*Cassy's POV*

I sent one last smile in Beorn's direction before I followed the others outside and towards the horses that Beorn had been kind enough to lend us. There were only sixteen horses but seventeen of us, now that Caspian had joined us. Gandalf seemed to have realised this as well as he approached me.

"Someone will have to share a horse with another." Said Gandalf as he sent me a pointed look.

"Fine, I'll share with someone." I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you." Said Gandalf smiling before he walked back towards the others.

"You can ride with me if you'd like?" Suggested Kili as he snuck up behind me causing me to jump and face him.

"I'd love to." I said.

We all bidded Beorn goodbye and began to mount the horses. Kili mounted the horse first before he offered me his hand which I took and pulled myself up on to the saddle behind him. I rested my hands on Kili's waist and he held the reins.

"I have given you all the help I can." The skin-changer exclaimed. "The food I gave you will last long if you ration it with care and it will stay good for a long time. You will find streams and springs along the road, so you can refill your water-skins. However, Mirkwood is dark and dangerous. Water is not easy to find there, nor food, and the wild things in that forest are dark and savage. You will need the water-skins I gave you and those of you who carry bows and arrows can use them to hunt. Although I doubt anything you will find in Mirkwood will be good to eat or drink." Beorn said mainly looking at Kili and I as we were the only ones that have a bow.

"There is one stream there that I know of that flows through the forest." Beorn continued earnestly. "Black and strong it crosses the path. You must neither drink from it, nor bathe in it, for it carries enchantment that causes great drowsiness and can knock someone out for hours. I doubt that you will shoot anything wholesome without straying from the ..." Beorn said. "And that you must not do so for any reason. Never stray from the path!"

I looked up and saw Beorn's gaze resting heavily on me. "I'm afraid that is all the advice I can give you. Beyond the forest gate, you will have to depend on your own courage and luck. I must ask you to send back my horses once you reach the forest gate but I wish you all good luck and speed. And know that my house is open to you if you ever decide to come back this way again."

We all thanked Beorn and said our goodbyes before we began to ride away from the safety of Beorn's home and towards the dark, dangerous depths of Mirkwood.

We rode for a while until Gandalf spoke up from the front of the group. "We'll reach Mirkwood by midday tomorrow and that is when you must send back Beorn's ponies. I have already told you that I am not accompanying you any further than the gates of Mirkwood as I have business to attend to. It should take you a few days to make it through Mirkwood and then a further two days to make it to the mountain in time for Durin's Day. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how long the supplies will last so you will have to ration them." Said Gandalf. I really wasn't looking forward to when Gandalf was going to leave us. We needed him, especially considering Mirkwood was probably going to be the most dangerous part of the journey, apart from the actual dragon part. I don't know what we're going to do, I mean Gandalf saved us from the trolls, he found the secret passage which allowed us to escape the wargs, he rescued us from Goblin town, called for the eagles to save us from Azog and got Beorn to help us. What were we going to do without him?

"Are you alright?" Whispered Kili.

"Uh, yeah. I'm just worried something is going to happen and Gandalf won't be there to help us." I replied.

"Don't worry, as long as we do what Beorn told us, we'll be fine." Said Kili.

"I hope your right." I mumbled as I rested my head on Kili's shoulder and wrapped my arms around him tighter so that my hands were resting on his stomach.

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right." He replied as he turned his head slightly so that I could see him grinning.

"Oh please. Your not always right." I said as I lifted my head from his shoulder to look at him.

"Yes I am. Tell me one thing I've been wrong about." He said.

"Okay, you said that you were a better archer than me and you clearly are not." I said smirking.

"I think you'll find that we never actually had the chance to have our little contest to test that theory." Said Kili. "And I am better than you."

"Yeah right. And later when we stop for the night we can have that contest and I'll show you just how much better I am at archery than you." I said.

"Why are you so confident that you can beat me?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you think I'm known as the archer queen?" I asked grinning.

"Fair enough, but I'm still going to beat you." Said Kili.

"Dream on, Kili." I said smiling as he let out a deep chuckle.

We continued to ride in the direction of Mirkwood and after a few hours Thorin ordered us to stop for the night. We had stopped at a small clearing surrounded by trees which could give us some shelter and there was also a few streams nearby.

I reluctantly unwrapped my arms from around Kili's waist and dismounted the pony with him following after.

"Oin, Gloin get a fire going! And Bombur cook us something to eat." Ordered Thorin.

Once the fire was lit Bombur began to cook whilst the rest of us set out our bedrolls and tied up the ponies to nearby trees. I had just laid my stuff beside my bedroll when I felt someone poke me on my shoulder with something sharp.

"What the-" I said as I turned around to see Kili stood holding his bow which he had just poked me with.

"Time to prove who's the better archer." Said Kili as he held up his bow.

I smiled and grabbed my own bow and quiver and followed him to the other side of the camp so that we could still see the others.

"Prepared to lose?" I asked.

"Are you?" He retorted. "Pick a target."

"Okay. See that pinecone?" I asked as I pointed to a pinecone up high in one of the trees.

"Are you sure that is not an acorn?" He asked as he looked at the tiny pinecone.

"Too hard for you?" I asked smirking at him.

"Just watch." He said.

He notched an arrow onto his bow and aimed at the pinecone. His face was so serious that I really wanted to tickle him so that I could see his smile that I loved. He released the arrow which flew towards the pinecone but missed it by less than a centimetre.

"Not bad..." I mumbled slightly shocked at how accurate his aim was.

"Surprised?" He asked as he smirked at me.

"Yeah. But you're still going to lose!" I said as I notched an arrow on to my bow and aimed at the pinecone.

"Stop distracting me, Kili." I said when he started to breath in my ear which caused me to shiver.

"Haha. Okay, sorry. It was just too tempting." He said.

I rolled my eyes and aimed at the pinecone before I released the arrow. I watched it as it pierced the middle of the pinecone and then fell out of the tree. I smiled in satisfaction as I turned to Kili who was looking at where the pinecone had been with wide eyes.

"Surprised?" I asked.

"Just a little." He said.

"Told you I was good." I said before I walked back over to the others grinning to myself.

"Well done, Cassy. I really thought Kili was the best archer around here." Said Bofur. I didn't realise that the others had been watching Kili and I's contest.

"Well thank you, Bofur." I said before I walked past Caspian.

"Well done, sister. I knew you'd win." Said Caspian.

"Thank you, brother." I said before I sat on my bedroll.

"Tough luck brother. She's not called the archer queen for nothing." Fili said to Kili who walked back to the rest of us and sat beside me on his bedroll.

"Well done, Cassy. You deserve it." Said Kili which caused me to smile.

"Thank you, Kili. You're a great archer." I said as I entwined my fingers with his and squeezed his hand. Everyone else began talking amongst themselves now so I turned to face Kili properly.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you learn to shoot like that?" I asked.

"Well I was trained by my father, he was a fine archer, the best I had ever seen. Then when I was much younger my father went to fight in a battle and he never came home." Said Kili.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. I know what it feels like..." I said. "What about your mother?"

"She's alive and well. She was reluctant to let Fili and I accompany our uncle on this quest but my uncle managed to persuade her to let us. She's always been worried that we won't come home like my father. That's why I have this." Kili said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black stone that was covered in dwarfish runes. "My mother gave it to me." He continued wistfully. "See these runes? This is my promise that I will come back to her after all this is over."

I clasped his hand inside of mine, feeling the cold stone that was enveloped in his. "She must really care about you."

"Yeah, she does." Said Kili.

I smiled at him and released his hand so that he could put the beautiful stone back in his pocket.

"Remember in Rivendell when I told everyone how my parents died?" I asked, Kili nodded and I continued. "Well before my father was killed he gave me this." I reached under my shirt and pulled out my pendant necklace. "My father told me that as long as I had this he'd always be with me, no matter what." I said.

Kili reached forward and ran his thumb over the pendant. "It's beautiful." He said.

"It was my mother's." I said.

"I couldn't bare to think about my mother dying. She means so much to Fili and I." He said.

"I'd love to meet your mother one day. She sounds lovely." I said.

"Maybe after all this is over you could." He said which made me smile and kiss his cheek.

"I look forward to it." I said.

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