Bella clutched the tree tightly even as one hand grasped Fili's hand. It had been nearly twenty minutes since the wargs had sent word to the most vile of their kind. To be honest, she wasn't sure who was offering comfort to whom at the moment. Fili seemed just as scared as she was.
If this was indeed the same Azog Thorin had fought all those years ago, the line of Durin wasn't as safe as they had first imagined. This meant that Thorin had a target on his back. Fili and Kili weren't much safer. Bella suppressed a shiver as she realized that being Fili's One could potentially mean danger for her and her brother.
"Everything will turn out alright, won't it?" Kili asked, fearful yet clinging so tightly to hope.
"Course it will," Fili said, with confidence that didn't reach his eyes. "We have a wizard with us. He'll get us out of here sure as mountains."
Bella forced a smile as she nodded. They had to keep their confidence up, try to think of something. A way to get out. They had to make it out of here somehow.
Just then, all the wargs turned toward someone approaching. Orcs, enough to qualify as a raiding party rode up. Leading them was an orc, taller and broader than an elf, nearly as white as the warg he rode.
"Azog?!" Thorin's quiet word of fear and disbelief carried in the silence.
Cold terror coiled round Bella's heart. Her imagination that long ago night had been too kind concerning this Curse of Durin. Scars cut deep into loathsome patterns like grotesque tattoos over his face, arms, and chest. A nose that was barely a bump and nostrils. Eyes that glinted with evil in the moonlight. A lipless mouth scarred deeply as his cheeks. And where his left forearm should be a metal, multi-prong rod.
The Pale Orc sniffed loudly, causing Bella to tremble. He asked a question in Black Speech, taunting, reveling, before pointedly sniffing again. He then made a statement that caused Fili's hand to turn cold. The only thing Bella could guess was the last part: "Thorin son of Thrain."
Caught on the slight breeze, she barely caught Thorin's horrified, broken words. "It cannot be."
Bella's heart clenched in sympathy. How many years, decades had Thorin believed that the nightmare that had murdered his grandfather and stolen his father would never rise again? And now that nightmare had returned alive and more fearsome than before.
Azog lifted the mace he held in his right hand, speaking once again before waving it forward, shouting a command. Obviously "Attack" as dozens of wargs charged the trees the Company were hiding in.
Bella screamed as wargs leaped up, trying to snap her bare feet. She clung to the tree like a squirrel in a hurricane. The tree whipped wildly all around as the wargs ripped branches off, attacked the very roots. Then, the tree started to tip and it wasn't bouncing back. "Fili!"
"Jump!" Fili cried.
She leaped as they crashed into another tree. Only for that tree to start tipping. "Bilbo! Kili!" There was no time to get an answer as it became a morbid trick of falling blocks. It wasn't until Fili swung the both of them onto a branch of the final tree on the very edge of the cliff that they finally stopped. She heaved horrified breaths. "I hate orcs and wargs. I may have felt only a slight disdain for them before. Viewed them as a nasty inconvenience to avoid at all cost. But I now have a hate for them."
"Well, so long as that hate can be channeled into fighting power and not freezing terror, I think all will be well," Fili said, catching his breath.
Bella vaguely heard the faint crackle of fire before a small ball of fire shot down into some dry underbrush. It instantly caught, causing the wargs to yelp like whipped puppies.
"Fili!" Gandalf called, just before he dropped a burning pinecone.
Fili caught it and immediately started half-juggling it between his hands.
Bella grinned maniacally as she grabbed a couple pinecones, even as Bilbo lit one of his own with Fili's. "Bet you I'll hit a warg first," she challenged.
"Ha! You know I always won at stone tosses," Bilbo returned, sprouting a cheeky grin.
"Pinecones and moving targets," she shot back, lighting a pinecone. Shoving the pain aside, she reeled her arm back and flung the fireball at a warg. She just barely missed, but there was plenty of dry branches and leaves to make up for it. As she lit her second, Bilbo threw his.
"He got one!" Kili cried, seconds before he had his own flaming pinecone.
"I'll get the next one!" Bella said.
"We'll see about that, melethen," Fili said, reeling his arm back.
They threw at the same time. Bella crowed as hers smacked a warg in the face, a split second before Fili's caught one in the chest.
"How far are you able to throw?" Nori called.
"What's the target?" Bilbo called back.
"That white mound of Moria scum," the dwarven thief answered.
Bella measured the distance with her eye. "Out of our range by about a hundred feet unfortunately," she said.
"Now that would have been a fine game of target practice," Dwalin said.
"We'll just have to settle for his lackeys then," Gloin said.
Soon, the entire clearing was in flames and the wargs running with their tails between their legs. Azog roared at them in fury.
Bella shouted in victory alongside her brother and the dwarves. If she didn't have enough sense, she would have shouted a couple victorious taunts at the giant orc. But that would be a bit of bad sportsmanship, and they hadn't necessarily escaped out of the proverbial fire yet. She let out a high pitched "Eep!" as the tree tilted back over the cliff. She half-screamed as Fili launched her closer to the trunk. She instinctively hung on as the tree settled near horizontal from the clearing. A short cry escaped her when she saw the horrid drop below them. Never in a million years could they survive that drop.
"Gandalf!" Dori cried.
Bella turned, just as Gandalf stretched his staff out in time for Dori to catch onto it. "Dori! Ori!" Ori was clutching onto his brother's foot, both now barely held by a staff that surely didn't have near enough grip to hold the both of them. She shinnied forward, only to stop as the tree groaned in protest.
"Bella! Don't!" Gandalf half-gasped. She met his blue-grey eyes. They were worried, concerned, and yet calm. "Help will come," he said quietly.
She furrowed her brows in confusion just before she sensed movement behind her. She turned to look over her shoulder.
Thorin stood, drawing Orcrist as he took his oak branch shield from his back.
"What are you doing?" she half-cried.
"Doing what I should have made sure of long ago," Thorin answered as he started down the tree's trunk.
Bella eased upright, before carefully swiveling around. Just in time to see Azog and his warg leap from their boulder . . . and crash into Thorin. "Thorin!"
"What happened?" Fili asked, struggling to pull himself higher on his branch.
Bella shook her head, not sure if she could voice such a horrid sight. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Bilbo half on the tree's trunk. But her main focus was what she could see of Thorin beyond the White Warg and the Defiler. The dwarven king had just barely regained his feet when Azog charged back at him. A single swing of his mace caught Thorin in the face and knocked him to the ground again.
"No!" Balin shouted.
Bella jolted as Bilbo stood atop the trunk. "Bilbo!"
"Someone has to do something," he said.
Thorin screamed in pain. The warg had him in its mouth as though he was nothing more than a chew toy.
"Thorin!" Dwalin shouted. "No!" The warrior dwarf tried to scramble off his branch, only for the branch to give way.
Bella's stomach churned as she heard bones crunch under the warg's massive jaws. Then the warg tossed Thorin to the side like a bully discards a victim's prized doll. Thorin landed and didn't move.
Azog turned to an orc beside him. He gave an order in Black Speech, causing the lesser orc to draw out a cruel sword as he dismounted his warg and headed towards Thorin.
Bilbo drew his sword, took a deep breath, and raced down the length of the tree.
Bella nearly choked on air as she realized what Bilbo was going to attempt. She scrambled to her feet as she took off after him, drawing one of her courtship swords.
Just as the orc raised his sword to the final strike, Bilbo leaped and ploughed into him. For a second Bilbo was on top then the orc rolled over and tried to land a hard punch. No hobbit could survive such a blow. Then, so quickly Bella wasn't sure how he did it, Bilbo evaded the punch and tossed the orc round to his back. Then Bilbo Baggins, the most proper hobbit in the history of Arda, stabbed that orc to death.
Bella slid to a stop, pausing just long enough to check Thorin's pulse. "Guess I shouldn't have been so worried about you," she said in Sindarin.
"I have learned some things on this trip," he answered.
Bella stood beside him as he faced Azog and the rest of the pack. A sidelong glance nearly prompted a sigh. "You have much to learn still," she said, drawing and readying her second sword. "Sword forward so it's the first thing they'll engage. Give them your side, a narrower target. Don't swing about wildly at the air. Let them come to you and wait for them to make the first move."
"You'll cover me, while I cover you?" Bilbo asked, shifting appropriately.
"Precisely," she answered.
Azog looked at them, amused.
She hated that look. Get close to me with that face, she thought. I dare you.
The orc turned to his lackeys, giving an order. The three wargs and riders stalked toward them. Of course, the Pale Orc wouldn't lower himself to engage them.
Bella half-crouched, readying herself to defend both Thorin and her brother. She met the wargs' snarls with a twisted scowl. They weren't even within striking distance when three simultaneous cries drew their attention.
Fili, Kili, and Dwalin swept through, swinging their swords and war hammer. Bella gaped for a second. She needed to take some lessons from Fili. He was magnificent.
She mentally shook herself, just in time to join her brother in charging a warg that was heading towards them and thus Thorin. With war cries, they slashed at the beast and its rider. A deep slice met the warg's jugular, followed shortly thereafter by the orc's head. Only then did Bella realize she was on her own. She turned from the rest of the fighting to see . . . Azog and his warg stalking her brother.
"NO!" she screamed. She shot forward as the White Warg turned its snarling face towards her. With a cry of rage she plunged one sword into the roof of its unprotected mouth and the other deep into its neck.
The warg roared, flinging its head, tossing her to the side. But, she noticed with grim satisfaction, that was its undoing for she had kept a death grip on her swords, causing them to rip out of their entry points.
"Oof." The air got forced from her lungs as she landed hard on her back. She groaned as pain blossomed from the back of her head.
Screeches filled the air. At first she thought it was her ears ringing, but then giant eagles, twice if not four times the size of the wargs, swooped over them. Their talons claimed wargs just long enough to toss them to their deaths far down below. Some knocked trees down, smashing orcs and wargs alike, and spreading the fire. Bilbo was suddenly at her side as an eagle or two fanned the flames into an inferno. Neither orc nor warg was safe from the eagles' assault.
She briefly caught Fili's face as he turned to his uncle: fear. She pushed herself up, twisting to see. An eagle was heading straight for Thorin. For an instant, fear gripped her. Then Gandalf's words returned to her. "Help will come." Unlike the eagles that were attacking the wargs, this eagle was swooping down as carefully and gently as possible. With steady talons, it scooped Thorin up and started to carry him away.
Azog's roar of fury and frustration tore her attention elsewhere. She just barely saw a shadowed eagle approaching the cliff opposite them.
"I think we should sheath our swords," she said, awkwardly struggling to do so.
"Why?" Bilbo asked.
"I think Gandalf somehow recruited rescue eagles, and we're next in the pickup."
As if on cue, the eagle swept past Azog and straight for them. "Bel-!" Bilbo's cry cut off as the eagle snatched them up. Not near as gentle as the eagle with Thorin, but not half as vicious as the orcs and wargs received. Bella and Bilbo both screamed as they were dropped, only to be caught on an eagle's back.
Bella felt her brother's arm around her waist as she grasped the giant bird's stiff feathers. She panted as she struggled to look behind. Fili was still back there. A memory of the fire's heat was still there, just as she momentarily felt talons clench round her again. She jolted, shaking her head. How was that possible? The night air was chasing all the heat away as they swiftly flew through the moonlit sky. She shouldn't be able to recall so vividly the eagle catching her. She must have hit her head harder than she thought.
"Bella! Bilbo!"
She almost sobbed in relief at Kili's shout. She turned to the side, seeing the dwarf clinging to an eagle just behind his brother.
"We're alright," Bilbo shouted. "What of you?"
"We're fine," Fili called.
Bella sighed as she rested her head on the eagle's strong neck. The adrenalin was starting to fade, leaving her so exhausted.
"No! Stay awake! Wake up!"
She jolted, sending a fresh stab of pain through the back of her head.
"Bella, you alright?" Bilbo asked.
She groaned, "I guess I hit my head a little harder than I thought back there."
"Gandalf!" Bilbo shouted.
A moment later, the wizard was flying beside them. "What is it, Bilbo? What's the matter?"
"Bella hurt her head. Is there anything you can do?"
"Not until we land," Gandalf answered, "but I suspect that it will be about dawn when we reach our destination."
Bella groaned. "I just want to sleep. I'm so exhausted."
"Well, we can make sure you don't have a concussion, and if you don't, you can sleep," the wizard said.
Bella answered questions like what her name was, who she remembered, what the date was, if she was nauseous. Thankfully, she answered them all in a satisfactory manner. So a few minutes later, she fell into a deep sleep.
Bella screwed her eyes tight as sunlight tried to pierce her eyelids. After a moment of closed blinking, she opened her eyes to see the sun peeking out from behind the mountains. "Oh," she breathed. The sight was beautiful, the hills and mountains hazy from early morning fog and the rising sun.
"Thorin!"
She jerked as fear-fueled worry shot through her even before she turned to find the dwarven king. He was still being carried in the eagle's talons, no sign that he'd regained consciousness, even for a moment. Though he wasn't pale, thank Eru, he still held a death-like stillness. Far too similar to hers and Bilbo's parents as they drew near their end.
She looked to Bilbo, who still had an arm around her. "Do you think he'll make it, muindor?"
"I don't know," he answered. "I just don't know."
The eagles carried them for another hour or so. They passed over more of the Misty Mountains, at times the valleys between hidden by a thick layer of white clouds. Then, where a stream bubbled up from the mountain and into a waterfall, the eagles swooped down into a green valley. Bella wanted to stare and gape in awe of the grandeur, but Thorin's unconscious, broken form worried her, making it seem wrong to enjoy the flight.
Then, they rounded a mountain and in the middle of the valley was a lonely pinnacle of rock. "I believe the map Gandalf gave me called this the Carrock," Bilbo said, trying to break the tension. "He said that it resembled a bear." He shook his head. "I don't see a bear."
About ten minutes later, they were circling the Carrock. Bella quirked a half-hearted smile. "There's his bear," she said.
"Alright, all about the angle," he said. They silenced as Thorin was gently laid behind the bear's ears. Still unmoving.
Gandalf landed next. "Thorin!" he called, running toward the dwarf. He knelt beside him as Bella and Bilbo got the opportunity to dismount on the bear's muzzle.
Bella gave a distracted thank you to the eagle before she joined her brother in half-jogging forward. Her heart was in her throat as Gandalf laid a hand over Thorin's face, speaking some words in an ancient tongue. As he removed his hand, Thorin's eyes blinked open.
"The halflings?" Thorin whispered.
"It's alright," Gandalf answered, smiling. "Bilbo and his sister are here. They're quite safe."
Bella sighed with relief as her brother sagged. Everyone had made it through, mostly unscathed. The rest of the company had been dropped off closer to the bear's shoulders and were now gathering around Thorin. Dwalin and Kili, being the closest, helped Thorin to his feet. Soon they would find a way down and continue on their journey.
"You!" Thorin half-growled after shaking off his nephew's and friend's hold.
Bella shrank back a little as Bilbo shifted uneasily.
"What were you doing? The both of you nearly got yourselves killed."
Bella worried her bottom lip as she glanced at first her brother than Gandalf. They couldn't exactly protest. It was true that they could have, very nearly did a couple times.
"Did I not say you'd be a burden?" Thorin asked as he stalked toward them. "That you couldn't survive in the wild and you had no place amongst us?"
She looked down to her toes. It was more or less what he had said after the stone giants incident. Unlike then however, she half-understood where he was coming from, and she was still too worn from their sleepless stay in Goblin Town to properly protest. She half-caught sight of Fili stepping forward as he opened his mouth when–
"Never have I been so wrong," Thorin said, gathering the both of them into a fierce embrace, "in all my life."
Bella stiffened in shock. Then she heard the rest of the Company sounding their approval. Fili and Kili gave them a couple claps, while Gandalf watched them with a knowing, pleased look. As she felt Bilbo returning Thorin's hug, she did as well. Back in the cave, even just after their escape from the goblins, she never would have believed that Thorin would welcome them like this. Yet here they stood, finally accepted as members of the Company.
Thorin then released them, stepping back. "I'm sorry I doubted you, especially you, Master Baggins."
"No," Bilbo said, shaking his head, "I would have doubted me too. The reason Bella was hesitant to join you was because she doubted I had anything left of my Tookish side, meaning that she would potentially break a promise she made me. But despite everything so far, I've made it this distance, and I intend to see it through to the end. Even if I'm not a hero or a warrior," he then eyed Gandalf, "or even a burglar."
"Even if you were apparently close when it came to those trolls," Bella answered. "And if trying to take on over a half-dozen beings of darkness to defend someone isn't heroic, then it would have to be complete idiocy."
"Oh, you're declaring me an idiot now?" Bilbo asked, a corner of his lips twitching up in a smile.
"All I'm seeing is a very thin line between that and hero," Bella answered, quirking her own smile. "And since you, yourself, said you aren't a hero, then you must be an idiot."
Thorin heaved a sigh around a chuckle. "And here I had hope Fili and Kili would outgrow their antics. Both of you have significantly dashed it."
"No, this is us making up for lost time," Bella said. "Proper Bagginses don't snark each other."
Gandalf chuckled. "It's good to see Belladonna's children back."
"It's good to be back," Bilbo said, wrapping Bella in a side-hug.
With a great rush of wings, the eagles flew off. Bella raised a hand in parting as the giant birds screeched in farewell.
When she looked back to Thorin, the dwarven king was looking past her and her brother. She turned and felt her breath half catch in her throat as she spied something peaking blue on the far distant horizon, backdropped by the rising sun's hazy, golden rays.
"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked.
All sixteen of them, led by Thorin and Bilbo, ventured toward the Carrock's nose to see more clearly. Hundreds to thousands of miles lay between them, a good deal of it lost to the morning mists. But there, standing tall, strong, and proud– "Erebor," Gandalf said. "The Lonely Mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms of Middle Earth."
Fili wrapped his arms around her from behind, excitement racing through them as Thorin said, "Our home."
"Soon to be your home too," Fili whispered in her ear. "And our little dwobbits."
Bella latched her hands on his arms where they encircled her shoulders. "At least one of their homes. I hope to at least visit Bag End from time to time, Khuzde."
"And especially if their heroic idiot of an uncle returns, I wouldn't have it any other way," Fili assured her.
A burst of birdsong directed her attention to a little brown bird zipping through the air. "A raven," Oin said. "The birds are returning to the mountain."
"That, my dear Oin, is a thrush," Gandalf corrected.
"'Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole,'" Bella recited with a grin. "Even thrushes have their place in Erebor's history."
"Then we'll most certainly take it as a sign," Thorin said. "A good omen."
"You're right," Bilbo said. "I do believe the worst is behind us."
"At least apart from the possible dragon at the end," Bella pointed out.
"Yes, apart from that," Bilbo said. "So, what has the count become now, dear sister? Trolls, wargs, orcs, goblins, that odd creature I ran into. Anything else?"
"You forgot the stone giants, landslide, and fire," Bella said.
"I personally think Azog and his warg deserve a category all their own," Fili said.
"You should have seen it, Uncle!" Kili said. "Bella single-handedly slaughtered the White Warg!"
"Truly?" Thorin asked, amazed.
Bella shrugged as best as she could within her One's embrace. "It and Azog made the mistake of singling out Bilbo. I wasn't about to let my last blood family be murdered."
Gloin chortled. "We should have made sure to grab the beast to trim your coat, proof for any who declared us liars."
"I know of someone nearby who isn't fond of orcs, wargs, or goblins who just might be willing to pick the beast up for us," Gandalf said.
"There is no need to go to any extra trouble just for some warg fur," Bella said.
"But, it would certainly look striking against the blue," Fili said. "Fitting for the future Princess of Erebor."
Bella rolled her eyes. "Don't set your heart on it. Most likely it won't happen."
"Accept it, Bella," Bilbo said. "You slew the beast, now you may have the opportunity to steal its coat."
"And what might you have hoped to gain by slaying that orc?" Bella asked.
Thorin's expression took on a slight shade of disbelief. "Bilbo Baggins, the proper hobbit of the two of you, killed an orc?"
"The very one who was about to behead you," Bella confirmed.
"I had thought it was a trick of my eyes just before I lost consciousness," Thorin said.
"Not at all," Bella said.
"No. I do not want something from that repulsive creature," Bilbo protested immediately.
"Both of you will be greatly rewarded for this," Thorin promised.
"Bilbo especially," Balin said. "Though both of you played a part in defending him, Bilbo was the one to save his life."
"Hm, quite possibly forming a life-debt," Gandalf said.
Fili chuckled as Bilbo stared in shock. "Having second thoughts about suddenly showing your courage?" the blond asked.
"Only because I am not fond of all the attention," Bilbo answered. "I'm a plain, simple hobbit. I don't need great honors or rewards."
"'Plain, simple hobbit' my foot," Bella said chuckling. "Soon you won't just be the Company Burglar but the Company Hobbit Warrior."
Author's Note: And thus ends The Postponed Journey: Part One of The Two Hobbits. Never fear, I have Part Two already started and once I have it finished I will start posting it here. Thus why this story's status won't be changed at this time.
So, how did you enjoy the Company's first confrontation with Azog? Can anyone guess what this could end up being related to? Hm. ;-)
I will admit that although the book doesn't allow Bilbo to show his courage at this point, at least not so blatantly, I thought that the film version was better suited for some last minute action. Also provides a good climax after covering only about a third of the source material.
Any overall thoughts? Anything in general about the story so far? Theories about future events? Favorites so far in the story? I would love to hear about them.
Okay. Future plans at this time. I have an Aladdin story that I hope to be finishing and publishing here within the next week or two. Once that happens, I will be turning my creative writing powers onto Part Two: Through Darkness (working title for second installment). I already have the Company poised to enter Mirkwood at the moment so hopefully, Aladdin and his friends will buy me the time needed to get through Part Two and even into Part Three. Then, the tentative plan is while I'm posting Part Two, I will be working on a story related to my Kingdom Hearts/Sherlock crossover universe. And in turn while publishing that, be finishing Part Three. Hoo-wee. Possibly the first time I've had even this rough of a timetable for my fanfiction stories. So, I invite you to explore. I have a couple different fandoms you might be interested to check out while you wait. I also have a couple Middle Earth one-shots.
All of this basically to say, yes, it may take some time, but I have no intentions of leaving you hanging indefinitely. Who knows, if any of you decide to visit me over on my Aladdin story, I may offer writing updates if I hear from enough people. (Am I trying to perhaps gain more readership with potential reviews? I just might. :-D)
Anyway. Better wrap up this long note. Hope to be back with a new story within the next couple weeks.