I'm so excited to be writing the third chapter!
I don't own anything! I only own…what I own, ya know?
Okay, enjoy!
Kili
"Wake up, Kili! Bombur is serving food now." Fili's familiar voice (which was actually very annoying right now) said, rather loudly, in my ear.
"Fili, shut up," I swung my hand up and felt him jerk to the side.
"Get up, ya brat!" he punched my shoulder and tugged my hair.
"Fine! You're such a bother!"
"And you're a testosterone filled terror, now up with you! You need to eat."
"Oh yeah? Well you're a-,"
"Kili. Stop." Thorin growled, pushing a bowl of stew at me.
"He started it!" I cried, glaring at Fili's smirking face.
"Enough, I do not care who started it. I finished it." when he turned to walk away, I mumbled under my breath, "Quit getting involved, Uncle."
He froze, but instead of saying anything, sighed and kept walking.
"Kili, knock off this attitude. I'm serious. He'll send you back for sure." Fili stood up, "I had to beg for you to come. Don't ruin this."
I looked down and poked at the food in my bowl.
As everyone ate, they laughed and joked and teased each other while I sat off to the side and ate in silence.
Suddenly, my head shot up.
Brielle!
How could I forget!
I finished off the food and stood, "Can I have more, Bombur?!"
Everyone looked at me.
"Kili, we have to preserve food. We cannot have more than your share…" Bofur said carefully.
"I need more! I'm hungry!"
"You'll get used to eating less as the time passes, laddie. You have to make sacrifices." Balin said quietly.
Oh no…
I took a deep breath before saying, "B-but…I need more because…"
"Because…?"
"Because…I'm going through changes and it…I…need more food than usual. You know…to grow…" I felt like dying on the spot.
Balin cleared his throat.
"Get the lad more food!"
Just kill me.
Please, Aule, have me just drop dead.
I took the food and hurried behind the boulder.
The other dwarves slowly began to have their conversations start up again, but before they got in full swing, I heard Ori say, "Poor Kili. Of all the times to have his body changing, it chose now."
"Yes, I remember when I was finishing puberty. 'Twas horrible! I was hungry all the time…" Dwalin sighed, shaking his head.
"That's not all you were!" Balin joked, making a certain motion with his hand.
Everyone erupted into laughter.
"Do you think that's where he went?" Ori whispered.
"Most likely…"
Again, just kill me.
"Thank you…for doing that for me. It was really brave." A small voice said from the trees.
Brielle walked out from the shadows and gave me a smile. Her perfect lips looked so kissable right now…
What? No! Kili! Stop!
"Oh, it was nothing. Don't worry about it." I handed her the food and she ate quickly.
"I meant to ask you," she said when she was done, "What triggered this?"
"Excuse me?"
"Why did you want to help me? How did you know I wanted to go?"
"Oh, I might have…accidentally eavesdropped on your conversation-uh, argument-with Mr. Boggins." I smiled, "On accident."
"On accident?" she teased, "Okay, that answers the "how" questions, how about you answer the "why" question."
I looked at her and then looked away.
"I'll give you an answer when I have it."
She nodded, gave me a hug, and then whispered in my ear, "Baggins." Then she was gone.
Her smile, her voice, her smell (which was a very good one), was intoxicating; stronger than the strongest wine. I was dizzy and disorientated and it was all her fault.
I spun around to go back to camp and ran face first into the boulder.
Groaning, I held my bloodied lip and staggered back to camp, and plopped down next to Fili.
All eyes were on me.
"How rough did you get?" Bofur asked, sighing and shaking his head.
I just shrugged and grabbed my arrows and idly spun them around.
The sun had fully set and Bombur was snoring away in the corner.
I saw Bilbo get up and stretch before leaving the area to pet his pony.
Just then a shrill scream filled the air and the Hobbit look up, his eye wide with horror.
Another scream.
"What was that?" Bilbo asked, my voice rushed in his fright.
"Orcs," I said simply.
"Orcs?" Bilbo rushed over.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw my uncle get up and look around, his eyes scanning the world around us.
"Throat cutters," Fili said, "There'll be dozens of them out there. The Lowlands are crawling with them." I saw a small smile play on his lips.
"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone is asleep." I said it quietly, with a mysterious edge to my voice, "Quick and quiet, no screams…just lots of blood." I finished the last part in a whisper and schooled my features.
Bilbo's face was brilliant! I looked to Fili and we shared a small laugh.
The fun soon ended.
"You think that's funny?" Uncle growled, "You think that a night raid by orcs is a joke?"
"We didn't mean anything by it." I said, looking down.
"No you didn't," Thorin spat, "You know nothing of the world."
He stalked off without another word.
Balin walked up to us and said, "Thorin has more cause than most…to hate orcs."
I looked away, while Fili glanced at Thorin's back curiously.
Before Balin could tell his tale, I stood and said I would be back.
I had to check on Brielle.
Making sure no one saw, I stole an extra blanket from my pack and went behind the boulder once more.
Walking deeper into the trees, I whispered for Brielle.
No answer.
"Brielle!" I called, making sure to keep quiet enough so no one else could hear.
"Up here, Kili." I looked up into a tall tree a few feet away and saw a flash of long light brown, almost blonde, hair.
"Why are you up there? And where's your horse?" I asked, noticing her mount was nowhere to be found.
"I heard something and it scared me…so I climbed up here. Bandit is somewhere by the creek…it's hard to hide a horse, did you know that?" she slowly got down and looked me up and down, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing…it's just Uncle…" I stopped myself, "I wanted to bring you this blanket. I didn't know if you had one or not…"
"Thank you! I brought a cloak…but that's it," she smiled and took the blanket, "So what happened with your uncle? And what were those screams? They spooked Bandit."
"Only Bandit?" I teased, nudging her.
"Shut it." she laughed and plopped down, patting the spot next to her.
I sat down and said, "Those screams were orcs. I made a joke about them to Bilbo to scare him," at this she kicked me, "and Thorin got mad…he's really sensitive when it comes to orcs and goblins, apparently."
Brielle seemed to ponder what I said, "Swallow your pride and apologize. Just do it and see how he reacts. Then he can't ever say you didn't feel remorse for it and he'll know you meant it because no one told you to say it. You did it of your own free will."
I gave her a funny look.
"I don't exist, remember?" she leapt up and scaled the tree, peering down between the bushes like a wild cat, "He doesn't know I was here to tell you."
She settled into the branches and said, "Goodnight, Master Dwarf, and pleasant dreams."
Seeing how that was all the attention I was going to receive, I skulked back to camp. Once I got there, I walked up to Thorin and said, "I'm sorry about what I said about the orcs. You're right, they aren't jokes and I apologize, Uncle. It was utterly rude and I deserved your words. I'm sorry."
His features softened, but I left before he could say anything-if he was going to say anything.
-The Next Day-
Or, really, whatever day it was when it started pouring rain
Brielle
I was soaked. Completely and utterly soaked.
My clothes were saturated, my hair was matted to my face, water was pouring in my eyes and mouth, I was shivering, my lips were surely turning blue, and my fingers looked like prunes.
I hate prunes.
The rain must have been coming down for years!
Okay, not really…this was the second or third day of it raining, and I think it was letting up.
Sort of letting up, I should say.
But, even if it was letting up, I was miserable.
Just when I lost hope, I felt the pounding of water on my back lessen to just a sprinkle and then it stopped all together.
I shouted for joy, but then slapped my hand over my mouth and listened for any signs of the dwarves coming closer to check out the source of the noise.
Thorin's voice echoed in the woods, but it was telling the dwarves about making camp somewhere. I honestly couldn't hear exactly what was being said over the dwarfs' exclamations of relief because, if you didn't already know this, dwarves hate water.
So, we rode for another few hours until we made it to what looks like a broken down shack? I couldn't see well, and since there was an area of bare land before I saw trees again, I had to deeper into the forest to avoid being seen.
When I looked back I saw Gandalf and Thorin arguing, but I couldn't hear what it was about. Then I watched Gandalf storm off and get on his horse before riding away…leaving the dwarves alone with a wicked pissed off Thorin Oakenshield. Poor fellas…
I finally made it to a safe place and hopped off Bandit, my stomach grumbling and my skin dewy and raw from my wet clothes rubbing against it. Bandit leaned down and took up mouthfuls of wet grass, and for a minute, I wished I was a horse.
Traveling like this-in secret-was hard, but I gave myself a pat on the back for pushing through it. Besides, if this doesn't show Thorin and Bilbo that I was serious about coming, then nothing would.
What am I talking about? I can't get caught, ever! Not just for my sake, but for Kili's too! He's doing so much to keep me a secret and care for me. So far he's been thoroughly embarrassed by the Company, gotten yelled at countless times, has gone hungry when it became impossible for it to get seconds at every meal and gave me his share, and, the thing that's been nagging at me this whole time, he's been lying. Lying to his friends, his uncle, his brother…Kili isn't a liar. Well, at least he wasn't a liar until I showed up in his life. It was decided. I was never going to be found out.
Stripping out of my soaking wet clothes, I dug through my bag and found my other set of clothes which were wet, but not soaked.
"Better than nothing…" I said to myself, but before I could get dressed, I heard two sets of footsteps and two voices coming my way.
And here I am, completely naked…
I grabbed Bandit by the reins and dragged him off behind a cluster of greenery that would act as a curtain.
"Kili! Look! It's a hat…what is it doing out here?" Fili asked, coming into view for the first time since I saw him at Bilbo's house.
Oh no, please no!
I searched around feverously and couldn't find my hat in my bundle of clothing.
That was my hat!
I cursed under my breath and peaked through a slit in the shrubs.
Fili picked it up and looked at it curiously, but Kili had a look of horror on his face, immediately recognizing the hat as mine.
"I-It probably b-belongs t-t-to the farmer, brother. Ganda-dalf said a farmer used to l-live in that sha-shack." He was stuttering fiercely and quickly grabbed the hat and threw it away, "Come on, let's just watch the ponies."
Fili watched his brother carefully and then look straight at me!
"Okay, that's a good idea. Come," the blonde dwarf held my gaze, but I don't think he knew he held it.
"Fili! Let's go!" Kili walked away in a rush, not looking back.
Once they were out of sight and out of earshot, I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.
Still naked, I ran out and grabbed my hat, then ran back.
My heart was racing in my chest as I shakily got dressed and then arranged myself so I was out of sight, then I fell asleep.
Shouts filled the air.
A battle? What?
I grabbed my bow and arrows and followed the sounds of shouts and cries of pain.
What I saw nearly had me floored! Three trolls had a group of dwarves over a spit, roasting, and the rest of the dwarves were all in bundles in a pile a few feet away.
Bilbo was standing and trying to talk to the trolls…what?
Wow, I'm never taking a nap again if this is what happens when I sleep.
Scoffing at myself, I focused on Bilbo again.
I saw him look around thoughtfully, and then it clicked. He was buying time! But, buying time for what?
Brielle, you can't just stand back and watch a "spineless" creature try to save a group of dwarves or else you're the biggest hypocrite in all of Middle Earth! I scolded myself.
Creeping around the clearing, I rushed to the bundle of dwarves and placed my hand on Thorin's shoulder.
He jumped, but when he saw me, his eyes showed his rage…but I ignored it.
Taking an arrow, I set to tearing the sack around him. And it wasn't an easy task! The material was tough, but I finally got him undone.
The King under the Mountain shot me a thankful look, but it was gone within seconds.
Kili turned to his Uncle and di a double take.
"Brielle…? Brielle! What are you doing?"
"Saving a bunch of dwarves, how about you?" I snapped, and began cutting at Kili's bag.
Just then, a troll reached for Bombur and right when he lifted the fat dwarf, he caught sight of me and let out a shrill scream.
The other two trolls saw me and roared.
I shot an arrow at the troll that had Bombur and got him in the eye-barely. It got the corner of his eye, but he roared and dropped Bombur.
Running forward, I got under Bombur so he didn't land on Fili, but, while I saved Fili, I suffered a hard fall and bone crushing moment with the fat beast called Bombur…until he rolled off me.
Another troll grabbed me by the legs and held me up.
"What is it?"
"Who cares? It shot me with an arrow! It's a short elf!"
"Mmmm, I've never had Elfling before…"
"Ew, I'm not an elf!" I shouted, "If I'm an elf, then you're a…a…woman!"
It was a horrible insult, but they trolls gnashed their teeth and growled.
Noticing I still had an arrow in my hand, I jabbed it into the troll's eye and dragged down.
The monster threw me at the rock behind the still-sacked dwarves.
I cried out in pain when I hit the stone.
Before the last troll could grab me, Gandalf appeared and split a rock in half…I think. Everything was blurry right now and his words swirled around in my head.
Taking deep breaths, I closed my eyes and waited for the commotion around me settle. Suddenly, it was very quiet and I felt eyes on me.
I opened my eyes and gave everyone a weak smile.
"Hello…?" Kili groaned and hung his head.
So much for never getting caught….
XXX
They found out! Oh no!
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Okay, uh, that's it! Bye Bye!