The laughs and shouts of relief that passed through the company were ringing through the clearing as Annelise tried to stand up after her fall. As she attempted to move her left shoulder, she couldn't help but yell from the pain that shot through her body at the movement.

Bilbo quickly hopped over to her, while at the same time trying to free himself from his bonds.

Gandalf reached the young girl first, moving to free her from her sack while being careful of her shoulder. Once she was free, she looked down and noticed that the stone had cut through both the bag and her sleeve to leave a rather nasty looking wound in her shoulder.

By that time, her father had been freed and he quickly made his way to his daughter's side.

"We will need to clean and bandage that wound before it gets infected," he said quietly.

When he would not meet her eyes, Annelise knew that he was blaming himself for not keeping her from being hurt.

"Addâd, I am alright," Annelise said gently, using the name she quit using when she was twelve because it made her feel like a baby. When Thorin heard her speak in his native tongue, using that quiet voice, it threw his mind back to a small girl with dark hair that was just growing past her shoulders.

The child was running ahead of her two cousins toward him, with her arms wide open to greet him as he came home from another long day at the forge.

He couldn't help but look up into those same eyes and see how much they had aged in just the few years since then.

"I know," he said finally, patting her head and getting up to allow Gandalf and Bilbo to tend to her wound.

"I'm afraid you will need to remove your tunic so that I can properly bandage your shoulder," Gandalf said, while going through the bag of supplies that Bilbo handed him. It seemed that while she was speaking with her father, the Hobbit had run back to their camp with a few of the other dwarves to retrieve some of their things.

Gandalf stood once he found what he was looking for and reached a hand down to help Annelise up.

Nodding her thanks, she then followed him until they were mostly hidden behind a rock from the company so that she could remove her shirt.

Once she was settled, Gandalf pulled out a green plant from one of the small bags and began chewing on it before sticking it to the cut in her shoulder. Annelise instantly recognised the scent coming from the plant and inhaled deeply to breath in the smell.

"Athelas..." she said, sighing as the familiar scent brought back fond memories of her childhood tending to her father and cousins various injuries.

"Very good," Gandalf said, breaking through her thoughts. "I am glad to see Thorin has taught you so much, though I am surprised that you know it by that name."

"When Father and my cousins were away, I would spend my time studying books on healing and other subjects. I even taught myself Elvish, although my father was not happy about that," Annelise said, chuckling as she remembered her father's reaction to see her pouring over giant books written in the beautiful language. "I'm afraid that my resources were rather limited though, so I'm certainly not fluent."

"I am sure that it was not difficult for you to understand the language," Gandalf added absentmindedly, as his attention was focused on wrapping the bandage around her shoulder and across her chest.

"It was actually rather easy. How did you know that?"

Gandalf paused in his movements before looking into Annelise's eyes intently. "Your parents taught you the language when you were young, living in Rivendell."

This new information caused Annelise to gasp quietly before thinking over the new bit of information the wizard had given her.

"I was born in Rivendell?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid that story is for another time that is soon approaching," Gandalf replied, tying of her bandage and handing her back her shirt.

"Sooner than your father will like."

With those words and a kind look back at her, the wizard left Annelise to dress and ponder her thoughts.

'What could he mean? Am I finally going to find out how I came to be with my father? And how did I end up in Gondor if I was born in Rivendell? What was I even doing in Rivendell? I'm a Man, not an elf.'

With these thoughts running through her head, Annelise turned back and walked toward the rest of the company.

The others were finally all free, so she went and stood next to Bilbo as he watched Gandalf and her father speaking.

"That was really quick thinking on your part. If you hadn't distracted them, I'm sure all of us would have been stew by now."

"Jam more likely," Bilbo said, trying to lighten up the conversation but Annelise could see that the smile he had on his face wasn't reaching his eyes.

"What's wrong Bilbo?" she asked quietly.

"You are very right that we could have died. I guess it is really starting to hit me just how much is at stake on the journey. And we aren't even facing the dragon yet."

Annelise looked down at the small hobbit. She could see the worry in his eyes and knew that a part of him was regretting coming on this quest.

She gently put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up into her eyes.

"It is alright to be afraid. I am terrified. Admitting that fear is a great strength, not a weakness. By accepting your fear, you come one step closer to overcoming it."

Bilbo stared up at her for a moment, contemplating what she had said. After a moment, he realised something that changed the way he viewed the women beside him. 'She is just as terrified as I am. She just won't let it show.'

"The same goes for you, miss. You don't have to pretend to be so brave in front of the Company."

Annelise smiled gratefully down at the hobbit before removing her hand from his shoulder.

"I have found that it is easiest to be brave, when you have accepted your fears and chosen not to allow them to take hold of you. So if it appears that I am not afraid, that is wrong. I am terrified. I simply choose to embrace that fear."

At this, Bilbo could not find the right words to respond so he simply looked up at Annelise and smiled genuinely, before walking to help a few members of the company round up the last of their supplies.

"How is your shoulder?"

Annelise turned and saw Fili walking toward her, with Kili a few feet behind him.

"It is alright. Gandalf took care of it."

"Well hopefully it won't be too much of a hindrance. At least it was your left shoulder, and not your right," Kili added, moving to stand on her right, while Fili stood to her left.

The siblings stood in silence next to their cousin, looking over their companions while keeping an eye on her as well. Soon after, Thorin came to join the group.

"How are you?" he asked, throwing a concerned glance to her shoulder.

"I am fine. It's nothing to worry about," she said smiling down at her father.

"Very well," he said, glancing at both his nephews. Each nodded to him, and Annelise knew they were silently promising that they'd keep an eye on her.

"Gandalf and I believe that there is a cave nearby that the trolls would have stayed in during the daylight hours. We will be leaving in just a few minutes to try and find it."

At this, Annelise and her cousins nodded before moving to gather their things.

Annelise knew that they were nearing the entrance of the troll's cave when a smell that she never wanted to encounter again wafted up into her nostrils. She couldn't help the small gag at the repulsive scent.

As most of the company went into the cave, Annelise stayed in the back of the group trying to stay as close to fresh air as she could while still being able to see inside the troll hoard.

"Oh what's that stench?" Nori said as the group began entering the cave.

"It's a troll-hoard," Gandalf answered, sounding slightly exasperated at the question. "Be careful what you touch."

The rest of the Company began coughing and gagging the further into the cave they went.

"It seems a shame just to leave it lying around," Bofur said, looking down at something Annelise couldn't see.

Her curiosity quickly got the best of her. She grabbed part of her cloak and held it over her nose and mouth to attempt to block out a bit of the smell. She walked deeper into the cave to see that Bofur was talking about a rather large pile of gold just laying on the ground.

She turned around to see her father wandering toward what looked to be a rack of swords.

He set down the torch he was carrying and went to pick up two of them.

"These swords were not made by any troll." This statement grabbed Annelise's attention and she moved over to her father's side.

The largest of the swords he handed off to Gandalf, who had joined him on his right.

"Nor were they made by any smith among Men," the wizard added, admiring the hilt before removing the blade a bit from it's sheath. "These were forged in Gondolin."

Annelise gasped upon hearing that name. In her elvish studies, she had read of the fall of the hidden city and the events leading to its destruction.

"By the High Elves of the First Age," Gandalf continued.

These words caused Thorin to falter in his own admiration of the blade in his hand. Annelise could not help but roll her eyes at her father's prejudice.

"You could not wish for a finer blade!" Gandalf exclaimed as her father moved to put the sword back to where he had grabbed it from. At this, Thorin drew the blade back from its scabbard and Annelise looked over his shoulder to admire the craftsmanship of the sword. She had never seen its equal.

Annelise stood back with Gandalf as her father moved closer to the entrance of the cave.

"You have heard of Gondolin then?" Gandalf asked suddenly, still looking down at the sword in his hands.

"Yes, I read about it in my studies. It was always one of my favourites, even though it is not very happy."

Before the wizard had a chance to reply, Annelise heard her father yell out, "Let's get out of this foul place. Come on, let's go!"

Annelise and Gandalf began making their way behind the rest of the group when Annelise heard the wizard step on something. Gandalf stopped and looked down before moving some of the leaves and other things out of the way with his staff. Annelise bent down and picked up what seemed to be a small dagger. She withdrew it a bit and saw that the blade was made of the same material as the swords that were now in her father and Gandalf's possession.

"I think that is a very good size for our dear Bilbo, don't you think?" Gandalf said smiling down at the young woman.

"Yes, I do believe you're right," she said before standing and handing the blade off to him.

At this, the two began making their way out of the cave together.

Once they were out, Gandalf called Bilbo over to them.

"Here," he said, handing the dagger over to the hobbit. "This is about your size."

"I can't take this," the small hobbit protested quietly.

"The blade is of Elvish make, which means it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby."

"Amazing," Annelise whispered quietly under her breath, when she heard what Gandalf had said.

Bilbo glanced back at the Company, then to Annelise, before looking the wizard in the eyes again.

"I have never used a sword in my life," he protested finally.

"And I hope you never have to," Gandalf answered sombrely. "But if you do, remember this: true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."

Bilbo glanced up at the wizard, thinking over his words before a voice broke through the silence that had surrounded the three of them.

"Something's coming!"