The Sisters [A Hobbit Fanfiction]

Chapter 5

"Alright, headcount!" called Nienna, standing a good two heads taller than the tallest of the dwarves. Thankfully, the dwarves were too exhausted by their frantic sprint to move around much, making her job all that much easier.

"Right, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen! Brilliant! All here!"

"Wait!" called out one of the dwarves in a commanding voice. Nienne, who really didn't like to be told what to do, gritted her teeth and asked,

"Who are you?"

"I am Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain!" Nienna raised an eyebrow, unimpressed,

"What mountain?" Off to the side, Avice barely managed to mask her derisive snort as a cough. Looking at Thorin innocently when he turned to glare at her.

"Smaug's Mountain!" He boomed impressively, but once again, Nienna was unmoved,

"If it's called Smaug's Mountain, and your name is Thorin it doesn't sound like you own it... much less are the king of it or whatever..."

"It was taken from my people by Smaug the dragon!" blustered Thorin, quickly continuing as he saw Nienne open her mouth, another smart alec remark on the tip of her tongue. "But that's not the point!"

"Oh really?" asked Nienna doubtfully. "Than what is, pray tell?"

"Bilbo is missing!" He finally managed. At that moment, Aelith swung down from where she'd been keeping watch in the tree.

"What's a Bilbo?" she asked curiously.

"Bilbo is our burglar!" exclaimed the twin dwarves Fili and Kili. Runa laughed as Avice asked,

"Wait... you guys have a burglar... as in a thief..." The dwarves nodded proudly, but the girls snorted.

"What you can't steal stuff for yourself, so you had to hire someone else to do it?" asked Aelith dryly. The dwarves didn't seem to have an answer for that, but just then, Aelith realized,

"Hang on... we're missing someone too!" The other girls looked around, then at each other and exclaimed,

"Nora!" Groaning, Avice slumped down to sit on a conveniently placed tree stump.

"Oh this is absolutely brilliant," she muttered sarcastically, rubbing her temples. Thorin looked at her for a long moment, then asked,

"Why do you wear that mask?" She stiffened, but before she was forced to come up with a reply, Runa tensed as well, saying,

"Someone's coming." The girls sprang into action, shuffling dwarves into bushes and behind logs.

Only when all thirteen dwarves were hidden did the girls slip up into the trees, silent as their shadows that disappeared as they settled among the leaves.

Moments later, the sound that had first alerted Runa became apparent to the rest of the company. Twigs snapping and the occasional muttered curse at shrubbery.

Suddenly, two short figures stumbled into the clearing.