'Dwana!' Brann prayed that the dwarf girl was alright. 'Dwana, please come back!'

She tried to put some distance between herself and the ranger, but despite his injury the man was quick.

'Come back here, girl!' he yelled. He could tell that something was amiss between the healer and the young dwarf. The glares Dwana had given Brann all over the evening and this morning had been obvious. The ranger had first planned to get to Brann over the girl, but this was so much better. The two had left the house unnoticed to the others, nobody knew where they had gone. And while the young dwarf would get lost on her own he could have Brann. But first he would play along.

'She must be here, somewhere.' he assured Brann who jumped as he adressed her. Clever girl, she knows that she is at my mercy.

Brann sighed and stared into the dark forest. If Dwana did not want to come back then they had no chance of finding her. She only hoped that the girl would still hear them and was not lost. If Dwana was to fall into the hands of orcs and wargs Brann could never forgive herself.

'We should go back and ask for a rescue party.' she told the ranger and jerked back as he reached for her arm.

'Not so fast, my beauty.' he snarled. 'I have waited forever to be alone with you. You neighbours and your so called family have been very watchful. But they are not here now. You are alone. With me.'

Branns eyes widened as she saw the ranger walk up to her with a hungry gleam in his eyes.

'How could she?' Dwalin rubbed his temples after a long talk with Dis. She had told him all about his daughters behaviour since tehy had gotten to Bree. Her behaviour towards Brann, her crush on Thorin and now her interest in the ranger. Dis had also told him about the fight Brann and Dwana had last evening. Dwalin felt overwhelmed. Of course he had also sensed the tension, but he had not known that it was that bad. And that his daughter was interested in this ranger was beyond his understanding.

'How could she?' Dwalin muttered. 'I mean Thorin...alright, I might understand that. But the ranger! And that ranger! She knows that he is dangerous and wants to lay hands on Thorins wife. How could she...' he covered his face in his hands. 'I am not ready to be a father of a teen, Dis. I am absolutely not ready and I failed already.'

'You have not failed, my friend.' Dis tried to assure him. 'You need to get used to each other first. And a teen is never easy. Maybe you need to talk to her, thats all. Show her that you are there for her. Dwana has just recently lost her mother, thats a hard time for her. You are the only person she has left.'

Dwalin nodded wearily and looked around. 'Have you seen Dwana? I think I should talk to her before its too late.'

'I thought that she would be here, somewhere.' Dis noticed then that only Thorin and Dwalin were in the smithy. 'I haven´t seen her since this morning.'

'Maybe she is out with Brann?' Dwalin asked. 'Haven´t seen the lass since breakfast neither...and where is our guest?'

Dis and Dwalin looked at each other in alarm and rushed through the rooms, findig no trace of Brann, Dwana or the ranger.

'Thorin! Get in here!' Dwalin yelled in his panic and Thorin who despite the loud work, heard his alarmed yell and came rushing into the house.

'What is it? What happened?' he saw the worried faces of his sister and his friend and knew instantly that something was wrong. 'By Durins beard, tell me!'

'Brann and Dwana are gone.' Dis tried to hide the panic in her voice. 'As well as the ranger.'

Thorin felt his heart freeze. 'How could that have happened? How come that they all could disappear before our noses?'

'I was busy with Fili and Kili. I only heard Brann talk to Dwana, but as they were gone I thought that they had maybe made up and had gone to the market. I didn´t even look at the ranger, for his injury should have worn him down.' Dis paled and cursed her negligence.

'I will go to Dorn and ask him if he has seen any of them.' Thorin was sure that his wife was in danger, but he hoped that he was wrong. As he knocked at the carpenters door Elsa opened and looked at her neighbour with a startled expression.

'Thorin! Whats wrong!' she asked the dwarf who stood at her door, all pale and with wide eyes.

'Brann and Dwana are gone. They have not said a word about their whereabouts. Have you seen them?' Thorin asked and prayed to Mahal that Elsa had seen them. But his hopes were crushed with her answer.

'I am sorry, Thorin. I have not seen them. But I saw the ranger sneak out of your house.' Elsa looked at Thorin sheepishly. 'I heard that he was injured and that the other rangers brought him to you. I had hoped that you would bring him to the healers house, but I should have known that Branns honor as a healer would be stronger than her fear.'

Now, Thorin was really panicking. 'I have to search for her. How could she leave without saying a word?'

'I´ll help you.' Elsa grabbed her cloak and followed him. 'My daughters are at the market, maybe they have heard something.'

Together they rushed to the market, being joined by Dwalin, Dis and Fili and Kili on their way. They found Rose and Margret buying bread and sweets and startled them as they overwhelmed them with questions. It took a while for Rose and Margret to understand what the adults wanted from them. Rose had indeed seen Dwana rush to the gates, but she had not seen Brann or the ranger. On their way to the gates the group stumbled over Dorn, who was on his way back.

'There you are! I searched all over for you! Dwana and Brann are outside in the forest. This blasted ranger followed Brann into the woods!' Dorn had overheard some of the guards talk. 'We need to go and search for them!'

Brann advanced backwards until her back hit a tree. She was unable to move and as the rangers hands reached her body she began to shake.

'Don´t.' Brann closed her eyes and begged. 'Please. I love my husband. Don´t do this.'

'You do not love the dwarf.' the ranger hissed. 'You cannot. What does he have what I have not?'

Brann saw the madness in the rangers eyes, madness and lust. She was petrified as she realised that she was at his mercy. But even in this moment she had to stay true to herself.

'Thorin is a loving and gentle dwarf. He has honor and a good heart. He is my king. He is everything you are not.' she snarled and managed to kick the ranger between the legs. His grip on her untighten and Brann used her chance to flee.

The rangers furious shouts followed her into the woods, but Brann ran into the dark blinded by tears streaming down her face. As she stopped moments later she could only see shadows. The forest was incredibly dark and menacing shadows fell onto the cold ground. Brann screamed as a cold hand landed on her shoulder.

'By Mahal, be quiet!' Dwana appeared out of nowhere and looked at Brann with big eyes. 'Quick, follow me.'

Together they ran until they found a large meadow.

'The Shire is over there. I saw a few halflings go down that road.' Dwana whispered.

'They will not help us. The ranger saved their lives. They owe him.' Brann sighed.

'Then what do you suggest?' Dwana whispered.

'She is right you now.' a cold voice made them jump. The ranger had found them. 'How would you even think that you could run from me? I am a ranger, I read your footsteps like letters. They told me where to find you. And the Shirefolk will never help you. I am their hero. They will not turn against me.'

Brann moved in front of Dwana. 'Leave her alone. It is me you want.'

Dwana looked at Brann in shock. 'No, don´t do this!'

'Isn´t that precious!' the ranger sneered in disgust. 'Look at the two of you bonding in times of peril.'

'Run!' Brann whispered to Dwana.

'No!' the young dwarf whispered close to tears.

'I said RUN!' Brann yelled and shoved Dwana away before she ran into the opposite direction. The ranger followed Brann, for he could not care less about the dwarf brat. He had caught up with Brann after a few moments and threw her down. Brann tried to fight the man, but he was too strong for her. In her panic she had forgotten about the dagger, but in this moment where she felt his body on hers she became fully aware of the small weapon that Thorin gave her. But she had to reach it unnnoticed by him first.

'My beauty.' the ranger bent down to kiss her neck. 'Alone at last.'

Brann could not help but scream as his lips touched her skin. She shook her head violently and managed to hit the rangers nose. But it only seemed to turn him on.

'A wildcat. Fight me, I dare you.' he snarled and she could feel at her thigh that her resistance only aroused him more. She needed a distraction to get to her weapon.

Suddenly the rangers weight was pushed off her. Brann needed a second to realise that Dwana had thrown herself against the tall man and wrestled on the floor with him. But the ranger was stronger than the teen and much more experienced.

'Don´t worry, wench. You´ll have your turn.' he smirked and shoved Dwana against a tree, sending her to the ground unconscious. As he turned around he saw Brann standing in front of him and felt a cold sting on the inside of his leg. He looked down and saw a small dagger sticking out of his leg.

'My, you little dwarfwhore.' he sneered and pushed Brann, so that she landed back on the forest floor. 'Do you think your little toy will keep me from taking what is mine?'

Brann looked at him in horror. She had hit the big artery, but the dagger still stuck there and hindered the bleeding. But the ranger was stupid enough to seal his own fate. To move more freely he pulled the dagger out and advanced on Brann. He did not realise what happened until he saw the fright in Branns eyes diminish.

'Eager are we?' he asked and knelt down in front of the woman who sat there still and silent.

'To watch you die.' Brann sneered and in this moment the ranger felt the blood trickling down onto the forest floor. With a chocked gasp he looked at Brann who started to crawl back from him. He tried to follow her but his strength left his body together with the huge amount of blood. His body grew cold and soon the ranger collapsed onto the ground, dead.

Brann retrieved the dagger from his fist and hurried to Dwana. The young dwarf had a wound at the back of her head, but she was breathing normally. Brann looked back to the road leading to the Shire and saw two halflings with a pony going down the road. She decided that she would ask them for help, even if it was the last thing she did.

'Help!' she waved her hands in the air as she came running out of the forest. 'Please help us!'

The male halfling stepped in front of the female and looked at Brann with big eyes. They could see the bloodstained dress of Brann and paled.

'Oh Eru! What happened to you, dear!' the female halfling exclaimed and rushed to Brann from behind her protector who tried to hold her back. 'Bungo, don´t you see that she needs our help?'

The small woman looked Brann up and down and took her shaking hand. 'What happened, dear? Was that an orc attack? That filth had crossed our borders many times in the last days.'

'No. Its...' Brann decided to tell her the truth. The female halfling had honeyblond curly hair and soft green eyes. She looked trustworthy. 'I was attacked by a man who wanted to force me to...he wanted me...'

Brann was shaking, but the halfling understood. 'I see.' she turned around to her companion. Quick Bungo, get a ranger from Bree.'

'No!' Brann shook her head. 'The man was a ranger from Bree.'

'I can not believe that a ranger would do such a thing!' the male halfling exclaimed and shook his head, but the female looked at Brann closely and nodded.

'Bungo, don´t be so naive. Not all rangers are pure and honorable.' she turned back to Brann and took her hands. 'Who shall we inform?'

'My husband. He is the blacksmith from Bree. Or maybe our neighbours. Dorn is the carpenter. And my friend - she needs help!' Brann worried about Dwana. 'The ranger threw her against a tree and she has not waken up yet.'

'Bungo, go.' the female halfling told her friend who took the pony and rode as fast as he could. The female halfling had taken a blanket from the pony and followed Brann into the woods. As they arrived at the scene of the assault the female halfling only looked to the ranger for a split second before she turned to Dwana. Together she and Brann sat Dwana up against a tree and covered her into the blanket.

'Don´t worry. Everything will be alright.' the female halfling told Brann. 'You two are very brave to fight against such a trained man.'

'I had no choice.' Brann whispered. 'He would have...' she could not even speak about the things that the ranger could have done to her.

'You did the right thing, dear.' the halfling assured her. 'No man has the right to touch a woman against her will.'

'Thank you for your help.' Brann realised that she had no idea who the woman was. 'I am sorry, I have not asked for your name.'

'You had more important things on your mind, I am sure.' the halfling smirked. 'My name is Belladonna.'

'Brann.' the young healer calmed down and leaned back against the tree, feelig oddly safe with Belladonna at her side.

After some long moments they heard clopping on the road. Bungo was back and with him he had Dorn and Elsa and an additional pony.

'Brann! For the Gods sake!' Elsa rushed to her friend and took her into her arms. 'We were already looking for you! Thorin is sick of worry!'

As she saw the dead ranger a few paces away she swallowed hard, but then she nodded. Dorn took Dwana into his arms and sat her down on the pony. The group of men turned to Bungo and Belladonna and Brann took the small halflings into her arms.

'Thank you so much for your help!' she sighed. 'Is there anything we can do for you in return?'

Both, Bungo and Belladonna shook their heads. 'We are happy to help. It was understood.'

But Brann insisted. 'If there should be anything you should need, you know where to find me. Thank you so much!'

Belladonna took the bigger woman into her arms again. 'Even the smallest can change the fate of the world, my dear. Do not fear. We know where to find you. May Eru be with you!'

Brann sat down behind Dwana on the pony and steadied the young dwarf as they rode back to Bree. She turned around various times and smiled at the two halflings who strode down the road hand in hand, back to their home. As they arrived in Bree the sun had already set. Thorin and Dwalin came rushing out from the forest as they saw Brann, Dwana as well as Dorn and Elsa going threw the gate. The worry in Thorins eyes and the relief as he saw her warmed Branns heart, but at first they had to look after Dwana.

'Brann, my love.' Thorins voice was thick with supressed emotion. 'Are you alright? We found the dead ranger at the border to the Shire, but no sign of you. Did he hurt you? By Durin if he has then he is lucky that he is already dead...!'

Brann silenced him with a finger in his lips. 'Peace, husband. I am fine and I am so happy to be back with you. But we need to get Dwana back home. I think she has a concussion.'

Dwalin immediately took his daughter into his arms and with a last thankful nod towards Dorn and Elsa he marched off to their home.

'Thank you so much, you two!' Brann took her neighbours into her arms as well.

'It was understood.' Dorn smiled at her. 'Go home, we´ll talk tomorrow.'

Brann walked back into Bree and into their home in Thorins arms. The dwarf held on to his wife as if he would never want to let her go again. As they stood in front of their home Brann sighed in relief. Warm light came from inside of their house and the blue forget-me-nots in front of their door glowed in the moonlight. They were home.

This chapter is all I will write about Hobbits for this story. I could not resist to bring Bilbos parents into this, I had not planned this, it just happened. Thorin will meet his first Hobbit later, after...