Hello once again, I'm on top of it this time and managed to get this chapter typed out without making too many errors (I hope). And thank you to L.C. Doyle for suggesting that I include a description of Rose in this chapter, I hope it is to your satisfaction! And a big thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter, Karasu-LaoHu, creepyLOTRfangirl55, LadyDunla, ,Gladoo89, and, L. thank you guys so much! And a big thank you to everyone who's reading this, you make writing this damn thing worth it.
Disclaimer: I own none of the below except the changes I've made, and the characters I've added, all else is either Peter Jackson's or J.R.R. Tolkien's. But if I did own this, the things I would do…..
She was about to swallow her pride and point this out to Lord Grumpyguts when the two younger dwarves came stumbling out of the trees, leaves and twigs tangled in their already disheveled manes. It took her a bit to figure out what the princes had been attempting to say between pants.
"Bilbo…*gasp*…Trolls….took …*wheeze*…..help…..
Tuberose paused only long enough to grab her dagger and a frying pan before she shot off into the woods.
The woods surrounding the small woman were dark and her thoughts as she rushed to her relative were darker still. What possessed him to follow those two rockheads in the first place? He does know what trolls are, for Took's sake, doesn't he?! Good heavens, what if he gets stepped on? Or eaten?! What if….what if….. Her thoughts trailed off into an incomprehensible blur of various gory scenarios her cousin could potentially find himself in and these lent speed to her feet.
Thorin's thoughts were a lot less concerned and a lot more cross. Bloody hobbits, wandering where they're not wanted, getting captured by trolls and whatnot. Blast!
Fili and Kili were just hoping that their uncle would be distracted enough by the troll to forget that this whole situation was mostly their fault…..
Unfortunately for Rose, her stubby little legs were not good for short distance sprinting, and she soon found herself being passed up by most of the dwarves in the company who soon left her behind. This was even more infuriating when, adding insult to injury, She tripped over a tree root in the inky blackness and went sprawling into the dead leaves and loam that littered the forest floor. She pushed herself up, spitting out decomposing vegetation and feeling around for her frying pan.
"Here y'are."
She looked up at Bofur's outstretched hand in surprise, having not expected anyone to turn back for her, much less the dwarf she had so recently backhanded with a dinner bowl. But there he was, looking at her with that mischievous glint in his eyes. "Well lassie, if ye wanted ta' take a nap, ye should've said sumthin'." She smacked his hand away, choosing to get up by herself. "I'll have you know, Mr. Bungo, I tripped." Well, now she was just getting his name wrong on purpose. "I have no intention of "takin' a nap" as you so put it, while my cousin is in mortal peril!" And with that, she snatched her frying pan from out of Bofur's offering hand and took off once again before-
"Um, lassie? They're this a'ways….."
By the time she and Bofur made it to the troll camp, the rest of their companions were in the midst of the fight, and try as she could, Tuberose could not make out where her cousin could be in all that confusion. And all the dwarves jumping around like mad rabbits were not helping in the slightest. So she did what any level headed Took lass would do.
And flung herself straight into the middle of the action.
Bofur took a second to roll his eyes at the small woman's foolishness, chuckling a bit before following right after her.
"Perhaps this decision was a bit too hasty", Rose thought to herself as she narrowly avoided being crushed on the underside of one of the trolls great feet. "Maybe I should've stayed on the sidelines and…Oh, I don't know…thrown stones or something." Another close call had her definitely regretting this decision, before she saw that Ori was about to be sideswiped by the less intelligent troll's giant meathook. Not even thinking about the consequences of her actions, Rose scrambled up on the nearest rock with a speed she didn't know she possessed. Launching herself off of Dwalin's head (she'd hear about that one later) she smashed her frying pan into the trolls thumb and barreled into the skinny scribe with enough force to knock him out of the way of a blow that, otherwise would've taken his head clean off.
Ignoring the incredulous stare that was directed towards her (probably for having the gall to jump off of the head of the biggest dwarf in their company) she shoved Ori's slingshot into his grip. "Fight!" She urged him before turning to do the same when the look on the youngest dwarfs face caused her to turn around. And get the breath knocked out of her when a giant hand swung in her direction, swatting her off her feet and into the bushes surrounding the clearing where she immediately lost consciousness as her head struck the ground.
When she came to, the members off the company had been stripped of their outer clothes (she knew she should shield her eyes from that, but this was a life and death situation, propriety be damned!) and their weapons in a pile off to the side. From what she could tell, Bofur, Dwalin, Bifur, Dori, and Nori had been tied to a gigantic spit and were being roasted as the others lay tied up in potato sacks on the ground. "Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear…..", She tried to ignore the headache that was splitting apart her head and began thinking of a way to help. Being as quiet as possible, she began to make her way around the camp to a position in which she could catch one of their eyes and potentially communicate a means of escape. While doing this she had to stifle her laughter at the surly dwarven king's expression at being tied up like a piece of meat. "Well, technically that's what he is. To the trolls anyway." She finally got around to the bushes opposite the pile of dwarves, the bruises and lump on her head making the journey a slow one. It took a few tries before Bilbo of all people spotted her, and attempted communication when something the trolls said caught his attention, something about sunlight. She couldn't hear too well and therefore didn't pay much attention to their conversation (something about seasoning?) until one of the trolls picked Bombur up by his feet, meaning to eat her new friend whole!
Bilbo saw Rose struggling to get up, most likely to do something suicidal to save the overlarge dwarf and so he did the only thing he could think of to distract her.
"WAIT!"
All eyes were drawn him, Rose's included. He wanted to laugh at her expression, bafflement mixed with shock, making her large eyes bulge and her nostrils flair. Quite humorous, really.
"You can't eat them like that!" He tried to reason. "They're,…." He trailed off begging Rose mentally for assistance. Sure enough, his cousin was clutching at her stomach, an expression of mock agony on her face. The whole situation was reminiscent of the games of charades they would play as children….
"INFECTED! They're infected! Yes, infected is what they are!"
"Wot with?" Questioned the troll that seemed most suspicious to what the hobbit was up to.
"What with?" Bilbo looked back to Rose, seeing her helplessly try to think of something. He quickly turned his eyes back onto the troll, praying to Hamfast Gamgee's garden that the creature didn't notice the direction he had been looking towards. "Ah, erm yes, well… they have….." Rose made a wiggling motion with her pointer finger. "Worms?!" She nodded. "Yes, they have worms…." At this he glance apologetically at Tuberose before saying, "…in their tubes?"
The glare she was giving him promised a sound scolding if they lived through this.
However, the troll was not buying it, and if it wasn't for Gandalf's timely, (and rather dramatic reappearance) Bilbo was certain they all would have been eaten.
After everyone had been untied, examined the now stone trolls and Lord Grumpyguts had once again, asserted his authority, most of the dwarves including Gandalf went off to explore the troll's cave. Why they would ever want to do that was beyond Rose. The thing smelled of rotten meat, feces, and decomposing matter. No thank you.
She was starting to rethink going down into the cave when Bilbo, after she unthinkingly had mentioned losing consciousness, began fussing, and Dori, after hearing Ori fervently thanking her for saving his life, joined him in mothering the, fully grown thank you very much, hobbit woman.
They only left her alone after she consented to having her head, just her head thank you, examined by Oin. Having been pronounced being nowhere near death, the two fusspots finally left her alone to deal with the headache, the result of arguing with the stubborn goats.
She sat herself on a log, grumbling at the injustice of being examined against her will when a fist full of what looked like daisies that she identified as feverfew and a bowl of stew appeared in her line of vision. "I heard ye bumped yer wee head." Bofur, offering her help again? Mayhaps she had misjudged the strange looking dwarf. "With a noggin tha' big it's no wonder." Then again, maybe not. But, nevertheless, she should be grateful. After all, he had helped her twice in one night. "My thanks Mr. Bofur." She accepted the stew and feverfew.
At her use of his name, a grin threatened to split his face in half. "Aha! I knew ye knew m'name! Tha' were a cruel jest lass, pretending' ta ferget a dwarf's name like tha'."
Attempting to smother her own smile, she stuck her nose up. "Well, then consider it payment for forcing me to starve last night." At that, he rubbed the back of his neck, looking awkward and slightly uncomfortable. "Er, about tha' las…..er, ma'm, I don't always know when te' stop when jestin'. I shouldn't of done tha'. Twas in poor taste.I fergot how much ye Hobbits eat in a day" He looked into her face, his eyes portraying his apprehensiveness. She hesitated slightly before deciding that his apology seemed in earnest.
"Apology accepted Mr. Bofur. I should be apologizing as well, I have a habit of holding onto grudges as I'm sure you can tell." She paused to take a sip of stew when she noticed how fidgety the dwarf was. "Would you like to sit down Mr. Bofur?"
"Ah, thank ye, no. And it's just Bofur, miss. "She smiled at that.
"Then it's just Rose to you, M- ..er..Bofur."
"Aye, Mis- Rose. So, pact?"
"Yes, I'd say so." The dwarf let out another crooked grin and bowed jestingly before walking towards his brethren.
Tuberose sighed, wondering what exactly had just transpired before deciding that thinking was a pastime best done on a full stomach. Well, I guess I won't have to worry about whether or not I'll get supper in the evening anymore, She thought. She finished the rest of the stew and despite the protests coming from her aching body, made her way to a shallow pool that she spotted while the others were busy distributing weaponry. Kneeling down, she splashed her face and washed away the blood (hers or theirs, she couldn't quite tell) from her hands.
The reflection staring back at her from the water was not the same face she remembered from her early adulthood. Traveling as often as she had, did not allow the luxuries of a mirror so she took this rare moment of peace to study her features. Her honey brown hair had managed to stay knotted at the base of her neck, a few curls pasted to her forehead from sweat. Over-large hazel eyes stared out from beneath dark brows and dark ringed sockets, the results of many a sleepless night, if the bags under them were any indication. She fingered the slight curve of her nose, glad it did not resemble the piggish snout that was a common trait of the Tooks, though she had inherited their obvious overbite. She sighed and turned away from the rippling water. She was no beauty, that was for certain, but at least she wasn't entirely hideous to gaze upon. Merely pretty, was how her mother had described her. Aunt Belladonna had been far kinder when it came to her niece's looks. She would take the time in the evenings to brush out Rose's thick mane of hair, marveling over the sheen and weight. Honey Girl, Aunt Bella had called her. "My Honey Girl."
Wiping at the tears that had sprung up unbidden at the memories, Tuberose splashed more water to eliminate any traces of her weepiness. She had just gotten up to enquire as to the whereabouts of Coxcomb, before a violent rustling was heard in the surrounding bushes. All the dwarves immediately went on the defensive, the three Ri brothers forming a half circle around the tiny woman, while she griped about not being able to see anything. As the rustling grew closer, she gripped her pan harder with one hand and with the other grabbed her cousin's. Nodding to each other, they braced themselves for what they were sure would be a messy battle.
However, what burst out of the bushes and into the middle of the company was possibly the last thing she expected to see.
"Are those…..rabbits!?"
I hope this chapter was more to everyones satisfaction and all the characters were "in" character :) Please review, as it makes for speedy updates, and I love hearing what anyone who reads this has to say, especially suggestion or constructive criticism!
Thank You!