Chapter Four
"No! This conversation is not over! I don't see any wrong in going to this Rivendell place, or where ever it is! At least we'll be safe there!" Neniel continued. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew I should have never trusted you! It was YOU that given Gandalf the idea of seeking refuge with the elves!" bellowed Thorin. "Excuse me?! I barely even know any of the elves here! Gandalf suggested the idea on his own, you twot!" shouted Neniel. I'm not going to have this. No-for now on, you are banished your our company! Gather your belongings and leave!" demanded Thorin.
"FINE!" screamed Neniel, as she spun around, and sprinted back to where she sat and she packed her belongings. "Great, they got into another fight again!" grumbled Dwalin. Balin closed his eyes and sighed. "Where are you going?" asked Bofur. "Away. Your precious leader just banished me from the group!" snarled Neniel. "He did what?!" cried out Bilbo. "He cannot do that! You signed the contract!" said Dori. "Well its too late. What's done is done. Farewell, it's a pleasure of meeting all of you!" said Neniel, and she walked away, a voice called out to her.
"Wait, you're forgetting something!" called out Nori. Neniel stopped and she turned to the dwarf. "What?" said Neniel. "Your steed, its with the other ponies." said Nori. "Oh, okay." said Neniel, as she walked towards the forest, where the ponies and Neniel's horse is kept. Neniel hoped Fili and Kili wouldn't notice her, because she didn't want them to know she is departing the company. Luckily, she found her horse Myra, and she mounted and sped off.
"It appears we lost a great companion." said Balin, sadly. "Companion? What is the big deal with her? She has dark secrets among her, brother! I for one, don't trust her." snarled Dwalin. "There is nothing wrong with this woman! I wish you and Thorin can get that through you thick skulls!" snapped Balin. Dwalin remained silent. Neniel, however, had no idea where she is going, and she realized she went the wrong way. As she rode, something in her gut told her to stop. She had a feeling there was something in the area.
Neniel dismounted as she guided her horse into the forest. Suddenly, a large troll stepped out in front of her. "HEY BERT! Look whom I found!" exclaimed the troll. Suddenly, two others walked up beside him. Neniel took out her bow, and aimed it at the trolls. "Looks like we got a pretty lady on our menu tonight, boys!" grinned the first troll.
"Don't you dare touch me! I'm warning you! Come closer, or I'll shoot!" demanded Neniel. "I wouldn't do that if I were yer, lassie! Tom, confiscate her weapon!" snarled William, the second the troll. The first troll, Tom, quickly approaches Neniel, as he snatched all her weapons from her. "GRAB HER!" hissed William, and so Tom and Bert grabbed Neniel. "LET GO OF ME, YOU BASTARDS!" screamed Neniel, as she tried to fight them, but she couldn't. "Tie her in the sack, while we get everything prepared." said William.
Bert and Tom nodded, as they ordered Neniel to remove her clothing. Once she did, Tom throw her in a sack and tossed her side. Neniel scanned around the area, and she noticed the ponies nearby. Great heaven's above, they captured the company's ponies! Neniel thought. Suddenly, she could see a familiar small figure walking behind the large trolls, and she could see it was Bilbo. She wanted to shout out his name, but if she did, they would end up capturing him to, so she remained silent.
But it appeared that Bilbo, unfortunately got caught, and Bert picked him up. "Whom do we have here?" asked Bert. "I'm Bilbo Baggins-a burgla-hobbit!" stammered Bilbo.
"What's a burglahobbit doing in these parts?" demanded Tom. "Enough, we should eat him too!" snarled Tom. Suddenly, Neniel could see Kili jump out of the trees. "Drop him!" shouted Kili. Suddenly, all three trolls turned to the dwarf prince. "I said drop him!" hissed Kili. Suddenly, the rest of the Company, bolted out of threes, with the weapons in hand, as they charged at the trolls. "FILI! KILI!" Neniel cried out. "NENIEL?!" exclaimed Fili, as he noticed Neniel tied in a sack. "Don't worry Neniel! I'll get you out!" Fili called out to her.
But as Fili tried to go to Fili, William spoke up. "Drop your weapons, or we'll kill your friend!" demanded the troll. Hesitantly, the company dropped their weapons. And pretty soon, they ended up getting tied up in sacks as well, including Bilbo. When they tied Thorin in a sack, they threw him on top of Neniel. "Get off of me!" Neniel hissed. Thorin snarled as he rolled over. "This is all your fault!" grumbled Thorin. "My fault?! How in the hell its my fault?! You banished me remember?!" screamed Neniel.
"Shut it, yer twits!" shouted Bert. "No, why don't you shut it, booger brain!" Neniel shouted back. "Neniel!" hissed Balin. Neniel fell silent. Once everyone is tied up in the bags, Bilbo looked over at the Company and Neniel.
And then he could see a glimpse of Gandalf behind a bridge. Think of something, Bilbo, think of something, fast! Bilbo thought to himself. Shortly, Bilbo came up with an idea. "Wait! I have an idea how cooking dwarf!" Bilbo called out. "What are yer talking about, flurgaburgahobbit?" snarled Bert. Neniel smiled. She knew Bilbo came up with an idea of distracting the trolls. "Shut up, Bert! Let the burglahobbit speak!" demanded William. "Tell us, ferret!" demanded Bert.
"Well, the secret to cooking dwarf is.." began Bilbo, suddenly the dwarves began shouting names at him. "TRAITOR!" yelled Dwalin. "Oh knock it off, you idiots!" Neniel shouted out to the dwarves. Gloin glared at Neniel. Suddenly, Tom picked up Bombur. "No, no! Not that one! That one's infected!" exclaimed Bilbo. "What are you trying to impose, ferret?" snarled William. "He's got parasites! All of them do! Its in their tubes-they're no good for eating!" said Bilbo quickly.
"Parasites?! We don't have parasites! YOU have parasites!" shouted Kili, when suddenly Thorin, whom caught on to Bilbo's plan, kicked his nephew in the backside. And that's when Kili changed his story. "I got huge parasites!" called out Kili. "I got parasites as huge as my arm!" piped in Oin. "What are you taking us for? Fools, Ferret?!" barked William, as he moved closer to Bilbo. "No! No-its not-!" began Bilbo.
When suddenly, Gandalf stepped forward, standing on a bridge, holding up his staff. "Who's that? Can we eat him too?" asked Tom. "May dawn take you all, be stone to you!" exclaimed Gandalf, as he slammed his staff on the bridge, and light shown throughout the forest, turning all three trolls into stone. After that, Gandalf released the Company. Neniel quickly gathered her clothing and hide behind trees as she put her clothes back on. Fortunately no one had taken notice her undressed, and she sighed with relief, because she felt embarrassed of being only seen in her undergarments.
After getting dressed, she stepped out from the trees. Just as she was about to reach to her horse to leave the Company once more, she could feel a hand stopping her from leaving. It was Gandalf. "And where do you think you're going, Neniel?" asked Gandalf. "I'm leaving. This time, its definite and for good." grumbled Neniel, and she quickly turned away from her mentor. "You're not going anywhere, Neniel! We've discussed this before!" said Gandalf sternly. "I have no other choice but to, Gandalf! Thorin banished me! You can ask him yourself!" snapped Neniel angrily.
"Oh has he? We'll maybe I better go and change his mind then!" snarled the wizard as he walked away.
"Good luck trying to convince him! You know well as I do, he won't listen! Especially to you!" Neniel called out, as the wizard continued walking away. Balin shortly approaches Neniel. "I'm glad to see that you're okay, Miss Neniel!" said the dwarf. Neniel smiled. "Yes, I'm fine! No bruises or scrapes. I'm in one piece, thankfully." said Neniel. "So does this mean you're back with the Company?" asked Balin. "I don't know. Gandalf is going to talk to Thorin, to convince him to allow me back in the Company. It really doesn't matter. I don't belong anyways, Farewell, Master Balin." said Neniel, and she walked away.
Neniel decided once more to leave, and instead of going to Bree as she had originally planned, she decided her destination would be Rivendell, since she remembered during her travels with her mentor, she had been there twice, and loved it. And Elrond had treated her like as she was his own daughter. And she already addressed him as 'Pa'.
Gandalf's POV:
I decided once and for all to put an end to Thorin's distrust in my apprentice. Things have gone far now, and its time to get it resolved before it gets even worse. Suddenly, I could hear Thorin speaking up behind me. "Where have you been?" asked the dwarf. "Looking ahead!" I replied. "Why did you come back?" Thorin asked again.
"Looking behind, if you must know. It seems everyone made it out okay." I said. "Well, I rest this blame on our burglar and that Dark Elf friend of yours." said Thorin. "Thorin, he was only buying time to distract the trolls, and about Neniel, we need to have a little chat. All you have done throughout this journey is talk bad about her. She has done no wrong to you, and she deserves a second chance." I said. Thorin bowed his head.
"Perhaps you're right, Gandalf. Where is she?" asked Thorin. "She's with the company!" I replied. "No she isn't. She left us." spoke up Dwalin, approaching Thorin and I. "WHAT?!" Thorin and I exclaimed. I closed my eyes. That stubborn, stubborn woman! For once, why can't she keep her cool? I told her I handle this, I thought to myself. "Well if she's gone, she's gone. We're not going to waste our time finding her. Isn't there a troll cave nearby?" Thorin asked. "Yes, there is! Follow me!" I said hesitantly, as I now shifted my worries to my apprentice, wondering if she'll be safe.
I prayed she would make it to Rivendell at least in one peace, that all it matters to me.
No one's POV:
Neniel had been riding for several hours, and soon she found herself out in the open field. She felt happy to be on her own again, it was something that she always wanted. She was a loner, and she was used to the life on her own, after her kingdom had been destroyed. Suddenly, she quickly stopped her horse, as she could hear drumming and howling in the distance. Suddenly ahead of her, she could see a large group of orcs, coming her way.
"Ride at Great Speed, Myra!" Neniel called out to her steed in her native tongue, and the horse galloped, as she continued heading towards Imaladris. Unfortunately, she didn't go far, when she is surrounded by a large number of orcs mounted on orcs, and she realized she is outnumbered. "Our master is going to be pleased! TAKE HER!" demanded one orc. "Over my dead body!" shouted Neniel, as began firing arrows at the on coming orcs. "With all due pleasure!" sneered another orc behind her, when he took his hammer, striking it in her back, as she collapsed, with a loud scream.
The last thing Neniel could remember is hearing horns sounding off, and the orcs retreated, and everything went black from there.
"Wake up, its okay! You're safe now, young elleth!" said a kind deep voice. Neniel woke up, and she could see a dark haired elf, dressed in maroon robes and a silver circlet smiling down at her. Neniel instantly recognized the elf. "Lord Elrond!" Neniel exclaimed softly. "You would have been killed out there, Neniel. What are you doing traveling alone, and without your mentor?" asked Elrond. "It's a really long story, Pa. Can we save it for later?" said Neniel, tiredly.
"Yes, of course. You need to continue your rest." said Elrond. "Am I badly injured?" asked Neniel. "Just only a minor knock on your head, that's pretty much it. You are fine, Neniel. After your rest, I have your bath ready, and you can join me for lunch, and we'll talk some more okay?" said Elrond. Neniel nodded as she drifted back to sleep.