CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

KILI

His sleep had been restless; a drift in and out of consciousness as his body anxiously soaked in the heat from the small figure of Lizzie huddled against him. He had grown used to the girl's presence, and as much as he too willingly came to admit, enjoyed the feeling of her pressed up against his side. Visions of his uncle and his brother falling filled his head and he shifted uncomfortably against the rock pushing into his back.

He heard Bofur's voice cut out across the silence, resounding only a little above a whisper, and Kili's eyes shot open. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to Rivendell." It was Bilbo, his voice too distinctively high to be one of the dwarves'.

"You can't turn back now, you're part of the company! You're one of us!"

"I'm not now, 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."

"You're homesick, I understand." Bofur's voice was strained with the realisation that their burglar had turned his intentions from the road ahead to the road behind. He could not find his words fast enough to compete with Bilbo's argument.

"No! You you don't understand, none of you do. You're dwarves! You're used to this life, to being on the road, never settling in one place, and not belonging anywhere…" There was a pause in Bilbo's speech as if he'd just realised his words were offensive. "No, no I'm sorry. I didn't mean that-"

"No, you're right. We don't belong anywhere. I wish you all the luck in the world, I really do." Kili could feel a frown spread across his face in the darkness as silence once again spread throughout the room. But before Bilbo could step out of the cave, Bofur's voice rang out against the walls again. "What's that?"

His curiosity had peaked at this point, and Kili sat up slowly, still aware of the girl resting her head on him. He knew she was not asleep- he could see the outline of her face and her eyes scanning the cave even though there was scarcely any light- but he still took care as to not throw her to the ground.

He saw that his brother was sleeping more soundly than him, his arms crossed across his bulky frame and his breath moving steadily. He could even make out the clouds of frost that rose from his brother's mouth in the cold air.

Suddenly, Thorin's cries rang out through the caves causing the dwarves to all start from their sleep in confusion. Sand slid through a long crack that seemed to come out of nowhere, and the ground was shifting beneath the company. Kili found himself grabbing at the girl on top of him, trying to hold on to her for dear life, and then felt the floor give way beneath them.

They tumbled downward for what seemed like minutes, following the twisting track that they had been dumped into. Kili felt himself begin to go dizzy from the commotion, and almost instantly after he found his back colliding with hard timber. They had landed in some sort of makeshift basket as if it were intentionally put there to catch whatever fell from above. Strange, why-

And then the horrible screeching sound came. Dozens of goblins were descending upon them from the only pathway that lead to where they had landed. They instantly took to grabbing at them and tearing each dwarf from the clump one at a time. Several made attempts to knock the goblins back, but there were so many and the shock had been so great from the fall, they were easily overtaken. Kili suddenly realised how close they were getting to his side of the basket.

"L-Lizzie!" He stuttered; he was still holding the girl tight to his chest. He didn't understand how he'd been able to keep her from breaking away in the fall, but he was glad she had not been separated from him.

She peered up at him, her innocent blue-green eyes wide and scared.

An anxious feeling washed over him as he watched his brother be dragged from the pile right in front of him. But somehow, courage managed to well up in his stomach. It was the protective kind of courage that he'd heard other dwarves tell about when he was younger; the kind he would only understand one day when he was older. He leaned down to kiss Lizzie on the cheek. Her was soft and warm, and she smelled sweetly of the earth like he'd imagined. Even with the threat that they could possibly be killed by the goblins, a light blush creeped across her cheeks.

His brow furrowed in determination. "We're going to get out of this, I promise."

Of course, he did not know if they would make it out of there alive or not. And if they didn't...

Perhaps it was his lack of sleep that caused him to allow his control to slip for one minute, or maybe it was even the fact that they were outnumbered by a hoard of goblins, but Kili could not keep himself from kissing beautiful little Lizzie right then and there.

He could not help but to want to show her that he actually cared about her, but-

She put her hands on his chest, as if to relish the moment before they both knew she would be taken from him in a matter of seconds. Her lips were delicate and pleasant, and he could feel her breath fanning over his cheek.

The moment was short lived; she was easily torn from him with one swift movement.

BOFUR

Bofur found himself at the front of the mound of dwarves when they had fallen down through the cave. He had landed in a very uncomfortable position, and had been one of the first to be dragged out of the pile by a particularly unattractive goblin. He wished he would have reacted fast enough to combat them, but they had come down upon the company so swiftly that they were completely blindsided.

"Where's the lass?" The words shot from his throat sooner than he could stop them and his eyes raked his surroundings for any sign of her. She would probably be with the dark-haired prince, considering the young dwarf seemed to refuse to let her out of his sight more and more each day.

He received no answer, but only ringing screeches in return, drowning out almost all other noises. He was kicked, pushed, and turned about as they moved in a line making their way over bridges made of old wood and rocky pathways carved out in the side of the mountain for what seemed like ages. He watched as Thorin attempted to struggle his way out of their arms to no avail, and saw Bombur make no attempt to free himself as if he'd given up.

They soon reached an enormous cavern filled with structures that looked less than sturdy, and a large platform built haphazardly in the center of the mess. There, in the middle of that platform, sat one of the largest goblin's Bofur had ever lain his eyes on. Shouts came from all around as they were shoved in front of what he assumed was the goblin king, and their confiscated weapons were thrown onto the wooden planks in front of him.

The king spoke, booming loudly at the company, and the goblins around seemed to quiet themselves. "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, your malevolence." One of the goblins near sneered through the crowd.

The king looked surprised, but continued to speak. "Dwarves?!"

"Yes, we found them on the front porch."

"Well don't just stand there, search them!" At that point, Bofur had managed to spot an uncomfortable looking Lizzie, who had been carried to a spot a few feet away from Kili. The goblins began pushing at them again, and his gaze returned to the goblins around him. "Every crack, every crevice!"

He spoke again, moments after they had been shuffled around more, demanding their answers. "What are you doing in these parts? Speak!"

None of them opened their mouths to give him an answer.

"Very well. If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk!" He turned to face the audience that had surrounded him, but once he had returned his eyes to the company, he looked as if he had spotted something new and valuable. "What's this? A lady in our presence? How rude of me, little one of the forest."

Bofur turned his head, almost having to crane his neck to find Lizzie again. If she had looked terrified before, she looked more horrified than he had ever seen her. The poor little lass was likely to attract more attention than she'd wanted.

"How odd to find you amongst this band of intruders. But what a pretty gem you are. You are worth more than the lot of these miscreants combined!" He grinned, very pleased with his findings. Bofur struggled once again to escape the grasp of the goblins, but they would not budge.

"What a very good prize we've found indeed, your malevolence!" Another spoke up, as a round of cheers rung throughout the cavern. Bofur had hoped they would not pay attention to Lizzie, but it was inevitable they would find her. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kili trying his hardest to break free. His eyes were fixed in a glare at the goblin king.

"Do you know how many would pay such a high price for you? For your abilities and your knowledge?" The king continued, sending her a satisfied look. Lizzie did not answer his question, however. "Your flower alone is worth more than that price."

At that, Bofur began to feel sick at his stomach. Kili began to struggle more in the grips of the goblins, and Thorin shot a hard look at his nephew.

"Wait!" Thorin called out over the cries of the goblins, stepping forward.

Instantly, the king recognized him, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Well, well, well. Look who it is. Thorin, son of Thrain son of Thror, king under the mountain." He bowed mockingly in Thorin's direction, a wave of laughter following.

"Oh! But I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain, and you're not a king. Which makes you... nobody really. I know several who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just a head- nothing attached." He then turned to a goblin beside him, "Send word to our brothers throughout the land. Tell them I've found a glorious prize, including the girl."

Thorin's gaze grew dark. All of the other dwarves began to fight furiously against the goblins holding them, and Lizzie's eyes caught Bofur's. They held each other's gazes for a few seconds before Lizzie's broke away hastily.

"No," She pursed her lips together before raising her voice, "Leave them and take me! What use are they to you?"

All of their eyes turned abruptly upon Lizzie.

A tad short but... muahaha, he kissed her!

I had a lovely reader ask to use part of my story in hers, so please do go check it out! ThaliaHuntressGrace's story is called An Unexpected Royal Addition. :)

P.S. Andddd, you are all fabulous. Thank you for reading, reviewing, and being magical. Also, I am thinking about starting my own little LOTR/Hobbit reader insert oneshot series (soooo original, I know) because I mean, who doesn't enjoy those? If you have a prompt idea you'd like me to fill, send it my way. ;)