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Valadhiel sat still as Oin put an herbal paste of sorts onto her wound. He'd had someone find a type of herb, then he'd had someone else get some water, then he'd gotten a small, wooden bowl and mixed it together until it became a paste. It burned at first, but it soon provided a cool, soothing sensation.

"There we are, lass." Oin said before he put the bowl to the side and pulled out some bandages. "All you need are bandages and you're good to go."

"Again, thank you, Oin." Valadhiel replied with a smile.

"Mention nothing of it. It's the least I can do after you risked your life to save ours." The dwarf replied as he began to gently bandage the wound. He soon finished, put his supplies up, then got to his feet. "Be careful with that arm. I would recommend you use swords only, and that you don't lift your arm above your head."

"I'll do my best to remember that." Valadhiel replied with a chuckle, picking her armor up after she got to her own feet. Once she was up she looked at her armor. She would need help with this.

"Allow me." Thorin, who had been near her the whole time, offered. He walked over, took the armor from her, then helped her put it on.

"Thank you, Thorin." Valadhiel replied softly, barely resisting a shiver when his hand accidentally brushed her arm. Once her armor was back on, they set off once more- after Valadhiel insisted that she was well enough to travel, as a few of them were fussing over her.

However, Valadhiel did ride a pony, as Thorin refused to let her travel on foot, even though she had told him that her arm was injured, not her foot. He told her she needed to rest as much as she could, and he won in the end. So, he walked alongside his pony, and Valadhiel rode atop his pony.

The group traveled until nightfall, and Gandalf had told them that he needed to do something and would be back. Before any questions could be asked, the wizard had run off, leaving the group to themselves.

"He's been awhile." Bilbo commented later on, sitting next to Valadhiel on a log near the fire and the steaming stew.

"Who?" Bofur asked in response, scooping out the stew along with a few others, passing them about so they could all eat.

"Gandalf."

"He's a wizard- he does as he chooses! Here, do us a favor; take these to the lads." Bofur handed two bowls of the stew to Bilbo after the halfling stood so he could take them to Kili and Fili.

"I'll go with you, Master Baggins." Valadhiel said as she got to her feet. The others were busy, so not paying attention, and Thorin had gone off somewhere. He hadn't said anything to them, so she assumed it was just the matter of nature calling. Therefore, no one could stop her. Besides, she had said that she would watch over Bilbo.

"Thank you, Miss Valadhiel." Bilbo replied with a nod before he turned and made his way back to the forest. There had been a clearing back in the woods that was perfect for the ponies, apparently. There must have been a gate there. "And please, just call me Bilbo." He preferred it, thanks to the dwarves, who sometimes liked to mockingly say his last name.

"Only if you call me Valadhiel, or even plain Vala." The elf replied with a smile as she walked alongside him.

"And, thank... thank you for saving me back there." Bilbo added, looking down as he walked along.

The female elf smiled at Bilbo again. "You're welcome. And, Bilbo, don't you dare feel that it was your fault. Stuff like this... it's what I do. I enjoy helping others, even if it means a bit of danger." She looked over when Kili and Fili came into view, and she stopped behind them, as did Bilbo. She furrowed her brow when the two said nothing.

"What's the matter?" Bilbo asked, his own brow furrowed as he looked between the two, setting the bowls of stew down on a stump for the time being.

"We're supposed to be looking out for the ponies." Kili said, not bothering to look back at Bilbo or Valadhiel.

"Only we've encountered a slight problem." Fili added, also not looking back at the halfling or elf.

"We had sixteen."

"Now there's fourteen."

Bilbo and Valadhiel exchanged a glance before the two of them set the bowls down then went around and looked over all the ponies. Indeed, there were only fourteen, and neither of them could find the other two anywhere.

"How could you possibly lose two ponies?" Valadhiel asked, looking at both Kili and Fili.

"Well..." Kili trailed off, glancing back at Valadhiel. "That doesn't matter right now! What matters right now is that Daisy and Bungo are missing."

"Well, that's not good. That is not good at all." Bilbo commented, then he looked up at Fili. "Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

"Uh, no." Fili replied, shaking his head a little. "Let's not worry him. As our official burglar, we thought that you might like to look into it."

Valadhiel crossed her arms and raised a brow, ignoring the burning pain that came with the movement. "You just don't want to go tell Thorin that you and your brother lost the ponies."

Bilbo, however, didn't object. Instead, he looked around, as if doing a little investigating. "Well, uh... look. Some... something big uprooted these trees."

"That was our thinking." Kili said, nodding after Bilbo pointed out the uprooted trees.

Valadhiel furrowed her brow. She smelled something. It was a very strong odor that made her want to gag. Along with it, she smelled fire. That foul stench was rather familiar. Her eyes widened after a moment. "I smell trolls."

"Hey, there's a light!" Fili quietly called to the others. "Over here! Stay down." He crouched down behind a fallen log, glancing at Kili, Bilbo, and Valadhiel when they joined him.

Bilbo spotted a troll carrying two of the ponies, and his eyes widened a little. They now had more than just two ponies, it seemed. "He's got Myrtle and Minty! I think they're going to eat them- we've got to do something."

"Yes, you should." Kili said, definitely not wanting to go down there himself. "Mountain Trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small."

Bilbo seemed rather startled by that comment, and he shook his head. "N-n-no..."

"They'll never see you." Fili said, urging Bilbo to go and get the ponies back from the trolls.

"It's perfectly safe!" Kili assured him. "We'll be right behind you."

Both of the dwarves pushed Bilbo towards the fire. "If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl." Fili instructed the hobbit.

Valadhiel, this entire time, had been trying to speak, but was cut off every time by either Kili and Fili. She had been trying to speak without raising her voice so none of the trolls would hear her, and before she knew it, Bilbo was already down there, and the two dwarves made their way back to her. She gave the two dwarves an unsure look. "Do we even know if Bilbo can make owl calls? He's never been outside of the Shire before, remember?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Fili said. "He must be good if Gandalf suggested him. He practically forced us to bring him along, after all."

"But after he frees the ponies, then what? They're sure to notice that their dinner is walking away! They could follow them right to us, then we will be the ones for dinner!" Valadhiel hissed sharply in response. Did these dwarves have any brains at all?

Both Kili and Fili exchanged a worried and unsure look after Valadhiel had spoken. They really hadn't thought this through, and none of this would have happened had they simply just kept watch over those ponies!

Valadhiel silently groaned at the lack of brains these dwarves had. After watching the trolls discover Bilbo, her eyes widened. She couldn't reveal herself just yet, as that might make things worse, and she was injured. "You two, stay here. I'm getting the others." She ordered before she ran off quickly but silently.

"Ah, lassie, there you are." Balin said, looking over at her when she ran over. "You really ought to be res... what's wrong?" he added in question once he noticed the alarmed expression on her face.

"There are trolls down there, and they've got Bilbo." Valadhiel replied quickly before she turned. "I told Kili and Fili to stay put to keep an eye on what would happen next. I have a feeling we'll all be needed, though."

The dwarves all got up in a hurry after grabbing their weapons, Thorin the first one up. He'd even walked past Valadhiel, and they all quietly made their way to the bushes. Valadhiel cringed, then remembered that her hearing was far better than that of a troll's hearing. Thank Eru for that. Upon noticing that Bilbo had been caught, and that Kili rushed out with a sword aimed at the trolls, they all rushed out from the bushes and began slicing at the trolls.

Valadhiel drew her bow and aimed it at the trolls, and once she made sure her arms were steady, yet being quick about it, she shot at one of the trolls' eyes, then ran forward and shot an arrow at another troll, getting it in the hand. Each time she used the bow made her arm ache and burn worse, so she put the bow up and drew her sword.

"Ow! You little elf!" The troll shouted before reaching to swipe at her, though he missed since she quickly dodged and stumbled forward. The troll then managed to grab Bilbo, and the other one, as well as himself, grabbed him by all of his limbs. "Drop your arms, or we'll rip 'is off."

Valadhiel stopped, then she gritted her teeth before she dropped her sword. She glanced at the dwarves when they groaned and dropped their weapons. Kili threw his bow down with an angry glare at the trolls, and Ori followed suit. Soon, she found herself tied up with everyone else.

"Untie us, you monsters!" Oin shouted as he looked at the trolls. They'd taken his hearing trumpet, so he couldn't hear all that well now, so his speech seemed a little off.

"Take on someone your own size!" Gloin shouted after Oin had shouted, glaring at the trolls. Some of them were on an actual spit, being turned over a fire.

"Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone." One of the trolls commented.

The Dwarves didn't hear,  as they were too busy yelling, but Valadhiel and Bilbo heard plain as  day and glanced at each other. She could tell that he was thinking what she was also thinking, and she smiled over at him and gave a quick nod.

Bilbo soon managed to get to his feet, and after taking a deep breath, he looked up at the trolls. This could be dangerous, but since they seemed to be unintelligent, maybe he could distract them. Besides, if he did nothing, then they would all be dead. He might as well try to distract them. "Wait! You are making a terrible mistake!"

"You can't reason with them, they're half-wits!" Dori exclaimed.

          "Half-wits?" Bofur asked. "What does that make us?"

          Bilbo ignored them and tried to come up with something to say to keep the trolls distracted. If they were half-wits, distracting them shouldn't be too difficult. "Uh, I meant with the, uh, with, uh, with the seasoning."

          "What about the seasoning?" The troll named Bert asked.

          Valadhiel managed to scoot away from the rest and sat next to Bilbo, having managed to get herself out of the sack just as Bilbo had. "Well, have you smelled them?"

          "You're gonna need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up." Bilbo added to Valadhiel's comment.

          "Traitors!"  The Dwarves began to shout. "I knew we couldn't trust an elf!" "Vala,  how could you!" "Why, you little hobbit!"

          "What would you and the lizard know about cooking dwarf?" Tom asked.

          Valadhiel flinched when she was called a lizard, and she furrowed her brow. "Lizard?"

"Yer eyes, elfie. They-" Tom began, but he was soon interrupted.

          "Shut up and let the Flurga-Bur-Burrahobbit talk." Bert said.

Valadhiel gave the troll a look, then she nodded to herself. Right, her eyes. She couldn't change those, no matter how hard she tried to. They only changed in animal form. She was surprised that the dwarves hadn't yet questioned her about them.

          Bilbo gave a slight nod and a nervous smile before speaking. "Uh, th-the secret to cooking dwarf is, um-"

          "Yes? Come on."

          "It's, uh..."

          "Tell us the secret."

          "Ye-yes, I'm telling you, the secret is to..." He  subtly glanced at Valadhiel with an expression that said, 'help!', then he quickly turned his attention back to the trolls.

          "To... skin them first!" Valadhiel exclaimed.

          The dwarves all yelled and struggled to get free, and were obviously very upset with the two of them. "I won't forget that!" Dwalin, who was on the spit, shouted.

          "Tom, get the filleting knife." 

          "What a load of rubbish!" William exclaimed. "I've eaten plenty with they're skins on. Scarf 'em I say, boots 'n all!"

          Valadhiel saw  movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head, but whoever  it was had already passed through. She looked at Bilbo, who looked over  at her. 'I didn't see who that was. Was it Gandalf?' She questioned in her thoughts. She usually didn't use her telepathy, as it could sometimes be dizzying, but she needed it right now.

Bilbo blinked in surprise when he heard Vala's voice in his mind, but he didn't ask any questions and simply answered her question.         'Yes. And dawn will be here soon! Keep helping me stall.'   

          "'E's right!"  Tom said. "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf!"He grabbed Bombur and  dangled him over his mouth. "Nice and crunchy."

          "N-n-not that one! He-he's infected!" Bilbo exclaimed, staring at the troll wide-eyed. He quickly tried to hide his alarm, though.

          "You what?"

          "He's got worms in his... tubes."

          Tom threw Bombur back onto the pile of dwarves, causing the fat dwarf to land right on Kili.

          "I-in fact they all have 'em."

          "They're infested with parasites!" Valadhiel chipped in.

          "It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."

          "Did they say parasites?" Oin asked.

          "Yeah." Kili replied before turning to the elf and hobbit, very annoyed with them for betraying them to the trolls in order to save their own hides- or, that was how he saw it. "We don't have parasites! You have parasites!"

          Valadhiel suppressed a groan and Bilbo rolled his eyes, exasperated. 'I'll let Thorin in on our plan, or we'll all get eaten.' She looked back at Thorin, but by the time she looked at him, it seemed that he finally understood what was going on. She could see the look of realization spread across his face.

          Thorin kicked Kili in the head, since he could only reach his head, and the young dwarf looked at his uncle. Oin looked at Thorin, then he finally understood  as well and blurted out, "I've got parasites as big as my arm!"

          "Mine are the biggest parasites!" Kili shouted. "I've got huge parasites!"

          "We're riddled!" "Yes, we're riddled!" "Yes, we are! Badly."

          "What would you 'ave us do then, let 'em all go?" Tom asked.

          "Well..." Bilbo began, trying not to sound too obvious.

          "If you're not going to eat them you might as well." Valadhiel added with a casual shrug.

          "You don't  think I know what you're up to?" The ugly troll poked Bilbo on the  chest. "This lil' ferret and 'is lizard are taking us for fools!"

          "Ferret!" Bilbo exclaimed in offense, then he furrowed his brow. Did the troll just call Valadhiel his lizard? Perhaps it was trying to belittle her by calling her a pet.

          "Fools?" Bert asked.

          Valadhiel clenched her fist. Since they had figured them out, there was one more thing she could do to prevent them from eating Bilbo, the dwarves, and herself. "Would you like to call me a lizard again, troll? Go on, I dare you."

          "And what are you gonna do 'bout it... lizard?"

          "What will I do? I'll show you not a lizard, but a dragon."

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