If you ever read a chapter and think to yourself; "Man, I wish the next chapter would come out sooner." You only have yourself to blame. This whole story is technically written, I'm just adding and editing. So if you want it sooner, review it you knob.

Don't ask me how I survived the night with my dignity in tact. Don't ask me why Kili was acting so strange after I had left the bathroom.

Honestly as a basis why you shouldn't ask me anything: I tend to know nothing.

The next morning I woke up next to Bilbo and Bombur. I had been a tad bit confused with Kili, whom was acting like a giggling schoolgirl. Minus the schoolgirl bit. Also he wasn't giggling as much as cackling. Not the point, really.

I had ended up hanging out with Bilbo for part of the night. Not like he was much better. Bilbo had stolen an acorn and was in love with it, or something. He kept droning on about how he was going to plant it at Bag-End, and I kept thinking about how I had tried making a garden as a kid, and then forgotten about it halfway into the summer. Turns out you shouldn't leave plants like that, and the tomato plant had nearly taken over all the lavender.

I'm really bad at spacial planning.

It really didn't help when I had a dream about Tauriel that night. And it wasn't pleasant. Actually, it was the opposite of pleasant. I would consider it to have been more of a nightmare, really. At least that's what I would consider a nightmare, someone laughing at me whilst eating rune-stones. What can I say? It was a dream, of course it didn't make sense.

All this aside, somehow, I had managed to sleep soundly next to Bombur. The man slept like a rock, if rocks snored louder than they talked. I swear, I hardly heard Bombur speak, but you could hear his snores from like a mile away.

Bilbo had nearly punched me in the chest when he had spotted Beorn that morning, and I couldn't blame him either. Beorn was huge, easily three times our size. Not only that, but he had some impressive eyebrows, and I half expected them to come alive and crawl off of his face.

Beorn genuinely looked like someone who was a bear a few hours earlier. Don't ask why, he just had a feral air about him. As if at any second he would snap and bite one of our heads off.

Kili had lost any giddiness he had portrayed the night before when he spotted Beorn. Kili was right back to being 'Protector Kili' in a heartbeat, and therefore I found myself between Kili and Fili during breakfast.

Boern lumbered around the kitchen as he set food out around the table for us. I was pretty nervous to take any, as if it might've been a test. But before I could question it any farther, my stomach growled and Kili grabbed the bowl of fruit and put it in front of me. I didn't even bother looking at him and merely took all the bananas.

"So you are the one they call Thorin Oakenshield." Beorn said as he looked over at Thorin. "Tell me, why is Azog the defiler hunting you?"

"You know of Azog?" Thorin asked. "How?"

"My people were the first to live in the mountains before the Orcs came down from the north. The defiler killed most of my family. But some…" Beorn paused. "He enslaved. Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

God, and I had shot an arrow at Azog? Yikes. I had angered a crazy Orc. He was definitely not going to forget that.

"There are others like you?" Bilbo asked.

"Once there were many." Beorn said.

"And now?"

I cringed. Did Bilbo not listen to that story at all? Obviously it wasn't going to have a happy ending.

"Now there is only one." Beorn said bitterly before looking back at Thorin. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of Autumn."

"Before Durin's day, yes." Gandalf quickly interjected.

"You are running out of time." Beorn stated as he looked over at Gandalf.

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood." Gandalf said, a frowning appearing on his face.

"Mirkwood?" I asked skeptically as I lifted the cup of tea that Dori had poured for me.

"A darkness lies upon that forest." Beorn said. "Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur."

"Necromancer?" I said, nearly spitting my tea out.

"I would not venture there except in great need." Beorn said.

"We will take the elven road. That path is still safe."

"Safe?" Beorn spat. "The wood elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not."

"What do you mean?" Thorin asked.

"These lands are crawling with Orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." Beorn said.

"Oh." I choked. "Great." I added sarcastically.

"I don't like dwarves. They're greedy, and blind. Blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own." Beorn picked up a mouse that was on the table.

I groaned, closing my eyes and grabbing Kili's forearm.

"Please tell me he isn't hurting it." I whispered.

The last thing I needed was to watch Beorn murder a mouse with his bare hands.

"But I hate Orcs more." Beorn said, and my eyes shot open when I felt something in my free hand.

It was the mouse. Beorn had handed it to me.

"What do you need?" He asked, looking away from the mouse and to Thorin.

Beorn had given us ponies, food, and water. What a stand up guy. The ride to Mirkwood was uneventful, yet slightly unnerving.

"Here lies our path through Mirkwood." Gandalf said as he got off of his pony.

"No sign of the Orcs, we have luck on our side." Dwalin said as he got off of his pony.

"I doubt it was luck." I grumbled. I had a sinking suspicion Beorn was making sure we didn't hurt or steal his ponies.

"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master." Gandalf said as slinked towards the forest.

I nudged my pony towards Bilbo and closer to the forest nervously. It didn't feel right. It felt, well, wrong. Obviously.

"This forest feels sick." Bilbo said, letting out a strangled sigh.

"Feels more than sick, Cuz." I said as I got off of my pony, letting it go free.

"Is there no way around?" Bilbo asked as Gandalf grew closer to us.

"Not unless we go 200 miles north, or twice that distance south." Gandalf said grimly.

"A simple no would've sufficed, Gandalf." I said to him.

I sighed as I looked back into the forest. It looked like the product of some horrifying 80's child cartoon. Except much scarier.

"Malia." Kili said as he came up to me, nudging me with his shoulder. "You seem more anxious than usual."

I frowned at him. How did he already know me well enough to tell?

I was anxious. Although there wasn't much I remembered about the second and third movies, I did remember Tauriel. Tauriel, the beautiful and tall Silvan Elf. Tauriel, who comes out of nowhere and sweeps Kili off of his feet.

"I want to be happy." I said quietly. "I want us all to be happy."

Kili tilted his head to the side. "What are you trying to say?"

I stared at him a little longer, looking at the braids I did last night before sighing, and shaking my head.

"Nothing, really."

Kili didn't believe it, and he looked around at the company before he bent down and placed a quick kiss on my cheek.

"You can tell me anything, okay?" He said.

"Not my horse! I need it." Gandalf yelled as he stormed back towards us.

"You're leaving us?" Bilbo sputtered.

"I would not unless I had to." Gandalf said. "I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me." Gandalf instructed. "This is not the greenwood of old. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It'll set to enter your mind and lead you astray."

"Lead us astray?" Bilbo asked. "What does that mean?"

"You must stay on the path. Do not leave it. If you do, you'll never find it again." Gandalf got on his horse, about to leave. "No matter what may come, stay on the path!" He added, then rode off.

"Come on." Thorin said. "We must reach the mountain before the sunsets on Durin's day. It's our one chance to find the hidden door."

Mirkwood was the worst place I had even been, ever. I should've known after Gandalf had said that the air was full of illusion.

It was humid in the forest, but the air felt thick with more than water. Time seemed to slow down inside, and it wasn't long before we were all aimlessly wandering through the forest, lost. I had no clue when we had gotten lost, or anything of the matter.

"Air, I need air." Bofur groaned as we all continued down the path.

"My head," Oin added. "It's swimming!"

I closed my eyes for a moment as we walked, imagining Oin's head swimming. God, I was losing my mind.

All the dwarves voices became jumbled up together, and emotions became even more heightened.

I kept thinking about Tauriel, and how less than a day she'd come and take Kili. I was sure of it. I was positive that the last kiss Kili had given me would be, well, the last ever. I was mourning over a relationship I hadn't even lost yet. A relationship that had hardly even began.

"She's tall… and beautiful…" I mumbled as I looked around and kept walking.

Once again I was stuck between Bilbo and Bombur.

"And what am I?" I felt my heartbeat speed up. "I'm a hobbit. An awkward dwarf-hobbit."

"What are you on about, Lassie?" Dwalin asked as I nearly ran into him.

He hadn't been in front of me a few moments before, and I looked at him confusedly.

We had stopped, but I hadn't the faintest clue why.

"Your face, shut it." I groaned as I took a few steps away from him.

Where were we?

Dwalin raised a brow at me, a shadowy fog in his eyes.

I continued to take steps away from Dwalin until I ran into yet another someone.

"Watch it, Lassie." Gloin grumbled, not even looking at me as he said it.

I stayed still for a moment as I watched Gloin. I had never seen Gloin sad before. I had seen him angry a bunch of times, but never sad.

"Air, I still need air! Where's the air?" Bofur shouted over the group as Thorin continued looking around.

What was happening? What was Thorin looking for?

"I miss them more than air." Gloin mumbled wistfully, his eyes shining.

"Who?" I asked him.

Gloin stared at me for a moment as though he wasn't even sure I had spoken. He blinked a few times before his hand went into his pocket and he pulled out a locket. He opened it before taking a step closer to me, showing the locket to me.

"My wee lad Gimli, and my wife." Gloin said as he motioned to the two drawings in the locket.

My mouth went dry at the mention of Gimli. As I had stated before, Lord of the Rings had been my childhood. I knew of Gimli. I hadn't known Gloin was his father, though.

"You're married?" I asked him, looking away from the locket for a moment and staring at him.

Man, Gloin had a hard-on for his wife. Or whatever. Honestly, don't ask me about love. But he really did love her.

"Aye." He said as his eyes stayed on the drawings in the locket.

"And this is Gimli," I asked as I carefully pointed at one of the photos. "Your son?"

"Aye."

"And this is…" I asked as I pointed to the other drawing.

"My wife, Feya." Gloin said, his face easing into a smile as he looked at her drawing.

"Feya." I said to myself as I looked down at the photo. "She's quite…" I was at a loss for words.

Feya wasn't what I had been brought up to believe was conventionally attractive, but if there was one thing I had learned while with the company was, looks didn't matter. Love was what mattered, and Gloin loved Feya. I could only dream I'd find love like that someday.

Which was a weird idea to me. I had never wanted it before. But the idea of missing someone more than air, someone who's very mention could bring a smile to your face, that sounded nice. No wonder he was normally so happy, he had a light at the end of the tunnel.

"I can't wait to meet her someday, Gloin." I said to him, smiling up at him.

He looked down at me and smiled sadly. "I'm sure she'd be honored to meet you too, Lassie. Although I'm not quite sure she'd understand you."

I looked away from him and my eyes drifted to where Kili was. He had been looking at me, but the moment my eyes had drifted to his, he looked away.

"Most don't understand me." I admitted quietly before looking away from Kili. I forced a smile on my face as I looked back a Gloin. "It's quite alright."

"Enough, quiet, all of you! We are being watched!" Thorin bellowed, and that's when everything started going even more wrong.

I was depressed, simply put it. Depressed, lost, confused, scared. Did I mention Mirkwood was the worst place I had ever been?

"And with the black banners raised as the crooked smiles fade," I mumbled as I watched everyone scurrying around. Even Gloin had put his locket away and started skimping about.

"Former heroes who quit too late, just want fill up the trophy case again."

God, I was reduced into singing Fall Out Boy.

"And in the end, I'd do it all again." I saw Kili over talking with Thorin. "I think you're my best friend."

Did he know I was losing my mind, did he care? And why wasn't he looking at me anymore?

"Don't you know that the kids aren't all, kids aren't alright?"

I could see them in my mind conspiring against me. I couldn't find Bilbo, and I was scared.

Was that what was really happening? No. Was I driven mad by a forest? Yes.

And I had bolted, letting out a small squeak as I ran through the bushes. I had no clue where I was going, I just knew I didn't want to be where I was anymore.

The first thing I had felt was a large ball of goo being dropped on my head. I groaned as I tried to get it off of my head, and slowly I had started to realize I was alone. The second my fear started to pick up, a spider dropped in front of me and before I could even scream, I had been knocked unconscious.

Waking up inside a cocoon wasn't even the weirdest place I had woken up before. Definitely top 3, but not the weirdest.

It was however, the most terrifying. I felt like I was suffocating, and at first I was utterly clueless as to what to do. My hands were at my sides, and I couldn't move them through the thick web surrounding me. All the mind-haziness from the forest dissipated, but instead I was just terrified.

Bilbo appeared out of no where, and if my mouth hadn't been covered with the web, I would've screamed.

"Shh." He said to me, as if I could speak.

He took his small sword out and slowly dragged it down the cocoon I was in, and finally I started to be able to move. Bilbo then cut the top so I fell down to the forest floor.

As I sat up, I continued picking the webbing off my web and looking around. Thankfully, I still had my bow and quiver. The other dwarves were nearby, also taking off their cocoons.

"Malia!" Kili gasped, and I jerked around and saw he had gotten up and was coming towards me with a relieved smile on his face. "Where had you run off to? I was-"

Before he could continue or I could answer him, Dwalin had spoken up.

"Where's Bilbo?" Dwalin asked as he stood up, blocking my view of Kili.

"I'm here!" Bilbo shouted from the tree tops.

I stood up and smiled at Bilbo, and he smiled back.

Then a spider freaking attacked him, and he was out of sight.

"Bilbo?" I yelled, but received no answer.

I had wanted to go and help him, but Kili had grabbed my hand and dragged me along with him and the others, trying to run away from the spiders. The logical choice, really.

These spiders were huge, and it was really nerve raking to be anywhere near them.

The spiders surrounded us, and I quickly grabbed my bow and started to ready myself. The other dwarves did the same with their weapons, and we all started fighting the spiders.

Kili let go of my hand and helped, slashing at them with his sword. A spider came up behind him as he attacked another.

"Kili!" I yelled, shooting an arrow at the spider. The spider crumbled in its tracks.

Kili looked behind him to the dead spider and then back at me, smiling gratefully.

He winked at me. "We make a good team, we do." He said as he threw his sword at me, scaring the crap out of me.

The sword flew over my shoulder and into another spider's head, killing it. I quickly grabbed the sword from the spiders head and threw it back in his direction. He caught it, swishing it around.

We really did make a good team. A good team that had somehow gotten separated from the group. So, maybe not a good team.

"They went this way." Kili said as he ran ahead of me, motioning from me to follow. I followed him until I stepped on a large chunk of webbing, and nearly tripped.

I stopped for a moment as I tried to get my foot free from the webbing, and I looked up to see Kili stop ahead too and look back at me. I looked back down at the webbing and started trying to pull my foot out of it.

"I'm fine." I said as I finally yanked my foot free, and then I looked back at Kili.

His eyes grew big and I could see he was about to yell for me. But suddenly a spider had dropped itself onto me. I screamed, hitting the fangs with my bow and slowly trying to crawl out from under it.

Right as I got out from under the spider a sword landed directly in it's face, and it collapsed in the spot I had just been.

But I stayed still for a moment as I looked at the blade.

It wasn't Kili's blade.

I whipped my head around to see who it was, and I nearly started screaming again. I had known that face, and although it hadn't been that long ago I had seen her last, it felt like centuries before.

Crystal.