Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 12 of If I Die Young. Thank you to those who have left reviews. It really does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this. Hopefully I'll be able to get the ball rolling even more with this chapter and of course the story itself. I still haven't decided on who she'll be with in this story since I've been having a hard time figuring out if she should be with anyone or just have some good friendships with the lot. Without further ado Chapter 12. ENJOY!

Chapter 12

"Don't bother cooking them. Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly." William the troll said, looking at the dwarves.

"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage." Bert said, salivating at the thought of grilled and sauteed dwarves.

"Is this really necessary?" Dori questioned.

"Ooh, that does sound quite nice."

"Untie us, you monsters!" Oin shouted.

"Take on someone your own size!" Gloin snapped.

"Never mind the seasoning; we ain't got all night! Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone." Tom said.

Rin slowly walked slowly trying her best to keep quiet.

"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake." Bilbo said, sounding loud and clear.

"You can't reason with them, they're half-wits!" Dori snapped.

"Half-wits? What does that make us?" Bofur questioned.

Rin kept her hand over her mouth as she waited with Gandalf trying his best to make sure that they weren't known for being there.

"Uh, I meant with the, uh, with, uh, with the seasoning." Bilbo said, his voice going a little higher.

"What about the seasoning?" Bert questioned.

"Well have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up."

The dwarves yelled, calling him a traitor.

Rin rolled her eyes slightly, shaking her head softly.

"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" Tom questioned.

"Shut up, and let the, uh, flurgaburburrahobbit talk." Bert said.

"Uh, th-the secret to cooking dwarf is, um-" Bilbo said, stumbling over his words.

"Yes? Come on."

"It's, uh-"

"Tell us the secret."

"Ye-yes, I'm telling you, the secret is … to skin them first!"

"Tom, get me the fileting knife."

"If I get you, you little-" Gloin shouted.

"I won't forget that!" Dwalin snapped.

"What a load of rubbish! I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff them, I say, boots and all." Tom said with a snarling smirk.

Gandalf and Rin slipped through some trees that were nearby.

"`e's right! Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf! Nice and crunchy." William said, grabbing Bombur, who was in a sack, and dangled him upside down over his mouth, about to eat him.

"Not-not that one, he-he's infected!" Bilbo shouted.

"You what?" Tom questioned turning his head.

"Yeah, He's got worms in his … tubes."

William dropped Bombur back into the pile of dwarves in disgust.

"In-in fact they all have, they're in-infested with parasites. It's a terrible business; I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."

"Parasites, did he say parasites?" Oin said trying his best to hear.

"We don't have parasites! You have parasites!" Kili snapped.

"What are you talking about, laddie?" Gloin questioned rather confusedly.

The rest of the dwarves chimed in about how they didn't have parasites and how Bilbo was such a fool.

Rin let out a soft breath, closing her eyes in frustration.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm." Oin shouted.

"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!" Kili shouted.

"We're riddled." Nori said.

"Yes, I'm riddled." Ori said.

"Yes we are. Badly!" Dori said.

"What would you have us do, then, let 'em all go?" Tom questioned.

"Well..." Bilbo suddenly trailed off.

"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!"

"Ferret?"

"Fools?" Bert questioned.

Gandalf suddenly appeared on top of a large rock above the clearing. "The dawn will take you all!"

"Who's that?"

"No idea." Tom said, shaking his head.

"Can we eat `im too?" William asked.

Gandalf stuck the rock with his staff, splitting it in half, allowing the sunlight to pour in from behind it into the clearing.

Rin came out from the shadows and went straight towards where the dwarves were tied up in bags. She pulled her sword out and sliced up each bag open to help the dwarves out. She offered her hand to Kili, biting her lower lip softly.

Kili blinked his big brown eyes as he looked at the Ranger. He slowly slid his hand into hers.

Rin pulled him up to his feet.

Gandalf walked up to one of the troll statues and thumped it with his staff looking rather pleased with what he had done.

"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" Thorin questioned as he looked at Gandalf and Rin.

"To look ahead." Gandalf said as he looked over at Thorin.

"What brought you back?"

"Looking behind. Nasty business. Still, they are all in one piece."

"No thanks to your burglar."

"He had the nous to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that."

Thorin looked rather repentant with the whole idea.

Gandalf and Thorin examined the statues.

"They must have come down from the Ettenmoors." Gandalf said with his brows furrowed.

"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?"

"Oh, not for an age, not since a darker power ruled these lands."

"They could not have moved in daylight, Gandalf." Rin said, looking over at Gandalf.

Thorin blinked a few times. "There must be a cave nearby."

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This is the end of Chapter 12. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm trying my best with writing and it's taking time to write things out. Plus also plan these chapters out. I think I did rather well with writing this chapter out. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. And is there a hint of Kili and Rin. I think so. I think that they might be the ones to make a better couple. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I'll be trying to update as soon as I can. Until next time.