Your stomach dropped as your laptop flashed the glowing blue screen of death. Everything you had worked on for the past three hours, gone. You slammed your computer lid shut and collapsed onto the table in defeat. The table legs squeak in protest.

"I don't mean to be rude miss, but you're going to have to order something or i'm going to have to ask you to leave," the barista from earlier inform you again.

You lifted your head with a sigh and said, "I'll have another *favorite hot drink* then. —Actually could you make this one to-go? I won't be staying much longer."  You rubbed the back of your neck and tried to think of ways to fix the problem at hand.

The concept plans you were writing up before your computer crashed were for a presentation you were giving tomorrow. You had nearly finished it, and were about to back it up on your USB but never had the chance.

"It won't be ready in time. It's not possible now." You said to yourself. The urge to just leave the coffee shop that moment slid down your spine and lit a fire beneath your feet. You quickly put your dead laptop back into your leather side bag, ready to step away from the problem for a moment. You stayed just long enough to pay for your drinks before you rushed out the double doors. Icy wind nipped at you through your thick knitted sweater, and you hugged the warm cup close to your chest. Leaving the coffee shop wouldn't fix your problem, but a sickening feeling of dread flooded your body made you feel ill at the very thought of sitting still. The presentation was the deciding factor on whether or not they kept you on the team and your faulty laptop just sealed your fate.

The sinking realization pushed you to walk faster.

You pushed through the herds of holiday shoppers and rowdy school kids. The sheer number of people made your skin crawl with the need to be somewhere quieter.

You wove through the milling crowds and past the bright street shops that blared holiday music. Past the cracking concrete at the edge of town. Straight into the Dead Wood. Bare oak branches loomed over you, reach out grasping at your hair and clothes, trying to stop you from entering the heart of the forest. But you could still hear cars passing on the street and people shouting. The farther in you walked, the thicker the branches overhead became, now crowned in amber leaves. The narrow dirt path thinned and was strewn with dead leaves that crunched beneath your feet.

You kept walking quickly as the path suddenly curved sharply to the left. Your boot snagged on an uncovered root and you crashed to the ground. The to-go cup is crushed beneath you, dousing your front in the scalding *favorite hot drink*. You cried out in pain and rushed to pull off your soaked sweater.

It's only once the pain subsided that you noticed it.

The quiet.

You were finally alone.

Tears began to fall freely as you leaned against a gnarled oak tree. Worst case scenarios filled your head about the impending nightmare you'd face tommrow.

"Are you alright miss?"

You lurched forward in surprise at the sound of a man's voice. You hadn't noticed anyone else in Dead Wood. "Who's there?" You said apprehensively.

A short man with the starfish shaped hair raised his hands in surrender.

"I don't want any trouble now miss, I was just wondering if you were lost too."

"You're lost?" you asked as you shifted on your feet, "I can point you back in the direction of town. It's right back down that...path. —What the hell?" The path had vanished. More importantly, the entire forest was different. The dark and foreboding oak trees had transformed into impossibly large, curving trees of faded grey. The starfish man nodded his head disappointedly, as if he expected that kind of reaction.

"It's the Mirkwood, the magic clouds your mind. Why don't you come with me, it'll be safer with the group. It's too dangerous to be out here alone." He says frowning at the surrounding trees like they I had personally wronged him.

"What's the Mirkwood? I was in Dead Wood Forest just a second ago. Hell, I still have ash on my jeans from the burnt trees at the entrance!"

"Burnt trees?"

"Yeah, some lousy teens tried burning down the whole forest earlier this year. It's really called Menaj- Wait. Did you just try telling me this forest is magic."

"I'd better let Gandalf explain." He said pointing back over his shoulder, "Come on then."

You didn't make a move to budge at all, "I'm not going off  to who knows where with a starfish man talking about magic. —I don't even know your name."

"Nori, at your service. And you don't have to worry about me hurting you, I'm a thief. Not a murderer."

"Most thieves don't admit that." You said raising an eyebrow at him.

"Most thieves aren't as good as me." He smirked, "Now then, now that you know my name are you heading back with me? Because if not, I'll be on my way now."

He turned and casually began to walk away.

"Wait!" You shouted, not wanting to be left alone in this strange new place. Nori ore a pleased grin as he watched you jog to catch up with him, "So do you have a name? Or will I just be calling miss from now on?"

"It's Y/N." you said as you took in your surroundings, "So why was your group traveling through the forest anyways?"

"We were planning to cut through to get to— Actually, I don't think I'm supposed to be telling you any of this. I'll let the others tell you what they will." Nori caught himself before he could say anything he shouldn't.

"So mysterious." You said sarcastically, "Are you on a secret quest or something?"

Nori ignore the question so you decided to try a different one, "How many of you are in your—" you stumbled to your knees, suddenly feeling dizzy. Nori caught you by the arm and held onto you until you were steady again.

"Are you feeling alright Y/N? Do you need to sit down? We're almost back to the group. Oín, he's our healer, he can help you." The feeling of vertigo was overwhelming and you ripped away from his grasp just in time for the contents of your stomach to spill free in wracking convulsions.

"You need to be checked out by Oín." Nori said before lifting you into his arms. He ignored you shout of protest as he ran towards the company as fast as his stout legs could carry you both.

Nori almost knocked over Oín when he finally reached him.

"Something's wrong with her. Can you do something?" Nori asked furrowing his brows in concern. You had slipped into a state of delirium halfway back to the company. You played with his hair much to his concerned embarrassment and kept referring to him as a 'pretty starfish' although he wasn't sure what a starfish was.

"Who is this lass, Nori?" Oín asked as he began checking your vitals.

"Her name's Y/N, I found her cr- she was lost and I found her while I was out searching for the path. I don't think she's from around here. She'd never even heard of the Mirkwood and said she had been in a different forest of burnt trees before she got here."

"Did you say burnt trees?" Oin asked as he adjusted his trumpet frowning, "the trees here may be sick of magic but they aren't burnt.-That's it! I think you're right about her Nori."

"Well of course I was," He said mildly offended before asking, "what was I right about?"

"This lass isn't from around here. Don't you remember what Gandalf was saying about people getting lost and disoriented in this place? It's the magic, it's affecting her." He explained, his frown deepening.

"But that doesn't make any sense, why is it affecting her so much and not any of us yet?" Nori asked as you started playing with the braids in his hair again.

"Pretty starfishhh." You muttered to yourself.

"I'm pretty sure it already has, we've lost the path. And," Oín looked over at Kíli and Fíli who were wandering around aimlessly, not yet realizing the newest addition, "Well, there's those two for example."

"Is there anything we can do to fix this? I told her I'd help her find her way out of Mirkwood."

"Now why'd you go and do a thing like that?" Oín scolded, "We're just as lost as the lass!"

"She seemed so afraid, I just wanted to help her. I felt bad." Oin stared at Nori unconvinced until he admitted, "I also may have wanted to check out what she had in her bag. You can't possibly tell you aren't the least bit curious about her? I'm mean look at what she's got on." He gestured to your fitted blue jeans and and gold hoop earrings. You grabbed his outstretched hand and play with each of his fingers, in awe, "So small and pudgy but you're so strong."

"You act like you've never seen a dwarf lass." Oín commented.

"Well that's because I haven't." You snort. You look at them both in amusement, but your eyes are glazed over and dull. You suddenly started to cry quietly and hugged your knees to your chest, "I'm never going to go home, am I?"

"Oh dear."

"Of course you are Y/N," Nori promised as he knelt down beside you, "I told you I'd get you out of here, didn't I?"

You wiped away the tears and shook your head slightly.

"Oh, I guess I didn't." He said, scratching his face before saying, "Well this is me promising now, I'm going to help you get out of this forest and back home. That is, wherever it is you call home."

"Really?"

"On my honor as a thief."

"Was that meant to reassure the lass?" Oín asked not bothering to keep the judgement from his voice.

"Yes."