"He's been a long time," Bilbo says.
"Who?" Bofur asks.
"Gandalf," Bilbo says with worry in his voice.
"He's a wizard! He does as he chooses. Here, do us a favour, take this to the lads" Bofur asks cheerfully, handing Bilbo two bowls of whatever broth he's made for the company. Bilbo nods taking the two bowls and begins to walk into the trees where Fili and Kili watch over the ponies and my horse. I watch Bilbo disappear into the darkness, a little on edge not having him within my eye range just in case anything was to happen. One could say I feel an obligation to look after Bilbo, he's an old friend and he has no idea of the world. He's too innocent and that scares me.
Finishing off my bowl of soup, I stand, walking over to Bofur and handing him my bowl. He smiles kindly, taking the bowl "Are you sure you don't want more?" he asks.
"No Thank you, Bofur," I answer with a warm smile. I walk back over to my stuff and get out my book again, making myself comfortable on the ground as best I can, my eyes adjusting to what little light there is. As I finish the first page I begin to get a little uneasy about why Bilbo hasn't returned. I look around but none of the others seem uneasy. I take a breath, trying to relax from tension and go back to my book. Soon the tapping of my finger on the side of the book begins to get irritating which only puts me on edge more. Only moments later I put my book down and grab my sword, bow and arrows. I guess my nerves got the best of me.
I begin to walk into the trees. I stop walking, stop it, Ivy, don't be so paranoid. Bilbo is just probably having a chat with Kili and Fili. With that thought along I get alarmed and decide to go find them. After what happened last night I wouldn't be surprised if Fili and Kili are teasing Bilbo or playing around with him. Dwarves may be short, but hobbits are shorter giving Fili and Kili the upper hand. Especially those two, they just wouldn't be able to help themselves!
I burst through the trees and look around, startling some of the ponies. Fili, Kili and Bilbo are nowhere to be seen. I begin to walk through the ponies in search of the three but then something else catches my attention. I tilt my head and look at the ponies. Weren't there more? Out of confusion, I count the ponies in my head. There were definitely more. That's when I realise that my horse is gone! I look around in sudden confusion. My horse is defiantly not here! With all this coming to mind, I suddenly notice the few uprooted trees. Now that's an odd occurrence. I doubt two dwarves and a hobbit did that! With my instincts kicking in, I begin to follow the uprooted trees and try to stay as stealthy as I can.
I hear a few twigs snap, causing me to dive behind a tree. I withdraw my sword as slowly and quietly as I can. I crack my neck and take a breath, preparing to fight orcs. I jump out with my sword raised. I hear a gasp and a... squeal? I look down and see Fili and Kili with shocked faces. I lower my sword in amusement and ask, "Who just squealed?" Fili points at Kili. I let out a small giggle at Kili's face of embracement. I get more serious as I realise that Bilbo isn't with them "Where's Bilbo?" I ask.
Fili and Kili share a glance "Well..." Kili starts.
"We discovered that Trolls had been stealing our ponies and...well," Fili fades out.
"W-we...ah...sent Bilbo in to investigate" Kili explains, nerves showing through his voice. My first reaction is to roll my eyes as I realise what has happened. Then my second reaction is a nod. Fili and Kili didn't just send him in, they pushed him in. I smile as though I'm ok with it and the two dwarves begin to smile as well thinking we have come to an agreement. With that moment I smack them both across their heads "Ah! What was that for?" Kili asks rubbing his forehead.
"Bilbo didn't just go in there! You made him go in there!" I shout in a hushed voice as I see a light through the trees "I'm going to go get Bilbo, and you two are going to go get Thorin!" I finish.
"No!" they both shout in whispers.
I smile "Or. You can go get Bilbo and I go get Thorin and tell him about all the mischief you have gotten yourselves into."
"No!" they both shout in a whisper again.
"Then, I suggest you go get Thorin yourselves!" I say leaving them where they stand. Cursing as a branch hits me in the calf muscle, I begin to hike through the trees again to go find Bilbo. This might be harder than ordinally anticipated because he is so small and stealthy. I stop at the tree line and hide behind a big bush, now being able to see the clearing with the help of a huge bright fire. Glancing over the top of the bush I see three large trolls arguing amongst themselves about the food. I cringe as one of the sneezes in their soup.
"Oh, that's lovely, that is! A floater" says one of the Trolls, who I think is named Bert, as one of the others had addressed him before.
"Ow, might improve the flavour!" Another says one, who I think they said was Tom when arguing.
"Ah! There's more where that came from" the one that sneezed says. I stop listening to them when I realise that Bilbo is behind one of the trolls trying to get a knife. I try and get Bilbo's attention by waving my hands until I realise how stupid I must look and that he won't even be able to see me anyway!
"I hope you're gonna gut these nags. I don't like the stinky parts" One says, I think his name is William.
Bert hits William with his spoon coursing William to squeal. I can only just see Bilbo now. I don't know what to do. Panic begins to creep in as I realise I don't know what to do "I said sit down!" Bert yells at William.
"I'm starving! Are we having horse tonight or what?" Tom yells.
Bert turns with the spoon in hand "Shut your cakehole. You'll eat what I give ya."
I jump as I feel a hand tap my shoulder. I turn to see Kili, but Kili only. I give him a questioning look to which he nods and whispers "Fili's gone to get the others" I nod in response. We both turn to see the trolls again. William stands up to sneeze into a handkerchief. I look around trying to find Bilbo, but he completely disappears from my line of sight, I get worried but then I hear William screech.
"Argh! Blimey! Bert! Bert! Look what's come out of me 'ooter! It's got arms and legs and everything!" William cries. All the trolls gather aground to have a look. The blood rushes from my face. Oh no, they've got Bilbo! I get a grip on my sword and go running out but Kili stops me in my outburst of panic.
"What is it?" Bert asks.
"I don't know, but I don't like the way it wriggles around!" William cries and throws Bilbo to the ground. I want to run in there but Kili won't loosen his grip on my arm. Despite being shorter than me, he is much stronger. There's no use fighting him anyway, we need to keep our strength.
"What are you then? An oversized squirrel?" Tom asks.
"I'm a burglar- uhh, Hobbit," Bilbo says with a shudder. I roll my eyes and place my face in my lose hand.
"A Burglar-Hobbit?" William questions.
"Can we cook him? Tom asks intrigued.
William smiles "We can try!" William tries to grab Bilbo but misses. Bilbo is stopped by Bert's spoon.
"He wouldn't make more than a mouthful, not when he's skinned and boned!" Bert says.
"Perhaps there are more Burglar-Hobbits around these parts. Might be enough for a pie" Tom says getting lost in thought.
"Grab him!"
"It's too quick!" William yells making me smile.
Bilbo is doing a good job getting away. I almost think he's gotten away until Tom grabs him by the legs "...Gotcha! Are there any more of you little fellas hiding where you shouldn't be?"
"Nope," Bilbo says looking around.
"He's lying."
"No, I'm not!"
"Hold his toes over the fire. Make him squeal" William says with a grin. I'm about to fight Kili off so I can get to Bilbo but when I turn around Kili is gone.
I watch as Kili bursts out from in the bushes in front of the trolls "Drop him!" he yells.
"You what?" Tom questions with a laugh. I push my way through the bushes and walk over by Kili. I hold my sword up and I see Bilbo smile with relief.
Kili smiles "I said, drop him," he says swinging his sword.
Tom throws Bilbo. I watch as Bilbo and Kili go tumbling to the ground with a thud. Seconds later the other dwarves come running through the bushes armed. I turn back to the trolls and run straight into the fight now confident in numbers. Sprinting under a swing, I slash Tom's leg and cut down the back of William's leg. I can hear all the dwarves hitting and cutting the Trolls also, all working together to take down the overly large beasts. I dodge Bofur as Bert throws him my way, to which luckily, he lands in a bush. I turn to see if Bofur is ok then I join the fight once again. I jump behind Thorin as I realise he has stopped fighting.
"Bilbo!" Kili yells. I look up to see Bilbo being held by his arms and legs by Bert and Tom.
"Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off" Bert yells. We all look to Thorin as he throws his sword to the ground. A few more weapons angrily get thrown down to the ground, causing me to let out a groan of annoyance as I realise we're surrendering. However, that voice inside my head reminds me it's for Bilbo's life. I sigh, dropping my sword to the ground. I take my bow and arrows off my back and throw them to the ground as well.
"We're screwed" I huff under my breath. I get a few glares from the dwarves, to which I give a small sarcastic smile.