Thanks to all my gorgeous reviewers (:

Read and Review (:

Kyrie

"Oh, what's that stench?" Nori shouted the next morning as we stood outside a large cave. It looked a little small for the Trolls, but Gandalf promised me it was their hoard. Bifur grunted beside me and tapped my cheek to get my attention. I nodded, watching the Dwarf's hands move and tried to read the hand signs.

"Something about...soap…good?" I said, watching as Bifur smiled.

"He said 'Your soap smells nice. Better than Troll cave.'" Bofur said, nudging my shoulder.

"Well, I hope I would smell better than a Troll cave, even on the worse of days! This place smells rancid." I gaged, catching the whiff of Troll. The cave had certainly been lived in for quite some time, if the smell was anything to go by. My nose twitched as the scent of decay, sewage, and just general filth caught my senses.

"Maybe I'll stay out here." I commented, seeing that only Gandalf, Thorin, Bofur, Dwalin, Gloin, and Nori were going down into the Troll cave.

'Wise choice.' Bifur signed, which I understood after he repeated his signal a few times.

"Well, you and I are the beauty and brains of this company, aren't we?" I asked, batting my eyelashes as the axe-headed Dwarf playfully nudged my shoulder.

"What do you think they'll find in there?" Ori asked, talking while scribbling away in his journal.

"Probably just a load of Troll shit." Kili said, earning a good smack from Dori.

"He's probably right, Dori. Why would Trolls keep anything of value? It's not like they can walk into the nearest village to buy or trade." I said skeptically, scratching my hair. It was down and out of its braid from the good scrubbing I gave it earlier and I was dismayed to find that it went down a couple of inches below my breasts now.

'Braid?' Bifur sighed, wriggling his fingers.

"More like a cut. That's what this needs." I murmured, but winced as Bifur bopped me on the nose.

'No cut. Bad omen to cut.' He signed before saddling up behind me, his fingers raking through my hair.

"Do you need a comb?" I asked, ready to find my wooden comb in my pack.

"No need for him, lass. Bifur is a prime braider, he is." Dori said, smiling as Bifur let out a pleased grunt. Usually when I braided my own hair, I was always wincing when I managed to knot up the end of the braid or I pulled too tight. Dori was right though, Bifur was an expert at braiding. He finished braiding with a few taps at the back of my head, which made me run my hand over my head. An intricate single braid went down the back of my head and ended just below my shoulder.

"Thank you!" I said, loving the way the braid was tight but didn't tug at my scalp.

'Welcome.' Bifur signed, smiling. We heard coughs and shouts as the Dwarves and Wizard stumbled out of the Troll cave, covering their noses.

"Bilbo!" Gandalf called as the rest of the company came pouring out of the Troll hoard behind him, coughing. Bilbo looked up from his seat next to Bifur.

"Hmm?" He hummed, taking a sip of water from his water skin.

"Here! This is about your size." Gandalf said proudly, pressing a small sword into Bilbo's hands. In the hands of a man, it would have been a long dagger, but it was the perfect size for a Hobbit sword. Bilbo seemed flustered with the weapon, blinking rapidly in surprise.

"I-I can't take this." Bilbo whispered, shrugging his shoulders.

"The blade is of Elvish make, which means it will glow blow when Orcs or Goblins are nearby." Gandalf tried to pawn the blade off on Bilbo, who was glancing nervously back towards the company. I stood from my seat and crept closer towards the two.

"Elvish junk." I hissed, earning a little glare from the Wizard.

"I have never used a sword in my life!" Bilbo whisper-yelled, probably hoping that no one in the company had heard him.

"And I hope you never have to! But if you do, remember this: true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one!" Gandalf said softly to Bilbo, who sighed and accepted the sword.

"Kyrie...this is of Fae make." Gandalf said, pulling out something wrapped in cloth. I felt some pleasure that it wasn't anything Elvish, but I was still cautious. He gently laid it in my hands and motioned for me to unwrap it. I tugged at the leather straps and revealed the most beautiful…tube?

"It's a blowpipe." Gandalf said, producing a small baggy from his pocket.

"You want me...to smoke pipe weed with you?" I asked nervously, palming the tube. It was the color of polished white wood, with deep engravings of lighting bolts.

"Oh no, my dear. Observe." Gandalf said, opening the small baggy. Inside were rows and rows of what looked like sharpened, wooden needles. He placed one in the tube, took a deep breath and blew into the other side of the tube. The wooden needle came rocketing out of the tube and pierced deep into the bark of the tree beside us.

"Holy..." Bilbo said, his eyes wide.

"That…is…amazing!" I said, accepting the baggy of wooden needles, which looked easy enough to reproduce by carving more. Gandalf wiped the end of the tube he blew into with his beard before presenting it to me.

"Aim true." Gandalf said, smiling as I jammed it into my belt, where it would hold and not fall off. Suddenly, the trees around us began to howl. Branches started to shake and small animals started to scurry around.

"SOMETHING'S COMING!" Thorin shouted, drawing a long, beautiful sword that he must have found in the cave. I caught sight of the curling waves in the blade and knew that Thorin's new sword was too, Elvish.

Elvish shit.

"G-Gandalf!" Bilbo stuttered, nervously looking to the Wizard.

"Stay together! Hurry now! Arm yourselves!" Gandalf ordered, drawing his own, new, Elvish blade.

Elvish garbage.

Gandalf rushed away, giving Bilbo a moment to unsheathe his sword. The blade was decent to look at, with long waving designs crafted into the blade. Those designs would glow blue, just as Gandalf said, but they were not glowing now. Bilbo grabbed onto my wrist as we turned to follow the rest of the company towards where the sounds were coming from. I pulled out one of my daggers, too nervous to use my blowpipe for the first time in a life and death situation. Bilbo shakily held his sword, the metal quaking in his palms.

The forest seemed to shake as a strange looking sled burst from between some thick brush. It looked like the dog sleds from the North, but it was pulled by…rabbits. Big, brown, furry rabbits. The poor creatures were panting, their eyes bulging from fear and exhaustion.

Beside me, Bilbo unsheathed his new sword, the metal shaky in his hands. The dwarves huddled together for protection, pulling their weapons out with their eyes trained on the sled.

"Thieves!" The man on the rickety sled shouted, his knuckles white. The Dwarves looked upon the man nervously, but I relaxed when I heard Gandalf's relieved exhale. The wizard's tense shoulders drooped and he let out a relieved chuckle.

"Fire! Murder!" The old man shouted, his brown robes covered in dust, leaves, and…bird poo? The old man looked a little unsound in the head, if his terrified shouting was anything to go by.

"Radagast!" Gandalf said, so relieved that he held onto his staff for support. "It's Radagast the Brown."

I vaguely remember Gandalf speaking about the other wizards in the world. The white, the two blues, and the brown. This wizard was the one that Gandalf had described as strange, but good in his own way.

"Well, what on earth are you doing here?" Gandalf said, marching over to the brown wizard, a clear sign that he didn't want the rest of us to hear their wizardly conversation. The brown wizard spied me, and his eyes grew wide. I felt that Radagast had a deep connection with the forest and its creatures, which made me trot over to stand besides Gandalf. The grey wizard shot me a curious look, but allowed me to stay.

"I was looking for you, Gandalf! Something's wrong! Something's terribly wrong." Radagast whispered, shaking his head. His hands began to shake as his eyes glazed over in terror.

"Yes?" Gandalf asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh…Oh! Just give me a minute. I just had it! I just had a thought and I lost it. It was on the tip of my tongue." Radagast said, wracking his brain for his lost thought. Then, the wizard smacked his gums together and a disturbed look crossing his face.

"Oh, wait! It's not a thought at all." Radagast said as Gandalf reached forwards and pulled a small stick bug out of the brown wizard's mouth. A little disgusted, I turned around to take a peek at the company, who were all meandering around, still holding their weapons nervously. Gandalf pulled out his pipe when Radagast began talking about spiders and other frightening happenings in his forest.

Uninterested in their conversation, I began to watch the rest of the company. I smiled and waved at Bofur, Bifur, and Bilbo, all of whom were clumped together at the edge of the group. The trio managed to smile awkwardly at me, sheathing their weapons once Thorin gave them the order to stand down.

"Gandalf, something wicked is-" Radagast rambled, his eyes wide and glassy with fear, was cut off by a sound that chilled my bones.

A soul shaking, spine chilling howl pierced the air. It was no simple wolf or dog that made the noise, there was no doubt in my mind that it was a warg. A large one at that. It sounded very close, and another howl soon came from somewhere past the tree-line.

"Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out there?" Bilbo asked nervously, once again unsheathing his weapon. The rest of the Dwarves did as well, tense once again.

"Wolves? No…that is not a wolf." Bofur hummed nervously, pursing his lips. Before any of the company knew what was happening, a large grey warg leapt from above. The massive beast knocked Dwalin off his feet, causing a slight havoc among the Dwaves. The beast was quickly slain by Thorin with a powerful downwards swing of his sword. As soon as the first beast breathed his last, another warg came from the foliage.

"Kili! Get your bow!" Thorin shouted, his nephew firing an arrow straight into the warg's chest. I pulled one of my throwing daggers out of my belt and sent it spiraling towards the beast. The blade bit into the warg's forehead, immobilizing it long enough for Dwalin to deal the finishing blow.

"Warg scouts!" Thorin cried, glaring at the corpses of the giant wolves "Which means an Orc pack is not far behind."

"ORC PACK?!" Bilbo asked, horrified. I quickly rushed over to the company and was shoved into their group, most likely for protection.

"More will come soon. Our kills weren't exactly silent." I said, trying to urge the Dwarves to start moving as soon as possible. Gandalf looked like he was about to explode in anger.

"Who did you tell of your quest, beyond your kin?" Gandalf shouted, his light blue eyes darkened in anger.

"No one." Thorin responded calmly, stoically looking upon the wizard with an irritated expression.

"Who did you tell?!" Gandalf asked once more, sounding more furious the second time around.

"No one, I swear!" Thorin shouted back, throwing his arms out to show his innocence and irritation. "What in Durin's name is going on?!"

"You're being hunted." Gandalf replied grimly, his face sagging in horror. His comment made the company explode into a swarm of shouting, nervous Dwarves.

"We have to get out of here." Dwalin hissed, clenching the handle of his axe.

"We can't! We have no ponies! They bolted!" Ori announced, nervously clutching his sling shot. Bilbo rolled his eyes, exasperated, and began to pace back and forth.

"Bilbo…" I called, nervously grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him into the protective ring of Dwarves. The Hobbit seemed embarrassed that I tugged him in and pressed him against my side, but all I could think about was protecting him.

"I'll draw them off!" Radagast called, getting back on his sled of rabbits.

"Those are Gundabad Wargs. They will out run you!" Gandalf cried, worried about his friend. Couldn't they do something wizardly and scare off the wargs? Or cast a hiding spell to cloak us or something?

Just your friendly neighborhood Fae making a suggestion.

"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits. I'd like to see them try." Radagast smirked, his eyes narrowing in slyness. Gandalf let out a breathless laugh as the fellow Wizard zoomed off, a pack of wargs soon making themselves known as they hunted the sled.

"Oh…sweet Liberai preserve us, as Vexen's sights are upon us." I whispered, feeling fear begin to seep into my heart. Bilbo made a fearful, but questioning grunt beside me.

"What?" He questioned, looking at me with curious blue orbs.

Of course, Mister Baggins would be curious about the Fae gods at a time like this.