Chapter Text
Bilbo had a bad feeling about where the company had chosen to stay for the night. Sure, it was a nice clearing in a nice little area but there was a burnt down-house and that made him nervous, especially when Gandalf told Thorin that a farmer and his family used to live there. Which meant something happened to them and their house got burned down.
He had been hoping The Wizard would be able to convince Thorin to keep moving, at least for a little longer. Unfortunately for him, Thorin was as stubborn as Belladonna was, who often out stubborned Mrs Sackville. Thus, Gandalf ended up stomping away claiming he was the only sensible one in the group. Rude, Bilbo thought, watching Gandalf disappear into the trees, leaving me to keep an eye on the Dwarrow.
Bilbo sighed and shook his head. He knew that he could not stop the Wizard from wandering off. “Master Baggins!” The Hobbit looked up when he heard Thorin call his name, “Help Bombur with supper!”
“You got it, Handsome,” he smiled while standing up to go help with the stew. Hopeful I am just being paranoid Bilbo thought as he jogged over to the largest Dwarf.
Bilbo was pacing around the campsite, chewing on one of his nails. “He’s been gone a while, hasn’t he?” He said to Bofur, stopping for a moment.
“Who?”
“Gandalf, he should have been back by now.”
“He’s a wizard! He does as he chooses,” the Dwarf then handed him two bowls, “Here. Do us a favour, take this to the lads.” He nodded and began walking away, smiling slightly when he heard the other goofing around slightly. He marched into the forest to find Kili and Fili just standing there, staring at the group of ponies.
“What’s the matter?” Bilbo asked, startling the two princes.
“We’re supposed to be looking after the ponies,” Kili recited hurriedly, glancing at each pony, gritting his teeth.
“Only we’ve encountered a slight problem,” Fili looked at the company Hobbit, frowning.
“We had sixteen.”
“Now there’s fourteen.”
“How in Mordor did you lose two ponies?” Bilbo asked taken back by the two. They both rubbed their necks sheepishly. He pushed the bowls into their hands, “Here, eat while I take a look.” They sat quietly as Bilbo examined the knocked over tree, “it looks as if something big uprooted these trees.”
“That was our thinking,” Kili claimed.
“Yes, tell me, how did you two miss something big enough to knock over trees, and that is possibly quite dangerous, take two of our ponies,” They looked anywhere but Bilbo’s eyes.
“Hey! There’s a light,” Fili said as he stood up and went farther into the trees. “This way!” Kili went after his brother thus Bilbo chased after them, the half-eaten stew forgotten on a log by the remaining ponies. “Check it out,” Fili said when the Hobbit arrived at his side.
Bilbo sucked in a breath, “Trolls,” he said breathlessly, eye wide with recognition. Two Trolls sat at a boiling pot and a third was walking over to the makeshift pen they made, carrying two other ponies and complaining about having to eat them. Bilbo frowned when they mentioned eating the farmer and that frown quickly became a scowl when he saw which two ponies they now had as well.“They have Myrtle and Minty!” The Hobbit hissed out, nose scrunching, We may not be bonded but Myrtle is still my pony, which means it’s my job to protect her. “We have to do something!”
“Yes, you do,” Kili said, empathising the you, which made Bilbo glare at him. “Come on, Bilbo! You’re so small and our burglar, they will never catch you and if you do we will help you.”
Bilbo dragged a hand down his face, “Fine, but one of you has to go tell the rest of the company, and don’t attack unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Why am I agreeing to this?
“I’ll stay,” Fili said, “Kili can go tell uncle.” Kili looked back and forth between Bilbo and Fili, more worried about telling Thorin than get caught by the Trolls.
Sighing Kili nodded before carefully sneaking away, the other two watching him go. “Sunshine, stay here and wait for the rest,” Bilbo instructed as he started moving around the troll camp. He didn’t hear or see Fili respond and hoped that the young Dwarf just nodded.
Bilbo winced slightly when he saw one of the trolls sneeze and its bogey landed straight into the pot, Disgusting. One of the trolls said that it could improve the stew, and Bilbo couldn’t help feel relieved when the cook hit the one that sneezed over the head with the spoon before he could get more bogeys in the pot because no food deserves to be disrespected like that. Even when that food is being made by big, stinky trolls.
It was easy enough for him to sneak over and cut the rope that was keeping the ponies in the pen. The problem arose when one of the trolls saw Fili in the bushes and grabbed him. “A Dwarf!” the troll said as he held Fili upside down from his leg, “Can we eat ‘em!?”
“Sure, we’ll put ‘im in the pot in a bit,” This is bad, Bilbo thought, looking around the camp, “but first, we should see if there is anymore. He won’t be more than”
“Uh-” Fili said, subtly looking at Bilbo, who was now crouched in a tree, “Sorry to disappoint but it’s just me, I am travelling alone.” Bilbo nodded to him and made a hand movement to get him to keep talking while he figured out what to do. When one of the trolls says they should cook him quickly as it was getting close to sunrise Bilbo’s eyes widened and he smirked slightly. It may be hard to get him out of the grasp of the troll but if we continue to stall for sunrise-. Bilbo was unable to finish his thought as Kili stormed into the camp, slicing at one of the troll ankles, before looking at the other two, holding the sword at the ready.
“Drop him!” Kili demanded of the troll, pointing his sword at him. Bilbo ran a hand down his face.
“What?”
“I said Drop him!” The troll looked at him dead in the eyes before tossing Fili at him, knocking them both over. The moment they hit the ground, the rest of the Dwarrow came running into the camp with Thorin leading the charge. The company moved around the camp, hitting and slashing the trolls. Ori even got a lucky shot with his slingshot, hitting the cook in the eye with a stone. Bilbo had to admit they all worked well together, though they should really teach Ori to use something other than his slingshot. The Hobbit would be working on that with him.
Unfortunately, the fight was thought to be lost when one of the trolls grabbed Ori and they held him by his arms and leg, threatening to rip him in half if they didn’t put down their weapons. What the trolls, or Dwarves for that matter, didn’t count on was the Hobbit crouching in the trees who has grown very fond of the young scribe. Just as the Dwarrow started to lower their weapons, Oathkeeper and Nightshade went flying through the air and hit both of the trolls holding Ori in the eyes.
The trolls screamed in pain and their hand instinctively went to their eyes, making them drop Ori in the process. Most of the Dwarrow raised their weapons again and Dori moved to get his little brother out of reach of the trolls. Kili and Fili were the only ones who looked up to see Bilbo on a branch just above their heads, a grim expression on his face. The trolls looked back to the group, only seeing Bilbo’s eyes in the shadow of the canopy as they caught the light from the fire.
When Ori was out of arm's length of the trolls, the Dwarrow started attacking again, this time with an advantage as two of the trolls were now effectively blind in one eye. The blades were still sticking out of their eyes. Bilbo noticed the one with Nightshade sticking out of his eye starting to wobble, so he skillfully moved through the branches.
Once Bilbo got close enough, he pushed off the tree branch, snapping it in the process. He grimaced, right, these trees aren’t the giant trees of the Sunless forests, I can’t push off of them full force. The Hobbit landed on the troll's shoulder and grabbed his dagger. He ripped it out, slicing upwards, before jumping off. The troll stumbled backwards due to the force and the fact that he was already swaying. Bilbo landed just behind Thorin.
Bilbo smiled when he heard Gandalf say “May the sunrise take you all.” The trolls were confused and asking if they could eat him too before Gandalf slammed his staff into the boulder he was standing on, breaking it in half. By the time realised they what was happening, it was too late and they were already turning to stone.
The Dwarrow looked a little surprised by this, but Bilbo paid them no mind, as he was much more concerned with making sure nobody was hurt beyond a few bumps and bruises. He was relieved to find that nobody was hurt too much. It was then that he focused on his second task, getting Oathkeeper out of the eye socket of a now stone troll.
Bilbo was so focused on getting the blade back that he didn’t notice that Thorin’s eyes were on him. He gave the handle a few tugs, grunting quietly when it didn’t budge.
Thorin watched as Master Baggins moved to the stature that still had a blade sticking out of its eye. In his right hand, the Ha-Hobbit held a now bloodied purple blade with a sliver handle. Where in Mordor did he get those daggers!? Where was he hiding them!? The Dwarven King thought as The Hobbit wrapped one hand around the handle of the blade stuck in stone.
Master Baggins had truly surprised him during the fight. He clearly had skill when he fought, and clearly had learned at a young age. Which only confused the Dwarf even more. Why would a peaceful creature learn how to fight when there was no need? It just added more to the mystery that is Bilbo Baggins. Though he had to admit, they probably owe the Hobbit for saving them from being troll food. Even if the way he fought wasn’t how Dwarves do.
Deciding he had watched the Hobbit, who had now dropped the purple blade and had both hands on the handle, struggle enough trying to get the blade free. Thorin walked over and moved Master Baggins out of the way so he could get the dagger free. It took a good two tugs before it came sliding out.
Thorin looked over the blade in his hand for a moment. It was not of dwarven make, nor elven or men, but it was well made and taken care of nonetheless. It still had blood on it, but it wasn’t dripping like the other was. Thorin handed it to Master Baggins who took it happily. “Thank you, {______},” Master Baggins flashed him a toothy grin and The Hobbits hair looked like gold under the light of the sun for a moment.
Thorin didn’t get to reply as the burglar walked away, mumbling something about finding something that he could use to clean and polish his blades. Sighing, Thorin looked around to the rest of the company. The other Dwarrow were in their own little groups, mainly split up into families though Balin and Oin were talking to one another, or looking for something of value. Gandalf was standing off to the side he appeared from.
Perhaps Tharkun will have some answers about the mystery of the company’s Hobbit Thorin thought, crossing his arms over his chest.