Finally, a new chapter. I must really irk people with my late uploads. Please enjoy. The fluff is strong in this one, sortoff.
Bilbo awoke with a start, having been shaken awake by an insistent dark haired Dwarf. A gasp of surprise had escaped, along with a blurry fog swirling behind his eyes and a thump in his head. He awoke too quickly for his comfort and had to blink multiple times, but the fog wouldn't disappear yet.
He still felt exhausted.
"Wake up Kitten." A voice said. Bilbo at first thought that the nickname was said as an insult, but then recognised the softness and strange fondness coating those words. It was meant as a nickname, possibly meant to irritate just the same.
"Hmmm," Bilbo moaned as he rubbed his still tired eyes, "what's happenin'?"
Thorin looked at Bilbo's face to see cloudy green eyes. The fog of sleep still evident, bags still reminiscent of his hard week in the Wilds. The youngster was so tired he didn't even realise that he was laying fully on top of the Dwarfs stomach, with his chin resting on his chest.
Thorin just smiled. "It is dusk, we must make away from this place!" He sat up, Bilbo sliding from his belly, forcing the Hobbit to sit up. He was nodding off again, his head rocking up and down and his honey curls bouncing along with it.
Thorin started to shake his shoulders, trying to wake him up. It was to be in vain as he couldn't seem to fully waken the little thing. In seconds he was fully asleep again.
"Oin, I need your help!" Thorin called out for the group's healer. Faithfully the older Dwarf stepped away from his brother to join his king at his side.
"What seems to be the problem?" He asked kindly.
"It's Bilbo, he won't wake up! I tried to shake him, but he won't react."
Oin nodded, crouching down so that he could get a look at the sleeping lad's face. With help from Thorin, Oin had managed to lay him across the bed roll, which allowed easier access for diagnosis.
Oin was quiet as he looked. Thorin was looking a little worried, both for the Hobbit and about how long they have stayed in that place. It was now getting dark and they needed to make for the edge of the mountains within the week. They could tarry no longer.
"What's wrong with Bilbo?" Kili and Fili had come to join their uncles side after they saw Bilbo lain across the bed roll with Oin checking the young were cats pupils. They were previously destroying the remains of the fire, having been packed and ready since the call.
"It's exhaustion!" Oin stated suddenly from out of the blue. He stood up from his crouch somewhat stiffly, his ear horn pointed towards the awaiting trio. "It's obvious by the fact he has a pale complexion, bags under his eyes, and that he won't wake up. I even lifted his eyelids to find his whites covered in blood vessels."
Thorin nodded, wondering why his eyes looked so bloodshot before. But then he realised they could not stay here. Orcs may return with their Wargs at any time. They had to leave that place, and soon. Bilbo was going to bode a problem.
"We can take turns carrying him!" Fili interjected, Kili nodding vigorously at his side. "He can't weigh much so it's no problem keeping up. We need to leave and Bilbo needs rest. This way he can sleep for as long as he wants and we will still be on the move."
Thorin weighed their options. It was either stay and allow Bilbo to rest in some comfort, or leave and carry him for who knows how long.
Then again, he was tiny, and when he laid across his stomach Thorin could hardly feel any weight on him. It was as if he was in his cat form even though he wasn't. He decided then.
"Alright, we will go with your plan Fili. We will take turns carrying him if it becomes too much of a burden."
Both Fili and Kili smiled widely, their grins matching in how wide they were and the cheek they could boast. Thorin nodded at them. He bent down to pick Bilbo up. It really was like picking up a small cat. He was like a soft feather pillow; a willowy thing with soft, slightly tanned skin, golden hair, large hairy feet and slight baby fat still lingering around his middle and face. He really was too young to be out here.
"We can alternate carrying each other's weapons and packs whilst the other carries Bilbo!" Kili explained, taking his brothers swords and daggers he had strapped to his back.
Fili adjusted so that Bilbo was draped over his back with his head resting upon his shoulders. Fili placed his arms underneath Bilbo's thighs so that he was well supported and had a low chance of slipping off.
Soon enough the company was ready to leave the small wooded area and journey back out into the wild lands.
There was a bright crescent moon lingering proudly within a cloudless sky. Billions of stars lit up the vast canopy of black sky, resembling glow-worms on a cavern roof.
For a few hours they ran and all the while the company cast eyes over the blonde Dwarf carrying the sleeping Hobbit. Bilbo was so light Fili often almost forgot he was still there. Even when Kili asked if he wanted to swap his brother assured him that Bilbo was no trouble at all. In fact, Bilbo was even lighter than his pack and weapons combined.
"I think I should relieve you of your burden." He told his brother jokingly, but also seriously; Kili was flagging a little under the weight of steel and leather. Indeed they swapped and Kili was amazed at how light Bilbo was. Kili could almost mistake him for a baby Dwarf. He felt like air on his own back, and it was a relief to relinquish his weapons onto his brother.
"Young Bilbo reminds me of my old stuffed toy Ram. Soft, squishy and barely any weight to it." Kili chuckled as he managed to traverse a group of boulders with the rest of the group with ease.
They ran swiftly with the night wind blowing along with them, giving them speed in their haste. Thorin took the lead, seeking out the easiest paths to run and avoiding the particularly large cracks and crevices that scarred that particular section of land.
They journeyed on until the early hours of the morning where they had found a particularly large forest that fringed the foothills of the misty mountains. They knew that as soon as they entered those wooded, hazy blue depths then they would be far safer than out in the open wild lands.
They journeyed for about two hours before Thorin decided that here was a good place to rest and eat. The company willingly obliged and began to set up camp once again.
Kili had relinquished Bilbo onto Bofur, who kindly placed his strange, but warm hat onto Bilbo's head so that he could stay warm in the cold night; he wasn't moving after all. The Kneazle shifter was still fast asleep, but he was now stirring slightly and his nose twitched every now and then.
Once the pot was placed over the roaring fire and Bombur began to stir in plump pieces of the rabbit Dwalin and Kili had hunted as they ran beyond the borders of the forest, Bilbo finally opened his eyes.
Everyone who had sat down after accomplishing their own individual tasks had heard the monstrous tummy grumble. The sound alerted them to the now wide awake Hobbit, who was now stretching his lithe frame and yawning widely.
"Nice to see you up laddie!" Balin patted the young Hobbit on the arm in a kindly gesture. "You were out for the whole night!"
Bilbo hummed, feeling monumentally better than he had for the whole week. Ever since his mother passing he had felt so alone and unsafe, tired, wet, hungry and terrified of the whole world. He really had thought he was going to die, all on his own with none to look for him or even know what had happened to him and his little family. Passing over within a safe place was a luxury, Bilbo now thought. He dreaded to think about what happened to the body of his mother.
She was probably out there still, lying in the cold rain, rotting with the stabs wounds littered over cold and stiff skin. That still heart that would never pump warm blood around her body ever again, and those sightless, dead eyes, watching the sky for however long it took for the foxes and crows to find her.
Bilbo shuddered and closed his eyes shut in a squint. 'Don't think about it. Don't think about it!' He kept telling himself over and over again.
"What's wrong lad?"
'Oh no! Balin was still watching me!' Bilbo gave a brave smile. "Nothing much, just thinking about what had happened." Bilbo was never untruthful.
"Oh Bilbo, you don't have to face these horrors all on your own, we are here for you laddie."
"I know," Bilbo choked, "but it doesn't erase what happened, and no matter the words of kindness and the gentle touches there will be, it will never right itself!"
"You truly are wise for one so young. I understand lad, but no matter what, your mother would want you to move on and live your life."
Bilbo nodded, "yes, she would."
The serious talk was interrupted when Bilbo's stomach gave out another loud growl. It was as if the dragon Smaug was actually nestled within his belly, and was roaring his demand for food in kingly portions.
"It seems someone is hungry this morning." Balin chuckled making Bilbo blush like a ripened strawberry.
"It's been a while since I have eaten," he muttered.
"Don't worry lad, we will get you fed. I'm sure Bombur has a spare bowl somewhere." As if on cue, the large and round shaped dwarf with the huge ginger beard came along with a bowl full of steaming rabbit stew with smelt divine.
Bilbo could already feel himself drooling, with his belly all for some meaty sustenance. The quiet cook handed the small creature the bowl and a spoon and gave the Hobbit a warm smile.
"Thank you Bombur," Bilbo politely took the bowl, not wanting to seem too eager.
Once Bombur stepped away and returned to the cooking pot to help Bofur dish out the meals, Bilbo tucked in like a ravenous crow.
Bilbo felt like he was beyond the shores, joining the elves as they left for the undying lands. He felt content, as if his belly finally reached the end of a long journey from hunger to being filled mightily. Bilbo felt fulfilled as he polished off the last of the sauce. He licked his lips in glee.
Bilbo settled the bowl back onto the leafy floor and actually took in the sights. He noticed not much difference to the last place, although there were more variety of trees here. There were deciduous as well as the coniferous. The leaves were beginning to die, signalling the coming autumn as the greens began to make way for fiery reds and ochre colours.
With his enhance hearing the young Hobbit could hear the whispers of the creatures in the woodland. The ground was sloping slightly, so Bilbo wanted to investigate. Bilbo was naturally a curious little thing who took after his mother when it came to the adventuring department.
Bilbo shifted, forgetting about the Dwarfs who were watching him with wide eyes. The Durin brothers placed their bowls down in a rush when they saw Bilbo make for a tree. "Bilbo!" They shouted together.
Bilbo paused and gave them a cheeky cat smile (if cats can smile) and then bounded up the trees as if he were a squirrel. He simply wanted a place to look out, to see the world.
He reached the top of an old oak tree and popped his head out through the leaves. Immediately a chill but rejuvenating wind caressed his fur and whiskers. He heard the morning chorus sing into his massive ears, giving him strength.
His gaze looked far into the distance, towards the west. Far out he could see the tips of the Blue Mountains. They were so far that they looked like tiny ants. The land was a mismatched palette of yellows and greens. Forests, woods and plains stretched in every which way with a morning mist coating the ground in a blue haze.
This was the world his mother wanted him to see. It was a world she wanted her son to walk. It was a world so alien to his world in the Shire. He looked the other way and saw the high reaches of the Misty Mountains, the backbone of Arda. It was a giant range that touched the far North and ran down the majority of the distance of middle earth. Isengard guarded the Gap of Rohan to the south and Mt Gundabad barred the way to Angmar in the North.
Poring over maps in his youth, Bilbo had memorised the geography he had hoped to see someday with his own eyes. Now he was given that chance. He didn't reach it in the manner he had hoped, but his mother gave him this chance so he would live it for her and his father.
"Billlllbooooooo!" Kili shouted up from the ground. Bilbo ducked and made his way back down, jumping from branch to branch.
Once he reached the ground he jumped into the waiting Dwarfs arms and nuzzled his cheek. "Thank you for picking me up."
Kili threw a glance to his brother, it was a sad glance full of understanding for Bilbo's predicament. "I could hardly have left you there."
"Wet, bedraggled thing that you were. Too cute to leave behind." Fili laughed giving Bilbo a stroke.
"All the same." Bilbo looked into Kili's brown eyes, and then switched gazes to look into blue, "I would be dead if it wasn't for the both of you and the rest of the company."
They simply laughed, feeling slightly embarrassed. Kili put Bilbo down, but then immediately heard something. A small voice whispering in the coming light, a voice low and quiet. If not for the Kneazle super sensory hearing, Bilbo would not have heard it at all.
"I hear something!" Bilbo said.
Kili and Fili exchange nervous glances, their hands touching their weapons as if on instinct. Bilbo went off, both the brothers following like a faithful hound.
The voice sounded insistent, frightened. What was the strangest thing was that Bilbo couldn't hear much else. If it was something big he would have been alerted to it. The voice must have belonged to someone small. Vary small.
"Shhh," Bilbo urged the brothers to stop so that he could listen. It was hard to pinpoint a direction with their heavy boots tramping everywhere. He waited for a second, but then he heard it, a cry for help.
Bilbo ran.
Done! Sorry for the cliffhanger, we know you all love them. About two weeks back I finally saw the last Hobbit film. I have to say that I cried, it was so sad. It wasnt my favourite Hobbit film but it was fun to watch. The adventure was over as soon as they reached Erabor, but shit carried on and went down. We will have to wait and see what the extended version will have to offer.