Disclaimer- Same old, same old. I do not own the Hobbit, nor any of it's characters, even if I wish I did.
Thorin POV
I could hear my nephews arguing behind me and I listened carefully to their words.
"You're not understanding, Kili. I didn't say it, I thought it!" Fili had yelled at his younger brother. My eyes widened and I turned to Balin who was riding at my side.
"The bond is strengthening, Balin." I said quietly to him as we rode in the rain.
"Just as I told you it would, laddie. Journeys tend to make people become closer to one another, even making the strongest of bonds strengthen." Balin told me as a worried thought raced through my head.
"Balin, they are of the line of Durin, what if—,"
"Then we handle it when the time comes. We cannot hold them back from fate, Thorin. Surely you know this." Balin replied.
Once my thoughts had calmed, I looked back to our burglar. He was chatting happily with Bofur about his hat. He had prepared such a grand feast for us all last night, and accepted the dangers of this quest so easily. He had stood up to me with no fear in his eyes, though when he looked at me, I could see sadness. Perhaps there was more to this hobbit than one could see with the eyes. Only time could tell.
No One POV
As the company trudged on, the rain began pouring. Luckily, this time, Bilbo had remembered to pack his mothers elvish traveling cloak, which happened to be waterproof.
"Where'd you get that fancy cloak?" Dori asked Bilbo as they rode along in the rain.
"Its was my mother's. She once loved to go on adventures and this was given to her by those whom she had met in her travels." Bilbo told him honestly, though leaving out the part about the elves.
"You might be the only dry one of us. Say Mr. Gandalf, can you do anything about this deluge?" Dori called out to Gandalf who shook his head.
"No, master dwarf, it is raining and will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, I suggest you find yourself another wizard." Gandalf replied hastily, clearly just as bothered by the rain as anyone else. Though Bilbo had enjoyed it, to be honest.
"Oh yes, there are five of you, aren't there?" Bilbo asked, already knowing where this conversation was headed.
"Yes, there is Sauroman the White, the greatest of our order, then there are the two blues, though I've quite forgotten their names." Gandalf replied.
"Ah, isn't it Pallando and Alatar?" Bilbo asked, making Gandalf look at him questioningly with one of his eyebrows raised.
"Yes, I do believe you are correct." Gandalf replied hesitantly.
"…And the fifth?" Bilbo asked after a couple moments of silence.
"That would be Radagast, the Brown." Gandalf told them all. "He is a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to men. He watches over the great forestlands of the east, and a good thing, too, for evil is always looking to find a foothold in this world."
They rode for nearly three days straight in the pouring rain before stopping at the abandoned farmhouse.
Bilbo POV
I got the shivers just looking at this place again, knowing the mountain trolls were nearby. There was no way I could tell them all about them, but maybe I could do something more this time.
As we rode up the bank to the ruins of the farmhouse, Thorin yelled for everyone to stop. "We camp here for the night. Fili and Kili, look after the ponies, and stay with them!"
As Thorin and Gandalf began yelling, I walked over to Bombur and Bofur, who were trying to think up what to make for supper.
"Master Baggins! You cooked such a lovely dinner for us all the other night, why don't you tell us what we should make today?" Bofur yelled as he and Bombur set up the contraption to hold the pot over the fire.
"I believe we have some fresh rabbits, do we not?" They nodded. "Then perhaps you should make a nice rabbit stew. I've heard from quite a few of the others that it tastes simply delicious and I am dying to have a try for myself." I told them with a smile on my face, not missing their huge grins at being complemented.
"Rabbit stew it is, then." Bombur said happily and I walked over, sitting on a log as I drank from my water skin.
My thoughts drifted to the first time I saw this place, and I wondered just what Fili and Kili were doing that had distracted them from watching the ponies.
Kili POV
"Stop fidgeting, Fee!" I shouted as I attempted to re-braid one of his mustache braids.
"You try holding your mouth still when hair is tickling it! That is one reason I keep them in braids to begin with!" Fili whisper-shouted. Luckily I was done with the braid and trying to put the clasp in while he continued to talk. "What's taking so long?"
"If you would have just kept quiet and stopped moving for two minutes I would have been done ages ago! There, now I'm done. Happy?" I asked as I moved away, inspecting my work. Fili reached up and ran his fingers over the braids quickly then placed his hands on my shoulders.
"Thank you, nadadith, now when are you going to get some braids of your own?" Fee asked questioningly.
"When I feel as if I have earned them, brother. How many times have I told you so?" I told him again.
"But you have earned them, Kee. At the very least, you should have one signifying you as a prince." Fili replied as I looked to the ground.
"You're the prince that matters, Fili, not me. One day you will be king, and you will be a great one." I told him honestly. "And I think we both know that I'm not exactly the princely type."
"Mother always said you were much too reckless for your title." Fili responded, laughing. It was true, Ma always worried about how reckless I was. I looked at Fee, who was laughing before I drew my sword.
"Care for a duel, brother?" I asked as I swung my sword, smirking. He looked at me with his eyebrows raised before drawling his twin swords. "Come now, Fee, that's hardly fair."
"All is fair in love and war, brother." Fili said smirking as he brought his twin swords forward to block my first strike, then striking back at me as I quickly moved out of the way.
We dueled for several minutes before Fili knocked me to the ground with his swords crossed at my neck.
"I win!" He said excitedly.
"It was hardly a fair fight, brother, not to mention you have always been better with swords. I could best you at archery any day, and do not try to deny it." I told him as he helped me up. However, before he could reply, we both heard a large crash coming from where we left the ponies.
We quickly ran over to where the ponies were and both of us cursed under our breaths. In front of us was a downed tree and two ponies were missing.
"Thorin is going to kill us both." I muttered with Fili nodding along as we stood there in shock.
I'm sure I am not the only one who's dying to know what the brothers were doing that distracted them from something as obvious as a mountain troll, so I decided to include my version of it! Hope you enjoy! :) REVIEW, my loves. Make my day, will ya?
I love you all, my darlings. -Bex-