▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱 ━︎━︎ 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐬 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆, going through the complicated twists and turns of the cave below, trying their best to escape the goblin-like creature. Gollum was hot on their trail, crying out in anger as he rushed to find them. When they ran to a dead end, Ellaria noticed a small crack that Bilbo could easily fit through. She pointed to it silently, nodding for him to go. Bilbo stared at her in silent stubbornness and she sighed before grabbing his arm and shoving him towards it. He began to weasel his way through only to get stuck halfway.

They both turned their heads when they heard Gollum approach, watching as he passed by the dead end they were in only to back up and snap his silver-blue eyes towards them. His gaze focused solely on Bilbo, creeping closer to him with an obsessive rage writhing on his face.

     "Stay back," Ellaria warned. She held her sword out in front of her, placing her body in front of Bilbo to keep him protected. "I do not lie with my threats, do not make me show you how truthful they are."

     "It's ours!" Gollum cried. "It's ours!"

The buttons that were keeping Bilbo in place popped off his shirt, sending him flying through the crack. Gollum cried out in anguish and Ellaria took the moment to quickly squeeze her way through, only when she got to the other side Bilbo was nowhere to be found. Gollum quickly leaped in after her and Ellaria spun to face him, keeping her sword ready, but Gollum wasn't focused on her. He was focused on finding what Bilbo had taken from him. He searched the area, crawling to the other side and looking at the path ahead.

     "Thief!" Gollum yelled. "Baggins!"

He ran off and Ellaria went to follow only to stop when she felt a tug on her pants. She turned, finding no one there. A frown fell on her lips as she looked around, gasping in surprise when Bilbo was suddenly at her side. She opened her mouth to speak, but he pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her. He motioned the direction Gollum had went and as he walked forwards, he slipped the ring back on his finger and Ellaria followed. She made herself almost invisible, creeping along the shadows of the rocks, her footsteps light and not making a noise.

They followed close to Gollum, watching as he cried out for his Precious before suddenly fear engrossed his face and quickly hid. Rampant footsteps ran in their direction and Ellaria pressed her back against the wall, watching with relief as Gandalf and the dwarves ran by. Disbelief replaced her relief when she realized Gollum was blocking their path from following them. She straightened her shoulders, watching as Gollum looked around with sadness and heartbreak and a part of her almost felt bad for the creature, but then again he had tried to kill her and Bilbo.

She stepped from the shadows, making herself known. Instantly, Gollum cried out in anger. He jumped towards her and Ellaria instantly pressed her blade against his throat, letting it dig there and cause the creature to bleed. He began crying in fear.

     "You will let me pass, or you will die. You choose." Ellaria claimed, holding her chin up and narrowing her eyes. "I do not know where my friend has disappeared to, I do not know what he took from you, what I do know is I have lost him and he is still somewhere in these caves. Search for him if you must, but you will let me leave." Gollum cowered in response and Ellaria slowly pulled her sword back, making sure he wouldn't try to attack before turning and walking out of the cave.

Sunlight blessed her eyes, her lungs craving the fresh air. She inhaled deeply, staring at the meadow below before softly sighing as she made her trek down the hill. A tug on her blouse made relief fill her lungs. Bilbo was with her. They ushered down the hill together, Bilbo keeping himself invisible. The sound of the dwarves deep voices and Gandalf yelling made a small smile pull on her lips. She ran in the direction, slowing to a stop when she heard Throin speak.

     "I'll tell you what happened." Thorin stood in front of his company. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. He has thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone. And the elf, well, I truly cannot say what has happened to the princess."

     Dirt and soot caked her face, cuts and bruises lined her body from the rough fall she had taken. She took a step forwards. "Nothing has happened to me, if you must know." Instantly, the dwarves all turned to look at her. "And your hobbit has not left you either." She turned her head and Bilbo stepped out from behind the trees.

     Relief covered some of the dwarves faces as Gandalf smiled. "Bilbo Baggins. I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life."

     "Bilbo." Kili smiled, breathing a laugh. "We'd given you up."

     "How on earth did you two get past the goblins?" Fili asked.

     "How, indeed." Thorin muttered.

     Gandalf watched as Bilbo subtly slipped the ring into his pocket. "Well, what does it matter? He's back."

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

     Bilbo let out an awkward chuckle. "Well, the, uh, the princess really saved my life." Bilbo turned his head to look at her, and a small smile pulled on his lips. "Honestly, I'd probably be dead if it weren't for her." He looks back to Thorin, seeing the distrust in his eyes. "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. That's why I came back. 'Cause. . . you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can." Thorin lowered his chin slightly in response.

     Ellaria straightened, turning her head slightly. The sounds of growls from a distance, a voice yelling out, grabbed her attention. She snapped her head to Thorin. "Thorin, whoever's hunting you, he's found us. It's wargs and they're coming quick."

     "Out of the frying pan," Thorin muttered.

     "And into the fire." Gandalf finished. "Run. Run!"

Instantly, they all went running, going deeper into the woods as the giant wolf-like creatures got closer and closer. One of them jumped off a rock, flying right over Bilbo's head and catching himself before spinning and turning towards the hobbit. Ellaria ran forwards, grabbing her sword and quickly stabbing the creature. She turned, slicing her blade along the side of a passing one. She grabbed Bilbo, pulling him forwards as they quickly ran only to come to a stop when they were met with a cliff.

     "Up into the trees!" Gandalf ordered. "All of you!"

     Gracefully, Ellaria climbed up the tree, making her way to the top. The bow and arrows that had been strapped to her finally came to use as she tucked her sword away and pulled out the bow, notching an arrow into it. The wargs swarmed the trees they were all on, Ellaria pulled the arrow back and aimed, letting go and sending it flying into the head of one of the wargs. She shot two more down before turning her attention to the white scarred orc riding one of the wargs.

     He sat atop the creature that was standing on a large rock. A few of his followers stood behind him on their on wargs. Azog sniffed the air. "Do you smell it? The scent of fear?" Azog looked directly at Thorin. "I remember your father reeked of it. . . Thorin son of Thrain."

     Thorin shook his head, mumbling to himself, "It cannot be."

     Azog sat up straighter, pointing his weapon towards Thorin. "That one is mine. . . kill the others!"

Instantly, the wargs charged forwards, some of them managing to climb up the trees. Ellaria shot at the ones who were closer to getting to the dwarves, notching arrow after arrow, sending them flying to the heads of some of the creatures. One climbed up her tree, and she reached down, grabbing a knife from around her waist and allowed the creature to grow close before stabbing it in the eye and letting it fall. There were too many of them for her to succeed by herself. Silently, she wished Legolas and Tauriel were with her.

Suddenly, one of the trees began to uproot, tilting backwards and hitting the other trees, creating a domino affect. All of the trees they were on began to go down. They all lept to the one tree left standing, the one with Gandalf on it. They were trapped. Quickly, Gandalf grabbed a pine cone, using his staff to light it on fire before throwing it on the ground. The ground came to life with flames, the wargs instantly backing away from it. Pine cones began to be passed down to the other dwarves and the hobbit, Ellaria kept her bow in hand and kept shooting her arrows.

Flaming pine cones and flying arrows were all the were seen in the sky as they went hurtling towards their enemies. everything on the ground was alight with glowing orange flames, spreading quickly and forcing the wargs to run away. Azog let's out a roar of anger and the dwarves began to cheer, although too soon. The tree they were on began to tilt, sending Ori slipping from the branches, forcing him to grab onto Dori's legs, grasping onto him for dear life as he dangled to his death.

Ellaria felt fear fill her bones, holding onto the tree tightly as she tried to figure out what they were going to do. She watched in horror as Dori lost his grip, sending himself and Ori plummeting only for Gandlaf to hold out his staff for Dori to grab onto which he thankfully did. A breath of relief left her lips before she turned her head towards Thorin, watching as he pulled himself up onto the bottom of the tree, allowing him to stand up fully on the trunk.

Sword in hand, Thorin's angry gaze stay focused on Azog. His feet met the ground as he began walking through the flames before it turned into a sprint as he went right for Azog. As Azog and Thorin fought, Ellaria turned her attention back towards Ori and Dori. She took a moment to calculate, spotting a lower branch and quickly moving towards it. She placed her bow around her as she gripped onto the branch, allowing herself to drop and dangle.

     "Ori!" Ellaria called. "Let go!"

     "Are you crazy?" Kili cried. "He'll die!"

     "Trust me!" Ellaria snapped. She looked at Ori. "I will catch you." She listened as the others cried out for Thorin and part of her was glad she couldn't see it at the moment, but she could hear it all clearly. She could hear Thorin's cries of pain, she could hear Azog's weapon evertime it slammed into Thorin, but she couldn't focus on that. "Ori," she begged. The red haired dwarf looked down at her with pure fear in his eyes and Ellaria motioned him with her hand and a small nod.

Finally, he let go. For a moment, he plummeted, and then Ellaria was grabbing onto him, using every ounce of strength she had to keep hold of him. She began to pull Ori up, letting him grip onto her clothes in order to gain strength to pull himself up and latch onto the branch. Ellaria pulled herself up, helping Ori and making sure he was safely placed against the tree's trunk. He clung onto it for dear life and Ellaria finally looked over at the fight, only to see it wasn't a fight anymore.

Thorin laid on the ground, heavy breaths falling from his lips. He was unable to move, blood dripping down his face from an open wound. The right hand of Azog walked up to Thorin, placing his blade against Thorin's throat. He lifted the blade up and just before he could slam it down to decapitate Thorin, Bilbo ran forwards and slammed into the orc, sending both of them flying. The orc went to attack Bilbo but Bilbo took his sword and stabbed him over and over again until he was dead.

He pulled his sword out, stumbling a bit as he turned to Azog, using his body to keep between Azog and Thorin. Bilbo swung his blade in warning and the orcs crept forwards. Ellaria pulled herself up, making her way to the base of her trunk and pulling out her bow. She kept silent, notching the arrow and pulling it back. When she let go, the arrow went flying through the air before striking one of the orcs right between the eyes.  The orcs turned to look at her and she smirked in success before the other dwarves came running from their other side and began attacking them.

She placed her bow back and switched to her sword, quickly diving into the fight. She stabbed a warg in the side before swinging around and sending her sword straight through the eye of one of the orcs. They were quickly being surrounded, no matter how many she killed it seemed more and more of them appeared. Suddenly, the sound of eagles made her look up. A smile bloomed on her face as she watched the eagles fly above before diving down and grabbing the wargs, pitching them off the side.

Once most of them had been defeated, one of the eagles grabbed Throin causing Azog to scream out in rage. Another grabbed Bilbo and the dwarves that were still in the tree were quickly grabbed onto. Ellaria smiled as an eagle flew towards her, letting it grab her before dropping her over the edge and letting her land on the back of another eagle. She gently rubbed the creatures head, a soft laugh escaping her lips.

The view was beautiful. The sun was beginning to rise in the sky, sending hues of yellow, orange, and red scattering along the edges of mountains. Ellaria closed her eyes, taking a moment to bask in the fact that they were alive. After a while of flying, the eagles safely began dropping them off at the top of a rocky mountain. As soon as Ellaria's feet touched the rock, she immediately ran towards Thorin.

     She watched as Gandalf hovered a hand above Thorin, mumbling a spell and Thorin's eyes opened. Thorin looked at Gandalf. "The half ling?" 

     "It's alright." Gandalf assured. "Bilbo is here. He's quite safe."

     They began helping Thorin to his feet and Thorin instantly shoved them off when he was standing up right. His gaze immediately landed on Bilbo. "You! What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed. Did I not say you would be a burden?" He began to stalk towards him. "That you would not survive in the wild? That you had no place amongst us?" Ellaria was about to argue, only to stop herself when she heard him say, "I have never been so wrong in all my life." Quickly, he stepped forwards and hugged him.

     A small smile pulled onto Ellaria's face, her heart warming at the sight. Thorin pulled away. "But I am sorry I doubted you."

     Bilbo shook his head. "No, I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero or a warrior. Not even a burglar." He paused as they all turned, watching as the eagles began flying past them and back towards their home. Bilbo looked at Thorin, noticing him looking at something behind him. He turned, spotting a mountain in the distance. "Is that what I think it is?"

     Instantly, they all walked towards the edge of the rock, staring a head of them. "Erebor," Gandalf said. "The Lonely Mountain. The last of the great Dwarf kingdoms of middle-earth."

     A smile was on Thorin's face. "Our home."

     "A raven!" Oin cried. "The birds are returning to the mountain!"

     "That, my dear Oin, is a thrush." Gandalf corrected.

     "But we'll take it as a sign." Thorin finished, looking towards Bilbo. "A good omen."

     "You're right," Bilbo nodded. "I do believe the worst is behind us."

     "I hope you are right," Ellaria breathed. "We still have a long road ahead of us."

     Thorin turned to Ellaria. "Do you know these lands?"

     Ellaria nodded. "I do."

     Thorin nodded, looking back towards the mountain in the far distance before saying, "Then lead the way."