Slowly but steadily the end is nearing, but not yet! ^^

Oh, by the way, had anybody ever noticed that in the thunder battle scene in the movie, when half of the dwarves crash into the mountain side, Thorin calls out for Kili (who's actually just behind him), when it's Fili who's technically dead? Just found it a bit odd when I actually realized it...

The storm was raging all around them when they finally reached the mountain cliff. With thunder echoing in the sky above and the small path they had no choice but to continue on, Thorin felt unsafe, to say the least. He wanted to, but could not look behind him, any false step here and he'd fall to his death for certain, end then who would lead the company? Gandalf wasn't with them anymore, the wizard having told them that he was required elsewhere. Although the leader of the company didn't show it, he still felt that he needed the Grey Pilgrim to guide them, how was he to know the way?

Carefully, he took one step after another, always keeping his eyes on the ground before him, always fearing that at the next step, the gravel upon which he stepped would crumble beneath him, and send them all to an early grave. He didn't want to lose them, not any of them, especially after being so close to losing Fili.

Scrunching his eyes, as to get rid of the droplets of water that kept clouding his vision, he could barely distinguish the path ahead, or what they were supposed to walk on. Clutching the mountain side with one hand, he made his way, much slower than he would have liked, but here safety came before haste.

He could hear many feet trail behind him, and prayed that he wouldn't hear any of them slip-when it happened.

Bilbo lost his footing. For a split second, Thorin's heart stopped. The hobbit was his charge, he was supposed to keep him safe, now that Gandalf was no longer here. But with the distance between them he couldn't. The hobbit was going to go over the cliff side and plummet to his death! Mahal, no!

He'd been about to go down himself, all danger be damned, when he stopped as he caught sight of Dwalin and Dori catch Bilbo, bringing him back onto the "safe" path they'd been walking on. The hobbit was one lucky creature indeed. He couldn't register anything else however, with Dwalin's roar "LOOK OUT!"

He turned around, just in time to come face to face with an enormous boulder coming their way, seemingly out of thin air. Out of instinct, he ducked, and managed to avoid it, but it certainly didn't calm the fierce beating in his chest.

They were all exhausted, and having to struggle against elements was quickly tiring them all out, even the stronger dwarves like Dwalin or Gloin. They needed to find some form of shelter, and fast, Thorin couldn't keep his followers out here for much longer, or they'd all collapse from exhaustion.

As another rock landed just above their heads, breaking and tumbling down on top of them, Thorin thought that they'd never see the end of this, how on earth were they going to be able to move forward when they kept having to stop so as to protect themselves from the falling gravel and stones.

"This is no thunder storm, it's a thunder battle!" he heard Balin cry in dismay.

And the elderly dwarf was right. Looking across the cliff side once more, Thorin could see some form of stone giants coming to life, throwing these huge boulders at each other.

Now Thorin was a trained warrior, he did not fear death, nor did he cower in the face of danger, but what could thirteen small dwarves and a Halfling do against such enormous creatures. He doubted that even Dwalin, the strongest among them, would be able to do anything efficient against them. He didn't doubt his warrior's strength, Dwalin was among the most vigorous dwarves he'd ever had the honor of fighting with, but this was no ordinary foe. Despite all the willpower he could muster, Thorin doubted any of them would be able engage in a fight against these creatures and come out of it unscathed. Besides, he didn't want to risk anybody anymore, this quest had taken enough from him already.

The thrown boulder finally collided, luckily not with any of them, but with another of those creatures. Thorin didn't know whether to be relieved or scared, when he felt a shaking sensation under his feet, and echoes all around him.

Fili was shaking, whether it was from the cold, the wet, or the fact that he felt utterly exhausted, he didn't know. Neither did he care, as he heard pieces of the mountain fly over his head. They needed to get out of here! With an authoritative command from Thorin, ordering them all to keep as close to the mountain as they could, he grabbed Kili by the shoulders and tried to keep him steady. He'd promised himself that his brother and his safety would always come first, no matter where they were and what they were doing. Despite hia groggy movements, as he felt some form of nausea quickly rising somewhere within himself, Fili tried to push it aside, he had too look out for his brother above all else right now. The blonde held on to him tightly as the "path" they were standing on slowly crumbled away, leaving them in a very precarious situation. However, with the rain pouring and Kili's slippy hood, he was unable to keep him at his side as they were both separated, Fili's hand having lost it's grip..

He tough his heart was going to stop.

He'd promised their mother that he'd look out for his younger sibling, he'd promised her he would keep Kili safe, and seeing the growing distance between them hurt. Their father would want Kili to return to him, he'd want to be proud of his dark haired son coming home to invite them to the halls of Erebor. What would he say when his most prized treasure wouldn't come home? How would his father cope with the loss of his favorite child? He'd been unable to live up to his word, unable to look out for the member of the company for whom he cared the most. What would Thorin say? What would his mother and father say? While his mother would be extremely disappointed in him, his father would kill him, that was almost certain.

The world seemed to pause.

For the first time in his life, Fili came to the realization that he couldn't always keep his brother safe, he wasn't invincible.

Watching Kili slowly fade away hurt, it hurt much more than he'd ever thought it would have. As an older brother, it was his job to look out for him, Dori had told him that was what elder brothers were for. No matter what condition he was in, Kili always came first.

But now, he couldn't. He couldn't see to it that Kili remain safe, he couldn't come to help him, or his Uncle, for that matter.

He could feel his stomach lurch, bile burned in the back of his throat as he realized that he couldn't keep the promise he'd made to his mother before leaving: Promise me you'll look after your brother. It didn't seem like much back then, he hadn't really realized that this adventure could cost him his life either, but now he did. Fili understood that anyone could die out here, and Kili wasn't invincible.

The blond was trapped on his own ledge, with Dwalin and a few of the others. Looking behind him, he also spotted Ori, who was also separated from his family. How was he coping with it?

Thorin had also seen the gap forming, and how it separated his company. No! This wasn't what he'd indented to happen at all, he hadn't brought all these dwarves out here just so they could die like this, with no one to know or send word back to their families. Trying to keep his grip on the side of the mountain, as he suddenly felt himself being thrown forward, he almost lost his balance as they crashed with the rest of the path in front of them.

This was their only chance of escape, and so not leaving the others time to find their senses, he pushed those he could save to the ledge, sparing them from any worse fate, should they have kept clinging to the stone giant. As he whipped his head around, getting rid of the rain stinging his vision, he saw, to his dismay, that the others were still trapped on the other side of the gaping hole between them, they had no way of joining him.

He felt guilt, what kind of leader saved himself before making sure all the people he was supposed to look out for were safe? In that moment, he really wished that being the rightful king of Erebor granted him some power, power to help the other half of the company, who were falling back, in the opposite direction. But he was just a dwarf, a simple dwarf with no magic powers, not even strong enough to look out for those he valued as kin. Thorin even tried stretching out his arm, if only to make a grab for the opposite cliff's edge, thinking by sheer willpower alone, he may be able to hold it long enough for the others to join him, but his hand only grabbed thin air.

He looked up in despair then, only being able to watch as the others seemed to be pulled further and further away from him, away from safety. Before he could even realize who had been left behind on that other giant however, the creature itself fell, sending a cascade of stones down on top of them. It was only a meager pain, however, compared to what he felt when he saw the other half of his company crash into the face of the mountain.

No! …. No, no, no… No!

He looked down in horror, as the creature tumbled to it's death, crying out in agony as it went. But Thorin didn't care. What was he supposed to do? How could he come back to the people he'd left, telling Bombur's family of his cook's death? Having to find some way to comfort Nori and Dori because they would have lost their little brother? Having to tell his sister that her blonde son hadn't made it home? He needed to know if there were any bodies left to recover, and rushed around the corner, dreading the state he'd find them in.

He stopped, breath catching in his throat for a minute. And then he let it out, never having felt so relieved in his entire life: they'd made it! Thorin thanked his lucky star, relieved beyond measure that they were a whole company again, as he saw Ori, Oin, Dwalin, Bofur, Bombur and Fili getting their senses back. They were alive.

"Where's Bilbo?" came Bofur's sudden anxious question, more concerned about their burglar than his own state..

Thorin turned around, face livid. He couldn't let the hobbit fall, not after all that he'd done for him, for his family. Pushing past the others, he made his way to the ledge, and sure enough, there was Mister Baggins, desperately clutching the side of the mountain and trying not to let go. While the others made futile attempts to grab him, extending their arms as far as they could, Thorin went over the ledge, and as carefully as he could, made his way down to their burglar. Thankfully, he managed to grab his pack, and haul the poor soul up to safety, before heaving himself up, it wouldn't do if Bilbo were to leave them now, he still felt he needed to express some form of gratitude towards him, considering what he'd done for his family.

Slowly, they all followed Thorin into a covered part of the mountain, where they were free of the beating rain.

Bilbo was relieved when they finally entered shelter, although he was still shaking badly from having almost fallen to his death. He settled himself down, between Ori and Fili, after Thorin told them to rest, and slowly found himself closing his eyes, the adrenaline pumping in his veins slowly fading away and the thumping of his heart getting more regular as Fili passed him over one of the spare coats he'd been carrying, saying Bilbo would be needing it for the night.

Indeed, it was cold, and the hobbit was grateful for it.

The dwarves were all blissfully ignorant of the orcs hot on their trail, who had a vengeance against Thorin and his blood relative and of a certain hobbit, who had started having his doubts about being here.

Indeed, Bilbo didn't feel like he should go on any further with the dwarves. His little accident earlier had grated on Thorin's nerves, he was sure of it. He couldn't stay here any longer, he knew it wasn't really his place, despite the efforts from certain dwarves to make him feel welcome, like Balin, Fili or Bofur. Indeed, the hobbit had gotten attached to his traveling companions, but he could go no further, and so, as quiet as the burglar he was supposed to be, he slipped into the shadows, made his way silently to the cave entrance, but he didn't manage to get very far, before the ground suddenly opened under his feet.