Thanks again to all the readers, hope you're still enjoying the story. Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter, I've had a chaotic week. But here's chapter 5 - let's have Katy and Sarah meet some trolls...

Again, I own nothing but the girls...

Chapter 5

Katy and Sarah's third morning in Middle Earth started early, and both girls woke to sore backs from sleeping on the hard ground. Neither of them could quite get Balin's story of the Pale Orc out of their heads, and as they splashed their faces with water in a nearby stream, it was all they could talk about.

'I'm scared, Sarah. And by scared I mean terrified. That Pale Orc thing might be dead, but what else is out there?' whispered Katy.

'I know. I'm starting to think that agreeing to go on this quest wasn't such a great idea,' Sarah replied.

'Like you said before, I doubt we had much choice where Thorin's concerned. He still doesn't seem to trust us,' said Katy, as both girls made their way back to camp.

'I just feel so much out of my depth. I mean how are we meant to defend ourselves if something does attack us? Are we meant to let the dwarves help us? I'm starting to wish I didn't give up on those karate lessons when I was younger,' Sarah said.

'Yeah something makes me think that my zumba moves aren't going to be much use,' Katy joked, trying to lift the mood.

As they joined the dwarves and Bilbo for breakfast, it was clear that they weren't the only ones who had been affected by the story of the Pale Orc. Kili and Fili were more subdued than normal, possibly still feeling a bit guilty over scaring the hobbit and the girls last night.

'You ladies manage to freshen up a bit?' asked Bofur, while stuffing his face full of sausages.

'Hmm, not so much. I would kill for a proper shower and some shampoo. I hate to think what bugs are starting to crawl around in my hair…' Sarah said, running her hand through her dirty blonde locks.

'Ah, living with nature never did anyone any harm!' the dwarf replied.

'Keep thinking that thought when you see how frizzy Katy's hair can get!' laughed Sarah, as Katy tried to subtly flatten her hair.

Thorin soon announced that they were to continue moving, and the girls found themselves once again sharing a pony with Kili and Fili. Neither dwarf was very talkative, seemingly still upset after a telling off from Thorin, and just when Katy and Sarah couldn't think that it could get worse, it started to rain. Heavily.

'You just had to mention a shower, didn't you Sarah?' sighed Katy.

'Hey, at least it will flatten down your hair!' her friend shouted back, 'But if that doesn't work, maybe you can ask Fili to tie it in braids. These dwarves seem pretty keen on braiding their hair!'

As soon as Sarah mentioned Fili braiding Katy's hair, both girls felt the dwarves tense up in front of them.

'What? Can we not braid our hair since we're not dwarves?' asked Sarah.

Kili shifted slightly round to face her.

'No-o, that's not it. It's just when a female asks a male to braid her hair, she's more often than not asking him to start courting her. And then you've got your different courting braids, and marriage braids, and fertility braids…' Kili trailed off.

Sarah was silent for a moment, and turned to Katy and Fili, who were both trying not to look at anything, their faces bright red.

'Whoops...' Sarah said, grinning at them both. She then turned back to face Kili.

'So what if I was to start braiding your hair? Would that be a dwarf way of asking you out?'

Now it was Kili's turn to go bright red.

Katy sniggered, glad for the attention to be off her and Fili.

'Don't worry, Kili, she was always quite forward when it came to asking guys out. She's harmless really!'

A few of the other dwarves were looking at the two girls, not quite understanding what they were laughing about, but at least it lightened the mood somewhat, despite the rain. Kili and Fili both looked a lot more cheerful, once they had got over their initial embarrassment.

As the afternoon wore on, the rain continued, until even the dwarves were fed up with it.

'Here, Mr Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?' asked Dori.

The wizard didn't look impressed with that request.

'It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard.'

Bilbo asked Gandalf about whether there were any other wizards, and Katy and Sarah listened on fascinated as Gandalf told them about Saruman the White and Radagast the Brown.

'I always just assumed the Gandalf was the only wizard,' muttered Sarah.

'I wonder if that old woman at the fair was some kind of wizard? I mean, for her to be able to magic us here,' Katy thought out loud.

'After all the things we've seen here, who knows,' replied Sarah.

Thankfully, the rain soon cleared, and the company stopped by an old, abandoned farmhouse.

'We'll camp here for the night,' Thorin announced. 'Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them.'

As everyone dismounted from their ponies and started to set up camp, Katy and Sarah went to talk to Gandalf. They hadn't stopped thinking about the idea that the old woman could have been some kind of wizard, and wanted to see what Gandalf thought about it. However, it soon became clear that the wizard was having a heated conversation with Thorin, and neither girl wanted to interrupt. They didn't know what they were discussing, but heard the word elf mentioned quite a lot. Suddenly the conversation seemed to be over, and Gandalf marched off.

Bilbo looked as concerned as the girls did.

'Everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?' the hobbit asked.

'To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense,' the wizard huffed.

When Bilbo asked who he meant, Gandalf replied loudly.

'Myself, Mr Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day.'

Sarah and Katy gave each other a quick look before scurrying off after the wizard.

'Gandalf! Are you really going? Can we come with you?' shouted Katy.

'Yeah, what happened to helping us get home?' Sarah added.

The wizard stopped in his tracks and turned to face the girls, giving them a small smile.

'I just need to look ahead at a few things. And I haven't forgotten about helping you. Don't worry, I will return,' he said kindly, 'Stick with the dwarves. They'll look after you.'

With that, Gandalf continued marching off before either girl had a chance to reply.

'Why does it feel like everyone is always telling us what to do, ever since we got here?' Sarah muttered, and Katy nodded in agreement at her.

Darkness fell on the camp, and still Gandalf hadn't returned. Bombur had made soup for dinner, and as the company ate, the girls tried not to get too worried about the wizard. Bilbo also seemed quite nervous without Gandalf around, and Bofur tried to calm the hobbit.

'He's a wizard! He does as he chooses,' the dwarf said, handing two bowls of soup to Bilbo. 'Here, do us a favour, take this to Kili and Fili, they're still keeping an eye on the ponies.'

As the hobbit went off with the bowls of soup, Katy turned to Bofur.

"Were Gandalf and Thorin talking about elves?' she asked him.

'Er, I'm not too sure. Why do you ask?' he replied, glancing over at Thorin.

Katy shrugged.

'No reason, just curious. Sarah and I have met wizards, hobbits and dwarves, I'm just wondering what other creatures we'll meet. Might be quite nice to meet an elf. Are they friendly?' Katy went on.

Bofur looked increased uncomfortable with the girl's questions, and kept checking to see whether Thorin was listening.

'Well, er, elves are a bit of an odd race, and haven't always, eh, gotten on with dwarves. Bit of a history there, if you know what I mean,' Bofur stuttered.

Sarah and Katy could sense that the dwarf didn't want to be having this conversation, so didn't question him further. That didn't stop their curiosity about elves though.

'Let's go and ask Kili and Fili. I bet you'd only have to bat your eyes and Fili would tell us everything,' Sarah whispered.

Katy rolled her eyes at her friend.

'What?!' Sarah said indignantly, 'He seemed keen to find out who your Mr Right was. And I bet he would braid your hair if you asked him.'

Katy still said nothing, and pulled her friend through the trees to where the two young dwarves were watching the ponies. At first they couldn't see the dwarves, but then spotted two bowls of soup on a thick branch, and Kili, Fili and Bilbo crouched down behind a rock close by.

'What the hell are you doing?' said Sarah, loudly, as she and Katy went over to them.

The three of them turned around simultaneously put their fingers to their lips.

'Shhh! Two of the ponies are missing! And we've just seen where they've gone,' whispered Kili, as he dragged both girls onto the ground.

'I thought you were supposed to be watching the ponies? How did you manage to lose two of them?' asked Katy, as she tried to peer over the rock.

'We were watching them! We were just getting them some water, and then we realised Daisy and Bungo were missing,' Fili replied.

'So you said you knew where they had gone?' she asked the dwarf.

Before Fili had a chance to reply, harsh laughter was heard close by.

'Yeah, erm, see that light in the distance?' Kili said, 'Well it's a fire. And it would seem that some trolls have our ponies and are planning on cooking them.'

Katy and Sarah were silent for a minute.

'I'm sorry, what? I could have sworn you just said trolls?' said Katy.

More laughter was heard, and the dwarves, girls and hobbit all peered over the rock to see three huge trolls sat around a fire.

'Oh look at that, you did say trolls,' Sarah whispered, in shock.

Katy had a look of pure horror on her face.

'What are we going to do?! Should we tell Thorin?' she asked.

Both Kili and Fili quickly shook their heads.

'Uhh, no. Let's not worry him just yet,' said Fili, and he and his brother then turned to Bilbo, who for all this time had been sitting quite still, looking like he wished he was back in his hobbit hole.

'We thought our official burglar might be able to do something,' Fili continued.

'Me? What could I do?' Bilbo spluttered.

'It's perfectly safe. Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small. You'll be able to creep up on them, and they would never know,' Kili said, pushing Bilbo in the direction of the fire.

'No, no, no…' the hobbit wasn't liking this idea one bit, and Sarah and Katy weren't too keen on it either.

'You're just going to send Bilbo after the trolls? What about you and all your weapons?' said Sarah, as Fili and Kili continued to push the hobbit ahead.

'It'll be fine, we'll be right behind you. If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl,' encouraged Fili.

Bilbo wandered off, muttering the dwarf's instructions to himself, and Kili and Fili start to make their way back to camp.

'Are you not going to follow him? You said you would be right behind him,' said Katy. Both she and Sarah hadn't moved from behind the rock.

'Look, we need to tell Thorin about the trolls, and to work out a plan. The hobbit will be fine. Come on, let's get back to camp,' replied Kili, reaching for Sarah's hand.

The girls stood up, but didn't move towards the dwarves.

'No. We're going to help Bilbo. He doesn't have any weapons. He's about as out of his depth on this quest as we are,' said Sarah, firmly.

Katy nodded.

'She's right. The last thing I want to do is fight some trolls, but Bilbo is our friend, and you can't just send him off into danger.' Katy was surprised at how calm she sounded.

'Don't be silly, you'll get yourselves hurt. Come back to camp, and we'll sort this out,' Fili said, trying to reason with them.

The girls still refused to move, and after a minute of staring at each other, Kili let out an exasperated sigh.

'Fine, help Bilbo. But try not to get yourselves caught. We'll be back to help soon,' he said, and both dwarves made their way back to camp.

Suddenly alone, both girls didn't feel as confident as they had done a moment ago.

Sarah turned to Katy.

'Right then, I guess we better go and help Bilbo.'

'And what exactly are we meant to do?' asked Katy, as they both started to tiptoe towards the fire.

'I have absolutely no idea. But I wasn't about to tell that to those two know-it-all hot dwarves,' replied Sarah.

As the girls got nearer to the fire, they could hear voices, and soon three large trolls came into sight. At first Katy and Sarah just stood in shock, not quite believing what they were seeing.

'Oh my god. So we've met wizards, hobbits, dwarves, and now trolls. This trip just gets better,' said Katy.

'Yep, it sure does. Come on, I think I see Bilbo over there,' Sarah said, grabbing Katy's arm.

The trolls were too busy preparing the fire, and hadn't yet noticed the girls or the hobbit. Katy and Sarah crept over to where Bilbo was trying to free the two ponies.

'Bilbo! We're here to help you!' Sarah whispered, and the hobbit jumped when he saw them both.

'I can't cut the rope. I need a knife or something,' he whispered back, and all three of them glanced over at the trolls.

The hobbit slowly started to move towards one of the trolls, as Katy and Sarah pulled at the ropes around the ponies.

'Where are those bloody dwarves when you need them,' muttered Sarah.

Suddenly they heard a shout, and turned to see one of trolls holding up Bilbo.

'What are you then? An oversized squirrel?'

'I'm a burglar, uh, hobbit' replied Bilbo.

The troll looked at Bilbo, puzzled, and the other trolls try to grab him, which only resulted in Bilbo falling to the ground and scurrying away. All three trolls tried to catch him, and Bilbo did well to dodge their fists, until he was eventually caught.

Before Sarah and Katy have time to think, they were running through the grass towards the trolls, and Bilbo was almost dropped once again as the trolls tried to grab the girls.

Katy and Sarah started kicking and scratching the trolls' legs, but soon they too are being help upside down by the trolls.

'Look, now we got one burglar-hobbit each!' one of the trolls said, and they all started laughing.

The girls and Bilbo desperately tried to kick themselves free, but the trolls tightened their grip. Sarah tried to catch Katy's eye, and the only thing she could think about is Kili's last words to her, just don't get caught. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was about to happen, when suddenly she heard Kili's voice.

'DROP THEM!'

Sarah opened her eyes, and there was Kili, sword in hand. God, he's hot, she thought.

The trolls look confused.

'You what?'

'I said, drop them!' Kili shouted, cutting one of the trolls in the leg.

The troll dropped Sarah, who landed right on top of Kili, but before the creature could do anything else, there was a loud cry from the trees. The rest of the dwarves came charging out, weapons raised, and started hacking and slashing at the trolls' legs, causing them to drop Katy and Bilbo.

Kili pulls Sarah to her feet.

'You took your time,' she said to him, but before he could reply all the dwarves suddenly stop fighting, and Sarah soon realised why - Bilbo was once again in the hands of the trolls.

'Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off,' said one of the trolls.

Thorin looks frustrated, but has no choice but to throw down his sword, and the rest of the dwarves did the same. It doesn't take the trolls long to have the girls, Bilbo and half the dwarves tied up in sacks, and for the other half of the dwarves roasting on a spit over the fire.

Katy was lying in between Fili and Bilbo.

'Sorry your rescue mission didn't go quite to plan,' she whispered to the hobbit, who gave her a small smile.

'Maybe if you had come back to camp then you wouldn't be tied up about to be a troll's dinner,' muttered Fili, and Katy glared at him.

'Look, I'm tied up in a sack, I'm completely filthy and about to be eaten by a troll. I don't need you to say I told you so!'

Fili smirked. 'And I never did get to braid your messy hair,'

Despite her annoyance at him, Katy couldn't help but blush.

On the mention of her hair, Bilbo gave a jolt, and shouted at the trolls, who were back on the topic of how to cook the dwarves.

'Wait! You are making a terrible mistake!'

The dwarves, the girls and the trolls didn't know where he was going with this.

'What do you mean?' one of the trolls asked.

'You can't cook them like that, have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up,' Bilbo said.

The trolls continued to look confused.

'What do you know about cooking dwarf?'

Bilbo started prattling on about skinning them, and Katy gave him a desperate look, really hoping that he knew where he was going with this.

Suddenly one of the trolls grabbed Bombur, and held him above his mouth.

'No! Not that one, he's infected!' screamed Bilbo.

'You what?' The trolls were confused.

'Yeah, he's got worms in his…tubes,' Bilbo gulped.

As soon as he said that, the troll dropped Bombur quickly, and he landed right on top of Sarah. That's got to hurt, thought Katy.

'In fact, they all have, they're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business, I wouldn't even risk it, I really wouldn't,' the hobbit continued.

If it hadn't been that they were about to be eaten by trolls, Sarah and Katy would have burst out laughing, because the dwarves' reaction to being told that they had parasites was priceless.

'Parasites, did he say parasites?'

'We don't have parasites! You have parasites!' (Great come-back, Kili, just great, thought Sarah).

The girls weren't sure what Bilbo was trying to achieve, but they were sure he had some kind of plan. Thorin appeared to catch on to it as well, as he started kicking the dwarves around him. Suddenly, the dwarves were quite proud of those apparent parasites.

'I've got parasites as big as my arm'

'Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!'

'We're riddled!'

The trolls appeared even more confused, and didn't know what to do with their dinner. Before they could decide, though, a figure appeared suddenly on a rock above them, and both Katy and Sarah had never been more delighted to see that Gandalf had returned.

'The dawn will take you all!' exclaimed the wizard, and the trolls watched in confusion as Gandalf struck the rock with his staff, causing it to split in half. Sunlight poured in, and the trolls quickly turned to stone.

'What the hell?!' shouted both Katy and Sarah simultaneously.

The girls couldn't stop looking at the stone trolls as Gandalf helped untie them, the dwarves and Bilbo.

'God, I think I've really seen everything now. I can't believe they just turned to stone!' said Katy, as Sarah stood tapping the stone troll in disbelief.

Gandalf smiled. 'My dear, even those who have lived in Middle Earth for some time have been shocked by what exist here. Your reactions don't surprise me at all.'

Thorin came up to speak to Gandalf, and Katy quickly made herself scarce. After Gandalf storming off earlier, and his dramatic return, she expected that the company leader would have some questions. And who knows, maybe even an apology, she thought.

Katy went over to join Sarah, who was still tapping away at the stone troll.

She grinned at her.

'Kind of hard to believe, isn't it?'

Sarah just looked a bit bewildered, before noticing that Kili and Fili were approaching.

'Heads up, hot dwarves coming,' she said as she nodded in their direction.

'Are you both ok? It can be quite a shock seeing a troll turn to stone, especially just after you've almost been eaten by them,' said Kili.

'I think we'll cope,' Sarah said bluntly.

Both young dwarves seemed a little taken aback by the girl's attitude, and Katy pointed out the reason why.

'That wasn't a very nice thing you did to Bilbo. Sending him after the ponies, knowing full well he didn't know what to do.'

'He's our burglar! He's going to help us defeat a dragon! I'm sure three stupid trolls were nothing to him,' said Fili.

'Nothing to him? He almost got torn in half! And it was still a rubbish thing you did,' retorted Sarah.

Kili and Fili glanced at each other, not quite believing that the girls were annoyed at them.

'We're, erm, sorry?' offered Kili.

'It's not us you should be apologising to,' said Katy.

Before anymore could be said, Thorin called out for the company to return to camp. He was keen to move on from this place, but before they did, there was a troll cave to explore nearby.

Some of the dwarves went into the cave to inspect the hoard, but Katy and Sarah could smell it from outside, and didn't want to get any closer. Kili and Fili were hovering close to the girls, not sure if they were still in trouble over what they had done to Bilbo, and they kept trying to catch the girls' eyes and send little hopeful smiles their way.

Gandalf came out of the cave clutching some small swords, and after giving one to Bilbo, approached the girls.

'Now I hope that you never have to use them, but I think it would be sensible if you had some kind of weapon to defend yourselves with,' the wizard said, handing a sword to each girl.

Both Sarah and Katy didn't have a clue what to do with the weapon, but thanked Gandalf quietly. They could see the sense in having a weapon, but they just didn't want to think about what they might have to use it against.

'Ever used one of these in your zumba classes?' Sarah joked, as she started to wave it around.

'Careful, you could do some damage with that,' Kili said, approaching slowly.

Sarah turned to the dwarf, holding out the weapon.

'Oh yeah? Better not piss me off again, then eh?'

Kili gave a small smile. 'Fili and I could teach you to use them, if you want.'

Sarah and Katy smiled at each other.

'Yeah, go on then. We could use something to point our swords at,' smirked Katy.

Fili and Kili beamed at them, but were soon distracted by a shout from Thorin. Something was coming through the trees, headed this way.

'Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves!'

Katy and Sarah glanced at their swords, grimacing. They didn't think they would need to use them this quickly.

Suddenly, a group of large rabbits burst through the trees, pulling a sled, and holding onto the sled was a man dressed, as what Sarah and Katy could only describe, as a tree.

'Ok, for like the hundredth time today, I'm speechless. Who the hell is that?' whispered Sarah.

'Radagast! Radagast the Brown!' Gandalf exclaimed.

'Ah, that other wizard!' muttered Katy.

Sarah was about to wonder how powerful this wizard was, when Radagast opened his mouth and removed a stick insert. Bit odd, she thought.

Gandalf took Radagast aside to speak to him, and he seemed concerned by what he heard. They were interrupted by a howl in the distance, and once again the girls glanced towards their swords. Bilbo looked just as fearful.

'Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out there?'

'Wolves? No, that is not a wolf,' answered Bofur, as what looked like a massive wild sort of dog burst into the clearing. The dwarves acted quickly, with Thorin striking the creature with his sword and Kili shooting it with an arrow.

'Warg-Scouts! Which means an Orc pack is not far behind,' shouted Thorin.

Katy and Sarah stood still, rooted to the ground.

Orcs?

To be honest, they thought they had dealt with the whole troll incident quite well, but orcs? They hadn't even seen the creature before, but the name still struck fear in their bones. Suddenly, both girls wanted to be home, desperately.

The dwarves were quick to act, except the ponies had fled. Those silly little ponies, who Bilbo, Katy and Sarah had tried to rescue, had run away. Little buggers.

Radagast, though, was keen to help.

'I'll draw them off,'

Gandalf looked nervous. 'There are Gundabad Wargs, they will outrun you'

Radagast simply smirked in response.

'These are Rhosgobel Rabbits, I'd like to see them try!'

With that, the wizard took off on his sled, and soon the company saw a pack of wargs and orcs chase after him. They couldn't watch for long, as soon Gandalf shouted at them to move, and Katy and Sarah found themselves running as quickly as they could alongside the other dwarves. For the next ten minutes or so, all they thought about was running and keeping up with everyone. Gandalf and Thorin led them across the grassy plains, and they stopped to hide behind rocks for brief moments, before charging out and running at top speed again. It was exhausting, but neither Katy or Sarah had time to think about what was happening, let alone feel tired.

It was when they were paused at a large rock that Sarah noticed she could no longer see Gandalf. She was about to say something, but stopped herself when she saw that wargs were approaching them for all sides. They were trapped.

'We're surrounded!' Fili cried, as he tried to keep an eye on Katy.

The dwarves had now noticed that Gandalf was no longer with them, and shouted that he had abandoned them.

Suddenly he appeared from behind a nearby rock.

'This way, you fools!'

Thorin urged them on, and they quickly ran towards where the wizard stood. Kili stayed near the back, shooting as many orcs and wargs as he could.

As Sarah and Katy reached the rock, they noticed a large crack in it, and Gandalf was shouting at the dwarves to slide down into it. The girls followed them, and soon Thorin and Kili joined them as well.

The whole company listened as something attacked a warg, sending it down into the crack in the rock, an arrow sticking out of its neck. Thorin pulled it out and examined it.

'Elves,' he spat.

Katy and Sarah looked at one another.

Elves again.

The dwarves made their way to the back of the cave, where a narrow pathway began.

'I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or no?' said Dwalin.

'Follow it, of course!' Bofur was quick to reply, as the rest of the company made their way through the pathway's entrance.

After a few minutes, the pathway suddenly opened into a wide area above a valley, in which a city lay. The dwarves, Bilbo and the girls looked at it in silence.

'The Valley of Imraldis. In the Common Tongue, it's known by another name,' said Gandalf.

'Rivendell,' said Bilbo, quietly.

Katy and Sarah looked at each other.

'Who lives here?' Katy whispered at the hobbit.

'Elves,' he replied, causing the girls to smile. Looks like they were going to meet these creatures after all.