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You were running down the hill, running from the looming depths of the Goblin town. Your heart was pounding, your thoughts running a million miles an hour. You had been attacked by a vicious group of goblins, and they had taken you to their king, who had ordered you to be killed. Gandalf has arrived just in the nick of time to save you.
"Five, six, seven, eight. Bifur, Bofur, that's ten. Fili, Kili, that's twelve. And Bombur, that makes thirteen. Where's Bilbo? Where is our hobbit? Where is our hobbit?!" Your heart felt like it stopped in your chest. Your brother was missing. With a quick glance around, you found Gandalf's words to be true, and a wave of quiet walked over you. Your brother was missing and you only realized it now?!
"Curse that Halfling! Now he's lost! I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin glowered, glaring at Dori, who was quick to defend himself. Anger flared in you, but you didn't have an opportunity to open your mouth as the dwarves were quick to lay blame.
"Don't blame me!"
"And where did you last see him?" Gandalf intersected, stepping closer, his grip on his staff tightening.
"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us."
"What happened exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf's demanded, but it was Thorin who answered, his tone telling how displeased he was with the whole situation.
"I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing this hobbit again, he is long gone." There was a deafening silence after Thorin's words, no one having the courage to step up.
A small sniffle broke the silence, and everyone's eyes snapped to you. Your eyes were brimming with tears and the hem of your dress was in a tight grip in your hands as you wrung it. The dwarves, especially Thorin, felt bad. Your brother was missing and all they could do was bicker and point fingers and blame.
"No, he isn't." Bilbo appears in your line of sight, to the great surprise of the dwarves. You storm forward and jump at your brother's neck, the tears finally flowing out of your eyes as you sob into his neck, so relieved that he is alive and well.
"Bilbo Baggins. I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life." Gandalf sounded beyond relieved as he stepped closer.
"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili sounded happy, and his brother joined, his voice sounding slightly impressed.
"How on earth did you get past the goblins?"
"How indeed?" Dwalin was clearly suspicious, and once Bilbo had managed to calm you down and your hold on him had softened slightly, he turned to the dwarf, his hand disappearing to his pocket, but before he can say or do anything, Gandalf speaks up.
"Oh, what does it matter? He's back."
"It matters. I want to know. Why did you come back?" Thorin asked, his voice quiet and eyes full of remorse as he watched your small shivering form in Bilbo's arms.
"Look, I know you doubt me. I know, I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, my armchair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, 'cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you, but I will help you take it back if I can. And I couldn't leave Y/N alone with you lot." You gave a small, watery giggle, the corners of Thorin's mouth tugging upwards but not yet forming a smile. This did not get past Balin's notice, and he smirked to himself knowingly in the back of the group.
The happy moment was interrupted when a howl sounded from the rock above you, the stark outlines of orcs on wargs drawing against the sky.
"Out of the frying pan-," Thorin muttered, his eyes sweeping across the terrain around.
"And straight into the fire." Gandalf added glumly.
"Run. Run!" At the wizard's command, you took off running, your hand tightly in Bilbo's grasp.
"Climb, Y/N, Bilbo!" Thorin commander, running to your side to help you up the tree. Bilbo was left behind and you squealed your protests, but it was too late, Thorin had already lifted you up to the tree, urging you to climb higher. You wanted to whine. You were a hobbit, you were not made to climb trees. Thorin hoisted himself up in the tree next to you and tugged you to his side. You lost track of the events around you for a moment and the next thing you knew Dwalin plucked your brother up to the ground just seconds before the wargs attached the trees, trying to pull or shake you down from the trees. You clung to Thorin, your fingers winding tightly into his coat. For whatever reason, he didn't seem to mind but used his other hand to pull you closer to his chest.
When the first tree fell, everything was chaos, the wards were barking and the dwarves jumped from one tree to another. When it came time for you to change trees, Thorin grasped you by the waist and literally threw you to the top of the next tree, a squeak leaving you. You were scared beyond words, not daring to let out a sound. You clung to the new branch, Thorin standing on the one below you. As the tree you were now cowering in began to tilt as well, you wrapped your arms around the nearest branch tightly and squeezed your eyes shut, trying to close out the commotion.
Only the calls for Thorin's name made your eyes open, and when you realized what was happening, you felt like your heart stopped. He was standing on the branch, eyes locked onto the pale orc, atop his white warg. His sword was drawn, and you reached his other hand, tugging at it.
"Don't, Thorin." He glanced at you and gave you a faint smile.
"Don't worry, Ghivashel, I will be careful." His voice was quiet and you frowned, not sure what the dwarvish words meant. Balin had taught you some simple words, but that one was unfamiliar. Before you could react more, he stepped off the trunk and into the smoke, making you lose sight of him. At the same time, the tree started to tilt downward, making you close your eyes in fear again.
- -
The next thing you fully realized was being plucked off the tree and dropped several hundred meters before you landed on something soft. As you carefully peeled your eyes open, the soft surface you were laying on seemed a lot like feathers, but it couldn't be. Your suspicion was quickly confirmed as you realized you were indeed sitting on the back of a large eagle. As you looked around, you saw the other dwarves around you, either on the backs of eagles or securely hanging from their talons. Bilbo was on the back of another eagle, looking such as terrified as you, the height you were gliding in was unnerving.
When it finally came time to land, you were one of the last. The eagle you had ridden was kind enough lower it's head so you could slide down comfortably, and you slid down easily, turning to look at the brown creature that was observing you with yellow, sharp eyes.
"Thank you." You weren't sure whether or not it could understand, and it gave no indication. You reached a hand and were surprised when it allowed you to pet its head. You couldn't reach very high but it seemed to still enjoy, as its eyes drew closed in what appeared to be a pleasure. It enjoyed the attention for a while before opening its eyes and taking flight, almost knocking you over with the gust of wind that left its wings.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" A voice from above spooked you, and you looked up to see Gandalf.
"Yes." You didn't know what else to say and refocused on the sky, watching as the eagles circled the rock formation they put you down on a few times before they headed away, gliding towards something beyond the mountains.
Most of the dwarves had already started making their way down when Gandalf left your side. You were still watching, the eagles starting to shrink into such small figures in the sky that seeing them was becoming difficult.
"Are you coming, miss Baggins?" Thorin's voice sounded from behind you, and you took one last look at the sky before you turned and walked towards him. As you made your move to walk past him to the narrow stone path that led down, you were scooped into a hug.
"I am sorry for how I acted, ghivashel, it was never my intention to make it seem like you or your brother were unwanted in the company." You bit your tongue, wanting to say that you were quite sure that it was exactly what he had wanted to convey with his words for the majority of the journey, but you didn't voice your thoughts. Instead, you settled for a heavy sigh. You still had no idea what the word meant, but decided not to dwell on it yet.
"I know." There was a sort of silence when he let go of you, but made no move to begin his journey down. You, on the other hand, heard your brother's call of your name and passed him, stopping to give him a kiss on the cheek, leaving behind a blushing Thorin.