Fie on all of you nasty non-reviewers! A pox on ye!
...Now that I've gotten all my ye Olde English cursing out, here's the next chapter.
You're all very lucky I decided not to deny you the chance to see Legolas in my fic!
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings.
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,.
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Bilbo managed to spend two years with the dwarves before the desire to travel overtook him again. And anyway, dwarves were 'louder than all my relations back home, not that you heard it from me', so Bilbo made ready to depart.
Ranhaudh, who had spent the years sleeping for weeks, mixed with lots of feasting at random intervals, was more than willing to accompany Bilbo further on his holiday.
"Now I have a new idea in mind," Ranhaudh had said, "I plan to be the first one to read your finished book, other than yourself (for writing with your eyes closed is rather difficult) so I had better stick with you while you write it."
When Bilbo was ready to go, and the majority of the goodbyes had been said, he found Ranhaudh outside the front gate singing. Bilbo waited for the wolf to finish.
"Roll-a-round, up-and-down/
He's that stone a-flying past/
Turn around, bounce around/
He is covered in gray grass/
Rumble-roll, humble-bow/
Looks just like a little knoll/
Bounce around, bounce again/
He goes on through mount and fen/
Up-and-down, going free/
A-flying where he needs to be!"
When he was asked what the song was about, Ranhaudh just shrugged off the questions he was given, saying it was just an old song, nothing to make a big fuss over. Then, after the last round of goodbyes, Bilbo hopped onto Ranhaudh's back - lately the Hobbit had been feeling a little sore when moving about and the wolf was more than willing to oblige him - and they headed off towards the Lake and the forest.
King Dain had informed them that the Necromancer in the South of Mirkwood was gone for good, although the woods themselves were still rather unsafe, and Bilbo had decided to take a proper visit to the home of the woodland elves: that was, one as a guest, not as a prisoner or a burglar.
They reached the edge of Mirkwood by the middle of the third day - because Ranhaudh was going very slowly, so they could enjoy the scenery - and Ranhaudh's keen nose directed them to the parts where the elves came more often. . .
Bilbo walked from this point, but he and Ranhaudh kept close together. A short way into the forest, they made camp.
"I wonder if anyone still lives here?" Bilbo wondered as he set all the things in his pack in order.
"Do you think they might have moved to the southern part of the woods?" Ranhaudh asked, "I didn't think there were a lot of elves here recently, but I think a great deal of spiders have been by."
"Ugh," Bilbo said with a big shudder, "I don't like spiders. And I was the one that got away!"
.
.
.
.;
.
."Then you must be a clever little fly indeed," came a voice from behind Bilbo.
.Bilbo was very surprised, upon turning round, to find himself eye-to-eye with an arrow. The elf that was pointing it at him was accompanied by three others, who had their arrows on Ranhaudh. Bilbo considered the situation for a moment, then turned to the wolf.
"You might have said something about there being elves here right now," Bilbo admonished Ranhaudh.
"What, and ruin their attempts to hide in those beech trees?"
Ranhaudh laughed, and Bilbo hid a chuckle, but the elves were not amused.
"Oh really now, I thought being named an elf-friend meant you could visit them once in a while," Bilbo said as he turned back to the elf aiming for him.
"Who named you elf-friend?" the elf inquired.
"It was the King of this wood himself," Bilbo announced proudly, "Just before Beorn and Gandalf and I took the northern way around the forest, and I gave him a necklace of silver and pearls - for though I am a burglar (retired now) I have always been an honest one."
"Mithrandir? A necklace? Ah, Burglar Baggins," the elf said with a sudden burst of recognition, "So that is who you are. But is this companion of yours named elf-friend as well?"
"I don't recall being named as such," Ranhaudh said, "But I might have been sleeping, and this Age is still hale for those things! I am Ranhaudh, son of the Hunter, and I am a friend of an elf-friend, if that counts for anything."
The elf considered this, and lowered his bow, loosening the arrow from the string. The other elves did so as well.
"My apologies," he said, "Some days, it is hard to tell friend from foe." . .
.
.
.
.
The elves sat down and introduced themselves properly: Tavor, Lithen, Legolas, and Dilith. Legolas, who had been the one with his arrow pointed at Bilbo, turned out to be one of the sons of the King Thranduil, and had realized Bilbo was being truthful because he had heard the tale straight from his father and had seen the necklace firsthand.
Bilbo thought nothing of it, and Ranhaudh found the whole thing funny, so they asked the elves if they would mind having a little lunch with them. The elves were more than happy to, as they had no provisions and were very hungry, even if the food was suspiciously dwarfish.
An alarming picture drew itself as Legolas explained the situation more clearly over the meal. The four of them had been in the south on some errand for a while - they would not say what it was exactly - and when they had returned, it was to find their homes filled with spiders. . .
.
.
.
.
.
"When the White Council drove the Necromancer out and laid ruin to Dol Guldur, a lot of the biggest and most dangerous spiders were driven northwards," Legolas said, "When we came back, all of our parts of the Wood were filled with them. We've been trying to pick them off as best we can, but the biggest ones are in the palace, which is underground, and a lot of our people have been captured inside, including the King."
"That is awful!" Bilbo said, "Spiders in the palace? What about the Magic Doors?"
"No one knows how they got in, but it wasn't through our doors," Legolas said with a faint touch of pride, "But if you have come to visit, I'm afraid this is a bad time."
"And confound it, we have come to visit as well," Bilbo said, "I'm on holiday, but it appears that I shall have to take a holiday from my holiday and help. I remember the palace very fondly (despite all circumstances) and I shudder to think of the terrible mess the spiders have made there. They should be driven out at once."
"Some have tried," Dilith said, "And were snared for it. The South Spiders have allied themselves with the ones that live near us normally, so they all know how to catch elves."
"Well, they may be able to catch an elf, but they can't catch a hobbit," Bilbo said, "And it will be even better if some of them remember the both of us!"
"You and Ranhaudh?" Tavor asked skeptically.
"Myself and Sting," Bilbo corrected, drawing the short blade for them to see.
"Sting is my name. I am the spider's bane," Legolas read the inscription on the blade, "Someone from Imladris inscribed that, I shouldn't wonder, but this is a stoke of luck. Very well, Master Baggins, how would you like to proceed?"
"First, we should know how the spiders have gotten inside the palace," Bilbo said, "Perhaps we can sneak in the same way."
"The only entrance is the Doors," Lithen said.
"No windows, no secret tunnels?"
"None."
.
.
.
.
.
.Bilbo recalled something.
"What about the water-gate? Has that been blocked?"
"The water-gate? Where they throw out the barrels? That gate's almost never closed," Legolas said with confusion, "You think the spiders got in through there?"
"Some of the smaller ones could do it," Dilith said after a moment's thought, "And they'd be driven out through the main gate…"
"Where all the really big spiders would be waiting," Bilbo finished, "And if it was a surprise attack, perhaps the water-gate is still open."
"But even if it is open, we'll be stuck inside the cellars when all the spiders come after us," Tavor said.Legolas gave Tavor an odd look, and the two began conversing in Elvish. Arguing was more like it, for an argument it was. Bilbo's Elvish was not very good, but he understood enough to know that Tavor was against the idea of sneaking in through the water-gate only to get eaten by spiders, and Legolas was more than willing to try anything that could free the palace. If Dilith and Lithen had any opinions either way, they did not mention them, and Ranhaudh had dozed off after eating another meat pie. Finally, Tavor agreed to go through with the plan, though he still wasn't happy about it.
"If we draw out most of the spiders through the main gate, the ones sneaking inside should be less noticed," Bilbo said when the argument had ended.
They then realized Bilbo understood Elvish, and agreed to follow his plan whole-heartedly. First (after waking Ranhaudh up again) the six of them crept to where the water-gate lay. It appeared mostly closed, but then it creaked its way mostly open, and something came through it.
"Are the spiders throwing away their empty barrels now?" Tavor asked incredulously. .
.
.
.
"That's no barrel," Ranhaudh said, and quite suddenly dove into the water.
What he dragged back to shore was not even close to a barrel: it was in fact an elf. Bilbo was certain the elf was dead, but Ranhaudh insisted otherwise, and the wolf soon proved the right. It was, however, a very ill elf. Calling off the plan (for the moment, only) they took the elf back to where Bilbo, Ranhaudh, and now the elves had made their camp.It was a worrisome night, but the next morning the elf they had rescued woke up and was able to talk, though he was still very weak. He was called Tathar, and was a guard in the palace, and knew Legolas well by sight. After getting some food and water, Tathar was well able to explain what had happened.
The little spiders had come in over a few days, sneaking inside the palace cellars, until there were very many of them. When the attempts to kill them failed, the Elvenking had attempted to send for more elves from outside the palace: his messengers were snared and the palace taken by overwhelming numbers of the giant Southern Spiders, at least a hundred altogether, not including the smaller local spiders. .
.
.
.
"Those they didn't snare right away are trapped in the dungeons," Tathar said, "Some of the royal house are in the very lowest ones, I think. The spiders will sometimes attack the trapped, capturing more of us while we try to fight back. There's little food, less water, and many were becoming sick when I was taken, but the spiders must have been throwing those of our people they did not want to eat through the water-gate all this time."
As it turned out, the spiders were being lead by a particularly giant spider, one that had spent time dwelling in Dol Guldur and was organizing things much as they had been organized in the tower, except that now The Spider had taken the place of The Necromancer, and the spiders replaced the orcs.
After another day of rest, Tathar was nearly well again, and they sent him to go find help amongst those of their kin that had escaped to the Lake, whilst Legolas, Bilbo, and Tavor went back to the gate. Lithen, Dilith, and Ranhaudh remained behind to await reinforcements, but not before Bilbo had taken Ranhaudh aside to instruct him in a very important thing, and Ranhaudh laughed before departing with the other elves. .
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PS: I don't know if Bilbo actually has anything written on his sword. I think that's what Elrond would have ordered put on after hearing about Bilbo's previous adventures, though!
...Now that I've gotten all my ye Olde English cursing out, here's the next chapter.
You're all very lucky I decided not to deny you the chance to see Legolas in my fic!
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings.
. .
,.
.
.
.
.
Bilbo managed to spend two years with the dwarves before the desire to travel overtook him again. And anyway, dwarves were 'louder than all my relations back home, not that you heard it from me', so Bilbo made ready to depart.
Ranhaudh, who had spent the years sleeping for weeks, mixed with lots of feasting at random intervals, was more than willing to accompany Bilbo further on his holiday.
"Now I have a new idea in mind," Ranhaudh had said, "I plan to be the first one to read your finished book, other than yourself (for writing with your eyes closed is rather difficult) so I had better stick with you while you write it."
When Bilbo was ready to go, and the majority of the goodbyes had been said, he found Ranhaudh outside the front gate singing. Bilbo waited for the wolf to finish.
"Roll-a-round, up-and-down/
He's that stone a-flying past/
Turn around, bounce around/
He is covered in gray grass/
Rumble-roll, humble-bow/
Looks just like a little knoll/
Bounce around, bounce again/
He goes on through mount and fen/
Up-and-down, going free/
A-flying where he needs to be!"
When he was asked what the song was about, Ranhaudh just shrugged off the questions he was given, saying it was just an old song, nothing to make a big fuss over. Then, after the last round of goodbyes, Bilbo hopped onto Ranhaudh's back - lately the Hobbit had been feeling a little sore when moving about and the wolf was more than willing to oblige him - and they headed off towards the Lake and the forest.
King Dain had informed them that the Necromancer in the South of Mirkwood was gone for good, although the woods themselves were still rather unsafe, and Bilbo had decided to take a proper visit to the home of the woodland elves: that was, one as a guest, not as a prisoner or a burglar.
They reached the edge of Mirkwood by the middle of the third day - because Ranhaudh was going very slowly, so they could enjoy the scenery - and Ranhaudh's keen nose directed them to the parts where the elves came more often. . .
Bilbo walked from this point, but he and Ranhaudh kept close together. A short way into the forest, they made camp.
"I wonder if anyone still lives here?" Bilbo wondered as he set all the things in his pack in order.
"Do you think they might have moved to the southern part of the woods?" Ranhaudh asked, "I didn't think there were a lot of elves here recently, but I think a great deal of spiders have been by."
"Ugh," Bilbo said with a big shudder, "I don't like spiders. And I was the one that got away!"
.
.
.
.;
.
."Then you must be a clever little fly indeed," came a voice from behind Bilbo.
.Bilbo was very surprised, upon turning round, to find himself eye-to-eye with an arrow. The elf that was pointing it at him was accompanied by three others, who had their arrows on Ranhaudh. Bilbo considered the situation for a moment, then turned to the wolf.
"You might have said something about there being elves here right now," Bilbo admonished Ranhaudh.
"What, and ruin their attempts to hide in those beech trees?"
Ranhaudh laughed, and Bilbo hid a chuckle, but the elves were not amused.
"Oh really now, I thought being named an elf-friend meant you could visit them once in a while," Bilbo said as he turned back to the elf aiming for him.
"Who named you elf-friend?" the elf inquired.
"It was the King of this wood himself," Bilbo announced proudly, "Just before Beorn and Gandalf and I took the northern way around the forest, and I gave him a necklace of silver and pearls - for though I am a burglar (retired now) I have always been an honest one."
"Mithrandir? A necklace? Ah, Burglar Baggins," the elf said with a sudden burst of recognition, "So that is who you are. But is this companion of yours named elf-friend as well?"
"I don't recall being named as such," Ranhaudh said, "But I might have been sleeping, and this Age is still hale for those things! I am Ranhaudh, son of the Hunter, and I am a friend of an elf-friend, if that counts for anything."
The elf considered this, and lowered his bow, loosening the arrow from the string. The other elves did so as well.
"My apologies," he said, "Some days, it is hard to tell friend from foe." . .
.
.
.
.
The elves sat down and introduced themselves properly: Tavor, Lithen, Legolas, and Dilith. Legolas, who had been the one with his arrow pointed at Bilbo, turned out to be one of the sons of the King Thranduil, and had realized Bilbo was being truthful because he had heard the tale straight from his father and had seen the necklace firsthand.
Bilbo thought nothing of it, and Ranhaudh found the whole thing funny, so they asked the elves if they would mind having a little lunch with them. The elves were more than happy to, as they had no provisions and were very hungry, even if the food was suspiciously dwarfish.
An alarming picture drew itself as Legolas explained the situation more clearly over the meal. The four of them had been in the south on some errand for a while - they would not say what it was exactly - and when they had returned, it was to find their homes filled with spiders. . .
.
.
.
.
.
"When the White Council drove the Necromancer out and laid ruin to Dol Guldur, a lot of the biggest and most dangerous spiders were driven northwards," Legolas said, "When we came back, all of our parts of the Wood were filled with them. We've been trying to pick them off as best we can, but the biggest ones are in the palace, which is underground, and a lot of our people have been captured inside, including the King."
"That is awful!" Bilbo said, "Spiders in the palace? What about the Magic Doors?"
"No one knows how they got in, but it wasn't through our doors," Legolas said with a faint touch of pride, "But if you have come to visit, I'm afraid this is a bad time."
"And confound it, we have come to visit as well," Bilbo said, "I'm on holiday, but it appears that I shall have to take a holiday from my holiday and help. I remember the palace very fondly (despite all circumstances) and I shudder to think of the terrible mess the spiders have made there. They should be driven out at once."
"Some have tried," Dilith said, "And were snared for it. The South Spiders have allied themselves with the ones that live near us normally, so they all know how to catch elves."
"Well, they may be able to catch an elf, but they can't catch a hobbit," Bilbo said, "And it will be even better if some of them remember the both of us!"
"You and Ranhaudh?" Tavor asked skeptically.
"Myself and Sting," Bilbo corrected, drawing the short blade for them to see.
"Sting is my name. I am the spider's bane," Legolas read the inscription on the blade, "Someone from Imladris inscribed that, I shouldn't wonder, but this is a stoke of luck. Very well, Master Baggins, how would you like to proceed?"
"First, we should know how the spiders have gotten inside the palace," Bilbo said, "Perhaps we can sneak in the same way."
"The only entrance is the Doors," Lithen said.
"No windows, no secret tunnels?"
"None."
.
.
.
.
.
.Bilbo recalled something.
"What about the water-gate? Has that been blocked?"
"The water-gate? Where they throw out the barrels? That gate's almost never closed," Legolas said with confusion, "You think the spiders got in through there?"
"Some of the smaller ones could do it," Dilith said after a moment's thought, "And they'd be driven out through the main gate…"
"Where all the really big spiders would be waiting," Bilbo finished, "And if it was a surprise attack, perhaps the water-gate is still open."
"But even if it is open, we'll be stuck inside the cellars when all the spiders come after us," Tavor said.Legolas gave Tavor an odd look, and the two began conversing in Elvish. Arguing was more like it, for an argument it was. Bilbo's Elvish was not very good, but he understood enough to know that Tavor was against the idea of sneaking in through the water-gate only to get eaten by spiders, and Legolas was more than willing to try anything that could free the palace. If Dilith and Lithen had any opinions either way, they did not mention them, and Ranhaudh had dozed off after eating another meat pie. Finally, Tavor agreed to go through with the plan, though he still wasn't happy about it.
"If we draw out most of the spiders through the main gate, the ones sneaking inside should be less noticed," Bilbo said when the argument had ended.
They then realized Bilbo understood Elvish, and agreed to follow his plan whole-heartedly. First (after waking Ranhaudh up again) the six of them crept to where the water-gate lay. It appeared mostly closed, but then it creaked its way mostly open, and something came through it.
"Are the spiders throwing away their empty barrels now?" Tavor asked incredulously. .
.
.
.
"That's no barrel," Ranhaudh said, and quite suddenly dove into the water.
What he dragged back to shore was not even close to a barrel: it was in fact an elf. Bilbo was certain the elf was dead, but Ranhaudh insisted otherwise, and the wolf soon proved the right. It was, however, a very ill elf. Calling off the plan (for the moment, only) they took the elf back to where Bilbo, Ranhaudh, and now the elves had made their camp.It was a worrisome night, but the next morning the elf they had rescued woke up and was able to talk, though he was still very weak. He was called Tathar, and was a guard in the palace, and knew Legolas well by sight. After getting some food and water, Tathar was well able to explain what had happened.
The little spiders had come in over a few days, sneaking inside the palace cellars, until there were very many of them. When the attempts to kill them failed, the Elvenking had attempted to send for more elves from outside the palace: his messengers were snared and the palace taken by overwhelming numbers of the giant Southern Spiders, at least a hundred altogether, not including the smaller local spiders. .
.
.
.
"Those they didn't snare right away are trapped in the dungeons," Tathar said, "Some of the royal house are in the very lowest ones, I think. The spiders will sometimes attack the trapped, capturing more of us while we try to fight back. There's little food, less water, and many were becoming sick when I was taken, but the spiders must have been throwing those of our people they did not want to eat through the water-gate all this time."
As it turned out, the spiders were being lead by a particularly giant spider, one that had spent time dwelling in Dol Guldur and was organizing things much as they had been organized in the tower, except that now The Spider had taken the place of The Necromancer, and the spiders replaced the orcs.
After another day of rest, Tathar was nearly well again, and they sent him to go find help amongst those of their kin that had escaped to the Lake, whilst Legolas, Bilbo, and Tavor went back to the gate. Lithen, Dilith, and Ranhaudh remained behind to await reinforcements, but not before Bilbo had taken Ranhaudh aside to instruct him in a very important thing, and Ranhaudh laughed before departing with the other elves. .
.
PS: I don't know if Bilbo actually has anything written on his sword. I think that's what Elrond would have ordered put on after hearing about Bilbo's previous adventures, though!