What is it, precious?" The nasty creature muttered, crawling closer to the pair.
Bifur quickly moved in front of Bilbo in a protective gesture. Gollum hissed and jumped back.
"Nasty, nasty dwarveses," he hissed under his breath, "but what is the other one? Is it tasty, precious?" He continued to mutter.
"Oh yes! We hobbits are quite delicious indeed!" Bilbo exclaimed, jumping out from around Bifur. The aforementioned Dwarf looked at him as if he had gone completely mad.
"Can we eats it!?" Gollum asked with glee.
"Yes but only if you when my game," Bilbo countered. Gollum narrowed his eyes in renewed suspicion.
"What game?"
"A game of riddles, if we win you shall show us the way out. If you win-"
"We eats it whole," Gollum cuts in cheerfully with a creepy smile.
Bifur pulled Bilbo to him and started speaking rapidly in hushed tones, rightfully questioning the sanity of the hobbits' plan. At least that's what Bilbo assumed he was saying.
"Please Master Dwarf, you must trust me." Bilbo looked at his companion with pleading eyes, begging the other to trust him on the matter, eventually Bifur gave a nod and Bilbo turned back to Gollum.
"You ask first" he asserted because he needed a moment to remember which riddles went in which order.
Gollum hissed:
What has roots as nobody sees
Is taller than trees
Up, up it goes
And yet never grows?
"Mountains!" Said Bilbo with now more confidence. Bifur looked at him strangely as Gollum hissed at the pair once more.
"Alright," said the Hobbit, "now it's my turn"
Thirty white horses on a red hill
First they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.
As he remembered it this was the riddle he had asked the first time. Bilbo was counting on the encounter with Gollum to go the same as it had the first time. Otherwise not only himself but now Bifur would also be in hot water.
"Teeth! Teeth! My precious; but we has only six!" The creature hissed. Then he asked his second riddle:
Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters,
"Wind! Wind of course," Bilbo answers again. Bifur was now looking upon him with some amount of amazement. Bilbo was only too proud.
"Ss, ss, ss" hissed Gollumwho was now becoming very upset at the prospect of maybe losing there game.
Before Bilbo could tell his next riddle, Bifur pulled him aside. The Dwarf didn't say anything but his face spoke plainly, ``Are you sure about this?" Bilbo was touched by the concern of the Dwarf. Truly the Hobbit couldn't say he knew the other well but was certain that after this night their relationship would be quite changed.
Bilbo gave a nod with a determined look on his face
"I will get us back to the party. Trust me" he finally said. Bifur gave a nod back and they both turned their attention back to the muttering creature before them.
"An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
"That eye is like too this eye"
Said the first eye,
"But in low place not in high place."
Gollum had been underground a long time and was beginning to forget that sort of thing but just as Bilbo was beginning to hope that maybe he had already bested the creature, Gollum answered.
"Sss, sss, yes my precious," he said. "Sun on the daises it means, it does."
Though he had guessed correctly it would seem that Gollum was growing weary of these above ground riddles.
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
Unfortunately for Gollum, Bilbo was not to be outwitted.
"The Dark! My turn then;"
A box without hinges, key or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid,
Though Bilbo didn't at all consider this a very hard riddle it was seeming to stump gollum as the creatures hissing got even louder.
"Well what is it?" The Hobbit asked after a few moments, "it's not a kettle boiling over as you seem to think from the noise you're making." Bifur stared at the Hobbit incredulously for making such a comment.
"Give us a chance, precious! Give us a chance!" Gollum all but shrieked.
"Well then?" Bilbo inquired after another long moment.
"Eggses!" He finally shouted, "it's eggses!" Gollum wasted not a moment before giving his next riddle;
Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.
Bilbo pretended to think on this one for a moment. He didn't want it to seem too suspicious that he immediately knew all the answers to the creatures riddles.
The Hobbit glanced at his companion again, whom he was a bit surprised to see didn't look much concerned about his lack of answer as of yet. It would seem that Bifur fully believed in the ability of his burglar to get them freed from the dreadful goblin tunnels.
"Is it nice, my precious? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?" Gollum said, peering at the pair through the darkness with his haunting blue eyes. Bilbo decided that was quite enough waiting.
"Fish! It's Fish." Gollum looked dreadfully disappointed. The Hobbit did not at all feel sorry.
No legs lay on one leg,
Two legs sat near on three legs,
Four legs got some.
'Fish on a little table, man at table sitting on a stool, cat has the bones' was the answer the answer of course which Gollum quickly gave.
This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steal;
Grinds hard stone into meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountains down
"Time of course," Bilbo said confidently for that was indeed the answer.
Gollum looked once more very disappointed.
"Ask us one more," he hissed, crawling all around the rocks surrounding them.
It was time then. It was a risk to ask Gollum what was in his pockets now more than ever with Bifur with him. Though Bilbo could see no other route out.
"What is in my pocket?"
"No fair! No fair!' He hissed "it isn't fair, my precious, is it,too ask us what it's got in it's nasty little pocketses!" He shouted, stomping his nasty little feet on the ground.
"You must give us three guesses!"
"Very well. I shall grant you three guesses" the Hobbit conceded.
"Handses!" He said
"Wrong," answered Bilbo, "guess again" Gollum looked now more upset than ever
"Knife!" He said after many moments.
"Wrong again. You've one more guess," Bilbo was starting to think he just might get away with this .
He hissed and spluttered and rocked himself back and forth, he slapped his feet on the floor and wriggled and squirmed but still did not dare wast his last guess.
"String or nothing!" He hissed finally. Which wasn't quite fair but Bilbo let it pass.
"Both wrong!" Bilbo cried, relieved that he had won. Although he still knew that Gollum was not to hold up his end of the bargain.
"Well?" He said. "What about your end of the bargain? You must lead us the way out" though it would seem that Gollum was not listening.
"What has it got in it's pocketses, precious?" He muttered, now creeping up on the pair.
Gollum checked around his loin cloth and suddenly shrieked; "it's gone! They've taken it from us!"
Just as suddenly as gollum started charging Bifur grabbed tight to Bilbo's wrist and started running as fast as he could down the tunnels. They could run all they wanted but the only way they would find their. Way out was to follow.
They ran and ran for some time before the Hobbit quickly pulled them into a small alcove in the rocks. He slapped a hand over Bifurs mouth to stop him from making a sound until Gollum ran past shouting all the while.
"We must follow," Bilbo whispered, gesturing for the other to follow. Bifur seemed to understand his plan and did so silently.
After some time of following the nasty creature they started to make out a glimmer of light at the end of the long tunnel.
Just as they were approaching the exit they all heard a commotion coming towards them. Gollum quickly ducked down behind a rock, the others doing the same as they saw the rest of the party as well as Gandalf being chased out of the mountain by a horde of goblins.
Just as the last goblins disappeared from view Bilbo and Bifur jumped out just leaping over the rocks and to the exit as Gollum yelled and hissed behind them but not daring to go into the sun light.
They had made it.