Hey everyone! Once again I do not own the Hobbit or anything to do with it. I hope you all had a great holiday season. I've gone back over the first twelve chapters to edit them and fix some problems. I haven't really changed much content, just fixed some flow issues and implemented some advice from a wonderful review I got from Meepalicious. Thank you to everyone who has expressed an interest in my little story, especially those that have reviewed.
She jerked awake a short time later. She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, but judging by the sun it hadn't been long. Oin was back, which she imagined was what had roused her.
As she allowed him to look over all her numerous scratches, she peered around tiredly. From some of the excited noises she could hear, it sounded like they had just found the troll hoard. As Oin finished up, she gave him a tired smile and a thank you.
Then she went to go see if all the fuss was worth it. As she followed the sounds of the dwarves to the cave, she decided that she really didn't care if the vast forgotten treasures of all the Ages were in there, she was staying as far away as she could get away with. No way was she getting any closer to that smell than she had to.
As she watched Gandalf and Thorin come out with new swords and Gandalf give another one to Bilbo, she almost changed her mind. She was grateful when Thorin urged them all to move on and took the temptation out of her hands.
As she stood up, they all heard the sound of something coming closer at an alarming rate. Thorin urged them all to arms, and hurried them back to camp. As they all armed themselves and ran, the sound seemed to swerve to keep up with them.
Ori and Bifur followed Thorin's directions and rushed to the ponies, while the rest gathered their packs together quickly. As they prepared to leave, a strange man came whizzing out of the bushes on a sled pulled by...rabbits?
Big rabbits, too. She gave them a once over, and was rather impressed. Well, as impressed as she could be by...rabbits. Cute ones. As he and Gandalf caught up on their wizard business, she found her tired mind drifting. She eyed the rabbits speculatively. Would they mind if she decided to pet them? As her hand drifted closer to a soft, fuzzy bunny she found herself once again rudely brought back to reality as a howl drifted on the wind.
That was no wolf. She shared a look with Bilbo. At least this time he wasn't trying to deny what he'd heard. The dwarves were looking nervous too. A growl was the only warning she had as a huge warg came hurtling through the air, straight at her.
Apparently she looked the weakest of the group to the animal. Her reflexes stepped in and she cut it down, where Thorin made sure it was dead. Kili shot the second that tried a charge, and Dwalin finished it off.
She searched the surrounding area with her eyes as she heard Gandalf and Thorin having yet another argument. There was that adrenaline again. She was starting to worry that it was all that was keeping her going, at this point.
Her attention was immediately captured, however, when she heard Gandalf intone rather ominously that "You are being hunted."
As they all stared at the wizard, Dwalin snapped them out of it. "We have to get out of here!"
To add to their wonderful streak of luck, Ori and Bifur ran back at that point just in time for Ori to declare "We can't! We have no ponies! They bolted!"
Oh yay, she thought. Now we get to run from a vicious orc pack while carrying everything all by ourselves. We are so doomed.
She felt her heart start to beat fast and excitement start to dance in her blood. She slapped the feeling down, hard. This was so not the time! Still, this would actually make the orcs a bit more of a challenge...she was almost disappointed that Radagast chose that moment to step in. "I'll draw them off!"
Gandalf tried to reason with them. "These are Gundabad wargs! They will outrun you!"
As she looked on in concern, Radagast showed a little more of a true wizardly air.
As he declared that "These are Rhosgobel Rabbits. I'd like to see them try" she actually saw a bit of what Gandalf had meant about this wizard.
As he leapt on his sled and dashed off to draw away the orcs, she was impressed with his rabbits, too. Not just cute and fuzzy, apparently. Those little guys were fast! Like super bunnies!
Thorin got their attention once again, telling them to leave what they could spare and move out. She dumped out her extra clothes, but she felt she needed everything else. She knew she'd probably regret that soon, though.
Then they were off, dashing through the trees and onto a rocky plain away from the direction the Brown wizard had gone. What followed was a rather nightmarish game of cat and mouse, mixed with tag and hide and go seek.
At one point they all found themselves with their backs to one of the giant boulders as a scout sniffed above them. As Thorin silently told Kili to shoot it, she met their eyes and drew her own arrow. Using signs they decided she would go for the orc and Kili would go for the warg.
As one, they took a deep breathe and stepped forward to twist around and shoot. Her arrow killed the orc instantly, but the warg had time to let out a cry. The scent of blood on the wind probably drew the rest, too.
As they ran with the pack quick on their heels, Gandalf seemed to be looking for something. Her attention was drawn away shortly as they were cut off and surrounded. Kili started to shoot them, and she joined in too. She was pleased when a moment later Bilbo finally got his own bow were actually doing a good job keeping the orcs at bay.
Then she heard one orc give a command that sounded familiar. As she watched the circling wargs start to change their pattern, she felt her insides freeze. She knew that pattern...she'd seen it from the safe house as her parents fought so long ago...she started shooting even faster, knowing their only chance was to kill all the orcs and try to scare off the wargs when they were leaderless.
She could see out the corner of her eye as Bilbo faltered for a second, finally realizing what he was seeing, too. As the wargs started a three pronged charge towards the archers, the orcs lined up behind them, trying to use an archer of their own at the same time.
They were going to take them out, then go for the others, just like they'd done the Fell Winter...She narrowed her focus down. If she could kill enough, it might be enough for the others to survive and drive them off.
She didn't hear Thorin as he called for them all to run. She didn't see as Kili and Bilbo listened and retreated. She only noticed as she was grabbed around the middle and a gleaming sword ripped through the warg that had been about to get her from the side.
She blinked, trying desperately to catch up with what was going on as she was dragged bodily across the grass and thrown down a hole. She was followed shortly by Kili and Bilbo, who had apparently stayed at the entrance and covered for Thorin as he desperately tried to save her from her stupidity.
She lowered her eyes in shame. She had almost gotten him killed. She huddled against the wall, shame and guilt eating her. She did hear the horns, though. Not to mention the ugly corpse that fell at her feet with an arrow in it. Still coming down from the adrenaline and terror, she had decapitated it before it landed, not seeing the arrow. Thorin did, though. He pulled it out, then threw it down with a curse about "Elves!"
As they decided to follow the pathway, she did her best to let him know how truly sorry she was with her eyes. He looked at her, started to say something, then shook his head with a huff and followed the others. She felt her head drop, and startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She looked up a bit to see Gandalf smiling at her gently. "Don't mind him, Aster. It's just not a good time right now. I'm sure he'll be more agreeable later."
As he shooed her forward, he went on. "I actually have something I've been meaning to talk to you about, and now seems as good a time as any. I want you to hide your ears and do your best to seem as a daughter of Man while we are here."
As she gave him a weird look, he realized she probably didn't know where 'here' was. He gave her an understanding smile, and elaborated. "In Rivendell."
She stopped, then craned her head around to stare at him incredulously. He gave her a firm but apoplogetic look.
"I know you want to find your grandfathers, and learn more about them, but if any elf learned of your age and heritage they would move the world to keep you from leaving with the company...and Bilbo."
She continued to look bewildered, and he sighed. "I suppose I should have addressed this earlier. My dear, you told me yourself that you are only sixty seven. An elf is not considered of age until they reach their one hundredth birthday, and elflings are rare. Every elf is protective of them. You might argue your mixed heritage, but you are so visibly young. You look the same as any elf of your age. I do not know if your parents took more after their hobbit mothers, but I will say that you have a light about you that any elf would recognize if they went looking for it. If I did not know of your heritage, I myself would say you were an elfling of the Eldar."
She pulled her gaze forward and started moving again as he gently nudged her onward. She stumbled onward, but inside she was reeling. She felt her thoughts racing, and her pack seemed to have gained a hundred pounds.
She had brought two drawings she had found in her Grandmother's things when they passed on. She had dearly wanted to show them to the elves at Rivendell to see if she could find them, or anything about them.
But as much as she wanted to do that, she wanted to protect Bilbo more. She would not let him go on alone, particularly since he probably wouldn't even have come on this quest if not for her. She would not abandon him, or the Company.
She knew she'd have to do her best to tell him before they saw any elves. He'd been as excited as she was. As she did her best not to cry she quietly reached up and pulled her hair once more into a tight bun, making sure to cover her ears.