Thorin found Beth a few hours later, perched on a railing and glaring out into the night sky like it somehow personally offended her. He considered leaving her to herself and her own musings before she spoke.

"Hey."

He walked up to stand beside her and inconspicuously peered over the railing to the long drop over the edge. He decided not to comment on her precarious seat and they stayed in silence for a moment before Beth started talking again.

"I'm not anything special," she declared.

Thorin cleared his throat. "I think coming from another world defines you as just that."

"Well…aside from that," she added lamely.

He paused for a moment, debating on whether or not to appease his bringing curiosity regarding this woman. Thorin decided there was no harm if done politely. "May I ask you a question?"

"I suppose there's no harm at this point."

"How did you come to be in this world?"

Beth was quiet for such a long time Thorin almost thought she would not answer. "I died," she said simply. She was quiet again for some time before continuing, as though debating on elaborating or not. "I wonder sometimes if I die again if I would go back to my old world. But then, I realize I wouldn't know what to do. I mean, I'm supposed to be dead. I felt the life leave my human body. I…my husband killed me, you know."

Thorin gripped the railing until his knuckles were white, feeling the hot rage roll through him. No man should ever take the life of a woman, let alone his own woman. Let alone this woman. And then the irrational disappointment at the fact she had been married at all.

"It's okay though." He had to look at her to make certain he wasn't imagining the statement. He was assured when she continued with, "I mean if I never died, then none of this would have happened. I have a brother who loves me now. In my old world I only had a sister who wouldn't even talk to me. And…" she trailed off and met his gaze. "I would have never met you and everyone else. And now I get to go on an adventure, defeat trolls, meet elves, and slay a dragon!"

Thorin could scarcely keep the smile off his face. "Maybe you should die more often."

"Oh, no thank you," she said chuckling. "Once is enough for me, and I know a second will come eventually whether I like it or not. I'm pretty sure I'm not immortal."

Another brief silence washed over them, both in their respective contemplations. Thorin tried to recall all he knew of the prophesy of the King's Council. Every race on Middle Earth had their own variation of the prophesy because very race was eligible to gain the benefits of this particular prophetic being.

He broke the silence by stating, "In dwarven culture, The King's Council is said to have a beautiful voice to be able to charm the otherwise suborn king."

He could see the pink tinge creeping onto her cheeks as she cleared her throat. "Would you like to hear a song from my old world? I haven't got the most magnificent voice despite what your prophesy says, but I promise your ears won't bleed."

"I would be honoured."

She started bobbing to a tune in her mind and began very softly.

I hate seagulls and I hate being sick

I hate burning my finger on the toaster and I hate nits

Despite not knowing what a toaster was, Thorin could feel himself almost smiling at the silly song.

I hate falling over, I hate grazing my knees

I hate picking off the scab a little bit too early

I hate getting tooth aches, I hate when it's a piss take

I hate all the mistakes I make

I hate rude, ignorant bastards and I hate snobbery

I hate anyone who if I was serving chips, wouldn't talk to me

Thorin felt himself drawn in as the song changed and her voice changed key.

But I have a friend, with whom I like to spend

Any time I can find with

I like sleeping in your bed

I like knowing what is going on inside your head

I like taking time

And I like your mind

And I like when your hand is in mine

She turned to smile at him in almost a sheepish manner.

I like getting drunk on the tunes by the beach

I like picking strawberries

I like cream teas

And I like reading ghost stories

She turned away as the song changed again, leaving Thorin with a curious feeling of disappointment.

And my heart skips a beat every time that we meet

It's been a while and now your smile is almost like a memory

But then you're back and I am fine 'cause you're with me

And I'm in love with you

Despite himself, Thorin could feel his heart race a little faster before scolding himself. It's just a song.

And I can't find the words to make it sound unique

But honestly you make me strong

I can't believe I found someone this kind

I hope we carry on

'Cause you're so nice and I'm in love with you

Love with you

The pair could both feel their blood rushing, both embarrassed at their reactions to the song. Eventually Beth settled with simply smiling at Thorin and Thorin gave back the tiniest hint of a smirk. But even that tiny smirk had the blood rushing to Beth's face making her feel silly.

"We must leave very early in the morning," he told her to distract himself from the situation. When he read her look of confusion he added, "They will try to stop us."

Beth nodded with a frown. "And here I thought I'd get a full night's sleep in a real bed tonight."

Thorin felt his heart tug. More than anything he felt a pang of pity for the hobbit woman before him. She had only just learned of her great importance in this world and time to come. He remembered after his grandfather had been killed and his father disappeared how taxing it was for him to assume a role of great importance. On top of that he was sure such a soft creature was not used to the hardships of travel such as this. Still, he had not heard a single complaint come from the girl their entire journey thus far.

"You still may," he said before he could talk himself out of it.

"Really?" She asked, looking to him with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Thorin nodded once. "I will come to wake you in the early morning," he paused to mentally scold himself for not thinking that one through better. "Unless you'd be more comfortable with your brother coming to wake you, of course."

"Oh, no, that's fine," Beth said with a laugh. "You'll probably have a hard time getting Bilbo up at that hour anyway. Best not give him any important tasks until at least the sun has risen."

She gracelessly wiggled the right way and hopped off the railing to stand in front of him and smoothed her skirts. She gave him a shy smile and said, "I'll have my things packed and be dressed when you come to wake me so we're not wasting any time." She then took a step forward, raised onto her tip-toes and placed a delicate kiss on his cheek above his beard and whispered a thank you. He watched her scurry off, noting she was moving a little faster than she would usually.

His hand automatically raised to touch the spot she kissed and watched her until he could no longer see her silhouette. He didn't move from that spot until he remembered to breathe.

Thorin tried not to think about waking her in the morning. He couldn't. For one, it was simply improper for a man to enter an unmarried (or widowed? Unmarried in this world, at least) woman's chamber, even if she had assured him she'd be fully dressed. So Thorin didn't think about what he was doing. He just did it.

When he entered the room he was actually quite entertained by what he saw. There Beth was, upside down on the bed, completely tangled in the covers, and hugging a pillow to her with the smallest of smiles on her lips. He would later admit this was the moment he fell in love with her, but for now he simply thought the whole seen exceedingly endearing. Thorin crossed the room and gently shook her arm to wake her.

Beth opened one bleary eye to see none other than Thorin. She hummed softly and nodded her head to indicate she was getting up before testing her still sleepy limbs. She groaned in annoyance at the discovery of the tangled sheets.

Uncaring of Thorin's still watching eyes, Beth did her ritual wiggling around until giving up on trying to figure out where the blankets began and where she ended and rolled off the bed entirely. Thorin would have come to her aid had she not freed an arm and lifted a hand in indication to wait. Then in two less than graceful jerks she was free and on her feet to tie her boots.

As soon as she grabbed her bag the pair were off down the corridor to rendezvous with the company, who overall looked no better than Beth which gave her some comfort. Still, that did nothing to discourage them from departing as soon as the two were close with Dwalin leading in the front as she waited around the back to catch up with Bilbo.

"Do you think we'll ever see this place again?" asked Bilbo staring longingly at the city.

"Bilbo, I'm just about positive you'll come back here someday. Maybe even on the way back," replied Beth, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But for now we're going to see Erebor. You've still got the whole world to go."

The siblings smiled at each other contentedly and linked arms, following the company of Thorin Oakenshield into the wild and further still to the narrow paths of the Misty Mountains.

Beth was terrified.

Like, piss-your-pants-you're-going-to-die terrified.

She never had the best footing in the world. On a good day, one could probably describe her as clumsy. And being on a narrow ledge, staring into an abyss, while it was storming heavily and muddy as you please would probably be considered a bad thing by anyone's standards. So of course, it could only get worse from there.

The moment she decided that maybe this whole quest idea wasn't her best move after all she heard Balin call out, "This is no thunderstorm; it's a thunder battle! Look!"

And then she looked. And then she was even more terrified. She looked up just in time to watch one giant knock the other's head off in one great whooping hit. All of the rubble from the blow came crashing down on the cliff face and all around them. To save herself, Beth threw herself against the rock wall only to smack her head onto their jagged edges.

She was still disoriented as the ground started shaking violently and was totally unaware of the rock giant's knees slowly separating the group. It was only after Balin declared they were fine that she even realized what had happened at all. Beth's head whipped back and forth desperately scanning the area for Bilbo and trying to make the world stop spinning all at once.

"Where's Bilbo?" asked Bofur. "Where's the hobbit?"

"There!" called Ori.

Beth rushed over to help Bilbo back up but was hit by a sudden and violent wave of dizziness. She watched Thorin jump down and risk his own life to save Bilbo. She stumbled her way over and pulled Bilbo into a tight embrace as soon as he was safe.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," she told him firmly.

"Aye, I thought we'd lost a burglar," agreed Dwalin.

"He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come." Thorin's eyes flicked to Beth. "Neither of them. You have blood all over your face."

She reached up to wipe at her forehead and was mildly surprised to see her hand come back almost totally red. Still, she looked up calmly nonetheless. "I hit my head in the commotion. I heard that head wounds bleed a lot."

"No matter," cut in Dori. "We should get you cleaned up and find a place to take shelter until this passes."