I'm back! Sorry about the wait. I had a bit of a writers block at the beginning. I knew what this chapter was going to be about, I just didn't know exactly how to put it.
scwv03: That's a good idea! I can imagine the dwarves faces already. :)
to the other reviews, thank you, and I'm glad you like my story;) Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 4: Trollshow Part 1
They came to a halt at an old, abandoned farmhouse. It was literally falling apart. Kali was starting to get a bad feeling about this place. However, Thorin seemed to think it was a good spot to make camp.
"Fili, Kili, Kali," he said. "Keep an eye on the ponies. Do not leave them."
As soon as he was out of earshot, Kali groaned. "Is this our punishment for what happened yesterday?"
Fili chuckled. "Probably."
As the trio gathered the ponies, they could hear a conversation going on between the wizard and their uncle. It didn't sound good.
"I did not think it was yours to give." Thorin shot at the wizard. The entire company's attention was on them both, but shifted to Gandalf as he stormed away.
"Gandalf?" Bilbo asked. "Where are you going?"
"To seek the company of the only one whose got any sense around here." He snapped.
"And who's that?"
"Myself master Baggins!" He yelled. Then muttered, "I've had enough of dwarf for one day."
There were hushed whispers as the wizard mounted his horse and left the company.
"Is he going to come back?" Kali whispered to her brothers. Fili and Kili shrugged and returned to the task they were given. As the other dwarves began setting up camp for the night, the trio led the ponies to a small, semi-fenced in area not far from the others.
She climbed up one of the trees and laid back on one of the branches. From the branch she was on, she could clearly see all of the ponies and both of her brothers.
Fili glanced up at his sister and elbowed Kili. The boys smirked, picked up a pinecone, and chucked it at their sister. Kali yelped in surprise and almost fell off the branch. As she regained her balance, she shot them the evil eye.
"We can have you falling asleep now darling." her eldest brother laughed along with the other. Kali suddenly got an idea and smirked evilly. Still smirking, she bent down and scooped up two large pinecones and covered each in mud. Her brothers backed away, mocking fear.
"Now now Ka," Kili tried, eyes glued to her 'weapon' of choice. "Lets be reasonable here."
She chuckled darkly. "You should have thought of that before." She said before chucking both pinecones at each of her brothers. Kali doubled over, clutching her sides in laughter.
The she-dwarf was laughing so much that she didn't notice Fili behind her until a clump of dirt hit her back. Her laughter immediately stopped and was replaced by her brothers. "This is war!" She exclaimed. The trio then spent the next two or three hours throwing dirt and pinecones at each other, their task temporarily forgotten.
It wasn't until the sun had set and the trio was tiered that they remembered the task they were given. Fili, Kili and Kali trudged back where they had left the ponies and counted.
11, 12, ,13. Wait that's not right. Kali thought as a feeling of dread began settling in her stomach. She recounted the ponies again in panic. Her fears were confirmed. Glancing at both her brothers, she could tell they were thinking the same thing. The trio stood there for a good five minutes, not moving a muscle until Bilbo came up behind them, offering them three bowls of stew that Bomber had made.
"What's the matter?" The burglar asked once he saw their faces.
"We're supposed to watching the ponies." Kili said, not moving a muscle.
"Only we've encountered a slight problem." Kali added, glancing at the hobbit. "We had sixteen."
"Now there's fourteen." Fili finished.
They did another recount to find out which of the ponies were missing, and where they could have escaped from. Kali walked up to her brothers.
"Since he's our burglar," she whispered hopefully, "maybe he could help us find them before uncle finds out."
Her brothers nodded. "That's a good idea." Fili replied.
"Daisy and Bongo are missing." Kili identified.
"Well that's not good." Bilbo said. Then noticed a huge uprooted tree. "And that's not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"
"No!" The trio said in unison. The last thing they needed was their uncle to find out that they lost two of the ponies because they were playing around.
"Best not worry him." Fili added quickly. "As our official burglar, we thought you would want to look into it." Then he squinted at something. Kali followed his eyes.
"There's a light. Over there." She observed, pointing to it.
Bilbo and Kili's eyes moved to where she was pointing. As they stared at it a little more, they could hear faint voice snarling. A cold weight settled in the trios stomachs when they realized what it was.
"Whats that?" Bilbo asked, confused at what was making the noises.
"Trolls." Kili replied deadpan. With that, the trio left the halfling standing there aghast as they lept over the log to get a closer look. They were careful to stay out of sight.
Lumbering footsteps, snapping twigs, and the sound of panicked horses echoed to their left. Quickly ducking behind a tree, they saw one of the massive beasts carrying two ponies under his arms.
"He's got Myrtle and Misty!" Bilbo exclaimed as quietly as possible. "We've got to do something!"
Fili, Kili and Kali looked at him. "Yes, you should." Kili said, trading places with Bilbo. Bilbo didn't understand at first.
"Mountain trolls are slow and stupid," he said as Bilbo protested. "And you're small and quick. They'll never see you."
"It's perfectly simple." Kali reasoned as she took her bowl from him.
"If you run into trouble, hoot once like a barn owl, and twice like a brown owl." Fili finished as he took his own bowl. With that said, the three of them disappeared into the night.
