I will focuse on Bilbo and Lindsey so I'm going to skip the Goblin King scene completely for I already used it in different ways in my two other stories before.
Hope you like my way of including Lindsey in that scene and also for changing the last riddle :-)
/
Bilbo and Lindsey both woke up and found themselves in a dark cavern, lying behind a clump of mushrooms. They could see the goblin who attacked them lying nearby, nearly dead.
Lindsey wanted to get up but Bilbo pulled her down again, placing a finger on his lips when suddenly they both could hear a strange breathing sound drawing closer.
Then they saw a strange figure approaching the goblin.
„Yes. Yes. Yeeees! Gollum! Gollum!"
The girl and the hobbit watched as Gollum circled around the goblin He then began pulling the goblin away by the feet.
Suddenly, the goblin woke up and began flailing around. In a fit of rage, Gollum grabbed a rock and pounded the goblin on the head with it, knocking it unconscious again.
Gollum resumes pulling the goblin away.
„Nasty goblinses. Better than old bones, precious. Better than nothing"
As soon as they creature was gone both Bilbo and Lindsey emerged from their hiding spot and he retrieved his sword.
„Come on, let's follow him. Maybe he leads us to the exit", Bilbo whispered.
„What if it's dangerous? What if that creature kills us?"
„Lindsey...I have a sword..."
„A sword you never used before..."; she hissed.
He looked at her, thinking hard before giving her an encouraging smile.
„Then let's pray I don't have to..."
He grabbed her hand and they walked on when suddenly a reflection caught Lindseys attention.
„Bilbo, wait..."
She knelt down and picked up a golden ring. They examined it, stunned by its beauty.
„Take it", she said and he pushed it in his pocket.
They jumped as they heard Gollum singing in the distance. They followed the sound of the voice.
„Too many boneses, Precious! Nothing of flesh!"
„Shut up! Get its skin off. Start with its head."
It began to sing. „The cold hard lands, they bites our hands, they gnaws our feet. The rocks and stones, they're like old bones, all bare of meat. Cold as death, they have no breath, it's good to eeeeat!"
Rounding a corner, Bilbo saw Gollum silhouetted on top of a rock in the middle of a small lake. Lindsey watched carefully, her eyes drifting around to find another way out.
Gollum was still singing as he beat the goblins body. He smashed it in the head with a rock. Withouth thinking Bilbo walked on, still holding Lindseys hand and his sword still glowing in the dark. That glow caught the creatures attention and Gollum looked up.
Bilbo and the girl quickly hid behind a rock, realizing that his sword was still glowing brightly.
„He's seen us..", Lindsey whimpered.
Her heart was beating fast. Suddenly the light started to flicker, then completely died out, signifying that the goblin was dead.
Lindsey peeked out from behind the rock, and a wave of shock washed over her as she saw that the creature was no longer there.
Bilbo slowly looked up and found Gollum on a rock above them. Lindsey cried out and Gollum jumped down in front of the pair.
„Bless us and splash us, Precious! That's a meaty mouthful."
Gollum approached Bilbo and Lindsey,but Bilbo placed the tip of his sword on Gollums throat, causing him to retreat in fear.
„Aaaah, Gollum, Gollum."
„Back! Stay back! I'm warning you, don't come any closer!", Bilbo called out trying not to sound too afraid.
„It's got an elfish blade, but it's not an Elfs. Not an Elfs, no. What is it, Precious? What is it?"
„My name is Bilbo Baggins"
„Bagginses? What is a Bagginses, Precious?"
„I'm a Hobbit from the Shire"
Lindsey nudged his arm, afraid that he might reveal too much information about him.
The creatures eyes lit up. „Oh! We like Goblinses, batses, and fishes, but we hasn't tried Hobbitses before. That is not a Hobbitse", he pointed at Lindsey causing her the shiver.
„What is it, Precious?"
She looked at Bilbo.
„I-I'm Lindsey O'Conell. A girl from London"
„Londonses. That sounds nasty, don't like it. Never heard of Londonses"
He approached again. „Is it soft? Is it juicy?"
Bilbo held out his sword in front of him and widly waves it around.
„Now, now, K-keep your distance! I'll use this if I have to!", he called.
Gollum snarled at the pair, causing them to step back.
Lindsey sighed and said:"We don't want any trouble, do you understand? Just show us the way to get out of here, and we'll be on our way"
„Why, is it lost?"
„Yes, yes, and we want to get unlost as soon as possible", Bilbo spoke up now.
Upon hearing this, Gollum answered in a different voice than before.
„Oooh! We knows! We knows safe paths for Hobbitses and Londonses. Safe paths in the dark!"
Suddenly the voice changed again.
„Shut up!"
Lindsey and Bilbo exchanged a worried look.
„We didn't say anything", she replied slowly.
„Wasn't talking to you!"
„But yes, we was, Precious, we was"
Bilbo spoke again:"Look, uh, I don't know what your game is, but we-"
A broad smile appeared on the creatures face and its eyes lit up.
„Games? We love games, doesn't we, Precious? Doesn't it like games? Does it? Does it? Does it like to play?"
Bilbo was confused so was Lindsey.
„Maybe?", she answered.
Gollum holds up his hands, then began reciting a riddle.
„What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than trees. Up,up,up it goes, and yet, never grows"
„The mountain", Bilbo answered immediately.
Gollum began laughing uproariously.
„Yess, yess, oh, let's have another one, eh? Yes, come on, do it again, do it – do it again. Ask us"
„No! No more riddles. Finish them off. Finish them now. Gollum! Gollum!"
Gollum snarled and began rushing at Lindsey to kill her, but Bilbo held out his hand to stop him and began speaking.
„No! No, no...no. We wa-We want to play. We do. I can see you are very good at this. S-so why don't we have a game of riddles? Yes, just, just you and us?"
Bilbo crouched until he was level with Gollum. Lindsey still pressed herself against the wet rock.
Gollum scuttled forward, close to Bilbo.
„Yes, Yesjust, just-just us", he whispered.
„Yes. And- and if we win, you show us the way out"
„Yes. Ye-"
Gollum snarled, turning away from Bilbo. Gollums two personalities talked to each other.
„And if it loses? What then?"
„Well, if it loses, Precious, we will eats it"
Gollum laughed to himself, then turned back to Bilbo and Lindsey.
„If Bagginses and Londonses loses, we eats it whole"
Lindsey clutched to Bilbos vest, tears in her eyes.
There was a silence for several seconds as Bilbo digested this new watched Lindsey, and he knew it was their only way to escape.
„Fair enough", he finally answered.
„No...", Lindsey whimpered quietly.
Bilbo put his sword away.
„Well, Baggins first", Gollum hissed.
/
As Bilbo thought of a riddle, Gollum rested his hands and chin on the edge of a rock while Lindseys eyes drifted around still looking for an escape.
„Thirty white horses on a red hill. First they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still"
As Gollum thought, he kept opening his eyes and mouth as if he knew the answer, then changed his mind.
This went on for several seconds, until he finally replied questioningly:"Teeth?"
Lindsey looked unhappy, as the answer was correct.
Gollum became ecstatic and laughed throatily.
„Teeth! Yes, my precious. But we- we only have nine", he displayed his mouth, showing that he really did only have nine teeth. Lindsey refused to look at it any longer for both she and Bilbo were disgusted. Gollum began reciting his next riddle, while getting closer and closer to the pair.
„Our turn. Voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters"
„Just a minute!", Bilbo walked off thinking. „Do you know it?", he whispered to Lindsey but she shook her head, too afraid to think straight.
Bilbo observed the water, and noticed waves forming as a breeze ruffled the surface of the water.
„Wind. It's wind! Of course it is!", he called in triumph.
Gollum snarled in frustration and began slinking around, approaching Bilbo.
„Very clever, Hobbitses, very clever"
As he got too close to Lindsey, Bilbo pulled out his sword and pointed it at Gollum again, but also began saying his own riddle:"Ah ah ah. A box without hinges, key o-or, or lid; yet golden treasure inside it hid"
Gollum thought hard, talking to himself and making many hand motions.
„A box...and a lid...and then a key..."
„Well?", Lindsey spoke up.
„It's nasty. Uh, box, uh..."
„Give up?", the girl again.
„Give us a chance, Precious, give us a chance!"
In frustration, Gollum began pounding the floor and snarled. He puckered his face up deeply, then suddenly opened his eyes wide as he got the answer.
„Eggses! Eggses!", he laughed. „What crunchy little eggses, yes. Grandmother taught us to suck them, yes"
As Gollum laughed, a bat made a noise in the darkness. Bilbo and Lindsey turned to look for the source of the noise. As they turned back around, they realised that Gollum was gone. Lindseys heart began racing again. Gollums voice suddenly started sounding like an echo from different parts of the cave. He spoke his riddle from some unknown spot.
„Ahh. We have one for you: All things it devours, birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal. Answer us"
„Give us a moment, please! We gave you a good long while"
Bilbo and Lindsey tried to think while at the same time they walked around, Bilbo still with his sword drawn. Both looking for Gollum.
„I don't know this one", Bilbo whispered to Lindsey.
„Is it tasty? Is it scrumptious? Is it crunchable?"
As Gollum said 'crunchable', he appeared behind Lindsey and tried to grab her by the throat. She managed to jump away in time and Bilbo pointed his sword at Gollum once more defending the girl.
„Let us think! Let us think!", Bilbo called.
Gollum smiled eerily and put his hands in a shrug.
„Time's up..."
Gollum shifted, preparing to leap on Lindsey.
„Time. Time...the answer is time!", Lindsey suddenly called out.
Gollum snarled in frustration.
„Actually, it wasn't that hard", Bilbo said with a smile and Lindsey chuckled quietly.
„Last question. Last chance. But she's the one...ask us"
He looked at Lindsey.
„Uh...", she was unsure for she never was that much into riddles.
„Go on...", Gollum said.
She looked at Bilbo.
„In...In a tunnel of darkness...lies a beast of iron. It can only attack when pulled back."
That was the only thing she managed to come up and suddenly realised that this was the most perfect riddle. That creature could not know the answer. It was impossible and she knew even Bilbo might not know it. She smiled triumphately and watched Gollum.
In frustration Gollum threw down a rock he'd been clutching. Bilbo made a startled noise.
„Beast..."
He jumped off his rock and approached Lindsey. She moved to keep a rock between him and her.
„Three guesses, Precious. It must give us three!"
He held up two fingers to quantify three.
„Three guesses. Very well, guess away", she replied.
„Handses!"
She thought what he could mean by that when she realised that he thought about a sleeve as the tunnel and that it must be pulled back so hands could attack.
„Wrong, guess again"
Gollum crouched on the floor, trying to think of the answer. He muttered potential answers to himself and slapped the floor in increasing anger and ferocity as he failed to come up with the right answer.
„A bear!"
„Wrong again. Last guess"
„Wolf! Dragon!"
„Two guesses at once. Wrong both times"
Upon hearing this, Gollum fell to the floor, sobbing.
„So, come then, we won the game. You promised to show us the way out", Lindsey said relieved.
„Did we say so, Precious? Did we say so?"
Gollum slowly turned around and glared hatefully at her.
„What was the answer?"
Bilbo pointed his sword at Gollum.
„That's not important anymore. You lost", Lindsey said.
„Lost? LOST?"
Gollum grinned as he slowly approached Lindsey and Bilbo. He reached for something hidden at his side. Realizing that the item was not there, his face was shocked. He began groping all over himself trying to find it.
„Where is it? Where is it? NO! NOO!"
Gollum scuttled around the cave, scattering bones and rocks as he searched in vain for something. He even splashed through the shallows of the lake. His voice broke as he cried:"Lost! Curses and splashes, my precious is lost!"
While Gollums back was towards them, both realised what it was that Gollum lost. Quickly Bilbo took the Ring from his pocket and held it in his hand behind his back.
„What have you lost?", Lindsey asked softly.
„Mustn't ask us! Not its business! No! Gollum! Gollum!"
The creature leaned over the edge of the lake, sobbing quietly. As he stared into the water, his sobs ceased and his face became contorted in anger.
Gollum slowly looked up in shock and anger as he saw Bilbo holding something behind his back. Bilbo pointed his sword at Gollum.
„They stole it. Stole it! THEY STOLE IT!"
Snarling, Gollum threw a stone to Bilbo. He deflected it with his sword, grabbed Lindseys hand and they ran away, with Gollum chasing them.
/
The pair hurried through a cave, hearing Gollum in the distance.
„Give it to us!"
They reached a side cave. Lindsey saw Gollum running past the entrance of the cave they were in.
Gasping, they turned around and saw a crack in the wall.
„Lindsey, you go first! You're more slender!"
„But.."
„No! There's no time! Go and try to make it to the exit! We'll see us on the other side!"
She hugged him tight and ran through the crack in the wall.
Turning around she saw Bilbo getting stuck partway through. „Bilbo!"
He looked up in fear as Gollum, attracted by the noise, backtracked and saw Bilbo stuck in the crack. Snarling, Gollum approached Bilbo.
„It's ours. Ours!"
Lindsey looked in panic, she could hear a lot of voices somewhere in the distance.
Gollum snarled again. Bilbo exhaled and pushed as hard as he could. Finally he managed to slip through the crack, but his waistcoat buttons were ripped off and they hit Gollum in the face. He snarled.
On the other side of the crack, Bilbo fell down. Lindsey wanted to rush to him but as he hit the ground, the Ring, which was in his hand flew into the air. Lindsey watched, heart beating fast while Bilbo reached up to grab it. Instead of landing in his hand, however, the Ring slid onto his finger, and Bilbo suddenly became invisible.
Her eyes grew wide in shock. „BILBO?"
She wanted to rush forward but Gollum jumped into the area where she was and looked at her, his eyes narrowing.
„Give it...to us, Londonses!", he snarled. Lindsey backed away and ran, Gollum behind her. He jumped and pushed her down on the ground. She cried out and struggled to get free.
„GET AWAY!", a loud voice boomed up and Gollum got kicked back and slashed on his arm by a sword.
Lindsey had no idea what had happened but she got pulled up and there she could see the Company. She realised that Kate was backing her with a sword in her hand.
„We'll be outside soon. Come on...", her sister said looking back but the creature was gone.
„Lindsey!", Filis voice called from behind but there was no time for a great reunion.
/
Finally the Company reached the exit and ran down the mountainside. Gandalf paused to count how many dwarves and girls were with him. The group paused to collect their breath"
Kate stopped and could feel Lindsey slipping to the ground. She knelt down next to her.
„Sis? What happened to you? What was that creature?"
She sobbed and whispered:"Bilbo...where..."
„Where is our hobbit?", Gandalf suddenly called out.
„Curse the halfling! Now he's lost?" Dwalin called out.
Kate looked up at Gandalf. His eyes drifted to Lindsey.
„Where did you last see him?", the wizard asked softly.
„We slipped away from you, fell down into the darkness. There was...that creature. We played for our freedom but...the creature was coming after us when we won the game. It wanted its precious back. Bilbo was defending me...", she said with an angry glare at Dwalin.
Then tears ran down her cheeks and she whispered:"He might be dead..."
„No, he isn't", Bilbo stepped out from behind a tree, no longer invisible. The whole Company looked up in shock and relief. Gandalf laughed as he spoke:"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"
Lindsey managed to get up and walked toward the hobbit.
„Bilbo...how...what happened?", she whispered as she embraced him.
„I'll explain it someday...", she hobbit replied and his eyes drifted to Gandalf who watched him curiously.
Kate stepped to Bilbo.
„Thank you so much...she said you defended her from that...that creature"
„I tried my best...", he said with a slight smile and Kate embraced him as well.
Now Lindsey found the time to walk up to Fili. The young couple embraced and kissed each other. The Company just watched in amazement.
Lindsey turned to look at her sister.
„That was some nice swordfighting skill you've shown in there", she chuckled and her eyes drifted to Thorin as she added:"I guess your lessons had been...intensive and helpful"
Fili chuckled quietly but there was no time to reply anything.
They could hear a loud howling, and they realized they were still in danger.
Thorin turned to look around.
„Out of the frying pan..."
„...and into the fire. Run! RUN!", Gandalf yelled.
/