Embracing the Shadows

Chapter four - Elbereth and the Dancing Dwarves

I heard clapping and turning I saw the two brothers. Fili and Kili applauding me, I smiled and mockingly bowed. I turned back around and continued tapping my feet in the mud. A pony came up beside me and Kili smirked down at me.

"That was a beautiful song" He complimented. I smiled back at him.

"Thank you, my mother used to sing to me as a child" I twirled and skipped forward

"And where is she? Your mother" Kili asked curiously

I walked forward "Lying under a pile of rocks somewhere near Mirkwood" I replied voice taunt "But I don't sing to morn her. The whole reason of fare welling those are that are lost is to move on. I sing to remind myself of her love" I smile gently.

Kili fell silent before he spoke up "She taught you to dance?" He guessed. I nodded gently "Could you teach me?" he slid off his pony and landed by my feet.

I grabbed his hand and twirled him round until he faced me. "Follow my feet" I took a step back and he followed, pretty soon we were waltzing along in front of the company. I then spun him back to his horse and he turned confused "Your uncle doesn't look to impressed" I explained nodding my head towards the grumpy Dwarven king. Kili laughed and mounted quickly before sending me a quick wink and resuming his place in the company.

When we next stopped it was near a ruined house that stank to high heavens. I couldn't place my finger on in but it wasn't something I wanted to be meeting anytime soon

"We'll camp here for the night. Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them." Thorin ordered

Gandalf noted the ruined house and the occupants that once resided there "Oin, Gloin." Thorin ignores the wizard's caution

"Aye?"

"Get a fire going." Gloin agreed and began to move around to comply

"I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley." Gandalf tried to warn again

"I have told you already, I will not go near that place." Thorin dismissed

"Why not? The elves could help us. We could get food, rest, advice." Gandalf pressed

Thorin stubbornly shut down the old wizard again "I do not need their advice."

"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us." I shot back to Thorin. Could he not see that this was the best course for the company?

"Help? A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the Elves looked on and did nothing. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather and betrayed my father." Thorin hissed, he was holding this grudge for far too long, not that I was one to talk.

"You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past." Gandalf said attempting to knock some sense into Thorin

"I did not know that they were yours to keep." I growled at Thorin's stubbornness and Gandalf stomps off angrily, leaving the Company.

Bilbo asks if Gandalf is alright and where he was off to, that poor hobbit had no idea of what was going on half the time

Gandalf replies and Bilbo asks something and Gandalf raises his voice "Myself, Mr. Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day."

Thorin urges Bombor to hurry up the food cooking process. And Bilbo turns to Balin to reassure himself that Gandalf wasn't leaving him. I then stalk off to find some food.

I had a stag slung over my shoulders and was walking back to the camp when I heard a shout "Not, not that one, he­­-he's infected!" I sighed and turned in the direction of the hobbits yell and to my astonishment there where three trolls sat around the fire. I dumped the deer on the floor.

"Oi" I said eyebrow cocked. They faced me, I smiled. I had faced these trolls before. "Tom, how are you?" I asked they looked confused. "Don't tell me you don't remember me" I said shoulders sinking Tom's eyes light up.

"Pig girl!" he exclaimed whacking one of his friends on his back "Bert, it's the pig girl I was talkin' about. 'Member her?" I smiled.

"Well I thought I would visit my favourite mountain troll. How about that hey?" I look down at the stag at my feet "And I thought we could trade, see those dwarves happen to be known to me, the last trolls that tried them threw up. They haven bathed in months" I finish.

Tom looks thoughtful "That's one deer" he said scratching his head then pointing in the direction of the dwarves "and that's, that's... a lot of dwarves" he says "It's not fair" he explains. I sigh.

"How about two each?" I ask, "That's six" I said. He nodded.

"Hurry, sun comes soon" I nod and run off

"Don't eat any" I call back.