DISCLAIMER: SAME AS BEFWORE LOOKIE AT OLDER CHAPTAHS. DANKE.
Well here you are! Another chapter, with Gandalf, Fili, and Kili as requested. Thanks again for all your lovely comments and enthusiasm for this wee tale! :) Enjoy!
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Kili growled to himself. Gandalf had said that he was immature! Him immature?! Him! Well of course his boredom was making him a little wild, it was only natural after all. He was a warrior, not a ranger.
Did the wizard have anything to say about Fili's conduct? No! Of course not. Now Kili would admit that it was true, he had started this round of wild play. This had only ended with the Dwarves bumping hard into the wizard and nearly knocking him over, much to the Gandalf's displeasure. But then again what did the Gandalf expect? Dwarves amuse themselves wildly. If the old man did not like it, he could very well go elsewhere, even the Elves if it suited him... That is, after he had helped them find Thorin and Bilbo of course.
With an angry scowl the Dwarf whipped the brush out of his view mercilessly with the dark bow he held. He would show that nosy wizard. He would find the trail that Gandalf and Fili had lost. He would be the one to save this rescue attempt. With a smirk Kili imagined Gandalf congratulating the dwarf lad on his sharp eyesight and quick thinking. This would be simple, almost too simple, if he could only find the trail.
The grass grew lush and green, with its thick stalks stretching upwards in order to embrace the sun rays. There was a chill in the air, but not at all an uncomfortable one. Kili rather enjoyed feeling its prick against his skin. Gandalf had been grumbling about it and something about "foolish dwarves", but Kili had decided to let it pass, for the moment. He could easily have revenge later.
Taking a step backwards in order to widen his view, he felt himself bump into something warm and alive.
With a yelp he turned violently to see what enemy had stalked him only to find his brother Fili having very much the same reaction. Seeing one another the Dwarves ceased their noisy outbursts with wide eyes and still pounding hearts. It was Fili who spoke first.
"Don't ever" he began in a menacing tone, "sneak up on me like that again." He brought his hand to his chest, as if trying to soothe his heart back into it's normal routine.
Kili however immediately took offense at this, "Oi!" his eyes took on a hurt look., "It was you that snuck up on me!"
"I did not! It was you!"
"You did too! I saw you!"
"That's idiotic! I couldn't have snuck up on you if you saw me!"
"Ah! See! You admit it!"
"I did no such thing!"
The bickering was sharply interrupted by a deep voice with a slightly airy quality to it, as a large grey and ominous shadow fell over the irritated siblings.
"Will you two kindly stop sneaking off?! I am hard put to it as it is to just find two, let alone four of the company!" The wizard declared with a good deal of vexation.
Unfortunately however, the statement of the wizard's did more than it was intended to. Fili and Kili, so absorbed in proving the other wrong, had been quite oblivious to their surroundings. It was only after the wizard's shadow and speech fell upon them that they realized they were not alone. Not knowing who or what it was, Middle Earth being full of strange creatures beyond count, they were quite startled. Yelping once more in dismay, they lost their balance, and fell over unimpressively into the floor of leaves.
Laying there like petrified rabbits, they stared with large round eyes at the tower of Grey in front of them, foreseeing certain doom. Even Fili, who normally had an excuse or good story for these types of circumstances, had quite lost his tongue. Kili did not even blink, awaiting thunder or fire, most likely both.
Gandalf however seemed very tired of the entire affair, and released a great sigh, much to the relief of the Dwarves. Looking at them with exasperated eyes he spoke with an air of despair.
"If you are quite done with your games among the leaves children," he said condescendingly, "Kindly see fit to at least keep up and not wander away."
The wizard turned from the sad scene, mumbling about how he disliked Dwarves in general and their many faults. It would serve them right if he did leave them at this moment. Camping with the two boisterous youngsters had been no joke. He had lost count of the times he had shouted for silence in the deep of the night, only to have the ever present whispering of Fili and Kili return once more. In vain he had attempted to remember what exactly Thorin had done to remedy this problem, but this had eluded his mind, and for the life of him he could not remember. How Thorin had ever gotten an ounce of discipline out of the troublesome two he would never know. But then again he wouldn't ever need to know, he had much more important things than that on his mind.
He could just barely make out Fili and Kili speaking behind him.
"Oi." Kili said, "Did he just insult us?!"
This was answered by a sharp elbow from Fili, who had no wish to stare death in the face so close again.
The signs of Orc activity had been steadily rising during the entire journey, and Gandalf could not help but feel slightly anxious as to how his Burglar was faring. It seemed that the closer they came, the more the danger grew. It was worse that all Gandalf had to trust in was Thorin, who was by no means what Gandalf call the most suitable guardian. A gnawing doubt had begun to grow inside the wizard, he had not yet spoken of it, but it was there. What if Thorin left Bilbo? Thorin considered Bilbo a burden as it was, and if this burden complicated the chances of survival...Well Gandalf knew enough to know how desperate danger made folk. He did not like to think of it.
Fili and Kili had helped with nothing, besides finding another Orc body. The odd thing was that the said creature had had no visible slash wounds. Odd. Very odd. Perhaps another force was at work here. If so, this could be a very difficult situation indeed. A shout from Kili suddenly dragged the wizard out of his thoughts.
"Gandalf! Over here!" The Dwarf signaled with his hand, beckoning the old man to come and see what had been found. Fili was grinning, obviously for what they viewed as good news. But whether it was news of a good sort remained to be seen. Through experience he had found that his idea of 'good news' differed slightly from Fili and Kili's idea of 'good news'.
Hastily making his way over to where the Dwarf stood, he mentally prepared himself. Orc bodies were not pleasant, and the lads seemed to have an uncanny knack for finding them. However, once there Gandalf saw no body, and could not help but think that perhaps this was some sort of practical joke.
"Well?" He growled.
Fili and Kili gave eachother a smug glance, and turning to the wizard Fili began, and to the wizard's annoyance much in the style of his uncle Thorin Oakenshield.
"Master Gandalf, for many hours we have searched these woods from top to bottom, every nook and cranny, every glen, but have not been able to find anything having been witness to my esteemed Uncle and Lord's passing, nor of your most excellent Burg-"
Here he was sharply interrupted. Gandalf had no use for speeches, time was short.
"Just get to the point Fili!" The Wizard shouted.
Fili looked offended, why was it that no one seemed to like his speeches? No one interrupted Thorin's...
Kili however at that moment rescued the situation.
"Gandalf. We found it! The trail! You know, the one you los-"
The wizard interrupted again. That was an unnecessary detail.
"Yes, yes!" He said somewhat hotly, "Show me then!"
With a flourish of his hand Kili presented the distinct marks of Dwarven boots and Hobbit feet, bearing witness to the travelers passing. Both Dwarves began grinning with obvious pleasure, they had rescued the rescue attempt. Both would be disappointed however, if they had expected any praise from the wizard, who ignoring them utterly began looking about and following it.
Speaking outloud, but mostly to himself the wizard spoke, "They have turned Northward."
"Gandalf!" came the anxious voice of Kili, as his sharp eyes found a disturbing sign, "Blood! And it is no orc blood!"
The wizard rushed to the Dwarf's side, but what he feared was only confirmed, as he saw drops of crimson red on the forest floor. "One at least, is wounded." The wizard's voice now took on a worried tone, "and Orcs are about it seems."
"But Bilbo or Thorin?" Fili pondered aloud.
Gandalf straightened and stood up slowly, did these Dwarves really expect him to know that? He was just about to turn to give them a good piece of his mind when he noticed they were gone. Odd, he had not heard them leave. He glanced about wildly, only to see the two fellows starting off in a northerly direction. Kili turned back at Gandalf for a moment and shouted.
"Come on Gandalf! We've got to find them!"
Gandalf huffed into his beard in vexation. So nowthey were suddenly so helpful. Never, on good Arda, would he again allow himself to travel with Dwarves. They were everything disagreeable one never hoped to find in a traveling companion. Gandalf still had not quite forgiven them for the hours of sleep they had robbed from him. Never had such a thing happened in his entire long life, and the wizard swore, never again would it happen. It was not to be borne.
Within a few moments the wizard had once again taken his rightful place, leading the two Dwarves onwards. Fili and Kili had drawn their weapons, with grim looks on their faces, determined to fight whatever was necessary in order to rescue their Uncle and friend. Their readiness did nothing to aid Gandalf, as he began having thoughts of his own on meeting orcs. When he did not think they were looking, he would every so often check Glamdring for a blue glow. Fortunately there was none.
They traveled thus in an uneasy quiet for some hours, with the air having a feeling of tight tension, waiting for something to happen. It was then that Gandalf noticed the trail change oddly. He could find no sign of the Hobbit. Of the Dwarf yes, most definitely. But the Halfling? Bilbo Baggins? He had seemingly disappeared, leaving no trace.
What had happened? Gandalf feared the worst. He had always known that Thorin was not the best sort to have entrusted with the Halfling, but he had hoped the Dwarf had some sense of honor. The wizard's frown grew into a scowl, despising the Dwarf that had left the helpless hobbit in some forsaken place.
He began muttering darkly, it would serve Thorin right if they chose to leave him in his predicament, but luckily for him some persons still held honor in high regard.
"Mr. Gandalf..." Fili began, "I cannot find any sign of Mr. Baggins..."The Dwarf wrinkled his brow, showing his frustration.
Gandalf however was in no jovial or patient mood,and barked out, "I should not be surprised if your honorableUncle has left my Burglar behind! No doubt to save him own skin." growling the wizard, spat out the word 'honorable' as he thought of a particularly nasty spell to use if the Dwarf was indeed guilty of what the wizard believed.
Both Fili and Kili looked shocked by this accusation, and quickly leapt to their uncle's defense.
"No!"
"He would never do that!"
"Never!"
"I find it," The wizard started in a menacing voice, "quite possible. Thorin has never had any great liking of my Burglar."
"You offend us and our family wizard!" Fili cried, eyes flashing with anger.
"You don't know the all the facts yet! You can't judge when you don't know!" Kili shouted, waving a hand wildly and voice becoming shrill with excitement, "You don't know Thorin! He would never leave anyone behind!"
Gandalf, knowing that insulting the line of Durin was perhaps not the wisest of action to take at this moment shrugged it off. "It remains to be seen." he said, forcing himself to soothe the anger he felt, "If Thorin has left Bilbo behind or hasn't will be discovered before long. Come, we are losing precious time." The wizard started again, but felt the angry stares of the loyal nephews. He heard them muttering something about "nerve and audacity".
The wizard however ignored this, absorbed by his own thoughts. He would never forgive Thorin if the Halfling had come to any harm, for he knew that he would in the end be responsible. He would never be able to forgive himself if Mr. Baggins came to any harm.