A/N - As always, thank you Nauze for your services. And a big Happy Birthday to Xandrelance :D

Katniss was alone. She was feeling more hopeless than ever, and considering how many lows she had throughout her life, that was quite something. She was inside another Hunger Games arena, and she just knew that there was no way that President Snow would let her live to tell her story this time. She was doomed to die soon. She could only hope that it would happen fast and painless.

Her allies were already dead. Killed by mutts - or were they called wargs? Orcs, perhaps? She did not know. What she did know was that she hated those filthy creatures almost as much as she hated that cursed forest. Her water supply was running dangerously low, and it didn't seem that the trees held any hidden water inside them this time. She had checked. The perspective of dying of dehydration scared her.

The nights were cold and dark. She wouldn't dare to make a fire, as she knew that that would certainly alert the careers about her location. As she absconded herself atop a tree, she wondered where Thorin would be. She really hoped that the mutts hadn't got him. Why wasn't he there with her? She didn't remember. She hoped he would still be alive, though she knew she would likely hear the cannons announcing his demise if he were no longer alive.

It was so dark now that she couldn't see anything. Everything was pitch black. A blackness that chilled her soul. But then, she started hearing some voices dangerously near. Would that be careers?

She opened her eyes. Everything was dark, and she couldn't see anything nearby or far ahead. She froze when she realized she was no longer on the tree. What had happened? She could, however, hear voices, which scared her. How did they get so close? Were there careers nearby? She unsheathed her sword and blindly stood up to get some leverage.

"Lassie went all crazy again!"

Katniss blinked as she heard that voice. She thought she vaguely recognized it, but she wasn't sure from whom or from where. Fearing that whoever it was saying those words was going to attack her, she attacked first but someone else that she had failed to take notice of held her arm from behind and was trying hard to disarm her.

"Mizin, put this away. This is not an arena. You are among friends."

She held her breath when she heard Thorin's voice, a voice she could recognize anywhere, anytime, holding her from behind. She was suddenly shaking with both excitement and dread.

"Thorin!"

"Yes, Mizin."

She allowed him to disarm her at once, as she turned around to hug him. Her body was still shaking, and she wasn't sure if he was real or if he was the product of another nightmare or hallucination that she carried on having daily at that accursed place.

There was something in the air of Mirkwood's darkness that messed up their senses. Katniss was positively sure of it. Gandalf had warned that the forest would play games with their minds, and every day that passed, that seemed to get worse and worse. They had all lost the track of time because of the eternal darkness of the forest, but if she had to guess, she would say they had been adventuring inside that grisly wood for at least two weeks. Probably more. There was no way to know. Every time they stopped to rest, and she squeezed a snooze out of it, she would have nightmares about being stuck to another arena that looked just like Mirkwood.

More than once she had woken up instinctively loading her bow and pointing it at random company members. She wasn't the only one who was affected in that way. Those few who had fought in the Battle of Azanulbizar seemed to have been infected by the same maladies, though Katniss was clearly having it worse than anybody else.

So far, she had spotted no food that she knew would be safe to eat, and that worried her tremendously. Thorin was doing his best to ensure that they rationed their food and water supplies as much as possible. Katniss could not help but wish that would be enough to keep them alive until they left that damn place. They were all starting to hate Mirkwood as much as they had hated the goblin tunnels.

The worst thing about the forest was its lack of light, as the tall, dense trees blocked it, full of dark green leaves. There were lots of thick spider webs everywhere, which made all look eerier. The lack of light was such that she ended up having to wear her night-vision glasses even during the day. Even the dwarrowmen, used to the darkness of their mountain holds and possessed quite a decent night vision, seemed to struggle to maintain their natural night vision. That is why whoever was in the night watch could now be seen wearing Katniss' glasses.

It was because of that piece of technology that one day, a terrified Ori had woken them up screaming after he spotted what, according to him, were the two most enormous spiders that he had ever seen. Katniss, Kíli, and Thorin were quick to fire arrows at the place he told them to, but as they were all unable to see where their target truly was, they all missed their shots.

After that, they decided they were going to light a fire whenever they rested, even though that seemed to attract moths bigger than their hands to the campsite. That made it harder for them to get a decent sleep, but the prospect of fighting against enormous spiders blindly was terrifying enough for them to face the flying pests. They did their best to sleep all bundled together, one next to the other, trying to cover themselves with their cloaks and blankets the best way they could. Thorin would usually shield Katniss with his own body, making her the little spoon whenever neither of them was on watch-duty.

There was one day she and Kíli had shot down a handful of black squirrels with spooky yellow eyes, but they all had tasted awful after they roasted them. Only Katniss seemed capable of enduring eating that foul-tasting meat. She shrugged and carried on eating as much as she could, saying that they were way too picky for her taste.

However, she wasn't laughing and condemning them a few hours later when she woke up in the middle of the night, boiling with fever and an excruciating stomach ache. Thorin almost lost it, forced to witness his One shaking and vomiting, unable to do anything to heal her.

It was four hours of pure agony where nothing seemed to make her feel better until she finally fell asleep on his chest. The entire company was feeling dismayed, as they witnessed their leader fearing over his One's life. Thorin did not know where he found the strength to carry on leading their group the following day, but somehow he did.

He carried her weight, refusing to let anyone else help him on that task. Truth be told, she was the lightest member of their company, or perhaps she was a close tie with their burglar. The only thing he conceded was allowing both his nephews to help him carry her possessions that they distributed among the three of them. For three nights and two days, he agonized in silence, fearing the worst as he looked after her the best way he could. That's how long it took for her to wake up.

Thorin felt so happy and relieved when it happened that he had to control himself not to make a feast with the few provisions they had.

"You gave me such a scare, Mizin. Your human part is too frail. I was fearing I was going to lose you. You are too stubborn for your own good. Don't do that again."

She gave him a frown as she didn't like to be treated like a child that had done something wrong.

"I am here, right?"

"Aye. I just don't want to lose you for some putrid meat!"

"There was no way we could know they would make me ill,"

"You could have trusted your senses. You know that had an awfully ill taste."

"Not everything that is edible tastes nice. Believe me, I had more than my share of pine bark to know what I'm talking about."

To that, he did not argue, as he knew that she had endured hunger and starvation to an extent that none of them had ever experienced. Not even when they were homeless after Smaug's taking over Erebor. They could still make some gold working for different settlements of menfolk or freely hunt in the wild. While their food had been scarce many times, it was nothing compared to the sort of hardships she went through.

He might not have done a party to celebrate her recovery, but he allowed her to have four times her allowance of water, as she woke up feeling extremely thirsty. Then he decided that they all should call it a day much earlier than he would have done otherwise. Before it was totally dark, he took her a bit further ahead so they could have some privacy while still remaining in his company's eyesight. Once they were away from the others, he re-braided her hair and asked her to do the same thing to him for the very first time.

Every pair of eyes in the company focused on the couple, who seemed more than happy to ignore their presence. Despite that, everybody saw how Thorin seemed to look one hundred years younger when she was by his side. They could also see how genuine and carefree her laughter sounded when she was with him. It was almost as if their tenderness towards each other was able to make Mirkwood's spell fade, at least momentarily.

When they came back holding hands as it was getting darker, nobody had any frown or twisted thoughts to throw at the recently formed couple. They might still not be officially courting according to the dwarrow traditions, but there was an underlying understanding that they were courting in their own, unique way.

The following day, they found the dark stream that Beorn had warned them against. Their water supply was already more than two-thirds gone, and Katniss only hoped they could find more water somewhere else, or at the very least, leave the forest before it was over. They all stopped walking forwards as they realised that the bridge they were meant to cross seemed to have broken a long time ago. This was an issue, as Beorn had particularly warned them it was quite essential for them to cross the river without touching the water.

They were almost deciding to cut a couple of trees to make a boat to allow them to cross the small river when Kíli pointed at some vines that he believed would be strong enough to support their weight. Kíli was about to test it by crossing it himself when Thorin stopped his nephew before he had the chance to go very far.

"Wait! We'll send the lightest first!"

Everybody's eyes befallen on Bilbo, but Katniss gave one step forward.

"That will be me, right?" Katniss asked, making Bilbo release a deep breath of relief. Thorin, on the other hand, went pale as his decision came back to haunt him.

"Not you, Mizin…"

"Why not?"

"You have just been ill…"

"I'm feeling better."

"Still…"

"You just said that the lightest should go first…"

"But I didn't mean you…" Thorin frowned and turned his head over to look at Bilbo. Katniss, sharp as she was, noticed straightway where he was trying to get.

"You cannot be serious about sending him there!"

"He is the lightest."

"That's arguable."

Thorin gave a low grunt to show his annoyance as she made her point. However, it was the hobbit himself who came forward.

"I don't mind going first, Miss Katniss,"

"See? He agrees. Let him do it…"

"Bilbo, if you fall down that river…"

There was a half-second of hesitation that went through Bilbo's eyes, but he soon gave her an assuring smile.

"I better not fall, then."

"But…"

"Let him go, Mizin. Please… have some faith in him."

Katniss frowned, but she nodded in acceptance while Bilbo went forward and started hand-picking the vines. There was an overall tension where every company member watched Bilbo's attempt to cross the river as if they were Capitol citizens, cheering on their favourite tribute. That thought, and witnessing Bilbo almost tripping over and falling down the river, made Katniss feel a bit queasy, and she turned her face back to the hobbit who clearly wasn't the best climber of their small troop. Thorin was the only one who seemed to notice her uneasiness.

"How are you faring, Mizin?"

"I'm okay."

Katniss still wasn't feeling great, but she would never say that out loud. Thorin knew her enough to know that, and he was also similar to her in so many ways that he knew it was best not to push her. So they remained in silence until some gasps from the rest of the company made them turn back to see that Bilbo had not fallen in the river after tripping over again. Katniss sighed and walked a few steps back from the scene.

"He is going to break his neck!"

"He was going to have to cross the stream in a way or the other. It is best if he goes first. He is the lightest."

"Well, if this is your logic, then I should go next…"

"And do that you shall. We will cross it in pairs. You will go next with me. Then Fíli and Balin; Kíli and Óin after them, and Glóin and Dori next. Ori with Nori, and Bifur with Bofur; and at last Dwalin and Bombur."

She nodded. They turned back just in time to see Bilbo jumping safely to the other side. Thorin then extended his hand to her as if he were inviting her to dance in a ballroom. She rolled her eyes but took it nonetheless.

Both Thorin and Katniss did the crossing much more gracefully than Bilbo had, which wasn't much of a surprise, considering that she had spent most of her life climbing trees and Thorin was a dwarrow warrior and also a fairly competent climber as well. The only issue for her was that besides the fact that she was still feeling a bit weak due to her recent sickness episode, that forest seemed to mess up her head more than it affected the others. There was a moment while crossing that she saw herself getting almost hypnotized by the dark stream's water, with its glooming swirling leaves, until Thorin shook her off of her trance. Fortunately, it wasn't long until they both were safe and sound at the other riverside.

Once they were there, Thorin quickly signed for the next due to cross. Bilbo, who was already resting there, called Katniss and pointed at a small family of dark squirrels that were drinking from that water.

"Look, Miss Katniss, maybe that's why you fell ill."

Katniss and Thorin exchanged a glance.

"This water is surely cursed!"

"Poisoned, more likely. But who..." Katniss said as she crouched down to have a better look at the water. Soon, she began to hear voices. Was it Rue? No, it was Wiress...

"Katniss!" Thorin's muscular arms were practically dragging her away from the riverbank, as she had been seconds away from touching its waters. As he did that, Fíli and Balin successfully jumped to the place where they were.

"Stay away from these waters!" Thorin yelled at the only female member of his company, who still looked disturbed.

"Did you hear them shouting? Did you hear them?" Katniss's hands were shaking as she pleaded for them to answer her. The three dwarromen exchanged a dark glimpse.

"No one is screaming, Catnip." Fíli was the one who ended up answering her in the end.

Since Thorin's nephews had found out about her childhood nickname, they wouldn't lose an opportunity to use it, only to annoy her. Hearing him calling her by the old nickname made her start hearing Gale's voice as well. Katniss's skin was suddenly paper-white, and she looked like she was going to be sick.

"You are hallucinating again," Thorin whispered as he held both of her shoulders, full of worry. It was at that exact moment that Óin and Kíli safely arrived where they were.

"Have a look at her," Thorin urged their company healer as soon as his feet touched the ground.

After ensuring that his One was being well looked after, Thorin decided he needed some space. He needed to give his mind a chance to remain clear and focused on the grand schemes of things. Ultimately, there were many other things that he should worry about, such as how they were going to replenish their water or find their way out of that doomed place.

It was then that he caught a clatter of hooves on the path ahead. Without thinking twice, he loaded his own bow at the same time he demanded silence from the others. A beautiful white deer stopped ahead and looked at them.

The thought of eating fresh venison was enough to make Thorin point an arrow at the animal.

"Wait!" Katniss shouted from behind him, sounding much more alert than she had a few minutes before that, informing him that whatever medicine that Óin had given her quickly worked. "It might tell us where to find fresh water."

"We cannot leave the path," Thorin told her without pulling his arrow away from the best.

The deer, however, seemed to have decided that they no longer posed a threat, as it walked slowly towards them until it stopped half away and turned its head a couple of times as if it was inviting them to follow it. Thorin's arrow remained locked on the animal, even though Katniss started walking in his direction.

However, it was at that exact time that Bombur caused an immense stir at the company by failing down in the stream, making them all look back to try to rescue him, and causing the deer to disappear.

When they managed to fish Bombur out of the cursed stream, he was already fast asleep, with a silly smile on his face and drenched from hair to boots. Thorin cursed their lack of luck for both losing their dinner and now having to take turns carrying the heaviest member of their company. The dwarves remained there for a few moments, lamenting their ill luck, whereas Katniss and Bilbo were the ones who remained a bit further away from the others. Katniss, who was feeling guilty for having prevented Thorin from getting them some nice venison dinner, tried to see if there was any sign to where the deer went when something else called her attention.

"There is a fork on the path!" she informed their group, looking straight at Thorin, who immediately frowned and went there to investigate it with Dwalin and Balin at his heels.

It was soon clear that there was a main path - which they were all following - but there was also a second one, which was much steeper and hidden.

"Gandalf and the skin-changer not mentioned this way…" Thorin said full of caution.

"Maybe Gandalf didn't know about it?" Bilbo suggested as he examined the side road, looking for clues. But it was Katniss's comment that made the decision easier for them.

"I think the deer went this way."

They decided they were to follow that side path for one day, hoping they would find the animal again. If there was no sign of it, they were to go back to the main road, which was the one they knew with certainty that would lead to the other side of the forest. They all walked as stealthy as they could to not alert their potential prey.

One thing that they noticed was that as deeper as they walked inside this alternative path, more breathable and fresher was the surrounding air. There was also more light, and cobwebs didn't cover the trees from crown to root. The shade of green from the leaves had also changed, as it was now fresh green, instead of the gloomy, dark green they had gotten used to seeing. This sudden change of scenery was enough to lift their spirits.

However, it was a few hours before the sunset that they finally found the clearing. It was as if they had found a fully stocked Cornucopia. There was a lake in the middle of the clearing, full of pink fishes that seemed to have been waiting for them to feast on them all along. There were also wild strawberries and mushrooms on the river banks. They could barely believe their change of luck.

Thorin had to shout to prevent the dwarrowmen from jumping at the river as soon as they spotted it. Even though they could now breathe fresh air and feel the sun touching their skin, it was important for them not to forget that they were still inside of Mirkwood after all, and should remain cautious. After some discussion, they decided Thorin would go first inside the water, and if he deemed it safe, the others would join soon afterwards.

Fortunately, the water was safe. And soon, all the members of the company except for Katniss had stripped off their clothes and were bathing inside the river. Even Bombur had been thrown there by his relatives, which had been good, as immersing him in this fresh clear water seemed to be what he needed to break the enchanted river's spell.

Katniss did not mind for the others to go first, as she knew she would soon have her own turn there. So she used her alone time gathering food and setting up snares on the trees that surrounded the clearing they were going to spend the night on.

Yet, before they called her over for her time in the lake, Katniss almost didn't see when a red and black snake jumped out of nowhere and bit straight on her right hand as she bent down to harvest some wild garlic.

She gasped in shock as she witnessed her attacker slither away from the crime scene. She mentally cursed her lack of attention as she started feeling the drowsiness caused by the venom that she knew was likely killing her now. Katniss staggered wobbly into the forest, her vision completely blurred. She tried to scream for help, but the voice didn't seem to want to leave her throat. She was getting weaker and weaker by the minute.

She was unsure how long she carried on walking; it certainly felt like hours for her, though she knew that her time perception was likely to be wrong. She thought of Thorin, and their unborn children she had seen inside Galadriel's mirror. They would never come to exist now.

The figure of an angel appeared in front of her, and with her last breath, she fell into its arms before succumbing to darkness.