Chapter 4

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Bella walked behind Thorin on their way towards the Misty Mountains. She watched the King study the mountains ahead, seeing them as yet another obstacle in the way to reclaiming his kingdom. She fully realized what he must be feeling. His entire life had been flipped upside down, and this was his only chance to regain it.
Somehow, knowing this made Bella even more determined to learn how to fight so she wouldn't be a burden to the Company...... And Thorin.
"Hurry up! We need to cross the Mountains and reach Erebor before Durin's Day. " he ordered.
Later, the Company camped at the base of the Mountains. Bella helped Bombur with dinner like always. As she sat by the fire, her gaze fell onto Thorin. The dwarf was sitting at the edge of the group on his own. The flickering firelight illuminated every feature of his face. Bella didn't realize she was staring until Bombur tapped her shoulder. She shook herself and tried to fight the blush spreading over her cheeks. Luckily, no one noticed her unexplainable stares at the Dwarven king.

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The Company grabbed at the mountainside when the entire mountain shook. Bella looked up at Balin's shout.
"This isn't a thunderstorm. It's a thunderbattle! "
Bella looked to see two giants that seemed to be made out of stone tossing bits of the mountain at each.
When one of the giants fell backwards, Bella began to stumble backwards. Fili yelled, his shout lost in the noise. He and his brother reached out to catch the burglar. Bella grabbed a outcropping branch and held onto it with all her strength. The pain in her hands mixed with the pain of her chest. The cloth she'd been using to hide her chest were tight and hadn't been changed since Rivendell, days ago.
"Bilbo! " Kili yelled. "Hold on! "
Fili turned to the rest of the Company, his gaze ending on Thorin. "Uncle! Help us, please! " he begged.
Thorin relented, hanging himself over the edge and grabbing Bella by her chest. The pain doubled, the hobbit lass biting her tongue to stop a scream. The dwarf king released her and stepped away.
"We almost lost our burglar there! " Bofur said. Thorin's glare blazed as he turned to the hobbit.
"He's been lost ever since he left home. " Thorin spat. Bella turned her head to avoid the king's glare. Kili put an arm around her shoulder and smiled reassuringly.
"Don't let him get to you, Bilbo. C'mon, we've got a mountain to cross! " he cheered. Bella smiled, if only for the young dwarf's sake. Thorin's words had hurt her more than she'd ever admit.

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Bella was sleeping in a cave that the boys had found when she had a strange dream. She dreamt that the back of the cave had opened up and the Company had begun sliding in through the crack.
She awoke to find that her dream had begun to come true. The last of the ponies' tails were disappearing through the opening, including a sturdy white one Elrond had lent Gandalf. As she watched, goblins jumped out of the crack and began seizing the dwarves.
However, her shout had woken Gandalf. A bright light filled the cave and several goblins fell, dead. Bella and the dwarves were tugged down into the crack in a single file line. The goblin drivers at the back were gleefully whipping any dwarf that strayed behind. She saw Thorin at the front, walking along as if he'd meant for this to happen.
"Move along, hurry up! " a goblin shouted. Bella shrieked when one of the goblin drivers hit the backs of her feet with his whip.
The hobbit cringed when they arrived in a large cavern. On a 'throne' sat a goblin so..... horrible that Bella wanted to wake up and find herself at home in Bag End. But of course, she didn't. Instead the Company was herded together in front of this goblin king, for that's what he was. The goblin laughed, a truly horrible thing.
"Well well well! What have we here? "
A goblin driver scurried forward with a simpering smile. "Intruders, intruders on our Front Porch. We found them sleeping there. "
The goblin king nodded and turned his attention to the Company. When he saw Thorin, he wore an evil grin.
"Well, I think I know who you are. Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King under the Mountain. " the goblin king said, mock bowing. He sat back down with a fake frown. "But wait, I'm forgetting! You don't have a mountain, and you're not a king, which makes you..... nobody really. Don't you know, an old..... enemy of yours offered a pretty price for your head. "
Bella scowled at the repulsive goblin, as did Thorin and most of the Company. The goblin king's grin faltered, however, when a goblin pulled Orcrist out of it's sheath and dropped it. "Biter! You have dared bring that sword here? "
The goblin king was about to yell something else when the cave went dark. In the darkness, a bright blue sword gleamed in the cave. Bella watched it fly through the air and straight through the goblin's neck.
Gandalf appeared, holding Glamdring in his hand. He handed Orcrist back to Thorin and gestured to them to follow him. The Company began running, Bella at the back. A dwarf, presumably Bofur, grabbed her as they raced down a passageway. When they reached a slightly open space Gandalf stopped. He immediately began counting the dwarves.
"....9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and the hobbit. Perfect. Now, let's hurry. There's no time, we must hurry. "
The Company hurried along through the Mountain. Bella was handed from one dwarf to the next, ending at Dori.
What they didn't know was that the goblins had sent their quickest runners with quiet shoes to follow the dwarves. So it was that none of them heard the runners coming. Dori was tripped and Bella fell into the dark and hit her head on a rock.

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When Bella came to herself, she was literally by herself. Perfect. No dwarves, no Gandalf, no anybody.
No Thorin. Her mind whispered. She shook her head and shakily stood up.
"Go backwards? Can't do that! Sideways, useless. Forward? Only thing to do! Let's go! " she muttered. She stumbled forwards, struggling to regain her balance.
She had to find him, she just had to.

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