Hey everyone, this is Chapter 16 of Unexpected Allies.
Sorry, I had to cut the Bilbo and Gollum encounter from Chapter 15.
I realized Chapter 15 would have been three times longer than the chapter I uploaded, and I didn't want you guys to wait longer for Chapter 15, so I cut it for this chapter.
Though I did have to split the chapter into two parts when I realized it was getting a little too long (over 15,000 words) and like with Chapter 15.
I didn't want you guys to wait any longer for Chapter 16, meaning Chapter 16 would have been nearly twice as long as the one I uploaded.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy Chapter 16 of Unexpected Allies.
Chapter XVI.
No one could believe what The Great-Goblin has said to Thorin, Azog the Defiler is alive and is the one who put a bounty on Thorin's head.
"Seven fucking hells," Tyrion said with shock in his voice.
The large group in the dragon pit recall Balin's story from earlier, everyone knew what Azog the Defiler is capable of, but knowing the Pale Orc somehow survived his encounter with Thorin Oakenshield from all those years ago in Middle-Earth. Brought worry to most in the dragon pit, mainly to those who have kin in Middle-Earth.
"Is anyone else worried about the group?" Tyrion asked around.
Many in the room were in silence for a brief period in time, not knowing how to properly process the revelation.
"I am, Tyrion," Ned Stark being the first to answer.
The Lord of Winterfell was worried, a part of him wanted to believe Thorin slew the Pale Orc in the Battle of Moria, but he knew from the look of doubt on Balin and Gandalf from hours ago said otherwise, knowing the Pale Orc is alive and out for blood has him worried for his son and his sister's son.
Tyrion did not look surprised by the worried expression on Lord Starks' face, after all, the Lord of Winterfell has his heir and bastard son in Middle-Earth, so he could not blame Lord Stark.
"I cannot blame you, Lord Stark. At least they have Gandalf with them, surely the wizard won't let anything bad happen to them," Tyrion assures Lord Stark.
"I hope so, Tyrion. I know they are with the wizard, but I worry about them. We know what Azog the Defiler is capable of," Lord Stark responds to Tyrion.
Tyrion noticed the look on his brother's face, urging him to not speak up but alas, Jaime turns to Lord Stark's attention.
"My, my, is Lord Stark worried about a cripple Orc coming after his heir and bastard?" Jaime mockingly asked the Lord of Winterfell.
Lord Stark glares at the Kingslayer and faces him with a stern look.
"You have no children, Ser Jaime. What would you know of worrying about your child's life? I am a father of six children, four sons and two daughters. I worry for them constantly, for this world is a cruel one and I'll be damned to let any of them die before me. So yes, I worry for my sons, as well as the children of the other Lords and Ladies among us," Lord Stark sternly responds to Jaime.
The Kingslayer is caught off guard by the Lord of Winterfell's words, the Tyrells, Tarlys, and King Robert seemed touched by Ned's words that he does not only worry for his sons but their children as well.
Cersei looked insulted at Lord Stark's comment towards her brother, her hatred for the Northerner has grown the more he insults her other half.
The Lord of Winterfell doesn't break eye-contact with Jaime as he continued.
"You know nothing of the feeling I carry, Ser Jaime. Nor you ever will. I suggest you start using that head of yours and learn to keep your mouth shut. I assume your father at least taught you some manners," Lord Stark adds harshly.
Once he finished speaking, Lord Stark immediately sat down and ignored the baffled look on Jaime's face, refusing to let the Kingslayer respond.
Tyrion and Varys saw the look on Jaime's face turn from baffled to anger and hate of the Lord of Winterfell, the former of which smacked the back of his brother's head.
Causing the Kingslayer to look annoyed at his brother's act.
"The hell is that for?" Jaime asked his brother.
Tyrion shook his head at his brother, why was he the only one out of his siblings, to have a brain.
"Proving everyone right on you being the dumbest Lannister in the family," Tyrion scorns his brother for antagonizing Lord Stark.
Tyrion has grown fond of the Starks, mainly the two younger children Arya and Bran, the latter of which is quite a smart boy and his nephew Tommen seems to get along with the boy.
Speaking of Arya and Bran, the two younger children of Ned Stark can be seen snickering at Tyrion shaming his brother for insulting their father, Tyrion saw this and smiles at them.
"Someone needs to keep my siblings in line, whenever my father is not around. Otherwise, it will be a complete shitshow," Tyrion says to the children.
While looking at both Jaime and Cersei, before his eyes point towards Lord Stark than to King Robert, giving them a silent reminder of whose side the King will choose if a fight broke out between Lord Stark and Jaime.
Speaking of King Robert, he has a look of worry on him about his legitimized son, after what the Great-Goblin revealed to Thorin & Company of Azog's survival, his son, Gendry was more like him than Joffrey or Tommen, and the only one who looks just like him.
"Nothing better happen to that boy," King Robert said with anger in his voice.
Jon Arryn placed his hand on his former ward's shoulder.
"Your son is a fighter, your grace. It will take more than a crippled Orc to take him down, we have seen him take down a handful of those goblins quite swiftly already, so do not give up hope," Jon Arryn tries to assure the King.
Who immediately let out a sigh before facing the Hand of the King.
"You are right, Jon. That son of mine is a fighter! One who is worthy of carrying the Baratheon name!" King Robert roared proudly.
The comment made Joffrey scowl, despite being scared of the Pale Orc, he wishes greatly for the ugly creature to rid him of Gendry, he is a Prince and the latter is a filthy bastard, whose mother nothing more than a tavern wench.
Mace and Garlan were touched on Ned Stark's words from earlier, as well as the latter showing more resentment towards the Kingslayer, the father and son show concerned for Margaery and Loras' lives, once they heard of Azog's survival from the Great-Goblin's words.
"He better not harm them," Mace told his son.
Garlan nods at his father's words, he'll find a way to Middle-Earth and slay the Pale Orc if any harm comes to his brother and sister.
"He better not, father. Otherwise, Thorin will do more than cut off his arm," Garlan said to his father.
Reminding his father of Thorin's victory on Azog made him smile.
"Let's hope so my son," Mace tells his son.
Lady Melessa, Dickon and Talia were worried for Sam, with the reveal of Azog being alive and the fact Sam fell deeper into the Misty Mountains with Bilbo.
"I'm sure, your son will find a way out of there," Selyse oddly assures her cousin.
Hearing her cousin say those words, made Lady Melessa smile.
"I hope so, I cannot wait to see my son again," Lady Melessa thanks her cousin.
The flames cut to Bilbo, who managed to survive his fall and is lying in clumps of giant mushrooms, the hobbit finds the unconscious goblin, briefly looking up to find Sam, who is awkwardly several feet above Bilbo and the goblin, being stuck once again through his backpack.
Sam tries to get himself out of the situation he is in, but the hobbit shakes his head at Sam, stopping him from trying to get out, as Bilbo hears a rather strange noise.
The sound of a shuddered breathing, that sounded more like a purring cat.
Appearing out of the darkness, is a strange figure, walking on all fours, with pale skin that means it saw little to no sun, a very thin build, looking as if it barely eats, having little to no hair on his head but very few long strands, as well as having long fingers and feet.
What caught the hobbit's attention was the creature's large round pale eyes.
The creature starts crawling towards the goblin, staring at the unconscious goblin.
"Yesss!" The creature said to itself.
Bilbo, who is still hiding in the clumps of giant mushrooms, keeps quiet and watched the creature crawl around the goblin.
"Yes! Yesss!" The creature said again.
Then all of a sudden, it started coughing.
"Gollum, Gollum!" The creature spoke roughly.
Once it stopped coughing, it went around the goblin again, grabbing a hold of its feet and starts dragging it away
Suddenly, the goblin springs to life, grabbing the creature. In response, the creature grabs a nearby rock and uses it against the goblin, hitting the goblin's head a handful of times.
As the beat down on the goblin continues, a simple golden ring falls out of the creature's loincloth.
It lands on the ground with a soft thud.
The goblin falls backwards, knocked out from the constant blows to the head at the hands of the creature, who quickly continues to drag the goblin away.
"Nasty goblinses! Better than old bones, precious. Better than nothing!" The creature says to itself.
As it drags the goblin away and moments later, both are out of sight.
"What the hell is that?" Tyrion said once they saw Gollum.
"It did say 'Gollum'. Perhaps that is his name," Varys tells Tyrion.
Many at the dragon pit were disturbed at the creature's appearance.
"Looks like some sort of hobbit-goblin," Bran said with a gross expression.
Tyrion overheard this and agreed with the young child.
"Maybe so, Bran Stark. However, I believe some things are better left unanswered," Tyrion tells Bran.
Varys however noticed the golden ring drop from the loincloth of this 'Gollum'.
"I wonder why this Gollum has that ring?" Varys asked around.
Many forgot about the ring, but Cersei scoffs at the Spider's question.
"Probably a stupid ring, the foul creature most likely stole it from a corpse," Cersei harshly responds to Varys.
The Queen didn't see the point of the stupid ring, it was just a simple golden ring, no gems or engravings on it.
Dickon, Talia and Melessa let out a sigh in relief upon knowing Sam is alive and well.
"Thank the seven! Sam is alive," Lady Melessa said
Once he is gone, Bilbo jumps out of the mushroom patch and retrieves his sword, the blade still has a blue glow to it.
By the light of the sword, Bilbo finds the ring not far from his feet. Intrigued by it, the hobbit picks it up and starts examining it.
"Ah," Bilbo said in shock.
Only to look up, once Sam's boot nearly lands on his head, making Bilbo wide eye in response and puts the ring in his pocket.
"Sam. Are you alright?" Bilbo asks quietly.
Despite being unable to see the hobbit, Sam gives a response.
"I think so, the fall would have broken my legs or killed me, had it not been for my bag," Sam simply answers.
Showing his bag getting stuck on a gap between the slopes, which led to his life being saved, Bilbo lets out a sigh of relief before he tries to help his friend down.
"How am I.." Bilbo was about to say.
Before noticing Sam is hanging above the mushrooms.
"Sam, below you are giant mushrooms, the mushrooms should protect you from the fall. But maybe drop your axe first," Bilbo explains to Sam.
Sam agrees and gently lowers his axe, Bilbo grabs ahold of it and decides to hold onto the axe for his friend.
"I got it," Bilbo tells him.
Taking a few steps back, Bilbo watches as Sam nudges his way down and after a few tries, Sam is no longer stuck and falls onto the mushrooms, said mushrooms help break his brief fall.
Bilbo gently puts the axe down and helps his friend up, who thanks Bilbo for the aid.
"Thanks, Bilbo," Sam cheerfully thanks the hobbit.
"No problem, Sam. It's the least I could do after you came to my aid," Bilbo assures his friend.
Being reminded of the fight saddened Sam, for he felt like a failure.
"The same aid, that led to you coming to my aid," Sam sadly responds.
Bilbo could tell Sam felt humiliated by it, recalling how Sam's father was so harsh to him.
"You were injured from the fall, Sam. To me, what mattered was that you were willing to fight to save me. Despite your condition, and you lasted longer than I did against the goblin," Bilbo gently tells Sam.
After hearing this, Sam smiles knowing Bilbo was right.
"Never thought of it that way, thanks, Bilbo," Sam said to Bilbo.
"I would have washed that ring first, goodness knows what that Gollum touched. Let alone being on his dirty loincloth for goodness how long," Tyrion said.
Feeling disgusted at how Bilbo picked it up and put it in his pocket.
"I couldn't agree more," Varys says to Tyrion.
True the ring had a simple and yet unique design to it, even he felt disgusted on where it once was.
Ayra, Bran, Myrcella and Tommen were even grossed out once they heard Tyrion's comment, recalling the ring was in Gollum's loincloth.
Though they did chuckle at Sam's boot nearly hitting Bilbo, which did remind the hobbit of Sam's situation of being stuck.
"He seems to get stuck a lot," Arya said bluntly.
"Well, it's his bag that gets him stuck," Bran responds to his sister.
"That is true, and that bag has prevented him from being captured by the goblins, as well as most likely saved his life again," Tyrion joins in.
Dickon and Talia smile at how Sam can bind his wound with a piece of his cloak and mushroom stems.
"Sam was always a smart child," Melessa said fondly.
Smiling at Sam being able to walk after placing wrapping his wound up, and she is grateful for Bilbo being there and being a friend to her son.
Sam stands up but the pain of his leg led him to fall, leading Sam to rip a piece of his cloak and use it as a bandage for his leg and using some of the stems from the broken mushrooms on each side of his leg.
Bilbo decides to help his friend by holding onto the broken stems so Sam can use his cloak to wrap around it.
"I got it, Sam," Bilbo kindly offers.
Sam smiled at Bilbo helping him, after a brief minute of wrapping the torn cloak onto his injured leg, he got up and felt the difference already.
"Remind me to thank Óin for teaching me, medical aid," Sam said cheerfully.
The hobbit smiled at Sam's optimistic behaviour and pats his arm.
"I'll remind you," Bilbo playfully responds.
Making the two friends chuckle.
"Can you still walk?" Bilbo asked.
Sam nods as he gets up as the bandage/wrap holds on, being able to take a few steps, but he does have a mild limp.
"I'll live," Sam assures Bilbo.
"At least he knows how to treat a wound," Dickon said fondly.
"That he does," Lady Melessa tells her son.
Talia was happy to see her brother and Bilbo are alive and well, she knew the dwarf brothers who took in her brother surely left an impact on Sam and their knowledge they shared with Sam, helped him on treating his wound.
"He certainly has learned a lot from Óin, who I believe is their equivalent to a maester," Tyrion admits about Sam treating his injured leg.
Like Sam's mother and brother, Tyrion admired Sam's knowledge, he looks forward to meeting the young man when he returns from Middle-Earth, though he has doubts about the firstborn son of Randyll Tarly returning to Westeros, he wouldn't blame him personally.
"Your son is quite smart, Lady Tarly," Ned Stark kindly says to Melessa.
Who let out a gentle smile at the Lord of Winterfell.
"Thank you, Lord Stark," Lady Melessa responds.
The two then look around them and realize how far down they must be to the others.
"Wonder how we're going to get out of here?" Sam asked
"I was going to say the same," Bilbo says to Sam.
Their conversation is cut short when they hear a woman's scream, without a moment of thought, Bilbo and Sam follow the entrance Bilbo saw the creature came and went from.
The duo spotted a young woman, with pale skin, gaunt face, long dark hair, and big brown doe-eyes, who is dressed in a mixture of fur and wool.
Two goblins are charging at her, Bilbo nervously brings out his sword and Sam brings out his axe, Bilbo kills the closer goblin by stabbing its chest, while Sam goes for the bigger goblin and with one swing, Sam decapitates the goblin, saving the young woman's life.
"Are you alright?" Sam asks the woman.
Said woman is completely stunned at Sam and Bilbo coming to her aid before she gives them both a hug in gratitude.
"Thank you," The woman said in a soft and shy voice.
Bilbo and Sam were caught off guard by her hug, but hearing her thank them made the duo smile.
"I'm Samwell Tarly, but everyone calls me Sam," Sam introduces himself.
With Bilbo doing the same.
"I'm Bilbo Baggins," Bilbo introduces himself.
The young woman smiles at their kindness before she mimics their gesture.
"I'm Gilly...just Gilly," The woman now known as Gilly says her name.
Bilbo is the first to shake her hand.
"Gilly, what a wonderful name," Bilbo politely tells her.
"Gilly is a nice name," Sam said politely.
"They do have a good question, how are they going to get out of there?" Tyrion said curiously.
The self-titled halfling does wonder how Sam and Bilbo will get out of there.
"It is," Varys tells Tyrion.
Lady Melessa did not like the fact her injured son and Bilbo are going through the path this 'Gollum' came and went by, but she knew they have the numbers on it.
"I'm sure Sam will be fine, mother," Dickon gently assures his mother.
Who smiles at her son's words.
"Let's hope so, Dickon," Lady Melessa said to Dickon.
Arya, Bran, Lyanna, Myrcella and Tommen were amazed at Sam and Bilbo killing the two goblins saving the young woman's life, with Arya smiling at Bilbo going for the smaller one while Sam managed to cut the other goblin's head clean off with one strike.
"Bilbo finally used his sword to kill something," Arya said to the other children.
Bran agreed with his sister.
"At least he knows to stuck'em with the pointy end," Bran tells Arya.
Hearing this made Arya snicker at her brother's comment, Lyanna, Myrcella and Tommen followed suit.
"I wonder what he will name his sword?" Tommen asked around.
Myrcella had a look of thought, before responding to her brother.
"Maybe slasher?" Myrcella says to Tommen.
"Gasher?" Arya joins in.
Tommen rubs his chin with a look of thought before turning to the others.
"How about pokey?" Tommen innocently says.
Tyrion couldn't help but chuckle at his nephew's name for Bilbo's sword, though he saw Joffrey have a sinister look on his face, seeing the look too many times from his sister, Tyrion chose to step in before Joffrey does or says something to mock and/or hurt Tommen.
"I would go with pokey, Bilbo seems like a pokey fellow," Tyrion gently tells his nephew.
Seeing Tommen smile made Tyrion's day, watching how Tommen interacts with the Stark children, maybe he could convince Robert to have the boy fostered up in Winterfell, the further away he is from both Joffrey and Cersei, the safer Tommen will be.
For Myrcella, perhaps having her betrothed to young Bran, it would be a good match, both are near the same age, and Bran is still technically Lord Stark's heir until Robb Stark either returns to Westeros or unfortunately dies during the Quest for Erebor.
Randyll noticed the young woman's accent right away, a wildling, what are wildlings doing in Middle-Earth? Of all people who are lucky to be in such a world, bloody wildlings have to be in Middle-Earth.
"Fucking wildlings," Randyll mutters under his breath.
Dickon sighed upon hearing his father's words, his brother saved an innocent life, wildling, or not.
"Sam did kill a goblin with one swing," Dickon tells his father.
Only for his father to look unimpressed.
"The piggy got lucky, that goblin's back was turned," Randyll responds harshly to Dickon.
Lady Melessa shook her head at her husband's words, but she smiles softly at Dickon, knowing he tried to defend his brother.
Except for Prince Oberyn, who turns his attention to Randyll Tarly.
"Considering he slain the goblin with one swing after sustaining an injury, is quite impressive. Most fathers would be proud of their sons to be able to fight, let alone still able to walk after such a fall," Oberyn says to Randyll.
The Lord of Horn Hill glares at the Red Viper.
"Do not lecture me on parenting, Viper! What would you know of parenting?" Randyll snarls at the Dornishman.
Oberyn chuckles at Randyll's words.
"I have eight daughters, and I would be proud of Sam if he were my son. He knows most at the Citadel nearly twice or thrice his age will envy. He is skilled with an axe from what we have seen, despite his injury, and yet has a caring heart. All of which, you lack," Oberyn sincerely answers with mockery in his voice towards the end.
Tyrion snickers at Oberyn's jab towards Randyll Tarly, who is livid at the insult Prince Oberyn, standing up to face the Red Viper.
"You dare insult me, Viper!" Randyll Tarly hissed with anger.
Oberyn is amused at the reaction he got from the man.
"It is not an insult if it's the truth," Oberyn casually remarks.
Making the children around them to snicker at the Lord of Horn Hill.
"Have you forgotten, I was the only one who bested Robert Baratheon on the battlefield during the Rebellion?" Randyll Tarly roared at the Red Viper.
The Red Viper looked further unimpressed of Lord Randyll Tarly.
"No, I did not forget, but it must be a shame to know that is your only accomplishment in life," Oberyn said in response.
Oberyn's comment gained laughter from King Robert and Lord Renly.
She smiles fondly at them both, but before they can continue, they hear something from afar, leading the trio to creep around the corner.
Here, they see a silhouette of something on top of an outcropping rock in the middle of a small lake.
"That's the thing, I saw earlier," Bilbo whispers to Sam and Gilly.
Sam is shocked to see the creature, while Gilly looks nervous and hid behind Sam.
"What is it?" Sam asked.
Bilbo shrugs his shoulders.
"It said 'Gollum' before it started coughing, so it must be its name," Bilbo somewhat answers Sam.
The creature named Gollum soon begins to sing joyfully as he begins bludgeoning the goblin with the same rock from earlier.
"The cold hard lands, they bites our hands, they gnaws our feet.
The rocks and stones, they're like old bones, all bare of meat.
Cold as death, they have no breath, it's good to eat!"
With a howl, the goblin wakes up again, but Gollum is too quick for him, who smashes in the goblin's head with another stone.
Suddenly, Gollum looks up and saw the glow of Bilbo's sword, panicked, Bilbo dives behind a boulder.
The light of his sword slowly flickers away. The goblin is dead.
While Sam and Gilly hid behind the same boulder with Bilbo.
"Why did his sword stop glowing?" Gilly asked Sam.
"It only glows when goblins and orcs are near, with the goblin dead. It means no orcs or goblins are near us," Sam answers Gilly's question.
Gilly looks relieved at Sam's answer.
Bilbo decides to peak over at Gollum's rock with caution.
Only to see Gollum is gone.
"This isn't going to end well," Tyrion said grimly.
Varys had a look of doubt at Tyrion's comment.
"I don't think so, Lord Tyrion. They have the numbers, perhaps Bilbo and Sam could outsmart the creature," Varys calmly responds.
The Master of Whispers has taken a liking to both Samwell Tarly and Bilbo Baggins, for different reasons.
Bilbo is someone that reminded Varys of himself in his more innocent and naive look on life.
Sam was someone who would be a valuable member of the King's Council, his knowledge is something he plans to keep an eye on.
"Though I do have to say, Bilbo should have hidden that sword of his, much better considering the glow it gave when the goblin was still alive," Varys adds.
Many in the dragon pit cringed at Gollum's 'song' it sang when it was killing the goblin.
"I don't know what's worse, that Gollum's 'song' or the one that ugly Goblin sang?" Arya says to the others.
"That 'Down in Goblin-town' is still worse," Bran responds to his sister.
"I agree," Myrcella joins in.
"Same," Tommen adds.
"Both are just as bad," Shireen quietly says to them.
Arya jumped once she heard Shireen speak, forgetting she was in the dragon pit, something that made Bran snicker and led to Arya glaring at her brother.
Once Ned Stark saw the little scene between his two youngest in the dragon pit, it made him chuckle, reminding him of the time Lyanna was startled at his first visit back to Winterfell when good weather allowed him to return sooner.
He remembers Benjen's laughter at Lyanna's scared look, it was one of the few times he heard Benjen laugh so hard and their sister gave a look that made Benjen think twice.
The glare his youngest daughter gave to Bran, greatly reminded him of the memory, one that Catelyn noticed.
"Are you well, Ned?" Catelyn asked with concern.
Ned shook his head.
"I am well, Arya and Bran...they reminded me of Lyanna and Benjen," Ned kindly answers.
Sansa heard this and secretly eavesdrop on the conversation.
"It was my first time visiting Winterfell after being sent to the Eyrie to be fostered by Jon Arryn. Due to good weather being on my side, I returned home much sooner than I thought. My father forgot to inform my brothers and sister of such, so when I showed up at dinner. I startled Lyanna so bad, she shrieked," Ned began describing the memory to his wife.
Catelyn is shocked to hear this, for her husband never spoke of his siblings and considering what happened to Brandon and Lyanna, she understood why. But hearing him talk about them was still something she was not used to hearing.
"After Lyanna's little scene, Benjen began laughing at her, Lyanna did not like it at all and gave him a look that screamed murder," Ned continued telling the memory.
The more Ned spoke, the more Catelyn saw a warm smile on his face, she had no way to respond to what she is witnessing, so she lets him continue.
"I have not thought of that memory in years. It only came back to me once I saw Arya give the same look to Bran, the same look my sister gave to Benjen, all those years ago," Ned finished telling the story.
Seeing the warm smile on her husband's face, made her happy, it was nice of him to remember the good memories he had with his siblings, it still breaks her heart to know what happened to Ned's family.
"Arya...reminds me so much of her...she reminds me so much of Lyanna," Ned sadly says to her.
Catelyn saw the pain in her husband's eyes, she saw her husband struggling to fight back the tears, she fears he is recalling finding his dying sister at the Tower of Joy, she knew Ned was close with his siblings.
Brandon once told her Ned always wrote to them when he was in the Eyrie, how Lyanna was always the first to read his letters and the first to respond to said letters, the more she thought of it, the more she began to look back at the memories of her time in Winterfell.
She knew Ned favoured Arya more than Sansa, either taking Arya's side or Arya's punishments were nowhere as bad as Sansa's, even recalling Ned often seemed to favour their youngest daughter more than Sansa, Bran and Rickon.
She always thought it was because Arya is the only child of theirs to have his colouring.
But it was far from the truth, Ned's favouring of Arya was not because of what she believed for all these years.
It was because Ned saw his sister in their daughter and it's starting to terrify him.
All she could do was place her hand on his for reassurance.
Dickon and Talia saw the look of worry in their mother's eyes once the creature Gollum is nowhere to be seen.
"They outnumber it, mother," Talia assures her mother.
Lady Melessa gave her daughter a gentle smile in response.
"Let's hope so," Lady Melessa responds to her daughter.
"And with Bilbo's sword no longer glowing, they should be safe," Dickon adds.
Gollum is seen mounted on a small, wooden boat, using his hands as paddles, he swims across the lake.
Bilbo, Sam and Gilly are still hiding behind the boulder.
The hobbit's breath is quick and pained, for he is afraid, but Sam raised his axe to assure his hobbit friend, he is not alone.
From behind them, they hear a scuffling noise. Bilbo is the first to look up.
Gollum is climbing the rock above them, as he jumps down and gives Bilbo a toothy grin, unaware of Sam and Gilly are behind him, though the latter is completely frozen in fear of Gollum.
Before Sam can go to Bilbo's aid, Gilly refused to go closer, nor does she let Sam's escape her grasp, who is about to protest, but once he saw how terrified Gilly is, Sam let out a sigh and chose to stay beside her.
Causing Sam to bitterly sigh knowing, he has to let Bilbo be on his own for the time being.
"Bless us and splash us, precious! That's a meaty mouthful!" Gollum says to them.
Gollum crawls towards Bilbo first, but the hobbit points the tip of his sword at Gollum's throat, who retreats in fear.
"Gollum! Gollum!' Gollum said before coughing like earlier.
"Back! Stay back! I'm warning you, don't come any closer!" Bilbo warns Gollum.
Bilbo rises, as he points the blade down at Gollum.
"It's got an elvish blade, but it's not an elfs. Not an elfs, no," Gollum says to himself.
As he slowly crawls away from Bilbo, he doesn't see Sam and Gilly behind Bilbo for Gollum is too busy focused on Bilbo.
"What is it, precious? What is it?" Gollum asked the trio.
Bilbo still has his sword is pointed towards Gollum.
"My name is Bilbo Baggins," Bilbo answers Gollum.
Who looks odd at the hobbit strangely.
"Bagginses? What is a Bagginses, precious?" Gollum asked.
"I'm a hobbit from the Shire," Bilbo answers once again.
Gollum seems happy about it and lets out a laugh.
"Oh! We like goblinses, batses and fishes, but we haven't tried hobbitses before," Gollum says to Bilbo.
The mention of 'haven't tried hobbiteses before' made Bilbo keep his sword up, just as Gollum began
"Is it soft? Is it juicy?" Gollum asks Bilbo.
Gollum steps closer to Bilbo, mouth-watering, Bilbo holds out his sword, waving it wildly about.
"Now, now, keep your distance! I'll use this if I have to!" Bilbo warns Gollum.
Gollum snarls at Bilbo, that echoes across the cave.
"What a strange creature," Tyrion says to the group.
Either disturbed or impressed by Gollum's silent swimming across the lake, of which Varys agreed on.
"From how he does it, I dare say he has been doing that for quite some time," Varys says to Tyrion.
Like Tyrion, Varys is disturbed and impressed by how quiet this Gollum can be, the Spider has a feeling the creature has been in the Misty Mountains for quite some time and has adapted to it.
"What a frightening creature," Elarria Sand said with disgust.
"I agree, my love," Oberyn tells his paramour.
"It's a little disturbing on how quiet this Gollum can be," Garlan admits.
Mace agreed with his son, giving him a nod of agreement.
"That is true, my son. This Gollum is a disturbing one," Mace said to his son.
Dickon and Talia were confused about why Sam isn't helping Bilbo, but considering the poor wildling girl is downright terrified. Perhaps their brother is trying to calm her down, before helping Bilbo, and from what they are seeing.
The hobbit does have it under control...for the time being.
"Let's hope Bilbo can handle himself for now," Talia said with worry.
"Same," Dickon tells his sister.
Arya and Bran were confused about Gollum calling things 'precious'.
"I wonder why, Gollum keeps saying precious?" Arya asks around.
Bran shrugs his shoulders in response, Tyrion heard this and rose a brow.
"I agree, something is off about Gollum," Tyrion says to Arya.
"How he talks is even strange," Myrcella points out to her uncle.
Tommen agreed with his sister as Tyrion soon turns to them.
"That is true, Myrcella. Gollum does talk rather strangely," Tyrion says to Myrcella.
Agreeing with his niece, though Tyrion has a strange feeling that Gollum wasn't always the way he was.
As Gollum is far from Bilbo, hiding behind a smaller boulder, he spots Sam and Gilly, pointing at them.
"What are they, precious?" Gollum asks Bilbo about Sam and Gilly.
Sam chose to answer Gollum, once he can let Gilly let go of his hand.
"I'm Samwell Tarly, and this is Gilly," Sam introduces himself and Gilly to Gollum.
Gollum has a look of confusion before turning to Bilbo than to Sam and Gilly once again.
"Tarlyses? Gillys?" Gollum said in a similar tone to when he said 'Bagginses'.
Gilly still hides behind Sam, something Gollum noticed and Sam chose to answer.
"She had an encounter with goblins," Sam sadly tells Gollum.
"Goblinses are nasty, very nasty," Gollum says to them as he shook his head.
Bilbo, who has grown mildly impatient and wanting to find his way out decides to take over the conversation.
"We don't want any trouble, do you understand? Just show us the way to get out of here, and we'll be on our way!" Bilbo said loudly.
"Why? is its lost?" Gollum asks about the trio.
Of which Bilbo nods to Gollum's question.
"Yes, yes, and we want to be unlost as soon as possible," Bilbo answers.
Causing Gollum's face to light up as he points to his right.
"Oh! We knows! We knows safe paths for hobbitses and non-hobbitses. Safe paths in the dark," Gollum replies cheerfully.
Turning to their left, Sam, Bilbo and Gilly look relieved, only for Gollum to look angry.
"Shut up!" Gollum yells out as he puts his head down.
Which brought confusion to the trio.
"We didn't say anything," Bilbo tells Gollum.
Who quickly shot up seconds after putting his head down.
"Wasn't talking to you," Gollum retorts back.
Gollum crouches behind the stone and begins talking to himself.
"Well, yes, we was, precious, we was," Gollum says to himself.
"Gollum does talk rather strangely," Prince Oberyn admits after Tyrion pointed it out a few minutes prior.
"That he does," Olenna Tyrell says to Oberyn.
While not seeing eye to eye with the Red Viper, but considering Willas is friends with Oberyn, she will be kind for now, she knew Prince Oberyn has a point about this Gollum creature, who keeps stranger and stranger.
Tyrion couldn't help but chuckle at Gollum's remark about goblins.
"At least he doesn't like goblins either," Tyrion casually remarks.
"That is true," Varys responds to Tyrion.
Mace Tyrell doesn't know which is worse, being stuck with Gollum or the Great-Gobin? But he chooses to not ask or answer that question.
"Goblins are a disgusting lot," Mace Tyrell adds.
Garlan agrees with his father.
"That, they are father, that they are," Garlan says to his father.
Once everyone saw Gollum was talking/arguing with himself, it brought worry to most in the dragon pit.
"What is wrong with him?" Arya asks loudly.
Oberyn decides to answer the young Stark girl.
"When someone is isolated from other people for so long, they will begin talking to themselves to not lose their wits. Sadly, all it does is delay the inevitable, a known example is Aerys Targaryen or The Mad King. My sister Elia once wrote to me in a letter, of how she heard him talk to himself, though it was more of arguing with himself, " Oberyn explains to Arya.
Arya is stunned at the answer.
"I didn't know that," Arya said to Oberyn.
"Not many do, and now you know," Oberyn calmly responds to Arya.
Bran and Sansa are shocked to hear the Red Viper's answer and his explanation, knowing the Mad King talked to himself or even argue with himself.
Jaime and Ser Barristan both got flashbacks of Aerys Targaryen when Gollum argued with himself, recalling a handful of times they will hear/see the Mad King talking/arguing with himself.
The two Kingsguard saw what the other was thinking and give one another a simple nod of understanding.
Olenna Tyrell did recall seeing the Mad King talk to himself but never arguing with himself and if she did, it is nowhere near as bad as Gollum does and she fears Gollum is much older than Aerys Targaryen.
Bilbo looks annoyed at Gollum's behaviour.
"Look, I don't know what your game is, but I -" Bilbo begins saying.
Only for Gollum's eyes widen with excitement as he jumps up.
"Games?! We love games, don't we, precious?" Gollums yells out with joy.
Jumping on top of the boulder on all fours with the same excitement in his eyes as he turns to Bilbo and Sam.
"Do they like games? Do they? Do they? Do they like to play?" Gollum asks the trio as he lets out a brief laugh.
Bilbo and Sam look at one another on what to do, but in the end, they need a way out of the Misty Mountains, leaving them to agree and play along, if it means for them to get out of the Misty Mountains.
"Sure," Sam said first.
"Why not," Bilbo said right after Sam.
"A game?" Arya said with confusion.
Bran agreed with his sister, why did Gollum want to play games with Sam and Bilbo.
"Why would he want to play a game?" Bran asked.
Tyrion chose to answer Bran's question.
"Gollum doesn't get that much company, considering he lives in the Misty Mountains. I dare say, this is likely the most company Gollum had in a very long time," Tyrion answers Bran's question.
Gollum's mood swings even remind Jaime and Ser Barristan of the Mad King.
Lord Varys is curious about what kind of game does Gollum wants to play with Bilbo and Sam.
"I hope it isn't anything vile," Lady Melessa remarked.
Not wanting her son to be more injured than he already is.
"Same here, mother," Talia agreed with her mother.
Dickon gave a nod of agreement with his mother and sister.
"Let's hope it doesn't require them to do anything psychical. Sam's injury will need to heal," Dickon adds.
Gollum holds up his hand and begins to recite a riddle.
"What has roots nobody sees, is taller than trees. Up, up, up it goes, and yet never grows?" Gollum tells the riddle.
"Is that riddle?" Arya asks around.
Ned Stark nods to his daughter's question.
"It is, Arya, though I do not know the answer, or I never did like riddles," Ned tells his daughter.
Ned Stark's answer did not surprise many in the dragon pit, King Robert recalled Ned wasn't fond of them back in their youth.
Letting out a chuckle when at Ned being annoyed by Elbert answering Ned's questions with riddles, he wasn't the smartest person but even he knew some of the riddles Elbert told Ned.
Ned was no idiot, the King knew that much, unlike he and Elbert, who were heirs to a respective Kingdom, Ned was a second son and was his brother Brandon's heir, who in turn was their father's heir of the North.
"Are you well, Robert?" Jon Arryn asked the King.
King Robert brushes off the question.
"I'm fine, Jon, just thinking back at when me and Ned, first arrived at the Eyrie. Elbert annoyed the shit out of Ned with riddles from that book you gave Elbert on his name day," King Robert answers Jon Arryn.
The Hand of the King recalls the memory, Ned never did like riddles after that, it must have made Ned feel like a fool and instead of learning them, he just had a disdain for them, he chuckles at the memory of a young Ned calling riddles 'Southern games', but it did help him to work harder than Robert or Elbert.
For he was also the only one who was always on time for their studies and gave it his all when training with his sword, being one of the few who could stand his own against Robert with his Warhammer.
Jon Arryn smiles fondly at the memory of how close Elbert, Robert and Ned were near the end of the latter two's fostering in the Eyrie.
"I wonder what it could mean?" Bran asks around.
Seeing some of the adults are thinking of an answer and knowing his father isn't going to help, Bran decided to repeat the riddle.
"What has roots nobody sees, is taller than trees. Up, up, up it goes, and yet never grows?" Bran repeats the riddle in his poor impression of Gollum.
Bran was unaware he made Shireen Baratheon and Lyanna Mormont giggle in response to his impression of Gollum, even Arya snickered at her brother's impression before joining in.
"What is it, precious? What is it?" Arya said in her impression of Gollum's voice.
Prince Oberyn could be seen chuckling when he overhears Arya and Bran's impression of Gollum, a part of him regrets not bringing some of his daughters with him and Elarria, the Stark children, mainly the younger two would have gotten along with his daughters.
Tyrion and Varys were in deep thought on what the answer is, this went unnoticed by Tyrion's niece and nephew.
"Do you know the answer, uncle?" Myrcella asks Tyrion.
The self-titled halfling is rubbing his chin to think of an answer.
"I am thinking of it, Myrcella. My knowledge of riddles is a bit rusty at the time being, I was too busy absorbing everything about this Middle-Earth," Tyrion answers his niece.
Tommen smiles at his uncle.
"You'll get it, uncle, you're knowledge of things is bigger than a mountain," Tommen sweetly says to his uncle and bringing his hand up as high as he could.
Soon as he said this, Tyrion's eyes widen in surprise, as well as Varys who smiled at not seeing the answer sooner.
"Tommen, you little genius. I know the answer!" Tyrion proudly proclaimed.
"As do I," Varys softly adds.
Before Tyrion or Varys could say the answer.
The flames cut to Bilbo and Sam, who just figured it out.
"A mountain!" Sam and Bilbo say to Gollum.
"I was right," Tyrion says with pride.
"Same Lord Tyrion, shame it took me a while to solve it," Varys admits.
Tyrion faces Tommen and ruffles his hair.
"Would have taken me a bit longer, if you didn't mention a mountain, Tommen," Tyrion says to his nephew.
Tommen couldn't help but smile knowing he indirectly helped his uncle on finding out the answer.
"Thank you, uncle," Tommen sweetly thanks his uncle.
Tyrion shook his head.
"No thank you, Tommen," Tyrion corrects his nephew.
Shireen is amazed at the answer.
"It makes sense, mountains are taller than trees and they never grow, wish I knew sooner," Shireen states the obvious.
Renly looks at his niece and smiles at her.
"Better late than never," Renly tells his niece.
Stannis observed the scene of his brother and daughter, having a soft smile on his face at the sight of his daughter's smile after Renly's comment.
"A mountain?" Arya said in shock.
Bran nods at his sister.
"Like what Shireen Baratheon said, mountains are bigger than trees and they don't grow," Bran explains to Arya.
Lord Varys paid attention to the children's reactions to the riddles, it was sweet to see children getting along and who would have thought it would be with riddles?
Only to glance at 'the prince' Joffrey, who is seated beside his mother and is fuming for not getting the riddle sooner, Varys shook his head in shame.
He knows Stannis and Jon Arryn know the truth about Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen are not Robert's children but are Jaime's children with Cersei, he prays the children do not die from the sins of their parents.
With Ned Stark here, perhaps he could convince the King to spare them, for he knows King Robert will listen to him.
Lady Melessa felt pride in Sam for figuring out the riddle, she knew her firstborn was a smart child, reminding her of her father, both are kind gentle souls who love books.
Dickon and Talia chuckle at Sam knowing the riddle, Talia knew her brother was smarter than he let on and Dickon felt proud of Sam, he struggled on the riddle and Sam beat him to it.
Both turn to their father, who did not look impressed at all, Dickon and Talia shook their heads at one another in shame of their father. Sure Sam isn't a fighter, but he makes up for it with his heart and knowledge, even having the courage to protect Bilbo from a goblin after getting injured.
"Sam should be able to convince Gollum to help them out," Talia said to Dickon.
Who agreed with his sister.
"Same," Dickon said.
Gollum nods and lets out a laugh.
"Yes, yes! Oh, let's have another one. Come on, do it again, do it again! Ask us," Gollum asks Sam and Bilbo.
Only to stop and look angry.
"NO! No more riddles! Finish him off! Finish him now! Gollum! Gollum!" Gollum tells himself.
Gollum begins to lunge at Bilbo first, but the hobbit holds up his hand.
"No! No! We want to play, we do," Bilbo tells Gollum.
Using his free hand to point to himself and Sam.
"Yes, yes we do," Sam says to Gollum.
"I can see that you are very good at this," Bilbo adds.
"Yes, you are very good at this game," Sam said as well.
Once Gollum hears Sam and Bilbo telling him they want to play and he is good at riddles, his angry expression turns to one of joy.
"So, why don't we have a game of riddles? Yes? Just the four of us," Bilbo says to Gollum.
Pointing to himself, Sam and Gollum, the latter of which nods with delight.
"Just us?" Gollum asks.
Bilbo gives him a nod in response.
"Yes. Yes. And if we win, you show us the way out," Bilbo says to Gollum.
As he points to himself, Sam and Gilly, the latter of which is not playing.
With a growl, Gollum turns away. He crouches behind the stone, talking to himself.
"And if they loses? What then?" Gollum asks himself.
This brings worry to Sam and Bilbo, while Gilly is just confused about what's going on.
"If they loses, precious, then we eats them," Gollum answers himself.
Who then pops from behind the stone.
"If Baggins and Tarlyes loses, we eats them whole," Gollum casually responds to them.
Bilbo pauses, digesting this information with Sam.
Reluctantly, the hobbit begins to sheath his sword and Sam puts his axe down.
"Fair enough," Bilbo says to Gollum.
The End of Chapter 16.
Hope you all liked this chapter, one of my longest chapters in a while.
Like I said earlier, Chapter 16 was split into two parts and Chapter 17 will cover the rest of the encounter with Gollum but it will end on a high note.
Hope you all liked the introduction of Gilly, even if she didn't do much in the chapter, but don't worry we'll see her do more as the story progresses.
The reason I brought her in the story is that Sam needs some love too, and I always did like their chemistry in the show, their actors did a good job in the roles.
Chapter 17 will be out within a couple of days.
Also, I would like to thank you all for liking the story and as of (October 14th, 2020).
This story has 180 people who have it as favourites and 223 who are following it.
Answering Questions/Reviews.
Perseus12: Bobby B is gonna be more proud of Gendry as the story goes on, as well as being envious of his son in the Battle of the Five Armies. For Sam, I wanted to give him a moment to shine in the previous chapter and show his true courage. Hope you liked their reaction to knowing Azog the Defiler lives. I always intended on bringing Jorah into the story, the Goblin-town scene helped me find a way to bring him in. The other two are Tormund and Ygritte, love the characters and Tormund is one of my favourite characters from the show.
Don't worry, we'll get the battle/escape of Goblin-town in Chapter 18.
PuffyGirl1952 the 2nd: We'll see more of them in Chapter 18.
VFSNAKE: Thanks for loving it. I wanted to give Sam a moment to shine. You'll probably have to wait and see Chapter 17 when it comes out.
MiguelGiulianoCo: Thanks for liking the chapter, chapter 18 is going to be a crazy one when I get there. I am looking forward to seeing Ygritte and Tormund's interaction with the likes of Margaery, Loras, Gendry, Sam and the others.
Asteroth1: Thanks for liking it. I wrote the vomiting scene cause it was bound to happen to one of the members of Thorin & Company to puke, so I went with Loras and Gendry, plus I thought it would be funny. Thanks for enjoying the story, to be fair cliffhangers kill me as well, especially when it gets interesting.
I plan on doing a Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones sequel down the line.
Guest1: Thanks for looking forward to my future chapters and liking my story. After I finish the Unexpected Journey Arc and when I get to the Desolation of Smaug Arc, I plan to make 1-3 prequel chapters on their lives in Middle-Earth was before they arrived at Bag End.
Guest2: Thanks for enjoying my story, I love the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit books and films, and it surprised on not many fics are out there with Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice & Fire characters go to Middle-Earth or vice-versa, thanks for looking forward to my future chapters and arcs. Take care of yourself and your loved ones as well.
kingmanaena: Thanks for liking, I wanted Sam to have a moment in the story and I thought Sam would be the best choice to be with Bilbo when he encounters Gollum. We'll see everyone in action during Chapter 18, hope you liked the encounter with Gollum.
sniperbro1998: Thanks for liking the chapter, you'll have to wait and see in Chapter 18 for that one. Hope you liked the encounter with Gollum, it was a fun part of the story to write and one of my favourite moments in An Unexpected Journey, they probably won't know of Gollum's true origin until I do the sequel. Because I have not read the book in a while, I am going to use Bolg from the film instead. For the question about Jon, you'll have to wait and see when I get to the Desolation of Smaug Arc.
No need to apologize, I would say Azog is better due to being a more experienced fighter and because of his reputation. Bolg is both loyal and afraid of his father, hope that helps with your question/review, and no need to apologize for asking.
ro781727: How Jorah, Tormund, Ygritte and Gilly arriving at Middle-Earth won't be properly explained until Desolation of Smaug Arc. Yeah moving sucks, don't know anyone who likes moving lol. Yep, the other woman is indeed Gilly from the chapter as Melisandre is with the folk in the dragon pit. You take care as well.
Guest3: I plan on adding that scene, it will give a lot of development on Thranduil and make many in the dragon pit understand his motive and be touched by Gandalf's words to him.
Guest4: Sadly not all of the Westerosi in Middle-Earth are going to survive the story, some of them will die in the Battle of the Five Armies. Maybe they will, maybe they will not?
Guest5: Thanks for loving the story, the escape of Goblin-town will be in the next chapter, you'll have to wait and see who will kill the Great-Goblin in Chapter 18.
walkandtalk: Thanks for loving how I meshed both worlds together, it honestly took a while to do and was quite challenging at first, and thank you for enjoying the story.
Mallany: Thanks for liking it, a handful of people are looking forward to them and thanks for reading my story.