An Unexpected Jour- Dwarf?! Ch.22: Fog

An Unexpected Jour- Dwarf?!
Fandom: The Hobbit from J.R.R. Tolkien and film by Peter Jackson.
Rating: 17+/Mature (in general)
Main Characters: Reader, Thorin, Bilbo and many more.
Pairing: Unsure.
Warnings: SPOILERS(!), possible mature situations, swearing here and there and implied traumatic and gory scenery.

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Chapter 22: Fog

After that night, everything was slowly spiralling down towards hell; Bofur had no urge to talk to you and just simple ignored you when you tried to strike a conversation if his cousin or brother didn't lead you away from him or Bilbo tried to distract you. You obviously felt distressed and immediately had begun to regret for what happened between you and Thorin; who just grew awfully distant to the other dwarves (including you) and conversed with Dwalin or Balin.

For days the company was follow the river with the faint hope to come across a town, village or some other landmark, so that they knew where exactly they were in the wilderness of Middle-Earth. You had fallen back to your usual place; namely at the back of the company. Bilbo was inclined to walk with you even though you had no desire for company, or to talk with anyone for that matter, but every time he just said; "We don't have to talk if you don't want to, but you look like you could use someone to walk with you," and that was enough for you.

On the occasion, Fili and Kili walked with you; throwing jokes here and there and trying to urge you in conversation. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but you always felt a little better when talking to the brothers.

Three days after the incident, the company was still walking alongside the river with no traces to be seen from the outside world. It was quite foggy, handicapping your vision with a considerable amount. You guessed that it was around noon when Thorin held up his hand and issued the company to stop, but couldn't be sure because the sun just seemed to have disappeared in the mist and clouds above them.

"We camp here for a short while. Gloin; get a fire going, Dori, Bombur; start cooking. Fili, Kili; count our provisions and take stock. Ayne, Bilbo- " for the first time in three days Thorin looked at you; his eyes dark and his voice drained from any kind of emotion. "Gather some food from the forest. Take anything as long as it is eatable and not poisonous." You nodded, ignoring the vicious stabs that shot through the organ that was beating against your ribs, and gestured to Bilbo to follow you.

The two of you passed through the company and ventured in the thick foggy forest, wading through the thick shrubberies that hooked onto your clothes like claws. Bilbo was right behind you, his hands fumbling a similar leather pouch that you had also clutched in one of your own.

"Okay, look for any kind of berries you can find and gather them, but don't eat from it in case they are venomous," you muttered softly and began to scan the bushes and the forest floor for any kinds of fruits or whatever was eatable. Bilbo kneeled and began to dig out some tuber, putting them in the leather pouch after dusting most of the dirt off. You started to pluck a dark blue berries that looked a lot like blue berries –but you didn't try any, despite that you stomach was growling- and put them in your own pouch that held also some a bright red kind of berry.  

For quite some time, that could have been minutes or hours since you had lost all track of time, you and Bilbo were plucking, pulling and foraging until several pouches were stuffed to the brim and your backs began to hurt. You straightened your back, tying a knot in the pouch and stuffed in the pack with the rest that you later on threw over your shoulder.

"Well Bilbo, I think that we're done! We've gathered quite some.. some.." Your voice slowly died on you when you glanced up, expecting to see Bilbo. Instead you saw nothing.

The fog had been quite thick when the two of you had started, but now it completely surrounded you and you could barely even see a few feet in front of you. The trees had turned into scary, faint silhouettes that were much closer than your eyes told your brain. But that wasn't the part that made a strange sense of fear crawl close around your heart, no. It was the part that you couldn't see nor hear any sign of Bilbo.

"Bilbo? Bilbo!"

The echo of your own voice resonated through the trees, but there was only an eerie silence as a response. A involuntary shiver ran up and down your spine, causing your to clench your jaw and your eyes squint to make SOMETHING out of your surroundings. Then a thought hit you like a bitch slap across the face; what direction did you come from?

After several moments of twisting, turning, calling Bilbo's name and walking off in several directions you came to the conclusion that you were utterly and hopefully lost.

"Shit."

You threw your pack on the ground and leaned against a tree –where you nearly had bumped into at first- and kept your keen eyes at your surroundings whilst your brains were working over-time about what the hell you should do right now.

"Well I can't stay here. Wait, I don't even know where HERE is! God damn it, where is the sun when you need it!"

Like the insane woman that you were, you started to talk to yourself and pace around the tree that you had now promoted as your 'beacon' and a landmark in this maze of fog and trees, complete with the mark of Durin (just in case). You were on edge to say the least, because sometimes you swore to see figures between the trees in the corner of your eyes, but each time you focused on them they disappeared. A dark feeling crept over you back and made you call for Bilbo once more.

"Bilbo! Where are you?! Hello?! Anyone?!"

Finally you received a response, but not the one that you desperately wanted to. See, the response was a growl, but the not the growl or moan of a sentient being like dwarf, elf or human, it was the growl of a beast. Several actually, and they were now surrounding you.

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Bilbo looked up, his pouch heavy with the amount of berries and tuber he had gathered, and started to dust off his grimy hands, of where the dirt had crawled quite cosy underneath his nails, as he spoke, "Well! I think that's it, how about you Ayne?" The hobbit paused. "Ayne?"

The ginger curls on his head swung around dramatically as Bilbo flipped his head in several directions, trying to spot a crouching or standing figure that indicated of where the dwarrow woman was. After several moments he sighed and ran a hand through the same curls that were quite abused and disarranged by his head flipping and twirling. There seemed to be absolute no trace of her. The hobbit stood there for a moment or two, dumbfounded and quite scared actually for he was all alone.

'Should I look for her? It's not the best idea because I could get lost. All those trees look alike,' he thought whilst glancing around with a worried frown between his brows. 'Should I go back for help them? Will they believe me? Or perhaps they will think me of a coward for not searching her, but she could be in serious danger. Would I be able to fight it -whatever 'it' was- then?'

Suddenly Bilbo slammed his grimy palm against his forehead, unknowingly leaving a giant black smear when he removed it. The hobbit sighed and threw his pack around his shoulders. ' Bilbo Baggins, you fool! How could you think that way?! She is probably in danger and you need to act!'

But before the little hobbit could act, the bone-chilling cry of a wolf tore through the trees froze him on the spot. In a panic he ran back in the direction of the camp that seemed like hours away even though his large hairy hobbit feet carried him as quickly and swiftly as they could! Imagine the looks of the dwarves faces when he suddenly had burst from the bushes; quite dirty with a few scratches here and there from some nasty thorn bushes he had to wade through and with such a rapid breathing he could hardly speak.

Nori immediately flung up and placed a hand on the hobbit's back, who was leaning with his arms quite heavy on his knees to catch his breath as he tried to talk. "Bilbo? Is something wrong? Where's Ayne?" Nori slowly began, but then silenced himself when Bilbo held up his hand trying to speak. Several of the dwarves had gotten up meanwhile.

"Ayne.. vanished.. wolves.." Bilbo began and started to cough a bit as he tried to press down the nauseous feeling that rose up from his gut.

"Wolves?" Bofur slowly stood up at Thorin's words, his hand immediately reaching for the mattock on his belt. "You didn't stay close to camp?" The prince growled and paced towards the poor, heavy breathing hobbit who had finally straightened himself and swallowed thickly a couple of times. Bilbo finally regained his breath.

"We did! But when I got up she was just gone. I had heard her foraging, moving and humming things between the bushes! It was.. it was like she had just vanished into thin air!" Bilbo cried out, his face pale and a feeling of despair threatened to overwhelm his brain if it wasn't for the second sky piercing howl ringing in his ears. The dwarves froze for just a short moment, their eyes fixated on the foggy and mysterious forest that stood before them.  

"Wolves," Bofur slowly whispered, confirming the thoughts of the other twelve dwarves that were around him. His deep chocolate coloured eyes were slightly enlarged and his face had grown pale as he came to this sudden realization. Without another moment of hesitation the dwarf took a firm hold on his mattock and charged forward (not noticing the cries of his kin and brethren), storming straight into the dark forest.

"Bofur!" Thorin cursed and briskly unsheathed his blade. He pointed at Bombur and Ori and barked "Stay here! Guard the camp and be sharp! Everyone with me! Bilbo, lead us." His voice had softened slightly when talking to the hobbit and Bilbo could've sworn that he had seen despair flicker inside the steel eyes of the dwarven prince before him. The flicker of despair had vanished quickly enough though, for he too was keen on finding Ayne as quickly as possible and also unsheathed his sword before storming into the forest and through the bushes once more.

Meanwhile Bofur was quite some distance ahead of the rest as he cut out a path for himself through the thick undergrowth with his mattock. More howls were heard deeper inside the thick fog, but he had no time to register them or feel any kind of fear for it as he chopped of a branch that dared to stand in his way. He had to find her and quickly, before the wolves did!

You see; the wolves that dwelled at the edges of Mirkwood weren't normal wolves. They were larger than the average beast, but didn't have a master nor brutality like Wargs. They were more advanced in their way of thinking and almost as intelligent like you and me. They were quite the sentient beings, but did not harbour the ability to speak or converse in the Common Tongue (like the beasts of Beorn). They could communicate with each other by body language, howls, growls and snarls that sometimes Dwarves, the race of Men and even Elves (rarely) couldn't hear and thus they could even outsmart the most seasoned elven hunter.

"Ayne! Ayne!"

Bofur called for Ayne several times, his voice pitching here and there of exhaustion, and stopped in the middle of large open space. He had been running and shouting for her for the past half hour or so and was way past the point the Hobbit and the woman had been foraging, yet there was no single trace of her. Had he taken the wrong turn or something? Did he go in the wrong direction? Bofur's mind feverishly rattled on and on about what could have happened to her as he turned round and round, squinting his eyes at the thick fog to see something.

Then out of the blue, at his right, he could hear a scream and the thunderous sound of something storming through the bushes was almost ear-shattering (it was that quiet in the forest). Suddenly Ayne stumbled out of the bushes, her sword clutched in her hand and blood coating the metal. She ran straight at him and snatched his hand, pulling him along with her.

"Don't just stand there! RUN!" She screamed as kept Bofur's hand in an iron grip before he knew what was going on. A howl was heard right behind them and he was already turning to look back when Ayne gave his hand a sharp tuck.

"Don't look back! If you look back you are lost! Now, come on!"

Finally his own feet started to work and he started to run right behind her, dodging trees and jumping over bushes and fallen trees like the fires of hell itself were licking at his heels. He had never ran so hard in his life like he was now as adrenaline coursed thick through his veins and his heart thumping loudly in his ears.

The thickness of the trees and the bushes slowly began to dwindle and finally ended all the together when the terrain became more rockier and boulders started to appear from the thick fog. She ran straight for the boulders, her eyes shooting feverishly around her until she finally found what she was looking for; a narrow cave.

She jerked him with her when she somehow managed to squeeze herself through the very narrow passage of a small cave that apparently was the result of boulders falling on top of each other. Bofur could barely fit through the narrow passage, even if he tucked in his stomach. The stone grazed the brim of his hat when he squeezed himself through, step by step. He almost imagined a loud 'POP!' noise when it finally became wider and stumbled a bit.

Instantly the wolves appeared at the narrow passage, their yellow eyes gleaming with hunger and rage when they shoot glances inside and tried to fit themselves in the passage. Unfortunately for them, they were so large that they could never fit and thus they retreated out of sight, but not out of the area since Bofur could still hear them growling and snapping against each other.

The dwarf plumped down on his feet, catching his breath whilst leaning back on his hands. Ayne leaned against the wall of the incredibly dark cave that was at most 6 by 6 meter (or 21 feet if I am correct) if their estimations were correct.

A silence settled between him and the woman. Bofur swallowed and stared at the narrow opening of the cave, where the occasional wolf passed by and glared inside. He looked up back at Ayne, spotting a flicker of worry in her eyes when he spoke his thoughts.

"What now?"

"Now," Ayne began and unsheathed her sword before she sat down next to him. "Now, we wait."