They woke up early that morning. Besides Bilbo, of course. Because the hobbit slept in, there was no fried eggs and ham to fill their stomach. They thought it better that they leave a letter along with the contract up on Bilbo's mantlepiece when he wakes.
"Acacia." Thorin said.
"Hmm?"
"You write it."
"Write what?" She asked.
"The letter." He told her with an exaggerated sigh.
"Alright, but you are going to have to sign it."
"I know, I know." He replied. "Be sure you add in to meet us at the Green Dragon Inn, Bywater, at 11 a.m. sharp. We'll leave if he fails to arrive at 11:01." He said. "Oh and don't forget, one fifteenth of total profit." Acacia nodded. She jotted down a message on a piece of parchment.
'Thorin and Company to Burglar Bilbo greeting! For your hospitality our sincerest thanks, and for your offer of professional assistance our grateful acceptance. Terms: cash on delivery, up to and not exceeding one fifteenth of total profits (if any); all traveling expenses to be defrayed by us or our representatives, if occasion arises and the matter is not otherwise arranged for.
Thinking it unnecessary to disturb your esteemed repose, we have proceeded in advance to make requisite preparation, and shall await your respected person at the Green Dragon Inn, Bywater, at 11 a.m. sharp. Trusting that you will be punctual,
We have the honour to remain
Yours deeply
Thorin & Co.'
"Let's hope he dusts his mantlepiece after he wakes." She mumbledmm rself as she gave the parchment to Thorin to sign.
She read it aloud to the group after Thorin had signed it. She folded the letter up, poured a little wax from a melted candle and pressed on it with an abandoned cork that sat on the wooden coffee table.
"Is that really necessary?" Fili asked her, bemused.
"No," she answered casually. "'Tis not."
"Then why did you take like thirty seconds of our time to do it?" Kili asked her cheekily. She simply shrugged as she places the letter upon the contract that was set on the mantlepiece.
With that they were off.
~
They reached the Green Dragon Inn about an hour ago and have already readied their ponies. It was about ten minutes until eleven and most of them were starting to get impatient.
"I bet he won't even show up!" Nori shouted, drawing a bit of unwanted attention.
"I think he might show up." Balin said.
"I know he will." Acacia said. "But maybe a bit late. He did say that adventures will make you late for tea."
"Well this isn't tea." Thorin said numbly.
"Even if he does come a bit late," Dwalin said, "We'd be off by then."
"Well maybe he'll catch up." Kili told them. Fili nodded in agreement beside them.
"Oh please!" Gloin said. "His legs are too short."
"And yours are not?" Gandalf said while chuckling lightly.
"Well he does have big feet." Acacia said, breaking everyone into a smile. "Not to mention hairy." Their smiles turned to laughs.
"Well I think he won't come." Gloin said.
"Well I think he will." Oin said. "So what now?"
"Let's bet on it." Acacia said, smirking.
"Now now Acacia, that would be unfair to the others. You win every single wager you participate in. Which, may I point out, is alot."
"Well of course, Gandalf. I'm a ranger," she said smiling lightly, "How else do you think I survive?"
"So be it." Fili said. "All in favor of him arriving?"
"I." Said half the group, including Gandalf and Acacia.
"All opposing?"
"Nay." The other half said as they raised their hands slightly.
"Any in abstinence?" Fili asked lastly. One person raised their hand.
"I." Thorin said.
"Oh don't be a bum," Balin said to him. "At least participate."
"No. It's childish and unessesary. Also, it's minute past eleven so let's be off." And that they were.
They trottwd along the road, the pony's reigns in their hands. Acacia was riding behind Dwalin alone until the two youngest brothers decided to join her. Fili was on her left while Kili was on her right. She smiled at both the boys.
Kili didn't smile back though. He didn't understand it, but he felt extremely bipolar around her, and at the moment, he didn't like her.
"Hey, Milady." Fili said in greeting. Kili said nothing.
"What, no Hi?" Acacia said in a joking matter.
"Why should I say hello to you?" Kili said rather rudely. "You did stick a bunch of worms down my back last night."
"Well then," Acacia said awkwardly. "It was just a joke."
"Joke? What if I had done that to you?"
"Well I'm sorry." She said with much sarcasm.
"If your going to fake your apology you could at least try to sound sincere." He retorted.
"Oh of course, my prince. How could I forget, you're of royal blood. I'm so very very sorry with all my heart. Please forgive me, Prince." She said sarcastically and rudely. Kili was about to say something back but Fili cut him off.
"Alright enough." He looked at Kili. "Why the sudden attitude change?" Kili bolted to the back with Ori before even answering. "Sorry about him," Fili said to her. "Dunno why he's acting like that, he's not usually like that."
"It's whatever." She said, shrugging it off. "Never really liked him in the first place anyways."
Sure you didn't, Fili thought as she trotted up ahead.
The company rode along, taking in their surroundings. There were faint voices coming from some of the dwarves in the back and the ponies were grunting. Myrtle, who's back was full of packs and blankets, kicked a rock with her hooves, obviously not on purpose, and it went flying towards a small tree. As it hit the trunk, flocks of birds came flying out of it. The one with brown feathers and a shadowy black chest rested on Acacia's shoulder, aware of her bloodline.
"Hello little bird." Acacia said, smiling at it. It tweeted back.
"I'm sorry, but I fear I cannot understand you unless I am in animal form. Which as you can see, I am not." She told it. The bird, who turned out to be a female, tilted her head before replying with one small tweet. Acacia chuckled at the creature.
"Wait!" A voice and loud footsteps interrupted their thoughts. "Wait, stop." A certain hobbit by the name of Bilbo Baggins came to view. "I've signed it." She smiled at her lifelong streak of winning bets, and the fact that Bilbo decided to show up. The hobbit handed the contract to Balin, who inspected it with a single spectacle.
"Well," the old dwarf started, "Everything seems to be in order. Welcome, Burglar Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." Balin said smiling at him. A few of the dwarves trotted past him and gave him a pat on the back.
"Give him a pony." Thorin grunted.
"Oh no," Bilbo started. "That won't be necessary. I've had my fair share of walking holidays and may i say-" He was cut off by being lifted off the ground and onto Myrtle. Everybody stayed silent for a moment, not wanting to wake a sleeping dog, or, as it would seem, not wanting to remind anyone of the bet.
"All right boys," Acacia said with a smug look on her face. "Pay up."
They all grunted and pouches of gold and silver flew around everywhere. She ended up with two packs of gold and three packs of silver. She threw the lot in her satchel.
At this point, the beautiful blue bird with red on it's chest flew off and out.
"Stop! Stop! We must turn back" Everyone turned around to look at the hobbit. "I've forgot my handkerchief." Bofur ripped a piece of his shirt off.
"Here, use this." He said as he threw at towards Bilbo. Everyone laughed.
"Move on." Thorin ordered.
"And here I thought that hobbits were the most well-organized of all folk. Serves me right." Acacia said playfully, Bilbo grunted and glared at her. She chuckled and went ahead of him.
They had not been riding very long when Acacia started a song and everybody joined in.
Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.
So after that the party went along very merrily, and they told stories or sang songs as they rode forward all day, except of course when they stopped for meals. These didn't come quite as often as Bilbo would have liked them, but still he began to feel that adventures were not so bad after all. At first they had passed through hobbit-lands, a wild respectable country inhabited by decent folk, with good roads, an inn or two, and now and then a dwarf or a farmer ambling by on business. Then they came to lands where people spoke strangely, and sang songs Bilbo had never heard before. Now they had gone on far into the Lone-lands, where there were no people left, no inns, and the roads grew steadily worse. Not far ahead were dreary hills, rising higher and higher, dark with trees. On some of them were old castles with an evil look, as if they had been built by wicked people. Everything seemed gloomy, for the weather that day had taken a nasty turn. Mostly it had been as good as May can be, even in merry tales, but now it was cold and wet. In the Lone-lands they had to camp when they could, but at least it had been dry. "To think it will soon be June," grumbled Bilbo as he splashed along behind the others in a very muddy track. It was after tea-time; it was pouring with rain, and had been all day; his hood was dripping into his eyes, his cloak was full of water; the pony was tired and stumbled on stones; the others were too grumpy to talk. "And I'm sure the rain has got into the dry clothes and into the food-bags," thought Bilbo. "Bother burgling and everything to do with it! I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing!" It was not the last time that he wished that! Still the dwarves jogged on, never turning round or taking any notice of the hobbit. They decided to settle down in an abandoned and ruined farmhouse.
The dwarves saw Gandalf and Thorin having a little disagreement but couldn't hear anything. The last thing they saw was Gandalf storming off.
"G-Gandalf," Bilbo said, "Where are you going?"
"To search for the only person who has sense in this company." Gandalf exclaimed.
"And who would that be?"
"Myself Mr. Baggins!" With that last statement, he was gone.
"Wha-Is he coming back?" Bilbo asked. Most of them shrugged. Acacia walked up to the halfling and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"If there's one thing I know about Gandalf, it's that he always comes back." She said to him.
"Come on Bilbo, we're hungry." Thorin told him. Soon enough the soup was ready and everybody was gathering around to get there portions, besides the Durincest brothers who were watching over the ponies, before Bombur does.
"It's getting late," Bilbo said with a worried look on his face. "He still hasn't come back."
"He's a wizard," Bifur said to him. "He does as he chooses." He filled up two bowls and shoved it in Bilbo's arms. "Here, take these to the lads." Bilbo obliged and went off to the direction where the ponies were.
Acacia took her empty bowl and filled it to the rim.
Everyone got their portions and sat around the isolated area and ate while merrily chatting amongst themselves. Acacia sat next to Bifur, hoping to chat with him a bit. It was until then she realized he had an orc's axe lodged in the back of his head and he could only speak the ancient dwarven language of Khuzdul. Luckily, during her years of exploring, she was able to pick up some words here and there.
"Vemu."(Greetings[Formal]) She said, turning to Bifur. The *dwarrow smiled at her, understanding what she said.
"Vem."(Greetings[Informal]) Bifur said to her, happy that she could understand him. He didn't think he would ever be able to have a conversation with her because of his speech impedement. Yet he could tell that she wasn't very fluent at the language and luckily he could understand the common tongue.
"Sul ghelekh barkûr ra turg?"(All is well with axe and beard?") Acacia asked him. She didn't mean to say it because of the axe stuck in his head, but because she didn't know how to say 'How are you' and that was the closest thing to it. She just realized what she had said and thought it had offended him. "Achrâchi gabilul, I didn't mean it like tha-" (I'm sorry.) He laughed. He shook his hand at her, as to say that it was alright. She chuckle as Bofur walked up to them.
"You know he can understand the common tongue, right?" Bofur said to Acacia.
"Really?" She said looking at Bifur. He nodded with a smile. "Okay good, because I don't know much Khuzdul but I understand it." They smiled and chuckled at her. "Well then Master Bifur, may I ask what your favorite color is?"
"Halk."(Blue)"Menu?"(You?)
"Mine is also blue." She said smiling at him.
"Jemut men."(Excuse me) He said, getting up, probably going for seconds, seeing as his bowl was empty. She smiled politely and turned to Bofur.
"I wonder whats going on with those three." She said to Bofur.
"What three?"
"Bilbo, Fili, and Kili."
"What about them?" He asked her.
"You sent Bilbo off to give them food right?"
"Yes." He answered.
"Shouldn't he be back by now?" She asked him. He was about to shrug until Fili and Kili ran in front of everyone.
"Trolls took the ponies and Bilbo is trying to get them back." Fili exclaimed quickly in front of everybody.
"Wait slow down boy. Now what's going on?" Dwalin asked.
"Trolls have the burglar!" Kili shouted. Everybody looked at each other wide-eyed before dropping their plates, grabbing their weapons and running off to the direction the Durincest brothers were leading them too. As they reached their destination, they stopped and hid behind a tree.
"He's too quick!" Said one out of three of the trolls. They watched the brutes try and catch Bilbo until one of them finally did.
"Gotcha!" It said as it dangled him from his legs. "Now tell me, are there any more of you burglahobbits hiding out there?"
"No. Just me." Bilbo said bending down, which, in his condition, would be right side up.
"He's lying!"
"No-No I'm not." He said, trying to sound as casual as can be while hanging upside down.
It was until then, when Kili decided to be the hero. Most likely, to impress his Uncle Thorin.
"Drop him!" He shouted as he hacked at the trolls leg. It squealed in pain and grabbed his shin. Kili breathed heavily as he held his sword stiff in his hand. "I said," Acacia thought he looked very majestic. (Tolkienite joke~) "Drop him."
The troll threw Bilbo on top of Kili, knocking them both to the ground as the rest of the dwarves and the skin changer ran out and slashed at the gruesome skin. Tom tried whacking at them while Bert tried kicking them. William stood there dumbly, just shrieking every time he got hit. Bilbo scurried off to the side, finding it wise to get out of their way. He grabbed the giant filleting knife and started cutting at the rope that tied the fences together which held the company's ponies. The trolls saw Bilbo and dived to catch him. They held him in a position that could be, well, 'bone-splitting.'
"Lie down your arms," one said. "Or we'll rip his off!"
Bilbo stared at the group with wide eyes. Kili kept looking at Thorin, unsure what to do when finally Thorin stuck his sword on the ground. Everybody followed but Kili and Ori did it with much attitude. And may I add that Ori's weapon of choice was a slingshot.
After they were tied up in sacks, they put half the dwarves on a roitisserie log and the others on the ground. They tied up Acacia last and threw her on top of Kili. They were in a very awkward position.
"I think we should sit on them and squash 'em into jelly!"
"I think they should be grilled, with a nice sprinkle of saltine."
"Stop your bickering, we ain't got all night! I don't fancy being turned to stone." Stone. Something clicked in Bilbo's head. He struggled to get onto his feet and when he did, he hopped on closer to the trolls.
"Wait! You don't want to do that!" As the hobbit said that, the dwarves started shouting at him.
"You can't reason with them, their half-wits!" Oin said.
"Half-wits? What does that make us?" Bofur shouted to nobody in particular.
"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" One of the trolls asked Bilbo.
"Well have you smelt them? You'll need something a lot stronger than sage before you plight this on them."
"We don't have the ti-"
"Let the flurgablurburhobbit talk." Said one. Bilbo nodded in thanks.
"Well the secret to cooking dwarf is…" Bilbo stalled. "Is-"
"Well what's the secret?"
"Yes, I'm telling you the secret. Which is to… Skin them first!" All the dwarves broke out with insults.
"Tom, get me the filleting knife." Bert said. Tom replied.
"What rubbish! I've ate plenty of dwarf with their skin on, they still taste delicious."
"In fact," William started. "I wouldn't mind a couple of raw dwarf!"
William picked up Bombur and hovered him up above his open mouth. Bombur screamed.
"N-Not that one he's infected!" Bilbo stuttered. William stopped and turned to the hobbit.
"He what?"
"He's got worms, in his… tubes." Bilbo said, unsure, yet the trolls seemed to believe him.
"Egh!" William shouted as he threw Bombur onto Acacia's back, putting more pressure onto Kili.
"In fact they've all got worms they're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't." Bilbo said to the trolls, sounding as believable as can be.
" Parasites- We don't have parasites! You have parasites!"Kili screamed along with the others. Thorin and Acacia knew what was going on so she hit her head onto Kili's shoulder (seeing as it was the only possible way for her to move) and Thorin nudged Dori with his leg.
"I've got parasites as big as my arm." Dori said first.
"I've got the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!" Kili shouted.
"We're riddled!" Bofur said somewhere above the fire.
"Yes we're riddled!" Ori agreed.
"Well what would you have us do then, let 'em all go?" Bert asked Bilbo.
"Well…"
"I know what you're trying to do." Tom blurted. "This little ferret, is taking us for fools!"
"Ferret?"
"Fools?"
"Dawn will take you all!" A powerful voice came from the top of the boulder that blocked the break of daylight.
"Who's he?"
"No idea."
"Can we eat him too?"
The silhouette, who was Gandalf, pounded his staff to the middle of the rock and moved to the side, splitting it in half. Sunlight broke through and came in contact with the trolls tough skin. The company watched as all three of them turned to stone.
~
Gandalf, Thorin, Dori, Nori, Gloin, and Dwalin got back from the troll cave they spotted not far from where the trolls stood as stone. Acacia saw Gandalf give Bilbo a small dagger, just fit for his size, when they heard noises from the trees.
"Thieves, treason, blood, murder!" (Sorry I'm not exactly sure what he says.)
And they soon met the face of the ancient servant of Yavanna.
*Dwarrows is another name for dwarves
Three favorites and a review for the next chapter(:
keana
xx