Wow, I have been dead and swamped with schoolwork and stressed and probably crying in the corner like a small child like I normally do. Anyway Happy Halloween to everyone out there – it's one of the best holiday's ever!

Also, how are all of you? I hope you're all safe and well!

Special thank yous to: JustWeirdLikeThat (your comment made me so happy on a day I got some bad news , thank you!) Ellie's imagination world (you are welcome and thank you for reviewing! I hope I continue to please you!) And Ryuzuki Junrei! Thank you for the add!

If you have a moment please review, leave a comment, suggestion, correction, question, what you want to see or whatever your heart may desire!

Same old same old - don't own the Hobbit or anything LOTR related. Also some bad words may be present.

I hope you enjoy this!

Wishing Well

*****Five*****

I was pretty sure I was dead. My face hurt. My body hurt. Breathing was painful and everything was so freaking bright. Warm sunlight was splaying across my face, rudely pulling me from my death-sleep. I groaned and winced in pain as I rolled over to my side and groped around for my bed sheets that seemed to have disappeared.

"Wenny, I think I'm dying or dead." I groaned. My mouth felt dry and my voice sounded kinda odd. I tried to curl up into myself but instead ended up hissing in pain from all the movement. This whole waking up thing wasn't working for me. I opened one eye and looked around my room, or what should have been my room, to see what was going on. Instead of being in my wonderful and cozy bed, I was curled up on the ground outside. Green blades of grass covered the ground, grazing my skin and making me feel all itchy. Roots from trees popped up from the floor and entangled themselves with other roots from different trees before disappearing back into the soil. Little rocks and leaves were here and there and I'm pretty sure a little bug just scuttled on by.

"Wendy?" I called out, shooting up into a sitting position and instantly regretting it as pain shot through my body. My muscles ached and my neck felt stiff, most likely caused from sleeping on the ground. I glanced around, freaking out as I took everything around me in. Large, thick trees were scattered about with braches covered in thick, green leaves. Sunlight was peeping through the canopy and being annoying bright like it always was when you were trying to sleep in. Birds were chirping, hidden someone among the trees and I half expected to see Snow White come dancing through the forest with her woodland friends in tow.

"This isn't funny, Wendy!" I shouted as I stood up. I spun around, ignoring the pain in my body and looking for any signs of my missing friend. Nothing replied back and even the birds took the hint to shut up for the moment. As the length of silence increased, the panic within me escalated. Wendy wasn't here and I was alone in the woods.

Alone.

All alone.

My brain stuck to that word and it repeated over and over in my head. I was alone. I was alone. It was just me and no Wendy.

"Calm down Elli," a male voice stated causing me to nearly jumped out of my skin. I whipped around towards the direction of the voice, ready to defend myself from my attacker. Unfortunately I was a little ungainly in my turning and ended up tripping over my own two feet. I stumbled a bit, tripping over some tree roots before falling flat onto my butt. If this was a horror movie this would be where I died because the 'ditzy little blond girl tripped over her own feet'. Thankfully this was real life and a psychopath in a hockey mask wasn't coming after me.

"Wendy snuck off this morning before we woke up," Kíli stated as he came into my view, moving in and out between trees as he got closer to me. "Fíli is out looking for her right now." My jaw dropped and my brain immediately went on autopilot.

But before I make a fool of myself, let's talk about Kíli. First off the guy was looking a little disheveled. His clothes were messy and wrinkled as if he had slept in them and were also kinda dirty looking. He totally had bedhead, which was kind of funny, and looked like he went running through the woods to find Wendy. Little leaves were caught here and there in his hair and he was picking a few of them out. Second, he was talking to me casually like we never had a language problem before. He was asking how I felt. If I was in any pain. If I spoke with Wendy at all some point during the night before she disappeared. He was just talking as if we talked all the time before this. Cool beans, Kíli.

Now I can resume being an idiot.

I wanted to ask him how I could understand him. Why we were in the woods. Where Wendy could have run off to and numerous other things but my brain decided to say otherwise.

"What…the fuck?" I stated once my mouth started moving again.

A simple, 'what's going on' would have sufficed, but no, my brain wanted override my senses and make a total idiot out of me. Kíli was somewhat taken aback by my response, raising a brow as he stared at me.

"How? How come we understand each other?" I asked, licking my lips and trying to moisten my mouth. I furrowed my brows in confusion, trying to remember what happened last night. The evening was hazy, nothing really coming in to fill in the blanks. I remembered being by the river with Wendy…. I was trying to cast a spell earlier but it wasn't working….

"Let's not worry about that." Kíli replied pulling me from my thoughts. He made his way closer to me and I had to look up at him from my spot on the ground. "Do you remember anything from last night?" He asked. I shook my head no, thinking about what I could remember. Wendy and I were talking and then we had to split up. Memories hazed in and out as I recalled losing Fíli and Kíli at some point and us having to look for them.

"Do you remember two men on the bridge?" He questioned. Vague scenes floated back into my mind of two people. Eddie and Darrel were arguing with me about drugs and such and we were fighting on the bridge. Actually I was getting my butt whooped by the two, but still. I vaguely recalled Wendy, Fíli and Kíli being there, shouting something before my head was slammed against the railing.

"Am I dead?" I asked, reaching up and touching the left side of my head. Maybe my Wiccan spirit was going to be returned to the Earth and this Kíli was a figment of my imagination and these were just final moments before I was reincarnated. I hissed in pain the second my fingers grazed my skin and I immediately withdrew my hand away.

Nope. Still alive.

I heard Kíli chuckle to himself at my response.

"I hope not, Wendy worked hard trying to get you to breathe again last night." He took a seat next to me and my brain immediately went back to mush. He seemed happier, more relaxed then when we were in Indiana. He also looked a little less ridiculous with all the leaves out of his hair but that's beyond the point. I felt completely out of place and curiosity was inching its way through me and I felt the need to explore. He was obviously comfortable with the whole situation and I knew my theories about the river were correct-to-mundo! Take that science!

Elli, we aren't in Indiana anymore. It was like, when I fell into the river, I fell into another place and all I could think of was how awesome I was. I was right, Wendy was wrong. Haha.

"Where in the good Mother's name are we?" I asked excitedly.

"We are in Middle Earth." Kíli replied back, "I believe somewhere in the Eriador region." I totally wanted to ask if there was an "Upper" and "Lower" earth but refrained.

"Are you and Fíli from around here?"

"My brother and I are from Ered Luin." My jaw dropped in surprise. Today was not a good day for my brain.

"Fíli is your brother? You two look nothing alike."

Open mouth Elli and insert foot. After insertion, please choke on foot till death occurs. Congratulations! You have successfully murdered yourself due to embarrassment.

"We're brothers" Kíli reassured me, smiling a little bit at my random outburst. My brain and I would have to work on this communication thing. Thankfully Kíli tried to keep the conversation going so I didn't have to deal with an awkward silence. "Where were we before we came back here?"

"Indianapolis, Indiana. The worst state of the fifty states in the US." I replied back. Kíli nodded like he understood but I knew he really didn't. That statement happened to be the conversation killer as we both got quiet suddenly. Kíli looked to be lost in his own thoughts while I played around in mine.

Yes - Wendy and I weren't in Indiana anymore. We were in Middle Earth and I was the Number One – Bad A – Ultimate Wiccan that got us here. I had no absolute clue how I did it but I did.

"What happened last night?" I asked just to get Kíli talking again. The silence was getting uncomfortable and I wanted anything to help me from getting too antsy. My companion started telling me about what happened after I was tossed over the bridge and what he could about the river. He talked about the fight he and his brother had gotten into with Eddie and Darrel and how Wendy jumped into the river to save me. He didn't admit to losing to Darrel but I pieced together how that fight went and how Fíli had to save Wendy from that hoodlum. I also concluded from his story that I was a trend-setter because it seemed everyone jumped into the river after me. Wendy then Darrel, Fíli then Kíli, heck maybe even Eddie. Whoop whoop. He went over how Wendy had saved me and how she wasn't taking being in Middle Earth too well.

Oooh, big shock there...

"Wendy doesn't do well with change." I stated once he wrapped up the events from last night. "She's probably having a mental breakdown right now and wishing she was home. Or probably not believing that this is happening." I kind of chuckled to myself at the thought of poor ol' Wendy freaking out. I am so mean to her but may the Goddess bless her soul.

"And you're fine with this?" Kíli asked.

"Yes."

"You're not just a little bit scared?"

"Nope."

There was a second of silence between us.

"I was."

I glanced over at Kíli to see him staring down at his hands. His fingers were locked together and he was twiddling his thumbs. He looked a little embarrassed that he was even talking about it.

"I remember being on top of some tower looking over the city and panicking. I thought that Fíli and I were never going home and that maybe we were dead." I blushed a little at his statement, feeling a little awkward as Kíli expressed his thoughts. "I was so scared and frustrated with how everything suddenly changed." Kíli smiled a bit and suddenly I turned into goo. "Of course Fíli kept his calm and knocked some sense back into me."

"Aw, well I guess it's good that he went to find Wenny then. What did he say to you?" I asked while glancing around at the scenery. I didn't want to stare at him too much, that would've been creepy. Waaaaay too creepy.

"He punched me in the face."

"Oh." That took me off guard. "Well then, let's find you brother before he punches Wendy in the face too."

I stood up from my spot, my joints popping from the movement. Kíli got up along with me, laughing a bit to himself.

"He wouldn't hit her." He replied back, steadying me as I wobbled a bit.

"Sometimes Wendy can say things that'll make you want to punch her in the face." We didn't manage to take more than a few steps as we heard the sound of twigs breaking and leaves crunching under someone's feet. Kíli immediately tensed up, grabbing hold of my arm and pulling me back towards him. We were up against a tree, him holding me behind him and against the tree for coverage while he peered around the trunk to see who was coming our way. I peeked around the other end, totally ignoring his attempt to keep me hidden.

I had to hand it to the Nursing School - they really got that ugly olive green color to blend in with the environment. At a distance she looked like a giant green blob that kind of blended in with the surrounding but I could tell it was Wendy.

"Wen?" I shouted, stepping out from behind the tree. Kíli said something unintelligible towards me but I ignored him. The blob looked up at me and I saw Wendy wave at me. It wasn't one of those 'arm high in the air flailing like an idiot' wave but just the subtle raise of her hand like she was going to say hi but thought against it. As she came closer into view I could see Fíli was trailing behind her. Kíli and I made our way towards them and I had to refrain from tackling my friend to the ground and yelling, 'I told you so!' in her face.

"Where did you go?" I asked, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her tightly. I made a face and pulled back, feeling something wet seep onto the front of my clothes. I looked at Wendy and noticed that she was somewhat wet. Her hair was soaked and her skin had little droplets of water clinging to her. Her scrubs had wet spots on it like she had used it at a towel to dry off but it failed at its job. She was shivering a bit and hugging herself like she was trying to keep warm.

"How are you speaking Westron?" She asked, squinting and tilting her head to the side like a puppy. Completely ignore my question Wendy, that's cool.

"How are you speaking Westron?" I questioned back not entirely sure how to answer. She looked to Kíli then back to me and shrugged her shoulders.

"That's not important."

"Well where'd you go?" I repeated. Fíli motioned for Kíli and the two brothers snuck a few feet away to whisper to each other while Wendy and I talked. Wendy made frownie faces as she thought to herself moment.

"I jumped back into the river." She finally stated, letting out a sigh. "I thought that if I got back into the river I'd be able to get back home but it didn't work. I swam up river, down river, floated, and waded in the water and everything."

"Were you just gonna leave me?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood. Unfortunately Wendy didn't take it that way.

"No, I just wanted to make sure that was the way to get home! I didn't want you to have another near drowning experience." She started crying now, sniffling and trying to hold back her tears. "I thought that since you found Fíli and Kíli in the river that it was the route of transportation from Indiana to Middle Earth." She sniffled some more and I took a step back. "We went underwater and resurfaced here and I thought it would work that way too but nothing happened." I glanced over to Fíli and Kíli who looked almost as terrified as me.

"This doesn't make any sense. I don't know what would be keeping us from getting back home." She wiped a few tears from her face and motioned to the area around her. "This isn't real. This shouldn't be real. My alarm will go off in a couple of minutes and I'll wake up and get ready for the day." When Wendy wasn't looking I mouthed 'Help me' to the brothers who shook their heads no in return. I turned back to Wendy who was looking at me expectantly as if I needed to confirm her thoughts that this was all a bad dream.

"I don't…think…so." I replied back hesitantly. The last thing I wanted was a complete and total meltdown. "Wenny-kins. I'm pretty sure this is real." I placed my hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "This may be very scary for you but let's focus on the bright side."

"Which is?"

"Were not dead." Most people would be excited that they were still alive but not Wendy. Instead, she started crying again. She covered her face in her hands to muffle out her sniffles. I looked back at the guys for some kind of help and they were even further back from before and looking as if I just started the countdown on a bomb. I pulled my hands back and pointed to the guys.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, Fíli and Kíli are brothers. Did you know that?" I put on the most cheerful, happy face I could muster. Wendy peeked at me between her fingers and nodded yes.

"Are you serious?" I asked. Wendy nodded again and moved her hands from her face. She wiped some of the tears from her eyes as she let out a shaky breath.

"Fíli told me when we were by the river." I shot a glare at Fíli who only looked back in confusion. Kíli was staring at the two of us, shaking his head no.

"What did you two talk about?"

Wendy sniffled a few more times before answering.

"He said we should stick with him and his brother." My eyes widened in surprise and I could feel my heart racing with excitement. I must have done something really good to please the Goddesses to be rewarded with this. I looked back at Fíli and mouthed 'I love you' to him which caused him to look even more confused. Slowly, the brothers made their way over to us, still keeping enough distance between us as if Wendy was about to explode.

"Did you two come to an agreement to stay with us for a bit?" Fíli asked.

"Yep, Wendy and I will follow you two where ever you go!" I didn't even hesitate in my statement. Forget that I totally sounded like a stalker and overruled whatever Wendy might have been thinking. The two brothers stared at Wendy for confirmation of my decision. The poor thing had her arms folded across her chest and she turned her attention away from them. At least she wasn't crying anymore.

"I guess. I don't have any other choice, do I?"

(Hours and miles later)

Okay so trudging through forests and fields wasn't exactly as grand as I thought it would be. Wendy wasn't any help, being her normal gloomy self and staying behind us. We all gave it an honest effort to cheer her up but we got nothing. I, on the other hand, took the opportunity to talk to our companions which was pretty amazing.

A couple of things I'd like to address is that Fíli and Kíli are dwarves. Yep, dwarves. At first I didn't believe it but ever so slowly did Kíli get me to come around. He told me a few things about dwarves, Mahal and a few things about their culture. Some topics the brothers became super guarded on so I didn't pursue those things. I tried to keep it as light and fun as possible.

Also, I learned that there were other races here in Middle Earth. There was man, which wasn't that surprising. Then there were dwarves, Fíli and Kíli. There were other races like hobbits, whatever those were. And lastly there were elves, a race that you had to be careful with. Fíli and Kíli told me some wild stories of goblins and trolls and other beasts they faced and I was in a world of bliss listening to them. Some of the stories were so wild I honestly couldn't believe them but enjoyed them nonetheless.

Finally, I had to ask the guys how they got to Indiana. They told me how they were traveling when one of their horses got spooked and darted off, getting stuck in a river. Kíli tried to untangle her but things went wrong and blah blah blah. I guess you can piece together the rest of that story. It really didn't differ from ours much.

The two brothers were just as curious about Indiana as I was of Middle Earth and fired questions one after another. I had to explain about the giant skyscrapers, the hospitals and buildings they may have seen and, of course, cars. Wendy would make a comment or two, correcting me where I made mistakes but other than that she was pretty quiet. One thing Kíli wouldn't stop questioning was spaghetti. If there was one thing I learned that day and will never forget is how much Kíli liked spaghetti. The talking helped us pass time and as the day dragged on, our stomachs began reminding us that we needed to eat. And soon.

"Wendy," I whined, "I would kill to get a double steak burger, fries and a coke from Steak N' Shake right now." My stomach growled in agreement with me.

"What is that?" Kíli questioned.

"Food that's bad for you." Wendy replied back, looking up and around the area. She had been quiet for a while and Fíli eyed her curiously as she continued her awkward searching. She kept looking around like there was annoying gnat flying around that she just couldn't locate.

"It's so good though. It's two beef patties between two slices of bread with cheese, tomato, onions, lettuce and pickles loaded onto it." My stomach growled in anger at myself and Kíli's replied back with a growl of its own.

"Sounds like a sandwich." The dark haired dwarf stated.

"It's a burger so it's better." I eyed Wendy as she started walking away from our little group. "You alright?" I asked as I followed after her. I could hear Fíli letting out an annoyed sigh as I passed on by. I shot him an apologetic look back towards him, hoping he'd take the hint that maybe Wendy just needed some alone time from them. His face softened up a bit from the annoyed expression that was on it.

"Don't wander too far!" He shouted towards us. I waved towards him as an acknowledgment as I continued after Wendy, trying my best not to get smacked in the face by a low tree branch.

"You okay?" I asked again as I caught up with her. She was standing still, wringing her hands together and looking around.

"You can smell that right?" She asked. I made a face, suddenly feeling self-conscious that maybe I was smelly.

"Excuse me?" I replied back as I pulled my shirt up a bit to sniff it. I grimaced at the smell of old, dirty water and sweat that seemed to be on my shirt.

"I swear I can smell apples or something." Wendy mumbled looking around briefly before walking off again. I sniffed the air, hoping to catch whatever she smelt but got nothing.

"I think you might be losing it a little." I called out, trailing behind her again. "Are you sure you're okay? You haven't really been taking this whole me being right thing very well."

"Because this whole thing is normal." She replied back sarcastically. "Because you know, worm holes or portals and other worlds or parallel universes exist. Magic is real. Dwarves and elves are real –"

"Oh, so you were listening!"

"Elli." Wendy whined, stopping and turning around abruptly to face me. I nearly bumped into her as she pleadingly looked at me. "Please. Just please be serious for a moment and don't look at this like some sort of vacation or holiday. We are in a world that is completely different from our own. We have no food. No shelter. No way to defend ourselves. Our only plan is to stick with Fíli and Kíli till we reach a town that we think is safe before we go our separate ways." She had that look on her face again like she was two seconds away from crying.

"And so far we are doing fine." I stated, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. Maybe I had been a little neglectful of her feelings today. "We're going to be okay." I let her go and took a few steps back. "Come. Let's get back to the guys. Maybe they found something to eat." I waited her to follow me but she started walking in another direction, totally ignoring me. For some reason she was being weird - weirder than her nerdy awkward self.

"There's the apple tree right over there." She stated pointing in front of her. I squinted my eyes and looked out to where she was pointing.

"Are you serious Wen?" I groaned, quickly making my way in that direction. Sure enough there it was, an apple tree. How she knew it was there was beyond me. A majority of the apples were still yellow-green and unripe but my stomach didn't care. I circled under the branches, looking up at the fruit and pouting.

"Uuugh! Wendy I want one!"

"Pick one and take a bite."

"I won't die will I?" I asked as I began climbing up the tree. It had been a while since I'd been tree climbing and I was moving slowly, testing the branches to make sure they wouldn't break under my weight. It wasn't that the tree was super tiny or anything, it was basically the standard apple tree and there was the possibility that I could snap one of the branches.

"From eating unripe apples? No, I think they worst you'll get is GI upset." I frowned to no one in particular and tried to think of what she meant by GI upset.

When I found a good looking bunch of apples on a branch I reached out for one of them. The first apple I plucked was yellowish green with a very faint red blush starting to form along its skin. I took a large bite out of it and immediately grimaced and spat the piece out.

"How was it?" Wendy called up to me.

"Awful. It was super sour and just disgusting." I tossed aside the apple and scooted back to the trunk, hoping to find another branch that had some decent looking apples on it.

"Why don't you try looking for more reddish apples?"

"I'm trying. How many apple trees have ripe apples in August, Wen?" My stomach growled and I ignored whatever comments Wendy was making. Finally I found a limb that looked a little promising and managed to pick an apple that seemed a little redder than all the rest. I took a bite out of it let out a sigh of relief.

"Did you find one?"

"A little sour but not too much."

"See any more?"

"Not really, but I'll keep looking."

Wendy and I had a hoot of a time after that first apple. I couldn't eat and climb at the same time so I just bit into the sucker and held the fruit between by teeth as I climbed around and picked more apples. Eventually it turned into a game of me throwing unripe apples at Wendy and her trying to avoid them. She was a good sport about it, dodging the apples and throwing a few right back at me that she caught. Eventually when we found some more apples that seemed ripe enough to eat I tossed them down to her. Once I finished my apple and we collected a good amount of the fruit, I climbed out of the tree and helped her carry our little treats back to the guys. The sound of the grass and leaves crunching under our feet filled most of the silence as we wandered around for the path back to Fíli and Kíli.

Wendy was the first to break the pleasant silence between us.

"I keep thinking," she began, "that any moment I am going to wake up and everything will be back to normal." I glanced over to see that she had that confused look on her face, like she was pondering where she went wrong.

"Rivers don't just randomly transport people. Dwarves, hobbits and elves aren't real and magic doesn't exist." My mood flattened a bit as she went on. "And if this is all real, why didn't the river take me back home when I jumped in it?" I don't know if she was just thinking out loud or if she wanted me to reply back but I had to give her my two cents worth of information. She wasn't the only one who had contemplated what happened that night. I had my own little theory in my head and wanted to voice it out.

"Because you didn't factor danger into your equation." I replied back like it was the most obvious thing in the world. To be honest, this was getting annoying. It was like trying to get an Atheist to believe in Christianity or a deity. It was frustrating, her idea's clashing with mine: me trying to show proof and her trying to deny them.

Like it or not honey, this was real.

"What?"

"Danger. That spell I casted a few days ago, it was designed to protect against danger. When Fíli and Kíli were drowning on the Middle Earth side, they ended up in Indiana. When I was unconscious and Eddie and Darrel were trying to kill you guys also, you all were in danger." There was the lack of sound of Wendy following me and I had to turn around to see her standing there, staring at me in disbelief.

"How does something that's supposed to protect send you to another….place?" I stood still in fear as Wendy started trembling out of anger.

"There was also an enchantment for travel I mixed in with it. Traditionally it's marked as a route on a map but since we don't really have maps nowadays I just put it on the bridge." Wendy was now glaring daggers at me.

"How does that differ from marking a map?" She snapped. I started sweating bullets when I realized I was in dangerous territory.

"Map markings are stable where time and the river's current aren't. There isn't too much binding the travel spell to physical travel." There was what seemed like a long silence between us while Wendy stared me down.

"So your magic spell can't tell the difference between protecting a traveling route, such as point A to point B?"

"Yeah…?" I replied back uncertainty. I was a little confused at what she was getting at.

"Instead, it just does whatever it wants to people in an attempt to protect them, say, make them travel to another world?" I felt like with whatever answer I gave her I was screwed. I would send her over the edge. She would explode and little bits of Wendy's insides would hail down on me. Ew. Gross.

"I guess. Traveling and protection spells are old. I'd have to research their origin and function. Go back to the river, see what components aren't binding and fix it. It's kind of like baking a cake. You add too much or too little of an ingredient and it doesn't come out right. You got to play with things before you get it just right."

Once again we were stuck in this awkward, tense silence for what seemed like eternity. Wendy closed her eyes and slowly nodded her head a few times like she understood. For a moment I thought I was in the clear. I let out a relieved sigh only to regret it a second later. Something hard hit me in the shoulder and I yelped out in surprise. One of the apples Wendy had rolled on the floor as she freaked out.

"Are you serious?!" She snapped. I cringed as she threw another apple at me. "You're comparing time travel or universal changes to baking a cake?!" I dodged the fruit as best as I could. "You're an idiot. You're unbelievable. You're-"

"Wen, calm down."

"No! I am out in the woods in a strange place with two…dwarves...and my best friend is totally okay with it. We're either going to die from starvation or exposure and she's okay with it."

"Look, we'll get back to Fíli and Kíli and everything will be alright." She threw another apple at me that I couldn't avoid. Good thing for me that Wendy only did track and cross country in high school and not softball or I'd be dead.

"No. You can go back to Kíli and Fíli. I'm not staying here anymore. Every time I trust you that things will be okay they actually get worse!" I glanced back at her and saw she had started stomping off. I took a few steps after and she whipped back around, shooting death glares at me that made me freeze in fear again. "If you follow me Elli I swear to whatever God you believe in that I will lose it." I wanted to tell her she already has lost it but I stood still.

"Are you going to come back?" I asked as she turned back around and walked off. I stood still in my spot watching her disappear off into the woods.

(With the Company)

It was difficult for Bilbo to wrap his head around what was happening. Dwarfish customs were new to him and it took him a while to piece together what was going on. The day they lost Fíli and Kíli, the Company decided to stay for the night and resume their search for them again in the morning. A good portion of day was spent searching the area and up and down the river for the two heirs. Everyone's hopes started high, wanting to find the lads together, safe, and unharmed. As the hours passed and everyone's morale began to fade, the dwarves just wanted to find a body.

It was then Bilbo learned that the belief for dwarves was that the body was a vessel for the soul. If anything happened to Fíli and Kíli's body, their souls would have nowhere to rest and could not be called upon by their Creator, Mahal. If their souls were never called upon, none of the dwarves would ever see them again in the afterlife. Eventually their searching had to come to a stop and their quest had to be continued. Thorin had to be the one to make that decision and it was a difficult one for him to make: Erebor or his nephews. The vast wealth and home of his people to be reclaimed or the futile search for his nephews who may never be found.

It was obvious that the King Under the Mountain was struggling with if he had make the right decision. Balin had to quietly explain to Bilbo that dwarfish burial and grieving customs could be long. There was the initial preparation of the burial and then the burial itself which should be prompt. Then there were periods of mourning called 'hadud' which lasted seven days and 'trem' which lasted thirty. Of course there wasn't time for any of this. There was no body to bury and not enough time to grieve. The small amount of time that was given to the lost dwarves included a prayer in Khuzdul and a moment of silence. Their journey that day was slow and quiet. The usual mayhem caused by the Durin heirs were missed and the quiet made everything worse. There was no form of distraction to get them away from their loss.

When morning rolled back around, they continued on as a gloomy little group till they had to stop again for night. Once camp was made, everyone divided themselves into groups. Oin and Gloin were having an argument of some sort while Balin and Dwalin remained by Thorin's side. Bofur helped Bombur with dinner while Dori and Nori watched the ponies. Bilbo couldn't recall where Gandalf and Bifur were (somewhere probably close to Bofur and Bombur if not close to Thorin) while Ori wandered around by himself.

Bilbo forgot how young the dwarf was. Although he had his older brothers, Ori was closer in age with Fíli and Kíli, sometimes getting caught in their mischievous games. Bilbo had followed Ori out from their little campsite, watching the youngest dwarf of the group meander about after being dismissed from watching the ponies. Every now and then Ori would pick up a small stone, load it into his sling shot and just randomly fire the bullet at a tree. Little birds would fly from their hiding spots, squawking and flapping their wings to get to safety. They were half-hearted shots that weren't really intended to do anything.

"Are you feeling alright?" Bilbo asked, causing Ori to jump up in surprise. The young dwarf turned around to stare at him, making Bilbo feel a little guilty for scaring him. "Everyone is grouped together at the camp. I just wanted to make sure you were alright by yourself." Everyone was taking the loss their own different ways. Some were more irritable while others were more withdrawn and Ori seemed a little more distant than normal.

"I'll be fine." Ori replied back, picking up another stone and loading his sling shot. "I just," he paused for moment, searching for the right words to say. "I didn't think we'd lose anyone on this journey." He let the shot go but it missed the trees, flying off into the dark somewhere. "I knew there was a possibility but I didn't think we'd actually lose anyone. And so early." The two remained quiet for a moment, not really knowing what to say to each other.

"Fíli and Kíli kept saying how we'd all make it to Erebor. They would constantly argue about who'd defeat the dragon Smaug." The dwarf laughed a little to himself, repeating his actions. "Fíli said it would be their Uncle while Kíli kept saying it would be him and his bow." Bilbo nodded his head, seeing the logic in that.

A small dwarf king and his sword against an enormous dragon? Bilbo couldn't see Thorin winning that battle all by himself, no matter how terrifying and skilled he was. Kíli could at least be able to hit the fire drake from a distance.

"Somewhere down the line they started joking it would actually be me and my slingshot that kills Smaug." Bilbo smiled a little at the dwarf's comments. "I didn't mind it. It was a little funny." Ori loaded up his shot one more time and halfheartedly let the pebble fly.

The two expected to hear the squawk of birds but when they heard a feminine yelp they had to pause and take a look at each other. Ori was wide eyed, looking at Bilbo as if he wanted assurance that he heard the noise also. The two made their way to the source of the sound, trying their best to be quick and quiet as they moved.

There were the muffled sounds of something whining in pain and Bilbo had to peak around a tree to see what Ori had recently hit.

A human girl was sitting on the ground, clothed in a dirty, dark, green tunic and some weird form of dark, green pants. Her black hair was slightly messy, little leaves sticking out from it like she had been walking in the woods for a while. Ori let out a little whine when the girl moved her hand from the side of her head, revealing that she was bleeding a tiny bit from where she must have been hit. She sniffled a few times as if she was trying not to cry as she pressed her hand against the side of her head again.

"Are you alright?" Ori asked, peering over some bushes. The poor dwarf looked completely embarrassed for accidently hitting her with one of the pebbles and came out of his hiding spot. Bilbo came out from behind his tree, following Ori to where the girl was seated. She didn't appear to be the least bit threatening. The poor thing let out a terrified squeak, backing away with her hands and feet from them as they approached her.

"Sta..stay back!" She said, her voice shaking as she backed herself into a tree. Bilbo and Ori stopped moving towards her and stood still, not wanting to scare her anymore.

"I just want to make sure you're alright. I didn't mean to hit you." Ori stated, sounding apologetic as he crouched down to be closer to her level. Bilbo watched as the girl stared between the two of them, trembling and breathing rapidly.

"Are you alone?" The hobbit asked, not wanting strangers jumping out of nowhere to ambush them. The others were still a few ways off but if they made a loud enough ruckus, surely someone would come to find them. The girl remained quiet and didn't indicate if she had companions or not.

Ori took the opportunity to scoot a little closer to her, making the hobbit cringe in trepidation. Wild animals were known to attack when cornered, humans could do the same and Bilbo feared she might lash out on Ori if he got too close.

"I'm really sorry," the dwarf began, "I didn't mean to hurt you." Ori received a nod from the girl, making him smile a bit. At least she was responding to him now. Bilbo took a spot next to Ori and crouched down beside him.

"Are you lost?" He asked receiving another nod.

"I just…I want to go home." She whined. Bilbo looked to Ori, making a face. The hobbit was sympathetic to the girl's want, having have felt home sick a few times himself.

"Where is your home?" Ori asked. The girl became quiet and teary eyed and looked like she was about to cry. The dwarf immediately looked regretful, trying his best to calm her.

"Shh…shh…it's alright." He said, looking at his companion for help. Bilbo shrugged his shoulder, staring back just as confused. "What do we do?" Ori whispered.

"I don't know. Should we tell Thorin?" Before Ori could answer there was the sound of footsteps coming from behind them.

Not the normal sounds of Nori, Ori of Bofur casually look for them. It was the heavy, thudding of one of the few dwarves in the group that would actually be the worst person to show up.

"Ori? Master Baggins?" A gruff voice called out. If the girl was scared of them, now was the appropriate time to be fully terrified for her life.

Of course it would have been Dwalin to come looking for them. That was probably just her kind of luck. With the loss of Fíli and Kíli, it was only natural that the older dwarves in the group would become a little more concerned and protective when their youngest member went missing. And of course it had to be the most terrifying, suspicious of others, and insensitive to other peoples' problems type of dwarf to find them.

"What are you two do-" Dwalin began, approaching their little group. Ori and Bilbo looked between each other as the girl began to hyperventilate. It didn't help that Dwalin started shouting something in Khuzdul alerting the others in the group. It didn't help that he came storming over with his giant axe in his hands. It didn't help make anything better when the other dwarves began showing up, talking in Khuzdul and Westron creating a jumbled mess of noise.

"It's just a girl."

"Ori, get over here!"

"What is a human girl doing in the woods?"

"Is she a thief? A spy?"

"Quit crowding her! You're all scaring her!"

Everyone's statements were a coagulated mess of questions, commands and threats. It wasn't till Thorin showed up that everyone became quiet. The poor girl was hugging her knees to her chest and looking away from everyone.

"What do we have here?" Thorin asked, stepping in front of the group and leaning over the girl. Bilbo scooted away and closer to the group.

"Just a girl who got lost in the woods." The hobbit stated when no one said anything.

"Is that true?" Thorin asked, eyeing the girl suspiciously. She didn't answer and continued looking away from everyone. The dwarf King didn't take the silence well and took his sword out from its sheath. He placed the tip of the weapon against her cheek that was facing away from him just lightly enough not to cut her. He used point to direct her attention towards him so she was now staring up at him.

"I asked you," Thorin began, voice dangerously serious. "If that was true."

Happy Halloween to everyone. Thank you to those who reviewed – I love you. They cheer me up whenever I check my inbox and I see them or I am just having a bad day and need a little pick me up. Yay!

Once again, review, send a comment, question, suggestion or just anything your heart desires.

I hope you enjoyed this :)

Be safe and have a wonderful holiday!