Chapter Text
It had been a week or so since Bilbo had made his somewhat impulsive decision to join the company of Thorin Oakenshield on their quest to reclaim their lost home of Erebor, and of course to play his part in the additional minor detail of ridding said lost home of its current very large, scaled and fire breathing occupant. Surprisingly however that was not what was weighing heavily on the hobbit’s mind. What was currently occupying Bilbo’s thoughts was how he was trying to find his place within the company, whilst none of the Dwarves were outwardly hostile, bar the leader of course Thorin always had a comment to make about the Halfling or Burglar. None of the dwarves had accepted him as one of their own nor had acknowledged him as anything other than a nuisance or burden.
Bilbo let out a frustrated sigh as these troublesome thoughts played through his mind he was trying, surely they could see that at least? he gave Myrtle a few gentle squeezes to pick up her pace up to a canter ‘best not to fall behind’ he thought to himself lest he give the mighty King under the Mountain another reason to snarl at him. Bilbo struggled with the urge to roll his eyes, instead resigned himself to his place near the back of the group, listening to the whisperings of the young princes who were no doubt planning their latest prank. He eyed them with slight hesitation hoping he was not to be the victim, honestly he was still finding spiders, ants and other…. Insects in his small clothes from their last prank.
The day passed on without much excitement, save for Nori who nearly fell off his own horse as the result of a well-aimed pinecone thrown by the resident archer. Bilbo did admit it was quite a shot, and although entertaining it thankfully didn’t result in any scowling at the hobbit’s expense, so he counted that as a positive.
They came across a slight hill which had the ruins of an old house when it was decided that they finally stopped for the day. Bilbo quietly dismounted and set about tending to Myrtle, fondly scratching her neck whilst Thorin gave about orders “Fili, Killi look after the ponies, and make sure you stay with them” he commanded before turning to the others “Oin, Gloin get a fire going” Knowing he wasn’t going to be asked to do any task, for he was obviously so inept to do anything of use the hobbit instead snuck an apple to Myrtle before she was herded off by the princes.
She was quite a sweet thing, for a pony that is and was very patient with him, he was new to this whole ‘adventuring’ nonsense. His smile dropped at the sudden arguing that started nearby, “I did not give you that Key so that you should hold on to the past” “I did not know that it was yours to give!” growled Thorin in reply causing the wizard to shake his head and stride off in the opposite direction triggering Bilbo to nervously approach him “where are you going?” “To seek the company of the only one around here with any sense” Bilbo hesitated for a moment before inquiring “and who’s that?” “MYSELF Master Baggins!” Gandalf snarled before muttering “I’ve had enough of dwarves for one day”. As he stormed out of the camp Bilbo could not help but feel just a little bit insulted, he liked to think of himself with a Hobbit of sense, after all he was a Baggins! Shaking his head slightly he turned to look at how the company leader was taking the wizard’s storming off only to balk at how smug he looked. ‘Of all the arrogant- well.. let’s hope that’s all the conflict for one afternoon’
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After finding a secure place to place the ponies for the night the youngest members of the Durin line set out to scout the area “Best to make sure we’re safe after all” Killi winked as he pushed his way past some bushes “yes, and not at all because you don’t want to babysit ponies” his brother teased with a shake of his head, following behind. The woodland was thick but not uninhabitable, it was easy to see that there was a large ecosystem, perhaps they could come back with a few bits of game for dinner. The archer stumbled over the roots of a large tree that had fallen, frowning at his older brother “oh like you would rather brush and braid manes than be out here doing something” he argued before taking another look at the area. “I would rather do what UnCLEEE-EEIIIK!” Fili let out a startled yelp as his foot got caught in a snare, propelling himself in the air several feet as his weapons fell from their sheaths “Fili!” Kili spun around, drawing his bow and notching an arrow with an impressive speed “I’m alright” he replied, spitting some hair from his mouth “it seems we’re not alone in these woods...” he mumbled, glaring across the foliage.
Taking a stance, Kili moved to step closer towards his brother when the sound of a branch snapping could be heard in the distance, almost faster than a blink Kili had shot an arrow towards the sound, frowning when no sound of a hit was made. He waited, neither of the princes making a sound in case they should miss any sign of their opponent. A minute or so passed before several meters in the opposite direction a clunk could be heard. Drawing his bowstring back once more Kili took a step forward to get better ground only to let out a startled shriek when his own foot got caught in another snare, his arrows toppling to the ground as he too was hung upside down.
“Oh sweet Mahal!” Fili groaned as his brother spluttered red faced beside him “it’s not as if I could SEE it!” he hissed reaching out to smack Fili who in turn attempted to block the assault which resulted in the pair of them flailing in midair. They stopped however at the sound of rustling “who goes there!” Fili demanded, attempting to channel his inner uncle and look intimidating which combined with the rush of blood to his head only served to make him look somewhat constipated.
A figure stepped out into the open, the boys were surprised at the short stature of them. Another dwarf perhaps? “you two eejits set of my traps and shot arrows at me, if anything I should ask who goes here!” again there came surprise at the sound of the voice, the pitch was higher than a male and somewhat husky. The figure approached more in their line of vison and both princes’ jaws dropped at the sight.
It was a Dwarrowdam.
She was dressed in an assortment of pelts and leathers, well worn, sporting several tears and a coating or two of dirt. Clutched in her hand was an axe, not nearly as large nor as impressive as Jasper and Grasper but she held it with as much ferocity as Dwalin held his. Her hair was black and much like the rest of her was coated in grime and dirt, her beard wasn’t even braided! Suddenly she stood in front of them and they could see that her eyes were a deep blue, almost like Sapphires. Kili was briefly reminded of his mother but was very quickly snapped out of this thought by the sudden shout “Well?”
“Well, what?” coughed Fili, trying to regain some composure, despite viewing the sudden rare female Dwarf upside down. Said female let out an impatient snort “why’re you here setting off my traps?” she demanded with a nod up towards their feet. “We didn’t mean to set them off!” Kili protested from beside his brother “we didn’t see them”, the dwarrowdam squinted suspiciously at the younger Durin, Kili was thankfully saved by any further scrutiny by his brother “we’re traveling” he explained, causing the woman to once again turn her attention to him “traveling” she repeated “and it seems we’ve gotten a bit... misplaced”
There was a few moments of silence before the scruffy black haired dwarrowdam let out another growl, however it seemed to be more of frustration than anything else “you shouldn’t be gettin’ ‘misplaced’ in these woods!” she jabbed the blonde prince in the chest with a finger “isn’t safe!” she emphasised her point with another jab. “Not to worry about us lass, we can look after ourselves” Kili grinned in a confident manner beside his brother, only to be roughly elbowed in the stomach by his brother and be stared at by the female in front of him in a way that made him think that he might not have made his point as well as he had hoped. Clearing his throat Fili once again reclaimed her attention “what isn’t safe?” “th’woods”, the blond prince resisted the urge to growl himself “Yes you said that, I mean what about the woods isn’t safe?” he clarified with a frown, wondering what could be dangerous in this area and also just what was a dwarrowdam doing so far from any known caravans or mountains.
Taking a breath the Dwarrowdam opened her mouth to explain only to be cut off by a loud roar of “FILI, KILI” and the battlecries of several angry Dwarves.