"Let's go!" Thorin's order shattered the peaceful chatter that had settled over the company.
"Go? Go where?" Rose glanced around at the various dwarves who were gathering in small groups and getting ready to head back to their camp.
"The trolls couldn't have moved in daylight." Bilbo explained, carefully picking his way over to Rose and Bofur. "Thorin believes there could be a cave nearby."
"So we're going to go looking for it?" Rose raised an eyebrow.
"We have to get our things and find the ponies then we'll be on our way!" despite still being covered in a sticky substance and having been tied in a sack, Bilbo Baggins was still very happy. If Rose was being honest with herself, it was creeping her out.
"What exactly are you… ah… covered in?" Rose asked, a little worried about the answer.
"Troll snot." Bofur said happily, moving to clap Bilbo on the shoulder before thinking better of it. "Time to round up the ponies!"
It took them nearly two hours to locate all of the ponies and bring them back to their camp. "Saddle up!" Thorin ordered, already on his horse. He watched the two hobbits with a disapproving look until they were seated on their various ponies. Rose was sharing with Bofur again, having no desire to share with Bilbo until he was cleaned of all troll body fluids.
"The cave won't be more than an hour away." Gandalf informed the company as they made their way back to the troll camp. "They wouldn't have moved very far in short periods of time. You should smell it before you see it."
"How comforting." Bilbo muttered.
"We need to find ye a stream. Or ye know, a lake." Bofur chortled. Bilbo glowered at the dwarf and he quickly sobered. "Ah, forgot ye don't like large bodies of water."
"Did you bring a spare change of clothes?" Rose asked hopefully. The hobbit had his own bag so surely he'd have some form of clothing?
"I have a spare shirt." He nodded .
"You'll have to change when we locate the cave. I shan't share a pony with you until you have!"
Bofur laughed behind Rose, twitching the reigns in his hands.
They smelt the cave before they saw it. The slight breeze carried the faint smell of decomposing flesh and a rather ripe toilet. "Up ahead!" Dwalin called. He nodded forwards and Rose followed his line of sight, locating a large opening in a rock face not far away.
The company dismounted, Thorin leading a small party into the cave. Bofur followed him, grabbing Nori as he passed.
"You best change your shirt." Rose smiled at Bilbo. "There isn't much we can do for the rest of you, but at least that will be clean."
Bilbo nodded, taking Rose's advice and disappearing behind a rock with his bag.
"So, you're to leave us tomorrow?"
Rose's head snapped up at an alarming rate. Fili had manifested himself in front of the small hobbit, his head tilted as he observed her. "I beg your pardon?"
"You'll be leaving us tomorrow. To join the part of humans heading back to the shire?"
"Oh. Yes. Yes, I suppose I am." Rose hadn't given it much thought. She knew that she was to return once they cleared the Trollshaws, but she'd fooled herself into thinking she had more time. How long had they been in the woods? Two, three days? It certainly made sense that they'd be nearly clear of the forest.
Fili was still watching her closely. "You're okay with leaving?"
"Of course! Why shouldn't I be? I'm a hobbit of the Shire and that's where I belong. Whilst I admire Bilbo's courage at joining the company, my place is at my father's inn." The words which came from her mouth seemed meaningless. Whilst there was truth in them Rose found herself wishing she could stay. It was an absurd idea. She hadn't been with the company any longer than a week. That was hardly enough time to get to know everyone and to trust them. Especially seeing as dwarves weren't the most trustworthy race in Middle Earth. At least, that had been what her grandmother had always told her. Having seen the way they interacted first hand, Rose was inclined to disagree.
When Rose looked up again she realised that Fili had left. Feeling a little silly for not realising the dwarf's departure she went in search of Bilbo. She found him talking to Gandalf near the cave entrance, a small sword in his hand. "I'm afraid there was nothing of your size in the cave. Bofur's dagger will have to do for now." The wizard apologised.
"Think nothing of it." Rose waved him off. "I shall depart tomorrow so it does not affect me."
"Indeed." The wizard hummed.
The wind seemed to pick up, the bushes on the ledge above them rustling with more vigour. "Something's coming!" Thorin's voice cut through the clearing, bringing the dwarves to their feet. "Gandalf!"
"Hurry now!" the wizard took control from the dwarf, drawing a sword Rose hadn't realised the wizard had owned. "Arm yourselves!"
Bilbo unsheathed his new sword, holding it uneasily. Rose tugged him over to the company, unwilling to be left out in the open. She hung back from the front of the group where Bilbo had been involuntarily placed, knowing she would be pretty much useless against whatever came through the bushes. As it was what came through the push was nothing more than a raggedy man a half a dozen large rabbits.
"Radagast the Brown!" Gandalf exclaimed, something close to job in his voice. He stepped close to the brown wizard and drew him away from the company.
"That's a coincidence." Bombur commented, a smile on his face. "What do you have there?" he nodded to the sword in Bilbo's hand.
"It looks like a letter opener." Dwalin grunted, pushing past them.
"That's half the size of me." Rose smiled slightly. "Some letter opener."
"You're just ridiculously short." Bofur chuckled, ruffling her hair. His hand stilled, still atop her head, as a low, blood curdling howl tore through the air.
"Was that a wolf? Tell me that was a wolf. Are there wolves out here?"
Bofur slowly withdrew his hand, holding the staff of his mattock tightly. "That was not a wolf."
The howling shifted into a low grown which seemed to originate form directly above them. Rose swallowed hard as she turned, large brown eyes settling on a humongous grey shape on the ride above. It lunged, landing on the mossy ground in front of her before launching itself over her head and into the middle of the dwarves. Rose caught the smell of rancid meat on its fur as it brushed the top of her head. It bowled Dori over before Thorin could cut it down. "Kili! Bow!" he yelled as members of the company pressed themselves against the surrounding rocks. A second, darker beast hurtled down the rock behind Thorin but it was cut down in mid-air. "Warg scouts! An orc pack cannot be far behind."
"Orc pack?" Bilbo's eyes widened to the size of saucers.
Gloin swore under his breath, jumping down to ground level and pushing Rose close to Bofur. "Stay close to him, little hobbit." The red-headed dwarf warned.
"You're being hunted." Gandalf said grimly. "By whom I do not know, but we have to leave now!"
"We can't!" Ori exclaimed in despair. "The ponies have bolted!"
"I'll draw them off!" Radagast said with determination. "These are Rhosgobel rabbits! No Gundabad Wargs can outrun these rabbits!"
Gandalf nodded without a second thought. "Move now! Quickly!" be herded the company in the opposite direction to which Radagast went, leading them towards the south-east exit of the woods. Bofur pushed Rose in front of him so that she was running alongside Bilbo as they burst from the woods.
At some point Rose had drawn out Bofur's dagger, clutching it tightly in her hand. She forced herself to put it back in her belt, knowing it would do her no use. If she tripped and fell then she'd stab herself. If she tried to throw it then she'd likely impale a dwarf rather than her intended target. No, she was better without the knife.
"This way!" Gandalf called, urging them to run faster. The ground was uneven and ridiculously hard to run on. Even with her feet Rose found that her ankles kept trying to give out. She was determined not to trip. If she did then she was as good as dead.
Looking up revealed that more of the large beasts had joined the hunt and they weren't that far away. Thorin changed their direction, pulling Ori who was a little too slow to realise the new change in direction. He led them past a large rock, skidding to a halt and motioning for them to step back against the stone. Bofur's arm snaked over Rose's chest, keeping her pressed against the rock.
A low growl sounded above the company, shaking the air and their bones. Kili moved slowly, careful not to make any sound as he loaded an arrow into his bow and lifted it to his shoulder. He stepped away from the rock face and spun around, leasing his arrow as he did. Though it was a good shot which caused warg and orc rider to tumble over the edge, it wasn't good enough to kill either of the beasts. The orc's howled echoed through the air until Thorin slit its throat. Kili buried a second arrow in the warg's skull, effectively silencing it.
"Too loud." Rose murmured.
Something in the air shifted and none of the company needed to look to see that the hunting pack was making their way towards them. "Run!" Thorin ordered.
What little sense of stealth the dwarves previously had vanished as they pushed themselves forwards. Bilbo and Rose reached for each other, grabbing each other's wrists. Rose's legs were starting to ache and her breaths burned her lungs. She'd never been one for sports, choosing to indulge in seven meals a day rather than a run through the village. She was starting to regret her choices now.
"We're surrounded!"
The two hobbits skidded to a halt as they realised that Fili was right; there was nowhere else to run.
A large rock stood in the middle of their circle and that was where Rose round herself cowering. Kili leased his arrows and Ori tried with his slingshot, but they barely dented the numbers.
"This way you fools!"
Rose jumped violently as Gandalf appeared out of the rock next to her. He grabbed her arm, pulling her down a wide chute to loose shingle below. Bofur hit the ground after Gandalf, rolling to the side and pulling Rose with him. "You alright, lass?" He asked worriedly as Bilbo and Balin joined them.
"I'm fine." Rose insisted, shuffling back as more dwarves joined them. The cave they found themselves in was large enough to stand so they did so, pressing back at the blare of a horn and the thudding on hooves.
They waited with baited breath as they listened to the sound of arrows cutting through the air. "Elves." Thorin snarled. How he guessed such a thing was beyond Rose, but Gandalf's silence confirmed it.
"There's a path! Do we follow it or not?" Dwalin had started down a narrow, rocky passage at the back of the cave.
"Follow it!" Bofur called eagerly, surging forwards. "After you." He allowed Rose to go first before falling in behind her.
I'm sorry for any mistakes, but I'm very tired. I also apologise if Rose is spelt 'rose' as my computer doesn't pick up on it and I'm not perfect at checking my work. I'm also sorry if 'Rose' changes to 'Aire' at any point. I'm alternating between chapters for this and An Unlikely Company so I do apologise!