"We will make camp here" Thorin ordered as he jumped off his pony. Bilbo sighed with relief; he hadn't slept well at all for the past few nights from the cold night air and bug's crawling all over him as he lay on the mucky soil.

"Bilbo, my dear Hobbit" Gandalf called "I am in the mood for something other than just meat, go and see if there are any mushrooms in the field" Bilbo nodded and walked away leaving the company to unpack their belongings.

A cold wind blew mercilessly across the field which caused the Hobbit to hug his coat tighter around his waist. He hunched over to get a better look at the ground

"Hm nettles…. No, Borage leaves….No, Comfrey, not a chance" Bilbo searched for a few more minutes but was unfortunate. He wandered into the forest to search as there would be more of a chance to find mushrooms growing in there. He grinned to himself as he entered a clearing where the moon was shining through the tree's. Surrounding the base of a large Oak tree in the middle of the clearing he spotted the round heads of mushrooms popping out from the earth. With a slight hop in his step he walked over to them. He knew that the other Dwarves thought that he was a waste of space but as soon as he returned with a dozen of these they would certainly praise them. Rubbing his hands together he knelt down and began plucking the mushrooms out of the soil. Humming a merry tune as he worked, placing mushrooms one by one into his coat pocket.

After a while the humming died down and his ear's twitched at an unknown sound. Chills ran up his spine as he slowly stopped his tuneful hum.

The sound of leaves crunching

Without knowing what the sound was he shook with fright. Ever so slowly he tilted his head to look over his shoulder.

He let out a slight yelp when he saw a human hand from under the bushes. He bounced to his feet unsure of what to do, he didn't want to run back to Thorin and tell him that there was a human in the forest; Thorin would think of him as a coward, not daring to do anything by himself. Building up his courage, he took in a deep breath and crept silently over to the bushes. He pushed a few branches out of the way and his eyes widened.

It was a girl

A human girl

He gasped and instinctively knelt down at her side. The first thing he noticed was that she was oddly dressed, fuzzy multi coloured socks were clinging to her ankles and it seemed that her undergarments were on show as the cloth only went past her thighs. As the respectable Hobbit he was he averted his gaze onto her upper half. The sweater she was wearing was baggy and grey but it was ripped and there was a dark patch of red underneath which made his mouth dry in shock.

Deciding it was time to call for help he called through the tree's in hope his company would hear his panicked cry "H-h-help!".

He shook the girl by her shoulders slightly "Are you okay?" he asked hoping for a reply. She was unresponsive, but breathing, which was a good sign although it was uneasy as her stomach rose and fell too quickly "Don't worry, help is coming"

Bilbo soon heard the stomping of feet coming his way

"Halfling!" he heard Bofur call out.

"I'm here!" Bilbo called back "Oh please hurry" he whispered to himself

Fili and Kili were the first to run through the trees

"Bilbo what's wro-" Kili stopped when he noticed a bleeding figure laying down in the earth "Oh no" he whispered as he rushed over to the Hobbits side and knelt down beside them.

"What happened?" Fili questioned as he joined his brother.

"I-I don't know I was out collecting mushrooms for Gandalf in the field but fortunately I was unlucky so I went into the forest where I found the most beautiful, fully grown mushrooms, I can say I ne"

"Out with it Bilbo!" The dwarf brothers shouted in unison

"I saw the girl from where I sat and when I noticed that she was injured I called for help, that's all I can tell you for that's all I know!"

Thorin, Gandalf and the rest of the dwarves came bustling through the trees next. Gandalf paled at the sight of the girl.

"What is the meaning of this Burglar?" Thorin inquired.

"He said he found the girl here and she is injured and is in need of medical attention!" Fili answered his uncle quickly. Thorin walked over and sneered at the sight of her, noticing the revealing garments she wore "A common whore from the village of Bree" he said "Must have run away from the brothel"

"Do not jump to conclusions Thorin" Gandalf entered taking a few steps closer to the group "Obviously she has been attacked and if the attacker is near we are also in danger and she may be able to identify who or what they were"

"Kili, carry her back to camp" Thorin grumbled and turned to leave. Kili lifted the girl slowly into his arms. As they walked back to the camp the moon allowed him to get a better look at her. Dark purple bruises were running down her arms and legs and even her face. Levees were tangled in her brunette hair and some bit's were stuck to the shallow cut's that she had on her cheeks. Kili moved slowly so he wouldn't affect her breathing which was already uneasy but he wouldn't risk making it worse.

Back at the camp Kili knelt down by the fire and gently lay her on his sleeping mat that Bilbo had unpacked for their arrival. Gandalf and Oin walked over to her with a damp cloth, a bowl of water and a small vile that he pulled out of his cloak and knelt beside her and mumbled a thank you to Kili.

"How bad is she?" Kili asked the elders as he moved a strand of her out of their way. They didn't reply, instead Gandalf chose to wring out a rag that had been soaking in the bowl beside him. He began to dab the dirt away from her face. The swelling in her face was slowly going down, however the bruises were still an ugly purple. Kili sighed in acknowledgement when neither replied "So it is bad"

"That remains to be seen" Gandalf finally answered and picked up the vile, his shaky fingers were fumbling with the lid so Oin helped by taking the vile and popping the lid open with his thumb, he helped Gandalf pour the green liquid onto the damp rag and rubbed it in.

"It will help stop infection, though it will sting" Gandalf said suddenly when he noticed Kili studying the vile for any markings. Steadily he turned the girls head to face him and started to dab the cut that she received on her neck. Kili looked at her with regretful eyes as Gandalf began to disinfect the cuts. The girls body jerked in pain and a strangled gasp came from her.

Gandalf fits clenched in frustration and more water fell from the cloth and landed on her neck.

"Pass me my bag of witch hazel if you would Oin?" asked Gandalf to the elder dwarf. Oin complied and handed the bag to the wizard "Oin, if you would lift her sweater up a bit please" A faint blush crept upon Oin's face. The girl was already showing too much skin as it was.

The elder dwarf complied and lifted her sweater and stopped after the wound in her stomach "She was stabbed" Balin said peering over Gandalf's shoulder.

He was right.

Gandalf stuck the witch hazel into his mouth and chewed on it until it became mush. He rubbed some onto his finger and began to run it onto the girls wound.

It seemed like a lifetime for the dwarves but soon the wound was becoming fainter and fainter. Gandalf's shoulders relaxed as he let out a breath that he seemed to be holding in for some time. Kili took off his fur cape and covered the girl from the cold and also for modesty.

"Will she be well soon?" Bilbo's tiny voice called from his mat.

"She will be soon Master Hobbit, witches hazel is quite strong not as strong as Embies Wood-oak but it works well in situations like these. We were lucky that the wound was not as bad. If her attacker went deeper she would be far from our help by now" Gandalf answered

"Who do you suppose did this to her?" Balin asked

"I do not know" Gandalf sighed pouring himself some of the stew that was left over.

"One of you must stand watch over her, if her attacker knows she is alive they may want to finish her off" Thorin ordered

"I will stand watch over the girl" Gandalf said "And maybe if Master Balin would as well that would be quite nice"

"As you wish, Gandalf may take the first watch but if she is not awake by tomorrow we shall move on without her. She would certainly slow us down" Thorin said looking up at Gandalf. Gandalf thought for a moment before looking down at the Dwarf king

"Agreed?" Thorin asked impatiently

Gandalf sighed "Agreed"