They make it into the city where they are stopped by an elf Bilbo recognized but couldn't remember his name.
"Gandalf." He greeted the wizard warmly.
"Lindir. Where is Elrond? I must speak to him." Gandalf says.
"My Lord Elrond is not here." Lindir says. He then scans the company and notice Bilbo. He visibly tenses and his friendly eyes harden. "That creature is not welcomed here."
"Nice to see you again, Lindir." Bilbo says coldly.
"He is travelling with us and I expect what happened last time when he was here not to repeat itself." Gandalf says.
"That is up to Lord Elrond." Lindir says.
Then horns are being blown and horses with their elf riders circle them and Bilbo is pushed to the middle of the dwarves with Ori, Fili, and Kili. When Bilbo sees Lord Elrond, he silently starts to panic. He was a friendly elf to his mother but not so much to him. He then felt Ori grab his hand and hold tight.
"Gandalf, how do you fare, my friend?" He asks dismounting.
"My company is in need of rest and food." Gandalf says.
"Of course. Lindir, have dinner be readied for the dwarves." Lord Elrond says.
"What of the creature, Lord Elrond?" Lindir asks.
Lord Elrond turns and looks directly at Bilbo. Unconsciously, he tightens his grip on Ori's hand.
"He is to be locked away for the duration of their stay." Lord Elrond says.
"Elrond, he is part of my company." Gandalf says.
"You should have thought of that before you brought him into my home. Guards, take him to his cell." Lord Elrond says.
A few guards push through the dwarves as they protest. More guards had to join in and grab Bilbo and ripped his hand from Ori's. Bilbo then shifted and growled at the guards, who unsheathed swords and bow and arrows. They surrounded Bilbo.
"Please don't do this to him! Please!" Ori begged practically crying.
Bilbo stopped his growling and looked at his One. The guards took the opportunity to rope him with the same sort of rope the trolls did. He started to snarl again. Bilbo swiped at the elves but gave up once he saw it was useless. With his tail between his legs, several guards led him away.
"You mean Elf! He's harmless!" Ori shouts at Lord Elrond. He then pushes to the front of the group and pushes the elf. Elrond fell to the ground.
"Ori!" Dori squawks surprised.
Lord Elrond, in better words, is taken aback by the sweet looking dwarf's outburst and action. He stands with the help of Lindir.
"Did he look harmless? The creature was ready to attack my people." Lord Elrond says calmly.
"Because you ordered them to lock him up! I demand to be taken to him!" Ori shouts angry.
"Guards, lead him to where the creature is held." Lord Elrond says.
"His name is Bilbo! Bilbo Baggins!" Ori shouts as a guard grabs his elbow. Ori wrenches it away and follows the elf down a long corridor that Bilbo was taken down.
"Elrond, you know he was not dangerous. Surely you knew that considering him and his mother stayed with you before." Gandalf says.
"Yes, I know. My elves would not like if I let him roam our halls." Lord Elrond says.
"That does not mean you must lock him away like a criminal." Bofur says. He then looks at Nori. "Sorry, Nori." Nori just nods.
"My Elves feel safer." Lord Elrond says.
"We wish to make our camp near Bilbo." Balin says.
"He is in the one room that was converted into a cell. There are a few rooms nearby my Elves refuse to sleep in. You may have them. Follow me." Lord Elrond says.
The company follows him down the corridor and they make few turns until they come upon a door with two Elves dressed in armor and holding spears guarding the door.
"You may leave now." Lord Elrond tells them.
The Elves nod and bow and leaves. Lord Elrond opens the door with the keys that were hanging on the nearby hook. Ori was leaning against Bilbo and stroking the fur of his scarred flank. Both looked up when they entered.
"Why is he chained?" Dori demands going over to Bilbo and kneels beside him.
Bilbo had a long chain hooked around his neck that was connected to the wall. The dwarves looked at Bilbo with looks of pity and guilt. Thorin especially looked guilty and felt it too for he was going to kill him not hours ago for being a creature. But now, Bilbo looked like a lost puppy. A big, lost, miserable puppy that was sad because he was tied up.
"They hurt him." Ori says.
"How?" Thorin demands.
Gandalf and Lord Elrond had disappeared at this point.
"I think one of the elves caught him on his muzzle." Ori says moving Bilbo's head over slightly.
"Those elves will pay." Dwalin growls noticing the slash on the muzzle and the blood that matted the black fur around it.
"If you remember, brother, you were going to let Thorin kill him earlier." Balin points out.
Bilbo curled away from them and flattened his ears and let out a small whine.
"Shh, it's alright, Bilbo." Ori says gently continuing his stroking. Bilbo's warg body relaxes slightly.
"I think it's safe to say you all need to apologize to Bilbo for you actions." Nori growls walking over and pulling a piece of cloth from his pocket. He got to his knees and wetted it with the bowl of water that was close by. He then started cleaning the scratch on Bilbo's muzzle. Bilbo flinched once before allowing Nori to continue. Dori then pulled out a brush and began to get knots out of his fur. Bilbo closed his eyes in contentment.
"I'm sorry." Bombur said.
Bifur grunted something.
"He says sorry, too, and so do I." Bofur says.
Slowly, the rest of the company said their apologize. All but Thorin.
"Uncle, I think you owe him the biggest apology for wanting to kill him!" Kili says glaring at his uncle. Fili was glaring, too. Even Dwalin and Balin was glaring harshly.
"I am sorry, Master Baggins." Thorin grinds out. Bilbo, with his keen hearing, could hear that deep under his gruffness, he was quite sincere.
Bilbo stands and walks over to Thorin, his chains clinking and clanking on the stone floor as he went. He nuzzled Thorin's hand.
"He wants you to pet him. He's really just a giant dog once you think about it." Dori says.
Thorin hesitantly placed a hand on Bilbo's giant head right behind his left ear. He scratched it experimentally. A small amount of amusement appeared on his face when Bilbo started shaking his hind leg. A few of the others laughed and chuckled.
"Giant dog, indeed." Thorin mumbles. Bilbo woofed and nudged Thorin in retaliation.
"Um, Thorin, I do not feel like we should leave Bilbo in here alone. The Elves have already treated him something awful." Bombur says uncertainly.
"I agree. We'll take shifts staying with him. Can you shift back, Bilbo?" Thorin says. Bilbo shakes his head.
"The chain and this room have some kind of elf magic that keeps him as a warg." Ori says.
"Ori, you and your brothers have first watch tonight. Then Dwalin and I will have the other. Right now, I want everyone to eat and rest." Thorin says.
"I don't wish to leave him alone right now." Ori says.
"We will bring you back something, Ori. For both you and Bilbo." Dori says patting Ori's arm. He gets up and hugs Bilbo's huge neck and places a kiss to the side of his face.
He, Dwalin, Gloin, Nori, Bombur, and Bifur leaves the room leaving Oin, Thorin, Bofur, Fili, Kili, Balin, and Ori in the room with Bilbo.
"Fili, Kili, find things to make a fire out there. Oin, look over that wound on Bilbo. Balin, let us go see what we can do to assist Gandalf." Thorin says.
"Aye, lad." Balin says. He pats Bilbo and follows the Line of Durin out the door.
"Does the wound hurt?" Oin asks looking at the scratch. Bilbo shakes his head.
"Will it be on your face when you shift back?" Bofur asks. Bilbo nods.
"Don't worry. I bet Ori still find you desirable. Scars are manly, or so I'm told." Bofur says teasingly bumping his shoulder to Bilbo's flank. Bilbo rolls his eyes and takes his paw and gently hits Bofur with it.
"You wound me, Bilbo! Thought we were friends!" Bofur says huffing dramatically. It might have been half convincing if he wasn't grinning like a fool.
"Leave him be, Bofur." Ori says. He turns to Bilbo. "I still love you if you were covered in scars!" He instantly blushed at what he said. Bilbo's eyes soften.
He walks back over to Ori and licks his face affectionately.
"Ew! Bilbo, that's gross!" He said laughing and wiping the slobber from his face.
'I love you, too, Ori.' Bilbo thinks. He hopes Ori sees it in his eyes since he cannot speak. He seemed to understand because he kissed Bilbo's wet nose with all the affection he could.
"I know you do." Ori whispers smiling fondly.
Bilbo then goes to the farthest corner and slumps down and curls up. The chain is wounding around his neck and he tries to bat it away with his forepaw.
"Quit that. I'll get it and then I'm looking at that wound." Oin says going over and unwound the chain. Bilbo made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a huff. Oin cleaned the wound again and put some of the salve he had in his bag on it.
"I'm afraid the hair won't grow over that and it will scar. I say it'll be a decent sized one on your face around your nose once you're a hobbit again." Oin says standing, his knees cracking as he did.
"Bilbo, ye mind if I stay?" Bofur asks as Oin leaves. Bilbo shakes his head and Bofur plops himself right by his head. Bilbo places his head in his lap.
"You are like a giant puppy." Ori says chuckling. He sits and leans against Bilbo's side.
"Bilbo, you don't have to answer me if ye don't want to but were you really going to kill yourself if we didn't go through the Shire?" Bofur asks petting and stroking Bilbo's head.
Bilbo lifts his head, nods, and laid it back down into the stunned dwarf's lap.
"I'm sorry if that question upset ye. You should rest now." Bofur says not quitting his petting.
"He's right. It has been a long night and day. We all could use the rest." Ori says trying to stifle a yawn.
"You two rest, Ori. I'll keep watch." Bofur says.
Ori nods and places his head on Bilbo's back. He was asleep within minutes and Bilbo followed not long after. Bofur, as promised, stayed awake and kept watch. He did until Fili and Kili came and dropped what looked like pieces of a table in the hallway. Bilbo's ears twitched but he made no indication that he was waking. The boys started a fire and Bombur appeared with his pack in hand. He sat and started to cook their rations over the fire.
Then the others slowly appeared back closer to night fall. Thorin, Balin, and Gandalf remained gone for some time. When Thorin and Balin appeared, dinner was almost eaten save for Bilbo's, Ori's, and Bofur's share.
"Bilbo, wake up, huh? I want to eat before Bombur gets it!" Bofur says tapping the side of Bilbo's head. Bilbo shifted and curled protectively around Ori but did not wake. Not even Ori stirred.
Bofur sighed and went out to eat his food. Bombur handed it to him and looked into the cell where Bilbo and Ori were out cold.
"Let the lads rest, Bom." Bofur says.
"They need to eat after all the excitement recently." Bombur says.
"I know but you really want to disturb them?" Bofur asks.
"Bombur is right, though. They both need to eat." Dori says looking at them.
"I'll wake them." Dwalin says. He stands and walks into the cell with Bilbo's and Ori's food. "Lads, time to eat."
Bilbo stirs and lifts his head. He blinks his big eyes and yawns revealing his dagger like teeth. Dwalin tenses briefly and remembers this was Bilbo, not a murderous warg orcs rode. He sits Bilbo's bowl down.
"Time for you to eat. You need your strength and so does he." Dwalin says nodding at Ori. Bilbo looks over to see Ori sleeping peacefully. He lightly nudges him to wake him. Ori stirs and slowly wakes and looks up at Dwalin.
"Master Dwalin, what's wrong?" Ori asks sleepily.
"Nothing, lad. Dinner time." Dwalin says handing the bowl to Ori.
Then he's gone. Bilbo laps up his food from the bowl with his long tongue as Ori stays against him while he eats. Bilbo would never admit this if asked but he felt safer when Ori was presence against him. His body pressing against his, whether he was a warg or not, made his body relaxes and the tension would vanish. Even being chained he felt content and happy with Ori at his side.
Once they were both done, sleep found them again. Ori laid beside Bilbo much like they did the night in Bree. After falling asleep this time, Dori grabbed Ori's blanket from his pack and covered them both as much as he could. He placed a kiss to his brother's forehead and sat outside the door as a guard. Nori sat on the other side to do the same while he others went to sleep inside the rooms surrounding them.
For the next week, they stayed in Rivendell. The company took watches outside Bilbo's cell. The watches usually went with Nori and Dori together, Dwalin and Thorin, Bofur and Bifur, Gloin and Bombur, Fili and Kili, and Oin and Balin. Ori hardly left the cell. He was like a burr in Bilbo's fur.
On the last night of their stay, Gandalf showed up with a key that he shoved into Thorin's hand.
"This is the key to the collar. You now know of what the map reads. I will make sure you leave this night undetected but they will know by morning you are gone. Pack quickly and leave. I will keep Lord Elrond busy." He said. He placed a sword by Bilbo's pack. "This is his and make sure he is informed of it." Then he disappeared.
Thorin woke the company and unchained Bilbo quickly.
"We must leave now. Pack quickly." Thorin told everyone.
Bilbo stretched and roused Ori. Soon as he was unchained and stepped out of the cell. He got to change back to the hobbit he was. The scar that was on his muzzle was now from his nose to his ear.
"I didn't know how much I miss being a hobbit." Bilbo said grabbing his pack. He was surprised to find a dagger or a sword to him, beside it.
"Gandalf left it for you, burglar. Now, move out!" Thorin says.
Then they off again. They snuck out of Rivendell before dawn and Bilbo was glad to have it behind him once again. He would be just fine if he never laid eyes on it again.
Thorin lead them away and by nightfall, they were well into the path of the Misty Mountains. It was pouring down rain and very slippery on the edge of the cliff they were on. And then the thunder came. It shook the whole side of the mountain and everyone tried to find a hold. Then lightening flashed.
"This is no thunder storm, it's a thunder battle!" Balin shouted over the wind.
Then half the company was tore away from the mountain, slammed into it, survived, Bilbo almost fell off the cliff, Thorin had to save him, he said harsh words to the Shapeshifter, and then they found a cave to be sheltered from the raging storm. Bilbo was going to leave even though it broke his heart.
"You can't leave. What about Ori? He loves you and I know you love him. And don't take what Thorin says to heart." Bofur said to him.
"He's right though. I am a monster and just bring your quest down. I have no place here. I have no place anywhere." Bilbo said to him.
Then his sword was glowing and the floor beneath them fell through and they were in Goblin Town. Bilbo had managed to not get captured by he fell down a hole where he met the creature Gollum and found a gold ring. He and Gollum had a game of riddles, then Bilbo was accused of stealing something of Gollum's, and they raced through the tunnels until Bilbo fell and the ring landed on his finger making him invisible. He used it to get out of the Misty Mountains and caught up to his companions. He noticed Ori was crying and being held by Dori and Nori. The others were resting.
"Where is our hobbit?" Gandalf asked.
"He's gone. Back to the place from which he came." Thorin said. Bilbo then heard his love sob rather loudly.
The hobbit took off the ring and placed it in his waistcoat pocket and stepped out.
"No, I'm not." Bilbo says catching everyone's attention. Ori immediately runs to him and holds him tightly. Bilbo wraps his arms around the crying dwarf and rubs his back trying to comfort. Then the howls of wargs are heard.
"Out of the frying pan…"
"And into the fire. Run!" Gandalf finishes for Thorin.
The company climbs trees to get away but the wargs are relentless just like their riders. One of which being one both Bilbo and Thorin knew all too well: Azog the Defiler. Then their trees were knocked over one by one until everyone was in one tree hanging over the cliff. Bilbo watched as Dori and Ori was hanging over holding to nothing but Gandalf's staff while feeling helpless. Then he watched Thorin get up and run out into the burning field to attack Azog. Oh, I didn't mention the fire? Gandalf started throwing flaming pinecones at the beasts and having the others help before their tree was hanging over the edge.
Without thinking, Bilbo ran out and attacked and killed the orc that was going to behead wounded Thorin. Then he sheathed his sword and shifted into the only black warg in all of Middle Earth. Of course Azog remembered him and ordered them to attack Bilbo. Bilbo did not stop growling and snarling at the advancing orcs and wargs. He snapped and swiped at them while staying in front of Thorin, who was now unconscious.
Then the others ran out with weapons drawn and battle cries filling the air. Then the Eagles came in midst of the battle. Bilbo changed back and drew his sword once more. Then he was being picked up and dropped onto the back of an Eagle. They were being flown away with Azog howling behind angrily. Then they were dropped on top of the Carrack. Thorin was healed by Gandalf and made up to Bilbo. He hugged the stunned Shapeshifter and they climbed down to the forest below.