Cousin of Bilbo Baggins: The Hobbit

Into the Fire

Astrid's POV

"Bilbo where are you?!" I shout.

"Here" a quiet voice says and Bilbo appears from behind a tree. I wrap him in a tight hug.

"Don't scare me like that cousin" I tell him.

"I won't" he promises as we pull away.

"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life" Gandalf states.

"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?" Fili asks him. There is an awkward silence as Bilbo tries to think what to say. In the end, he gives a nervous laugh and puts his hands on his hips. Gandalf and I notice Bilbo sliding a Ring into his waistcoat pocket.

"Well, what does it matter? He's back" Gandalf states. I nod my head in agreement.

"It matters! I want to know: why did you come back?" Thorin demands and I glare at him. I go to snap at him, but Bilbo puts a calming hand on my shoulder.

"Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can" Bilbo explains.

Just then we hear wargs howling in the distance. "Out of the frying pan" I say.

"And into the fire. Run!" Gandalf shouts and we run for it. Soon the foremost Warg catches up to us and leaps at Bilbo; Bilbo ducks behind a rock with me. The warg's jaws snap in the air over our heads. The Warg lands in front of us. Growling, it charges at us.

Bilbo pulls out his sword and holds it in front of him. Before I could even grab my axe. The charging Warg impales itself in the head on the sword and falls down dead. Bilbo and I look on in surprise. A few more Wargs catch up to the fleeing dwarves, but they are quickly dispatched. We reaches a large outcropping of land with a few trees growing on it; we're trapped there, as there is no way off the outcropping besides a great fall down the mountain.

I help Bilbo pulls his sword out of the warg and give him a boost into a tree. Kili and Fili then pull me into their tree. The orcs appearing riding wargs, one pale upon a white warg. It was Azog the Defiler. I knew of his repetition and prayed I'd never meet him. At his command, the Wargs leap forward and try to climb the trees. They jump as high as they can, scrabbling at the tree trunks and breaking apart branches in their jaws in their efforts. The trees shake violently at the assault, and we struggle to hold on.

With the weight of the Wargs climbing it, the furthest tree from the edge of the cliff. Which Bilbo and several other dwarves are in, gets uprooted from the ground and begins leaning wildly. As more Wargs grab onto it, the tree tips over and lands on the next tree; the dwarves and Bilbo jump from the falling tree to the next. However, this tree as well tips over; like dominoes, all the trees begin falling over.

All the dwarves, Bilbo, Gandalf and I manage to jump onto the last tree, on the very edge of the cliff. This tree doesn't fall over and Azog laughs. I watch Gandalf grab a pinecone and uses his staff to set it on fire. He then throws it down amid the Wargs, who retreat in fear of the fire. Azog is startled and angry at the unexpected resistance. Gandalf lights two more pinecones and throws two down to Fili & I.

We catch them and throw them at the wargs. We cheer as the wargs retreat. Suddenly, our cheers turn into cries of fear as the roots of the tree we're in start to give way. The tree tips precariously over the edge of the cliff, but comes to a rest sticking straight out away from the edge of the cliff. I look down to see the ground far, far, below. The others try to hold on as they get flung around. Ori loses his grip on the tree and falls, but manages to grab on to Dori's leg.

"Mister Gandalf!" Dori shouts clinging to a branch. But due to the extra weight, Dori loses his grip on the tree as well and falls, but Gandalf quickly swings his staff down and Dori grabs on to the end of it. "Hold on Ori!" he shouts.

Thorin pulls himself up, his sword drawn, and walks down the leaning trunk. As we continue hanging from the tree and look on. Thorin runs through the burning ground at Azog and his White Warg. Azog spreads his arms wide with a smug grin on his face. Thorin growls as he runs with his sword up and his oaken branch shield held in front of him. Azog crouches, then roars as his white Warg leaps at Thorin. Who tries to swing his sword, but the Warg hits him in the chest with its fore-paw, smashing Thorin to the ground.

*Cliffhanger*

A/N

Picture above of the tree hanging off the burning cliff's edge.