15. “I’m Not Leaving Them.”

The weather didn’t seem to want to cooperate with us. For a while, it had been, up until tonight of all nights. Mother Nature decided to show us her strength by unleashing a storm in our path as we trekked carefully along a path on a mountain. The sheets of rain made it almost impossible to see what was ahead. The rain had been light earlier on, but once night settled in, it picked up harshly. The rain hadn’t ceased.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, the sky was almost black. We were inching along the path single file, the only way we could. On occasion, a flicker of lightning would brighten up the sky. This wasn’t cheery weather.

We kept at least one hand gliding along the wall beside us, the pathway was narrow. One misstep and you could fall for forever. Nobody wanted to risk it. This was the second time I was genuinely afraid of heights—the first had been when crossing the bridge to Rivendell.

Climbing trees in the Shire was one thing, traveling along a narrow path in bad weather on a mountain was another.

Wind attacked us, making everything even more biting than it already was. Bilbo and I had never seen such conditions. In the Shire, storms were never this awful. I was never one for bad weather. It seemed like Mother Nature was testing me to see if I was willing to break down and want to head back to Rivendell.

“Hold on!” I heard Thorin roar above the rain. Naturally, the moment the command left his lips, Bilbo temporarily lost his balance. I grabbed him, having an iron grip despite my soaked state. The others helped me steady him.

“We must find shelter!” I demanded.

“Look out!” cried a Dwarf.

Tremors rocked the ground at our feet. We all craned our necks up to see rock collide with rock wall above us. The collision made the rocks explode and showers us with pieces. I got knocked into by a decent sized one the size of my head.

“This is no thunderstorm,” Balin said over the thunder, wind, and rain, “it’s a thunder-battle! Look!”

I blanched as I realized what Balin saw through the darkness. At first, I almost didn’t believe it, but somehow I could. I mean, Trolls, Wargs, and Wizards existed, so why not toss in a Stone-Giant?

The creature was a massive silhouette, sticking out like a sore thumb in the storm. I swallowed, my heart raced.

“Well, bless me,” Bofur exclaimed. “The legends are true! Giants! Stone-Giants!”

The Stone-Giant we saw tossed a boulder the size of the creature’s head. I expected it to crush all of us; we were easy targets after all. Instead, we all watched in awe—me in terror—as the boulder flew past us, only to hit another Stone-Giant, who was peeking around our mountain’s corner. I squeaked in fright.

I couldn’t hear what was being said over the weather, all I heard was incomprehensible shouting. I was suddenly forced back, my back pressed against the wall. It was a good thing too, because in the next second, another shower of rocks came at us. Some of our way was knocked off, making it even narrower than before.  

A loud grumbling noise invaded our ears. At first, I thought it was thunder, but then I soon saw commotion up ahead. I didn’t understand what was going on, or why I was suddenly jerked away with Thorin, Kili, and a few others. It wasn’t until I saw the rock break apart behind me that I understood.

We were on no mountain; we had found ourselves on the knees of a Stone-Giant. As if two weren’t enough to see, there was now a third in the equation. I paled, watching with huge eyes as Bilbo and the remaining Dwarves were separated from us. I noticed Kili was separated from his brother.

“Against the wall! Brace yourselves!” Thorin commanded. I didn’t need telling twice, I threw myself against the wall, closing my eyes, wanting to see nothing.

Rain continued to pelt us, my stomach was doing somersaults. I tried to focus on what I heard so I could gather what was going on. I heard an awful collision, like two rocks crashing. I immediately thought of Bilbo and the others. They can’t be…

Hoping to not see the worst, I opened my eyes only to search through the downpour for the other half of our company. I soon saw them, all holding on for dear life. I hyperventilated. My group wasn’t moving, but Bilbo’s was. Their destination: ahead of us, about to be squished between two rock walls.

“NO!” I cried as the walls came together, trapping the boys. “No! Move, move!” I started shoving, trying to push the Dwarves ahead of me on. They can’t be dead, they can’t be. We can’t have lost them, not like this!

I saw the Giant’s knee removed, none of the boys were there. My heart panicked as did my brain. I kept telling myself there was a sliver of hope that they had survived.

Our group raced ahead up the path.

“It’s all right! They’re alive!” someone crowed. I let out a breath as I saw all the Dwarves on their backs, dazed.

I counted all of them, and then added in the others. All thirteen were accounted for. Wait…thirteen Dwarves…

“Where’s Bilbo?” I panicked. “Where is he?”

“Lily!” I heard him shout.

I gasped as I saw Bilbo clinging onto the edge of our path, being continuously showered like we all were. Everyone was in an uproar, shouting to each other, reaching out for Bilbo.

“Someone grab a hold of me!” I ordered, jumping down on my knees. I felt someone grab my middle firmly. I leaned forward and down, wanting to reach Bilbo sooner—his one hand slipped off the edge. My jaw locked together, my fingers stretched as far as they could.

I bit my tongue when Bilbo lost his grip with his other hand. He dropped lower but managed to grab a hold of some rock in front of him. Hold on, we’ll get you…somehow.

It seemed my rescue efforts weren’t efficient or quick enough. Another group formed, Thorin had help and went to Bilbo’s aid. I was pulled back to safety as Thorin and the others helped Bilbo. The moment his furry feet hit the ground, I squeezed myself past those in front of me to hug him tight.

“Don’t scare me like that again!” I scolded him.

“I won’t,” he assured me hurriedly, holding me just as tightly. “I won’t.”

“I thought we’d lost our burglar,” said the bald Dwarf, Dwalin.

“He’s been lost ever since he left home,” Thorin growled above the weather. “He should never have come, let alone have brought her along. They have no place amongst us.”

His words could not have stung more. I’d known from the beginning Thorin didn’t approve of Bilbo joining the company, and he certainly fathomed the idea of me tagging along though I was never mentioned nor offered a contract to sign. To be reminded of how much he despised having two Hobbits along made bile rise in my throat. For once, I wasn’t in the mood to think of a witty retort, to even try and pick a fight with the leader of our group. Right now, I felt weary and just wanted to be somewhere dry, and preferably warm.

Leaving the conversation on that bitter note, Thorin led us all onwards. It wasn’t before long that we found an opening in the mountain. Grateful for somewhere dry, the fifteen of us filed in. While everyone else was snooping around, I wrung out my hair, wishing I could wring out my clothes as well. Noises of foul weather erupted at the mouth of the entrance.

It was decided that no fire was to be made. I scowled at this but figured I shouldn’t question Thorin. The last thing I wanted was to pick a fight with him. I had no energy to. The only good thing about his orders was that we left at first light. For some reason, I had a weird feeling about the cave.

I kept to myself while everyone else did their own thing. I shivered through my clothes, wishing I could discard them and exchange them for others. Then I remembered my knapsack had been with Remy’s tack, and we were too far away from that place. It didn’t surprise me that I had remembered that just now, what with everything happening since the Trolls became stone.

I looked around at the company of Dwarves. They knew what to do, as though they had been doing this all their lives. They probably have been, ever since losing their home to that dragon. I wondered how it felt to be one of the Dwarves, to be away from a home that was taken.

I wasn’t sure I would handle that too well.

Feeling bored, I messed with my wedding band. Suddenly, I didn’t feel like in the mood to be bothered by anyone. It was probably because of everything piling up on me: lack of food, lack of sleep, lack of water. Lack of everything really.

“Something wrong, Red?” I didn’t take my eyes off my ring to look at Fili. “Ah, the silent treatment.”

“Come on, you can’t ignore us forever,” his brother chimed in. They both occupied a side of me. I was stuck in a Dwarf sandwich, with perhaps only one way out. “We just want to make sure you’re all right.”

“Are you homesick?”

“Ill?”

“Do you need to eat something?”

I covered my ears, trying to mute their questions, but it didn’t work very well. I put my head in my knees, hoping the brothers would get the hint that I didn’t want to be bothered.

“How do you all do it?” I finally piped, picking up my head lazily.

“Do what?”

“Live like this. Travel every day without settling anywhere.”

“We’ve grown used to it. I have a feeling you haven’t adjusted.”

“For a while, I did, in the beginning. Now…it’s getting the better of me.”

“It’ll pass, Red.” The brothers each put a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll get through it.”

“But what if it drives me mad?” I snapped. “What if I decide I want to give up and turn back?”

“No thought like that would ever cross your mind,” Kili told me thoughtfully.

“Oh? And how would you know?”

“Because we’ve been around you long enough,” Fili countered. “Nothing has gotten to you before; don’t let this get to you now. We’re in this together, all of us. If you need help, we’ll help.”

My lips cracked a smile. “You boys…” I shook my head. I yawned. “Damn it.”

“Just sleep, you look like you need it.”

“We all need it.”

Though nobody said it, taking rest was a given. Thorin put someone—I think Bofur—on the first watch. I didn’t pay much attention to what went on after I shut my eyes.

*     *     *

Light pattering on the floor woke me up. I snorted, fluttering my eyes open. The first thing I noticed was that the weather had died down; I heard no wind, thunder, or rain. My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the cave. I heard a few light snorers, saw shapes of bodies on the ground. I sat up, only to realize I wasn’t really lying on cave floor.

The brothers must’ve conked out after I did, because I was lying against both of them. My legs were sprawled across Fili’s lap, and from my back up had been lying across Kili’s lap. They both seemed to be out cold still.

So as to not wake them, I stealthily clambered off them, almost getting trapped by Kili when he shifted.  

The first thing that alerted me to danger was a slinking figure lurking around. I didn’t want to wake anyone; I wanted to catch this…figure for myself. My fingers found the knife hilt. I tiptoed and leapt over the sleeping Dwarves, inching closer towards the fleeing figure. Did they think they could get away so easily?

Once I was just behind the figure, I threw the knife in front of its neck. The figure froze.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I snarled.

“Lily, it’s me.”

I blinked, pulling back as he whirled around to face me. “Bilbo?”

“What the hell was that for?” He rubbed his throat.

“I didn’t know it was you!” I kept my voice low. “I didn’t get you, did I?”

“No, thank goodness.”

I noticed my friend had packed up, walking stick and all. “Just what are you up to?”

“Oi, where do you two think you’re going?” Bofur asked. We hadn’t seen him so close to us.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. I looked to Bilbo.

“I’m going back to Rivendell,” Bilbo declared in a murmur.

“No, no, you can’t turn back now,” Bofur said, jumping off his rock perch. “You’re part of the company.”

“Why do you want to leave, anyway?” I pressed him.

“You’re one of us.”

“I’m not, though, am I?” Bilbo retorted. “And neither are you, Lily. Thorin said we should never have come, and he was right.”

“Bilbo—” I tried to intervene, but he cut me off.

“Listen to me, Lily. He was right. I don’t know what you think, but I see what’s true. I’m not a Took, I’m a Baggins. I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have never run out my door.”

“How can you say that for one second?” I hissed. “You can’t keep changing your mind like this!”

“My mind is made up; I can’t stay here and continue on with all this. You can always come with me.”

“I’m not leaving them.” I crossed my arms.

“What’s your reason for staying?”

“I thought I made it clear that it was to help the Dwarves reclaim their home. I know what other reason you suspect.” If my ears were like an animal’s, they would have been flat against my skull in irritation. “Just because you want to back down doesn’t mean that I will. Our pact had nothing involving that.”

“It was a stupid pact, Lily.” Bilbo’s voice was flat.

“No, it wasn’t.” I got in his face. “Look at what’s happened since we made it!”

“Nothing but trouble, that’s what’s happened.”

Bofur cleared his throat. “If I may interrupt, but, I understand why he wants to go. He’s homesick. I understand.”

“No, you don’t,” Bilbo snapped. “You don’t understand. None of you do. You’re Dwarves. You’re used to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!”

My mouth dropped. I’d never heard Bilbo deliver such harsh words in my life. My brown eyes narrowed, trying to make him cave in and apologize.

That’s just what he did.

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “I didn’t—” He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“You should be sorry,” I chastised him.

“No, he’s right,” Bofur told me. I looked to the Dwarf with confused eyes. “We don’t belong anywhere.” He smiled grimly at Bilbo. “I wish you all the luck in the world, I really do.”

Bilbo looked to me. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me, Lily?”

I stared at him. “I’m sure.” A faint blue glow caught my eye. “What’s that?”

Bilbo looked at me, confused, before looking where my eyes did. He pulled his sword out ever so slightly. The blade glowed blue. His eyes met mine, his worried.

“What is it?” I stammered.

“Wake up!” Thorin bellowed, making me jump a foot in the air. He was already on his feet. “Wake up!” He had to have been eavesdropping, how else would he know about the blade glowing blue?

All the Dwarves scrambled to their feet, some with weapons at the ready. I gulped, suddenly remembering Gandalf’s words to Bilbo about the sword. The blade is of Elvish make, which means that it will glow blue when Orcs or Goblins are nearby.

Lovely.

Either old enemies had tracked us down again, or we were about to face new ones. 

**D'aww, those brothers and Red :3 Their bond <3**