I do not own any of the characters or the Hobbit (just the AU storyline and my OC) those are the work of the esteemed and brilliant John Ronald Reull Tolkien, and without his genius, this and many other fan fics would not be in existence.

Please review! I love getting them-they keep me encouraged! J

Balin shook his head as he saw the red faced but cheery dwarves around the fire. There had been a lot of pent up tension among the group after the events on the plain, and now he could see several of them visibly relaxed.

Thorin, especially, hadn't looked this relaxed since the dragon took Erebor. He had had brief moments of it with his nephews since they were little, but never before had Thorin allowed the "king" to fall away in front of those who were not family. Fighting in the snow, they had all felt like young dwarflings again without a care in the world.

He had chuckled at the looks on the two young faces when Cirashala had realized her mistaken muttering. He glanced at the young girl now, who was picking at her food, having drunk her pain tea already. Despite the energetic morning, she was the only one who seemed dispirited. Balin recognized the look in her eyes-the same one that Thorin got whenever he remembered his kin falling at the Battle of Azanulbizar.

He had a sneaky suspicion that the word she muttered must have had something to do with her late husband. The word "sweetheart" amongst dwarves and humans alike was an endearment term, usually used in reference to a child or one's spouse or intended. It wasn't used at all with those who weren't kin, of that he was certain.

He resolved to find the chance to speak to her at some point during their walk that day. He had a feeling that her grief was affecting her far more than she was letting on.

XXX

As soon as breakfast was finished, their bowls were cleaned and the company packed up. Cirashala managed to slip away unnoticed, ducking behind another outcropping of rock that was a little smaller than the one the company had sheltered against. Shivering, she took off her wet cloak and tunic, and reached into her pack for her spare tunic. She heard footsteps crunching in the snow, and gasped, bringing her tunic up quickly to cover her torso as the owner of the footsteps came in sight.

XXX

Kili had seen her slip away, and dug in his pack for his spare wool tunic, before pulling Bilbo aside. He handed the tunic to Bilbo, who looked somewhat confused.

"The clothes the elves gave her aren't warm enough for the snow," he explained quietly, nodding in the direction she went. "This would be warmer. W-would you mind taking it to her?" The young dwarf swallowed, feeling the tips of his ears redden.

"Why me?" Bilbo asked quietly, confusion in his tone. The young dwarf shuffled nervously, before shooting Bilbo a pleading look.

"Please, Bilbo?" he whispered, voice wavering. The look on Kili's face made Bilbo realize that the accidental comment earlier had embarrassed the young dwarf more than he had originally thought. He sighed, taking the tunic.

"If she impales me for interrupting her privacy, it's on your head," he muttered, and Kili shot him a relieved look.

"Thank you, Mr. Baggins," he said, smiling gratefully, and that is when Bilbo knew for certain that the young dwarf was genuinely not trying to pull any pranks on him. After his accidental mispronunciation of Bilbo's name that first night in Bag End, the two had been joking back and forth calling him "Mr. Boggins" at every turn.

Bilbo turned and followed the small footprints, grinning like an idiot at finally having his name pronounced correctly despite his anxiety at interrupting a woman's private time. One didn't have to be wed to know that women can be very dangerous when they feel violated in any way, and Bilbo didn't want to risk the possibility of being skewered.

XXX

She turned around quickly, to spot a shadow on the ground that was obviously the hobbit, if the short hair on the shadow was any indication. Looking around, she didn't spot him, realizing that he was just out of sight behind the rock.

"Don't draw your sword!" he cried from the side of the rock. "I will not look, I promise!" She let out the nervous breath she was holding.

"Bilbo?" she asked, confused. "What are you doing?" The hobbit shuffled for a moment, and a teal blue bundle of cloth came into view, landing on the ground a few paces away from her. She could see the shadow turn, and crept forward quickly to pick up the cloth, surprised to see a hooded tunic that looked surprisingly like Kili's. She backed up quickly out of sight.

"It's all right, Bilbo," she said. "I am back behind the rock." She could see the arm on the shadow drop from where Bilbo had obviously covered his eyes. "Why did you give me Kili's tunic?"

"He said that your clothes were too thin for the snow," he replied. "He asked me to give you his spare. Said it would be warmer." Her eyes widened, and she fingered the woolen tunic. It would indeed be far warmer than her clothing, if not a bit wide for her slender frame and narrow shoulders.

Well, narrower than the dwarves' broad shoulders at least, she thought to herself. At least she wouldn't have to worry about the tunic not being too tight across the chest, since the dwarves had broader chests than human men. Had it been a man's tunic instead of a dwarf's, she would have had a slight bit of trouble breathing with her annoyingly large chest.

"I-is everything all right?" Bilbo asked her, and she looked up.

"Yes," she said. "W-would you be so kind as to tell Kili thank you for me, and that I will be sure to give it back as soon as we leave the snow?" She could see the hobbit's shadow nod, before pausing.

"Yes, of course," he replied, realizing that she could not see his head from his current position. He moved away, and thanks to the wind she faintly caught him muttering something about being relegated to a mere messenger and "That certainly wasn't in the contract either."

She shook her head, sighing heavily, before donning the much warmer piece of clothing.

XXX

She rejoined the group quickly, having put her cloak back on over the tunic, and the company set out. A few suspicious looks were cast her way, and Nori looked between her and Kili. The thief moved back until he was even with her, and gave her a sidelong glance.

"Reduced to openly stealing, I take it?" he asked, suspicion clouding his voice as he regarded her with a scowl.

He is really one to talk, she thought. I seem to remember something about him lifting sausages from Bilbo's house.

She glared back, and gestured ahead toward Kili, who was a few dwarves ahead of them.

"Kili let me borrow it, because these elvish clothes were a bit thin," she said, and Nori lifted an eyebrow.

"Really? Kili gave it to you?" he asked, and she looked away.

"Well, no, but—" she began, but Nori cut her off, grabbing her arm.

"Listen, human, I may be a thief also, but I won't tolerate you stealing from my prince," he growled, squeezing her arm where Thorin had a few days prior, causing her to wince.

A hand grabbed Nori's shoulder and swung him roughly around, and Fili looked the thief in the eye.

"Let go of her, Nori," he growled, his voice low as he stepped uncomfortably close. The thief glared back.

"She stole from your brother," he replied loudly, causing the company to halt abruptly. Thorin looked back at her, and his eyes widened, before his face darkened with anger.

Before the dwarf king could move, Kili spoke up.

"I asked Bilbo to give her my spare tunic so she wouldn't freeze to death," he declared loudly, glaring daggers at the surprised Nori. The young prince narrowed his dark eyes. "And I would advise you to not go around accusing others of thievery, Nori."

There was a finality to his tone that few of them had heard before from the young dwarf, and in that brief moment, the mischievous youngster gave way to the Prince of the line of Durin.

Nori visibly paled, and instantly let go of her arm. He muttered an apology, and looked at Fili.

"Would you please let go of me, my prince?" he asked formally, swallowing nervously. Fili glared at him once more before releasing his hold. The chastised dwarf moved ahead in line, and Fili took up the space beside the young woman, narrowed eyes following Nori's back as the young heir stood by her protectively.

The group continued to walk, and Nori passed the still Kili with his head down, not meeting the angry dwarf's narrowed eyes as he followed the thief with his gaze. Kili spoke quietly but firmly so that the others could not hear as the thief passed him.

"Do not lay your hands on her again." Nori nodded quickly and scurried past. No amount of punishments for his past deeds would ever compare to facing the wrath of the Heirs of Durin, and that was something he did not wish to ever encounter.

XXX

They continued walking for a good portion of the morning. The wind began to pick up, and despite the warmer tunic Cirashala shivered, drawing her cloak about her and tucking her hands in her underarms. They stopped for a hurried meal at midday, and several of the dwarves and the hobbit shot anxious glances at the rapidly darkening sky above.

The thick gray clouds hung ominously, increasing in number until the bright blue sky had disappeared. The sun was nowhere to be seen, its presence known only by the fact that the mountaintop was not in utter darkness just yet.

An hour into the afternoon portion of their march, snow began to fall. It was light at first, the tiny flakes swirling in the wind as they neared the snowy ground. It wasn't long before the flakes became larger, and their visibility was greatly diminished.

Cirashala glanced anxiously over her shoulder at the hobbit. She remembered that he had gotten a spare cloak from Dwalin in the book, but he didn't seem to have it now. The hobbit's pointed ears and nose were very red, and his shivers were long past the point of subtlety. He too held his hands under his arms, and she could see his teeth chattering.

She remembered when the Fellowship had tried to cross Caradhras, and how they ended up crossing under the mountain instead of over it because the hobbits, namely Merry and Pippin, nearly froze to death in the blizzard on the pass. Her eyes widened.

She moved off to the side, and Fili looked at her worriedly, stopping as well. He had stayed by her side since the misunderstanding with Nori, while Kili had walked between Nori and them up near Thorin.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, his brow furrowed with concern. She said nothing as she removed her pack and quiver quickly, and took her cloak off and set it down beside them. His eyes widened.

"What are you doing? My brother gave you his tunic so you wouldn't freeze!" he exclaimed, grabbing the tunic off the ground. "Are you out of your mind?" She donned her pack and quiver, drawing the hood of the tunic up as she nodded towards Bilbo. Fili followed her gaze, and his eyes widened a bit.

"Bilbo is colder than I," she replied. "He isn't dressed for this either, and though I may not be as durable and hardy as a dwarf, a human would stand these conditions better than a hobbit. He will be useless as a burglar if he were dead."

Before Fili could respond, she snatched her cloak out of his arms and threw it at Bilbo. The unsuspecting hobbit didn't see it coming, and it hit him full in the face. He looked down at what he had surprisingly managed to catch, and glanced back up at Cirashala, eyes wide.

"Don't want your ears freezing off, Mr. Baggins!" she called to the astonished hobbit, before turning and continuing to walk. Fili looked between the two, completely flabbergasted.

"Kili!" he cried ahead, and his brother turned. Fili signed something quickly in Igleshmek, and within seconds the two brothers were on either side of Cirashala, shielding her body from the wind as they walked.

It was almost comical, because they kept bumping shoulders with each other and at one point the fletching of her arrows poked Fili's ear, causing the blond haired dwarf to leap to the side with a startled yelp, much to the amusement of the company. But despite her insistence that they needn't walk directly next to her, the two refused to budge.

XXX

The storm continued to worsen, and soon they were in fog as well as they climbed higher.

"We have to find shelter!" Dwalin roared at Thorin just simply to be heard over the howling wind. "We will all freeze to death if we keep going like this!" Thorin nodded in agreement.

At that point, the dwarves had been resorted to using the spade that Fili carried and Bofur's mattock to dig through the two and a half foot deep snowdrifts ahead of them. They alternated the work, switching as soon as they began to sweat in order to not freeze.

"Keep an eye out for shelter!" Thorin shouted, signing as well as his voice was lost in the wind. The dwarves who saw the gestures signed to those behind them, and everyone kept a sharp eye out for anything besides snow they could utilize as a shelter.

Unfortunately, visibility in the blizzard at that point was reduced to about four feet ahead, and each member of the company kept their eyes mostly glued to the person in front of them in order to avoid getting separated. That of course also meant that they really had no choice but to continue on ahead in hopes that shelter would come to them.

Bofur had just finished his turn with the mattock and was retreating further back in the group towards his brother when the usually cheerful dwarf stumbled and shouted. Bombur, who was just behind the trio and Bofur, cried out as his brother fell off to the side, sliding down the steep icy slope alongside them and disappearing into the fog and swirling snow.

The two brothers left Cirashala's side to hold Bombur back from following after his brother, and even between the two of them they could barely hold Bombur back from sliding down the slope in his panic. Bifur was being held back by Dori and Gloin, shouting in ancient Khuzdul as he fought against them.

Cirashala's face was white as she peered as hard as she could into the swirling mist, but she could not see any shadows that would indicate the missing dwarf. All the dwarves as well as Bilbo and Cirashala called Bofur's name, hoping against all hope that the dwarf's reply would carry on the wind.

Their frantic cries rang out, lost on the wind as not one of them dared to voice the possibility that they may never receive an answer.

XXX

The company huddled cautiously around where the dwarf fell, and Thorin came to the front of the group.

"Who has rope?" he asked loudly, and several dwarves produced them from their packs. The ropes only measured about fifty feet in length, and Thorin ordered them tied together to maximize their chances of finding the missing dwarf. Fili and Kili, as well as Thorin, Balin, and Dwalin tied the knots, all of them having been trained to know as many knots as possible as part of their warrior training.

Cirashala watched as each knot was cinched, glancing anxiously into the storm. The last knot was tightened, and Thorin looked at the group. His eyes settled on Bilbo.

"Burglar!" he asked. "You are the lightest one of us, and it will be easier to pull you and Bofur up." The hobbit looked like his heart dropped into his stomach as he glanced furtively at the rope.

"No, I will go," a quiet voice intervened, and thirteen pairs of wide eyes stared at her.

"Absolutely not," Thorin growled, giving her a dark look. She planted her feet and stared back at him evenly.

"I am stronger than the hobbit, and Bilbo is half frozen. His fingers will be too cold to tie a proper knot," she argued.

"I will not have you go down there!" Thorin yelled. Her eyes narrowed.

"Why?" she shouted back. "Because of that stupid blood debt?"

"Yes!" Thorin roared. "If I allow you to go down there, and you are killed, your blood would be on my hands!"

"Then who else knows how to tie a knot, is light enough that the company could pull them and Bofur up together, and knows how to stop bleeding and bandage a wound?" she bit back. "I can do all those things! Can Bilbo? If he can, I will concede." The two pairs of blue eyes warred with each other as they stared each other down. Cirashala broke the silence.

"You think that just because I am a woman and not a dwarf that I cannot survive out here?" She shouted. "I am no stranger to blizzards, and I have sharp ears. I know I haven't done as well yet because I was wounded, but you treat me as though I am made of glass!"

"You are a woman!" Thorin roared. "Women belong in their homes, not on a quest to slay a dragon! You should have never come with us!" Her eyes widened in shock, before she turned red faced with anger. Before anyone could stop her, she dove past Thorin toward the rope, grabbing it as tightly as she could as she slid down the slope.

XXX

She heard shouts behind her as she slid rapidly down the ice, rolling as she tried to pull herself higher on the rope in order to tie it about her waist. She desperately hoped they had managed to grab the end of it before the rope slipped from their reach.

She hit a small protrusion of ice, and managed to stop with her feet. She hurriedly tied the rope securely about her waist, pulling it taught. Once she was certain it was secure, she pushed off the icy ledge and continued on, listening intently for any sound besides the wind.

She screamed as she plunged suddenly into a dark hole, the loud sound drowned by the howling wind.

XXX

Her eyes fluttered open, and she heard a groan. Sitting up on the pile of snow she had drug into the hole with her as she fell, she peered into the dark ice cavern.

"Who's there?" she asked. "Bofur? Is that you?" She was answered with another groan, and squinted her eyes in an attempt to see in the very dim cavern, lit by only the little light that shone through the hole about eight feet above her. She saw a dark shape crumpled up about five feet from her, and stood up and moved towards it, keeping her hand on the hilt of her sword.

She dropped to her knees at the side of the dark shape, and immediately recognized Bofur's strange hat about two feet away. Her eyes widened and she let go of her sword immediately, feeling for a pulse.

"Bofur?" she asked. She felt along his neck for any swelling. Finding none, she gently turned his head toward her. The miner's eyes fluttered open.

"Lass?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Aye," she said. "Are you hurt?" The miner looked at her for a moment as though to see whether or not he could trust her, then squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

"My head," he groaned. "Mu….must have hit it w-when I fell." She nodded.

"I am going to feel around your head and make sure there isn't any bleeding," she said. "It might hurt a bit, but I will try to be gentle. I am sorry I cannot just look and see, but it is dark in here." Bofur nodded, and she began to move her hands gently around his skull.

She soon found the bump near the coronal suture just above his forehead. He groaned when she prodded it. It was wet, warm and slightly sticky, but there didn't seem to be too much of it. At least she had jumped with her pack and still had some bandages from Lord Elrond.

"Your head is bleeding," she said. "I hope that you stubborn dwarves truly have as thick skulls as you seem to." Despite his pain, Bofur chuckled.

"Well, my cousin t-took an axe to h-his head, and he seems fine," Bofur replied shakily.

"Only if you are fluent in Khuzdul," she replied, putting a small bandage on the wound, applying pressure. Bofur hissed, but she did not cease the pressure.

"I am sorry, but I must put pressure on it to stop the bleeding," she whispered. "Head wounds can bleed very badly. I once ran into a swinging metal horse when I was a small child, and I soaked several bandages until the healer put four stitches in my head. Right about where your cousin's axe is, come to think of it." She grabbed his hand and placed it on the bandage.

"Hold this," she instructed, and reached into her bag for the salve and a thicker roll of bandages. She placed a dab of the salve on the cut, earning another hiss as it stung a bit. She then lifted his head up and proceeded to wrap the bandage around it. Bofur moved his fingers as the bandage came to where his wound was, and she wrapped it about four times before tying it off.

"Thank ye, lass," he whispered. "What was that stuff you put on my head?"

"Are you going to kill me if I tell you?" she asked. "Because if you are, I am not going to answer that. Suffice to say that it will help keep away infection." She could see Bofur eye her warily in the dim light.

"It's your elvish medicine, isn't it?" he asked, before sighing. "Well, I suppose it will make do." Cirashala let out the breath she was holding.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" she asked, and Bofur groaned.

"Well, to be honest everything hurts, but I think the only place that was more than just bruises was my head," he replied. "You're a healer, aren't you?" Cirashala bit her lip.

"Well, yes and no," she said truthfully. "I was studying to be a healer, but I had to stop due to a difficult time when I was carrying my first chi—" she stopped abruptly, tears pricking her eyes and she lowered her head. Bofur placed his hand on her arm.

"It's all right, lass," he said softly. "All of us have lost someone at one time or another. It's nothing to be ashamed of." She nodded gratefully as the miner smiled. He looked around and tried to sit up. She immediately reached out put his arm over hers, before aiding him to stand.

The dwarf was rather unsteady on his feet for a moment, and took a shuddering breath as he fought dizziness.

"Are you doing all right?" she asked him as he took several deep breaths.

"Aye," he replied. "Just a bit dizzy, but it's getting better." She nodded, and released him when he seemed to be steady.

The pair looked up at the gaping hole above them, and Bofur caught sight of the rope dangling over the edge and followed it to where it was tied around her waist.

"Thorin let you come down here to find me?" he asked, extremely surprised as he turned to look at her. She winced and shuffled her feet.

"Well, see, Thorin wasn't exactly too keen on the idea, so he will very likely kill me when I get back up to the group," she replied. "So, if it isn't too much trouble, would you be extremely kind and let him know I found you so he doesn't?" Bofur stared at her for a moment, before laughing loudly. His laugh echoed a bit in the small ice cavern, and he winced as he grabbed his head.

"As long as that rope of yours is attached to the company at the other end, I would be glad to," he replied, winking at her. "So how are you supposed to let them know you are ready to be pulled back up?"

Cirashala's eyes widened comically, face paling as her head whipped up to the hole, before looking back at Bofur.

"Oops."

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A response to guest reviewer Ari- Thank you! I am glad you are liking it!

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