Arthur noticed his expression and gestured for Thorin to look at the three Rock Giants, explaining, "From the moment I first saw the Rock Giant throwing rocks at us, I felt something was strange. Because I couldn't sense any hostility from it."
Thorin said, "Perhaps it's just because its entire body is made of rock, so you couldn't sense it?"
Arthur shrugged, "Perhaps you're right; after all, the notion of hostility is too ethereal to be believable. But Thorin, did you notice? The Rock Giant that threw stones didn't attack you after approaching; instead, it punched its companions who came from behind."
Bernal also chimed in at this moment, agreeing, "Arthur is right. And we were just walking on the knee of a Rock Giant. If it had wanted to kill us then, while Arthur and I would have been fine, Kili and the others with us might not have been."
Thorin fell silent, while Bilbo curiously asked, "But Sir Arthur, why did it throw rocks at us in the first place?"
Arthur also fell silent. After a while, he said with a strange tone, "I think that rock might not have been thrown at us. Weren't we on a Rock Giant earlier? I'm afraid that rock was thrown at it."
Bilbo's mouth twitched, "Then why throw such a terrifying rock at its own companion…?"
Arthur said, "For us, a rock as big as a small hill is indeed terrifying and deadly. But for them, with their massive bodies, it's probably just something like a pillow."
Thorin said, "I've never seen a pillow that hard."
Arthur shrugged again, "You've also never seen rocks with limbs that can play around, have you? Anyway, we're safe now, but the rain is still heavy. Balin, how much longer until we're out of the Misty Mountains?"
Balin wiped his face, squinted at the road flickering under the lightning ahead, and loudly replied, "I don't know either, Sir Arthur. To be honest, I'm not sure which way to go now, because those Rock Giants have completely changed the nearby landscape. I can't tell if the rain will stop first, or if we'll get out of the canyon first."
Thorin immediately said, "Then let's walk a bit further and find a cave entrance where we can shelter from the rain. We'll rest there tonight, and if the rain is still falling tomorrow morning, we'll wait for it to stop before setting off."
Arthur also nodded, "I think that's a good idea."
Bilbo opened his mouth, "What if the cave we rest in is a Rock Giant's mouth?"
Thorin's eyes stared sharply, making Bilbo shrink back, "I mean, what if…?"
Thorin said faintly, "If that's truly the case, I hope you'll use your methods to communicate with the Rock Giant and beg it not to close its mouth while we're sleeping, Master Burglar."
Bilbo immediately shut his mouth.
Afterward, Thorin and his company checked that their important belongings hadn't been lost in the recent commotion and began to cautiously walk forward again.
Although the Rock Giants were already far away from them, Bilbo's words made the dwarves feel as if every rock they saw was a sleeping Rock Giant.
They were truly terrified.
As Bilbo walked, he continued to speak to Arthur, "Actually, I have another question. The path we came by must have been destroyed by the Rock Giants, so how will Gandalf catch up to us?"
Arthur stroked the chainmail on his chin; this question indeed stumped him.
He said uncertainly, "Gandalf is a powerful wizard. Perhaps he has other ways to find us? Trust in the magic of a wizard, Bilbo. Since Gandalf said he can, then he will definitely find us."
At this moment, Thorin shouted from ahead, "I've found a cave! Let's get in quickly. Fili, Kili, and Dwalin, you three go in and explore first. Caves in the Misty Mountains are rarely uninhabited."
Fili and Kili nodded, while Dwalin had already gripped his battle-axe the moment Thorin gave the command, cautiously entering the cave.
Fili and their exploration was quickly finished. Kili's head poked out of the cave, and he shouted to those outside, "It's safe inside! We're lucky; we haven't found any traces of wild beasts. It looks like an uninhabited cave."
Thorin nodded, gesturing to the dwarves behind him to go inside.
Only when the last dwarf had entered did Thorin stop Arthur, who was about to enter the cave, and asked him the same question Bilbo had asked earlier.
"How will Gandalf catch up to us in this situation? If he keeps falling behind, I won't stop and wait for him," Thorin said.
Arthur answered Thorin as he had answered Bilbo, "Trust Gandalf. A wizard is never late. Perhaps he has some special magic that can directly pinpoint our location and quickly catch up."
Thorin then nodded, "That's good. I was worried that if he really followed the path we came from, he might die at the hands of those three playful Rock Giants."
Arthur entered the cave. Inside, apart from accumulated dust, there was nothing else.
The dwarves had already hung their wet clothes and backpacks on the protruding rock points inside the cave, then unceremoniously collapsed directly onto the dusty ground.
Even with the dwarves' stamina, they felt extremely exhausted.
Bilbo was the same; he felt as if his feet, soaked by the rain, were almost numb, but he had simply endured it without complaining.
He rarely complained about such things anymore; such a long journey had taught Bilbo that complaining did not help with the problems he encountered.
Bofur didn't rush to lie down. He endured his body's fatigue, reached out to Bilbo, and pulled the even more exhausted hobbit aside, helping him take off his heavy backpack.
"Thank you, Bofur," Bilbo said, supporting himself on his knees, only expressing his gratitude after catching his breath.
Bofur was already collapsed on the ground, weakly waving his hand, "It's nothing, Bilbo. I should do it."
At this moment, after Thorin confirmed everyone was inside the cave, he finally looked up at the thunderous rain outside, which wouldn't stop anytime soon, before walking in.
He saw the dwarves sprawling inside the cave, then saw Bilbo rubbing his hands and blowing into his palms to warm himself, and frowned, "You're all still wet. No matter how tired you are, you can't lie down like this. Fili, Kili, you two are responsible for starting a fire to keep warm."
Fili and Kili could only reluctantly get up from the ground. Where they had lain, they left puddles shaped like dwarves.
Then Fili ran into trouble. Kili, seeing his brother not moving, asked, "What's wrong?"
Fili's face was conflicted as he looked around the cave, finally sighing, "It's all rocks here. Where are we going to find firewood? Are we supposed to burn our own clothes?"
"Ah, this." Kili blinked, realizing that Fili was indeed right.
Fili continued, "And there's another problem. We've been drenched in rain for so long; the tinder in our bags might not work now."
Kili nodded, "So, we can't start a fire to warm ourselves on our own?"
Then he and Thorin looked at each other simultaneously, and Thorin clearly realized the problem.
Thorin admitted that he hadn't considered it thoroughly, but he didn't want to lose face. The authority of their elder made Thorin shift his gaze to Arthur.
"Arthur."
Facing Thorin's almost pleading, veiled gaze, Arthur smiled helplessly and nodded, then extended his hand.
However, he quickly stopped and said to the dwarves lying in the cave: "Could you please make some room? I don't have space to make a fire."
"It would be great if Gandalf were here right now. With him, we never had to worry about making a fire."
"Exactly, he just touches it with that ring, and the firewood catches fire."
"It would be even better if he wasn't so long-winded."
Then Arthur saw the dwarves, unwilling to even get up, muttering to each other, simply wiggling their bodies like earthworms to make room.
Arthur: "…Alright."
In the blink of an eye for the dwarves, several items appeared in Arthur's hand.
There was broken rope, some grey-black plants filled with liquid (which the dwarves didn't recognize), and a flying insect that produced sparks when it flapped its wings.
Actually, they were ropes scavenged from the demi-humans, viscous mushrooms found near the Eternal City, and Spark Butterflies that liked to flutter near bonfires.
Although Arthur could also cast spells to create fire, his recent magic consumption had been quite high, so he wanted to save it if possible.
Even though he still had other magic-restoring items in his backpack.
In any case, the readily available Spark Butterflies were more cost-effective.
Arthur wrapped the rope around the viscous mushrooms, preparing about ten in the same way, then threw them onto the empty space the dwarves had made, followed by the Spark Butterflies.
The viscous mushrooms ignited, and a roaring flame instantly burst forth, dispelling some of the cold within the cave.
Then, under Arthur's twitching gaze, the dwarves wiggled back to the bonfire to warm themselves.
Bilbo also stood up, moved closer to the fire, and sat down, holding his hands towards the flames.
He asked curiously, "Oh, what kind of plant is this, Arthur? It can actually be used as firewood?"
Arthur simply replied, "Viscous mushrooms. The liquid on this plant is similar to fuel; it burns for a long time."
With the warm fire, the physically and mentally exhausted dwarves and Bilbo quickly fell asleep in the warmth, their snores rising and falling.
Bilbo, being more tired, fell asleep quickly despite the very loud snoring of the dwarves.
Thorin did not rest but sat down, leaning against the entrance of the cave, taking on the responsibility of keeping watch.
He looked at the thunderstorm outside the cave entrance, wondering about something, then heard faint footsteps nearby.
To avoid disturbing the dwarves, Arthur tiptoed over.
"What is it?" Thorin asked in a low voice.
Arthur said, "You can go rest too. Igon can take over the watch."
Thorin thought for a moment, nodded, and did not refuse.
He was indeed tired and needed to rest.
Then Thorin noticed Arthur leading Bernal and Millison towards the deeper part of the cave.
"What are you going to…" Thorin asked curiously.
Arthur said, "Fili, Kili, and Dwalin probably only checked the outside of the cave when they inspected it earlier. They didn't notice there's a passage that only allows sideways movement to go further inside. I want to see where the other side of the passage leads, so if there's any danger, we can eliminate it beforehand."
Thorin slightly furrowed his brow: "What if there are mechanisms inside this passage? Even you wouldn't be able to avoid traps in such a narrow space, would you?"
"That's simple, I'll use this to trigger the mechanisms beforehand, so there won't be any danger." Arthur's hand, he didn't know when, had a piece of black stone shard with faint golden runes and withered branches with dark blood.
The Margit's Shackles, Arthur had purchased it from a traveling merchant friend named Patches.
As the name suggests, it was originally only meant to be used in battle against Margit.
However, later, while exploring the caves or catacombs in The Lands Between, Arthur accidentally discovered that this shackle could indiscriminately affect those mechanisms, traps, or invisible doors, so he used it as a sharp tool for exploring unknown caves and catacombs.
Although Thorin didn't know the origin of the item in Arthur's hand, considering his identity, Thorin didn't say anything.
After all, if something really went wrong, he and his fellow dwarves would be lying on the ground, while Arthur might still be jumping around lively.
After Thorin also found a comfortable spot to lie down and rest inside the cave, Arthur began his actions.
Millison said, "Arthur, after you test for traps, let me go in first. I am a woman, and my body is more slender and graceful than yours and Sir Bernal's. I'll have more room to move in this passage than you two."
Arthur glanced at his own physique, then at Bernal, who was constantly wearing his Beast-Repelling Armor without a gasp, and nodded.
Then he slapped the Margit's Shackles onto the ground, and a golden ripple briefly appeared.
However, the narrow passage showed no change; there was no sound of mechanisms or traps being triggered, nor any movement indicating an invisible door.
Arthur looked inside a few more times and said, "It seems there are indeed no traps, but Millison, you should still be careful."
Millison nodded, about to enter, when the three present suddenly heard the sound of some mechanism slowly turning, and a slight vibration began to come from the ground.
Then the screams of the dwarves, startled awake from their sleep, came: "Ah~~~!"
The ground they were lying on suddenly split open, opening downwards like a door, causing all the sleeping dwarves to fall in.
Thorin was a light sleeper, so the vibration woke him first, but he still couldn't avoid falling in.
"Bilbo!"
Thorin was sleeping relatively close to Bilbo. He urgently shouted, and before falling down, he pushed Bilbo away from the opening ground, causing the hobbit to wake up confused from his sleep.
Igon, quick-witted and responsible for the watch, kept his Dragon Hunter's Greatbow in hand, an arrow always nocked on the unstrung bowstring.
He shot an arrow, and it pierced through the collar and cloak of one of the dwarves, pinning him to the steep rock wall of the deep pit.
But when Igon tried to shoot a second arrow, the dwarves had already rolled down the rock wall and disappeared somewhere.
"I'll go with the dwarves!"
Igon didn't hesitate, simply leaving a quick remark before actively sliding into the deep pit, clinging to the rock wall.
Everyone present fell silent, tacitly looking at Arthur.
Arthur's mouth twitched. He glanced at the shackles in his hand and immediately put them away, saying awkwardly, "Well, I didn't realize we were sleeping on top of a mechanism."
"Sir Arthur, can you help pull me up…? I feel like my clothes can't support my weight anymore."
At this moment, Ori's somewhat frightened voice came from inside the deep pit. The dwarf Igon had desperately saved earlier was this most learned and least combat-adept dwarf.
"Lend a hand." Arthur said immediately with a serious expression, as if this trap door hadn't been opened by him at all.