Deep into the night Thorin sat at the fire, wide awake and unable to find any sleep. He could not stop thinking about Gaia and why she had disappeared as his company had joined the dwarves. Dis had asked Madril about Gaias whereabouts, but the other ranger had just shrugged his shoulders and told her that Gaia was probably out scouting. Gaia was good at hiding when she did not want to be found, even in Erebor, his own mountain, she had managed to hide from him.

Thorin had told Gaia to stay in his old chambers, in case the dragon came back. Smaug had just left for Laketown and Thorin worried sick about his nephews. Instead of finding comfort in the arms of the woman he loved he had been drawn to the gold in the treasury. The whisper of the gold was the only thing that was louder than the whispers in his head, telling him that he had killed his nephews by waking the dragon. On his way to the treasury Thorin had the feeling that he was being followed. He turned around various times, but he could not see anything but dark and silent corridors. As he reached the treasury he ran into Gaia.

'How did you...?' Thorin was too surprised to be mad. The ranger had run him down in his own mountain.

'Come back with me, Thorin.' Gaia asked him softly. She was aware that Thorin was under the influence of the goldsickness, Balin had told her about this curse of the line of Durin. 'Please. I need you...the others need you.'

'I told you to wait in my old rooms.' Thorin frowned at the woman. 'Go back.'

'I don´t want to go back. I will stay here, with you.' Gaia insisted.

But Thorin did not want her to stay. He wanted to spend the time in treasury alone, alone with the gold. Doubts and confusion clouded Thorins mind for a moment. Why did he want to be with the gold, the cold and pale coins, instead of in the arms of the woman he loved? But the gold whispered to him and cast out his reason.

'Leave me.' Thorin growled and glared at Gaia menacingly. The woman took a step back and let Thorin pass, but Thorin felt her eyes on his back for the rest of the evening. He knew that she had not left him. It was the same feeling he had felt when she had abandonned him on the road to the Shire. After their fight she had left, but he had felt her presence in his vicinity.

And he felt her now. Thorin stared into the forest and tried to identify some of the moving shadows of the rangers. None of them moved with the catlike grace like Gaia did. He was thinking about walking into the forest and look for her, but in this moment Bilbo sat down beside him and held him back.

'Why are you staring holes into the forest?' the hobbit smirked at his friend and king.

'She is out there.' Thorin murmured. 'I can feel it. I can feel her eyes on me.'

'Gaia will come back to you. I am sure.' Bilbo insisted as Thorin shook his head. 'She protected your sister and your kin. She would not have done that if she...if she thought that there is no hope left for you two.'

'Then why is she hiding?' Thorin looked back into the flames of the fire. 'Why can´t she face me?'

'She will. But she will chose the moment.' the hobbit stated firmly. Thr king of the dwarves chuckled as he turned to his friend.

'I knew that it was a good idea to ask you to be my advisor.' Thorin smiled at the hobbit and patted his arm.

Neither the king of the dwarves, nor the hobbit could see the pair of brown eyes turn to slits in the dark of the forest.

The following days passed silently and without any attack. But the further north the caravan was heading, the greater the risk of an attack became. The orcs and wild men had hidden fortresses in the north of the Misty Mountains and orc reinforcement from Gundabad was also near. The dark threat in form of the necromancer in Dol Guldur also hung over the lands of Middle Earth. Gandalf had planned to inform the kings and leaders about the unknown threat, but so far no word about the necromancer had left the wizards mouth.

Two weeks later, at the rim of Mirkwood, Gaia and her scouts ran into a pack of orcs led by Azog. They managed to kill some of them, but the orcpack retreated quickly, before Gaia had the chance to get close to Azog. The pale orc was driven by hatred and the urge to avenge the death of his son in the Battle of the Five Armies. His plan to destroy the line of Durin was fiercer than ever before. Gaia thanked the Valar that at least Fili and Kili were safe in Erebor, but their uncle and mother would have to pass the pale orcs wrath. Gaia had a bad feeling about the quick retreat of the pale orc and his pack and decided to go back to warn the others. Azog planned something, he was too sure of himself. Sighing heavily Gaia and the scouts moved back south, towards the caravan of dwarves and towards Thorin.

They reached the caravan one day later. Madril and the mounted rangers had managed to split up most of the baggage onto the horses and ponies and the dwarves were not as exhausted as the weeks before and marched on more quickly. Gaia looked for Madril immediately and walked over to him.

'Gaia!' Madril was happy to see his friend again, but frowned as Gaia held a finger over mouth to gesture him to be quiet. 'Whats wrong?'

'Nothing, I just don´t want...never mind.' Gaia sighed.

'You are not showing your face to the dwarves. Don´t think I haven´t noticed that.' Madril scolded her. 'You are silent and inattentive in their presence. I will not ask you why, but you should be careful. A ranger caught off guard is a danger to all of us.'

'I´m sorry.' Gaia knew that he was right. But she could not tell him why she wanted to stay undetected. 'Madril, we spotted the pale orc about a days ride to the north. He only had a small pack with him, but I am sure that he has set up another trap for us. We have to be prepared.'

Madril nodded and looked back at the dwarves. 'As long as we are not outnumbered and surprised, we should be safe. The orcs are scathered, they still are high at number, but they will not attack us in a well planned attack plan. Its not the way orcs fight.'

'I hope you are right.' Gaia frowned. 'We have to protect the king and his sister. The pale orc is after them. Especially after them.'

'How do you know?' Madril asked, but then shook his head. 'I trust your opinion. We will have an eye on them.'

With these words Madril turned away to his fellow rangers and gave them new instructions. Gaia felt like an idiot as he left. He was her friend and he trusted her. She on the other hand did not trust him enough to tell him why she did not want to be seen by the dwarves. Caught in her thoughts Gaia jumped as Dis´voice spoke up right beside her.

'You are inattentive, mistress ranger.' Dis stated with an amused expression. 'Even a heavy and burly dwarf like my brother could have sneaked up on you.'

Dis was the second person in a short moment who told Gaia that she had been unattentive and Gaia wanted to kick herself for being as open as a book.

'He is the reason, isn´t he?' Dis wanted answers, she was tired of Thorins grumpiness and the sadness in his eyes when he scanned the rangers for this woman. 'What has he done to you?'

Gaia looked at Dis in surprise. She was sure that the princess had been informed about Thorins goldsickness and its aftermath, but for some reason she felt the urge to tell Dis what was really bothering her. Gaia felt connected to Dis, she trusted her from the moment she had met her. Gaia had trusted Thorin the moment she had met him, as well as Fili and Kili, although the term trust would be out of place with Fili and Kili. Gaia adored them from the start, that would put it better. Unsure about wether to tell Dis the truth or not, Gaia only heard the arrows after some had hit their targets. A rain of black arrows came down on the caravan, hitting the surprised dwarves and rangers. Five dwarves and three rangers were down after the first attack and the rest tried to find cover. Thorin and his company, as well as Gaia and Dis were unharmed and tried to shove the others to cover. After three salves of arrows were shot the orcs retreated again and the surviving dwarves and rangers looked after the wounded. Two dwarves were dead and one ranger. The dead ranger was clad in black leather and his face was covered in a hood. One horrible moment Thorin thought that it was Gaia laying there in her own blood and he rushed over to the ranger, pulling his hood off. The king had to supress a choked sob as he saw that it was not Gaia, but a young man. He softly closed the young man's eyes and stepped back. The wounded needed to be taken care of and some rangers had followed the orcs to hunt some of them down. Dis wanted to follow the orcs with a small troop of dwarves as Gaia came rushing to her side.

'You stay here!' she stated firmly and made Dis sneer.

'You seem to have adapted my brothers commanding tone, but even Thorin does not dare to speak to me that way.' Dis snarled.

'These orcs are after you. After you and your family. The pale orc who leads this pack wants you dead.' Gaia told the princess. 'They only wait for you to follow them and they will kill you.'

'They can try.' Dis stated and tried to push past Gaia, but the female ranger blocked her path. 'Get out of my way, Gaia.'

Gaia felt as if Dis had slapped her in the face. Hearing her name out of Thorins sisters mouth made her strong fassade crumble and Gaia felt weak. But she would not let another Durin get his way out of stubborness.

'No.' Gaia did not move. 'You will stay here where we at least have the chance of protecting you. Fili and Kili are waiting for you in Erebor. Don't you want to see them again?'

Dis swallowed hard at the mention of her sons and lowered her gaze. None of the two women saw Thorin stand a few steps behind them, watching the scene in awe. Gaia had challenged his sister. And lived to tell the tale.

'Gaia.' Thorin could only whisper. 'Gaia.'