"One… Two… Three… One… Two… Three," Bilbo whispered counting every three steps it took to get to… Where ever he was going. He was letting instinct lead him. He mentally rolled his eyes at that. "It's not instinct, it's this damn ring." He whispered harshly. He hated this. Every step he took felt like walking to his death. Not that that hadn't happened before, but this time he didn't have Thorin there to protect him.
Thorin, Bilbo wondered what had happened to that stubborn dwarf. He could have gotten himself and his company killed if he went to war. And all over a stone! A fist sized shiny stone! It was stupid in his opinion. Why fight over such a silly thing? Wasn't gold and silver the whole problem? Wasn't that the thing that had drawn the dragon in the first place? Why couldn't they be more like Hobbits? Loving food and a good ale instead of axes and swords?
"Stubborn, unruly, sneaky dwarves…," Bilbo smiled, "But they're my stubborn, unruly, sneaky dwarves." It had been a good eight or so months since Bilbo had last seen them and he missed them dearly. They had probably moved on though. Thorin, if not dead, was probably getting married or expecting his first child. Fili and Kili would be training to become proper princes, lord knows they needed some manners, and who knew what the others were doing.
A loud crack broke Bilbo from his thoughts. He looked to his surroundings. The sky was painted with ash and smoke. Screams echoed all around him, some in pain and some in victory. All the green that should have been covering the ground, was nothing more than trampled blades of grass that were a sickly brown color. The shrubs and trees that were there were bare and black. In the distance, Bilbo could see the silhouette of a mountain, and a large pointy tower. He had heard of this place, Mount Doom, where the dead walk and shadows rome.
This place seemed familiar, but couldn't quite be placed. Though, Bilbo knew one thing. The ring had brought him here for some purpose or another. He also knew that this was the one place the ring could be destroyed. Bilbo silently thanked his great, great, grandfather for knowing stories of the one ring and Mount Doom.
"I've made it this far, guess I better keep going…," Bilbo whispered and kept moving forward. The faster he got this over with, the faster he could see Thro- his Hobbit Hole again.
~~~Thorin~~~
"I am sorry," Balin said sadly, "but if he went the way we think he did… He probably didn't make it. Gandalf and the others still have not found him. We have to assume the worst. Bilbo Baggins, our burglar, has passed on. May he rest in peace." Balin hung his head sorrowfully.
Thorin, dressed in his usual royal blue and silver, shook his head. "No, I won't believe it. Bilbo cannot be dead. He is much too clever and resourceful to die out there, all alone. He must be farther away than we anticipated. We must keep looking." Thorin's voice dropped, "I cannot lose him… We can't give up."
Balin placed a hand on Thorin's shoulder, knowing what the young king was going through. He had lost his mother, father, grandfather, and brother and came out with a stone face, but he could not lose his love. "Alright, we'll send the men farther out. But only for a few more months. We have a mountain to rebuild too, Bilbo will want to see the mountain returned to it's former glory when he gets back." Thorin perked back up at that.
"Yes he will. He always asked about the halls and the people. We have to get this place in top shape for his return." Thorin said, already making plans. Balin nodded and continued on. If this was a way of keeping their king functioning, it would have to work. For now atleast.
Balin went to the carrier room where all the birds were stored. He needed to talk to Ori, who was working there while Bilbo and Dwalin were gone. He wanted to be the first to know if any news of Bilbo would come in. As of yet, there was nothing.
"Hello Ori, any news?" Ori looked up rubbing his eyes.
"Various actions of trade, marriage arrangements, people who give their blessing to the King Under the Mountain, and a letter from Dis saying she'll kill Thorin when she gets here. Looks like she heard about what happened with Bilbo." Balin nodded.
"Ah, I see. I'll pray for his safe recovery than. Also tell the company that they will be able to move farther out in search of the Hobbit." Ori looked up confused. "Thorin want's to keep searching. We'll give him a few more months. If Bilbo is dead, we should let Thorin grieve in his own way."
"Yes, I do feel bad for him. Finding out Bilbo loved him, only to lose him. I don't know what Dwalin and I would do if that happened to us. We won't have to find out thankfully." Ori turned pink while writing the orders out. "Bilbo was able to settle everything for us. I hope he comes back so I can thank him properly. Maybe knit him some gloves or something?"
"I think we all have something to thank Bilbo for. Who know what would have happened if we had gone to war with the Elves and the Humans. It would have been bloodshed. It was a good thing that Bard gave us that note. Too bad it wasn't good timing for the orcs." Balin and Ori laughed. Thinking back to the surprised faces of Azog and his followers when the came face to face with three armies.
"And when the birds came! We were all stunned! Even Beorin showed up! I'm just glad we all got out alive… It was too close for Fili and Kili. If those arrows had his any lower…"
"Yes lad, I know, but we can't dwell on the past. Fili and Kili are still with us and that's all that matters." Balin stopped him from saying anymore.
Ori nodded and moved to the birds, taking one of the fasting flyers and tying the note on it's leg. "Have a safe journey and fly quick," and tossed the bird into the wind. "Please come back with news of Bilbo. We all need it."
~~~Company~~~
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Bofur called. It had been months and even he couldn't keep his hopes up much longer. Fili and Kili were the only things keeping his spirits up.
"Yes I'm sure!" Fili yelled back. He had taken it upon himself to lead the group. He had the heart of a lion and the mind of a king. Everyone knew that when he became King, he would be a good one.
"Seems like all were getting to is the waste lands," Dwalin grumbled. "Look at the sky and the ground. All there is is ash and soot. Nothing living could survive long in these parts. And even if they did, they wouldn't be recognizable."
"You have to have hope Master Dwalin!" Kili called back. "If we don't have hope, how can Bilbo count on us? Have some faith! I bet Ori does." Kili smiled as Dwalin grumbled under his breath.
"I ain't sayin' he's not alive. I'm just sayin' how do we know he came this way?"
"Because he's Bilbo. Even if he's a burglar, he does things the hard way. This is also the way he was going when he left. Bard said something about him going to some mountain or something. Besides Erebor, there are a lot of mountains this way." Nori pointed out.
"He has a point," Dori said.
"Well then lets keep going," Fili said leading the group on further.
"Maybe we should stop for the night? It's getting dark." Dori called up.
"What if we find something?" Kili asked concerned, "We can't just stop now!"
"Were not going to be any help to anyone in the dark. If we find something it'll be too dark to see anything. Come on Kili, you need rest just like the rest of us." Bofur said sympathetically. He knew that Fili and Kili considered Bilbo family, even more so now that Thorin showed his interest in the Hobbit.
"Alright," Kili agreed reluctantly. He hated stopping. Bilbo was out there and every time they stopped Bilbo got a little farther away from them.
"Good, come on, lets get settled under that tree. Gives us some cover atleast." Fili dropped off his horse and walked to the only coverage in the area. A small sickly looking tree with little to no green on it. The others followed silently.
They collected dried grass and broken off branches to make a fire and eat some of the last rations they had. Everything was running out, so they had to be careful with it. Eat less, drink less, and keep their hopes up.
"I remember one time," Bofur started, "at Beorin's house. Bilbo was petting the rabbits he kept around, so Beorin called him a 'Little Bunny.'" Everyone laughed, remembering when that happened. It had become tradition that every night they told stories of Bilbo and his going ons.
"Do you think we'll find him?" Kili asked quietly, making everyone look at him. His eye got misty. "What if we never find him? What will we do then? I don't want to imagine a world without Bilbo in it." Tears flowed freely down his face.
"Kili, no, I'm sure will find him. Remember? You said how can we find him without hope? You have to always think about seeing him tomorrow, his smiling face and his cooking. Remember the good things Kili, not the what ifs." Fili comforted his brother.
~~~Bilbo~~~
Most of the journey was blurr. He remembered, at some point, putting the ring on to escape from something hunting him and the next thing he knew, the ring was falling into a pit of lava. Which, on the other hand, spewed back up at him.
After that was running. Running from the lava. Running from something chasing him. Running from the voices screaming behind him. He just wanted to go home, but home was with Thorin and Thorin threw him out. He had no home. So he kept going. Running to somewhere.
~~~Kili~~~
Kili was on watch when, suddenly, the ground shook and a large red ball could be seen in the distance.
"Guys. Guys! Wake up!" He cried, shaking them awake. One by one they woke and stared at the large red mass. Kili turned back to them. "That's him! That's Bilbo! I know it!" The others could say nothing, but nodded in agreement.
"Lets go! Come on!" Kili started pulling the others up. "We need to see if Bilbo's hurt!" At that, the others jumped into action, getting their clothes back on and saddling up the ponies. Within 10 minutes they were gone with nothing left behind.
"Looks like we found him!" Fili called.
"Never doubted him for a minute!" Bofur called back.
"Let's hope he's in one piece when we get to him." Dwalin reminded. "Thorin'll blame us if he's not back in one piece."
"At least we found him!" Nori supplied. "That has to count for something."
"What's that?" Fili pointed to something moving slowly. The light of the sun just making out the figure of a small human.
"Do you think…?" Kili asked in a soft, non believing, tone. There was no way. Bilbo was so close. Everyone jumped off their ponies, rushing towards the human shaped figure. When they were close enough, the could see Bilbo's mop of hair.
"Bilbo!" Everyone cried, tears rushing down their faces. Bilbo jerked back, not realizing people had come up in front of him. He stopped when he saw their faces.
"Fili? Kili? Bofur? Nori? Dori? What are you doing here?" He asked, swaying slightly. He didn't have enough strength to hold himself up. Before anyone could move, Bilbo collapsed. Hitting the ground with a thud.
Sorry about the wait... there's been a death in the family so writing is hard for me. I'll try to make more chapters though.