Home ↠ The Hobbit

IX. Stone

"Bilbo!" she heard Bofur cry out, turning around to see that Bilbo had almost gone flying over the edge. She dreaded to think what would have happened if it weren't for Dwalin and Bofur's fast reflexes pulling him back to temporary safety.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin called out, his voice but a distant echo over the pounding of the rain.

"Look out!" Dwalin bellowed, warning them of the incoming rock that was heading their way.

They all ducked for cover from the flying debris, she covered her head and leant as closely against the mountain as she possibly could to avoid the falling fragments of stone.

"This is no thunderstorm! It's a thunder battle, look!" Balin yelled, pointing to where one of the mountains rose up to reveal the vague shape of a person, the jagged edges and sheer size giving away that it was a stone giant, well that and how it was a mountain a moment ago.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Athena exclaimed as she watched the stone giant lift up a hefty boulder

"Well bless me. The legends are true! Giants! Stone giants!" Bofur informed through a shout while she watched the giant throw the boulder it had collected with both awe and fear at the sight.

Thorin yelled for them to take cover and nobody wasted a second in pulling their friends to the side, Athena pressing herself against the stone as much as she could do as sections of their path gave way beneath them, stopping just before her toes. Then the mountain began to move under their feet, separating the group.

"Kili, grab my hand!" Fili yelled as he attempted to get to his brother to no avail. She lowered his arm when she realised they would not be able to get to the youngest brother in time, pulling him back from the edge to keep at least one of them safe for the meantime.

It was just their luck that they were standing on a stone giant in the middle of a battle.

Athena held onto a jutted out piece of rock to keep herself steady as they were mercilessly flung around with the giants movements, thankful that the others had managed to get to safety while they still clung onto the leg of the giant as the thunder battle continued, at least with the knowledge that the others were safe they would be able to focus on themselves.

Trying to dodge the constant onslaught of rocks from the skies was proving to be a difficult feat as she also tried to keep herself in a relatively still position so not to go flying off the edge as they were swung, if she let go for even a moment she feared that she'd go flying through the wind. They came to a standstill when the giant let out a roar of defeat, crashing to the ground at an agonisingly slow pace. She was not the only one that let out a cry of fear as they plummeted towards what appeared to be a sturdy mountain.

Were it not for the gap that it left them they surely would have been crushed to death. When she noticed they weren't going to die she grabbed onto Fili's arm and pulled him to the other side, crumpling to the floor of their cramped refuge as the other Dwarves joined them after fearing the worst outcome.

Athena looked up at the darkened sky as she allowed the fact that they were still alive to settle in from her position on the floor, letting out a breathless chuckle of disbelief as she locked eyes with Fili who reacted the same way as her, helping her to sit up when the others arrived. The relief did not last long as it dawned on them that there was one missing member.

"Where's Bilbo? Where's the Hobbit?" Bofur asked in a blind panic until they spotted his hands clinging onto the cliff face.

"Get him!" Thorin yelled, reacting quickly by throwing Ori in his direction, the Dwarf reaching out and managing to grab him just before he fell.

Bofur was begging for him to take his hand, reaching down to try and help the Hobbit up and out of immediate danger, though his actions were futile as no matter how hard Bilbo tried to reach Bofur their hands would not meet. Thorin leapt from his position, hanging from the rock face as he grabbed onto Bilbo and heaved him up to meet with the two that were trying to help him with the encouraging calls of the others in the background.

"Thorin!" Athena screamed when she saw him lose his grip, rushing over to help Dwalin as he tried to pull him up. She latched onto the clothing on his back, grunting as they successfully lifted him back onto the mountain. Thorin wasn't the lightest of the Dwarves so it took a strain on even Dwalin's muscles to haul him up again.

"I thought we lost our burglar," Dwalin huffed as he recuperated from having to save Thorin.

"He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us." Athena didn't even bother trying to hide her disdain for the words that had left the king's mouth, Bilbo decided to follow them of his own free will. There was nothing tying him to the company, yet still he treated him so rudely despite the strenuous journey he's made thus far of his own decision.

"Pay no attention to his words," she told Bilbo after making her way to him, placing her hand on his shoulder as she gently led him into the cave that they had managed to find beside them. She wished that she could offer more comfort to the Hobbit, but there was little she could say or do to lighten the burden that rested upon his shoulders.

─────────

Once the cave had been deemed as safe they laid out their bedding and retired for the night, you didn't need to look at them more than once to see how exhausted each and every one of them was.

Athena lay underneath her blanket, the floor was uncomfortable beneath her and her head ached from not being able to have the luxury of a pillow. Her limbs begged for her to fall asleep, as did her eyes but the conditions in which they were staying made it increasingly difficult to do so. With a frustrated huff of air she turned onto her other side to give her arm a rest from the cold surface beneath her, ceasing all movements as her eyes settled on Bilbo packing his belongings.

She did not make it known that she was awake, there was nothing she would be able to do to stop him if he decided to head back to Rivendell. She didn't know if she'd even want to stop him, not because she did not enjoy his company but because she knew that it would be much safer for the Hobbit.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bofur asked Bilbo as he had spotted him attempting to leave. He was no longer in Athena's line of sight but she did not need to be able to see them in order to hear their conversation.

"Back to Rivendell."

"No, you can't turn back now. You're part of the company. You're one of us," he protested, the shuffling of feet indicating that he had stood up and moved over to Bilbo.

"I'm not though, am I? Thorin said I should never have come and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should've never run out that door."

"You're homesick, I understand."

"No, you don't," Bilbo responded rather harshly, her eyebrows furrowing at his remark. The Dwarves knew more than anybody what homesickness felt like, they'd gone too long without theirs. "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!"

Silence ensued after his outburst. The words were a harsh truth, one that nobody wanted to hear. But did she truly belong anywhere? Did she even belong with the Dwarves? Or did she belong with the Elves? Perhaps she did not belong in either of those places. She herself wasn't entirely sure where she belonged.

"I am sorry, I didn't..."

"No, you're right. We don't belong anywhere," Bofur responded sombrely, "I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do."

Athena closed her eyes as she heard footsteps heading further away, the footsteps belonging to none other than Bilbo as he was making his exit. "What's that?" Bofur asked, causing Bilbo to stop moving and look down at his sword.

Her eyes fluttered open at the question before widening in horror when seeing cracks appearing in the floor, pushing herself to sit up along with Thorin — who she hadn't realised was also awake and eavesdropping until now.

"Wake up. Wake up!" He called to the others, but it was too late.

The floor gave way beneath them and they were sent tumbling through the hole left behind.