Disclaimer: J.R.R. Tolkien owns all save for the characters not in his works.

I'll follow you down through the eye of the storm
Don't worry I'll keep you warm.
I'll follow you down while we're passing through space
I don't care if we fall from grace
I'll follow you...

If I could find assurance to leave you behind
I know my better half would fade
I'll follow you down.

~I'll Follow You, Shinedown

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

T.A. 2941

The morning was bright and cool, as expected from early spring. The sun had barely just risen, but she had been awake far longer. Sleep did not come easy, and she had been packing since rising from fretful dreams. Her pack pay on the bed beside her, full and ready. Nuil gazed around the room sadly, knowing that it may be the last time she may ever see it.

Protecting four people, all who had a high likelihood of dying, boded ill for her chances of survival. Nuil did not mourn this though, she was rather resigned to it. She was old, far younger than her brothers, but still old. They would mourn her passing, but she had lived a good life . . . as good a life as she could have considering the circumstances. She meant what she had said to Thorin the night before.

Perhaps she did live to see Erebor restored to its former glory, and Thorin reunite his people. What would she do then? He was a king, he would be pressed to marry and raise an heir. Even if Fili was his heir already. It would be expected of Thorin to settle with a wife. She would not be the choice of his advisers, that she knew. Nuil was tolerated by the dwarves. Tolerated.

But a small part of her hoped, and dreamed.

With a sigh, she rose from the bed. She left the room without a backwards glance and made her way down the hall to the round front door. Nuil could hear the snoring of the dwarves from the living room. As she passed she could see several bundles, some with feet poking out from the bottoms of blankets, others half laying on each other. She could see Kili laying on his brother, feet propped up on Bofur's stomach. It brought a smile to her face.

Thorin was nowhere in sight, so she assumed he had taken a guest room. It didn't surprise her, but she did want to at least say goodbye for the time being. Nuil would not have woken of course, merely given him a parting kiss, putting his sleeping face to memory. But there was no time for that, no matter how much she wanted to. Pulling on her cloak she turned the latch on the green round door and met the cool morning air.

Birds were already singing as she descended Bilbo's garden to the gate and lane. Nuil made sure to lock it, resting her hands on wood. With one last glance at Bag End she walked away. Disappearing into the small gathering of trees beyond the hill.

Bilbo ran as fast as his feet would carry him, the contract flapping wildly in his hands. His pack bounced with every stride he made. He breathed hard as he crested yet another hill. She had left him! Nuil had left, without so much as a simple goodbye or letter. Bilbo was slightly hurt by that little detail. He figured that perhaps she was with the company. She was a traveler, and he had heard of her many adventures when he was a child. He admired her.

Perhaps he could have his own adventure with her? It was the thought that had made him leave his hole, running like a wild fauntling across the rolling hills and smials as his neighbors called out to him. He very well simply couldn't lie to them when they inquired after where he was going and his response had many of his fellows cringing.

Had be not been in such a rush, Bilbo would have worried about what they thought of him. He was after all a respectable hobbit.

Finally he came to the company, running down through the grove of trees. "Wait! Wait!" He jumped over a fallen branch, waving his arms madly. "Wait!"

They stopped, watching as he breathlessly halted beside Balin's pony. He took several deep breaths to collect himself. "I did it! I'm coming," Bilbo panted as passed the contract to Balin, smiling to the others a bit proudly. His eyes swept over them, looking for a familiar brown hair and kind face. Balin raise his brows as he read Bilbo's handwriting.

"Well, everything seems to be in order. Welcome to the company of Thorin Oakenshield, Mr. Baggins," he said. Bilbo nodded, catching the utterly sour look Thorin was giving him. For the life of him, Bilbo couldn't understand what he had done to make the dwarf leader so upset with him.

"Give him a pony."

"Oh, no, I can walk. I rather like walking."

"Move out."

Bilbo began to walk, wanting to be nowhere near a pony, only to be yanked into the air suddenly. He yelped, finding himself on the back of a rather spirited pony before he could blink. Kili and Fili flashed him wide grins.

"There you are, little cousin!" Kili announced.

"Cousin?!"

"Aye," said Fili. "You are Aunnie's nephew also."

"Aunnie?" Bilbo echoed.

"Aunt," Fili corrected. "It seems that I could not say it correctly when I was little, and the name stuck. She never corrects it."

"Well, she should!" Bilbo sputtered. He was very particular about proper names and spellings and all that what-not. 'Aunnie' was hardly appropriate. Kili laughed at his disgruntled face.

"Lighten up, burglar!"

"I'm- I'm not a burglar!" he yelled as the two rode ahead laughing. First they ransack his pantry, and now they were laughing at him!

"My dear Bilbo, you are a burglar. You signed the contract," Gandalf told him coming to his side. "Don't mind them. They are young in the years of their people, and it is rare to find such joviality."

"I thought Nuil was with you," Bilbo said changing the subject. He didn't want to talk about dwarves at the moment. He'd had enough to last him, thank you very much. His brow furrowed with worry as his thoughts turned to his friend. The wizard smacked his lips thoughtfully, looking as if he didn't want to speak.

"She left in the early hours of the morning," Gandalf said carefully. "Her whereabouts are entirely unknown."

"Oh." Bilbo was a little dispirited by this, hoping that she was to be here. But is seemed she really had left without saying goodbye. Part of him had hoped that she would be here, waiting. He had thought that she left without saying goodbye just to get him to come. Apparently he was wrong. Bilbo sighed watching as the dwarves began throwing bags of clinking metal to one another. He realized that it was money.

"What's all that about?" he asked the wizard, brows pulling together.

"Oh, they took wages on whether or not you'd turn up."

"I see," Bilbo said shoulders slumping. But they sank lower when Gandalf went on.

"Most of them bet that you wouldn't."

"And what did you think?"

In response a bag was thrown to Gandalf. He chuckled before putting it in his bags. "My dear fellow, I never doubted you for a second."

Bilbo hummed, glad that the wizard had some confidence in him seeing as so few of the dwarves did, before a great sneeze tore through him. He searched his pockets for his usual handkerchief, feeling that he had to sneeze again, finding that he didn't have any. With dread he realized that he had forgotten them back in Bag End. Confound it all.

He should never have left his smial. As his stomach rumbled he was reminded that he could've been enjoying second breakfast at that moment. Bilbo sneezed again, cursing slightly, before looking up.

He voice his need and was rebuked, rather laughingly, and thrown a rag from Bofur's cloak. With disgust but seeing that they would not be turning back, he silently pocketed the nasty rag.

"You'll have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs, and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins," Gandalf said thoughtfully when the commotion had died down, "before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire. But home is now behind you, the world is ahead."

She followed the company, keeping up with their pace surprisingly well. Nuil knew that once they reached open lands their pace would quicken, and she would lag behind. But it should be only a day at least. For now she had the comfort of seeing Bilbo and the others. Even if by nightfall her legs ached from walking the whole way. Her time spent in one place, growing at ease with the luxuries of life had made her soft. Far softer than she realized.

It was mainly uneventful for her, left with her own thoughts as company and the steady growing aches in her legs. Bilbo seemed to be in good hands at the moment. Kili and Fili had even gone as far as calling him 'cousin'. Nuil smiled, they truly were treasures. She was in the trees alongside them, careful to stay out of sight. She knew if Thorin saw her he would be very displeased.

Nuil knew that he loved her. Wanted her safety, but he also knew that she wouldn't be left behind.

So he took his annoyance and anger at not being able to hinder her out on the hobbit. Thorin had done nothing but glare at Bilbo the moment he had come running after them. She stood for a moment, gazing at his back as he rode. Her heart clenched painfully, sorrow and frustration filling her. He was strong and proud, loyal and the best dwarf she had ever known. But he really was thickheaded. He should know that even if Bilbo had stayed behind she would still follow. Taking a deep breath, Nuil moved her feet, following.

They traveled all day, out from the calm rolling hills of the Shire, to the long stretches of wild where there were few passing travelers to be seen. True to Nuil's belief, she began to lag behind. Once they had reached more open road Thorin had picked up the pace. She was near running at some points to keep them within her line of sight, which meant that she could always see them in the distance.

When nightfall fell, the company camped on a high ridge with a strong outcropping of rocks overlooking the forest covered terrain around them. Nuil made it to their camp an hour after they had, and found that supper had been made and they were settling in for the night. She stayed in the shadows, watching as she pulled bread from her pack and ate silently. Nuil watched as several members of the company began to settle down for the night, drifting to sleep. Fili and Kili were left to tend the fire. The elder smoking his pipe while the younger worked on fashioning himself more arrows. Gandalf lay against the rocks, smoking his own pipe. Thorin rested near his nephews, arms crossed and eyes closed. He looked peaceful, which she wished he looked more often. But he was hardly anywhere near sleep, holding himself rigidly.

Bilbo tossed and turned for a good hour before he finally rose to his feet, with a disgruntled look. Nuil followed him with her eyes as he went to his pony, Myrtle if she was remembering correctly, feeding it an apple. He spoke to his pony softly, and she smiled. It looked like Bilbo had finally warmed up to the animal even after his earlier complaints. He really could be a little over dramatic at times when pushed outside his comfort. She was slowly beginning to see the more Tookish side of him, faintly but shining through.

A screech tore through the air.

Nuil stiffened, gazing out over the land and gripping the hilt of her sword tightly. An orc or an animal, one of the two, she hardly cared. It still sounded dangerous, but far enough away to not be an imminent threat. Bilbo looked at Fili and Kili with alarm written on his face.

"What was that?" he asked, voice rising.

Kili looked out and then at Bilbo a deadly serious glint in his eyes. "Orcs."

"Orcs?!"

Thorin jerked awake, opening his eyes immediately alert. Nuil felt a chill rising up her spine, as old memories threatened to resurface. She turned a glare on the two, even though she didn't mean it wholeheartedly, and they could not see her. Bilbo looked positively terrified as they went on.

"Throat cutters," Fili said. "There'll be dozens of them. The lone-lands will be crawling with them."

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep," Kili added glancing around as if checking for the orcs. "Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." Bilbo looked back out over the land and Kili shared a smile with his brother. Why those little whelps. Teasing Bilbo and making fun out of something that was serious. Thorin saw their exchange a dark look crossing his face as he approached them.

"You think that's funny?" he growled. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

Kili's face fell, knowing that he had done something to upset his uncle, "we didn't mean anything by it."

"No." Thorin snapped. "You didn't. You know nothing of the world." He walked away from them towards the cliff and facing the open land. Nuil felt her heart twinge painfully at the sadness that underlined his voice. Only she had heard it. They stared after him shamefaced and Bilbo looked on in shock. Balin rose and approached the reprimanded dwarrow.

"Don't mind him, laddie," Balin sighed leaning against the rock. "Thorin had more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of orcs led by the most vile of all their race: Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king. Thror, Thorin's grandfather had entered Khazad-dum hoping to take back some of our sacred halls, bring wealth to our people. But in the dark he was tortured, his head carven into with the words 'AZOG' and thrown back out for us to find." Nuil shuddered from where she sat, remembering the horror she felt when she had learned of Thror's fate. He had held a dear place in her heart, and she had never had the chance to tell him goodbye. But hate filled her, learning of the late kings death and what the orcs had done to his body.

"Thrain, Thorin's father was driven mad with grief and declared war on Azog. We fought, but we were few in number. Thousands of orcs, it seemed, dwelled in our ancient halls, rising out and replacing their own even before we had slew them. Defeat and death were upon us." Balin looked up, a glint in his eye.

Nuil pressed her fist to her mouth, remembering all too well Azanulbizar. The deaths were too many. And as the years had passed, she had learned to try and move on. Yet hearing Balin's recounting sent tremors through her and Nuil was sure that if she were to open her mouth she would make a sound and be found out. She glared at her feet, wondering why she was affected so, with such intensity after all these long years. Balin's voice drew her back from her musings and she listened, though she no longer wished to.

"That is when I saw him. A young dwarf prince facing down the pale orc. He stood alone, against this terrible foe. His armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin, would not be so easily broken."

Nuil shut her eyes, knowing that Balin's words were not entirely true. Frerin had died that day, there was one that Azog had killed. She clenched her fists, forcing herself to listen to the rest of the tale. She knew it all, but remembering it- was difficult. Even after all these years.

"Our forces rallied, and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast nor song that night. Four our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived." Balin's voice caught and he shared a look with his brother, Dwalin. Unbeknowest to Nuil, the brothers had lost their father, Fundin, in that battle. Balin looked away first clearing his throat, returning his gaze to Thorin's back with a look of determination. "And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one, I could call king."

"And the pale orc, what happened to him?" Bilbo asked, after a pause. Kili was opening gaping at his uncle, while Fili seemed to be trying to straighten his shoulders, a motion that was more to give off the confidence that he wanted to feel and shake the overwhelming burden of responsibility that was soon to rest on his own shoulders.

"He slunk back into the hole whence he came," Thorin said returning to the camp. "That filth died of his wounds long ago." He turned away from them, unaware of the look shared between Balin and Gandalf. But Bilbo wasn't done with his questions. His eyes startlingly clear and intent.

"And Nuil? She mentioned Azanulbizar from her past . . ." his voice grew quiet. "She was there, wasn't she?"

Balin sighed, "aye, laddie."

Bilbo took a deep breath, sitting back and oblivious to the stare that he was receiving from Thorin and his nephews. The three knew she hardly brought up her past, making the hobbits knowledge of it a surprise. Nuil bit the inside of her cheek. She had mentioned Azanulbizar in one of her tales, unprepared for his keen interest and had been forced to divulge one too many things. He was always asking her questions.

"Do you- do you know what happened to her, there?" he went on unable to curb his curiosity. "I never could get her to explain."

"Aunnie doesn't talk about those things," Kili said speaking up. "She never has."

"If she doesn't tell you herself, you will never know," Fili added solemnly. Thorin remained quiet, even when Bilbo's curious gaze settled on him. The hobbit knew that Thorin knew what had happened with her, but he wasn't about to tell him. As far as Thorin knew, she was probably watching them this very moment. It was her story to tell, not his.

"Get some rest, Master Baggins," he said instead. "We leave early in the morning."

Nothing else was said that night. Save for Thorin looking into the trees surrounding their camp, with eyes full of worry. Little did he know that Nuil sat just a few feet from him, watching as he looked for her. She would show herself, just not yet. How she wanted to, to save him from his worry. In the shadows she opened her lips, but no sound came out as she mouthed three simple words: 'I love you.'

And somehow, Thorin knew.

First can I say, what a week! Whew! I never realized how busy I was until now. This is the first time in several days that I've been able to get on a computer. Going, going, going. Hope this chapter makes sense, it sort of jumps around a bit, so hopefully it's not too hard to follow. Let me know.

Special thanks to my reviewers!: uno mega, Chilled Souls of the Forgotten, The Penned Tekrid, Just4Me, Sam0728, and Comics4theFeels. Your input really helps! And thanks to my readers and followers as well!

Read and Review!

~filimeala