Authoress Note: Welcome to chapter 7 of The Second Daughter. I hope that I won't fail with this chapter. I kind of thought that this was a funny chapter to be writing because this is the chapter where Kili and Fili lose two ponies. I talked to a friend of mine who is like my sister and she kind of gave me ideas of how this chapter should go. She loves the two dwarf princes as much as I do. And she usually comes up with pretty good ideas. Plus she loves reading what I write when it is a combo effort of getting chapters out. But I hope that you, my wonderful readers, enjoy this chapter. It will be a funny chapter mostly that is for sure. Just because Kili and Fili should have been watching the ponies and horses like their uncle had asked them, but they were doing something that they weren't supposed to be doing. So needless enough to say I was a little bit embarrassed writing this chapter as well even though this one was fun to write. Without further ado Chapter 7.
Chapter 7
Lost Ponies
They arrived at an old farmhouse that was in ruins.
"We'll camp here for the night. Fili, Kili, look after the ponies and horses. Make sure you stay with them." Thorin said to his nephews.
Aranduriel got off of her horse and saw that Gandalf was walking towards the old farmhouse. Her brows furrowed as she looked at the ruins. She could imagine that there had once been a family that lived here, and perhaps not too long ago.
"A farmer and his family used to live here," Gandalf said, placing his hand on one of the wooden poles of the former house.
Aranduriel looked at Gandalf concerned. "You are certain, Gandalf?" She asked softly, her heart gripping inside of her chest.
Gandalf looked at Aranduriel and nodded his head. "Yes."
"Oin, Gloin." Thorin's voice broke the two out of the conversation that they were having.
"Aye," Gloin said, looking at his king.
"Get a fire going," Thorin told them.
"Right, you are," Gloin said, as he and his brother began to make up the fire.
"I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley." Gandalf said to Thorin.
Aranduriel froze, going to the Hidden Valley soon meant that she was going to be in big trouble. It also meant that Gandalf was going to get a long talking to from her father and she would also get a long talking to and it wasn't going to be the good kind of talking.
"I have told you already, I will not go near that place," Thorin said, looking at Gandalf as the two of them walked away from the rest of the company.
"Why not? The elves could help us. We could get food, rest, and advice." Gandalf said, pressing the matter.
"I do not need their advice."
"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond can help us." Gandalf told Thorin as he looked at him.
Aranduriel bit her lip. Her father would be able to help them read the map since he could still read dwarvish and Aranduriel herself could not. Even though she tried on countless occasions to try and learn dwarvish.
Thorin glared at Gandalf. "Help? A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the elves? Orcs plunder Moria and desecrate our sacred halls, the elves look on and do nothing. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my father and my grandfather." Thorin hissed out to the old wizard.
Aranduriel grabbed her bag shaking her head.
"Ara…" Bilbo said softly. "Where are you going?"
"I will be back later." She told him, as she passed him. She wasn't going to listen anymore to Thorin bad-mouthing her people. She was tired of Thorin being stubborn.
"Aranduriel… Thorin said you couldn't be out by yourself." Kili said softly to her.
Aranduriel glared at Kili. "Your Uncle is not my boss." She bit out, as she left the company.
Kili and Fili looked at one another confused. Did Thorin say something that she overheard and caused her to go over the edge?
"You are neither of them," Gandalf told Thorin. He was beginning to tire of what Thorin was saying. He knew that the elves would be able to help them. They would be able to have some kind of food and get some much-needed rest. "I did not give you that map and key to hold onto the past."
"I didn't know they were yours to keep," Thorin said rudely to the old wizard. He was beginning to tire of Gandalf telling him that he should do this and should do that.
Gandalf stormed away from Thorin. He had enough of Thorin. He was tired of Thorin being so stubborn.
"Everything alright?" Bilbo asked. Aranduriel had already left and the wizard leaving was something that was going to scare him a lot. "Gandalf, where are you going?"
"To seek the company of the only one who makes any sense."
"And who is that?" Bilbo asked softly.
"Myself Mister Baggins." He said storming into the woods.
Bilbo looked at Balin. "They will be back won't they?"
Balin looked at the sandy-haired hobbit unsure of if Aranduriel and Gandalf were going to be returning to them or not. He could only hope that they would be returning to the company. He knew that Thorin was fairly stubborn and not listening to Gandalf concerned him. Perhaps this would cause Gandalf to leave them behind and the same way with Aranduriel. But he knew that they needed both to get to Erebor. He could only hope that Thorin didn't ruin their chances.
Fili and Kili were busy watching the horses and ponies like their uncle had asked them to. They could hear the splashing of the stream and knew that it was most likely Aranduriel taking a bath to get cleaned up from their messy journey so far.
Meanwhile, back at the camp, Bilbo was looking nervously. Neither Aranduriel nor Gandalf had come back to the camp yet. He was afraid that neither wizard nor elf would be returning to them.
Aranduriel came through the wooded area carrying her bag bow and arrows with her. She had cleaned up nicely and wasn't going to eat what Bombur had fixed. Even though she knew that Bombur was going to try to get to eat.
Bilbo let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Aranduriel had returned. But Gandalf had yet to return which made him feel pretty bad. Where was he? "He's been gone a long time…"
Aranduriel looked around the camp and noticed who Bilbo was talking about.
"Who?" Bofur asked, looking at Bilbo.
"Gandalf," Bilbo replied to the dwarf's question.
"He's a wizard. He can do what he chooses." Bofur said as he put soup in two bowls. "Do us a favor and take this to the lads." He handed the two bowls to them.
Bilbo went to take the food to Fili and Kili who were busy watching the ponies and horses.
"Aranduriel come here." Thorin demanded.
Aranduriel looked over at Thorin and decided to go and see what he wanted. She knew that she was probably going to get another scolding from him like she did the last time that she had wandered off. "Yes." She said, forcing a smile onto her lips. She wasn't going to like it if Thorin was going to yell at her because it would mean that she would probably walk off for a second time that day.
"Where were you?" He demanded a question. His blue eyes locked with her gray-blue ones.
She scoffed and crossed her arms. "I went to bathe."
Thorin felt his ire rise. He didn't want her to wander off when he knew that there was danger out there. He had given her a warning before and now this was becoming a habit for the elvish maiden. "You were ordered not to leave alone." He told her. His tone was harsh.
She put her hand on her hip. "I had every right to leave. Do you think that I would have to tell you when I need to bathe and have someone go with me? No, I am still a maiden. I will not have any man watching over me while I bathe. It would be an invasion of privacy." She said scoffing a bit as she crossed her arms looking at him with narrowed eyes.
Thorin growled. She was worse than his nephews. She was going to be the death of him if she didn't listen to him. He didn't want to see one of his former friends get hurt. But he still didn't like her race after what had happened. "You are not allowed to go out by yourself. What if there was an orc out there?" He demanded looking at her with narrowed blue eyes.
"And why would you care that a mere elf like myself dies?" She snapped out. She felt her ire rise. He was treating her as a child and she was no longer a child. She hadn't been a child in years. Not since she had come of age at 50. "You hate my kind. You made it that clear. So why should it matter?" She said, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter if I die, Oakenshield. You wouldn't care… no one would care due to dwarves hating my kind."
Thorin growled at what she said.
"After all I am not the one who threw the friendship away." She said before walking away from him.
"Don't you dare leave camp."
"I don't see anyone stopping me." She said before she stormed out of the camp. Something was wrong. She noticed that the ponies and horses were looking very frightful, but she tucked into the back of her mind as she walked agitated away from the group.
Kili came back to the group after assessing everything. "Daisy and Bungo are missing."
Aranduriel looked at the boys. How on earth did they lose two ponies? Weren't they with them the entire time?
Bilbo laughed nervously. "Well, that's not good. Not good at all."
"Of course, it's not good," Aranduriel spoke up, causing the three men to look at her. She had her arms crossed. Her thin eyebrow was raised as she looked at Kili and Fili. She was still trying to figure out how the two dwarf princes lost two ponies.
Bilbo looked at Kili and Fili. "Shouldn't we tell Thorin?" He questioned.
Fili put his hand on his hip. He didn't want to bother his uncle with this. Plus that meant that he and Kili would get yelled at for not being near the ponies and Thorin would ask where they were to cause them to lose two of the ponies. "Uhh, no. Let's not worry him. As our official burglar, we thought that you might like to look into it."
Bilbo looked around at the uprooted trees. He was nervous about what might have taken the two ponies. He couldn't help but wonder how Kili and Fili lost the ponies like this. "Well, uh it looks like something very big uprooted these trees."
"That was our thinking," Kili said, placing his hands on his hips. He knew that Thorin was going to flip on him and Fili for messing up such a small task. And it was their fault that they had seen Aranduriel naked again.
"Something very big. And possibly quite dangerous." Bilbo squeaked out.
Aranduriel crossed her arms. She moved around Bilbo and looked closer. Her hand brushed against the uprooted tree.
Fili looked at her in confusion. What on earth was she doing?
Aranduriel tried not to sigh. She hated it when trees were uprooted with such force. It always meant that something really dangerous was out there. She pushed the feeling of being afraid down.
"Hey." Fili crouched down. "There's a light. Over there." Fili moved towards it. "Stay down."
Aranduriel, Kili, and Bilbo followed Fili to where he had seen the light coming from.
The four of them hide behind a log when they realize that it isn't just any kind of light. It is a fire. Which meant that it was a big problem for them.
"What is it?" Bilbo asked.
Aranduriel put her hand over Bilbo's mouth, shutting him up. She didn't want to let whatever it was know that they were there. She looked over the log that they hid behind and knew that this was a bad thing.
"Trolls." Kili hissed out. One creature that he didn't want to mess with at the moment. But he knew that they were going to have to come up with a plan before it was too late.
Fili, Kili, and Aranduriel moved quickly towards the fire. They hide quickly.
Bilbo followed them and hid behind a tree. "He's got Myrtle and Minty. I think they're going to eat them, we have to do something." Bilbo said nervously to the three elders.
Fili and Kili quickly looked at one another.
"Yes, you should," Kili said.
"Kili." Aranduriel scolded him. She wasn't about to allow Bilbo to go and face trolls by himself. She just wasn't. Kili wasn't being a smart dwarf.
Kili patted her on the arm. "He'll be fine." He told her. He turned his attention to Bilbo. "Mountain Trolls are slow and stupid, and you are so small and quiet," Kili told Bilbo with a smile. He hoped that he was doing the right thing by sending Bilbo in and not making some kind of mistake.
"N-no. no." Bilbo said nervously. He couldn't believe that Kili was going to make him do this. It was dangerous. They lost 4 ponies due to the trolls and it would be better in his mind to alert the rest of the company.
"It's perfectly safe. We'll be right behind you." Kili said in a tone that made Bilbo almost believe him.
Aranduriel shook her head. "This is not a smart idea. Bilbo is going to be caught. He isn't much of a burglar and we know that."
Fili patted Aranduriel on the shoulder. He moved forward taking the bowls that Bilbo held in his hands. "If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl and hoot once like a brown owl," Fili said, pushing Bilbo forward.
Bilbo began to move towards the trolls wondering if he could handle what was going to happen. Was he going to be able to get the ponies away from the trolls, or would something far worse happen?
Kili and Fili pulled Aranduriel with them.
"How could you leave him behind alone with trolls?" She said as they dragged her along.
"He has it handled. We are to go and get the rest of the company." Kili told Aranduriel, as he moved faster towards the camp.
Aranduriel felt Fili's hand tightly on hers. She looked at Fili with wide eyes. She had not been expecting him to pull her along not in this way. How was she going to be able to pull her cool hand away from his fairly warm one? "Oh of course I'm going to get the company. We should have alerted them sooner." She said, shaking her head.
"Trolls!" Kili yelled as the three of them broke through the woods and back into the camp.
The company looked at three disheveled members of the company. There had to be something wrong with having the three of them looking the way that they did.
"What? I thought that you two were supposed to be watching the ponies." Thorin said, demanding his two nephews. He didn't like the idea that they had come running into the camp like this.
"Thorin there were trolls. They took four of our ponies." Kili tried to explain to their uncle who was most likely going to be very disappointed in them.
Thorin looked fairly angry that the ponies were missing.
Balin looked at them and noticed one was missing. "Where is Master Baggins?"
Kili and Fili paled. They weren't expecting Balin to question them about where Bilbo was and how the three of them had left him behind to go and get the ponies back.
"He's trying to get our ponies back," Fili said to Balin. He was nervous about what Thorin would say to that.
"Weapons," Thorin told the company.
Aranduriel grabbed her bow and arrows.
"No, you won't be going with us," Thorin told her in a demanding tone.
Aranduriel glared at him. "You have no right to tell me what I can do. Bilbo is facing three trolls on his own because your nephews couldn't pay attention to the ponies. I don't know what they were doing, but trolls are a dangerous thing and he is a small hobbit yes, but one wrong move from him could be in danger. I am not going to allow him to get hurt."
The fourteen of them went through the woods in hopes that maybe Bilbo had succeeded in getting the four ponies. If not then they were going to have to do something about it.
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This is the end of Chapter 7. I hope that you guys enjoyed this. I do apologize for doing a cliffhanger once again. :/ I know that people either like them or they hate them. But I kind of like leaving that sense of… hm… I believe it is a wonder what will happen in the next part. :D Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Let me know who you guys think she should be paired off with. I'm curious as to who you guys think she should be with. Until next time guys.