After they said goodbye to Lhindril's mother, Fíli and the young woman walked through the hallways silently. After a while it got quite uncomfortable and she wanted to mention her mother's words again but didn't dare to. So it hung over them like a dark veil of mystery. At this time, it was very quiet in Rivendell, no Elves were around. Also no sound, expect the swish of the water, could be heard usually. But on this evening laughter reached her ears and she smelled a waft of smoke and food. Suspecting nothing good they followed the noises that sounded suspiciously like the Dwarves and they reached a closed door. Immediately she wanted to open it but no sooner had she touched the doorknob than Fílis fingers dug into her arm.

"Wait" he whispered and looked into her eyes. "I believe your mother is right" with her heart beating heavily and a sick feeling in her stomach, she waited for him to say something else but he just pushed the door open and entered. Lhindril did the same with a feeling of welling sadness but didn't follow him to his brother. She sat down next to Bofur, who sat around the fire with others and was roasting some food. Yet she couldn't help but glimpsing into Fíli's direction. He kept a stiff upper lip, as if nothing had happened earlier and was goofing around with Kíli. Somehow they reminded her of her brother and herself.

"Where have you been?" Bofur asked.

"With my mother" she replied shrugging.

"She's here?" Nori chipped in with his mouth full.

"Yes, she is. I haven't seen her in such a long time so we've spent hours talking. And I saw Elrond and other old friends" Soon the conversation died and the Dwarves turned their attention towards the fire, which was nourished by table legs and chairs. As Lhindril imagined Elrond's face when he'd learn about this she smiled. Moreover, it remembered her of her childhood. Although they didn't do it on purpose, it almost felt as if it had been a prank. Her brother and her had lit up a little fire. On top of a wooden table. Unknowing as they were, they went away and left the fire without surveillance - the table burned down of course. After a while Bilbo and Thorin entered the room, the latter urged them to leave. Then his gaze fell upon her.

"What are you doing here?" he growled.

"I belong with you, the company, remember?"

"What did you tell the Elves about our intentions? You are hand in gloves with them! Those who betrayed us"

"What is that supposed to mean? I don't have anything to do with the Elves, I've just lived here for some years. Besides, what should I have told them?" irritated Bilbo looked at her, then at Thorin and at her again, others did the same.

"Whatever! Details about our quest. They want our gold for themselves. No one must learn about our intentions" the Dwarven prince raged. Frowning she glanced at him.

"Thorin, they already know that we seek to enter the mountain. Even when we plan to do so", Balin explained and told her that the day before they had shown Elrond the map, which she stole out of Gandalf's bag. At least Thorin realised that an argument was no good and just ordered them to pack their stuff and get ready - this time they obeyed. When they left Rivendell, they met Lindir who stood no chance of holding them back, so he just looked after them with a sad look on his face. Instead she wondered where Gandalf was, Thorin didn't find it necessary to wait for him, and he also said they would run out of time if they did.

-oOo-

They walked the whole day, which was utterly exhausting because their path led them uphill and because Lhindril was dead tired. She supposed they were crossing the Misty Mountains. Once or twice she tried to talk to Fíli about what had happened in the night but obviously he didn't want to talk about it, at least not in the company of the others. To be honest, she was quite glad about that because if he had asked what she thought about it she wouldn't have known her answer. Thus, she decided to give him his time, which she needed as well.

Four days later it started to rain heavily and they were soaked in no time. The fact that their path was very narrow didn't make it any better. The whole time Lhindril feared someone would fall and she wasn't surprised that it almost happened once. By a whisker Bilbo would have tumbled down in the depth but in the last moment Dwalin, Bofur and herself could grab his shoulders. Then she was fed up and wanted to complain to Thorin that they got some rest and only moved on when the sun rose or the rain weakened. Just as she opened her mouth, a huge boulder crashed into the wall above their heads. Instinctively she ducked down, even though it wasn't of much use. She heard Bofur's horrified voice.

"Well bless me. The legends are true! Giants. Stone giants!" in that moment they saw one of them stepping forth and it threw a rock in their direction. On closer inspection Lhindril saw another stone giant. She may have heard legends about them but never believed they really existed.

"Watch out" Fíli, who was directly behind her, suddenly cried. Terrified she looked around but had no inkling what he could have seen. Only when it almost was too late she noticed that the ground beneath her feet cleaved. In her panic, she couldn't step aside and just stood there while watching the gap growing wider in disbelief. Then everything happened extremely quickly. At the same time, Fíli and Kíli grabbed her hands and pulled, just as the ground under her feet was gone and she hung over the abyss. A piercing scream left her throat and feared for her life, which she only still had because the Dwarves reacted so fast. It would have been of no use to pull herself up because the cleavage grew even wider - it would simply rip off her arms. Listening with half an ear she heard the brothers arguing because one of them had to release her or else they wouldn't help. Just a little later her hand slipped out of Fíli's who desperately shouted her name.

Even before she knew what happened, Kíli grabbed her collar with his free and hoisted her up. Finally, it was over and she anxiously clenched onto his coat. Her heart was still beating rapidly, what must be the result of the excitement and the fear. Slowly the two of them got up, after he'd made sure she was alright. Then she started looking around and noticed that they were on another stone giant who had just stood up. Once again a rock was smashed towards them whereupon the monster started to walk. Fortunately, their pathway was connected with another piece of rock so that they could leave the stone giant's leg. They were more than glad to have safe (at least saver than before) ground under their feet and instantly searched for the other part of the company that was still stuck on the giant. A bit later she spotted them but anticipated something bad. The stony leg crashed into the rock some fifty feet away before the giant fell. Lhindril just had one thought in her head. They can't have survived that. Roughly, she made her way the spot of the collision, yet making sure not to push someone down by accident - they shouldn't lose any more members of the company. With that she stopped because she realised that they had lost so many of their friends. Bilbo, Bombur and Fíli. Fíli. Just the thought of him brought movement to her legs again, as if that would save him. She carefully went past a boulder in their way and almost screamed when she saw what was behind it. All the Dwarves which were separated from them were lying there but still alive. A bit ponderous they sat up, some doing better than others. Then she spotted Fíli among them and started running towards him. Probably even before he noticed her she fell round his neck and threw him to ground again. He now was lying on his back and she was on his upper body.

"Don't you dare to do that ever again" she complained. Once again he sat up and hugged her, which let her thoughts run wild. Lhindril noticed that he was looking at something in front of them, so she turned around only to see Kíli grinning at them. Embarrassed she wanted to break away from his brother but just in this moment Kíli also forced his way into the embrace. Some seconds later Bofur's shouting interrupted them. Apparently, Bilbo had disappeared. No, he was hanging directly above the cliff as she found out later. When they approached, she noticed his shocked expression and understood what must be crossing his mind. Thorin let himself slide down and pushed the Hobbit upwards, almost falling down himself. In the last moment Dwalin helped him and pulled him up again.

"I thought we'd lost our burglars" The bald Dwarf said matter-of-factly.

"They've been lost ever since we left home. They should never have come" what was the matter with him? Although he already was slightly grumpy when they first met at Bag End, he was worse at that time of their journey. She hoped he would calm down again or else the quest wouldn't be so pleasant.

Luckily, they found shelter in a nearby cave shortly after. At least something. Then she also felt how tired she was due to the lack of sleep in the last weeks, almost months. Ever since she had been harassed by those men in Bree even though it had been such a long time now. At the far end of the cave, near the wall, she took a seat and leaned her head onto the cool stone. She overheard Thorin forbidding Glóin to make a fire and despite knowing why, she was disappointed. It would have been nice to warm up and dry the equipment. In the time that Lhindril travelled through Middle Earth one of the first things she learnt was to get a fire started. At the same time she also learned when one was advisable and when not. Because at the wrong place and wrong time it could lure unbidden guests.

"Are you going to sit here for the rest of the night or will you move over that two more people can sit down?" Kíli's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh sure" she answered absentmindedly and did so, whereupon the brothers took a seat beside her. Shortly after, they lay down to sleep, except Bofur who held the first watch as ordered by Thorin. For a while she considered joining him and talking to him because she was sure she couldn't sleep. But she decided to try it for the tiredness would affect her attention and ability to react what she had experienced already a few times after she couldn't fall asleep in her years in the wilderness. While she was thinking, most Dwarves fell asleep and she wished she could have done so too.

"You don't sleep?" a voice next to her whispered and Fíli sat up. Slightly Lhindril shook her head and explained that she hadn't been able to sleep properly for weeks, whilst she sat up too. Because she thought it would be his next question, she also told him about the reason why she couldn't sleep. For a while he held his peace, then began prudently "Do you think they'd have… well harmed you if we had not helped you?" only then did she contemplate this and whether she'd still be alive and realized that she owed her life to Fíli and his brother. "Is everything alright? Did I scare you? I'm sorry if I awoke memories" obviously she must have shown emotions while thinking.

"I don't know" she muttered, "Thank you"

"For what?" he seemed confused. After she shrugged she said that she thanked him again for saving her in Bree and today in the Misty Mountains. She must have looked sad because he put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's over. Don't think about it… Do you want to talk or shall I leave you alone?" once again she asked what he was thinking about the words of her mother. "She's right" Fíli sighed and looked into her eyes. "I think I fell in love with you, even in that short time" his words caused feelings which she could never really describe. Warmth was spread in her whole body and her heart as well as her stomach acted up. "And what about you?"

"Somehow I can't tell… but I believe that I have feelings for you" Lhindril smiled at him and he smiled back. Sighing she leaned her head to his shoulder and wanted to ask him what they should to now when Kíli stirred next to them. Groggily he opened his eyes and he looked directly at them.

"Something happened?" he wanted to know shocked as he sat up.

"Precisely not" his brother snarled and she chuckled because she knew exactly what he wanted to say. But Kíli didn't seem to notice that he had interrupted something and wanted to know why they didn't sleep and why they had woken him.

"We didn't. We were just talking quietly but many apologies if we were too noisy for your light sleep Mr Dwarf" she hissed in feigned politeness.

"And what were you talking about?" Fíli groaned.

"Can't one have his secrets?" no idea what was so funny about that but Kíli exploded with laughter until his brother smacked him in the side, which only made it worse.

"Be quiet! You're going to wake everybody" she muttered and he broke off almost immediately. Yet it was too late and Bilbo was awake. "Well done" she added but Kíli asked again what they had been talking about.

"Nothing important. I wanted to know what Fíli wanted from me for winning the bet" Lhindril lied quickly.

"And?"

"No answer so far" she replied shrugging. The Hobbit stood up, packed his stuff und threw an odd look at them.

"Don't mind us" Fíli said and Bilbo nodded, wanting to leave the cave but was engaged in a conversation with Bofur.

"Oh, I see. And what do we do now?" Fíli smiled and nudged his brother's side.

"Now you will go to sleep while we'll talk about other things that aren't any concern of yours."

"For example…?"

"Something that doesn't concern you!" Fíli enhanced and she feared it could initiate an argument or something similar.

"Let it be. Let's talk about something else" she proposed and Fíli wanted to protest so she asked something that had been on her mind for quite some time. Since Balin had told them about Azog who wanted to wipe out the line of Durin. "I know, it probably doesn't concern me and I have no idea where I heard it or if it's true… but I thought you might know more"

"What would that be?"

"Is it true that Thorin has nephews?" she blurted out. First, the two of them exchanged a glance and then started to laugh.

"Quiet! And what's so funny about that?" she hissed because she though it wasn't amusing at all. What if it was true and someone who had the same ambition as Azog heard about them? If Thorin's nephews had been warned? Slowly they silenced again and Lhindril posed the question again, adding that she found it anything but hilarious.

"If you were us, you would too" Kíli uttered under his laughter, while Fíli pointed his finger to Thorin, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Why don't you ask uncle himself?" once again they guffawed.

"No. I won't. Firstly, he wouldn't tell me. Secondly, he hates me and I don't want to ask him in the first…" abruptly she stopped as she reflected Fíli's words. "Wait! Did you really just say uncle?"

"No, mother" Kíli jeered what intensified their laughter. Lhindril on the other hand couldn't laugh at all. After all this meant Fíli was a prince and heir to the throne of Erebor. Aghastly, she pressed a hand against her mouth and stood up, almost hitting her head.

"Wait, where are you going?" Fíli asked stupefied. At least they had now stopped laughing.

"I-I can't" she stammered. Then the blond got up and grabbed her hand. Again Bilbo threw a look at them, then focused on Bofur again.

"What can't you?" he asked softly.

"Us… It can't ever go well. Because you're well…" he snorted disdainfully.

"Because I'm a prince? You're the first that is bothered by that" at the end he spoke louder but he didn't seem to notice or care. "Listen. I want that you make a decision with your heart and not based on our ancestors" he continued a bit calmer. Of course she knew that him being royal wasn't even such a problem, since Lhindril was as well, even though she was always in denial about it. Nevertheless, it felt wrong and she didn't know why.

"I'm sorry" she whispered, pulled her hand away and turned around. When she took a step, the sand beneath her feet scrunched.

"Careful!" Fíli shouted. This time she looked at the ground right from the beginning to find out what was happening. The sand under her feet split and a cleavage opened. Oh no, not again, she just thought as Thorin startled up and cried they should wake up. Suddenly Fíli stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to pull her out of the zone of danger. But the ground opened up so that they all fell. For a while they were sliding over rock and she knew for sure that her whole back must be rubbed sore when they eventually landed in some sort of cage. Soon a large number of ugly Goblins came towards them and grabbed them roughly, pulling the company along with them. Resistance was futile and she guessed that another wakeful night was lying ahead.

The Goblins pushed them across instable looking bridges and paths. Often she had difficulties with going ahead but was left no choice. As they finally reached a narrow footbridge, only supported by few wooden beams, she was fed up. With all her strength she shoved the Goblin that held her aside until he tumbled into the deep, squeaking woefully. Then there was already a new creature at its place and wanted to push her forward but she nudged him back. By no means she wanted to set a foot on this construction! All of a sudden she noticed a blade pressed against her throat that a Goblin, that must have had enough, put there.

"Keep on going" it grunted but oddly not even the thought of the knife at her throat did actuate her. Behind them the whole trail had stopped because they were blocking the way.

"What shall we do with her?" one of the Goblins that held her growled.

"Nobody will miss her" the speaker nodded to the Goblin that held the knife. It removed the blade instantly, only to build up momentum, planning to stab her. Horrified she squinted her eyes, waiting for her end to come.