[IC] The Hobbit/LOTR: Another Age of Evil Beginnings { Elven & Angel }

[The Elvenqueen]

"Yes, a bet." Kili confirmed, his attention turning to Maleficent then. "You know, you put up a wager of gold coins, whatever all the participating parties agree on, and whoever turns out to be right about whatever you're betting on gets all the coins." the dwarf explained.

[AngelBites15]

Maleficent listened to Kili's explanation about Dwarven betting. It sounded fair, nor was the concept itself greedy. She nodded with a smile and looked up to him. "So, if I say that if we make it to the mountain alive, you would owe me?", she teased with a chuckle.

[The Elvenqueen]

"If I disagreed with you and said I thought we wouldn't, yes." Kili nodded. She was smart, that was for sure. She caught on quickly.

[AngelBites15]

Maleficent laughed joyfully, but in a soft way, at his response. She was enjoying her time so far. She was wrong to hide from them. She liked dwarves, but it varied. Those who can make her laugh or smile, are easily those she would see as friends. That was until she heard yelling. She looked behind her, only to see Bilbo running towards them, obviously out of breath.

[The Elvenqueen]

"Woah, woah!" Thorin called out to the company so they would all halt their ponies. The dwarf prince glanced back as the hobbit ran up to them, gasping and panting as he finally caught up to them and paused to regain his breath.

"I...signed it!" the halfling finally announced, holding up the contract for whoever it was that would take it.

[AngelBites15]

Balin looked over the signed contract and he appears to confirm this. "Everything seems to be in order. Welecome to the company, mister Baggins", he announced. "Get him a pony!", Thorin told them.

[The Elvenqueen]

"Oh that won't be necessary!" Bilbo protested hastily. He had never been good around horses and ponies, and the thought of having to ride one unsettled him. "I'm sure I can keep up." the hobbit promised, shifting his backpack up higher on his back. "I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. Even got as far as Frogmorton once."

[AngelBites15]

Suddenly, an idea came to the elf's mind. She looked to Kili next to her, and gave him a wink as a signal to do what she told him before: give the young Hobbit a pony. She did the same to Fili.

[The Elvenqueen]

The twins stifled their own laughter as Bilbo was handed a pony, still looking less than pleased about it. Riding up behind him, Fili and Kili both grabbed the hobbit by the cloak, one on each side, and lifted him into the air, dropping him into the pony's saddle.

[AngelBites15]

Later that night, as everyone is asleep around the campfire, Bilbo gets awakened by the loud snoring of the dwarves. Not being able to sleep, he goes and feeds his pony with apples. "Good girl! Here’s a good girl. It’s our little secret, Myrtle. Just tell no one", suddenly a wild shriek was heard. He turned to Kili and Fili, who are sat by the fire. Maleficent was also sitting with them, but was closer to Kili. "What was that?", he asked them. "Orcs", Maleficent simply said with her eyes flicking at him.

[The Elvenqueen]

"Throat cutters." Fili confirmed with a nod, taking his smoking pipe out of his mouth as he spoke. "There'll be dozens of them out there."
"They strike in the wee small hours of the night when everyone's asleep." Kili added, a smirk playing on his lips. "Quick and quiet, no screams...just lots of blood."
The twins exchanged a glance with one another and began to snigger to themselves.

"You think that's funny do you?" Thorin snapped at them from where he stood overlooking the road ahead, glaring over his shoulder at his nephews. "You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?"
"Sorry uncle, we didn't mean anything by it..." Kili apologised meekly.

[AngelBites15]

"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world", his uncle told his younger nephew as he walked passed them. Maleficent couldn't believe what she saw. It wasn't what she expected either. She knew that teasing Bilbo wasn't funny, but with a family telling you that you know nothing, it was a bit overly harsh. Knowing and seeing that they were feeling guilty, the female gently placed a comforting hand on Kili's shoulder, soothing him.

[The Elvenqueen]

"Don't mind him, laddie." Balin spoke to both Bilbo and the dwarf twins. "Thorin has more cause than many, to hate Orcs."
Kili gave Maleficent a grateful smile, nodding thankfully at her.
Bilbo looked after Thorin with a sad expression. He felt sorry for the dwarf, he was always so angry all the time, he couldn't help but wonder what had happened in his life to make him that way.
"After the dragon took Erebor, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria." Balin explained. "But Moria had been taken over by legions of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race; Azog the Defiler."

[AngelBites15]

"The giant Gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin’s father, was driven mad by grief, he went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him. A young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc.He stood alone against this terrible foe. His armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day, that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied, and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated, but there was no feast, nor song that night for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few, had survived"

Maleficent listened as the past began to catch up with her as she did teitch on the lip a little bit, before the story left her ears. She knew what happened. She was there. She sent the Orc there. What was there to say now? "I was there", she spoke up.

[The Elvenqueen]

"You were?" the attention of the three who the story had been meant for turned to Maleficent after she had spoken.
"But, the Pale Orc," Bilbo spoke up, not having heard anything about what had happened to Azog in the end. "What happened to him?"

[AngelBites15]

"Azog was fierce. Sadistic and vicious", she began. "I witnessed his strike upon the king, and if Thorin hadn't tried, you all would not be here now. His victory gave him greatness, but it left a stone heart inside", Maleficent explained while she let Kili lay his head upon her leg as a pillow. "Except that the Defiler himself slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago", Thorin told them.

[The Elvenqueen]

Bilbo cleared his throat uncomfortably as Thorin walked past him, feeling bad for asking about it at all since it clearly upset the dwarf prince very much.

(Well, there's not much left in this scene so do you just want to go to the bit with the trolls now?)

[AngelBites15]

Traveling wasn't a problem for Maleficent, even if she walked on foot. In the rain, through wind, there was no stopping her. The next night, as the dwarves set up camp, Maleficent seems to have stuck by Kili and Fili's side the whole time. So far, they were already friends, but there wasn't any parent-child affection yet. "Do us a favor, take this to the lads", Bofur instructed Bilbo. He takes the bowls of stew to the twins and fae as he goes to give the food to them. He sees they are both just standing and staring at the ponies."What’s the matter?" "They were supposed to be looking after the ponies", Maleficent responded to him.

[The Elvenqueen]

"But uh, we've encountered a small problem." Fili cleared his throat awkwardly as they both still kept staring ahead at the ponies.
"We had sixteen, and now there's only fourteen..." Kili finished, his voice quiet.

[AngelBites15]

"Daisy and Bungle are missing", Maleficent declared to the three of them after she looked at the remaining ponies. "Then that's not good. That is not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?", Bilbo was already shaking, feeling that something was not right.