"Oh dear sweet Eru," Bilbo exhaled, his breath skipping dangerously. "You can't be serious, we're climbing that mountain?" He pointed at one in the range with a look of utter incredulity.

"No, were climbing that one." Keera (he'd finally gotten used to that name even though he always thought Myrtle when he looked at her) moved his hand so that it pointed at the mountain next to it which rose much higher than the one he thought they'd be climbing. Bilbo gulped.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, it'll be fun." She shrugged.

"Really? Climbing that incredibly high, craggy mountain will be fun?" Even Bofur was snorting at that.

"Well it'll at least be interesting which is much better than it being boring. Some mountains are just so dull to climb whereas that one is supposed to have winding roads and the paths get really tricky to climb up; even the goats find it difficult to tread these roads. This'll be interesting to say the least." She said with glee while the others looked at her in horror.

"What is wrong with you?" Kili asked.

"Nothing is wrong with me, I just haven't gone through these roads before and I'm always excited to find new paths." She was practically hopping, her grin splitting her face in half.

"You've never been here."

"No I usually cross through the Redhorn Pass since Lady Galadriel often has information for me to take back to the Rangers or the Gap of Rohan if I'm headed to Gondor or Rohan."

"You've been to Gondor?"

"Yes. Not as myself of course, I was pretending to be a peredhil child looking for my human father."

"Where else have you been?" Ori asked. He'd been carefully listening to everything she'd said once Gondor was mentioned.

She shrugged even as she stopped Bilbo from tripping guiding him by the back of his coat as their path continued to rise higher. "Lots of places. Some didn't even have any names. Most of the times I just wander."

"Why would you do that?" Fili wondered.

"Well someone has to see the world so that it can be put into the maps don't they? That's what I do, find out which paths can still be used, which routes are safe and which are not."

"Doesn't it get lonely?" Kili asked.

"I like it too much for it to get lonely. Plus I'm not alone for long, Orcs and Goblins have become a lot more frequent for some reason. There's often something to kill, some danger to report to the Rangers."

"Ever been to Erebor?" Fili asked.

"No, I've seen it from a distance and travelled close to it when I had to go to Withered Heath for a while but other than that I haven't been too close to it. Great doors though, the stone dwarf warriors are seen from a spyglass."

"Withered Heath? Why would you go there?" Thorin asked urgently and Bilbo wondered what the fuss was. What exactly was this Withered Heath anyway?

"I was...asked to go there and see if I could find any signs of weaknesses of dragons. Some clue perhaps."

"Dragons?" Now Bilbo really wanted to know what this Withered Heath was.

"Withered Heath is the famous breeding ground of dragons. It's where Smaug came to be."

"And who was it that asked you to go there?" Thorin continued grilling her. Bilbo would have gotten annoyed by now at Thorin's insistence, at the gruff way he heaped question upon question but Keera maintained her crooked smile and that only served to annoy Thorin further.

"I'm sure you can guess."

"Gandalf. He wasn't lying when he said that the dragon has long been on his mind."

"No he was not."

"And what did you find in Withered Heath?"

"Nothing. It is barren and although there were certain areas where information might have been carved, it was destroyed and scorched beyond recognition. I could have put it together but it would have taken years and we do not have that."

"No we do not." A muscle in Thorin's jaw twitched and with a deep breath he went ahead leaving them to their talk. After a great few minutes of silence and climbing higher and higher Ori finally spoke again.

"Have you been to any other cities?"

"To be honest I haven't been to cities as much as I have been to ruins. Making sure that the dark things that creep there are not moving too close for comfort."

"Ye're a scout then." Dwalin said.

"You could say that."

"For whom?"

"The White Council, the Rangers, anyone who would accept the information I have really."

"Not dwarves then." Balin snorted and she laughed.

"Not dwarves. I'm too mysterious and untrustworthy for you. Plus there's no one to vouch for me since the alliances of old have broken and Dwarves have become even more secretive if that was even possible."

"What are the Elves of Mirkwood like? Ave you been there, to the forest?" Bilbo asked.

The smile dropped from her face and she looked beyond him with eyes unseeing. "Once. It did not go so well."

"Did they...did they think you were a Dwarf?"

If Thorin and the rest's opinion of Elves was mirrored then being confused for a dwarf would not have ended well for her.

"Hmm? Oh no, I didn't even meet the Elves there. It was a long time ago, a decade nearly. That forest has a lot of secrets and not many of them are pleasant." Her eyes misted over, every single muscle suddenly tense and Bilbo wondered which of the unpleasant secrets she knew which of the dangers had left such a mark on her that she would be ready to fight at the mere mention of that forest.

"I'm sorry."

"Why? Did you hurt me?"

"No but-"

"Then don't apologise. I like my adventures."

"Even the bad ones?"

"The bad ones taught me how to survive long enough to have good ones. Any day you're alive is a good one."

But at the end of the day when they were ensconced in a cave after stone giants had nearly had them thrown off the mountain Bilbo didn't feel very alive. He didn't feel very alive, he didn't feel like a hobbit and he most definitely didn't feel like a Burglar. So when Bofur tried to stop him from leaving he snapped.

"You're just homesick! I understand."

'Just homesick' as if there were anything plain or normal about missing everything, every small comfort, every little fauntling who'd hide behind him while running away from their mothers after making mischief, as if it was normal to miss his chair, his bed oh how he missed his bed and his larder. He missed his home's warmth and the way it welcomed him and once again he lost his temper.

"No you don't! You don't understand none of you do! You're dwarves, you're used to this life. To living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!"

And even as the words were out of his mouth he regretted them.

Because they were used to it. They were used to travelling, they were used to not belonging because their home was taken from them. They did not travel out of choice like he and Keera were doing and that is why he was here. That is why he was their burglar to get them back their home. He wanted ot help them he really did but...

Bilbo just wished he was strong enough or it.

"I am sorry, I didn't-"

"No you're right." Bofur said and the little coil winding around his heart turned tighter at the sight of the faint gleam of moisture in the dwarf's eyes. "We don't belong anywhere. I wish you all the luck in the world, I really do." He clasped Bilbo's shoulder and the guilt increased tenfold even as he turned to leave. "What's that?" Bofur said and the glow at his hip sent his heart thudding in fear.

"The blade is of Elvish make which means it will glow blue when Orcs or Goblins are nearby."

His blade was glowing blue. And before he could even begin to process the thought, a hissing sound was heard and everyone was roused by Thorin. Suddenly the floor was gone and they were tumbling down, down , down, under the hill.

Goblins, Keera had learnt long ago, were stupid and almost children like in their lack of attention. Vicious, bloodthirsty children but then she had met a few of those as well.

But goblins weren't much of opponents for her and it was easy to use a moment of distraction as the goblin holding on to her swayed in enjoyment of his king's song and simply melt into the shadows. She stood behind it all, her back clinging to a jagged rock coming down from the ceiling right next to the path to the Goblin King and remained there unseen as the Company was brought to the Goblin King.

Her eyes skittered over the walls and stairs, searching looking for a way out even as more goblins rushed past her as if she wasn't there.

(Sometimes she scared herself by how well she could hide in the dark. But then she remembered a time when she had been lost for days, weeks, not a speck of light anywhere, the air turned stuffy and heavy, the blood rushing in her veins the only sound to be heard and it drove her mad.)

The strains of the song of Goblin Town came soon to an end.

"-Catchy isn't it?"

And she did have to agree with the Goblin King, it was rather catchy. She'd have to sing it when she killed them all and made her escape. It would be fun to taunt them with their own songs after all.

Balin clearly didn't think so as he shouted in protest. "That's not a song, that's an abomination!"

She shook her head but smiled nonetheless. These were Goblins, they were rather fond of abominations. And that was made rather obvious with the Goblin King's speech.

"Abominations, mutations, deviations, that's all you're going to find down here." And then they were stripped of all their weapons.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

There she was, all of them at once and they hadn't even found her. Silly little Goblins.

"Dwarves your malevolence." A reedy shrieking voice answered.

"Dwarves?"

"We found them on the front porch."

What a quaint name for the little trap.

"Well don't just stand there!" The Goblin King bellowed. "Search them! Every crack, every crevice!"

And soon tumbled out a plethora of silverware that even form the distance she could see as being Elvish, those long curved lines, the pale gleam in the metal.

Nori the thief, strikes again. And yet with all this time she had earned herself she could not see a way out.

"What are you doing in these parts?" The Goblin King said once he'd thrown away the silverware and she took that as her cue.

They began to lie and defend, pushing Thorin behind them to keep safe their aim and she knew it was time to move forward now. They would not be able to handle these questions for long and Thorin would show his face which would be bad. The Goblin King would collect his head and the bounty on it without a second thought.

But the bounty on her head was for her alive, this much she knew.

"If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk. Bring out the Mangler, bring out the Bone Breaker. Start with the youngest."

"Wait!" Her cry mingled with Thorin's but her movements caught their attention as she strode ahead on the platform, her steps loud and resounding then because she made them so. "You should be asking me that question." She said walking ahead as if she had all the time in the world. The goblins that came forward to 'escort' her were easily thrown off the wooden walkways and with one flick of her hand they let her through to the front to talk to the King.

"Who's this? Why do you hide your face?" The Goblin King growled.

"Apologies." She said and threw the hood back. "It's a habit."

"Well well well look who it is. The little Marionette's come to visit us, boys!" The Goblin King preened, his eyes gleaming and she hissed in anger.

That name she hated above all else.

"I am not the Marionette!"

"So you say poppet but the price on you says otherwise. A pretty pretty price but only if you're alive and whole. Silly person that Puppetmaster but he pays good coin nonetheless."

"Does he now?" She asked, barely controlling her fury. That name, that title it burnt her from the inside out.

"You should know little Marionette, you were his favourite toy." The Goblin King teased.

She hated hated hated that name. All the names she had collected since would not erase it from her past and she hated it.

"I am not the Marionette! You of all people should know!" She turned to the Goblins watching. The Goblin King wasn't the only one capable of putting up a performance. "Perhaps you have heard of what they call me in Gundabad. I am the shadowed Death." The one closest to her leapt but her hand was out in a flash and with a flick of her wrists its head was facing the wrong way to be alive and he fell over dead. "I am the Poisoned Bite! I am the dark flame, Burz Ghash," They screeched and shook with rage when she spoke in black speech and in doing so forgot the dwarves, "But perhaps you have forgotten! Perhaps you need reminding!" She shouted and as the goblins descended down the walls of the mountain her hand flicked and needles, thin and sharp and coated with poisons, flew from them landing firmly in goblins who fell to the ground twitching.

But she had underestimated the number they were and they came down upon her like a tide breaking on the coast, the dwarves doing their best to hold them off but the goblins had only furthered in zeal when Thorin's blade had come into view and for the millionth time in her life she was almost certain she'd end up dead.

And then came a blinding light that swept the goblins away with it. Gandalf stood right in front of her, Glamdring held out ready for a fight.

"Take up arms." He said as they struggled to get back to their feet, the blinding light still ringing in the back of their eyes. "Fight. FIGHT!"

And finally they did. Axes were picked up, swords were taken and they began slashing and fighting following Gandalf's lead to wherever he was taking them.

"You're late." She told him in between cutting off a goblin's head and stabbing yet another.

"A wizard is never late, everyone else is simply early!" He answered as he beheaded his own goblin, Glamdring cutting a path between them and their way out.

"Now you're stealing lines from the Queen of Rohan?! Late and a plagiarist!"

"Stop squabbling like children, we have to get out of here!" Thorin said interrupting the two and piercing his sword through tow goblins at once before retracting it.

"Oh that's rich coming from you." Her daggers flew off her hand and into the heads of goblins that were shooting arrows at Kili. "Honestly, have you heard yourself talk about elves, it's like watching a kid being petty because someone else has a bigger crayon."

"I assure you, I have the bigger crayon." Thorin said, arrogant even while cutting through goblins like butter.

"Seriously?!"

They moved in a symphony of steel and flesh, nearly at the end of their journey where the way out was clear to see when the Goblin King burst out, coming up from the boards beneath them with a roar, blocking their way.

"You thought you could escape me." He slashed at Gandalf with his bone staff, dark guttural noises reminiscent of the black speech emitting from him. "What are you going to do now, Wizard?"

A jab and two slashes did it, ending the Goblin King's life but then his weight fell forward and the already teetering wood broke and gave way and they were suddenly plummeting down to the ground below them clinging to the boards with all their might.

Against all odds and all possibilities, they landed safe and sound with nothing but a few bruises and cuts.

"Well that could have been worse." Bofur said as they tried to crawl out from under the debris of rotting wood when the Goblin King landed on the platform as well, almost crushing them with his weight.

With a few more bruises and aches than they had a few seconds ago they climbed out of the wreckage.

"Gandalf!" Kili's cry caught their attention and they looked where he was looking to see hordes of goblins climbing down the mountain walls towards them and the race began anew.

They tumbled out onto the sunlit hillside and burst into frantic laughter.

"Now we're out of Goblin Town." She sang and they looked at her exasperated but smiling.

"Where's Bilbo? Where's our Hobbit?!" Gandalf said and the smiles slid off.

"Curse that Halfling!"

"Where's our Burglar!"

"I thought he was with Dori!"

"Don't blame me."

"When did you last see him?"

"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us." Nori said and the pandemonium calmed down to a gentle simmer.

"I thought he had gotten out of the cave before it fell open." She said.

"Ad what happened exactly?" Gandalf questioned once he realised that no one knew quite where Bilbo was.

"I'll tell you what happened." Thorin growled. "Mister Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He has thought of nothing but his soft bed and warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door!"

"Oh you..." Keera struggled for the right insult. "Son of a Sackville-Baggins."

Thorin turned his glare to her.

"Mark my words," He said pointedly, "We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone."

"No, he's not." And as one they turned to the wholly unexpected voice of one Bilbo Baggins.

"Bilbo!" She cried out and hugged him. "You're alive! How in the name of Eru are you alive?!"

"How indeed." Thorin muttered.

"Well what does it matter!" Gandalf interrupted before Bilbo could even find his words. "He's back."

"It matters. I want to know." Thorin said. "Why did you come back?"

Keera noticed that he'd jumped from how to why. The Why didn't matter to her at all though and so she pondered the How, that was quite a puzzle.

"Look I know you doubt me. I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag-End. I miss my books. And my armchair and my garden. See that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back because...You don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back, if I can." But then he cleared his throat when everyone looked a bit too close to tears. Even Keera was in awe of the eloquence of his words she could not imagine how the others must have felt if even she felt the tug of homesickness "And no matter what you do or say, I don't think it's right to call you a Sackville-Baggins. No one deserves that." He said pointedly glaring at her but with a laugh.

"You're right." She said apologetically. "I'm sorry I called you a Sackville-Baggins, Thorin. You're in a class of your own."

"Keera!" Bilbo chided.

Before she could protest the scolding though, a Warg growl rang out.

"Out of the frying pan." Thorin started and she finished for him.

"And into another frying pan. Or worse, a fire."

"Run!"

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