Chapter Seven
"Gloin, get a fire going! Fili, Kili! Watch over the ponies!" Thorin instructed the Company. Lalina took her place with the Company, as she sat and overheard a heated argument between Thorin and Gandalf. Lalina closed her eyes and sighed. There he goes on his elf rant again. He doesn't understand not all elves are like the Wood elves, thought Lalina. Pretty soon, Lalina could see Gandalf angrily stormed passed her. "Don't worry lass, he'll come back!" said Bofur looking at her.
Lalina shrugged. "Bilbo! Here, send these to the lads!" Bofur called out to the hobbit, as he carried two bowls to Fili and Kili. "Here, let me help!" Lalina called out and she followed Bilbo. "Be careful!" Thorin called out. "I will!" Lalina called back, and she continued on.
No soon as they entered the forest, catching up with Fili and Kili, Lalina took notice the two young dwarves looking rather distracted, and disturbed.
"What is the matter, guys?" asked Lalina. "We're supposed to have sixteen ponies, and we only counted fourteen." said Kili.
"Oh, Fili and Kili! You two were supposed to be watching the ponies! Thorin is going to be angry if he finds out!" said Lalina, sharply. "He is never to find out about this, Lalin!" said Kili, sternly. "Well, eventually he's going to, if something happens to any of us!" Lalina argued. "What are we going to do then?" asked Bilbo. "We're going to send you to find the ponies. We see a light over there in the distance, maybe they have fled there." said Kili. "You should go with Bilbo and help!" suggested Fili. "I will." said Lalina.
"Remember hoot once like an howl, if you see anything!" Fili called out. "We will!" Lalina and Bilbo called out together. Lalina and Bilbo came near the clearing, and to their shock and horror, they saw three large trolls sitting around the fire, arguing with each other. "We had the same thing last week. Maybe these here ponies would hold us down." growled the first troll, named Bert. "Oh my god, Bilbo, they have our ponies!" gasped Lalina. Bilbo didn't reply, as he watched them. And then Bilbo spoke. "So what's the plan? How are we going to get them back?" asked the hobbit.
Lalina thought of a plan. "I will try and find a way of distracting them." spoke up Lalina. "Lalina, are you sure of this? You're going to get yourself killed." said Bilbo.
"Trust me, Bilbo! I can handle this. I've dealt with worse situations than this." said Lalina. And so leaving Bilbo there, Lalina stepped out of the trees, and faced the trolls. "Hey! You! Ugly beasts? Those ponies are no good!" Lalina called out. "Hey Bert! We may have hit the jack pot!" called out the second troll, named Tom. "A woman! A dwarf woman at that!" grinned Bert. "You have the nerve to show yourself to us, woman!" snickered the third troll, William.
"Lets make a deal, you release the ponies, and take me instead!" said Lalina. "LALIN! HAVE YOUR LOST YOUR MIND?!" Bilbo shouted softly. "What do yer think, boys? Should we listen to this woman?" asked Tom. "There aren't any of more of your kind, is there?" demanded William. "More of my kind?!" shrieked Lalina. Bilbo face palmed. Lalina, what are you doing? This is not good, not good at all! Bilbo thought. "You heard me the first time, woman! Tell me, is there any more of yer?" William demanded again.
"No there isn't! Its just me, I'm traveling alone!" Lalina lied, as she spoke quickly to the troll. "Phew!" sighed Bilbo in relief. "Why are we having a hard time believing that! There are others with yer, and I can smell it!" barked William. "No, no, no! I'm telling you the truth, I swear!" Lalina shouted.
"Tie her up in a sack, Bert! I do believe there are others like her somewhere!" William ordered his brother. Bert quickly grabbed Lalina, while Tom confiscated her weapon. Suddenly Bert stripped the clothes off of her. "YOU IDIOTS! THOSE CLOTHES ARE MINE!" Lalina screamed. What have I done? My plan had failed miserably, Thorin is going to be angry, Lalina thought. Bilbo stood there and watched the scene in horror. "I'm not going to stand by and allow my friend to get hurt! I'm going to help her!" said Bilbo loudly, as he jumped out into the open.
"You-you let her go!" shouted Bilbo. Suddenly, all three trolls turned their attention to the Hobbit. "Who are yer, and what are yer?" demanded William. "I'm-I'm a burg-a hobbit!" stammered Bilbo. "A burglahobbit? What's a burglahobbit doing in these parts?!" snarled Tom. "I-its just you are hurting my friend, and I will not have it-not one bloody bit!" snapped Bilbo. "Tough guy, aren't yer? How about ye join her?!" shouted Bert. Suddenly, Kili jumped out of from the trees. "Drop him!" Kili demanded.
The trolls looked over to the dwarf prince. "I said drop him!" Kili hissed angrily. Suddenly, the rest of the Company jumped out and the battle with the trolls began. Suddenly, Bert and Tom picked up Bilbo. "Drop your weapons, or he dies!" William demanded to the dwarves.
And suddenly, the dwarves dropped their weapons. "Tie them up! All of them!" William demanded. Pretty soon, the dwarves are tied up in sacks, and Thorin was placed nearby Lalina, and Thorin glared angrily at her. "You and I are going to have a little chat, once we find a way out of this mess!" Thorin hissed at her. "Thorin-I'm so sorry-!" began Lalina. "Don't you sorry me, woman!" hissed Thorin. "HEY! I said I was sorry!" Lalina hissed back. But Thorin ignored her.
Suddenly Bilbo spoke up, coming up with a plan of distracting the trolls. "Excuse me! I know a way of cooking dwarf!" Bilbo called out. Oh no, Bilbo! Don't do this, its bad enough I screwed up! Lalina thought, and she remained silent, while the other dwarves began shouting and calling the hobbit names. "And what does a flurga burglahobbit know about cooking dwarf?!" snarled Tom. "Its-well-all about the seasoning!" continued Bilbo. "YOUR TREACHEROUS FURBALL!" shouted Gloin. "SHUT UP!" Lalina screamed. "No! YOU SHUT UP!" Tom shouted back at them.
Suddenly, Bert picked up Bombur. "We'll cook this one first." said Bert. "No, no! Not that one!" cried out Bilbo. "What are you saying, ferret?" snarled William. "I'm saying he's infected-he's going something in his tubes, all of them, in fact. They got parasites, you see, and you wouldn't be able to eat them!" said Bilbo.
"Parasites?! WE don't have parasites! YOU HAVE parasites!" shouted Kili, suddenly Thorin kicked Kili in the back catching on to Bilbo's plan. "I got big parasites! HUGE parasites!" Kili called out. "I got parasites huge as my arm!" chimed in Oin. Lalina rolled her eyes. "What are you taking us for, ferret? FOOLS!?" snarled William, as he moved closer to her. "No, no! Its not what you think..!" stammered Bilbo. Suddenly everywhere could hear Gandalf's voice call out.
"May dawn take you all be stone to you!" called out the wizard, when suddenly the area was surrounded by sunlight, and the trolls turned into stone. After that, Gandalf rescued the Company, and they went and recovered their clothes. After Lalina finished dressing, Thorin angrily approached her. "Lalina, what in the hell were you thinking? You would have gotten yourself killed out there! Not to mention all of us!" Thorin barked at her. "Why are you blaming me for this? If you nephews were supposed to be watching the ponies, none of this would have happened!" Lalina shouted back.
"How dare you get my nephews involved this? What was I thinking of allowing you to join our quest? I wished you never came along!" screamed Thorin. "Maybe then, we should have never gotten MARRIED!" Lalina screamed and she stormed away.
Lalina's words stung Thorin, and he could feel his heart aching in his chest, and everyone around them heard their argument. "Uncle.." began Fili. Fili wanted to tell them, it was indeed their fault about the pony situation, but Thorin turned away and followed Gandalf.
Lalina's POV:
I went back to the camp, angry and hurt at Thorin's words. I didn't understand how I was to blame for all of this. I sat down with my belongings, looking up at the sky. Suddenly, I heard footsteps nearby, and I looked up, and I saw Fili and Kili approaching me. "Oh, hi." I said gloomily. "Lalina, look-we're sorry for getting you into trouble. I didn't know the whole situation was going to backfire." said Fili, his voice filled with guilt. "Why didn't you just came out and tell him, Fili?" I snapped at the dwarf.
"We didn't have any time to, Lalin! Look, I promise you, we'll make things right. I didn't know this was coming between you and Thorin." said Kili gently. "And we know our Uncle-he never meant what he said earlier. He loves you." said Fili. "Well if your Uncle cared for me so much, why isn't he here talking to me right now?" I snapped angrily. "Because he's in the Troll Lair with the others. In fact, he is searching for a new sword for you." said Kili.
"I'm not going to accept the sword. I already got one." I said. "Trust me, Lalina, you're going to love this sword Uncle picked out for you. And that's all I'm going to say." said Fili, smiling at me. Suddenly, I could hear the rest of the Company return to the camp, when suddenly I could hear Bofur call out, "Somebody's coming!" The dwarf called out, as all the dwarves withdrawn their weapons. Soon the dwarves put away their weapons when they seen it was another wizard. Radagast the Brown, and the two wizards talked privately.
"Laddie, we cannot continue this quest with you and Lalin not speaking to each other. Go and talk to her." said Balin. Thorin nodded, as I saw the dwarf walking towards me. I stood up. "Lalina." said Thorin. "Thorin." I said quietly, and I turned away from him. Suddenly, Fili and Kili approached us before Thorin spoke. "Uncle, before you say anything, we wanted to tell you we're responsible of the pony situation, not Lalina. We talked Lalina and Bilbo into finding the ponies, and that's when they got captured by the trolls." Fili confessed.
"Damn it, Fili! The two of you were told to watch them! What in Durin's name were you doing?!" Thorin barked. Fili and Kili remained silent.
No One's POV:
"You two have caused a rift between your aunt and I. And your Aunt is terribly upset because you bumbling idiot's actions! What do you have to say for yourselves!" barked Thorin. "Uncle, Lalina, we're really truly sorry for everything, and we mean every word of it." said Kili. "I accept your apology, Fili and Kili. You have my forgiveness." said Lalina, as she kissed their foreheads. "We'll just leave you two be for a while. Come, Kee!" said Fili, and the brothers walked away, leaving Thorin and Lalina alone.
"Lalina about what I said to you earlier, I didn't mean anything by it, after realizing it wasn't your fault for the pony situation, I felt terrible for saying those horrible words to you." said Thorin softly. "I should apologize about saying I wished I never married you, I didn't mean it, I only said it because I felt angry and hurt." said Lalina softly. "I know you never meant them. And I wouldn't blame you being angry with me, Lalina." said Thorin, as he pulled Lalina into his arms.
"Lets not fight anymore, okay?" asked Thorin gently. Lalina nodded, and the two kissed. No soon as they begin to kiss, sounds of shrieks and howling could be heard in the distance. "What is that? A wolf pack?" asked Bilbo. "No, it's wargs." said Bofur.
Lalina's eyes widened in horror. "ORCS!" shrieked Lalina, as she reached for her sword. Suddenly Gandalf angrily approached Thorin. "Who did you speak to about the quest, Thorin?" demanded Gandalf. "Nobody, I SWEAR!" snapped Thorin, as he spun around and killed a warg that was about to leap on him. "We're being hunted by orcs." said Gandalf. "I can distract them!" spoke up Radagast. "How so Radagast? Those are Ghungabad Orcs!" protested Gandalf. "And I have Rhosebel Rabbits! Let me see them try!" smirked Radagast, and he took off. "EVERYONE RUN!" Gandalf shouted, and the Company rang.
Lalina ran, and she also felt ready to fight the orcs. She made a promise on the graves of her father and her friend, she will revenge for them, and she is determined to keep that promise as well. Once the Company now out in the open field, they found themselves surrounded by the large army of orcs. "Stand your ground!" Thorin called out, and they began fighting the orcs. Lalina bolted away from Thorin. "LALINA! GET BACK HERE!" Thorin called out. "Don't worry, I got this Thorin!" Lalina cried out.
"Where's Gandalf?" asked Gloin. "The wizard has abandoned us!" cried out Oin. "OVER HERE YOU FOOLS!" Gandalf shouted from behind a large rock.