to make a sound to see how large it was just in case of anything hiding in the dark but if I stopped for a moment and really allowed myself a chance to feel it, I was sure that I could feel the sensation of a faint tickling behind my ears. The sound of water. I stepped away from the wall, shaky and slow because I was still unsure of what was in front of me and kept moving forward until I felt the sharp frigid chill of water.

I startled back out of shock but made sure not to step too heavily considering the last time I had done so I injured myself. I knelt down by the edge of the water so that I could look at it with my sword and lifted it up higher, my eyes focusing on the dim glow of it seen even feet from me. Was I standing next to an underground lake?

I went still. I felt my ears twitch.

The faint tickling of water but ...there was something else out there.

I stared out into the darkness and I knew I felt something out there. The hair on my arms stood up and I held my breath. It was so slight but the more I focused on it, the more I could feel the faint sensation of a prickle on my fingers. Something was alive out there and it was making a noise that my ears could interpret into its very own unique sensation.

Whatever it was though, it was such a quiet creature. It was making pains to keep quiet, the faint prickle of my fingers the only indication that I knew for sure that something was indeed out there. Had I been without my Ear Touch, I knew I wouldn't have been able to confirm if it were something or just another trick of the dark.

I kept myself still because I didn't want it to necessarily find me. My sword was like a pinpoint in the darkness for anything that was accustomed to the shadows but I would willingly abandon the weapon if it meant whatever it was down here was attracted to that instead of to me. I kept still nonetheless because I didn't know what I would do if such a creature decided that it was an enemy of mine.

The prickle suddenly became more pronounced until I unconsciously rubbed my fingers together to try and will away the sensation a little. It was still faint but the pin and needles feeling was not an easy sensation to ignore, especially if it were to grow in intensity. Whatever the creature was that made the sound was coming closer...

"Bless us and splash us, my precious! That's a meaty mouthful!"

Not coming closer! Came closer! I whirled around in surprise, shocked by the sight of a creature now mere feet from me and looking to be quite similar to my height! I wanted to jump away from it but if I backed up, I would be in the water and if I went forward, I would be within arm's reach of the creature. It was a... My eyes squinted in the darkness, it wasn't a goblin. My sword maintaining its faint glow proved that. What was it? Whatever it was, it was pale, terribly skinny and bony, and with eyes so round and wide that I felt my heart race just from the sight of them.

They reminded me of the scary monsters from the fairy tale books my Mum used to show me that had creatures with huge eyes so that they could see in the dark. The creature in front of me looked at me, an excited look in its eyes and a wide expression on its face. "What's it got in its handses, gollum!"

I dropped my sword and scrambled to pick it back up.

No longer needing to hide or hold back, its voice was clear, almost loud considering that one would usually want to whisper in the depths of darkness. Its voice prickled along my arms, confusing my grip on the sword and making me ball my other hand into a fist. On the last exclamation of what must have been its name, a hoarse cough of gollum, I felt a stab of numbness prickle along my fingers. It was that numbness that made me drop my sword in the first place.

"Um, it's a sword, a blade that was made by the High Elves."

Gollum looked at me almost like I was sure how I looked at him, a strange and unusual sight, a sight he never before seen; he came closer but he did so cautiously, as if he were worried that I would be frightened off or provoked enough to attack him. He was playing it slowly for both our sakes. He was hunched on his knees, his body easily moving along as he took in the sight of me and my sword, large eyes darting between what I held in my hand and my face, assessing the threat of which was worst.

His face almost took on a friendly look to it and I startled back because I wasn't even sure what to make of such a face. "So, it's got an Elvish blade." His hand reached out and I stayed still, my hand clenched around the sword so that the prickle would not make me drop it again. I didn't know what he would do with those long fingers but when I felt his touch on my skirt, I almost wanted to slap him away.

I stayed my hand just because I didn't want to appear threatening. I didn't want to give Gollum a reason to think of me as an enemy. Gollum looked like he had a wiry strength to him, limbs giving the appearance of hidden potential if only the need to present itself showed. His fingers trailed along my skirt before tugging it a little, lifting it to sniff at it. "But it's not an Elfs."

The prickle continued, his voice a strange mixture of sensation and curiosity. "What is it, precious?" His hand became bolder, abandoning my skirt entirely and going for my waist; I pointed my sword in his direction, making him stop and understand that his touch wasn't going to be wanted there. The expression on his face stilled my hand from going any further though. He understood and moved off to the side where I would not easily be able to see him; my instinct was to turn to face him but his hand running along my back stopped me. I was still as those long fingers traced along the fabric of my jacket, when they curved downward to my lower back and then squeezed at the meatier part of my side.

"What is it?" He asked again, baffled.

I turned around to face him finally, watching as his eyes trailed along the lines of my body and his hand pressed again to my waist. I wanted to stop him again but this time the thoughtful expression made me allow his touch, if only to lessen his curiosity. "My name is Bilbo Baggins."

He stopped, looking up at me, a wondering expression, "Bagginses? What is a Bagginses, precious?"

The prickle of his voice made my fingers ache but it wasn't exactly causing me pain. I wasn't sure if Gollum wanted to hurt me or just study me. He seemed content to poke and prod at me as if I were the first new creature he had seen in a lifetime. I stayed still and allowed his fingers to push at me but whenever his touch got too intimate, I used my sword to once more back him away. "I'm a Hobbit from the Shire."

His face lit up at that and I was startled to think that maybe he knew of what I was or where I came from, "We've seen Goblinses, and fishes, and batses before but never a Hobbitses!" His excitement made my hands numb and once more I dropped the sword.

"Can't Hobbitses hold its Elvish blade?"

"I can hold it just fine!" I responded back defensively as I took up my weapon again, backing away from him but he was quick to follow me, slow so that I knew he meant no harm but again I felt his hands touching me. I wondered if the reason he was so curious was not because he'd not seen a Hobbit before or just not seen a female in a long time? I blushed as his fingers found the curve of my breasts and I backed away from him again, this time pointing my sword at his neck, "I don't want any trouble! Just...keep back!"

I knew my breathing was becoming harder to find, knew that I was starting to become scared being alone with Gollum. "Trouble? Hobbitses is in trouble?"

"Well, considering that I am lost, yes, it's a bit accurate to say that I am in a sort of trouble. I would like to get unlost as soon as possible if you know the way."

Gollum looked at me, those big eyes of his really just wandering over my face before he smiled at me with a mouth nearly missing all his teeth, "Ooh, we knows! We know safe paths for the Hobbitses."

He pointed out into the darkness, his excitement making his voice loud again and making my hands go numb. It was only through sheer will alone that I kept my fingers locked around my sword, not at all willing to let it drop an inch this time. It wouldn't do to really give Gollum any clue as to why I kept dropping my sword.

"Praps ye sits here and chats with it a bitsy? We likes riddles so if it sits here and plays, we would show the nice little Hobbitses the way in the dark."

I stayed quiet, going over in my mind just how bad it would be to engage in such a game with a creature like Gollum. On one hand, if I were to stay and play the game with Gollum, he would show me the way out. On the other hand, if I didn't play, he would...what? Probably try to kill me? Already I was still trying to figure out whether or not he was a friend of the goblins or even just a random enemy, or strangely enough, a friend...

But on the other other hand, how hard would it be to play such a game with him? He looked to be this grimy creature that must have lived down in the dark for far too long and really, any riddle I gave him about the outside world would probably just go over his head.

"Fair enough."

I decided that playing the game would be better than wandering around in the dark by myself, also considering that if I refused and decided to go off on my own that I would undoubtedly be followed by a curious Gollum, who most likely did want to kill me before eating me. I was determined to show my good faith to the creature in front of me, sitting down on a nearby rock and setting my sword across my lap so that I wouldn't be bathed in darkness. I watched as Gollum seemed to light up in happiness over my want to play, jumping on a nearby rock and sitting back on his toes again.

"You go first."

I prompted, just because I didn't at all have time to think of a riddle so soon at the start of the game and because listening to Gollum's question would give me an accurate depiction of where his knowledge stood as compared to mine.

"What has roots as nobody sees
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?"

His voice prickled along my fingers, making me unconsciously rub at the skin, trying to knead away the creepy sensation. Even as I listened to his entire riddle, I knew the answer as soon as Gollum spoke the second line, already having heard such this particular one from my Dad. I was excited because I was in my element now - a test of cleverness- and because Gollum lived in a mountain and asked me a question about a mountain, I figured him for dull.

"Easy! Mountain, yes?"

Instantly, his wide eyes turned on me, suddenly dark and cold. I gripped the hilt of my sword because I was not going to take any chances with any creature, no matter how friendly it may have looked only moments before. "Does it guess easy? It must have a competition with us, my precious?"

I was nervous now because Gollum's voice prickled along my fingers more painfully, making me worry if I had been right in thinking that he was Goblin friend. I breathed deeply, trying to keep myself calm and focused the way Dwalin told me to be but the more Gollum seemed to sneer at me, the more I wanted to bolt. "If it asks us, and we don't answer, then we does what it wants, eh? We show it the way out." My hands started to hurt with the prickly sensation, "If precious asks, and it doesn't answer, we then eats it whole."

I stood up from my seat on the rock and drew my sword, making sure that Gollum understood that if we were to continue along with our game that he would definitely need to keep his distance from me. No more touching, no more curiosity. No more anything! I wouldn't let him come any closer to me if I could help it. I would not allow myself to be killed down here by the likes of such a thing!

"All right!"

I would ask Gollum a riddle that the underground loving bastard wouldn't be able to guess. If his opening riddle had been about a mountain, then how would he fare about anything outside under the sun?

"An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
"That eye is like to this eye"
Said the first eye,
"But in low place
Not in high place."

Gollum looked puzzled by that one. He jumped down off his rock and muttered to himself, over and over, growing more frustrated as the seconds ticked by until he suddenly stopped. His eyes turned back to me and he approached closer, "Sun on the daisies it means, it does."

I was surprised that Gollum knew the answer to my riddle since it seemed like he hadn't been above ground but it appeared from how confidently he spoke the answer, there was more to him than meets the eye. I conceded and nodded that he guessed right, following him with my eyes when he nearly slunk back off into the darkness.

"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter."

My eyes shot off to look into the black of the world around us. I suddenly understood how the librarian elf felt in Rivendell when I asked him if we were in the library even while being surrounded by books. I hoped that this was some sort of trick question because the thought that Gollum just asked me a riddle about the very thing we both stood in, was a little too much for me. He looked at me expectantly and I huffed, "Darkness."

He growled, aggravated by how callous I was being in the face of the very real danger that his presence really should have impressed upon me. I felt confident enough that with my sword at the ready that he wouldn't want to go toe to toe with me but even knowing that, I was injured and getting away or even fighting in his territory made me think twice. When he came at me like he was frustrated, I swung my sword ungracefully and kept him back.

"A box without hinges, key or lid,
yet golden treasure inside is hid."

I needed time to think of a really hard riddle that would stump Gollum; in his path, I threw an easy riddle that was worded differently to see if maybe something like that would hinder how he perceived the question. If it did, I would use a harder riddle and change the wording around until it was near incomprehensible.

The reaction to my riddle was almost instant, Gollum reducing himself down to sputters and nonsensical ramblings that had my hands prickle painfully until he was nearly shouting at himself. "Well?!"

I prompted because I was not content to just sit around in the dark all day (or night) long and I would need some sort of answer from him to figure out if I won or he won! "Its nasty! Give us a chance!"

I huffed and gave him a few more moments, just wanting him to answer because I needed to get back to the upper levels of the mountain so that I could find Thorin and the others. I needed to get back where the air was fresher and being in the darkness was making me even more skittish than I normally was. Gollum was still making all manner of noises and more than once I had to reaffirm my grip on my sword because of how my fingers numbed from his higher tones.

"EGGSES!"

I cursed because I was so sure that he wouldn't have been able to get that given how much time he was taking on the riddle. He rounded on me, his eyes starting to glimmer with an eerie green glow that put me on edge and made me want to back up.

"Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking."

I didn't know that one. I had never even heard of that one before! I turned around in my spot, looking out into the vast darkness of the cavern, staring into inky depths, willing my heart to stop racing because I had to buckle down and think of the answer but I didn't even know where to start with this one. Alive without breath; cold as death...

I bit at my lip. Alive without breath but as cold as death? Yet it was alive but cold like death?

I panicked. I clenched a fist full of my skirt in my hand. It was still torn from where Thorin ripped it. Bastard, ripping my skirt. I pinched myself for getting distracted and tapped my uninjured foot. All in mail never clinking? I felt my face knit in concentration before I felt the creepy feeling of fingers near my neck. Gollum's hands were actually so close to me and I was terrified by how quietly he moved!

In my surprise, I whirled around, swinging my sword because I needed to get his hands away from me but the pain in my chest and my foot from the sudden movement threw me off balance. I fell back into the water, grateful that I only fell a little ways off the shore but I shot back up and sputtered from the chill and from the slimy feeling of what I felt down in its dark depths.

"FISH!"

I shouted it out in shock but even thinking of the riddle then, all the details clicked into place when I felt the slimy weight of the creature around my fingers. Gollum, who had only backed up a step to avoid the tip of my sword, looked furious that I had guessed the answer to his riddle when it appeared that I had been thoroughly stumped. He must also have been upset at the fact that he had unwittingly played a part in it. He growled, picking up a rock.

"Last chance then." I edged away from the water but still needing to keep my distance from the creature in front of me. His voice was numbing my hands, obvious in his frustration and anger. I was beginning to even worry that maybe Gollum wouldn't keep his end of the bargain to help me out of the mountain.

"Ask us."

I whipped around, still unknowing what kind of riddle I would ask him. I racked my brain for some sort of inspiration, looking around the cavern in the hopes that the darkness could help me think of a question good enough to actually fool Gollum, who was actually quite skilled at this game. I fidgeted and kneaded the fabric of my skirt and set my hand on my hip to try and help myself think.

"Ask us!"

My hand brushed along something in my pocket, the prickly numbness in my fingers so pronounced that I couldn't even feel what was exactly inside it. I tried to think back about what was inside my pocket but I couldn't remember. "What is that in my pocket?"

My eyes widened because I hadn't meant to say that out loud but however quiet it was, Gollum heard it and hissed, "Not fair!" He threw down the rock angrily, shouting at me, "It isn't fair! It's against the rules! Asking us what it's got in its pocketses!"

Before I could try and correct Gollum and perhaps use the misunderstanding as another means to buy some time to think of a real riddle, Gollum continued, "It must give us three guesses, precious!"

"Very well! Guess away!"

If he were willing to accept such an outrageous question in a game of riddles, I would gladly accept it. Even I wasn't sure what was in my pocket anymore but I knew that whatever Gollum could guess would not be correct.

"Handses!" I showed him how my hands were already out in the open, one holding onto the sword and the other at my waist. "Wrong."

"Knife!" I looked at my sword in my hand, my eyes darting between that and Gollum. He hissed and hit himself, "Shut up!" He didn't need to be told that the answer was wrong because why would I have a knife in my pocket if I had a sword in my hand? I watched as the creature sputtered and hissed at himself, mumbling and grumbling and just all around making a bother of himself. He was in some state of fury by what I could tell from the numbness of my hands, twisting on the floor and throwing things up in a flurry to try and think of something that I would have in my pocket.

"Well?"

"String, or nothing!" My hands were prickling something awful now and I needed to keep both hands on my sword handle just to be sure that I would not drop it. Now was hardly the time to be dropping any weapon if Gollum's state was anything to go by. "Ha! Two guesses and both of them wrong!"

Technically, as I was the victor of the game, Gollum would be obliged to show me the way out of the cavern but with the way he had been acting, I no longer trusted him to keep his promise to me. Ever since his voice took on a more painful quality, I should have been more intent on separating us but now that I actually had a viable reason, I moved away and found the wall of the cave. The roughened texture comforted me only because it was familiar but I made sure to keep Gollum in my sights. I knew he was quick and near silent when he wanted to be. "Well? What about your promise? I want to go. You must show me the way out of here."

"Did we say so, precious? Show us what it's got in its nasty little pocketses first. Not string, precious, but not nothing. What has it got?"

"What does that matter! You lost! A promise is a promise!"

"Cross it is, precious." I stayed where I was, not wanting to lose the wall if I needed to suddenly get away. The air around the two of us was thick with tension. Gollum obviously took losing the game harshly and who was I to deny such a feeling to a creature who most likely was only used to winning such games? I watched from a good few steps away as he reached around to something at his waist, feeling for whatever before his eyes went wide. He stilled in what looked to be denial before turning around to look at his waist. What was happening?

"Where is it!? Precious! Where is it!?"

"Where's what?"

"Mustn't ask us! Not its business!"

His body twisted in my direction, his hands still trying desperately to search for something that should have been in his pocket. When he gave up with that, he went to the cavern floor, scooping dirt and throwing it and going to the water to splash it. What was he doing? I took a step back, feeling my anxiety rise as Gollum's voice prickled at my hand painfully.

He paused, seemingly in great thought. He turned to look back at me, his eyes cold. "What has it got in its nassty little pocketses?"

My hands were numb. They were in pain.

"It stole it..."

I was in danger. I knew it as sure as I knew that I needed to get ready to run. When he screamed at me in a fury, I didn't hesitate.

I ran.