Chapter Text
“Gandalf that doesn’t sound like a good idea at all.” You said uncertainly, with a sigh into steaming cup.
“My dear, in all the years that I have known you, I have never seen you scared of a quest.”
You shot a glare at the wizard over your cup of tea.
“I am not scared of the quest, you know exactly why I am hesitant.” You huff.
“You have just as much right to be there as any of the rest.”
“They will NOT agree to that, and you know it!”
“No better time to show them.”
A long bout of silence enveloped you both as you glared into the light Carmel colored pool of your cup.
“If you go on this journey, and you all succeed, it may very well improve life here in Dhun Furuhm.”
-
You saw the fallen trees and large prints before you were able to get near the little campsite, Gandalf said he last left the company; tipping you off about trolls being nearby; very uncommon this far from the mountains. It didn’t take long before you were able to make out the yelling, and screaming of men, and feared that the already small band of 13 dwarves Gandalf told you about, may be smaller now.
“Hurry Gandalf, I fear your company is about to be supper.”
You took the lead guiding the wizard closer and closer to the panicked squawking.
“You must, skin them first.”
You picked up pace, knowing Gandalf would follow suit.
Once you heard the voices much louder, you and Gandalf snuck around quietly, trying to get a view of the situation.
The good news was you counted 14 heads attached to 14 bodies, still very much alive, bad news was a good chunk of those heads were currently being roasted alive over a fire. Gandalf wouldn’t be able to do much until the sun rose a little further in the sky, which meant buying time was the only solution.
The strange little man who was most certainly not a dwarf, if he was he’d be a particularly shameful one, was doing his best to keep the trolls occupied, and keeping them from speeding up the feeding process.
You however wanted to ensure the delay.
You bent down picking up a rather nice stone, and gave it a firm toss, before silently scampering around to another side of their camp.
“Ow! Something bit me!”
“Nothing bit you, you idiot, something hit you, there must be another one around here.”
As you expected one of the trolls lumbered over near where you last were, ready to snatch you up and add you to their menu.
The good thing about Trolls is, even though they were huge, and would eat almost anything, they were immensely dense, and even more slow. You picked up another stone, this one sharp and jagged, and gave it another firm toss before immediately scampering off around the camp, knowing the rock would make it’s mark.
A rumbling roar proved you correct.
“We know you’re there you little rat, you can’t hide forever!”
They once again lumbered to where they thought you were, a little quicker than last time, but still much to slow for you. You were already perfectly well hidden in a new location around the camp before they even began to move.
“Come on, search the perimeter, they are around here somewhere!”
Oh well you suppose you can give them a little more credit, at least one of them thought to look ALL around. You checked the position of the sun, seeing it was nearly in a good position in the sky, so you started climbing a nearby tree soundly, one whose branches stretched out over their encampment.
You made quick work getting on one of these branches, and from this height you were able to see Gandalf in position ready to climb the large boulder he hid behind. You gave him a sharp nod, before flipping around on the branch to hang by your legs, finally within view, and right over the churning dwarf spit.
“Not hiding forever, just long enough.” You quipped. It took a few moments but finally their eyes were able to settle on you.
“Ooooh it’s a girl! We should save her for last, Females are always the sweetest!” The one you have dubbed as the “dumbest”, maybe even youngest enthused.
All three lumbered closer, one of them reaching out to pluck you from the branch.
“Long enough for what?” Another asked, but it was much too late now.
“The Dawn will take you all!” Gandalf declared Now atop the large rock his staff raised, and stealing the attention of all three Trolls.
“Can we eat him too?”
Gandalf slammed the end of his staff down, splitting the boulder in two, all three Trolls in the perfect position to get a face full of sunlight. They stammered, their movements becoming jerky, and within seconds completely still as they turned to solid stone.
With the trolls now out of the way, you swung yourself back upright on the branch and nimbly made your way back to the trunk to start your descend. Smiling to yourself as you heard the cheers of the dwarves, free to try and die another day. Once your feet were firmly planted on the ground once more you got to work helping put out the fire, so you could get the dwarves untied from the spit, without them falling right into it.
Most of the group grumbling and cranky, which you would expect, it couldn’t be all that comfortable being tied up there and being roasted. Luckily Dwarves were a hardy folk, otherwise they may not all be walking around right now, overheated, but not toasted to a crisp.
You inspected the grounds, and the now large troll stones with interest as the odd group worked to redress themselves. The ones one the spit were stripped down to their long johns, though thankfully not completely nude, otherwise the roll on the spit would have been much more uncomfortable than it already was for them.
You could hear Gandalf and one of the dwarves speaking, but kept your distance as to keep from eaves dropping. You had a feeling this one was the leader of the Company Gandalf has told you about.
“Excuse me, but who are you?”
Your attention was stolen by the little man you saw earlier, and you were rather intrigued. He was shorter than you, by a few inches, which was always a surprise, you rarely met people shorter than you. He was no dwarf, as you had expected; if the lack of facial hair wasn’t a dead give away, his large pointy ears were another. And if either of those didn’t deter you, his feet were huge, you’d argue larger than a dwarf’s, with tufts of curly light brown hair, that matched the curly mop atop his head.
You never met one before, but you have heard of his kind, a Hobbit, if you were correct.
They were known to not often stray from their homes, and often lived closer to settlements of man than any other race. You haven’t heard much about them besides the rumors of them being half the size of man, and their thick soled feet that allowed them to walk around without shoes.
You gave your name, and turned your body to face him directly, as you continued to inspect him a little further, before giving a slight bow.
“at your service.”
He blinked a few times before doing the same.
“Oh uh, Bilbo Baggins at yours.”
“We do not need any help from a Tiny Human!” The dwarf near Gandalf bellowed, gaining the attention of all that were still near.
“Never seen such a tiny human, it’s unnatural.” Another dwarf huffed from beside him, he was almost as tall as his friend, and had a bald tattooed head. A clear warrior, and clearly an ass for that comment, whether he thought you could hear him or not.
“Oi! If it wasn’t for this ‘Tiny human’, you’d all be Troll shit by now!” You barked, nearly baring your teeth at the insulting dwarves. You can see the halfling nearly jump out of his trousers from the unexpected volume of your own voice.
Gandalf grinned besides the brooding dwarves.
“She was the one who tracked you lot down for me, I’m afraid I’d have walked right past the trolls to your camp, without her. You could have lost a few men.”
You watched on as his glare was turned to the ground below, hopefully in some sort of shame, but you knew he couldn’t stand needing any help period. He may want to argue with the wizard, but he won’t beable to, and you felt a little smug at that, though you managed to keep your emotions off your face.
The bald dwarf stomped away grumbling under his breath, heading towards another dwarf with long white hair.
“My dear, why don’t you come over here so I can introduce you properly.”
You gave a huffed exhale through your nose before giving Bilbo a curt nod and made your way closer to your wizard friend, head held high.
“This is why I refused the 15th share of the treasure, an excellent fighter, silent and quick, she will be able to protect your burglar as well.” Gandalf explained giving your name to the dwarf, who did not look at all convinced nor happy with the arrangement, but he did not argue further.
“This is the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield, King under the mountain.”
Suspicions confirmed of who you thought the dwarf was before you. He was overly tall for a dwarf, standing about a foot taller than you. His hair laid in thick dark waves, a few silver strands decorating his head. He held himself high, with an authority that could not be denied.
You never seen any of the royal dwarves, but you have heard of them, and you hated to admit it, but the rumors of his looks paled in comparison to him in the flesh. However, as handsome as he was, as regal as he seemed, he was haughty, and far to prideful for your taste.
“yes I heard plenty about you.” You said curtly giving a short bow out of respect. As much as his attitude was unsightly, he was still king, and you have heard a great deal of his victories through the grapevine.
His brow arched.
“You heard of me?”
“That’s good, best if you are going to be traveling with each other.” Gandalf butted in, and you looked up at him, giving him a polite nod. Thorin was a little slower, but eventually he gave the smallest move of his head, agreeing (very reluctantly) with you coming along.
“I’m assuming the burglar you speak of, is the hobbit? Bilbo?” You corrected yourself quickly, as he did just give you his name not five minutes ago.
“yes, he is.”
You looked over at the smaller man, currently rubbing furiously at the viscus fluid upon his clothes, troll snot if you ever seen any. You then looked back at Gandalf, brows pinched in confusion and concern.
“He doesn’t look much like a burglar Gandalf, are you sure he’s fit for this?”
The wizard gave a few coughs, choking on air. Thorin looked amused, but he tried to keep it under control, as well as he could anyway.
“Are you saying you cannot protect him, as Gandalf claimed?”
You slowly turned your gaze to back to Thorin, dead panned.
“I am not saying that, I am perfectly capable of keeping him out of harms way from most beasts and unsavory creatures.” You assured, lifting your head a little higher though it probably did not accomplish much. You then brought your gaze back to Gandalf.
“My concern is he looks rather soft Gandalf, like he’d freeze to death during the night, and I can’t control the weather.”
“Don’t worry, he’s much more durable than he looks.”
You both looked back over to observe Bilbo, who at this exact moment chose to run a hand over his tunic, a thick yellow-green slime coating his palm despite his previous efforts. His face pales incredibly, and turns a sickly shade of green, and wavered on his feet, giving out a gag.
“I sure hope you’re right.”You mumbled, patting Gandalf’s arm before walking towards the halfling.
“bilbo, here let me help.” You advised, closing in on him.
“Troll snot is nasty business, too slimy to wipe away with a rag, but if you put some dirt on it.” You explained, grabbing some dry topsoil with your gloved hands and patting it against his tunic.
“it soaks up the moisture, combining the two, and now you will have a much easier time wiping it off.” You finished, wiping away the excess clumps of wet dirt, which left his tunic stained, but also rid of the mucus.
“Much easier to wash out the stains too, when we get the chance.” You assured him.
“Thank you.” He breathed a sigh of relief, before finishing off the task himself, though you guessed he wasn’t a fan of stains on his clothes, it was better than the alternative.
“now that’s some interesting Genuity Lass.”
You looked over to spot another dwarf near you, a large grin on his face. He had his hair in two twin braids, defiantly looping up around his face, and a large ridiculous hat atop his head.
“Oh it’s nothing, my mom taught me that when I was young, I was constantly getting into something.”
You wiped the palms of your gloves together to get the extra dirt to clump together and fall to the ground.
“Well it helps out our Burglar, and distracting trolls the way you did was no easy feat. I didn’t fancy being made into cooked dwarf.” He replied with a grin, before taking off his hat, and giving a rather low bow with some flourish.
“Bofur at your service.”
You introduced yourself with a decent bow, a large smile on your face. As you raised your head, there were two more dwarves nearby.
“So, how did you find yourself joining this periling quest?” the shorter of the two ask, the twin golden braids of his mustache wriggling with every word.
“Comes with the territory of being acquainted with the gray wizard.” You joked, with a light-hearted eye roll. Mahal knows you love your wizard friend, he brought you plenty of adventures, and puzzles to solve.
“well were glad to have such a pretty lass joining us, now we have something nice to look at other than these ugly mugs.” The darker haired one teased with a wink, jutting out this thumb to reference the rest of the dwarves around them. He was a rather interesting dwarf as well, with the scruff on his face instead of a proper beard.
You wondered if it was a purposeful look, or if he was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to a true dwarf beard.
These three dwarves took it upon themselves to point out the rest of the company to you, as you were all called to follow Thorin in search of a troll hoard.
You were not at all shocked to know the two youngest dwarves were brothers, Fili and Kili, though it did surprise you a bit to know they were Thorin’s nephews. The three did share a bit of a resemblance especially Kili and him, but the brothers were much sweeter in disposition.
Bofur pointed out his brother and cousin to you, giving a brief explanation of each, Bombur the Company’s cook, and Bifur, was unable to speak common tongue, due to the axe imbedded in his head. He only spoke in Khuzdul when words were necessary, otherwise he often got away with an array of grunts, gestures, or using Iglishmek.
Then the three of them took turns pointing out the rest. The prickly cactus of a dwarf you saw earlier beside Thorin was Dwalin, While the shorter white haired dwarf with the very long beard was his brother Balin.
Then there were the Ri brothers, Dori was the shortest and eldest, Nori was the tallest with the most intricate hair that met in multiple points. Fili warned you he had sticky fingers and to keep a close eye on your things. You couldn’t understand how he managed to sneak around so easily with that kind of hairstyle. Ori was the youngest of the brothers, and he timidly joined your little group, interested in greeting the new comer as well.
He was meant to be a scribe, writing down everything that happens on the quest for it to be recorded in history books later.
Gloin and Oin were also brothers, Gloin had the red mane, and magnificent beard, currently having a hushed discussion with Dwalin. Oin was their healer, he couldn’t hear worth a shit, but he was great with creating healing tonics, and proper wound care.
You repeated each of their names in your head multiple times, determined to keep them all straight despite this being the very first meeting. Luckily they all had some pretty unique qualities that made it easier to tell them all apart. You have a feeling most of the dwarves here would not have the patience with you consistently mixing up their names.
The dwarves found the cave with little trouble, and most filed right in.
You waited back outside the cave near Bilbo. The stench coming from it alone was enough to make you gag, and you could only imagine how much worse it would be once inside. Nothing in that cave was worth risking that putrid smell attaching to your clothes.
You only had so many spares, and who knows how long it would be before you could change again. The one you wore now was already getting an uncomfortable amount of dirt, sweat, and blood infused into it, from your journey to simply meet gandalf here.
Bilbo kept looking up at you every once in a while, mouth opening as if to say something, but immediately it snaps shut again, and he faces forward. It’s clear he wants to say or ask something, but his manners seem to keep him silent.
Luckily for the little halfling, the dwarves start filing out of the cave once again, followed by Gandalf.
“Bilbo, here, this seems to be about the right size.”
He hands him a small blade, a sword for Bilbo, but for others, dwarf, human or otherwise, it barely passed as dagger.
“Lass, would you like a blade?”
You looked over at Fili, who was currently stuffing multiple daggers and blades into different hidden areas on his person. As if he wasn’t armed to the teeth as is.
You shook your head with a smile, and patted the top of the axe that was currently strapped to your back.
“No thanks, I prefer my own.”
Dwalin who happened to walk by in that moment took a look at the head of your axe and gave an appreciative nod. Clearly he was a bit biased to the choice but you took the compliment.
“An axe, that’s your weapon of choice?” Bilbo asked, brows furrowed as he took in the axe and the rest of your form, many thought it looked a bit out of place.
“Don’t be silly,” You laughed, before conjuring up a heavy short handled hammer you kept at your side that Bilbo seemed to miss.
“I also use my war hammer, perfect for skull crushing.” You confirmed with a grin, taking a little satisfaction in the way the Hobbit’s face paled with the thought.
“Something’s coming!”
You immediately took another step closer to Bilbo, tightening your grip on your hammer, ready to fight off whatever was coming towards you at break neck speeds. You were ready for about any kind of creature that could jump through the trees and bushes. What you were not ready for, not expecting anyway was a dozen large rabbits jumping through the air, pulling a sled with a funny looking man astride.