A/N: Sorry I've been gone so long...let's just leave it at I've been having a bad case of fandom feels (Torchwood) and momentarily lost the energy and will to write. :( Longer chapter as a reward.

And now to address a complaint review by guest Kaia:

First off: it's a slightly AU FANFICTION. It's not going to be 100% accurate, it's not meant to be 100% accurate. As long as I'm spelling names correctly and getting the general gist of what's going on, I'm good with my work. I apologize if that offends you.

1) I'm not really concerned with exact age differences. As long as I hit somewhere in the ball park of their age differences (Fili is older than Kili but they're still close in age), I'm okay, because I'm not a Nazi Tolkien follower where every detail has to be exact.

2) I wrote the story based off a transcript I found online that so far has been word for word accurate. It did not specified where Thorin was going, and when he spoke about Dain, I therefore assumed it was the Iron Hills. My apologies if I didn't pour over a Middle Earth map or dig my copy of the Hobbit out of my moving boxes to double check. But if it makes you feel better I can go and change that if you like.

3) Due to my story being slightly AU, that means that I changed it on purpose to Nori and Dori because I felt that they didn't get to do as much in the actual movie, which is what I'm basing this off of. Seeing as the story circles around Thorin and his family, I wanted other dwarves to get some more "screen-time" in if you will.

4) ...did I put that? WHERE, I NEED TO FIX THAT! *scrambles around searching for it* Okay that was fixed, sorry about that.

And in answer to your final questions: Kai's parentage and the elves in the beginning...well, that's just a mystery isn't it?

Sorry for taking time out of my reader's reading time, but I felt I had to address that complaint. BUT NOW TO THE STORY. XD

Kai looked up at the water droplets slipping and sliding from the leaves and branches above her, flinching as the rain splashed down onto her upturned face. Beside her, Kíli and Fíli were for once, not doing what she was doing and instead were slouched over in their saddles, huddling under their many layers of clothing in an attempt to keep some aspect of their body dry. Frowning slightly, she looked around at everyone else as they walked along the forest trail. She was the only one who didn't look wet and miserable. But now that she thought about it, her wet clothing was rather uncomfortable and within a few minutes, she was just as downtrodden as the rest of them.

"Here, Mr. Gandalf," Dori's slightly strained voice suddenly came in the rather morose silence. "Can't you do something about this deluge?" With an almost bemused twinkle in his eyes, Gandalf twisted around in his saddle, throwing a look at the grumbling dwarf and the equally expressive looks of discomfort on the rest of the company's faces.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, hardly a deluge," he stated simply, as though it were a pure fact of nature that he had no control over, which it was. "And it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard." He said this last part with an air of finality, turning back around to face the front once more, contenting himself with admiring and scouting out the world about him. Unseen by the wizard, the hobbit frowned, brow furrowing as he rode along, thinking.

"Are there any?" Bilbo asked curiously and Gandalf turned his head ever so slightly to the right to indicate that he was listening to their burglar's question.

"What?"

"Other wizards?" the halfling clarified, realizing that he had been a bit vague with simply "are there any?" Kai looked around at her sopping wet brothers to see if their expressions showed any indication of knowing the answer, but they seemed just as curious to hear the wizard's response. In fact, she noted as she looked around, everyone seemed to be eager to hear his response.

"There are five of us," Gandalf finally said, thinking back on those old friends and acquaintances. Judging by the time it took him to recollect all their information, he didn't seem to have given them much thought in a long time. "The greatest of our order is Saruman...the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards..." Here he trailed off, a slightly puzzled expression appearing on his face. "You know, I've quite forgotten their names." He seemed to be marveling slightly at this realization.

"And who is the fifth?" the hobbit asked, still pursuing the line of conversation. A particularly amused expression crossed the man's face as he thought about the fifth member of the order.

"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown." He seemed to clearly remember this wizard, Kai thought to herself. Maybe he was more memorable than the others for some reason. But she still felt slighty rankled by her recent conversation with Gandalf and urged Poppy forward a little more. She wanted an answer to a question that had sprung almost unbidden to the tip of her tongue and she heard herself asking it before she could actually look at what she was saying.

"Is he a great wizard," she asked, putting special emphasis on those last two words and ignoring the warning look her uncle gave her, "Or is he...more like you?" Even Nori flinched at the tone used and everyone seemed to look a little uncomfortable. Gandalf looked at her, slightly offended, but seemed to see the question behind the rudeness and comprehend to an extent where the attitude was coming from.

"I think he's a very great wizard. In his own way," he conceded as he thought back on his eccentric friend. "He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the East, and a good thing too, for always Evil will look to find a foothold in this world." Kai unwillingly thought of the elves...this Radagast the Brown seemed like one of the elvish guardians she had read of in some very old books she had encountered in one of her teacher's shelves while she lived with her Uncle in the village. She frowned slightly, a map of middle earth in her mind.

"The forest lands to the east...that is elven territory, is it not?" she asked. When Gandalf nodded, she continued on her train of thought. "If the elves are so reclusive and bent on keeping themselves above and superior to everyone else, why would they want a wizard looking over their own lands?" Gandalf cleared his throat and didn't answer. Somehow, Kai found this more comforting and more fulfilling than any answer the old man could have given her and she sat back in her saddle, contenting herself with flicking mud at her friends and family when they weren't looking.

After what seemed like hours, the company finally came to a stop, drenched due to the now diminishing rain, and muddy thanks to the combined efforts of dirty clothing getting wet and Kai's dirt slinging. The sun was starting to break through the clouds, revealing a rather beautiful landscape with tangled woods and craggy outcrops surrounding an old, abandoned farmhouse that lay in ruins. Kai dismounted, the buoyant feeling that had been in her as they were riding, the joy that she derived from messing around with the company and her family and receiving scolding from her uncle for her playful actions fading quickly. She let Poppy wander, knowing that her horse was too well-trained to go wandering off. In fact, little could be said for the rest of the mounts with them; the ponies had minds of their own. They were not as loyal as Poppy was...maybe it was an elf thing, she conceded, hoping that it wasn't. She walked beside Gandalf as they approached the collapsed and splintered wood that still traced out the framework of a home.

Something heavy was settling in her chest, something akin to foreboding. Vaguely she registered that Thorin was speaking, though his voice seemed a long ways off, very distant.

"We'll camp here for the night. Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them." Yeah, like that was going to go very well, Kai though to herself before she looked back around to Gandalf, fingers still tracing over the smashed and fragmented remains of a hollowed out gourd that had most probably been used to hold water. It had been decorated with shaky lines that clearly had been a picture. But judging by the poor detail and the confused nature of the drawing, Kai determined that it had been a child's.

"A farmer and his family used to live here," Gandalf muttered, voice heavy with something close to sadness. Kai felt that feeling in her chest drop down to her stomach. She looked again at the gourd, at the markings made by the loving, caring hands of a child. Upon closer examination, she saw that nothing had been removed from the home...it had all simply been smashed.

"What happened to them?" she whispered, not sure why in fact she was whispering. It seemed respectful. She knelt down and pulled a doll out from under some fallen boards. Her small, bean-bag like body, was homespun, clearly cleaned often since the fabric was worn and the dyes faded. It had been well-loved, taken care of. In fact, there were signs of repair-work stitching on the arms and legs.

"They may have simply left," the wizard commented as he looked around; clearly, he didn't think so but was going with the least drastic option. She frowned and stood up, holding the small figure in her cupped hands.

"If they had left, their daughter would have taken her with them." Gandalf looked over her shoulder at the small doll and his frown deepened. Behind them, still sounding far away, Thorin was still giving orders.

"Oin, Gloin."

"Aye?" the red-bearded dwarf asked, turning to his leader.

"Get a fire going," the king under the mountain commanded, turning back around to face the other direction, practically ignoring the "Right you are" that indicated that his mandate was being carried out. Kai nearly started as Gandalf's hand closed on her shoulder and began firmly but steadily pulling her from the wreckage.

"I think it would be wiser to move on," he advised. Kai looked around at him, noting the worry and almost fear-like emotion in his face. "We could make for the Hidden Valley." Thorin's reaction was quick and mirrored wordlessly by his niece as she pulled herself free of the wizard and marched purposefully off towards the other end of camp to help her brothers with watching the ponies.

"I have told you already, I will not go near that place!" he snapped and added, in a lower tone, "and I am not the only one..." Ignoring the dwarf's underhanded and tacit indication of Kai, Gandalf pursued his topic.

"Why not? The elves could help us. We could get food, rest, advice - "

"I do not need their advice!" Thorin interjected, sounding rather like a dwarfling in his protest.

"We have a map that we cannot read!" the wizard protested. "Lord Elrond could help us!"

"Help?" The dwarf seemed almost bitterly amused by this notion. "A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls: the Elves looked on and did nothing. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather and betrayed my father!" A plague on the stiff necks of dwarves! Gandalf thought to himself in frustration as he tried once more to bring Thorin to his side.

"You are neither of them." Thorin remained unswayed, and the man grew angry. "I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past!" The dwarvish king suddenly grew haughty and the tone used was surly and insolent to say the least.

"I did not know that they were yours to keep." Barely refraining from throwing his hands up in the air in defeat, Gandalf stomped off in anger, ready to abandon the company to the wolves if they were going to be so stubborn. He brushed past Bilbo, barely sparing the startled young man a glance as the hobbit jumped.

"Everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?!" he asked, suddenly afraid. There was no way that he wanted to stay with a bunch of dwarves for an unknown length of time. They didn't even like him!

"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense!" the old man barked, clearly rather annoyed with someone. Oh I can't imagine who! Bilbo thought, rather annoyed as well, casting a hidden, quick glare at Thorin.

"Who's that?" the hobbit asked, hoping that for some reason it would be someone nearby so that he knew Gandalf was within shouting distance. That they wouldn't be abandoned completely.

"Myself, Mr. Baggins!" Well, there went that hope. "I've had enough of dwarves for one day." With that, he mounted his horse and was soon riding off into the distance, soon vanishing from sight and leaving many of the company feeling much smaller and a lot less confidant than they had been a few minutes before.

Thorin was the first to speak in the light of the startling turn of events. Even Kai, Kíli, and Fíli had come out of the trees briefly to watch the departure of their wizard. "Come on, Bombur, we're hungry." Soon, everyone was scurrying back to get to their jobs that they had been assigned. The dwelf's keen ears picked up their burglar's question, and she waited for her old friend to speak, for she too wanted to know the answer.

"Is he coming back?" Bilbo asked, fear and nervousness clearly showing in his voice. Balin looked at him and the gleam of uncertainty in the wizened dwarf's eyes did little to settle the hobbit's rampaging nerves and sent her gut churning with fear and worry.

Kíli, Fíli, and Kai walked along through the woods, their mounts in tow, the elf jumping at virtually every sound she heard, every rustle that reached her ears. When she dropped to a crouch and pulled her knife on a harmless bunny hopping through the undergrowth as he nosed around for the sweeter mosses closer to the ground, Fíli finally had enough.

"Kai, what is it with you? You're making us all nervous, so will you please calm down!" Her head snapped around to face him and she stood up, sheathing her knife in that well-practiced movement, walking forward to tower above her brother.

"You were not walking through the ruins of that home. Whatever killed those people is still here!"

"How do you know it wasn't a fire and they had to leave? Or a really bad storm?" Kíli asked her skeptically, though his expression clearly showed that he himself didn't think much of his own theory. His sister gaped at him and laughed at his - in her eyes - plain idiocy.

"Did you see any scorch marks on those ruins? Everything was smashed to bits, no belongings had been removed! The daughter would have grabbed her doll...she loved this thing." She showed her siblings the clearly cherished toy she had slipped into her and they too began to frown. "I'm telling you, something killed them. And it can't have been too long ago, so it must still be around here. That gourd they used for water was still damp on the inside! Don't you get it? We're setting up camp in their most recent hunting ground!"

"How do you know there's more than one of them?" A bird squawked loudly overhead, making Kai jump and draw her blade once more. The two dwarves began shifting uneasily on their feet, casting looks into the shadows around them. She turned to face Fíli, who had asked the question, expression worried and grim.

"Think about it. There was no blood, no remains human or otherwise, everything was decimated...they would have had to be big and there would have had to be a few of them otherwise there probably would have been some mess over there. I mean, the farmer had a family...he would have done anything to protect them. Unless he couldn't." She clenched her hand around the doll before letting it slip from her fingers to land, forgotten, in the center of a fern.

"Then maybe we should move back closer to the tree line..." She simply scoffed though at her brother's offer and moved on, voice becoming high and bitter.

"Oh, don't worry about it though! I mean if orc raids are a joke, this should be the greatest prank in the history of middle earth!" Kíli flinched and looked to his brother for some sort of support. The blond-headed sibling simply shook his head in near bewilderment and moved along the vague trail that lay before them, leading the ponies behind themselves. "I think here's good." She began driving sticks into the ground and pulling each horse over to tether them so they didn't go wandering, her siblings coming over and acting from her example without speaking. Finally, Kíli broke the silence.

"Look, Kai...I'm so sorry. We - I shouldn't have said those things about the orc raids. I - but I really didn't mean anything by them you have to believe me!" Kai bit her lip and continued working, driving a stick into the ground so hard that when she hit a large rock hidden beneath the surface, it broke, sending a splinter of wood into her hand.

"IN THE NAME OF AULË!" she shouted and jerked her hand away from the offending branch, cradling her injury close. "Ow..."

"Let me see," Fíli muttered, reaching out to take her hand, but she quickly turned away, marching over to sit on a rock and examine to what extent she had injured herself. "Kai, come on..."

"I can deal with this myself!" she snapped, glaring at them through her hair as it dangled in her face. Fíli held his hands up at shoulder height to show he wasn't going to touch her but walked over to sit beside her, looking down at her palm, wincing as he looked at the large shard that was embedded in her skin. Despite her initial declaration that she could deal with her slight problem, it soon became apparent that she couldn't even touch the fragment without hissing in pain. Finally, Kíli came and sat beside her, grabbed her arm and pulled it into his lap, peering at the sliver.

"Don't. Touch. It," she said through clenched teeth as he poked and prodded the skin around it. He looked over at Fíli pointedly.

"Wouldn't dream of it..." he said absently and his older brother wrapped his arms around Kai to hold her still and in a quick movement, Kíli had grabbed the offending stick in his sister's hand and yanked it out

"OWWW!" she howled, leaping off the rock and dragging an unexpecting Fíli with her, driving him to finally let go and crash painfully to the dirt. "KÍLI, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Not believing his luck at not also receiving any measure of Kai's anger, Fíli sat up and moved to go seek shelter by the ponies. "YOU STAY RIGHT THERE, I'LL DEAL WITH YOU LATER!" she shouted before tearing off through the trees after the younger of the two brothers. Suitably cowed by her tone, the remaining sibling sat himself down on the rock and waiting, weighing his options.

I could sit here and wait for Kai to come back...or I could help out my brother...

Finally he decided that helping out Kíli might pay off more in the long run more than listening to an angry elf and ran out after his siblings, leaving the ponies to mill about as far as their tethers would allow, completely unsupervised. Two of the least wise or wary of the lot wandered to the end of their lead ropes, nosing around in the dark and barely had time to whiny in protest when two large hands grabbed them around their middles and hoisted them off the ground, taking them away into the darkening woods.

By the time Kai had finally caught up with Kíli, both were so out of breath that when the youngest of the siblings tackled the dark haired dwarf, they simply collapsed into an out of breath heap on the soft forest floor. The archer grabbed a fistful of the detritus on the ground, hurling the decomposing leaves and fragments of sticks into her hair.

"Oi!" she shouted at him playfully, and went to throw something else at him, stopping and hissing briefly in pain as she used her injured hand. "Ow." She hissed between her teeth as her brother took her hand in his own and pulled out a length of cloth from his belt.

"Keep this for emergencies," he joked with a twinkle in his eyes and wrapped it firmly around her hand, tying it off so that it was tight enough to keep the palm and the open cut protected, but not restrict her movement. He frowned slightly as he saw the red blood that had trickled down her wrist and dabbled his own fingertips.

"Hey. It's just a cut. We'll see much more before this is all over," Fíli said, dropping down beside them and Kai rolled over, grabbing his braid and yanking as hard as she dared without facing serious repercussions.

"OW! YOU LITTE - "

Apparently my definition of that wasn't so hard isn't the same as Fee's...she thought to herself before she scrambled to her feet and started sprinting once more through the trees, casting laughing glances over her shoulder at her angrily pursuing sibling, and a rather alarmed looking Kíli who was saying something about ponies, but who cared at this point? She laughed and ran even faster, leaping over fallen logs and weaving between saplings and thick tree trunks. Apart from a slight buzzing in her ear, where Fíli's leather cuffed hand had whacked her, she felt good. She was running across a forest in the dying light of day, with the smell of trees and freshly wet soil and being chased by her two favorite people in the world, heart beating too fast 'cause of adrenaline...all the stuff that told her she was alive.

And she was loving it.

The three siblings had long since ceased in their mad chase through the woods, having gotten their playful blows in on each other and had made their way back to their "pony pen", much to the relief of Kíli who had been nearly going insane the whole time out of worry for their horses. In fact, neither Fíli nor Kai could remember the last time that their brother had been so obsessed with a task given to him. It's slightly disconcerting that this newfound concentration and devotion came at the hands of...ponies...Fíli thought and turned his rising laugh into a cough.

"Something funny?" his younger brother asked, and he shook his head.

"No, no, nothing at all." He busied himself with braiding twigs together. He needed to do something, keep his fingers occupied. He looked around in the night gloom to where Kai was standing, leaning against a tree, looking off into the distance towards the tree line where the faint glow of the rest of the company's fire. There was an air of sadness about her, an air of worry.

"He's been a long time," she whispered and sighed. The blond dwarf frowned.

"Who?" She turned around to face him, brow furrowed in concern.

"Gandalf." Kíli scoffed and looked up from his hands resting on his knees.

"He's a wizard! He does as he chooses," he told her, as though it should be clear and she rolled her eyes turning back to face the outer rim of the forest. However, his tone assured her that there was nothing to worry about and she sighed once more. Then, coming to a decision, she nodded and looked out over the herd of ponies, walking forward to sit between her brothers and rest her head on Fíli's shoulder. The world seemed so serene just then...the three of them sitting against a log and looking out over the peacefully cropping and chewing the grasses around them.

But then, something hit her as odd, and she sat up a bit straighter. And then, her expression became borderline horrified and she stood up, eyes roving over the herd before them. Fíli looked up at her.

"What's wrong?" Her response was short and tense, and brought the two dwarves next to her scrambling to their feet in equal alarm.

"Where are Daisy and Bungo?"

Back at the campsite, Bofur was dishing out and passing around bowls of soup for each member of the company, allotting their specific amounts, ensuring that their rationing was clearly enforced. Then, remembering that three of their group were off in the forest, he quickly grabbed three additional bowls and filled them with servings of the savory stew.

"Oi, Bilbo! Take these to the lads, will you?" he asked, and, balancing them very much like a waitress, the hobbit took the offered dishes and moved off towards the tree line, smirking slightly as he heard the conversation continuing behind him. "Stop it, you've had plenty!" Bilbo could just see the look Bombur was giving his sibling and laughed to himself, dispelling his nervousness about entering a strange wood to try and find three people who rather liked pranks...he didn't like the direction his thoughts were traveling in. However, his fears at being jump-scared were unfounded as he reached the area where Kíli, Fíli, and Kai were standing stock still, watching the ponies. It almost seemed as though they were taking their job a bit too seriously, standing there like sentries to a throne room.

Sighing Bilbo walked over and stood between them, offering the bowls of soup. The halfling's brow furrowed as the two dwarves and elf made no move to take them and continued to stare fixedly into the dark, eyes wide and unblinking.

"What's the matter?" Bilbo asked tentatively, looking between them. Kíli's voice was slightly tense as he responded.

"We're supposed to be looking out for the ponies." Bilbo nodded slowly as though this were clearly obvious by their behavior. His next question was cut off by Kai's voice to his right.

"Only...we've encountered a slight problem," she admitted, looking around at him, expression very worried. Bilbo's frown deepened.

"We had sixteen..." the dark headed dwarf began and his brother finished off the statement.

"Now there's...fourteen." The hobbit, accompanied by the other three, walked over to mill around between the horses, trying to find out, for the hundredth time it seemed for the siblings, if in fact there were two ponies missing. Noting the calculating look on Bilbo's face, Kíli supplied his answer for him.

"Daisy and Bungo are missing," he supplied, voice tense as he tried to wrap his head around the enormity of what was going on. Their hobbit seemed just as dazed as the rest of them.

"Well, that's not...that is not good at all." Kai sighed in exasperation and turned on him, expression disbelieving and annoying.

"No, we hadn't realized that!" Her brothers ignored her outburst, used to this sort of caustic sarcasm when she was stressed or worried. "We just lost two ponies from right under our noses!" Bilbo frowned in thought.

"...Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

"Uhh, no!" Fíli's response was quick and vehement, with a bit more emphasis on the noise of hesitance at the beginning. Kíli was shaking his head in a manner similar to his brother's tone and Kai backed them up on that decision.

"Let's not worry him," she said pointedly and walked around the herd once more, trying to find any sign of where they went. The hobbit nodded and then frowned, thinking. Slowly his expression grew amused.

"Wait - how did you lose two ponies from right in front of you like that? Not exactly easy for them to just disappear." He looked at the siblings with a mischievous, almost Tookish glint in his eyes as he started piecing together the broken image before him.

"Well, uh...um," Kíli began, portraying a complete image of confidence, Kai thought sarcastically. "You see, uh...hmm - "

"We got side-tracked...slightly. Sorta," Kai finally said in the awkward and yet pointed silence that followed, tone saying that was as far as any of them were going to elaborate. Fíli took up the conversation without much lag time for Bilbo to get curious again. He knew exactly where those energies could be directed that would be useful.

"As our official burglar, we though you might like to look into it," he stated, starting off slowly as he made up the sentence as he spoke. Soon, the hobbit found that the situation was reversed and he was now the center of attention. The halfling cleared his throat and looked around, trying to find things that were out of place, that would help him point out something useful and not look like an idiot. Finally, his eyes lighted upon some trees recently uprooted and laying on the ground, as though some large child had ripped them up from the soil like a weed. Well, it was a place to start.

"Well, uh...look, some-something big uprooted these trees," he began, pointing. Kíli nodded.

"That was our thinking," he added, driving the hobbit to add something else so that his deductions weren't completely moot and useless. He took a few steps closer to the fallen giants and continued in an halting tone.

"Something very big, and...possibly quite dangerous," he finished with an air of finality, looking around at the others. From their expressions, they had clearly come to the same conclusions. However, when Fíli looked up, he reached around to grab Kíli's arm and pointed into the darkened forest.

"Hey! There's a light." Kai immediately stepped forward, pinpointing the glowing prick in the gloom. "Over here! Stay down," he beckoned and the four of them quietly ran through the forest towards the light the blond dwarf had seen, coming to stop behind a log when Kai whispered the words,

"Fire. It's a fire, get down!" As they crouched in a tense silence, Bilbo still laden with his three bowls of soup, Fíli looked around at them, expression serious.

"So apparently Gandalf was right..." he breathed, and Kíli finished his thought, like the two often did.

"We weren't alone." Harsh laughter drifted towards them from the large forms hunkered down around the warmth. The discordant sound sent shivers down Kai's back and she fought the urge to shudder. Both brothers seemed to stiffen and bristle simultaneously, torn between the urge to run and hide or stay and find out more. Seeing this, Kai leaned forward.

"What is it?" she whispered. Her brother's one word response was enough to make her blood run cold.

"Trolls." Bilbo looked like he just wanted to vanish into thin air, and Kai couldn't blame him. Trolls had a reputation for being nasty, and she had no desire to purposely go and have a run in with them. However, when her siblings took off to go and get closer, she swore softly in dwarvish, grabbed Bilbo's arm, and dragged him along, ignoring his attempts to grab the soup they were deserting on the fallen tree trunk. The group came to another miraculously silent stop behind some trees, watching as two trolls gathered around a large boiling pot and a third, massive troll walked towards the fire, carrying a pony under each arm. And of course the hobbit, having developed a close affinity for the furry beasts of burden recognized the monsters' newest victims.

"He's got Myrtle and Minty!" he whispered in indignation. "I think they're going to eat them, we have to do something!" A light lit up in Kíli's eyes as the three siblings turned to look at their companion in mild disbelief.

"Yes; you should," Kíli agreed, moving behind the halfling so he could push him further into the open. "Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small!"

"N-n-no-" Bilbo tried to stutter in protest, and Kai's horrified expression was turned on Kíli once more.

"No!" she scolded, tone reprimanding in the extreme. Kíli tried to pull his whole innocent "what!?" face.

"They'll never see him!" he protested as though it should be quite obvious how fool proof his plan was. Beside him, Bilbo was still stuttering away. He turned to address the hobbit and Fíli, seeing enough logic in the plan joined in with shoving the hobbit forward."It's perfectly safe! We'll be right behind you," he assured the hobbit, and Kai gaped.

"We will?!" she hissed, voice jumping an octave as she stared in horrified disbelief. He tried to subtly wave her aside and Fíli jumped in to reassure their hobbit that they weren't planning to just dump him and leave him to the trolls while they saved their own hides.

"If you run into trouble," he instructed, expression very collected and serious, "hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl."

"And how's that supposed to help him?!" Kai asked, exasperated as the two brothers successfully shoved Bilbo on his way, grabbing Kai and quickly making a run for it to vanish into the dark. Gazing at the challenge before him, the halfling began whispering Fíli's instructions to himself, trying to remember which way it was, which owl corresponded to which number, and failing dismally.

"Twice like a barn owl, twice like a brown - " He broke off, frowning. "Once like a brown?" He paused and turned around. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" His expression turned rather aggravated as the forest behind him was now empty. "Bloody dwarves," he grumbled and set off for the outer rim of the campsite, planning to edge around until he got to the pony pen. The three trolls were sitting around the fire together, grumbling and snapping angrily at each other. From snippets of their conversation, Bilbo decided Tom was the one who brought the ponies, William was wearing a dirty vest and appeared to have a cold, and Bert was the cook and subsequently wearing an apron. Bert started grumbling.

"Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don't look like mutton again tomorrow!" he moaned, poking morosely at the fire and stirring the contents of the pot before him. Directly behind Tom, Kai, Kíli, and Fíli were all crouched and hidden in a dense cluster of foliage, watching the ugly brutes argue back and forth about dinner. They seemed to be rather dim, as Kíli had said, Fíli noted as they watched Bilbo sneakily creep farther and farther into their campsite. Kai looked like she was ready to jump out of her skin she was so tense while his younger brother just seemed eager to see whether or not his plan was going to work.

"Well, it's better than the leathery old farmer," Bert conceded and Kai hissed angrily. So she had been right about the family being evicted from their home not by a fire or some natural disaster. These horrid creatures had eaten them. Subconsciously she gripped the hilt of her dagger, and Fíli put a hand over hers in comfort. She looked around and met his eyes, and nodded, relaxing her hold on her weapon. "All skin and bone, he was. I'm still picking bits of him out of me teeth."

"Go get Thorin and the others," Kai whispered and turned to face her siblings.

"Wait, he could pull this off, you never know," Kíli protested, but Kai scowled and flicked him between the eyes to get him to shut up.

"These are full grown trolls, will you please go get uncle! A hobbit won't stand a chance, I don't care how scared you are of getting in trouble!" she added in a venomous hiss as both siblings looked rather uncomfortable. "They killed and ate the farmer. Now is one of your guys' chance to get away from it all before we're eaten, too." Before she could say anything more, Fíli swore under his breath and reluctantly stood up, careful to hunch over so he wasn't showing himself to the trolls engrossed in their mealtime preparations.

"I'll go get uncle." He started to turn, but faced his siblings once more. "You owe me." With that he was leaving the premises, careful to get a safe distance away before sprinting full out, trying to get back to the campsite without falling flat on his face. Kai and Fíli nervously watched him go and once his shadowy frame finally faded, and, swallowing, the sister stood up, hunching over so she was nearly bent double, and moved closer to the tree line surrounding the troll campsite. She tuned out anything that Kíli tried to hiss to her and smirked as he grumbled quietly to himself and came to a stop beside her. The troll William was sneezing again, and Bert grabbed him by the nose, shaking his whole frame by that small extension of his body.

"Oh no you don't!" he snarled and threw his companion down, ignoring the pitiful series of ow's that erupted behind him at the action. "Sit down."

"Kíli..." she breathed and pointed. Bilbo, still unseen, had managed to dart behind the massive trolls in the brief conflict and Kíli grinned, clapping Kai on the shoulder.

"See? Told you he could do it." None the less, Kai mouthed careful at the hobbit from her hideaway, knowing that Bilbo couldn't see her, but still taking comfort in the small action. "Don't worry, he'll be fine." But both siblings seemed to tense up and start clenching and unclenching their hands in nervousness as their burglar slipped behind Bert and tried to untie the ponies. "Not good, not good..."

"Now you're singing a different tune," she muttered through clenched teeth, heart pounding in her throat as the knots didn't come free. She actually jumped and hissed as William turned around towards him, and Bilbo just managed to duck out of sight. Kai tensed once more and seemed to be deciding between charging or not when Kíli grabbed her leather overcoat tightly in his fists and gave her "don't you dare" look, making sure that she was firmly grounded beside him. That slow, stupid troll was speaking again and Kai focused on taking deep, calming breaths.

"I hope you're gonna gut these nags. I don't like the stinky parts." Scowling at the pickiness of his traveling partner, Bert swung his ladle to smack William in the head with the heavy utensil, shouting over the subsequent squeal of pain.

"I said sit down!" While the back-birth of the group continued on with his whining, Tom put his two cents worth in.

"I'm starving! Are we 'aving horse tonight or what?" he complained, sitting back on his log.

"Shut your cakehole!" the chef snapped. "You'll eat what I give ya'!" As William pulled his handkerchief out, Kíli saw the glint of a blade and quickly prodded Kai's side, pointing wordlessly to where Bilbo was edging closer to the troll himself, aiming to steal the knife right off his belt. Kai frantically started shaking her head and broke free of her brother, moving towards where Bilbo was cowering, trying to stop him before he did anything else stupid.

"Kai, get back here!" Kíli whispered after her, but there was no stopping her. He sat down once more and began thinking to himself that Fíli had better be coming soon: this wasn't looking like it was going to turn out great.

Fíli was sprinting through the near pitch black woods, toppling over a few times as his feet caught the lips of hidden tree roots and half-exposed rocks. He just wanted to scream in anger every time one of the tendrils or branches of the forest caught his clothing and were pulled tight, holding him in place. All this time he was waisting pulling out his knife and cutting himself free was putting his family in danger back there with the trolls. Finally, the light of the company's fire began to shine through the trees and plant life and he started shouting.

"UNCLE!" Fíli bellowed, and everyone jumped at the shout that shattered the peaceful night. Bombur started and woke up from where he had fallen asleep like a great massive log and looked blearily in every direction for this loud noise that had taken him away from his dreams of cheese and meats.

"THE PONIES - KAI AND KÍLI - BILBO - " Everyone was getting to their feet now, instinctively moving towards their weapons. Finally, he ended his scattered and garbled message with one word that he hoped would galvanize his kin into action. "TROLLS!" Thorin's eyes widened and there was a mad scramble for weaponry, neglecting armor that they had removed in favor of speed, and Fíli was nearly bouncing from foot to foot in an endeavor to make the process speed up and soon they were running back into the woods, Thorin shouting at him.

"HOW DO YOU LOSE THE PONIES, YOUR BROTHER, YOUR SISTER, AND OUR BURGLAR ALL AT ONCE?!"

Fíli deigned not to answer, conceding that it would make his uncle chase him to Erebor brandishing his sword.

Meanwhile, things weren't going well at the troll camp either. Tom was complaining about the food and when they were going to eat once more.

"Me guts are grumbling, I've got to snaffle something." Kai coughed softly at their vocabulary, mirroring the smirk on her brother's face, who was beside her once more. Had their situation not been this dangerous, she would have laughed at their language choices. "Flesh I need, flesh!" That didn't sound amusing at all and her moment of entertainment was gone. William was about to sneeze once more and reached behind him for his handkerchief, and Kai's eyes widened. Instead of grabbing his cloth, he grabbed Bilbo who had been moments away from stealing the knife, and used him as a tissue instead.

"Oh, that's disgusting!" Kíli mused aloud, thoroughly grossed out, and face mirroring that sentiment quite eloquently. Kai gaped.

"Kíli! They've GOT Bilbo and all you can say is that's disgusting?!" she hissed at him and both watched in horror as the scene unfolded before them.

"Argh!" William squealed. "Blimey! Bert! Bert! Look what's come out of me 'ooter! It's got arms and legs and everything." Bilbo, unable to do much else, lay there stunned like a dead fish or something, processing the fact that a giant mountain troll had sneezed all over him. Kai fought the urge to drop her head into her hands and say her prayers now. The other trolls gathered around to take a look at this strange new discovery.

"What is it?" Tom asked, peering down at it. William scrunched his nose up.

"I don't know, but I don't like the way it wriggles around!" William shook Bilbo off his napkin, still covered in snot, onto the ground, where he quickly scrambled to his feet. Beside Kai, Kíli was shaking with silent laughter and she swatted his head, looking back to the scene in front of her with utter fear and worry. However, instead of being eaten on the spot, the trolls seemed to be intrigued by the novelty presented by a hobbit.

"What are you then? An oversized squirrel?" Tom asked, reaching out to poke and prod at him but thinking better of it. When the halfling opened his mouth, Kai could already tell a terribly delivered lie or maybe - probably - the truth was going to come out.

"I'm a burglar - uhh, hobbit," he quickly amended and William frowned, looking up at the others. Kai stared wide-eyed hoping against hope that somehow a miracle would arrive and solve all of this.

"A Burgla-Hobbit?" he asked in bafflement, seeing if the others had heard of such a thing before.

"Can we cook `im?" Tom asked, taking a step forward. William grinned.

"We can try!" he laughed and lunged forward to grab Bilbo, who dodged, only to be cornered by Bert.

"He wouldn't make more than a mouthful, not when he's skinned and boned!" Tom piped up once more.

"Perhaps there's more Burglar-Hobbits around these parts. Might be enough for a pie!" Bilbo looked absolutely terrified at the idea of being turned into a pie of any sorts, and he didn't much fancy the idea of being skinned or boned either. So, when the trolls once more lunged for him, he simply ran like a headless chicken in any direction that would save his hide from being these creatures' dinner.

"Grab him!"

"It's too quick!"

As the trolls tried to catch Bilbo, the small hobbit ran about in the most bewildering patterns his frantic brain could think up, trying to dodge them. It seemed to be working, too, as Bert accidentally smacked William with his ladle while trying to hit Bilbo, and William teetered off to the side to almost hit Tom. However, his brief luck was short lived as Tom swiped his legs out from under him and held him upside down in the air.

"Come here you little...Gotcha!" Kai was about to rise and run out from cover, but Kíli hauled her back to the ground.

"Look out there, Kai. They're all on their guard right now...now is not our moment," he said quietly and she reluctantly agreed, settling down and waiting for the proper opportunity when she would rain hell fire down on these..."Kai. You don't have your bow do you?" The Dwelf's eyes widened as she began patting the ground around her. Kíli sighed. "Great. Wonderful."

"Hey, neither do you!" she snapped, attention turning back to the situation before them.

"Are there any more of you little fellas `iding where you shouldn't?" Tom asked, looking like he wanted to shake Bilbo up and down like a rag doll.

"Nope," Bilbo said, voice nothing more than a squeak that clearly said that he was lying and Kai made a mental note to teach him how to lie more effectively. But still she made no move to get to her feet and rush out of her cover. The branches and leaves that scratched at her face seemed to hold her back in some way, as though telling her to bide her time, wait for the proper moment...again, she really hoped that this almost innate understanding of the "thoughts of plants" didn't come from elves. But her gut clenched at what played out next. The rather dim troll spoke up.

"He's lying," he sneered, peering down at Bilbo.

"No I'm not!" the halfling squeaked, not sounding convincing to Kai or Kíli in the least. Apparently, the trolls didn't think so either and William laughed once more.

"Hold his toes over the fire. Make him squeal!" he cackled, and the Dwelf in the shadows seemed to bristle with anger and indignation.

That's it. That's the final straw, they are not going to hurt Bilbo!

Just when Kai was about to get up and run out on her own, submit to the dwarvish fire that burned in her veins, Kíli suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, sprinting the last few yards to the brush lining the troll's campfire, adrenaline starting to pump through their veins. The girl's brother burst from the dense undergrowth first and brought his sword down in a vicious, humming arc to open a wound in Williams leg, sending him to the ground, howling in pain. Kai, not knowing what else to do, simply followed him, brandishing her blade like it was a full on battle sword while internally wishing that it was at least a few inches longer than the dagger it was.

"Drop him!" Kíli shouted in a tone that surprised all there. It was commanding, in charge, and gave no room for argument or opposition. However, Tom didn't seem to get that and frowned in bafflement. Could this little thing possibly be telling him to surrender?

"You what?" he countered in disbelief, staring at the short and angry dwarf as though he were a shiny little novelty that would taste good on a spit.

"He said, drop him!" Kai shouted angrily, gaining the troll's attention as well. Rotating her wrist in a practiced movement with her knife, she flicked it up in the air and caught it by the tip, preparing to throw it at a second's notice if the ugly troll didn't drop their hobbit immediately. Momentarily startled, the three giants forms before them stared, slowly gaining a look of pure amusement. Tom gave a garish smile and threw Bilbo at Kíli who awkwardly had to tip his sword down and catch the halfling at the same time without impaling his falling form, rendering himself defenseless. But as the two of them went tumbling to the ground, Kai felt fear settling in her chest, the confidence she felt in having her brother beside her vanishing quickly. Here she was, armed with a knife only, facing three full grown stone-trolls. Seeming to sense her fear, they started lumbering forward and many things seemed to happen at once.

With an angry yell, she threw the knife, randomly aiming for the the vague blundering form of William, seeing that he was the slowest of the lot. A loud wail told her that her blade had found some sort of mark, and she dove to the side, somersaulting across the ground to avoid a downward strike from the boulder sized hand of Tom. But just as she was thinking to herself that this had to be the end, the rest of the Company came charging out of the bushes, yelling and brandishing their maces, blades, and all other assortment of weaponry. They truly were rather vicious to behold with her brother Fíli and Thorin in the lead.

"KAI!" the blond one shouted and threw her bow at her, which she caught gratefully, whipping and arrow from her quiver, nocking it, drawing the string back, and releasing. Bert, who had been about to grab Bilbo who - bless his soul, Kai thought - had been trying to get to the ponies, squealed in pain and jerked his hand away, gaping at the large shaft of wood that had been driven into it. She barely had time to enjoy the results of her work, as the dwelf joined her friends and family in fighting the trolls, distracting them as her kin wove and leapt between their opponents' legs and over their reaching hands, hacking, slashing, and hammering their legs. Kai noticed her hands were trembling as she tried to load and fire with her normal, reputable speed. But this was different. This wasn't shooting at targets, this was shooting at something trying to kill you, and it was scaring her. She was panicking, freezing -

"Remember, focus on your target. Don't think of anything else around you, just focus on what you're doing." Kai could almost feel Kíli's hands moving her arm and shoulders into position.

"Also, it's important to be calm and stay calm, alright? Just focus on what you're doing. In real life when you fight someone, think of it as Fíli moving targets around, right?" Noise, chaos, and fear seemed to fall away from Kai, settling her in a peaceful, quiet zone as she picked out her target.

"Good, just pull back the string and aim. That's it, just like I showed you." The bow came up and the feathered tip brushed her lips. "Take a deep breath and hold it right before you shoot." Her breath came in a smooth intake and stopped. "And just...release."

Tom howled in pain as an arrow sliced up into his forearm like a sliver, hindering him at the last possible moment from grabbing Thorin and hurling him across the clearing that was their mini battlefield. Kai laughed briefly in victory before loading another arrow and turning to face where the rest of the dwarves were fighting.

"KÍLI!" she screamed as one of the trolls lurched forward to grab him and her heart leapt into her throat as he slid on the loose forest floor and escaped the large form falling towards him. Anger fueled her that someone would try and hurt her brother and she sent off another five arrows in quick succession. But then she saw what she had seen only once before in a memory. Dwalin went full battle mode it seemed to her as he jumped through the air, dodging a swipe of Tom's arm and slamming his heavy mace into the side of his head, sending fillings flying through the air, before sending the heavy metal smashing into the troll's knee. This was the warrior who killed to save his family and friends, and the Dwelf didn't envy the trolls their situation. Meanwhile, Ori's quick aim with his sling saved Nori as William picked him up, and she continued to rain arrows on their upper bodies, trying, where she could, to give her family openings to attack.

But her frantic hands stopped moving as she saw Bert's hand close around Kíli's body and lift him up off the ground. Fear seized her body in a vice-like grip and she could only watch in horror as a million different endings to this situation played out in her mind. His dark eyes found hers and he shouted at her,

"KAI, RUN AND HIDE!" He brought up his sword to try and free himself, but the angle was too awkward; he couldn't find any purchase. Then, two swords wielded by their wonderful Fíli descended upon the offending monster's arm, and Bert yelled in pain, throwing Kíli through the air so he came to skidding crash before Thorin who looked around in anger and horror at something that hung high above the dwarves' heads. Dwalin's expression grew downright frightening and he gripped his massive hammer-like mace a little tighter and the sounds of fighting slowly stopped, the only background noise that of the drumbeat of hooves as the ponies made their mad dash for freedom.

Kai dropped back into the shadows and tried to come closer, stopping as Balin's gaze found her and tacitly yelled at her to stop where she was, remain crouched in the undergrowth as their steeds sprinted past her and fled the scene of their near demise. At least Bilbo succeeded in his task...she thought wryly, and nervously followed her mentor's orders. Tom and another one of the trolls were holding Bilbo by the arms and legs, brandishing him before them. The leader of the three looked absolutely mad. The dwelf's heart pounded in her heart and her mouth and throat were dry as parchment; she clenched her bow so hard her knuckles turned white and her hand began shaking. This is not good. Not good. At all.

"Bilbo!" Kíli shouted and got to his feet, hefting his sword and preparing to charge and cut down the small hobbit by himself. But his uncle's arm and shout restrained him.

"No!" The dwarf's nephew looked at him in almost betrayed surprise, and Tom pressed his ultimatum.

"Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off!" he sneered and Thorin looked at Bilbo in frustration before firmly and angrily planting his sword in the ground, the blade quivering with the force of the thrust. Kíli, thoroughly angry at his uncle for giving in so quickly, threw the weapon to the ground and contented himself with glaring at their foes before them, trying to ignore the sounds of surrender around him as the rest of the company's weapons clattered noisily to the forest floor. Ori seemed to take a leaf out of Kíli's book and threw his sling to the dirt, scowling.

"Where's Kai?" Dwalin asked, looking around above him, trying to find her tall frame. "Balin, where's - "

"Shut up you fool!" the warrior's sibling hissed, trying to keep the fact that one of their number was missing still secret, and Thorin suddenly seemed to realize her absence as well and began looking into the shadows.

"Uncle, where is she?" Fíli breathed, stepping closer to his relative. Unseen by any of them, Kai's brown eyes were burning with ferocious concentration as she focused on her uncle's face, repeating the same message over and over in her head, hoping against all forces in nature that she could recreate her fluke at Bag End. When her keen eyesight revealed Thorin's sudden frown, she smiled and laughed breathlessly to herself, silently rising and vanishing into the dark, running along the paths only her feet seemed to be able to find. When she reached their camp, Poppy was tossing her head, ears flat against her head, teeth grinding, and legs stiff. Her chest was rumbling with warnings of danger, and Kai patted her mare's neck, whispering comfortingly.

"I'm sorry, girl. But we need to run. Okay? We need to run." She swung up into the saddle and urged her steed to a swift gallop, vanishing into the night. As the trolls trussed them all up like some form of meat - which no doubt they were, Thorin thought bitterly - he reflected on his niece's voice, the words he had heard in his head.

I'm getting Gandalf. Please don't do anything stupid.

Thorin sighed and swallowed as their captors seemed to set up a rotisserie frame.

Whatever you're doing, Kai, do it fast.