The Past That Blinds (1 of 3)

As soon as Thorin appears from the cave I stand up and walk back to the group, ready to leave upon command. I look over to Bilbo who's now talking to Gandalf, who has just come out of the cave behind everyone else, he is handing the little man a sword. That does not mean I am going to stop watching out for him, especially after what I heard Thorin say to Gandalf back at Bilbo's house... I will get him back home in one piece, I promised him. The hobbit has probably never even used a sword before, he's lived in The Shire all his life, it's obvious he wouldn't have

“Something’s coming!” I hear Thorin call, snapping me out of my thoughts and hearing branches snapping and leaves rustling as something is quickly heading in our direction.
“Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves” Gandalf instructs as he heads over to the group who are all heading towards the sound of whatever is approaching. I start heading off after Gandalf before realising Bilbo isn't moving. A few of the dwarves run past me, including Thorin who gives me an unidentifiable look. Bilbo slowly draws his sword and looks at it. “Bilbo” I call him, getting his attention, he comes quickly and we follow the others, who have run off into the woods

A sled towed by rabbits stops in the middle of lot of us who have our weapons drawn defensively. Some – Bifur, Kili and Dwalin, nearly get run down by the mad man who shouts “Thieves! Fire! Murder!” Clad in brown, holding a walking stick as he stands on the back of the sled. Bilbo and Fili are lucky the sled stops just in front of them, or they would have been underneath it. Bilbo looks terrified and we all just look at this strange man in surprise unsure if he is friend or foe, he hasn't attacked yet, maybe that is a good thing. But Gandalf moves closer to the man “Radagast! Radagast the Brown” he gets to him and looks at him questioningly “What on earth are you doing here?” he ask. Oh! This is the wizard he mentioned earlier on in our journey, I had forgotten that conversation until just now. I sheath my sword as others do, once they realise he's not a threat, but Bilbo still looks a little shaken.
“I was looking for you, Gandalf. Something’s wrong. Something’s terribly wrong.”
“Yes?” Gandalf seems unsure what to make of the situation of the second wizard appearing/

Radagast opens his mouth to speak, but shuts it. He opens his mouth again, but closes it again.
“Oh, just give me a minute... Um, oh, I had a thought, and now I’ve lost it. It was... It was right there, on the tip of my tongue... Oh, it’s not a thought at all; it’s a silly old...” Gandalf pulls a stick insect out of Radagast’s mouth. “-stick insect!”
I pull a face seeing someone have a live bug in their mouth, I've never really liked bugs, but that, that made me cringe. The dwarves and Bilbo look flustered. Radagast and Gandalf go off a few paces and speak privately.

We all relax a little bit as we stand around the sleigh waiting for Gandalf and Radagast to finish talking. I go over to Bilbo who is looking at his sword. “It's a little bit blunt” I say as I sit next to him
“Oh? Is it? I wouldn't really know now, would I?” he says looking at me
“I'll sharpen it for you if you like, you wouldn't be able to do much with a blunt blade”
“I... Yes, thank you, I hope I do not cut my finger off with it” he jests slightly
I chuckle “Don't touch the blade and you wont” I say taking the sword from him as he hands it to me, still in it's sheath. I take it out and start to sharpen it with the whetstone I get out of my shoulder bag.

“I will admit, I am looking forward to going to sleep tonight, I probably will not even feel the floor I will be so tired” he says conversationally
“Always finding a root or something sticking into your back?” I ask smiling amused, sharpening the blade easily, that's elvish metalworking for you.
“Yes, either a tree root or a stone that ends up feeling like a huge rock. I would give anything for a night where there is nothing sticking in my back” he says softly, looking at the floor, seeming to be thinking of home. I don't blame him, this was thrust upon him. I finish sharpening his sword and hand it back to him “There you go, you could cut a fair sized branch with that now” I jest slightly. He smiles and puts the belt and sheath on “You look fiercer already”

Suddenly, a howl is heard in the distance.
“Was that a wolf? Are there--are there wolves out there?” Bilbo asks standing up quickly and looking to where it sounded like the howl came from, everyone looks in the same direction. I stand up and move over to Bilbo, protectively, he's like a little brother to me since I have gotten to know him
“Wolves? No, that is not a wolf.” Bofur says with a worried tone in his voice as another howl is heard.
“Wargs...” I say simply more to myself
“W-Wargs?” Bilbo says looking at me with a uneasy look on his face.
There's faint growling and a twig snaps causing everyone to turn around. From behind a nearby crag, a Warg had appeared. It leaps into the midst of the Company, knocking down Dori. Thorin strikes the left fore-leg of it taking it down, before striking again and killing it. Another Warg attacks from the other side, behind Thorin, who's sword is embedded in the first warg. Kili shoots the second warg with an arrow, bringing it down. However, it starts to get back up, only to be killed by Dwalin with a heavy hit to the head. There's then a third from the direction the howl came from, not the one that howled, it can't have been. It takes Dwalin down as it jumps into the group before going for Thorin as soon as it sees him. Using the dagger that Thorin had discretely thrown to me I throw it and it hits the Warg above the eye, killing it , It drops dead right in front of him, a few others had reacted and would have attacked it but it would have gotten Thorin before anyone could have reacted. I hope he realises I just saved his life...

He looks at me for a moment, a slightly shocked expression on his face, before pulling his sword from the Warg he had just killed.
“Warg-Scouts! Which means an Orc pack is not far behind.” he says looking around at his fellows wondering if there are alright.
“Orc pack?” Bilbo exclaims. Probably still unnerved from what Fili and Kili said at the camp that night. Thorin looks at me for a second before Gandalf gets his attention. I didn't realise him and Radagast had stood near me.
“Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?” Gandalf asks starting to walk towards Thorin
“No one.” Thorin says simply, a little surprised that the wizard thinks he would tell anyone else
Who did you tell?” The wizard asks again, more demandingly this time
“No one, I swear. What in Durin’s name is going on?” he has a hint of a concerned tone in his voice
Gandalf sighs and it comes to reason that “You are being hunted.”
“We have to get out of here.” Dwalin states as a matter of fact
“We can’t! We have no ponies; they bolted.” Ori informs as he runs back over to the group

“I’ll draw them off.” Radagast says all of a sudden
“Are you mad?” I say to the obviously crazy wizard
“These are Gundabad Wargs; they will outrun you.” Gandalf says
“These are Rhosgobel Rabbits; I’d like to see them try.” Radagast says pulling a confident smile