Title: A tale about friendship, Part 23?

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

E-mail: Overall rating: M, for violence and orctorment. This chapter: M

Summary: A group of children are told the tale of their friendship with the dwarves in general and the Folk of Durin in particular.

Warnings: The overall rating of this fic is M, as parts of it deals with violent battle and torment. There are also Original Characters in the fic, but no Mary Sues. Unbetaed, all mistakes belong to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own any one of Tolkien's characters, never have, and never will. The only ones I own are the people you have never met before.

Chapter 23, Meeting Trolls and Elves

Balin smiled while he thought about the day when they had come to Bag End. "Bilbo looked quite astonished when we came to his doorstep but he was very polite to us. Meeting him at the Green Dragon Inn the following day was amusing as well, he had no coat and had to borrow Dvalin´s spare cloak and hood." The children laughed when Balin described Bilbo Baggins to them and even Bard and Thranduil laughed at the image in their minds eyes.

"Was it a good journey?" Thórin asked and Balin answered

"It was a nice journey until we crossed the Last Bridge. It had been raining all day and while we crossed the bridge the sun was setting. When we wondered what to do next we noticed that Gandalf was missing but we simply thought that we would have to wait until he came back. So we made camp in a group of trees that stood nearby where the ground was drier. Suddenly one of the ponies took fright at nothing and bolted straight into the river, taking the supplies it carried with it. Fili and Kili were soaked straight through and nearly drowned when they had managed to get the pony back to the shore and the supplies were lost."

The children shivered, thinking about how wet Fili and Kili must have felt when they stepped on the shore.

"To make matters worse" Balin said "none of us was able to light a fire so we could prepare supper, not even Óin and Glóin who are skilled at it. They kept trying and argued about it when I saw a fire in the distance. All of us wondered what it might be, one never knows in that area and finally Bilbo was sent to take a look and report back.

But instead of Bilbo coming back or signalling, we heard very strange noises. We decided to go and see what was going on and I was sent first. When I came to the fire I saw two Trolls fighting and a third one whacking them. When he saw me he howled but I paid him small head as I was looking for Bilbo. Before I found him I had a sac pulled over me by one of the Trolls, a smelly sac to boot. Bifur and Bofur fought the Trolls as you were told by Melian, but we were all put into sacs by the Trolls save Bilbo who according to Thórin ended up on a thorn bush and then we lay there, uncomfortably close to the fire while the Trolls discussed what to do with us."

Bard commented "when you say ´uncomfortably close´ others would say that they were almost scorched. But your kin is renowned for your hardiness to fire."

Melian nodded and said "Thórin told us that he was the last to come to the glade and was able to fight two of the Trolls but the third put him in the sac. Then the Trolls discussed how they were to cook everyone but as soon as they seemed to have made their minds up they started arguing again. The final argument, Thórin said, was about the colour of his stockings and then it became quiet save for the birds in the trees."

Gandalf smiled when he said that he was scouting ahead when he met friends from Rivendell who had told him that three Trolls had settled in the area and were waylaying strangers. Looking back he had seen the fire and felt that he needed to go back. He had reached the fire to find Bilbo on a thorn bush and the others in sacs, so he had kept the Trolls arguing until dawn when they were turned to stone. The children breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Gandalf tell them how he and Bilbo had released everyone from the sacs.

"We were nearly suffocated by that time" Balin said "and very angry so Bilbo had to tell us twice over what had happened. He told us that the Trolls had caught him as he was trying to pick their pockets and then two of them started to fight, calling each other names. That must have been the noises we heard. Then we followed the Trolls footsteps to their cave and Gandalf opened the door with the key that Bilbo found on the ground. It must have fallen out of the pocket of one of the Trolls. We found food there but also an odd collection of plunder, clothes (not Troll size so they must have come from the people the Trolls had eaten), swords and daggers. Gandalf and Thórin took two of the swords and Bilbo took a dagger, which looked like a short sword on him. Gandalf looked at the swords and said that no Man had made them nor were they made in that area. We ate, slept (we didn't get much sleep that night) and then we went on to Rivendell where we were expected according to Gandalf. He told us about his meeting with the friends from Rivendell and said that we needed to be more careful next time. Thórin thanked him for rescuing all of us."

The children thanked Gandalf as well and he smiled as he accepted their thanks.

TBC