Hello All - I had some really lovely reviews once again, people showing support which really means a lot. I hope you enjoy this new chapter too, little shorter than the last, but never the less, enjoy.
Many thanks to those that have followed / favourite'd, and once again thank you for the lovely reviews.
I do not own The Hobbit, just my OC Todd.
Chapter 42 – Bittersweet Reunion
Todd raced through the twisted forest towards the sounds of the company's shouts. Her paws were pounding the ground beneath her, dodging the roots. She felt exhilarated, better than she had ever felt. The breeze, although hot and sticky, was flying through her fur, her eyes sharp and focused and her mind clearer than it had been in what felt like months. The only sound she could hear was the shouts of her Company mingled with the sounds of creatures she had never come across before. She had to get to them and that was all she could concentrate on.
As soon as the image of her Black Rebhane had vanished before her very eyes, she was running towards the shouts. She had not even paused to asses her situation now. She had not noticed that the itch in the back of her head had died its death. She hadn't noticed that her coat was redder and more vibrant than ever before, the white on her tail reaching further up towards her back.
Her ears and eyes were trained ahead as the trees became more and more covered in webs and ghostly shapes. She couldn't think on it though, she needed to get to them.
Finally, after launching over a fallen and rotted tree trunk, she came flying into a clearing of sorts, that was in complete and utter chaos. The Company were spread around covered in thick white webs, shouting and battling with the largest spiders she had ever seen in her whole life. She never once thought in all of Middle Earth that she would ever come face to face with anything like them.
She immediately threw herself in, her hackles up as she slammed into a spider that had knocked Ori down to the ground. Her appearance back into the Company caused a rush of shouts and cheers. Yet she couldn't stop to greet them, and neither could they greet her properly as they fought. She turned and snapped with her strong jaw at one of the many legs, pulling it off Ori. Once it lost its balance and stumbled away, she took her chance and leapt on top of it, her sharp claws on her paws swiping at the many eyes, making it produce the most horrific high-pitched noise, before falling, motionless.
She looked up to see who else needed assistance, which was pretty much all of them. It was amazing really, how they all fell in sync with each other as they battled the arachnids. It took a while but before long there were only a few left, some of the company were starting to lose their gusto as the adrenaline wore off.
Todd found herself between Bombur and Bofur after they had all worked together to pull the legs from a Spider that had Bombur trapped on his back on the ground. The Brothers both turned to face the large fox with such relief that her breath caught.
She nuzzled Bombur quickly before he set about with his readied weapon, then turned her large emerald eyes to Bofur. The hatted dwarve let out a sharp breath before dropping his head and pressing his forehead to hers. His available hand came up to grab a fistful of her fur in an attempt at pulling her closer. Even though she was still stung from him ignoring her, she gave herself those few seconds to enjoy his attention. The feeling in her stomach felt like a thousand butterflies and she couldn't help but grin through her first skin.
"Don't you dare run off like that again, ok lass?" Bofur breathed, the carnage raging on around them.
She huffed and pushed forwards so that her head was resting over his shoulder. His arm coming up to properly hug her neck. The feeling that overcame her then, was pure magic.
As they pulled apart, Bofur pressed two fingers to her forehead. She made sure to lower her head then and flash her stern eye at him, letting him know that she was not happy with him. Relieved he was well, but not happy. She needed him to explain to her why she had been ignored, she needed to hear his reasoning. He paled a little, and reluctantly nodded his head, knowing that he had some explaining to do. She huffed once more before they both turned back to the fight.
"Everyone… this way!" Thorin shouted, making the whole company scramble to rush after their king.
They hurried through the trees right behind Thorin as spiders dropped down all around, rushing in towards them. All of creatures making the same threatening clicking and snapping sounds. Their beady eyes all shining through the murk towards them. Todd couldn't help but feel like she could take them all on, like there was nothing she couldn't do now.
As they ran along, the Company were bumping into each other, and with that, every time they bumped into Todd, they greeted her and flashed her winning smiles that made her feel like the warmest person in the world. The cruel and evil words of that Black Rebhane were melting away, the sickness had dissipated, and the itch had vanished.
They were making good strides in avoiding the spiders when she noticed a shift in the scent before her.
Immediately Todd's eyes snapped up around them as her nose triangulated where the scent was coming from, and what it was. She tried her best to peer through the grime, webs and mass of spiders to see what it could be that was approaching them.
Thorin led them between two large rotted tree roots before she spotted something rushing along tree branched up ahead of them. Todd barked out and growled, her eyes trained as she realised what was coming.
Elves.
Thorin slid to a halt as a blonde tall woodland Elf dived down from the tree branches and on top of a particularly large spider what was scrambling towards them head on. The Elf rammed two daggers into its head and used it to slide down a mouldy mushroom infested slope before jumping off and landing right before Thorin with his bow out and arrow knocked.
Todd snarled and shoved herself before her King with her teeth bared and eyes trained on the Elf before her.
"Down foul beast, don't think I won't shoot you… it would be my pleasure!" The Elves words flowed from him elegantly, but still with the threatening edge.
"Back down Todd!" Thorin urged, placing a hand on her back, grabbing a handful of her red fur and pulling her back behind him so he could square up to the blond Elf before him.
All around the group, Elves were appearing from almost out the tree trunks themselves. All with arrows knocked at each and every member of the company. The spiders had all but disappeared, scampering off when the sprites had danced their way in. Todd couldn't help but keep the threat in her chest rumbling as they all trained arrows on them.
The Elves were closing in then as a shout sounded from another clearing.
"HELP!" Came Kili's familiar shout. The company gasping and turning in the direction of his shouts. Fili all but tried to rush to his Brother, coming face to stomach with a large red headed Elf that shoved him back towards the rest of the company.
"KILI!" He shouted back, helpless.
There were sounds of scrambling and the screeches of a spider coming from the clearing, Kilis grunts and shouts as he obviously tried to fight it off. The Company were held in a close group, none of the Elves seeming to care that their company member was being pulled apart by spiders as they kept their arrows trained on them.
That was when they heard a female voice with Kili that they realised that another Elf was there and fighting the spiders with him. Before long a tall elegant red headed Elf approached the rest of them with Kili before her, her hand tight on his shoulder as she shoved him towards his brother. Once they were all together a few of the Elves withdrew their bows and started pushing their way through the company and pulling their weapons from them. Todd snarled every time they came near her, and a few of the them had the right idea to flinch. She kept a wary eye on them all as they pulled weapon after weapon from them.
"Hey give that back, that's private!" She heard Gloin shout at the blond Elf that had first come upon them, the leader.
"What is this… your brother?" The blond Elf blandly asked, his eyebrows raised at the drawings of Gloin's family.
"That is my wife!" Gloin stated indignantly.
"And what is this horrid creature, some form of goblin mutation?"
"That's my wee lad… Gimli" Gloin protested again.
Todd was keeping an eye on all the dwarves as the Elves moved between them, shoving and pulling at them to rid them of all their weapons and anything that could be used against the Elves. She watched and they tended to not push them around too much, but she could feel the hate and disconnect between the two groups. She didn't know how to fight against all the Elves that had appeared around them, there were far too many and she was bound to get arrows riddled through her if she made too much of a fuss.
She could see the way that they were eying her, not coming too close. She had spotted a few Elves right on the outskirts of the clearing with their bows still aimed straight towards her. Obviously waiting for her to make one wrong move. So therefore, she took to snarling and growling but staying put beside Thorin and before Bofur.
Before long everyone's weapons had been taken from them and dumped into waiting arms of a few Elves. The blond one was looking over them when he reached and pulled out Thorin's elvish sword, he immediately moved to stand before the companies Kind and gave the sourest look.
He regarded the sword and spoke in his tongue before glaring down before Thorin.
"Where did you get this?" He asked, his eyes steel.
"It was given to me" Thorin answered back, eyes just as heavy.
It was obviously not what the Elf wanted to hear, for he raised the sword right at Thorin's throat, making the whole company bristle. Including Todd who took a step forwards with a rippling growl from so deep in her chest it made Ori step back from her a little.
"Not just a thief, but a liar as well!" He sneered down at the king, before swiping the blade through the air and appearing right before Todd. She didn't flinch but stood firm. "Tell your pet to sit"
Thorin all but snorted back at the Elf, making no move to tell her to stand down. Both of them daring the Elf to make the first move.
The blond creature merely regarded them before barking some orders in his tongue. The company flinched as the Elves burst into shoving them off out of the clearing. Two Elves appeared with what looked like a muzzle and collar, to which Todd snapped her jaw with refusal.
There was no way that that was acceptable. She was not some household pet that needed to be put in line and made docile. She sneered and snarled with such force that the Elves had to pause before continuing on towards her.
"Todd… you will not win this fight!" Thorin bit back in Khuzdal, making her whimper and back down.
She knew that he was right, but the humiliation of being put in a common dog's collar and muzzle was completely insulting.
Her hackles were up as the Elves moved the muzzle over her jaw and tightened it shut so she could barely open her snout. Then the collar was shoved over her head. Yet it was no normal collar, for as it was shoved on, she could feel spikes scrapping at her neck. She glared up at the Elf holding the chain to the collar and is to confirm her suspicions he pulled, and the spikes jammed into her neck making her yelp.
"Move" The Elf barked, making her fall in line with the Company.
