The Undecided Title Of Sara Miller *Hobbit Fanfiction* (Thorin/OC)

Chapter 13: On the Run.

Chapter 13:

In which the company makes haste and Thorin patrols.

Thorin was as good as his word; the company was up, packed, and ready to leave in fifteen minutes. Oin had washed Sara's stomach and put some of his ointment on it and she had also applied the last of her triple antibiotic before he had bandaged her up. There was not much to be done for her ribs but to try her best not to re-injure them. Sara had taken a Tylenol for the remaining pain and grit her teeth as she donned her coat. Fili and Kili had distributed her belongings among the others but Sara noticed they kept many of her belongings to carry themselves. The sun was setting and the sky was stained a deep orange as they set out again. At first, Sara had a hard time keeping up with the pace the dwarves set but she soon found a rhythm of breath and step that pained her ribs the least. Kili had she looked and sounded ridiculous, but she had snapped back that he could have the cracked ribs and she would take to pack. The sun had disappeared taking its light with it, plunging the company into darkness. The dwarves seem not to mind the dark as they continued down the road moving quickly. Sara, however, kept stepping in the ruts and divots in the road and painfully jarring her tender ribs.

"Fili?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, what is it?" he whispered back.

"I can't see. Who has my headlamp?"

"I do," he replied. "But you can't use it Sara."

"Why not?" she groused. "I keep stepping in the dips in the road." As if to illustrate this, her foot dropped several inches further than she had been expecting, and she stumbled forward into Fili, hissing in pain as he caught her. Fili and Kili came to a halt.

"What's wrong sis?" asked Kili.

"She can't see where to put her feet," said Fili to his brother. "She will twist an ankle or re-injure her ribs at this rate." The company was still moving quickly leaving them behind.

"Well what about her portable light?" suggested Kili.

"Do I really have to explain it to you too?" said Fili sounding exasperated. He released Sara who took a step back and would have stepped into the same divot had Fili not grabbed her arm gently. "If we use her light, the Orcs could see it, and we are trying to put as much distance between us and them, not let them know our exact location."

"Oh yeah, I suppose you're right," said Kili glumly. "Well what can we do? She can't see. She could hurt herself or get lost."

"I suppose we will have to guide you ourselves," said Fili, grabbing one of her forearms. "Kili take her other arm," and together the guided her quickly but relatively surly for the rest of their trek through the dark. They walked for what seemed like hours, the moon climbing high into the sky behind the clouds. Bilbo it seemed was having some difficulty as well, as he held onto the coattails of Bofur who spoke gently to him informing him of obstacles in their way. Sara was sure the sun would be rising any minute and her ribs ached when Thorin had finally called a halt. He led them cautiously up a small hill and between some large rocks and then turned to the group.

"We will rest here for a few hours. Do not unpack, simply layout. We must be able to move on quickly and quietly should we need to. We will light no fires, and you will be as silent as possible. Come sunrise we will move again. Nori, Bofur, you will take watch. Stay low in the rocks and do not be seen." The others were now sinking onto the ground trying to find the best patch of earth to sleep on. Fili and Kili still has her hands and Bilbo's also, as Bofur had moved off to take up position on watch, grumbling all the way. Thorin moved to stand in front of them, those Sarah was not sure who it was until he spoke.