Before the next light of day, rain came pouring down on the company. It snuffed out their fire, making it impossible to cook any sort of breakfast. Instead they had stale bread and a bit of slightly molded cheese. So, hungry and cranky, they began their journey.
The wind and rain were cold and soon Abigail began to feel rather numb. Her clothing was thin, meant for traveling light and fast, which, of course, the company did neither of. She struggled to keep her shivering under control, the last thing she needed was for the dwarves to see her as weak. At that very moment Bofur reined his horse in parallel to hers.
"Aren't you cold my lady?" He asked.
"I am fine Bofur, believe me, I've had much worse." She said thinking of her time alone in the woods. There had been more than a few times she'd almost succumbed to the bitter cold.
"Perhaps so but you are one of us now." Bofur said, taking off his cloak "I know it won't fit properly but it might help."
"No Bofur, I couldn't possibly take it." She replied.
"I insist my lady."
Abigail wanted to go on refusing his offer, but the look on his face was so kind and sincere she couldn't do it. So, finally, she reached out and took the cloak from him, wrapping it around her shoulders tightly.
"Thank you Bofur, but you really must stop calling me my lady. I am about as far from a lady as you can get." She admitted with a half-smile which Bofur returned.
After that they rode in silence for a long while.
"Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori asked in frustration.
"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." Gandalf replied tiredly.
"Are there any?" Bilbo added in quickly "Other wizards I mean."
"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White."
Abigail snarled, of the few time's she'd crossed paths with the White wizard, she'd never liked him. He was arrogant and he refused to listen to what Gandalf had to say.
"Then there are the two Blue Wizards; you know, I've quite forgotten their names." Gandalf said with furrowed brows.
"Alatar and Pallando, I believe, are their names." Abigail said.
"Yes, that's it. Thank you my girl."
"And who is the fifth?" Bilbo asked.
"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown."
"Is he a great Wizard or is he…more like you?" Bilbo asked innocently.
Abigail had to put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter at Gandalf's offended look.
"I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the east, and a good thing too, for always Evil will look to find a foothold in this world." He ended solemnly.
Abigail remembered Radagast well, she'd been traveling through his forest when she'd met him. He was a shy sort, as Gandalf had said, he also enjoyed the recreational use of mushrooms when the mood struck him. Whatever the case may be, she looked back with fondness on the two days she'd spent with the wizard.
*O*
As the day grew late they were looking for a place camp for the night. Finally, as the sun was starting to set, they came across an abandoned farm house.
"We'll camp here for the night. Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them." He ordered.
"A farmer and his family used to live here." Gandalf muttered quietly.
"Oin, Gloin, get a fire going."
"Right." Gloin replied.
"I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley." Gandalf said to Thorin.
Abigail was tuned into their conversation even though she was helping take care of the horses.
"I have told you already, I will not go near that place." Thorin said harshly.
"Why not? The elves could help us. We could get food, rest, advice." Gandalf reasoned.
"I do not need their advice."
"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us." Gandalf grew more frustrated.
"Help? A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the Elves looked on and did nothing. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather and betrayed my father."
He glanced at her as he said it, every word he said was a like a knife in her gut. Of course she felt horribly for all the things that had befallen Thorin. She would always have sympathy for him. However, the way he kept attacking her and her people was wearing thin on her. It was as though she were not a person to him, simply another elf who was his enemy.
"You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past."
"I did not know that they were yours to keep."
Gandalf shook his head, turning around leaving.
"Everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?" Bilbo asked as he passed.
"To seek the company of one of the few people around here that's got any sense." He replied.
"Who's that?"
"Myself, Mr. Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day." Gandalf looked at Abigail "Keep them alive until I return."
Abigail watched his retreating figure until she could no longer see it. An astounded looking Bilbo came to stand beside her.
"Is he coming back?" Bilbo asked "Hi is, isn't he?"
"I wouldn't worry about it. He'll be back." She said calmly.
"How do you know?" He asked looking up at her.
"Because he always looks back."
*O*
A while later, most of the dwarves, excluding Thorin, Fili and Kili, were sitting around the fire, enjoying the hot food and reprieve from the rain.
"Hey Bilbo, would take this to Fili and Kili? We'll never hear the end of it if they think we've forgotten them." Bofur said.
The hobbit just nodded and took the bowls from Bofur.
"He's a good lad." Bofur said once Bilbo was gone.
"Aye." Gloin agreed.
"He's a bit on the weak side if you ask me." Dwalin spoke up.
"Well, that's not fair. You can't compare his strength with yours. No one would match up if you did that." Abigail teased.
There were a few groans from the other dwarves. Dwalin on the other hand was grinning like a mad man.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you lass."
"Oh great. Now we'll never get him to shut up." Nori said.
"Never," Dwalin agreed "Ori, I hope you recorded that, I'll be checking the final copy."
The entire group burst into laughter. It was a nice change in pace from before. For one moment, she could forget about the horrors of her past, and her fears of the future and just enjoy the moment.
But that comfort was to be short lived as Fili raced into the camp, breathing heavily. The light mood of the company ended in that second.
"Trolls, three of them." He said "They've got Bilbo."
"Where?" Thorin asked, seeming to come out of nowhere.
Fili pointed in the direction of where to horses were. Abigail was the quickest to her feet, taking her sword from its sheath, she took off in the direction of the trolls. Now that she was listening for it, she could hear voices in the distance. She felt so stupid, she should have been more careful, should have been listening. As she neared the clearing she heard Kili's voice.
"Drop him."
"You what?" One of the trolls asked.
"I said, drop him." Kili repeated darkly.
She cleared the tree line just in time to see Bilbo smash into Kili, knocking them both to the ground. Seeing the trolls made her blanch. She'd come across many things in her travels and trolls had been one of the most unpleasant. They were ugly things, sickly gray in color and at least twice her height. However, with a cry she continued forward, raising her sword high.
The first troll she came to howled in rage as she slashed at his leg. After that it was chaos. It was all she could do to dive out of the way of the second troll. Luckily for her, the rest of the dwarves had finally shown up, causing enough of a distraction for her to get another good strike in. Even against the steep odds, Abigail thought they worked well together. Each of them looked out for the other, striking one after another. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kili, standing alone against one of the trolls. He was faring well against his opponent until one well aimed blow from the troll knocked his sword from his hand, leaving him defenseless.
Knowing she could not get to Kili in time to save him, she took her sword and hurled it with all her force at the troll. The blade imbedded itself deeply in back of the troll's thigh, allowing Kili to roll out of the way. Just for a fraction of a second, their eyes met, him acknowledging her, thanking her.
Just as she turned to get back into the fight she saw two of the trolls grab Bilbo again.
"Drop your weapons, or we'll tear him limb from limb."
She glanced over at Thorin, fearing for one moment that he might refuse. However, after a moment of hesitation, Thorin plunged his sword into the ground. It all happened so fast after that. One of the trolls kept Bilbo as leverage while the other two took care of the rest.
That's how it came to be that half the company lay tied up in sacks, while the other half was tied to a log to roast over the fire. Abigail counted herself lucky that she was not dangling over the fire, however, it was a bit hard to breath stuck between Thorin and Bombur.
"Don't bother cooking them." The one she'd learned was called William said "Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly."
"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage." Bert replied.
"Ooh, that does sound quite nice." William agreed.
Several of the dwarves voiced their displeasure at the remark.
"Never mind the seasoning; we ain't got all night. Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone." The third one said.
Abigail thought of how Gandalf had asked her to keep the company safe while he was away. She'd definitely failed in that regard. Here they were, about to be eaten by trolls and there was nothing she could do about it. Suddenly Bilbo rolled his way to his feet awkwardly.
"Wait!" he cried "You are making a terrible mistake."
Just for the moment, the trolls stopped what they were doing to stare at the hobbit.
"Uh, I mean with the, uh, with, uh, with the seasoning."
"What about the seasoning?" Bert asked, clearly interested.
"Well, have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up." Bilbo said.
Although the other dwarves did not take well to the insult, Abigail had an idea of what he was doing.
"Yes?" Bert leaned closer.
"Uh, th-the secret to cooking dwarf is, um-" he struggled.
"Yes? Come on."
"Yes, I'm telling you, the secret is…to skin them first."
Abigail shut her eyes, his plan had been going perfectly up until that point. But, of course, he had been put on the spot rather suddenly.
"What a load of rubbish! I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff them, I say, boots and all." Tom put in.
"He's right! Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf! Nice and crunchy."
William, who was the closest of the dwarves, grabbed Bombur from where he lay, but before he could eat the poor dwarf, Bilbo was at it again.
"No! N-not that one, he's infected!"
"You what?" William asked, pausing for a moment.
"Yeah, He's got worms in his…tubes."
"Oh, yes." Abigail chimed in, going along with the guise "It's the worst case of worms I've ever seen in my life."
William dropped Bomber as soon as she'd spoken.
"Oh yeah? Why would we trust an Elf?" Tom asked.
"You don't have to trust me, but you know that my people are healers. Why else would a company of dwarves have me around?" she reasoned.
At some point the dwarves began to understand what they were doing and began to agree, even arguing as to who had the biggest worms of the bunch.
"What would you have us do, then, let them go?" Tom asked.
"Wait," William said "if she's an elf that means she doesn't have worms. Elves doesn't get worms."
In one movement, William lunged forward to grab her by the midsection. She could hear the dwarves struggling to free themselves from the sacks but to no avail. She could do nothing but watch as the troll opened his mouth.
"The dawn will take you all!"
Abigail looked up to see Gandalf, standing on the cliff above them. His staff raised above his head. William, seeming to have forgotten that she was there, dropped her.
"Who's that?" he asked.
"No, idea."
"Can we eat him too?"
Gandalf brought down his staff with a bang, just like that, the rock cracked down the middle. Sunlight burst forth from the crack, covering the trolls. They screamed in pain as they turned to stone.
A few minutes later, the company was free from their bonds. While the others rejoiced at their so called victory, Thorin, Gandalf and herself stood off to the side.
"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" Thorin asked.
"To look ahead." Gandalf replied.
"What brought you back?"
"Looking behind. Nasty business."
"At least we're all in one piece." Abigail said.
"No thanks to your burglar." Thorin said angrily.
She didn't know what happened in that moment but she could no longer hold her tongue.
"Stop it. It is not Bilbo's fault. If he hadn't found the trolls, we might never have known they were even there and we would have been taken completely by surprise, half of us asleep and defenseless. It's worth a note that none of this would have happened if you'd listened to Gandalf in the first place."
That's where she should have stopped but it was like a dam had broken inside her.
"So you know what? How about, for once in your life, you grow up and stop blaming everyone around you for your own shit."
With that, she turned on her heel and stormed back to camp, her mind too thick with rage to understand what she'd just said.
Hey guys, I know this is not one of my most inspired chapters. But really, I'm not that great at writing fight/action scenes. If you guys have any helpful hints that would be great! If not, just tell me what you think, especially about the last couple of lines, dun Dun DUN!