We had been riding for a while. The rain had stopped some time ago. But soon, we came to the ruin of an old house that looked like it had been torn down some time ago.
"We'll camp here for the night." Thorin decided.
I did not care, so I jumped off the horse.
"Fili, Kili, look after the ponies." Thorin instructed. "Make sure you stay with them."
Gandalf went to examine the ruins. "A farmer and his family used to live here." I heard him say to himself. I approached him.
Thorin kept giving orders. "Oin, Gloin. Get a fire going."
I had a bad feeling from the way Gandalf was looking at the place. "I think it would be wiser to move on." He said.
I nodded in agreement.
"We could make for the Hidden Valley." Gandalf suggested.
Thorin walked past him in irritation. "I have told you already. I will not go near that place." He said roughly.
When did we establish that exactly?
"Why not? The elves could help us!" Gandalf objected. "We could get food, rest, advice."
Thorin wouldn't look at him. "I do not need their advice."
"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us." The wizard reasonably pointed out.
I rolled my eyes. I could read it, but of what I observed of Thorin, he was not deserving of such help. I say let someone else read it.
"Help?" Thorin said frustrated. "A dragon attacks Erebor. What help came from the elves?"
I scoffed. That's idiotic. Though, I was a bit of a hypocrite when it came to holding grudges for an obscenely amount of time, but I had the excuse of being a woman.
"Orcs plunder Moria... desecrate our halls. The elves looked on and did nothing! You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather. Who betrayed my father." He said with anger.
"You are neither of them." Gandalf said. "I did not give you that map and key for you to hold onto the past."
Thorin glared at him angrilly. "I did not know that they were yours to keep!"
Then I intervened. "Will you two just shut up!" I yelled. "We have all had a long day, but can't you EVER talk without trying to rip each others heads off?!" I stared at them like a parent would when little boys could not stop fighting. Being mom of the grop so far sucked.
Gandalf turned away, then marched towards the horses.
"Everything alright?" The hobbit asked. "Gandalf, where are you going?"
I could hear nervousness.
"To seek the company of the only one who's got any sense." Gandalf said frustrated.
"And who's that?"
"Myself, Mr. Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day."
I shook my head at him. "Wow. Feelin' the love, Gandalf. Feeling the love." I shouted sarcastically.
Then he galloped away. Didn't he know the rule titled "Don't ride when you're bitter?"
Thorin tried to go back to giving orders to the stunned company. "Come on Bombur, we're hungry." He said, putting his hands in his hips.
~
The sun had just set, and I was laying on my back, staring at the sky. Then I look over, and see Baggins staring off into the trees.
"Troubled?" I asked.
He turned to me in surprise. "Oh. It's you."
I got up, and sat next to him. "Yep, me. So what's wrong?"
"It's just, he's been gone a while." he said.
I cocked my head. "Gandalf?" I asked unsure. He nodded.
"I'm sure he's fine, mister Baggins. He wouldn't just leave." I told him."
He sighed. "I hope. And you know, you can call me Bilbo if you like." He said.
I smiled and nodded. "Okay, Bilbo," I liked how his name rolled off my tongue. "would you like a story, to help settle your nerves?" I offered.
"You tell stories?" He asked with humor.
I scoffed. "Do I not look like the storytelling type?"
He shook his head, which maked us both laugh. "Alright. Tell your story."
I smiled, and thought for a moment. "I've got the perfect one."
"A long time ago in a land far from here, there was a family. Now this particular family was magic. They were immortal with a very special gift. They could transform into any person, or any animal they desired.
They were a species called, Doppelgängers.
People were always nervous of these special ones. They were regularly hunted for sport.
And this family, tried to keep their existence a secret, but one day they were in town, their youngest, a son, got angry because his mother would not buy him a particular gift like older sisters.
Now this little brother did not particularly like dolls as his sisters had, but he was jealous. His father tried to reason with him, but the boy was too young to calm.
He was very young, so he did not have a very good control over his temper. He transformed into a wolf, and started rampaging the streets.
The mother and father had to transform as well, but the two sisters were told to hide. They tried to run, but were stopped by villagers saying, "Children of the monsters." and "Kill the wicked beasts."
They threw stones and sticks, and the youngest sister was pushed to the ground. Her older sister was so angry, she and her younger sister transformed as well into lionesses, and tore those villagers apart.
Soon they came to find their parents, and they knew soldiers and knights would be upon them soon enough, so they quickly escaped into the woods, where they ran to their hidden home.
They blamed the poor little boy for the whole thing. "If you had a better control of your temper, we would not be in this mess." The father yelled.
That night, they prayed that no harm would come to them.
A week passed, and all seemed clear, but little did they know, that word spread. A band of Orcs had come to their house one night. The mother had ordered her children to hide, so three children hid in the wardrobe, in their parents room.
They hoped that their parents would be strong enough, to end the Orcs. But there were too many of them. And they saw right through the family's act.
The children soon found their home on fire. They were surrounded by flame, but that is not what scared them. What scared them is that other that than blazing fire, all was silent. No noise from the band of orcs outside, and no noise from their parents, so the siblings ran from the wardrobe and transformed to fly out the window.
They were in the back of the house, and thankfully, it was free of enemies, they transformed back into children and slowly crept to the front, where they saw their parents as their true forms, in a cage made entirely of the one metal that took away their abilities - Titanium. The bars were thick, and had sharp spikes pointing off of them. Many orcs surrounded them, holding bows and different shaped blades. The children's parents were trapped.
And little did the children know, that a group of orcs had come at them from behind. They hit the children, and knocked them over. Then, they dragged the children into the cage, and threw them in with their parents. The children were held on tightly by their parents as the wagon holding their cage started moving, and they all looked behind them to watch as their beloved home burned to the ground.
They were taken to a secret location, where for so many years, they were tortured and killed." At that part. I stopped.
"Then what happened?" Bilbo asked curiously.
I shrugged at him. "No one knows. Some say, they escaped, and lived their life in secret. Others say they were all killed."
Bilbo looked in wonder. "And what do you think?"
I looked down. "I'd like to think they are still out there, but I'm not sure anymore."
When I looked up, I was amazed to see all the dwarves sitting and listening as well. "Well," I said getting up and brushing off my skirt. "It's not like it really happened, anyway. It's just an old story."