CHAPTER 1 The Sunken Ship
25 years later
"BILBO BAGGINS!"
A loud yell greets the ears of of the residences of the palace
"It seems the young prince is getting into trouble a little early today" comments one of the castle guards
Suddenly a mermaid covered in squid ink bursts through the doors with a furious expression on her face
"Good morning Lady Bracegirdle and how are you this fine morning?" Asks one of the guards
"How do you think I'm doing master Bofur?" she sneered "Have either of you seen the prince?"
"Afraid not m'lady, but ya might ask the captain he might know, he should be at home though on account of the lieutenant forceing him home for the week"
"Thank you for the advise, good morning"
"Good morning m'lady" he replied then paused "By the way madam you have a bit of ink righ-"
"I'M WELL AWARE!"
"Hurry up Primm!" Called the young merman
Primula laughed "I'm coming, I'm coming hold your seahorses" then she paused after she looked at where they were.
"Where are we going anywhere? There's nothing out here Bilbo." And it appeared true as they had just left the reefand all that could be seen was the open sea and the ocean trench marked the edge of the shire.
He laughed "there's a lot more here than meets the eye, you just have to know where to look." And with that he dove down into the trench.
"BILBO! What are you doing!? We're not supposed to go down there!" Primula yelled shocked
"Oh, don't be such a fussy flounder" Bilbo laughed popping his head out of the trench "Now are you coming or not? I'll not wait all day." And with that Bilbo continued down into the trench.
Primula looked both ways before sighing "We're going to be in so much trouble when your father finds out about this" and she headed into the trench only to freeze when she saw what they were headed towards "correction, we are going to be dead when your father finds out." Because they were swimming towards none other than the sunken remains of a human ship.
"He's not gonna find out now hurry up we don't have much time." Bilbo replied excitedly while heading into the remains.
"Bilbo! You can't go in there! It's not safe!"
"Fine you can stay out there and watch for Orcs." He replied distractedly.
"ORCS!?" And with that primula quickly followed Bilbo into the ship. "Hahaha don't worry no ones seen an Orc in over half a year now come on." Neither noticing the figures swimming in the shadows they continued into the wreckage.
Meanwhile...
Two young sharkanians were playing out in the yard being chased by a much larger sharkanian when the smallest of the three stops.
"Uncle Thorin! Uncle Thorin!" squealed a young voice
"Yes Kili?" came the reply
"When I grow up, can I be a castle guard just like you?" two big blue eyes looked up at him full of hope
Thorin laughed "Of course Kili, you can be whatever you want although it takes a lot of hard work to become a castle guard"
"THORIN! LADY LOBELIA IS HERE TO SPEAK WITH YOU" yelled Dis
Thorin cringed "Well boys your mother beckons me, now I must face the dreadful...LOBELIA" and with that two boys swam off laughing all the way and thorin made his way into the house to meet with the fierce mermaid. Just as he entered the home Lobelia accosted him starting to yell out rapid questions.
"Slow down madam, I can't understand a word you are saying." Thorin said trying to get her to calm down "Now whats wrong with the prince?"
"Prince Bilbo is missing, I've searched the entire castle and the grounds, TWICE! He's no where to be found!" Lobelia said starting to look frantic "He's meant to meet with a suitor this morning."
Thorin crossed his arms and looked thoughtful for a moment, "Did you check the stables? You know how he loves spending time with the Kelpie."
"Yes, I also checked the garden, the kitchens, the market, and the barracks." she sighed
Thorin thought to himself, then suddenly his eyes widened "He wouldn't..." he murmured to himself "Lobelia, was the Prince's satchel in his room when you checked" he inquired.
"No it wasn't. Why?" she responded looking worried.
"I think I know where he went, go back to the castle I'll return the Prince unharmed, don't worry."
"Thank you Captain, it's been a pleasure as always."
"Not a problem Madame, have a good morning." and as he was about to head to his room to get supplies he paused "By the way Madame are you aware that there is some ink in your hair?"
His only response was a distant scream of anger.
Bilbo gasped and primula quickly turned toward her adventurous friend to see what caught his attention, there on the floor of room laid some kind of sword made of some strange stone that shined when the light hit it that Bilbo was staring at "what in the sea is that?" As she approached him he picked up the strange object and he placed it in his bag before continuing his exploration. "I don't know but I'm sure Gandalf would know." Just then the two mer-folk heard a crash and when they looked upon the source of the sound they came face to face with two of the most gruesome sea creatures they had ever seen.
Primula screamed "ORCS!" And with that the two friends swam as fast as they could in hopes that they could escape their pursuers unfortunately to their surprise there were more orcs waiting for them outside the ship and suddenly they were surrounded.
"DIVE!" Yelled a familiar voice before a spear pierced the chest of the Orc in front of Bilbo effectively distracting the rest of the creatures. Bilbo couldn't help but smile because he knew the voice belonged to a certain shark-tailed captain of the guard. The sharkanian charged the other three orcs effortlessly dispatching his enemies before turning to the young prince with a scowl on his face.
"What were you thinking!? You could have been killed!" Yelled the guard
"But I wasn't, that's what I what I have you for Thorin."
"And if didn't remember you talking about the ship that sunk in the storm?" Thorin retorted
"Then I would be dead, but you remembered and that's what matters. Now come on we're going to see Gandalf!"
"You're going to be the death of me some day." Thorin sighed but followed "You're supposed to be meeting with a suitor this morning."
"And you're supposed to be taking the week off" Bilbo replied. Primula looked between the Prince and the guard wondering who would win this round.
"Technically you are under no obligation to drag me back to the palace, since right now you are not a guard, you are just my dear friend Thorin who doesn't want me to suffer through the flirtations of, UGH, Lord Lotho Sackville of Hobbiton" Bilbo stated with a shudder.
Thorin laughed "Lotho? They aren't even trying anymore. Fine, I told Lobelia I would bring you back to the palace, but I didn't say WHEN I would return you, only that you would be unharmed"
Bilbo and Primula cheered and the three took off towards the Wizards home none of them noticing two pairs of glowing eyes watching them from the sunken remains.
