Months had passed on our hero's journey. Thorin Oakenshield and his company of 12 dwarves, one wizard, one Hobbit, and one human girl continue on still. Their sights are set on the Lonely Mountain. A place where they plan to reclaim their home from the clutches of the fire-breathing dragon, Smaug. Still hopeful as she can be, the young human awaits the day to help the dwarves reclaim Erebor and then return to her own home.

*Molly's POV*

We both hide behind rocks as Bilbo peers over the top. The Orcs are not far behind us on our quest to reach Erebor. Just a few leagues over the pack search the mountain ranges trying desperately to reach us. The Pale Orc sniffs the air after our scent. Still, his words play in my mind "I will bathe in her blood."

Resting a hand on my shoulder, I'm pulled out of my thoughts by the Hobbit. He looks warily "We have to hurry back and tell the others."

I nod in agreement and we wait for the right moment to go. A noise not far to our left catches our attention. Bilbo and I look at one another as we hear a deep low growl. We duck to see a large bear unlike any other. It is much larger than any other bear I had seen and his golden eyes stare out over the cliff watching the Orcs. 

"Where on this good green earth...?" Bilbo mumbles petrified. 

The bear roars as if sending a warning to the orcs.  Bilbo and I run sneaking off and heading back down towards the company. As we make it down we stop breathing heavily. Thorin takes hold of my arm "Are you alright?"

Dwalin narrows his eyes "How close is the pack?"

Bilbo sighs "Too close. A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worst of it." 

Dwalin huffs "Have the Wargs picked up our scent?" 

Bilbo shakes his head "Not yet, but they will; we have another problem." 

Gandalf steps forward "Did they see you? They saw you!" 

Bilbo shakes his head "No, that's not it." 

The wizard smiles "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material." 

As everyone chuckles loudly causing too much noise for comfort Bilbo nudges me and points to everyone. I take a breath "Shut it!" 

Thorin stifles his laugh at my outburst but the rest of the company seems bewildered. Everyone falls silent and looks at Bilbo and me. The Hobbit sighs "Will you listen- Will you just listen? I'm trying to tell you that there is something else out there." 

They all look worried and Gandalf narrows his eyes "What form did it take? Like a bear?"

Bilbo nods "Ye..." He stops and looks curious at Gandalf "Y- yes. But bigger, much bigger."

Bofur speaks to Gandalf "You knew about this beast?" 

The wizard turns his back and the others converse.

 Bofur points "I say we double back." 

Thorin shakes his head "And be run down by a pack of Orcs." 

I watch as Gandalf turns back "There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge."

 Sighing Thorin closes his eyes "Whose house? Are they friend or foe?" 

Gandalf looks worried "Neither. He will help us, or he will kill us." 

We all look at one another in dismay. Thorin steps forward and now stands beside me  "What choice do we have?" 

Another loud roar from the bear splits in the air and we all jump. Thorin pushes me behind him as he draws his sword. Gandalf shakes his head "None."

---

We all run through the trees and across streams following Gandalf. The Bear chases us not far behind. We run through a field following Gandalf's shouts. As we run Bombur stares wide-eyed behind us but turns only to run faster than all of us. One by one we watch him run by surprise at his speed. Just up ahead I can see an overgrown yard with a large house in its thicket. I look to Thorin and point "There's the door!"

He looks ahead spotting the door. He nods and calls to the others "Faster men! Almost there!"

I look back and see the large bear burst through the thicket of the forest roaring and growling.

"RUN!!" I scream picking up the pace. I push myself to run harder and faster than ever before resulting in passing everyone else until Bombur and I are running side by side. 

"How are they doing that?!" Dwalin shouts in annoyance. Once we both reach the large door Bombur crashes into it. 

"Are you alright?!" I ask frantically helping him up. 

"OPEN IT! OPEN IT NOW!" the dwarf exclaims in an oddly high-pitched voice.  Fili and Kili race to the wooden door to the house banging against it. 

"Open the door!" Gandalf shouts. 

The dwarves and I slam against it pushing as hard as we can. 

"Quickly!" Thorin shouts. 

I look behind us to see the Bear right at us. The door gives way and we rush in closing it. The bear sticks its noise in and roars. Kili near the head screams as its jaws pop at him. I do one good shove with the others and the door closes and we latch it. 

Ori looks back "What is that?" 

Gandalf sighs "That...is our host." 

We all freeze in bewilderment and look at Gandalf who has a playful smile "His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer...Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves."

All the dwarves look in worry and Ori peaks out the door "He's leaving!" 

Dori pulls him away "Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious: he's under some dark spell." 

Gandalf sneers "Don't be a fool; he's under no enchantment but his own. Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight." As all the dwarves move about the house I glance at Gandalf who mumbles "I hope."

That night most of the dwarves and Gandalf laid down and found sleep. Having a moment to myself I move to a secluded room after fetching myself some water, a clean rag, and bandages. Luckily no one had noticed the cut across my forearm from one of the orcs blades. I hadn't even noticed it myself until after the eagles rescued us and we had climbed down from the mountain peak.

The bleeding gash only stings with each swipe of the rag across my skin in an attempt to clean in. I grit my teeth and suck it up until the dirt is wiped away. As I try to wrap the bandage around my arm I only drop them to the floor.

"Come on...!" I growl in aggravation snatching the wrappings from the floor.

"Need some assistance?" I look up to see Thorin standing there watching me. 

I know it's too late to hide the cut now as I follow his gaze to my arm. I shake my head "No, thank you, i-its fine...doesn't hurt much." 

As I turn away he approaches me reaching out. I feel him run his fingertips along with the cut. I wince and pull away. He cocks an eyebrow at me "Doesn't hurt as much?" 

I sigh and shake my head "Okay, maybe just a little." 

He then sits next to me grabbing the rag and placing it over the cut. I close my eyes and wince but he continues to clean it. "This was from the Eagles talon?" 

I shake my head "No, uh, the other night with our run-in with the orcs. One of them got me with its dagger."

"It was close." he mutters almost sounding guilty.

I try to cheer him up as I shrug "Eh, it's gonna take a lot more than one small cut to kill me off."

Thorin smirks glancing up at me for a moment but then focuses back on wrapping up my arm. It's painfully quiet again but I can't find the words to say. I just watch him slowly and gently bandage my wound. I actually find it quite nice. Thorin has been friendlier towards Bilbo and I, but I've never seen him act so gentle and caring. 

As he finishes wrapping my arm he rests it in his hands brushing his fingertips over the bandage. I feel the goosebumps creep up onto my skin and butterflies flutter in my stomach.

"What is he doing?" I think just before he speaks.

He didn't look up but speaks "Thank you."

 I furrow my brows "For what?" 

He wraps my hand in his and gives me a smile "For saving my life...twice."

 I smile averting my eyes "No need to thank me. If I recall correctly you saved my life...twice."

He smirks seeming to almost blush "Then I guess we can call it even then."

"I suppose so."

As Thorin stands to his feet I follow suit. I thank him for the bandages and head back to the main room where the company sleeps. Finding a more secluded place in the straw I nestle down with my blanket and sigh. Kili is laying in front of me snoring and drooling but the spot behind me is empty. Rolling over I face the empty place in the straw wishing Thorin were lying there next to me. 

"No...no-no-no. I can't think that. I can't want that. It is an impossible dream and I have to stick with reality."

As I lay in my spot I eventually find sleep. In seconds I begin dreaming. My mind flashes to what is almost like a distant dream. I see these ruins of grey stone and dark clouds. I then see the pale Orc standing before a black foggy mass. It looks like some demonic force of chaos and darkness.

They speak in Orc but it's as if I can understand them "We grow in number. We grow in strength. You will lead my armies." the mass hisses. 

Azog stares at it "What of Oakenshield?" 

The mass moves "War is coming. Death will come to all." 

Azog growls "You promised me his head!"

The darkness flies right through Azog, and he spins around to face it "Death will come to all!!"

I see the wretched face of the Orc and he turns as if he is looking at me. He roars and then I see Azog holding Thorin's head up in the air for all to see. 

I sit up gasping and with a slight cry. My arm is outstretched as if I were reaching for Thorin. Looking around I'm still in the house and the company is asleep near me. Glancing beside me the spot once empty now has Thorin who is sleeping soundly. I relax and run my hand through my hair. I breathe out and then lay back in the straw. All I can see is Thorin's head being held up in front of the army of Orcs and hearing Azog's cheer of victory. Opening my eyes I glance over to Thorin who is now staring at me.

 "Bad dream?" he asks.

"Y-yeah...." 

He adjusts his position and scoots closer "Tell me." 

I stare at him and he stares back intently. I then looked at the ceiling and furrow my brows in frustration and tried to remember. I only see glimpses but the words and everything has faded. I shake my head "Darkness. I saw ruins of some temple or something and there was a darkness there. And....I think I saw Azog-" he cut me off. "You saw Azog?" 

I look at him remembering the image of the pale orc holding his decapitated head "I think so...maybe not."

He then looks down at the straw and I shake my head "But everything else is fuzzy...I don't know. Perhaps too much of Bofur's cooking has gotten to me." Thorin smirks lightly and nods "Yes, well, try and get some sleep. We start off again tomorrow." I nod and nestle down in the straw and pull the covers up to my nose and close my eyes unaware of Thorin who kept watch over me.