One by one, the dwarves and hobbit were free from the sacks or from above the fire. Liesel had already known Bilbo would certainly give her an earful, so she found it wise to delay the lecture, and not be the one to free him; though he was directly in front of her, many times. Soon though, once he was released, he marched right over to her.

"Were you paying any attention to what I had told you not to do?!" He tried to make himself look intimidating to her. But, by the look on her face, it seemed to have failed, or she would be an amazing performer. "In technicality, you hadn't told me to." A smirk flashed onto her lips. "Liesel, don`t you even dare to act stupid to get off." He sighed. "So," She drew out the 'O' "you wanted me to leave you to be feasted upon trolls?"

As the two continued to have a semi pathetic argument, Gandalf walked to one of the troll statues and thumped it with his staff, with a pleased smile on his face.

"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" Thorin walked up to the wizard, with the same stern look.

"To look ahead." Gandalf responded innocently. "What brought you back?"

"Looking behind. Nasty business. Still, they are all in one piece."

"No thanks to your burglar and helpless child." Thorin spat at the mention of the two hobbits.

"He had the nous to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that. And Ms. Hayward made an excellent attempt; but, I will admit she needs to be quicker and more intelligent on her feet."

Thorin looked repentant. Gandalf and Thorin examined the statues of the trolls. "They must have come down from the Ettenmoors." Gandalf murmured.

"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?" Thorin asked the wizard.

"Oh, not for an age, not since a darker power ruled these lands." The man and dwarf look meaningfully at each other. "They could not have moved in daylight." Gandalf realized.

"There must be a cave nearby." Thorin spoke, and dashed to gather the company to search.

Liesel was told to search the many caves that were around the area, but instead of following a few of the dwarves in a group, she ventured off by herself. She hadn't known how long she had been away from the rest of the group, but she could only guess it had been enough for any of them (Mr. Baggins, most likely) to notice she was gone.

At her wandering, she found a single cave, and by judging of the size, she could tell that trolls could have barely fit insides; but, it was worth the searching. So, with that, she grabbed onto a part of the wall, and steadied herself in. Wait a minute, why were there so many flies there?

Unfortunately for her, she found out in the most unpleasant way.

The hobbit girl lost her footing as she walked down, and slipped and fell into an unknown, mushy substance. She groaned at the fall, and pushed herself up from the thing that slightly caught her fall. She looked down at her clothes; the white shirt was now covered in a putrid brown color, and most had also landed on her green skirt. Cursed mud!

In a frenzy, the frustrated child ran her hand down her covered face. What she had discovered after taking her hand away, and staring at the substance, caused her to do the only thing she wanted to do at that moment; the poor girl screamed as if she was being murdered.

The sharp and ear piercing scream no doubt reached the entire company in a matter of seconds. "Is that Miss Liesel?!" "Where did she go?" "What in Durin`s name did the girl do this time?!" "I told you she was gone, but nope! You didn't bother to listen to me!" Those were only a few says from the company as they followed the echoing scream. Sure enough, it led to a tiny girl shivering and holding herself as the entirety approached her. The dwarves quickly looked around at the area for any foes that took off, but could find no clues to it. As a few were annoyed at her sudden screeching at nothing, the more of them had to only take a glance at the younger hobbit and notice her appearance; the young princes were the first to burst out laughing. In turn, most of the company realized her feeble face, and let out deep chuckles.

Instead of crying, as the elders expected her too, she wiped off a chunk of it from her cheek, and spoke "Oh, you think that`s funny, do you?" A smirk ran across her lips as she said this, then dropped. "Well I`ll show you funny; get back here!" She instantly dashed to the two that laughed in her face first, but was held back as the took many steps back, still with ridiculous grins on their faces.

"Liesel Hayward, calm yourself!" Bilbo Baggins` familiar voice spoke, and tried his hardest to restrain the girl. Even after all of those years of after she worked herself to the bone for weeks, he was slightly amazed that she hadn't grown out of her childish temper.

Soon, the girl ran out of breath, and slumped back down onto the ground, careful of where she fell. Bilbo let go of her arms and backed away slowly after realizing how unbearably awkward everyone must have been feeling.

As they travelled deeper into the cave, many of the dwarves coughed and retched at the rancid smell. "Try falling face first into it, sirs." Liesel sassed at them only in her mind. Inside, they found piles of gold coins and other treasure in caskets!

"Be careful what you touch." Gandalf warned as the dwarves looked around the cave in awe.

"Seems a shame just to leave it lyin' around." Bofur spoke as gold coins brushed against his boots "Anyone could take it."

"Agreed. Nori, get a shovel." Gloin spoke, after opening a small chest full of riches.

While exploring, Thorin found two swords covered in cobwebs. Gandalf approached him. "These swords were not made by any troll." Thorin said, slightly breathless. He handed one sword to Gandalf and kept the other one. "Nor were they made by any smith among men." Gandalf drew the sword in his hand out of its sheath a few inches "These were forged in Gondolin by the High Elves of the First Age."

Realizing that they were Elven swords, Thorin started to put his away in disgust, but Gandalf stopped him. "You could not wish for a finer blade."

Reluctantly, Thorin held on to the sword. He drew it out of its sheath a few inches as well.

Liesel brushed some stray bright, brunette hair out of her face, and continued to search for anything worth taking, or 'using to your advantage' as Gloin quoted. As she was looking, her fingers brushed a smooth surface. She looked down at the discovery; it was slightly buried under the dirt, so she dug with her hands.

"And what are you doing?" Bilbo asked from right next to her.

Liesel slightly flinched, but looked up at him and gave a tiny grin. "I think I found something." He kneeled down next to her as she pulled the object from the ground and felt it. It was rougher as she felt it upwards, and she gripped the end; it was a sword.

She carefully pulled the handle out of the sheath, and it revealed to be a dirt covered blade. She pulled the sword fully out of the covering, surely enough, it was also caked with dirt.

Bilbo looked at her, then seemed to snap out of a sort of daze, and dug his hands into his coat pocket, and held a dainty tissue to her. She looked to it, and smiled a thanks to him. She took it, and started to wipe the mud and dirt off her sword.

"Oh, no." He slightly stammered. She stopped and gave him a questioning stare. "Oh, umm. You`ve still got some- right there." He pointed to a side of his face where the disgust was still on Liesel`s face.

Her lips formed into an 'O' shape, and she, quite roughly mind you, scraped the mess off her face. After the hobbit was done, she gave a lighter smile to Mr. Bilbo, and handed him back his tissue. "Thank you," She said in an odd, high pitch. The elder hobbit returned her grin, then instantly lost it when he glanced down at the cloth in disgust.

Some of the dwarves filled a chest with treasure, then buried it in a hole in the ground. Dwalin looked on in disgust.

"We're makin' a long-term deposit." Gloin excused.

Thorin stood himself up "Let's get out of this foul place. Come on, let's go. Bofur! Gloin! Nori!" On his way out, Gandalf stepped on something metallic. Brushing aside the leaves beneath him with his staff, he found another sword. Gandalf exited the cave and headed over to where Bilbo and Liesel were standing.

"Bilbo." Gandalf came up behind them.

"Hmm?" The two hobbits turned around to look at the wizard.

"Here. This is about your size." He handed the sword he found to Bilbo. A small smirk appeared on Liesel`s face.

The elder hobbit stared down at it, mouth slightly opened "I can't take this."

"The blade is of Elvish make which means it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby."

"I have never used a sword in my life." He responded.

"Me neither." Liesel perked up. "Yes, and I am quite concerned about that." Bilbo turned and said to her.

"And I hope neither of you never have to. But if you do, remember this: true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one." The wizard gave the two hobbits a wry smile. Liesel was about to ask of what that saying was meant, but a loud rustling caught them off guard.

"Something`s coming!" The dwarf prince shouted.

Bilbo tensed "Gandalf-"

"Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves." Gandalf ordered, and led the company to the sound. Liesel began to follow, but turned and saw that Bilbo wasn't moving. She thought of tapping on his shoulder to warn him, but looked back, and made her decision to leave, while unsheathing her blade.

When she left, Bilbo slowly drew his sword and looked at it in utter amazement. He then followed the others.

"Thieves! Fire! MURDER!" An old, shabby looking man, who rode on a sled led by rabbits mind you, popped out from the shrubs, and landed directly right in front of the company, who were expecting something more beastly.

"Radagast!" Gandalf let out a sigh of relief as the others dropped their weapons "Radagast the Brown. Ah. What on earth are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, Gandalf. Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong."

"Yes?"

Radagast opened his mouth to speak, but shut it. He opened his mouth again, but closed it again. Had he forgotten what he was going to say? "Oh, just give me a minute. Um, oh, I had a thought, and now I've lost it. It was, it was right there, on the tip of my tongue." He curled up his tongue, and looked surprised. "Oh, it's not a thought at all; it's a silly old..." Gandalf pulled a stick insect out of Radagast's mouth.

"-stick insect!"

The dwarves and two hobbits looked flustered. Radagast and Gandalf went off a few paces and spoke privately.

As the two wizards wandered and spoke upon matters Liesel thought she would never figure out, she had the small urge to wash her new sword and perhaps change out of her waste ridden clothes; there had been nothing for her to do, as she knew. So quietly, the small girl snuck away with her gear as the dwarves talked among themselves.

The sound of running water had never brought so much happiness to Little Liesel before. She ran to the water, and had to physically stop herself from walking into the water and resting in it like on many summer days. Instinctively, she looked around herself for any possible eyes; she often heard of hobbits her age being caught with most of their dresses short, and turned paranoid because of it. Satisfied of being alone, she stripped herself of her skirt and blouse, then quickly put on a light shade of rose dress. She sunk her dirty clothes into the water, then pulled her sword open. Had this one been made by elves? She would have to ask Gandalf; surely he would know.

As she gently laid the sword in the river, Liesel`s stomach had felt it turned into a small knot; something wasn't right. "What now?" She groaned in her mind.

Still, she ignored the nagging suspicion, and continued to clean her new weapon. "Hadn't Gandalf mention names of swords?" The girl thought. She must find out if she had one, otherwise, could she name it herself?

As she thought, she did not notice the weapon was more than clean, until one factor stroke her like a hit to the stomach; the blade was a light blue color. The girl`s breath hitched in her throat, remembering Gandalf`s exact words only minutes ago: "The blade is of Elvish make which means it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby."

In an instant, the halfling whipped her head up, expecting an orc or Valar knows what in front of her; but there was nothing. She would not give up, she searched and searched for any little sign of creatures, until she finally found it. There perhaps a few meters from across the water, with it and the monster it rode`s back turned to her, was an orc, and a warg.

The poor girl found herself trembling in fear of what comes next. But, she kept her balance, and silently as possible, grabbed her sword from the pond, her bag and her sheath, then quietly and slowly backed away from the monsters; not turning her back on them, until she believed it was the time for her to run.

A howl was heard in the distance exactly right after the two wizards finished speaking. No one noticed Liesel had left.

Bilbo snapped his head to where the howl echoed and spoke nervously "Was that a wolf? Are there-are there wolves out there?"

Bofur walked ahead to listen better "Wolves? No, that is not a wolf."

A crack behind a clump of trees alerted the company to a warg, who jumped into the midst of them, knocking down one of the dwarves. Thorin stroked and killed it using Orcrist.

Out of the blue, a small flash of pink ran into and knocked over a dwarrow, falling down with him; it was Liesel, breathing heavily. Before anyone could have the time to shout where she had been, another Warg attacked from the other side; Bofur pulled the girl up as Kili shot it with an arrow, bringing it down. However, it got back up, only to be killed by Dwalin.

"Warg-Scouts!" Thorin pulled his sword out of the beast`s head "Which means an Orc pack is not far behind."

"Orc pack?" Bilbo and Liesel squeaked.

"Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?" Gandalf asked the king urgently.

Thorin paused in slight tremor "No one."

"Who did you tell?!" He barked.

"No one, I swear. What in Durin's name is going on?"

"You are being hunted."

"We have to get out of here." Dwalin spat.

"We can't!" Ori and Bifur ran "We have no ponies; they bolted!" The two hobbits and many dwarves either rolled their eyes or groaned.

"I'll draw them off." Radagast offered suddenly, and with no hesitance.

"These are Gundabad Wargs; they will outrun you." Gandalf protested.

"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits; I`d like to see them try." A smirk pulled onto the man`s face.

The orc leader of the Warg Riders, and his Wargs were searching through the forest for the Company; suddenly, Radagast and his rabbits shot out of the forest, and the Wargs started chasing him! "Come and get me! Ha ha!" The wizard laughed at them.

Gandalf watched from behind a rock as Radagast and the Wargs disappeared in the distance. "Come on!" "Move!"

The Company rushed across a rocky plain; Liesel tripped over herself, but luckily, Bifur caught her by the hand and pulled onto her the whole time. In the distance, Radagast was being chased by the Wargs.

As the Company ran across the plain, they saw the Wargs not too far from them. "Stay together." Gandalf breathed.

"Move!" Thorin barked once more.

The group ran and ran more and more, faster and faster. They used their sense to sprint behind rocks to avoid being seen, but one of the youngest dwarves ran to far ahead where a rock ended. "Ori, no! Come back!" Thorin grabbed the youngling by the pack and pulled him.

"Come on! Quick!" Gandalf led the company.

Thorin turned to Gandalf. "Where are you leading us?" The wizard doesn't answer, and the dwarf rolled his eyes but followed.

As the Warg scouts chased Radagast, one of them stops and sniffed the air. The dwarves took cover behind an outcropping of rock. The scout and his Warg appeared on top of the outcropping, right above Liesel and Bilbo`s heads. Thorin looked at Kili and nodded. Readying an arrow, Kili dashed out and shot the Warg. The Warg and the orc on it fall near the dwarves.

The screams of both the rider and creature were the first noises Liesel could never unhear. The orc rushed to the company to attack, but was stopped by Dwalin`s axe and Bifur`s spear.

The female hobbit`s eyes were big as plates the entire fight. She couldn't hold her struggling breaths in as the two were slaughtered. She knew, of course, that it was to either kill or be killed, but she hadn't known it to be brutal. She herself knew she would need to be used to this, and that the monsters were willing to murder all of them in their sleep.

She was so frozen with terror, that the howls and yelling of the orcs went silent in her ears.

Gandalf turned toward the direction of the approaching animals "Move. Run!"

As the company began to sprint, Bilbo took Liesel`s hand in his and ran, quickly dragging her behind him; he glanced at her right next to him as the orc was being slaughtered and noticed her eyes.

They ran through the grassy plain as the Wargs began to surround them from all sides. "There they are!" Gloin yelled and pointed to the beasts.

"This way! Quickly!" Gandalf shouted to the company. They ran for a while longer; Liesel`s hand slipped out of Bilbo`s when they halted, for more wargs surrounded them!

"There's more coming!" Kili shouted as he caught up to the group.

"Kili! Shoot them!" Thorin commanded.

"We're surrounded!" Fili shouted back. His brother began shooting at the Warg and the Warg-riders, killing some of them.

"Where is Gandalf?" Kili shouted when he retreated to the majority.

"He has abandoned us!" Dwalin spat.

The dwarves were slowly being closed in. As the leader called Yazneg approached Ori. The young dwarf aimed and fired a direct hit to the head at the warg; unfortunately, it was only a rock.

Yazneg smirked devilishly at the dwarf, and began to close in on him too. "What tender skin this filth has; I am sure you will quite enjoy it." He spoke to his steed.

Before the brute could come any closer to the helpless Ori, Liesel had left the dwarves` side, and sprinted up right in front of Ori in an attempt to protect him.

The girl rose her sword above head to strike at the orc, but Yazneg pierced his sword through her dress, and onto her right leg.

She fell to the ground, along with dropping her sword, but on adrenaline, picked her blade back up, and slashed one of the warg`s eye, temporarily blinding him, then pulled herself up with her sword and used it as a cane to scatter away.

Ori pulled her along with him as she limped and leaned on him. They stopped once they shortly made it back to the group of dwarves; now was not the time to treat, or worry so much about the foolish girl.

"Hold your ground!" Thorin barked, and whipped out Orcrist, and held it up in front of him.

As all hope seemed lost, Gandalf popped up from a rock directly behind the company "This way, you fools!"

Every single person snapped their heads to the wizard who surprised them. "Come on, move! Quickly, all of you! Go, go, go!" Thorin shouted. The dwarves, Liesel, and Bilbo slid into the large crack. The little girl was one of the last ones to be pushed in instead of willingly rolling down.

When she came to a complete stop, her eyes were on the tip of her tears flooding down her face, but she bit her tongue to keep quiet as a few members had crowded around her.

"Bring her here," Oin spoke from behind them. Bilbo used all of his strength to hoist her up from under her arms, while Fili and Bofur gently grabbed her legs.

They sat her down against the rock-hard wall, and moved away to give Oin space to treat her. He hunched down right next to her right leg, and picked it up off the floor. Liesel gasped at the sudden pain, and slightly winced. In all truthfulness, she wanted to scream and cry, but no, she wouldn't make herself to appear helpless.

"Not poisoned, thank goodness." Oin grabbed his sack from behind him, and pulled a small, clear vile out of one of the smaller pockets. He looked at the child straight in the eye "This`ll sting."

Her painful screech from the liquid to her leg was merely silenced as Thorin from the surface slashed a warg that had gotten too close to the crack. An arrow that shot an orc perfectly in the nose, snapped the king`s attention to his nephew in the distance. He began to load another arrow, until-

"Kili! Run!" The prince turned around to see his uncle, and bolted to him. Thorin and Kili jumped into the crack last.

Liesel did not simply care that tears were flying down her face, and she was sobbing and bumbling like a child. When Thorin`s gaze drifted to the girl, his eyes hardened.

"You" he hissed to the elder hobbit right next to her "quiet her down before she gets us all killed."

Bilbo`s mouth slightly opened in shock of having to now comfort the girl. He certainly tired his best.

He kneeled down to her height and placed (hovered) his hand on her shoulder. "Shh, shh, Liesel, Liesel, I need you to be quiet now, alright?" The girl still cried through the pain of her leg. The hobbit looked up through the crack, and could barely see the outline of a beast`s body.

"I am so sorry." He apologized, then clamped his hand over her mouth to silence her. In all surprise, not once had she attempted to remove his hand.

Just as Yazneg and his Wargs reached the crack, an Elvish horn sounded! A group of mounted Elves rushed into the fray, shooting and spearing the Wargs and Orcs. The Company listened to the conflict from inside the crack. One of the orcs, shot by an arrow, fell into the cave. The company scattered out of the way, and Bilbo`s grip unintentionally tightened on Liesel. Once the wizard made sure it was not alive, Thorin plucked out the arrow and examined its make.

"Elves." He hissed, and glared at the wizard. The bitter silence was broken by Dwalin. "I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or no?"

"Follow it, of course!" Bofur replied, and all other dwarves mumbled in agreement and began to follow through.

"I think that would be wise." Gandalf responded as Bilbo and a few other dwarfs gently helped the poor girl up, and helped her walk.

Alright, alright, I knew I owed you guys a long chapter. I was tempted to cut it before the warg pounced from the rock, but Jimminy Cricket got the better of me. So, I may or may not have a few tiny tricks up my sleeve for Rivendell, and cheesy interactions. Soooooo, Liesel`s injured, not really sure how I handled it. On one hand, I made her herself for wanting to help someone she cares about, but on the other hand she failed miserably; so in total, I guess it was a realistic outcome? Oh and

HAPPY EASTER! ;)