Our Song Lives On

A Short Rest

The next thing was to untie the sacks and let out the dwarves. They were nearly suffocated, and very annoyed: they had not at all enjoyed lying there listening to the trolls making plans for roasting them and squashing them and mincing them and especially turning them into jelly.

"And where did you go, if I may ask?" Thorin confronted Gandalf right out of the sack.

"To look ahead." Gandalf answered nonchalantly.

"What brought you back?" Thorn asked as he followed the wizard's sight.

"Looking behind." Thorin didn't need to be asked to read between the lines. "Nasty business. Still, they're all in one piece."

"No thanks to your burglar." Thorin glowered; even after he'd saved their skins, Thorin still hadn't warmed up to Bilbo.

"He had the nous to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that."

"If you've never burgled before, I don't suppose trolls should've been your first target to go practicing pinching and pocket-picking," remarked Ellie as Bilbo explained how the whole ordeal began.

Great, MORE people, thought Thorin as he finally took a good look at the person who'd joined them. She was just about their height, if not slightly taller. But she had long black hair, and no pointy ears. Curious.

"Who did you say you were again, lassie?" Balin was the first to ask.

"I didn't yet. The name's Ella, at your service." The girl extended a hand to the old dwarf, but a young one grabbed it instead.

"Fili, at yours." Thorin's heir made quite the show to be a gentleman and swooped to kiss the back of her hand.

His little brother rolled his eyes while the others, save for the mature ones, made comments.

"Your name does not explain your purpose." Thorin subtly shoved Fili aside.

"I don't have one. Not that I know of yet, at least. I'm on a journey of discovery. If it's fine by you, I'd like to tag along. There's safety in numbers out here."

Thorin was in no interest to add to his headache. Each member of his company was his responsibility, especially his sister's sons. He didn't need to take on more, especially not a woman.

"I can fend for myself fine, if you're worried. And I'd be happy to lend a hand."

Gandalf had enough and tapped his staff to break the tension, gaining everyone's attention.

"You are wasting time now. Don't you realize that the trolls must have a cave or a hole dug somewhere near to hide from the sun in? We must look into it!" He lead the march on himself.

They searched about, and soon found the marks of trolls' stony boots going away through the trees. They followed the tracks up the hill, until hidden by bushes they came on a big opening leading down to a cave. Down the steps lead Thorin, followed one after one by the others. Fili offered Ellie assistance getting down, and behind her the brothers quarreled, Kili calling his brother out. Behind them, the wizard simply smirked at their antics.

Their feet crunched on bones and a nasty smell stabbed into their nostrils; but there was a good deal of food jumbled carelessly on shelves and on the ground, and pots full of gold coins standing in a corner.

"Oh lookie, clothes!" Chippered Ori as he took a shirt that had been hanging on the walls.

"Clothes in a troll cave?" Bilbo wondered. "What troll fit into that?"