"Sweetie, are you ok?"
Kara sighed and unfolded her arms. "No..." She murmured. "He...I don't know, he's just so unfair."
"He's Thorin Oakenshield, Kara. He was made to be unfair." Fili reassured with a slight chuckle as he slumped against the stone wall and let out a huge sigh. They both looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw Thorin approaching them cautiously. Fili blinked, a plan forming in his brain and he turned to his brother. "We'll back her up, ok?" Kili nodded and Fili cleared his throat. "Yes brother, I agree, Bilbo is a very good addition to this company."
Thorin stood in front of them and crossed his arms as Fili silently urged Kili to continue. "Uh..." The archer stammered. "Yeah! I like his..." Kili snapped his fingers for something to say. "Eyebrows...?"
Kara frowned. "Eyebrows?" She mouthed to Fili who shrugged before looking up at their uncle and faking a smile.
"I was going to say that you three need to sleep. I want to get out of this cave at first light; there is something about it that I don't like."
Kara couldn't help but silently agree. There was something dangerous about this cave - she wasn't sure what, but the feeling that a major calamity was lingering somewhere, the foul stench, the way whenever she uttered a word the stone walls seemed to carry the sound...all of it. She wanted to get out of here.
"M'kay." She mumbled. Thorin looked like he wanted to say more but clamped his lips shut, nodded in acceptance and strolled away to tell Bofur that he was on first watch.
Her brothers went to gather them some water and in this duration of time the hobbit walked over unsurely and when she didn't say anything he sheepishly sat next to her. "Greetings, master Baggins."
"Hello, Miss Kara." He returned. "I wanted to thank you for saying that out there."
She smiled and shook her head. "It's not a big deal. He says stuff like that all the time - it's hard to win over his trust but he'll come around...eventually."
Bilbo sighed. "No he won't."
"Trust me. He will." Kara giggled slightly as a memory surfaced at that moment. "When we were little our uncle didn't trust us with anything, and I mean this, but one day he was left to babysit us and he wasn't sure how to cook, so me and my brothers attempted to make a dish and it looked completely unappetizing but it tasted amazing. He didn't want us to use any kitchen appliances but, of course, we did and he began to trust us from then on. I suppose it's because he didn't have to tell my mother that he fed us cereal."
The hobbit smiled slightly. "Does he know how to cook now?"
"I mean, he usually burns it. But in a way." She smiled. "Don't tell him I told you." Bilbo nodded and looked to the ceiling with a little laugh. "So, master burglar. How do hobbits get educated?"
"Books." He answered simply. "Many, many books. I just read everything that my mother thought I needed to read. What about you?"
"We got home tutored by Balin, but sometimes the younger dwarves from the Blue Mountains sat in a hall and we got taught by other tutors with them. One of them was so evil, and he used to blame everything on Kili. Every little thing. It was pretty hilarious." Both laughed at that, and had one of those really long conversations about life until Fili and Kili rejoined them with full bottles of water in their hands.
"Master Boggins!" Kili greeted as he sat down and handed a bottle of water to his sister who drank gratefully. Her throat was raw and she was gagging for even a sip of liquid.
"It's Baggins." Bilbo corrected.
Kili frowned. "No it's not."
Bilbo slapped his hands to his knees in irritation. "Shouldn't I know?"
"Yeah, you should!" Kili exclaimed as Fili shook his head with a slight chuckle.
"Kara, sleep sister." He said after a quiet few seconds.
She wanted to protest but felt her eyelids drooping so she gratefully sank on to her already laid out bedroll and did just that.
"...You're used to...to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!" The words blurred into one and she found herself sitting bolt upright at the fact that she could be asleep whilst everyone else was awake but found that not to be the case. Bofur and Bilbo were so fixed in conversation they didn't even notice her awareness of their talking.
Bilbo noticed the look of hurt on Bofur's face and immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry. I didn't..."
"No you're right." Bofur interrupted him. "We don't belong anywhere." He met Kara's eyes briefly who tilted her head questioningly, but Bofur turned back to the hobbit. "I wish you all the luck in the world." he clasped Bilbo on the shoulder. "I really do."
"Wait, wait, what?" Kara hissed as she stood up, careful not to jostle and awaken her sleeping brothers. Bilbo jumped at her sudden appearance and Bofur just looked sad. "You're leaving?"
"It's better this way." Bilbo whispered.
"Did you not listen to anything I said to you earlier? You're going to let one lone dwarf king get to you?"
"He won't ever accept me, Kara. I just have to realise that."
"Yes, he will!" She urged as Bofur put a comforting hand on her shoulder in a vain attempt to stop her argumentative tone, and she was about to continue when her keen eyesight caught Bilbo's sword in its sheath which was glowing blue. "What is that?" She asked, cautiously knitting her brows together but before she knew what was happening Thorin was on his feet as the floor began to crack, barking authoritatively at everyone to wake up which they immediately did. Before they knew what was happening...before they could even react, the ground opened up beneath them and swallowed them whole.
She let out a yelp of surprise when she collided with a wall and was then ricocheted back into the tunnel that she had apparently been falling through. It wall all a bit of a daze, and before she knew it she was a top Gloin's stomach who grunted at the contact. She scrambled off of him in a panic and whipped her head back and forth for whatever was emitting the unified roars along with a series of screeches which sent chills down her spine, and when she saw them she inhaled a gasp of horror. "Goblins!" She yelled.
"Move!" Fili exclaimed as he hauled her up and they began to sprint. It wasn't enough. Hordes of said creatures swarmed towards them and before she could even reach for a knife her arms were in the worlds firmest locks and if she wriggled and escaped another goblin would be there in an instant, before she could so much as blink. She couldn't win. There wasn't an escape.
The thought made her feel slightly claustrophobic as she continued to be manhandled down the maze of stone halls, along platforms, up stairs...she was lost. With an angry cry she smashed her elbow into the face of one of the ones holding her and felt the creature's nose break with a sickening crunch. It released her yet instantly another three leant their comrade aid, smashing their fists into Kara's chest which knocked the air from her lungs.
As she gasped for breath she snarled, though it came out more as the wheezing sound of a dying cat whilst she fought her attackers in vain.
She reached an arm towards Fili who was screaming her name as he searched around for her, and she sighed in relief when she saw the company being herded just in front of her. Her arm was smacked down though, and a whip cracked on her back, dragging a startled scream from her lips which unintentionally angered her family even more, giving them the extra adrenaline to fight even harder but it was all for nothing.
A booming voice met her ears and she tried to peer up whilst keeping her head straight forward, for movement seemed to get her a whip and she wasn't particularly longing for anymore.
"I feel a song coming on!" A song?!
Like...now?
And what the heck was the source of the sound?
Clap, snap, the black crack
Grip, grab, pinch, and nab
Batter and beat
Make 'em stammer and squeak!
Pound pound, far underground
Down, down, down in Goblin Town
With a swish and smack
And a whip and a crack
Everybody talks when they're on my rack
Pound pound, far underground
Down, down, down in Goblin Town
Hammer and tongs, get out your knockers and gongs
You won't last long on the end of my prongs
Clash, crash, crush and smish
Bang, break, shiver and shake
You can yammer and yelp
But there ain't no help
Pound pound, far underground
Down, down, down in Goblin Town
As she observed her surroundings in the duration of the song she was honestly quite confused. There was a bunch of goblins banging on drums, for mahals sake! "Uncle!" She called, earning a smack to the back but he turned around and she cocked her head questioningly. What's the plan?
His response was a shrug and a slight head shake, trying to muster all of his comfort through his eyes to his niece whom he had yet to properly apologize to but his neck was smacked and he turned back around, smashing into his company who had all come to an abrupt halt in front of a chair.
Kara's mouth dropped open at the size, disgustiness and scariness at the gigantic creature who towered proudly over his crowd whilst spinning around on the final note of his ridiculous song.
He smiled victoriously before turning around, stepping on a couple of goblins who let out pain filled squeals as he climbed onto his unbelievably large throne. "Catchy, isn't it?" He asked with a sneer.
"No." Kara muttered under her breath.
"It's one of my own compositions."
"That's not a song." Balin spoke up. "Its an abomination!"
The goblins screeched around him as some of the dwarves cheered in agreement. Fili gripped her wrist like a lock and she tried to shake it away, the blood not fulfilling its full needed circulation but he didn't seem to notice.
"Abomination, mutations, deviations, that's all your gonna find down here." He informed them before the goblins yanked out their bigger weapons and threw them onto the floor in a pile, sounding a clank. She jumped up and down in irritation, staring longingly at her sword as the hilt got covered by Dwalin's axe. "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" He asked as he leaned forward and observed the crowd before his feet. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"
"Dwarves, your malevolence." The goblin who was seemingly his little henchman snivelled.
"Dwarves?" The goblin king questioned, as though it was a rare occurrence indeed that a party of fourteen dwarves would wound up in his caves.
"Found em on the front porch."
"Well don't just stand there. Search them! Every crack, every crevice!" He ordered and the goblins immediately did said order, crushing Oin's hearing trumpet and digging their hands into Kara's boots, pulling out many of her knives (though they missed the one hidden in her shoulder braces), before stepping away with huffs of satisfaction.
"It is my belief, your great marvelonce, that they are in league with elves!" The same little helper goblin that was really beginning to get under her skin informed the king. She silently vowed she was going to kill him if it was the last thing she did.
"Made in Rivendell." The king murmured as he observed one of their objects. "Second age. Couldn't give it away."
"Just a couple of keepsakes." Nori mumbled after a quiet few seconds.
"What are you doing in these parts?" The king demanded, either ignoring the last comment or it went unheard to him. "Speak!" Kara cringed at the flabiness of his chin whenever he moved his jaw. She was traumatized by the appearance and knew that if she survived this she would be having the odd nightmare about this experience.
"Don't worry lads." Oin glanced at Kara. "And lass. I'll handle this." He pushed his way to the front as Kara furrowed her brow at him, wondering about his plan.
"No tricks. I want the truth!" The great goblin demanded as he slammed his stick on the floor threateningly. "Once and all."
"You're going to have to speak up." Their healer declared. "Your boys flattened me trumpet."
"They flattened it real good." Kara observed with wide eyes as she studied the crushed piece of equipment on the floor.
"I'll flatten more than your trumpet!" He bellowed as he moved forward, carelessly shoving objects that dare stand in his way to the side but Bofur hustled his way to the front before they were crushed and quickly began to speak.
"If it's information you want then I'm the one you should speak to!"
The goblin leaned back with an inhale of slight annoyance yet curiousness at the same time. "Mhm."
"We were on the road. Well it's not so much a road as a path. Actually it's not even that come to think of it, it's more of a track." he rambled. "Anyway. The point is we were on this road like a path like a track, and then we weren't! Which is a problem because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday..."
"Visiting distant relations!" Dori piped up.
"Some of them are on me mothers side..."
"Shut up!" The goblin bellowed, lengthening out each syllable, silencing them all.
Except Kara couldn't help herself. "You asked what we were doing."
Fili elbowed her so hard that the air was knocked out of her lungs for over ten seconds. She forced herself not to pant.
"You would dare talk to me that way?" he questioned.
Kara bit her lip. "I'm just declaring a fact."
The goblin leaned backwards, falling into his chair through a fit of chuckles. "I know someone who will want to see you."
"Kara..." Kili warned.
"And you!" The goblin exclaimed, pointing at Kili, finding a spark of interest in the appearance of the archer. "Bring em to the front."
"No!" Fili yelled, fighting all the more, unable to watch the scene that he was sure was about to play out in front of his eyes. Neither of his siblings deserved to befall this fate. Mahal, why did he let them come!
The goblin king locked eyes with Fili. "Shut goldilocks over there up." He ordered, goblins complying and clamping their grimy hands over Fili's mouth. "He won't want to watch this."
"No!" Fili screamed again though it came out muffled, fighting even harder than previously as he watched his brother and sister being hauled up to the front. He looked desperately in the direction of Thorin who was staring fixedly at the floor and Fili shook his head in disbelief as he stopped making a sound. He just glared daggers at the exiled king.
The goblin leaned over and stared down at the girl who gazed back up defiantly, stubbornness shining brightly in her beautiful orbs. "Now, little one. Care to share why you are here?"
"We were just passing." It was a poor lie, but perhaps the creature was dumber than he looked.
"Passing, you say? And to where, may I ask?"
"My aunt. She lives on the other side of this mountain. These are my companions. What more is there to say?"
"How about the truth?" The goblin questioned, before scoffing at Kara's glare. "Take them to the dungeons." He ordered with a brief wave of his hand.
"No!" Fili exclaimed as he was dragged away, thrashing with his legs to get them to release him but every time he succeeded more would take their companion's place. When he was out of view he felt tears brimming in his eyes and he slumped in defeat, many different plans swirling through his mind as the company around him also stopped.
Thorin stared helplessly as he was dragged further and further away from his loved ones. Mahal Kili, protect her, he prayed with his fingers crossed. He was mad at himself for not speaking up, but he just couldn't afford to give the quest away. There wasn't a right answer for this...and he had barely even apologised, for mahal's sake! Dread clawed its way around his heart at what they may find out in his absence and he opened his mouth to make his presence known, to demand that they take him back, but his voice wouldn't allow him to do so. Even when the words were hanging off of the tip of his tongue.
"Now." The goblin stared at his two toys, placing a thoughtful finger under his chin. "How shall we do this?" He glanced at his hanging cage and grinned evilly. "Who wants to be tortured?"
"Leave her alone!"
"Leave him alone!"
The words exited their lips at the same time and they furrowed their brows at one another.
"Hmm. I love the sound of girl screams." He debated. "But she'll scream if this one gets the torture. Then she might spill the beans." He poked Kili in the chest with his stick who grimaced slightly, but uttered no sound.
"Don't touch him." She hissed at the king who chuckled.
"I do what I want. Put the girl in the cage."
"Leave her!" Kili yelled suddenly, finding his voice. "She didn't do anything! Take it all out on me!"
"No!" Kara argued loudly and she could hear the word echo through the caverns whilst she thrashed, kicked, threw punches and twisted in their grips but as much as she hated to admit it, she was severely outnumbered.
Kili was relieved that it would be him getting the blows, but he didn't like the distressed look on Kara's face as she was thrown inside the cage, the door getting slammed in front of her and she held onto the bars, staring at him in terror as her eyes shone with grief, even though nothing had yet took place.
"How come there are so many weapons?" The king asked as he observed the floor.
"Because there's fourteen of us, stupid." Kili laughed before abruptly stopping at the monster's minacious and murderous glare.
"The whips."
Oh nooo! They're in for it! I wrote this when I was half asleep so sorry if it isn't the best, but I tried! See ya soon!