I meant to get this updated yesterday, but between going to see Monsters University and other crazy family stuff I didn't get to XD My apologies. I'm trying to make the chapters longer because I feel like they aren't as long as they should be. In any case, enjoy and thank you for being awesome, Kumama :D
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit. In a perfect (and very chaotic) universe I would and there would be more Middle Earth installments. But then I would probably ruin it, so it's a good thing I don't X3. Again, I don't even own Kumama.
Chapter 3
She reached out to the voices of those who strayed close and pleaded for help.
"Kumama? Kumama! What are you doing up there?!" Thorin Oakenshield glared up at the small lass. She looked down as though just realizing what it was she was doing then her eyes widened.
"Wha you doin down dere?" She asked curiously.
"The question is, what are you doing up there? Come down," Thorin called.
"Can't," she answered, tears coming to her eyes. "Smiffy? Smiffy!"
The small creature clung the trunk, staring tearfully down at the large dwarf below.
"What? Kumama, I'm coming for you, hold on one moment," he called. For a moment the prince assessed the oak looming before him, then reached up for the first branch and pulled himself up.
"Where Smiffy," Kumama asked.
"Smithy, as you're so keen to call him, is busy," Thorin gritted his teeth. She felt a large calloused hand wrap around her waist and lift her down. The brunette clung to Thorin until he was able to set her down. "There now," he breathed, looking quite relieved to be out of the tree.
She was about to wander off when he grabbed her small wrist.
"Oh no you don't, what were you thinking? Climbing a tree," he grumbled. Thorin had thought she might be a hobbit like from the stories he had heard. Now he wasn't so sure. "What are you, an elf?"
"Let me go," she wailed, pulling. However she was much too small. "Smiffy! Smiffy!"
"Smiffy...smiffy..."
"Kumama? Wake up, lass, time to get going."
"Smiffy..."
"What? Come on, lass, get up."
Kumama opened her eyes tiredly, then looked around quickly. "What? Huh?"
The sun hadn't quite risen yet, leaving only the faint rays of sunlight peaking over the mountains in the distance to light anything. It was slightly cold and she shivered, wondering vaguely where her blanket was when it suddenly hit her.
Oh no, I fell asleep! "Oh-I-um-I'm so sorry," she exclaimed, looking up at Bofur. He chuckled at her reaction.
"Sh, lass. It's fine. We need to get going now," he said, picking up his pack and pulling it on.
"Oh, okay," she said. Kumama stood up and winced. She had fallen asleep on Grandpa Mungo's armchair. Clearly Grandpa Mungo had back problems because she was stiff as a stick and there was an awful crick in her neck.
Then she followed Bofur to the exit and picked up her pack. Out of the corner of her eye she spied a long roll of parchment in the hobbit's study. "What's that doing there?" she wondered.
"Ori felt bad about the burglar not coming. Insisted that we leave it just in case," Bofur explained, opening the round green porthole door. "After you, lassie."
"O-oh, thank you," she blushed. Kumama strode out the door, almost tripped over her own feet, caught herself, and straightened, blushing furiously.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Huh?-oh, yeah, just fine," Kumama said, then looked ahead. In front of the hobbit's lawn on the path was a long train of ponies with a horse being the odd one out. The grassy areas surrounding had mostly been trodden and eaten.
"I noticed ye didn't bring a pony, so I took the liberty of going to get one for you. He's the only one I could find that was for sale around here, but I'm sure he'll do just fine," Bofur explained, indicating to a bay pony with a thick, wavy black mane.
"That's-I mean, bought-oh, thank you," she finally stated, smiling wildly.
Bofur helped her climb on. "Have you ever ridden?"
"Um..." Now that she thought about it..."no. I once rode a ram, but that was an accident." Bofur chuckled.
"It's not too difficult. Just touch his sides with your heels to get started and use the reins to steer. Be careful, though, this one's a wee bit-"
Kumama touched his sides with her heels and the pony flew, sending the rest of the ponies scattering across the path, whinnying.
"-spirited..."
"How do you stop him?!" she shouted. "Slow down! Stop, please!"
"Woah, Bayard! Woah!" called Bofur in as gentle a tone he could manage, walking quickly towards the pony.
"Is that his name?! Bayard!" she asked.
"Yes, try to calm him! Don't shout or ye'll spook him," Bofur advised.
Kumama held desperately to the saddle, trying to steer him away from other hobbit's holes. She finally managed to get a firm grasp on the reins, squinting to try and see what was ahead, and pulled back. Bayard stopped suddenly, reared up, and sent her onto the ground, knocking the wind out of her.
A dark figure hurried towards her then ran past and snatched the reins of the pony, shushing and pulling it down. He then turned to look down at Kumama. Though her vision was a bit hazy she could still make out the scowl.
"Of course, only you could send a pony into a sprint simply by touching it," they grumbled. It was Thorin.
"Thorin, it wasn't her fault. Bayard's just a spirited pony, that's all," replied Bofur, panting a bit as he caught up. The rest of the company could be heard approaching and a few hobbits were peaking out of their smials to see what the commotion was all about.
Thorin said nothing then handed the reins, from what Kumama could make out, to Bofur. He then turned and swung up onto his pony, Minty.
"Let's go then," he rumbled, then lead the chestnut stallion into a walk.
"Don't mind him, he's probably just grumpy cause it's early," Bofur joked, helping Kumama to her feet. "Have another go. I find that the best way to learn is get back up and try, try again."
Kumama got back onto Bayard, trying not to look at anyone, and gave him a softer nudge. This time the pony went into a fast-paced, bouncy walk, which didn't quite feel too pleasant on her already pained back.
The wizard's apprentice's flight had gotten her more than halfway out of Hobbiton. Throughout the ride the members of Thorin's company made bets upon whether or not Bilbo would come. The whole thing was started by Ori, who was scolded by Dori, telling him he wasn't old enough to bet. Of course, Nori thought differently. It wasn't until halfway to Buckland that the sun had risen, and the company had settled, that a certain hobbit had caught up with the company.
"I've signed it!" Bilbo panted, waving his contract high over his head, grinning like a child who had gotten an extra sweet. "Here it is."
Balin took the parchment, blue eyes twinkling as he observed it through a small looking glass.
"Welcome to the company, Mr. Baggins," Balin smiled. Thorin turned to stare at the hobbit for a moment.
"Get him a pony," he said finally.
"No, no, no, no, that-that won't be necessary, thank you, but I-I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I-I-I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. I even got as far as Frogmorton once-WAGH!"
Kumama held back laughter as Fili and Kili lifted the hobbit onto a smaller pack pony called Myrtle. She, like Bayard, had a bit more energy and was more of an additional luggage equine than a riding pony, but with a bit of rope and a bridle she made an excellent riding pony for the burglar.
Kumama fell back a few paces as Gandalf slowed to walk beside the company's newest addition. She patted Bayard gently; thankful that he had finally decided this was not a race. It really is quite pleasant once your stomach isn't cramping up from all the bouncy trotting. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath.
The Shire air was fresh and crisp, not at all dusty and hot like Smithy's forge in Bree. Everything was lush green and bustled with life. There was a sort of bright, chipper atmosphere as though the occupants of the land were quite pleased with their homeland and perfectly content to remain. No wonder Bilbo had been so insistent upon staying. It was all so quiet and peaceful...
"Hey, Nori! Pay up!" Oin shouted. Nori tossed a small pouch of coins, about three silvers to be exact. Following this the rest of the company seemed to decide that perhaps it was time to reward the winners of the wagers and soon pouches were tossed and caught.
Kumama sighed. So much for quiet and peaceful. After several moments, from up ahead, the hobbit suddenly stopped. "Stop! Stop, everyone stop!" he called.
"What is it now," someone mumbled from behind.
"I have left my handkerchief, we'll have to go back and get it," he declared. Go back? Oh no, Kumama thought. She did not want a repeat of the day previous.
"Here, use this," called Bofur. There was a loud rip and the brunette looked up in time to see him toss a piece of cloth to their burglar, who caught it and held it up as though not sure what to do with it. The rest of the company chuckled and Kumana relaxed, smiling at Bofur thankfully. He winked and grinned widely as she blushed and the company continued onward.
Hours later the company, aching and sweaty from the long ride, finally settled for a small alcove overlooking the band of pines surrounding Bree. They had trekked through the rest of Buckland then struggled through the humid Marish, where the short trees grew too close together and forced them to walk their ponies through in single file.
The dwarves had been stubborn and walked until Bofur and Dori suggested a rest for the less hardy members, being Bilbo, Ori, and Kumama. Kili also looked a bit peaked, but he would never admit it.
Bifur started a fire, then sat back as his brother, Bombur, set up a spit and set their cooking pot on it. Dori and Oin assisted in the cooking whilst the younger members of the company began unloading the ponies. As for the elders they all sat down for a rest, having already set out their bedrolls.
Later that evening, with tummies full of Bombur's piping hot stew, the company settled down for the night. Fili was lightly dozing next to Kili, who was staring absentmindedly into the fire. Oin and Gloin, too, had decided to turn in for the night. Bombur snored, taking in moths with and exhaled, releasing the critters from his hold. Bilbo was still getting himself acquainted with Myrtle, whom he decided after she nudged him to his feet after tripping over a large oak root, that ponies couldn't have been so bad after all. Kumama herself laid down to look up at the stars for a while.
She had always enjoyed observing the little pinpricks dotting against the inky darkness of the night sky. Shades of blue faded into the horizon and the strong green pines stretched upwards as though attempting to scrape their bristly tops against the sky. The meditative, sleepy silence allowed her mind to wander beyond the dark forests of Bree, beyond the Misty Mountains cold, past the dangers of the Wild, and through the desolation of Smaug to that isolated peak that was once home to the dwarves of Durin. Through the now musty and unkempt corridors, most collapsed in the dragon's rampage, lay the great red and gold beast himself. He was everything the stories foretold; terrible, horrible, and breathtaking all at once. The serpent was encased in scales of deepest scarlet and golden horns adorning his head like a crown. He lay in a deep slumber upon the mounds of gold, sparkling goblets, and shimmering mithril.
Kumama stared at the beast until he cracked open one, poisonous yellow eye. It flitted to her direction and a bit of steam issued from his nostrils lazily. Then, very slowly, he lifted his head, gold dropping from his neck and head like a waterfall and tinkling as they collided with the rest of the hoard. His mouth twisted into a very awful grin, for dragons cannot smile as other beings do. To see one attempt just made Kumama feel a bit sick.
"I must be dreaming," he rumbled, "for the faintest trace of many races has found its way into my cave. Someone is here, and then again," he added delightfully, "someone is, instead, Looking at me from afar. I await you, strange creatures. Are you dwarves, whom I once chased out of this land and seek to overthrow my reign? Or perhaps the fair Elven ones of Mirkwood, searching for rubies and my precious sapphires? Perhaps, even, the Men of the Laketown? Thieves! Or perhaps something I do not know of, searching for the untold riches of the lost Erebor? I await you, whether you be one or many, I wait." With that, the dragon laid down its massive head, chuckling in its throat, and let out a great gust of smoke.
A load screech filled the night air and Kumama sat up quickly, opening her eyes. Have-have I been asleep? I couldn't have been, I don't feel as though I was and everything was so much clearer and vivid. But...maybe I was?
"What was that?" She looked up at the burglar, who tiptoed cautiously back to camp, looking quite anxious.
"Orcs," Kili replied.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kumama spotted movement from where Dwalin, Balin, and Thorin had set out their bedrolls.
"Orcs?" Bilbo squeaked.
"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them," Fili answered, voice slightly hoarse.
"They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood," Kili added, eyes wide.
Kumama unconsciously rubbed her throat whilst Bilbo, at that's same moment, looked away from the pair horrified and disgusted. The two brothers suddenly nudged one another and began laughing.
"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" Kumama looked up suddenly as a voice, rumbling like thunder, interrupted the brothers.
"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili mumbled. Thorin glared at his sister-sons.
"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world," he snapped, then stormed off, looking over the valley with a great intensity as though he could start a wildfire merely by staring at it hard enough.
"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs," Balin said to Kili, nodding after Thorin.
"What happened?" Bilbo asked.
"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first."
The kind blue eyes grew distant with the memories of the Battle of Azanulbizar. Kumama listened with interest. It was not a story anyone had told her nor thought to because she had come to Thorin long after that.
"Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs lead by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King." Bilbo winced at this, eyes wide as cram.
"Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us."
"That is when I saw him; a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc," Balin murmured, a faint smile. "He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent…wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield"
"Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken."
"Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived."
Kumama swallowed, realizing that her mouth was slightly open and her throat dried by the gentle night breeze. She licked her dry cracked lips, wincing at the slight sting. Stretching a bit she saw that most of the company had awoken and focused their attention on their leader, standing tall in the moonlight.
"And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King."
"But the pale orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked, leaning in slightly.
"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." Bilbo jumped slightly when the heir of Durin strode into the clearing, eyes dark with the memories. He spoke with the husky tones of a warrior, beaten and well weathered from experience.
Frowning up at him, she turned her attentions to the flames, imagining that the bright white center was the pale orc himself, battle scarred and hunger glinting in his eyes. The desperate hunger for revenge. She shuddered and looked away, wondering why her imagination was being so cruel to her that night. Dragons and orcs and-
"Oh my," she sighed, lying down and rubbing her head. It would be a long time until sleep finally took her in its embrace.
The next day didn't do anything to lift Kumama's spirits, not did it the rest of the company. Droplets pattered from the sky and woke the slumbering dwarves, hobbit, wizard, and his "apprentice". By Bilbo's definition of "second breakfast", everyone was soaked to the bone.
"Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori shouted over the sound of raindrops smacking the earth.
"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard," Gandalf replied.
"Are there any?" Bilbo asked.
"What?" Gandalf called.
"Other wizards?" Bilbo said louder.
"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards; you know, I've quite forgotten their names," Gandalf answered.
"O-oh them? Alatar and Polando?" Kumama offered. Gandalf turned in his saddle to look back at her.
"Why, yes," he rumbled. "How did you know?"
Kumama stared at him for a moment. "I...I don't know. I think I had a dream about them when I was little."
"Really? Hm," Gandalf murmured.
"What about them?" Bilbo asked.
"Oh, no one knows, really," Gandalf replied. "They reside far off to the east."
"And who is the fifth?"
"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown."
"Is he a great Wizard or is he..." Bilbo hesitated, "more like you?"
Gandalf stared at Bilbo, looking somewhat miffed. "I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the East, and a good thing too, for always Evil will look to find a foothold in this world."
Those really are the real names of the two wizards, honest! Now that that is covered, who is this mysterious "Smithy"? Why does Kumama know and See () so much? Am I giving you a hint? Why am I asking you all these questions? I hope you have enjoyed the story thus far. Thank you so much for reading! If there are any grammar errors (which I'm sure there are many), miss spelled names, or incorrect Tolkienology type things (if that's even a word) please don't hesitate to inform me.