Bloodstained (Thorin x OC)

The Forest

"Mithrandir, athrabed ar nin!" Agarwaen begged after the wizard had yelled for his horse to not be turned loose. It had begun to rain and a few dwarves put up their hoods to try and stay dry. Thorin watched as Gandalf pulled the elf aside and they shared hushed words, his obviously upsetting her. When they were finally finished, Agarwaen looked scared, and fiddled with the hem of her sleeve, something he discovered she did when she was nervous. Gandalf talked with Bilbo for a moment before addressing the group from atop his horse.

"This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray. You must stay on the path. Do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again." And with that, the wizard rode off, and into the forest went the company. Agarwaen led the way, instantly feeling an overwhelming sense of sickness upon entering. The eerie air drifted among them, draining any joyous thoughts and the usual merry feeling the dwarves usual carried about them. Every so often, rain would drip onto them from the thick canopy of trees above them, but they felt less and less of the rain the further they travelled. The forest grew darker as they went on, not because of waning daylight outside, but because of the dense tree cover. The air soon became extremely stuffy and the dwarves found it harder to breathe, forcing them to slow their pace slightly.

When the forest did begin to grow darker as the sun set, it became dark, dark. They could hardly even see their own noses.

"We cannot go any further for the night." Thorin called from somewhere behind Agarwaen. Everyone began bumping into each other due to lack of sight. "Gloin, start a fire." Said dwarf then began working blindly in the dark to start a flame.

"Oh, Mahal bless me, what is that?" Bofur's voice shook.

"What's what?" Bombur asked.

"The eyes, can't you see them?" Everyone looked around, finally seeing what Bofur was talking about. Pairs of yellow and of red eyes stared at them from beyond the path, into the forest. Agarwaen's hair stood on edge and a chill ran up and down her spine. A red pair blinked at her, and then disappeared. She heard Gloin work faster, frantically trying to light the tinder. When he did, the company sighed a breath of relief, and gathered around it.

"Do we have everyone?" Thorin asked. "Balin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Ori, Nori, Dori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Bilbo, and Agarwaen." He counted one at a time. "We need to all look out after one another in this darkness, else one might get lost. You three," He pointed to the 'ori' brothers, "Do not lose each other." He began, and then teamed up the rest of them. Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur were the second group, Oin, Gloin, and Bilbo the third, Fili, Kili, and Agarwaen the fourth, and Balin, Dwalin, and Thorin the fifth.

"Each group will switch off with keeping watch, and will walk together at all times. No one gets separated, understood?" Everyone voiced their agreement. Agarwaen was surprised Thorin paired her with his nephews, as being trusted to look after the princes took immeasurable trust on his, and the entire company's ends.

After the fire had started, the eyes seemed to disappear some, but a few kept watching them. Everyone seemed afraid to look at them, so they focused instead on the gigantic black moths the size of their hands that decided to swarm around the fire. They swatted at them and squished them, but when one would fall, it was almost as if two more took its place. They ran into everyone's faces, and knocked things out of their hands, causing frustration to quickly settle upon the group.

"Just put it out." Thorin eventually said, after it reached the point where over a hundred moths overtook the area. Oin and Gloin then started throwing dirt upon the flames, effectively getting rid of all their light and heat. The company was then enveloped with a thick and heavy darkness, and the eyes returned tenfold. Everyone called after each other, trying to find their group in the dark and stay together.