'Lost Without You'- A Thorin Oakenshield Fanfic

Chapter 4

Aaaand the song for this chapter is....'Shots' by Imagine Dragons!
I am so sorry for the late update, I kind of sprained my ankle and forgot :S Please forgive me!
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The path grows more and more unintelligible as you and the Company venture further and further into the creaking, ominous forest. Thorin kicks at the thick, stinking carpet of leaves blanketing the path in an attempt to make sense of direction. Everywhere you look, the trees look the same. And the path grows ever more faint.

"The path leads this way," he calls, and you and your Companions file after him in a straight line. Under boughs and over twisting, convoluted branches you follow, peering around in the dim and dark woods.

Mist hangs at the edges of your sight, and it's quiet, almost too quiet. Pushing vines and creepers from your path, drowsiness lingers in your mind, the air thick with something unknown. You yawn and blink a few times, but continue forward. Every nook in the trees looks like a comfortable place to sleep, but Gandalf's words play over and over in your mind. 

"Don't stray from the path". "Don't stray from the path," you repeat to yourself as a mantra, in an effort to keep moving.

The light grows darker and darker as the trees thicken, and looking up into the branches and leaves above, it's almost pitch black, pinpricks of light spotting through the foilage.

"Air... I need air," Bofur moans panickedly, but continues to trudge forward.

"My head, it's swimming," Oin complains, and you feel it too.

You're drowning, drowning in the choking air. You stretch out your hands to steady yourself, each breath feeling like a monumental effort. The air feels like mud, thick and soupy, with not a hint of fresh oxygen. Dazed, you wander slowly after your companions, step by step, the world spinning slowly around you in kaleidoscopic confusion. The trees melt together, distorted and strange, and you feel like your ears are full of cotton wool. Reaching up, you try to pull it out with your fingers, but there is nothing there.

"Keep moving," Thorin calls but his voice sounds strange and distant. "Nori, why have we stopped? "

"The path..." the dwarf points, perplexed."It's disappeared! "

"We've lost the path!"

"Find it!" Thorin orders "Look for it, all of you!" He staggers, and you see the forest is affecting him too. Mirkwood has taken hold of the Company.

"I don't remember this place," Balin remarks, "None of it's familiar!"

The dwarves all spread out, walking almost drunkenly around, in an attempt to recover the path. But a tiny voice in the back of your mind whispers "You never found it in the first place."

'Is there no end to this accursed forest!" Dwalin shouts, his voice muffled to your ears. He kicks at a tree root in anger.

You continue to walk forward, but you feel as if you're floating, far far away from the Company. Strange, soft, white material coats the trees, and Bilbo pings one strand as he walks.

"Look," Dori holds up a leather pouch, swaying drunkenly. "There's dwarves in these woods..."

"Dwarves of the blue mountains no less," Bofur takes it from Dori. "This is the exact same as mine..."

"That is yours, don't you understand?! We're going around in circles, we're lost!" Bilbo argues exasperatedly as Bofur looks confusedly around, as if hoping to see another dwarf pop up from behind a tree root.

"We're not lost, we keep heading East," Thorin answers, swaying on his feet. You peer closer and there's 3 Thorin's, all standing together, moving from side to side.