HOBBIT X OC - Elastic Heart

Chapter 3 ~ Trolls

It is nighttime; Bofur has prepared a dinner of soup, and the dwarves are eating it. I stare at my bowl contemplating whether or not to eat it when I see Bilbo grab two bowls from Bofur to take to Fili and Kili. Before he leaves the camp I jump to my feet and jogging up to the hobbit say, "Here let me help you." He gives me a thankful smile as he hands me a bowl. When we reach where Fili and Kili are watching the ponies I look forward to see that they are staring out into the dark and don't take the soup from us when we hand it to them.

"What's the matter?" Bilbo says as we follow their gaze toward the ponies.

"We're supposed to be looking out for the ponies." Kili says and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Only we've encountered a slight problem." Fili says and I take a deep breath instantly annoyed at their back and forth exclamations.

"We had sixteen."

"Now there's fourteen."

We all examine the group of ponies and I raise an eyebrow as I say, "Daisy and Bungo are missing." Bilbo shifts on his feet as he says, "Well, that's not good. That is not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

Fili instantly shakes his head as he says, "Uhh, no. Let's not worry him. As our official burglar, we thought you might like to look into it." Bilbo and I look around to see some trees recently uprooted and laying on the ground. "Well, uh...look, something big uprooted these trees." Bilbo says and anger fills my body as I realize what it is.

"That was our thinking." Kili says and grit my teeth. "Something very big, and possibly quite dangerous." Bilbo says and I whisper out, "You have no idea." "Hey! There's a light. Over here! Stay down." Fili says as he and Kili rush out after the light. I mentally face palm as I instantly follow after them followed closely behind by Bilbo. As we quietly run through the forest toward the light Fili has seen, we hide behind a log and as Harsh laughter sounds from near the fire. I reach down and grab the hilt of my sword.

"What is it?" Bilbo asks in a whisper. "Trolls." Kili says as he and Fili run off toward the fire. I let out a groan of irritation as I follow after them once again. Suddenly I turn to see a massive mountain troll walking toward the fire, carrying a pony under each arm. "He's got Myrtle and Minty! I think they're going to eat them, we have to do something." Bilbo whisper yells out and I look over at the two dwarves and instantly want to smack them upside their heads.

"Yes; you should. Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small." Kili says as he hides behind a tree.

"Nnno" Bilbo says as he holds the bowls of soup up in the air.

"They'll never see you." Kili says reassuringly.

"No, no, no..."

"It's perfectly safe! We'll be right behind you."

"If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl." Fili says as he and Kili push Bilbo toward the fire and take their bowls of soup from him. I follow closely behind him even after they disappear. "Don't worry Bilbo, I'm here if you need me." I say as the two of us slowly stalk toward the Trolls. I listen as they groan about eating Mutton and debating on how they are going to eat the ponies. Out of the corner of my eyes I see Bilbo reach the ponies and then groan in annoyance that I hadn't given him a knife to cut the ropes. One of the trolls is about to sneeze, and as he reaches behind him for his handkerchief, but accidentally grabs Bilbo instead, and sneezes all over him. He then realizes that he's not holding any ordinary booger.

"Argh!!! Blimey! Bert! Bert! Look what's come out of me 'ooter! It's got arms and legs and everything." The other trolls gather around to look. I groan inwardly as I pull Ithildin from his sheathe.