Hope you're all enjoying the story so far! Bit of a short chapter but it introduces one of my favourite characters into the story :3
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Fan Fiction.
Chapter 10; Thieves! Fire! Murder!
It took only a short while to de-bag the Dwarves... What took time was untying those on the spit.
It was mid morning before the Dwarves were all untied and fully dressed, sunlight now streamed brightly into the clearing, transforming the look of the woods. Even the grotesque stone Troll statues looked vaguely amusing in the bright daylight.
I found myself trailing my hands along one of the stone Trolls, absently thinking about berries when I found myself present in a rather private conversation.
"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" Thorin asked, coming forwards towards Gandalf. I stayed quiet, not sure whether to announce my presence or back away quietly.
I settle on remaining absolutely still and listening in.
"To look ahead." Gandalf replied simply.
"What brought you back?"
"Looking behind. Nasty business" Thorin smiled a little at Gandalf's reply. "Still we're all in one piece." Gandalf added cheerily.
"No thanks to your burglar" Thorin scolded. I felt my fists tighten, after everything, how could he still say Bilbo was of no help?
"He had the nous to play for time, as did young Miss Elin," Gandalf began, I felt a slight blush creeping onto my cheeks at the mention of my name. "None of the rest of you, thought of that."
For a moment it looked as thought Thorin would argue back, but he soon sighed and dropped his head in an unwilling agreement. It was then I decided it best to back away slowly. Keeping my hand on the stone Troll, I gently stepped backwards out of sight of both Gandalf and Thorin until suddenly I backed into something hard.
I yelped and spun to find myself facing a surprised Kili.
"Miss Elin!" He cried, moving as if to hug me, before pausing and thinking better of it. He dropped his arms by his sides, a strange look clouding his features.
"Master Kili." I said, smiling. I stood for a moment, unsure of what to say when suddenly a blur of blond whizzed before my eyes and I found myself up in the air in the arms of an exuberant Fili.
"There's the little Hobbit!" He cried, spinning me round. I couldn't help but let out a light laugh as he put me down. The company chimed in with their various thanks at bursting in last minute to shriek at the Trolls which made me blush, just a little.
"Gave us quite a scare there..." Fili said, smiling fondly at me as the others crowded round. "Thought you'd run off for a moment."
"Or worse, been squashed." Kili added, sidling up beside me and bumping my shoulder.
"Me? Squashed?" I asked, feigning horror and smiling over at Bilbo. "Never, I'm far too fast." Bilbo chuckled and drew me in for a hug, which I gladly returned.
"Of course you are." He murmured gently.
Still wrapped in his arms I leaned back and with a rather cheeky grin on my lips said. "Skin them... Skin them?"
Bilbo rolled his eyes and dropped his arm, keeping one wrapped around my shoulders. "What was I supposed to say?"
"My dear Bilbo we have to work on your cooking skills." That earned another light laugh from the company.
"So it was you throwing berries at us..." Kili piped up suddenly, realisation filling his features. I chuckled and nodded.
"You know you hit me in the eye." Fili said sternly.
"Well if you'd kept your mouths shut I wouldn't have had to thrown them" I resisted the urge to stick out my tongue.
"He said we had parasites... what were we supposed to do?" Kili grumbled crossing his arms.
"Well...at least he was right about the smell." I joked, earning a feigned look of horror from Kili and a light slap on the shoulder. The others let out small grumbles or deep chortles at the joke, the noise filtering off into small conversations until we were all called to follow Thorin.
He and Gandalf had found a cave, brimming with muck and dirt and awful smells, but look deeper and there was a mountain of treasures to be discovered.
It was the Troll's cave, which explained the smell. I much preferred the smell of mucky Dwarf to what clouded the air down in the cave, but the things inside were far too intriguing to pass up.
"Oh, what's that stench?" Cried Oin in disgust.
"It's a Troll horde... "Gandalf sighed. "Be careful what you touch." As more and more Dwarves entered, the sounds of coughing and disgust began to echo of the cavern walls. I hiked up my tunic, over my nose and proceeded to explore the treasures of the cave.
There was so much gold. A mere handful was more than I had seen before back in the Shire, and yet here gold coins and trinkets lay strewn across the floor, great mounds piled up against the walls. I stared, open mouthed at my surroundings.
The Dwarves, taking a more practical approach had already decided to bury some of the gold, making a long term deposit as they called it and were stuffing their pockets with as much as they could hold.
I then noticed Thorin, sorting through some weaponry in a small corner of the cave. He picked up two dusty, but grand looking swords and studied them.
"These swords were not made by any Troll..." He murmured. Gandalf turned and reached out for one of the swords which Thorin freely passed.
"Nor were they made by any smith or mine of men..." Gandalf added, studying the sword carefully.
I inched closer, intrigued.
Gandalf began to unsheathe one of the swords. "There were forged in Gondolin!" Gandalf explained. "By the high Elves of the first age."
Thorin looked as though he'd just been handed a bag of poisonous mushrooms. He grimaced and went to put the sword back.
"You could not wish for a finer blade!" Gandalf scolded, seeing his intentions.
Thorin paused, glancing up at Gandalf before defiantly unsheathing the sword in his hand, expecting it to be rusty or blunt, but instead a fine shining blade emerged from the sheath. Thorin looked almost disappointed, but kept hold of the sword.
I stepped forwards, my eyes glued to the rack of swords. It should be nice to have one of my own, I thought. But as Thorin passed me, sword still in hand I realised the true size of those blades. They were forged for the use of Men, or Elves, far too large for a Hobbit like me. Carrying Fili's sword had been difficult enough. Strength, the like of which only hard working Dwarves possessed, would allow them to swing the swords with ease.
I sighed, and turned to leave. I supposed I would have to keep hold of Fili's sword.
"Let's get out of this foul place!" Thorin called, turning and heading out of the mouth of the cave. "Come on! Let's go" He yelled again.
The company piled out and followed Thorin beyond the mouth of the cave, still looting from some of the treasures scattered on the ground, or showing off their takings to the others. I spotted Bilbo hovering, presumably waiting for Gandalf and hurried up beside him.
I noticed he had a small chest stashed under his arm; I smiled at my old friend. "Is that your long term investment?" I asked, nodding down at the small chest.
Bilbo laughed lightly. "Well it couldn't hurt taking a little. I just hope it stops smelling of Troll..." He wrinkled his nose down at the chest and I chuckled at him.
A noise from the mouth of the cave caused both mine and Bilbo's heads to snap up, in time to see Gandalf emerging from the cave, a sword belted around his waist and two in his hand.
"Ah, Bilbo, Elin my dear..." Gandalf said, coming to a stop before the two of us. "Here, these are about your size." He handed forward a blade to each of us. Gently I reached out and took mine, it was surprisingly light for the size of it, far easier to handle than Fili's.
Bilbo awkwardly reached forwards to take his, staring down at it uncomfortably. "I can't take this." He sighed, shaking his head and offering it back to Gandalf.
"The blade is of Elvish make, which means it will glow blue, when Orcs or Goblins are nearby." Gandalf said, in an attempt to make him keep it. I wondered if mine would do the same...
Bilbo still looked uncomfortable about the weapon. "I have never used a sword in my life." Bilbo admitted, staring around him at the others, in hopes they would not hear.
"And I hope you never have to," Gandalf said, staring between the two of us "but if you do, remember this; true courage is about knowing, not when to take a life, but when to spare one." Bilbo stared off absently at the words. And a heavy feeling began to weigh on my chest. The reality of what this quest could mean was starting to hit me.
If I wanted to survive this quest, and help Bilbo survive. I might have to kill. I might have to take another beings life.
I had never so much as swatted a fly back in the Shire and now the reality of what I would have to do was crashing down on me. How was I supposed to decide when it was right and just to take another beings life? It should not have been my choice to decide on who lives and dies, that is a right no mortal creature should have. The idea of it terrified me, and I hoped that if such a decision should come, I would make the right one, and so would Bilbo.
Gandalf seeming to realise the internal battle taking place in my head tried to lighten the mood a little. "Your sword is a little lighter than the others," He said, a smile forming on his weathered face. I looked down at the sword in my hand, almost having forgotten I was still holding it. "makes it a very fast weapon, and it's quite sharp, so be careful. You're not handling cooking knifes anymore." I smiled at the joke, the heaviness lifting just slightly.
"Something's coming!" Thorin yelled. Gandalf's head snapped up, a worried look forming on his face. My heart skipped a beat.
"Gandalf?" Bilbo said, worry filling his features.
"Stay together!" Gandalf called and set off towards Thorin's call.
"Hurry now! Arm yourselves" The Dwarves followed soon behind, swords and axes in hand. My eyes flickered up to meet Bilbo's, he looked just as petrified as I felt. Bilbo looked down and slowly unsheathed his sword, peering at it with trepidation. We both relaxed a little, seeing the sword was not blue. I swallowed, grabbed his hand and hurried after the company.
We found Thorin and the rest of the company gathered in a small clearing, their weapons already drawn. I stood fumbling with the sword belt for a moment, my fingers trembling with anxiety before managing to buckle it round my waist.
"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" Someone yelled. I glanced up towards the trees. Bilbo was shakily holding out his sword and glancing around us. I grabbed for his hand, my pulse thrumming in my ears.
What burst forth from between the trees and bushes was an astonishing sight. A man dressed all in brown fur riding a sled pulled by rabbits, launched himself forwards and into the middle of our gathering, landing straight in front of Bilbo and I and coming to a disorientated stop.
Gandalf sighed. "Ah Radagast!" I eyed the man before me with trepidation. "It's Radagast the brown!" Gandalf called, sheathing his sword and stepping forwards to greet the man.
This was Radagast? The brown wizard? He looked astonishingly different to Gandalf, not only in his choice of clothing colour, but in his demeanour. Radagast stooped forwards slightly, he was old yes, but the stoop looked more like a cower on this man. His beard was long and scraggily, filled with bits of twigs and leaves, and his hands jittered, as though he were constantly excited or eager about something. He looked a kind, but rather amusing old man.
The Dwarves relaxed, dropping their weapons and gathering round. I sighed and sagged slightly before releasing the deathly grip I had on Bilbo's hand.
"What on earth are you doing here?" Gandalf asked, leaning against his staff.
"I was looking for you Gandalf!" Radagast replied, in a quick and small voice. "Something's wrong, something's terribly wrong!" the company crowded together, eager to hear what troubled the wizard.
"Yes...?" Gandalf asked, leaning in to the brown wizard.
Radagast sucked in a deep lungful of air, as if preparing to launch into a long tale before pausing, seeming to have forgotten.
"Just give me a minute... um..." He then became flustered, his jittery hands coming up around his face in agitation. "Awh, I had the thought, and now I've lost it... it was right there," He said, pointing towards his face. "On the tip on my tongue." Then as if it had suddenly hit him, his expression changed. "Oh, it's not a thought at all..." he said, sticking his tongue out. "It's a silly old, stick insect."
I watched in amazement and disgust as Gandalf reached forwards and plucked the thin insect out of the man's mouth, and dropped it down into Radagast's hand.
As I said, bit of a short chapter... But I think it ends nicely with Radagast Puking up an insect :')
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