'We've found it!'

I jumped, having been fixing the sleeve of Ori's shirt and stabbing myself on the tip of my finger with a needle at Kili's sudden outburst. 'Ow!' I yelped, hastening to suck away the bead of blood. I had thought distantly of asking Oin to use some of his ointment (that still gets me) for some of the injury's that I had taken to my hands from sewing and fixing things.

Kili dangled over the ledge above us, dark hair splaying and a grin upon his face. He, Fili and Bilbo had gone off earlier that day in such of the Back Door, leaving the rest of the camp to lounge about in the steadily chilling weather. I'd trained with Dwalin for a little while, but had, in the end, grown too exhausted to carry on, much to the Dwarf's displeasure.

'The Back Door,' called Kili once again, kneeling to stare at us over the ledge and taking in our blank, tired looks. 'I think we've found it!'

Thorin had stood from his seat on a rock and stepped forward, head tilted back to eye his nephew. There was hush, a bated breath. 'Are you sure?' inquired Thorin gruffly. 'Kili-'

'I am sure, Thorin,' said Kili. 'Bilbo and Fili are waiting there now - it's exactly what we've been looking for!' This, apparently, had been enough for Thorin's approval. Not wanting to leave anyone behind just in case it was the door, he had ordered that we all get on our way and follow Kili.

I had slung my bag over my shoulder and pulled on my gloves (finger still hurt, by the way), while the rest of the company pushed swords into scabbards, made sure that the ponies were not to run off in our absence and tried to get Bombur to join us up on the ledge where Kili waited. Both Kili and Dwalin had been tying a rope around a boulder upon the rocky ledge, ensuring that it was tight enough to take our weights.

'I'm too fat,' moaned Bombur. 'I won't fit on the ledge, and that rope certainly won't carry me'. He crossed his arms defiantly and sat heavily on the ground. Although I didn't like the idea idea of leaving him there, I had to agree.

'Stop moping,' said Bofur, moving to kick his brother lightly in the back. 'Y'coming with us, no point in leaving you here if we do find the door, is there? Unless you want to hang back'.

Thorin shoved his sword into his scabbard roughly and rose forward, a look of determination evident on his face. Ever since Kili had announced the news of finding the Back Door, Thorin had been quiet and thoughtful. 'Bofur, stay with Bombur until we call for you. If it is not the door, there is no worry in getting all of the company up on the ledge. If it is the Back Door, then we shall come back for both of you, and you will both mount the rope'.

Bombur had looked both sullen and, in my, opinion, whipped. 'Aye,' he agreed with a sigh, while Bofur had plonked himself down next to his brother and 'tsked' at him.

'The rope is ready,' called Dwalin, tugging at the said rope and looking over his shoulder. 'Millie, come. You go first'. Dear Lord, the guy can be a gentlemen.

Deciding not to give the whole 'just because I'm a girl' eye roll, I had settled with just shutting up and doing what Dwalin had said. Making sure that my bag wouldn't swing off of my shoulder and land on an unsuspecting Dwarf, I had then allowed Dwalin to tie the thick rope around my waist, give a little tug and allow Kili to begin hefting me up.

There was a great huff from up above, and with my feet dangling above the ground, I had said, 'If you say I'm heavy, I will legitimately push you off that ledge, Dwarf'.

Below me, Nori had snorted.

I held tightly onto the rope and thought of mine and Kili's training session. It hadn't been mentioned since, but the fact that each of the Dwarves had seen our domestic troubles had caused me a butt-load of worry. I mean, sure, he was still fretting about me getting into any trouble or whatever, but that fight had only shown just how...worried both of us were.

I don't know. I don't really like thinking about it.

Once Kili had pulled me up as close as he could, I quickly threw my bag onto the ledge while simultaneously reaching for his hand. With a solid look, he grabbed onto my forearm and dragged me over the edge and I had rolled onto my back, snorting at his comment of, 'Graceful, as always'.

This went on for another fifteen minutes. You know, throw the rope down, tie a Dwarf up, pull them up, throw the rope down. The hardest was probably Bifur, who babbled in Ancient Dwarfish and refused to let anyone help him up onto the ledge. Bloody Dwarven pride and stubbornness.

The last was Thorin. After that, we had all lingered for a moment, making sure that Bombur and Bofur were okay, before starting our walk to the Back Door, Kili leading with the line of us behind him.

The path wound around south, and we had been forced to cling to the edge of the Mountain as we tiptoed around the corner, following Kili back to where he had left Fili and Bilbo. The wall of the Mountain became rockier, and the floor less flat and steady beneath our feet. It had looked like a path had once been there though, and when I said this, Thorin had said,

'It looks as if rough steps once stood upon this path too. That's a good sign'.

And heck, it had. Really rough steps. They had hardly even looked like steps, actually. I would call them slight indents into the rock. Yes, that sounds much better.

The sky had been a grey colour that day, and briefly that morning there had been a small flurry of snow as we had awoken to the minus temperatures of the Lonely Mountain. Upon my dramatic statement of, 'Winter is coming', Balin had looked mildly up at the sky and said, 'Aye, it is, Millie'.

No one understands me.

'It's going quite high, isn't it?' said Dori, palms still pressed against the wall as he leaned over a little, just to get a better look. I had agreed with him with a little frightened grunt, only then looking down to see just how high we had gotten. 'How much further?'

I had almost missed Kili's reply as a small gust of wind blew my braid into my mouth, causing me to splutter. Like when most comical things happened to me, I heard the distant snort of Nori's chuckling somewhere behind me. Stupid starfish.

'Not much,' answered Kili shortly as he kept an eye on where he was standing. I had noticed his hand hovering behind him, as if reaching for me without quite knowing where I was. With my boots tripping a little over the pebbled and rocky surface of the pathway, I had reached for him, brushing my gloved once against his. I hadn't let anyone see this, of course. I had been too worried that they would make fun of me. Or worse, Kili.

Momentarily, his hand had caught mine, only to let go after a small squeeze.

'-it's Durin's Day, Balin. If this isn't the door, our Quest to reclaim Erebor will have been for nothing-'

With a bitter little look, I had cut off Dwalin's no-so-quiet voice. Of course, this worry had been on all of our minds, which was why Thorin had been sending out more and more search parties, mostly consisting of Fili, Kili and Bilbo - the quietest and sneakiest of the lot, he had said.

The rocks built up to a bit that Kili told us we would have to climb upon, but after that the pathway was smoother and ascended upward and, sure enough, soon enough we had seen Fili and Bilbo beating their palms against a wall. Fili had even kicked it.

'What did the wall do to you, huh?' I had called up to them, following Kili forward with a witty smile on my face and a carefree little hop over a step-

Which ended horribly, might I add.

In the process of said hop, I had landed awkwardly and therefore slipped, my feet not quite knowing were to catch themselves on the uneven ground. It wasn't even a graceful fall either, if there was such a thing. My hand had scrambled for anything to grab onto and, with nothing to grab quickly enough, the top of my head had collided rather hard with the stone wall.

To make matters worse, I hadn't even passed out to save myself the embarrassment of facing the others.

'Oh my God!' I yelped, grabbing at my head and trying to not trip again. Dori, bless him, had caught me around the waist with fumbling, awkward hands and a surprised oof. 'My freakin' head-!'

'Millie, be quiet!' hissed Thorin, apparently the only one who was aware of the dragon who lurked beyond the walls.

'I'm so sorry,' I babbled, eyes watering with the sheer pain. 'Just go on ahead of me,' I had said, sinking onto my butt and mourning the bump that was sure to erupt on the top of my head. The Dwarves, in all their sympathy, had done as asked. One by one, they had stepped over me - a few of them had even patted me awkwardly on the head, jumping at my quiet wail.

Not only had I been miffed at the hurt, but I had been miffed at myself. Yet another reason for Thorin to snap at my loud and not so subtle ways.

'How can someone be so terrible at walking in a straight line?' inquired Kili, now ducking down to kneel before me. We sat only a small way from the rest of the company, and I could hear them talking of Durin's Day, the Back Door and others things concerning the whereabouts of the moon and the sun in the sky. Carefully, Kili had taken my head in his hands.

Grumpily, I had replied with a defensive, 'We were walking on a cliff edge'.

'That is true,' replied Kili, though a ghost of a smile had played on his face, just in front of mine. 'Are you hurt?'

I sent him a bland look.

'Right. Come - sit while we figure out whether this really is the Back Door-'

I shook my head, but had regretted the action immediately. 'Nah, Thorin will get all disapproving if I just lounge back after a small hit on the head. I'll stand'.

I mean, Thorin was probably less than pleased that I'd just given up after a small hit on the head, right? So maybe I could show him that I was all tough and ready if I just got to my feet and showed him that, yes, I was hurt, but I could still march on.

Oh Millie, you warrior, you. Gandalf would be proud.

Standing was a horrible idea. Because of standing, I had then been forced to continue standing while pretending to be interested in the fact that the bloody door was not opening, while also worrying about the fact that I probably had a concussion.

I mean, there wasn't even a door anyway. It was just a wall and a load of rock going inward, like the curve of a cave. On top of that, the sky was darkening with twilight and many of the company were growing annoyed at the lack of anything happening. Thorin was especially grumpy at the prospect of not really knowing whether the door would open when the light came, or if it had really been the door at all.

If it wasn't, then it was a wasted opportunity that we could not repeat. At least not for a while.

The rest of the company were murmuring to themselves and to others, some standing and some sitting. Dori, Nori and Ori were fighting about something, though I assumed it had something to with Nori egging Ori on, while Dori took the role of mother hen. Dwalin, Balin and Thorin were conversing next to the smooth, grey stone wall, stern looks on their hard faces.

As I had sat atop a boulder (screw standing), head in my hands, fingers had come from behind and gently pressed against the top of my head. I had known straight away that they sought out the injury, and had quickly ducked away with a grimace and a grumpy look up at Fili.

The blonde cocked a brow. 'I merely wanted to see whether the injury was as bad as you make out it is,' he reasoned, reaching forward again. Not liking his tone, I had scowled.

I ducked again.

'Did you see me face-plant that wall? I think we can pretty much say that the injury is bad, Fili,' I shot back, aware of the Dwarves all resting against rock and wall around us. Kili spoke with his Uncle, while Bilbo continued to gaze out to the mist that had drifted to the lower parts of the Mountain, thoughtful. I had wondered if Bombur and Bofur were okay, and whether they wondered where we were.

Probably not. They'd been left with all of the food.

Fili had snorted, mirth in his eyes. 'You did hit it rather hard. Are you feeling well - your sight is fine, and you're able to walk in a straight line?'

I gave him a shifty look. 'You're being nice'.

Fili straightened up, affronted. 'I am nice!'

An arm had been slung around his shoulder then, and attached to that arm was the smiling Kili. Honestly, only he cold find something to smile about in a situation as boring as this one. 'You have your moments,' considered the youngest Heir of Durin, tilting his head in mock thought.

I snorted, Fili huffed.

'Thorin's becoming more and more agitated. What if the moonlight does not cause the door to appear like the moon letters said they would?' inquired Kili, retracting his arm from his brothers shoulders. His voice had lowered somewhat, all of us aware of Thorin's short temper as of late. 'We have the key, we just need the door'.

'Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the key-hole,' said Fili, his voice plain as he recited the moon letters written on Thorin's Grandfathers map. 'The stone looks grey to me, and I'm sure that this is where the door is, considering the pathway and the steps'.

'If not...' reasoned Kili, dark eyes boring into his brothers with a significant look.

'We will come to that problem if it occurs,' replied Fili. I'd never really seen Fili and Kili as looking alike, with their polar opposites looks of night (the dark Kili) and day (the light Fili), but at the moment they had both looked fairly similar in the waning sunlight. I'd hardly noticed that the sky had darkened so-

'Moon and sun,' said Kili, staring hard at the sky with an almost startled look. 'The last light of Durin's Day-'

We all turned quickly, each Dwarf hearing precisely what Kili had said. The sky was a pinkish colour as the evening sun descended, and the pale moon rose into the sky. Silence. That's all that had reigned at that precise moment. Utter silence as one thought had run through each of our minds, one thought concerning the rest of the moon letters.

'The thrush!' Bilbo practically jumped out of his skin as the old looking bird swooped from somewhere up above, doing something quite similar to what I had done: it had face planted the grey wall where the door should have been. I jumped to my feet, grabbing onto Kili's arm in all of my excitement. Where moonlight had shone onto the door, and where the thrush had pecked it's way into, there came a small hole.

I made a startled noise that sounded, when written, something along the lines of, 'Asdfghjkl'. Flapping my hands around my face I had said, 'It's happening, oh my-' I put my hands over my mouth as Bilbo had cut me off.

'Thorin!' snapped Bilbo, very aware of the moon and the sun and oh my God, we were running out of time. 'The key, there's not much time - Thorin!'

I had never heard Bilbo talk to Thorin in such a tone, but the King, apparently, did not care. He had swept the intricately designed key from a chain around his neck, practically throwing it at the nervous and excited Bilbo Baggins.

'Put it in!' ordered Dwalin, rough voice hardly hiding how anxious he was, like all of us.

With my hands still over my mouth, I had removed them quickly to say a squeaky, 'That's what she said!' Before slamming them over my mouth again, watching anxiously as Bilbo, throwing himself at the wall, had done exactly what Dwalin had requested. The key had fit into the hole, which was three feet above the ground, and with a sharp twist there was a snap.

Sun sank and moon rose, the company waited with baited breath.

Long, silvery looking lines appeared where a part of the wall had given away. They cracked along the stone, five feet high and three feet broad. Bilbo pulled away the key, watching as the lines cracked and sprung like magic, glowing and weaving. They shaped out a door, big enough for any of us to slip through. Then, with a deep sigh, the door had swung inward.

What stared back at us was a deep, endless tunnel that seemed to seep and yawn darkness, leading all the way down into Erebor.

Quite a short and simple chapter, but that's only because of what's to come. Gah, I'm so excited to write about Smaug and Erebor. Considering that the book can be quite vague, I'm going off on my own tangent and imagination with a lot of things. I hope you liked this chapter!

Thank you so much for the reviews, by the way. I know that I say this every time, but some of the reviews that I get are so lovely. Seriously, thank you so, so, so much. You make me feel so much better about myself and, golly, you're all such lovely and beautiful readers.