Sorry, this chapter's on the shortish side. Thank you for the lovely reviews! ^-^
Emi waited quietly, her back leaning against the stone face that was the outside of the troll cave. Her glazed eyes drifted lazily over the dwarves milling about in front of her. Half of her was vaguely aware of Dori complaining to Ori about the putrid smell of trolls. If there was, in fact, a smell, Emi could not smell it over the bile she was trying desperately to keep from rising up her throat.
She wasn't used to this. Not one bit. She never got hurt back at Hobbiton. Sure, she would get sick every once in awhile, but it was never for very long. This was entirely different. Her ribs were hurting so much that it was actually causing her to be sick. She feared that it was far more serious than Oin had thought.
"What's wrong with you?" a deep voice said from somewhere above her. Though it wasn't a voice she heard a lot of, Emi knew exactly whom it belonged to. She opened her eyes to take in the regal form that was Thorin Oakenshield. His slightly condescending eyes gazed down at her as he finished strapping a long sword to his back. Emi closed her eyes again, and shifted her body ever so slightly so that it wouldn't hurt when she spoke.
"I'm resting my eyes since I didn't get any sleep last night. Is there a problem with that Lord Oakenshield? Or do I need your permission first?" she hissed, eyes still closed. She could feel the dwarven king's gaze on her however as she sat there. At last, she heard his hefty boots walk away heavily. She let out a small sigh of relief that resulted in her face screwing up in pain.
"Emilie." Gandalf's voice drifted to her. Emi's eyes opened, and she slowly got up to face the wizard.
"Yes?" she asked wearily.
"Here" Gandalf said, handing the Halfling a sheathed blade. "This is about your size." Emi took it from him and gazed at it for a moment.
"I have no idea how to use this." She admitted at last.
"That can be remedied." Gandalf nodded. "Besides, the blade is of elvish make, which means it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby."
"You don't understand," Emi sighed. "I could never intentionally hurt anyone with this."
"And I hope you never have to." The wizard chuckled. "But if you do, remember this: true courage is not when to take a life, but when to spare one."
"That sounds like you got that out of one of those aphorism books." Emi made a face. Gandalf just smiled. Emi smiled back a few seconds before her face dropped into a frown again. Gandalf's smile disappeared as well.
"Emilie? What's the matter my dear?" he asked in slight concern.
"Mr. Baggins." She said at last. Gandalf's eyebrows rose curiously. "That's what you called me yesterday when you left in a fury." Gandalf's face fell. "I wasn't the hobbit you wanted, was I?" She gulped, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer or not.
"I will confess," Gandalf sighed heavily. "Originally, I was hoping for another hobbit, but that fell through."
"So I'm your fall back plan." Emi summed up bitterly.
"No," the wizard shook his head. "Just another plan." Emi looked up at him through hurt eyes. "And now, I believe it might be preferable to what I had in mind originally." Emi scoffed as the wizard walked away.
"Sure." She grimaced.
"Something's coming!" a voice rang across the clearing. The dwarves quickly grabbed their weapons and rushed off to face the new threat. Emi glanced over, slowly pulled her new blade out of its sheath, and followed.
The hobbit quickly found herself wedged between Fili and Ori as thirteen weapon wielding dwarves waited as something large came crashing through the bushes towards them. Everyone jumped in alarm as a huge bunny pulled sleigh came crashing through the bushes. A queer little man rode on the back screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Thieves! Fire! MURDER!" He stopped and looked around in mild surprise.
"Radagast!" Gandalf cried, coming forward with a strained smile on his face. "Radagast the Brown." The other wizard? "What on earth are you doing here?" Gandalf whispered quietly, his smile disappearing.
"I was looking for you Gandalf." Radagast told the taller wizard. "Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong."
"Yes?" Gandalf asked, prompting the other to continue. The other did not. The dwarves and Emi watched in a mix of horror and fascination as this new wizard tried to get out the thought for a good while. At last, his eyes widened.
"Oh! It's not a thought at all." He said with a slight lisp as his tongue curled slightly. "It's a silly old…" Gandalf reached to fingers tentatively into the other's mouth and pulled out a wriggling stick like bug. "Stick insect." Radagast finished happily, as Gandalf dropped the said insect into the brown wizard's hand. Emi wasn't sure if she was feeling sick to her stomach from the ribs or the wizard, but she had to fight hard to keep down more bile. She must have begun spacing out, because she felt Ori's nervous hand on her arm. She looked around quickly to see the wizards were gone. She gave Ori a quick smile to reassure the dwarf. It worked and Ori left as his brother called for him. Then Emi felt another pair of eyes on her. She looked behind her to see the steely blue eyes of Thorin only a few feet from her. Upon locking eyes, the King quickly looked away back to whatever he had been doing. Emi's brow furrowed. He wasn't suspecting that she was injured, was he? A howl distracted her from her thoughts, however.
"Was that a wolf?" Emi looked around in alarm.
"Wolf?" Bofur said, looking around warily as well. "No, that was no wolf." Emi looked at him in confusion as the dwarves eyes widened at the sight of something on the cliff behind her. The hobbit turned around in alarm as a huge wolf-like creature came hurtling at her. A large hand roughly shoved her to the side. Pain shot through Emi's chest as she hit the ground. Gasping slightly, she looked behind her quickly to see Thorin bring his new sword down on the large beast, stilling it quickly. He was standing where she had been but a moment before. Another of the beasts charged in from the other side, but Kili shot it with accuracy, leaving it easy prey for Dwalin to finish it off.
"Warg-scouts!" Thorin barked, practically picking the hobbit off the ground as pulled her to her feet. "Which means an orc pack is not far behind."
"Orc pack?" Emi cried in alarm, yanking her arm free of the dwarf's grasp. The dwarf only spared her a brief glance as she winced at her sudden movement. But Gandalf, called his attention away.
"Who did you tell about you quest, beyond your kin?" the wizard demanded.
"No one." Thorin answered immediately.
"Who did you tell?!" Gandalf shouted.
"No one I swear!" Thorin shot back. "What in Durin's name is going on?"
"You are being hunted." The wizard grimaced. But before Thorin could ask 'by who', Dwalin spoke.
"We have to get out of here." The gruff dwarf said.
"We can't!" Ori's voice came from a bit ways off. "We have no ponies! They bolted." Thorin let out a silent curse.
"I'll draw them off!" Radagast offered quickly.
"These are Gundabad Wargs!" Gandalf turned to the other wizard. "They will out run you."
"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits!" the brown wizard chirped back. "I'd like to see them try."
XD Okay, that's like... my favoritest line ever!(and yes, I know favoritest isn't a word)
Please review if you want to read another chapter! ^-^