An Adventure- Bilbo x Reader Chpt. 16

That was all Bilbo could think as he lay on the floor of the cave. The only thing keeping him here was you and you didn’t need him, it seemed so plainly obvious to him it was painful. It couldn’t have been further from the truth, Bilbo kept you from your own demons in a way that no one else could, but he didn’t see that so he’d made a decision. This was the end of the road for him, he wasn’t going to be a burden on any of you any more and he wasn’t cut out for the life of adventure- he was going back to Rivendell.

He waited for everyone to be asleep and then packed his things, pausing before walking out to look to you. You, Fili, and Kili had ended up in what could only be described as a pile with Kili’s head on your stomach and your legs across Fili’s chest. Fili was pulling Kili’s hair in his sleep and you had one hand thrown across Fili’s nose and mouth and the other shoving Kili’s face away as it shifted towards the dangerous territory of your chest. Even with what he was planning, Bilbo couldn’t help but give a soft chuckle at the three of you, messing with each other even in your sleep.

He turned away to weave his way out of the cave, reaching the entrance only to be stopped by Bofur, “Where do you think you're going?” 

He turned to face the dwarf, “Back to Rivendell.”

“No. No. You can't turn back now. You're part of the company. You're one of us.” Bofur insisted, a trace of panic seeping into his voice.

Bilbo’s look was that of entirely defeated disbelief, “I'm not now, am I? Thorin said I should have never have come and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door.”

The dwarf looked sympathetic as he soothed, “You're homesick. I understand.”

“No you don't. You don't understand. None of you do. You're Dwarves. Even (F/n) doesn’t. She can’t. You're used to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!” Bilbo quietly snapped, loosing himself as all his doubts and pains welled up in his chest. Bofur's expression immediately fell and the hobbit froze, realizing he’d gone too far, “I'm sorry, I didn't...“

The dwarf looked almost forlornly over his companions, stating flatly, “No you're right. We don't belong anywhere,” before turning back to Bilbo, surprisingly amicable as he let him go, “I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do.”

Bilbo moved to leave but Bofur stopped him, nodding to the slight blue glow coming from his short sword, “What’s tha’?”

Gandalf’s words ran through his head, ‘It will glow blue when orcs and goblins are nearby.’ No sooner had the thought passed, the floor gave out beneath them, sending the entire company barreling deep down into the mountain and dumping them into a pile on a rickety looking walkway.

You were immediately swarmed by goblins, shoving as many as you could off the nearby ledge in an attempt to get free, or at least not have the foul things touch you, but its effectiveness was limited as you were dragged off kicking and throwing punches.

The Goblin King was, in a word, revolting.

Fili and Kili tucked you behind them like the protective older brothers you'd come to think of them as, effectively keeping you out of sight as you were shorter and smaller than them. Your brain raced as you tried to think of a way out of this really terrible situation and you called out to Gandalf with your mind even though the link between the two of you rarely worked when it was you calling to him, you just didn’t have the power for that.

Your hair was suddenly around your shoulders when his lackeys were ordered to search you, one of the goblins ripping the clip Elrond had gifted you from where it was keeping up your usual ear-covering bun. Shoving your hair away from your face as your clip was tossed in the pile, the Goblin King demanded the dwarves speak their intentions and you were glad that your friends seemed to have their wits about them as they kept Thorin concealed. After a couple of attempts, you could see the Goblin king wasn’t buying their chatter and made a quick decision, grabbing Kili’s arm to heft him to the front, “I will give you the truth, your highness. My kin and I are traveling to Dunland to meet with the parents of my intended after having garnered the approval of my father in Rivendell. The silverware was a wedding present from him.”

“A wedding present from your elf father, you say?” the Goblin King thrummed, leaning in unpleasantly close as you tucked your hair behind your ear to make its point clearly visible and then pressed yourself against Kili’s chest. He caught your intentions, wrapping his arms tightly around you like a lover as he added to your lie, “Yes. We are to be wed in less than a fortnight… that is if you can set us back on the correct path to Dunland and my parents.”

The Goblin King scrutinized the two of you for a moment before barking out a laugh, “Oh how precious.  Lovers lost on the road,” and before Kili could do anything the he had grabbed you and lifted you to dangle in his face by one arm. You mentally sighed, thinking about how ending up dangling in front of some nasty was beginning to be a theme in your life, as the Goblin King sneered at Kili, “A pretty little thing you have here, such a shame you can’t protect her.”

Kili moved to spring forward just as your cuff came loose and off, letting you slip from the giant goblin’s hand and to the floor as he yelled, “Lies of Spies! Very well. If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the girl! Make her intended hurl!”

The goblins sprang forward to do his bidding as you scrambled up and Kili tucked you close to him, backing towards the rest of the company. Thorin tried to put an end to the whole thing, stepping forward to reveal himself while you attempted to keep calm, tucking your hands in the folds of your clothes so you couldn’t touch anything or anyone- a precaution that mattered little when the goblins discovered Orcrist, the Goblin-Cleaver, and basically began to tear your party apart. You tried desperately to block out the glimpses of things you got from everything your fingers brushed against with little success when a flash of white light filled the cavern.

You’d never been more relieved to see Gandalf, grabbing your short swords from the pile when he demanded for the company to fight, he didn’t have to tell you twice and if your hands were filled with weapons, your weapons, you could focus. You followed when he called, running after him and the dwarves without a single question as to where in mind.

Fighting on the run left your thoughts a blur as you tried to stave off the relentless waves of goblins coming at you from every side. At one point you launched yourself off Throin’s shoulder to an upper level to deal with some archers before dropping back down next to Gandalf, slicing the head off an oncoming goblin as you did so. You exchanged quick grins before throwing yourselves back into the fray and on forward towards where ever Gandalf was leading you to. You ducked and dodged goblins, slashing, kicking, and shove with more fervor than ever before- being quick and light on your feet was a major asset in this moment. When the group stopped, you tried to recoup but quickly found yourself cornered and then falling along with the rest of you party, holding on for dear life yet again before running for the light of day.