The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings belongs to JRR Tolkien and the movies belong to Peter Jackson. I'm just a devoted fan.

Not much to say aside from the regular 'Wow, thanks so much xoxoxo' messages I usually type so uh enjoy the chapter! I've been waiting to finally get to Radagast, he's the bomb :) I'm happy he got a bigger role in the movie because he's so underrated.

Toothpick

The only secrets are the secrets that keep themselves.
- George Bernard Shaw

Relly's throat was raw from screaming, a glum expression on her face whenever Bofur or Bombur wasn't making her laugh. Oin had given her some simple herbs to chew in order to help relieve the soreness in her throat but she knew it was going to be a while before she could speak at her normal level of volume. She was happy that she was no longer precariously hanging above a pit of fire and even felt a little appreciative towards Bilbo Baggins, until she thought of how he essentially riddled her out of the silver fork she stole.

Bilbo was a lot trickier than he appeared. Perhaps the well to do bachelor of Bag End had quite a few things up those fashionably tailored coat sleeves of his. Of course, Relly laughed when she learned he was covered in troll bogeys and was essentially used as a handkerchief. Relly rubbed the nape of her neck, telling herself that she was still the best burglar around and that Bilbo was hopelessly lost when it came to stealing.

The thirteen dwarves, Gandalf the Grey, the Hobbit and herself were currently travelling on foot following the order of Thorin Oakenshield to investigate the nearby cave that the trolls resided in. Keeping her dagger close to her side, Relly was hyper-aware of her surroundings, not wanting to repeat the troll incident again. Relly walked behind Bombur, wishing that she had gotten in line earlier because she could hear every movement the dwarf made. He was pleasant and jolly enough but she prayed that he would not pass gas in front of her.

"What exactly is this place?" Kili asked, his face turning sour from the sudden stench.

"This, Kili, is a troll horde. Be careful with what you touch," Gandalf warned Thorin's nephew and to the rest of the company as they all descended into the smelly but unyielding fortune and material wealth of the horde. Relly's eyes instantly went wide, never seeing this much stuff in one place. Even the richest houses she robbed were nothing compared to this. Weapons, gold coins, jewelry...it was everything she wanted!

"Seems a shame to just leave it lying around," Bofur suggested to Relly, the two thinking along very similar veins of thought. "Let's break out the shovels and bury it."

"I'd love to get a head start on my share of the treasure," Relly softly whispered, not wanting to stress her throat as she crouched down onto the dirty cave floor and began sifting through the coins and shoving whatever caught her fancy into her cloak pockets. She really needed to invest in a pouch. And moments later, at the very bottom of a heavy wooden chest there was a silky black tie-string pouch with some rubies in it. Grinning to herself, Relly plopped the coins from her cloak into her new moneybag as she left the chest and ventured further into the cave, despite Gloin calling for Relly due to needing some assistance with burying their "investment".

She saw Thorin checking out some cobwebbed covered swords. Being slight in stature and not having much upper body strength, heavy weapons like swords or axes never caught her appeal. Daggers and knives were more her fancy; she was a burglar after all, not a mercenary. Relly was light on her feet and a heavy sword would only weigh her down.

"Ow!" and she grabbed her foot in mid-step, having stubbed her heel on something sharp. Bending down, the light of the torch Thorin held reflected off the shiny surface on the strange object. Ignoring the cut on her heel, Relly picked up the small, slender sword half revealed in its sheath. Or rather, it was like a very long and thin knife. She shook it in the air, the blade covered in dirt, mud, spider webs and who knows what else.

"A smart choice, Miss Relly!" Fili popped up behind her, nearly frightening her. "A rapier is best for quick, thrusting attacks and is lightweight as well."

Relly rubbed the hilt of the dirty rapier on her cloak, some of the grime staining the fabric. Carefully lifting it up, she held the hilt closer to her face, Fili also taking a look at Relly's rapier. "I think I like it," she grinned widely.

"Show it to Gandalf, maybe he'll know what it is."

Excited with the prospect of trading in her dagger for a fancy new rapier, Relly approached Gandalf to ask him for any information on her new weapon. The grey wizard eyed her rapier curiously as he asked for it, Relly handing over her rapier to the grey wizard.

"I suppose you're past the cutting throats stage and would rather plunge straight through the stomach," the wizard winked at Relly, recalling one of their first conversations where Relly told him she would rob him blind and cut his throat. Strange how it had not seemed so long ago and already the thief had changed from their first meeting.

"Well, can I use it?" Relly asked. "It's pointy enough to be a weapon."

Gandalf chuckled, but his laughter faded as he looked at the decorated engravings on the hilt as Relly craned her head to see what Gandalf was so interested in. "This is no ordinary rapier, Relly. I believe only a master swordsmith could have crafted this rapier. I do not know the exact origin or who made this, but it is by far one of the most accomplished I have ever seen. Before you can wield it, it would be wise to learn how to use it."

Relly dismissed Gandalf. "You just attack with the sharp end and hope for the best."

Gandalf shook his head. "My dear Relly, promise me someone will teach you how to properly use this. There may be a time where you will either choose to fight or flee and you must know which decision is right."

The thief nodded, graciously accepting her rapier as Gandalf watched his young companion approach Fili and asked if he would show her how to use it. Their journey was still in its early stages but it was fraught with danger, as evident by their capture of the stone trolls. Still, Gandalf did not regret asking Relly Crillynook to join him on the quest. He knew Thorin would eventually respect both Bilbo and Relly for their part in the quest.

Granted, it would take a while before the stubborn dwarf lord would admit it.

Outside of the troll cave, Relly was swishing her rapier about her like it were a feather. It was very light and easy to jab at things, which is what Relly liked about it. It was also longer too, allowing her distance from an enemy. Fili showed her how to hold it properly and commented that for such a short lass, it was just a slight too big for her.

"I will help shape you into a formidable opponent, Miss Relly!" Fili promised, the skilled fighter excited to teach his first pupil how to wield her rapier. Relly had given up on correcting the dwarves who named her 'Miss'. Which was basically everyone except Bofur, Ori and Gloin. It still felt weird being addressed as such but she let it go. "My brother and I will be your partners!"

Relly nodded happily, trying to rest her voice as she unsheathed her rapier and followed the motions that Fili was showing her. Unfortunately, her time with Fili was ending as they were hurriedly told to move onward, Relly at the back of the line as she spied Bilbo with a shiny new weapon. Curious, she waited until Bilbo was by her side as she leaned in onto his personal space.

"Nice toothpick you got there Bilbo," she teased him in a softer but somewhat scratchy voice. "It fits you."

Bilbo shook his head, not wanting to start with her. She still had not thanked him for saving her life, in which Bilbo was beginning to think she never would. With what he finally figured out, he had a dig on her that she had not revealed to anyone else. "You could have been a troll's toothpick with how bony you are, I wasn't lying about that!"

She snorted at his little comment and was about to respond back to him when the loud rustling of leaves, trees and grass caught their attention, as if a strange presence was barreling towards them at a rapid speed. Not wanting to be caught off guard again, Relly took out her rapier and pointed it at the direction where the figure was coming from.

Their "enemy" was a strange looking old man riding a sled pulled by rabbits. Relly was disgusted to see bird poop in his hair and some on his face. He was covered head to toe in brown, tattered clothing and he looked like he was literally part of the earth. Not deeming him a threat, Relly backed off due to Gandalf's greeting that implied he knew this homeless looking person.

"It's been quite some time Radagast," Gandalf the Grey smiled lightly at his fellow wizard, giving the okay to the rest of the company that Radagast was a friend, not an enemy.

"Is this the wizard Gandalf told us about?" Kili recalled but got no answer considering it was quite obvious that yes, this was Radagast the Brown.

Radagast seemed to ignore everyone as he frantically told Gandalf he was personally seeking him out. "Something's terribly wrong, Gandalf. I..." and the absentminded wizard hesitated quite a few times before remembering what he had to say. "Oh, oh I lost the thought. I had it right here," he pinched his fingers to emphasize his point.

Someone's been eating mushrooms far too long, Relly chuckled to herself. Sure she had to scavenge for food before, usually out of garbage bins, but she never ate crazy looking mushrooms. Whatever Radagast was on was beyond her. This was proved true as Gandalf pulled a walking stick bug out of Radagast's throat.

"Absolutely disgusting," Dori muttered loudly, the dwarves agreeing with him. Relly did not appreciate the display as well, feeling some bile well up at the bottom of her throat. Even Bilbo looked visibly disturbed, but then again he was disturbed by about ninety percent of the things seen on this journey so far.

"Oh, I remember now," and Radagast's cheerful tone dropped a few octaves. "The Greenwood is sick, I can feel it in my bones. There is a growing darkness, Gandalf. Nothing grows...my animals are becoming sick and the flowers don't bloom."

"I see," Gandalf looked around the forest, half-listening to Radagast as he walked away and observed the greenery. Relly herself didn't see anything wrong with the forest but what knowledge did she have of flora and fauna?

Radagast paused before speaking again. "I smell foul decay everywhere. The webs cover everything."

When Radagast mentioned 'webs', even Gandalf was surprised. "Webs? What do you mean?"

"Spiders."

"Spiders?" Relly croaked, not liking the sound of that very much. She was not arachnophobic but the fact that giant spiders were leaving their webs all over the place was not a comforting thought. She heard Radagast and Gandalf talk about some odd place named Gol Duggar or something similar sounding; they had drifted some ways away from their group and she could not understand everything they were discussing.

"I've never seen webs this big," Kili poked a giant web with a large stick, not wanting to actually touch it. "Perhaps the mushroom wizard is right."

"You can count me out," Bofur stated, pretending to swivel on his heel to walk away. "I signed up for the beer and treasure, not for the spiders."

"Me too," Bombur agreed with his brother.

While some of the dwarves talked amongst themselves in their own conversations, Relly noticed how distant Thorin was from everyone. She still did not know much about the dwarf lord other than the story of how he earned his name Oakenshield. For someone so respected, he carried his own secrets.

Not so different from me, she thought as she remembered how the troll smelled human in her blood. I almost had my cover blown by a daft, dull witted troll, she bit the inside of her cheek. Bilbo had actually heard the giant lug say it but she was not sure if the dwarves did. Relly was also beginning to suspect that Gandalf knew more about her than he let on. She wouldn't completely doubt that a powerful wizard couldn't see the human resemblance in her face. She felt dizzy from thinking so hard. Relly was running on steam, hardly getting any sleep due to being captured by the trolls. Relly honestly wanted a good, long nap.

"Relly, are you feeling alright?" Her friend Ori approached her, a cute concerned look on his face. Relly waved him off, plastering a small smile on her pained face.

"Don't worry about me, Ori. Just need some sleep, that's all."

Ori nodded. "Oh, well, you just looked pale. I didn't wanna give up my slingshot," he brought up the issue of how the dwarves surrendered their arms in the feeble hope of saving Bilbo and Relly. "I'd have made a bulls-eye in every troll's eye socket just to rescue you...and Bilbo."

Relly felt a tickle in her sore throat as she tried to laugh with her lips closed but it came out sounding rather weird. The two stood there in the wood, Ori mainly talking to her so she could rest her voice. This did not go unnoticed by Ori's two older brothers as Nori and Dori both approached Relly.

"You know brother, I have never seen Ori hold a conversation for so long with one person besides us," Nori teased, Dori looking on at Relly and Ori with a glint in his eye, an expression she couldn't quite decipher.

Ori gently clenched his hands into fists as he straightened out his arms. Dori frowned, patting his brother on the shoulder as he looked to Relly. "It is nice that Ori has made such a good friend on our trip."

Nori grabbed his little brother by the shoulders and forcibly ruffled his hair and beard as a brotherly display of affection. "They grow up so fast."

Not sure how to make of this situation, Relly slowly sidestepped away from the three brothers as she wondered what was taking so long with Gandalf and the mushroom wizard as she named Radagast. And then she bumped into Thorin Oakenshield, who looked down on her with a serious expression. Well, that was usual but this serious face he was making suggested he wanted to talk to her.

"The troll said something last night that revealed to me that you are not who you appear to be," Thorin did not sugarcoat the subject and judging by the brick that just dropped in her stomach, Relly knew what he was going to say. "Thieves I can have, liars I cannot."

Relly was not prepared to tell the whole truth. It was not that she had lied to Thorin or anyone, merely she had just not revealed her heritage. She gauged their reaction the night when she asked if dwarves ever married other races which had led to less than stellar results. Having lived a wayward life for the latter twenty years of her life, she was not exactly the kind to be clean and upfront about her business.

But this was Thorin Oakenshield, her leader, and she could not just ignore this subject any longer. With a heavy inhale of breath as she closed her eyes, she exhaled softly and looked back at Thorin, no longer wearing the expression of the willful thief but a tired, discontent half-breed.

HA HA HA what's gonna happen now?