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"Ladies?"

"It's an elf! And a dwarf!"

"I do not wish to intrude but I think one is a hobbit, as well."

"An elf? ELF? What is the meaning of this, Gandalf?!"

Mary felt water pour down on her face and although she tried really heard, her eyes were too heavy to open. And to complete that, there was a headache pulsating behind her eyes.

"Help them get up," she heard someone speak with a rough voice. "Kíli, Fíli, come."

Her brain was beginning to associate words and names, but her head hurt too much to even try to care about what surrounded her at the moment.

Next thing, she heard a familiar shriek. "MY HAIR! I'M COVERED IN… MUD!"

Cristina.

"It is raining and you have yer hair buried in the dirt, lady. What did you expect to be covered in? Flowers?"

"Bofur, that-"

"WITH NOTHING, YOU-YOU… MIDGET!"

Mary could try all she wanted to regain her strength back, but Cristina's screams were not helping. She opened one eye first and a raindrop fell right in it forcing her to close it again. "Damn."

"Midget? What are ye, then?"

"Shit, I'm dreaming…or probably hallucinating," she heard Josephine murmur vaguely.

Mary got up at once, but her balance was still affected by whatever happened and she felt a strong arm helping her stay straight. "Easy, lady."

"I'VE SHRINKED! AND MY FEET!"

"What the hell? I'm taller than everyone…"

As her vision was beginning to lose the blur, Mary took the first look at what was really happening. Cristina's clothes were floating around her and seemed to have enlarged two or three sizes at least. Her feet had grown considerably and she was trying her best to cover herself from curious eyes; Josephine was actually really tall – at least taller than Mary and Cristina – and seemed to be sure she was hallucinating for some reason.

Almost guessing what she would see, Mary looked at her hands and saw her fingers to be a little larger than usual and her clothes actually looking like blankets around her. "What the…"

"Gandalf, what is an elf doing here?"

Gandalf?

She looked at her right to see who had helped her and she almost lost her balance again. "Thorin?"

Nothing made sense. Maybe they were dreaming. They had to be.

"Don't touch me, you thing!" Cristina blurted out again, completely freaking out. The dwarf who was supposed to help her backed off and looked slightly offended, but said nothing.

"How do you know my name?" Thorin inquired visibly suspicious. Mary knew everyone had their eyes fixed on them, except for Cristina, maybe.

"I heard someone say it," she mumbled under her breath, fearing he might explode on her.

"Someone? No one here has said my name in front of you," he closed the space between them, threateningly. The arm that had previously helped her was now clutching on her own.

"Thorin, let her go," she knew this voice: Gandalf. "Clearly, they are not capable of answering your questions. They seem lost."

Gandalf's intervention was enough for Thorin to obey, although he kept eying her dangerously.

This wasn't a dream for sure. Thorin's touch was real enough for her and she decided not to speak again unless really necessary.

"What is another Halfling doing here, Master Baggins?" An old dwarf with long white beard asked. "Is this some trick?"

Mary cocked her head a bit to the left and saw Bilbo mounted on his pony with a confused look splashed in his face. "T-trick? No, no! I have never seen her in my life."

"You told us she was a hobbit! You know!" Another dwarf half-accused Bilbo.

"Wha-? Look, you can perfectly see she's a hobbit!"

"Who's a hobbit?" Cristina inquired, grabbing the cape the other dwarf had left on the ground for her and wrapping it around her. She obviously knew they were talking about her.

"He's tricking us! That Halfling is with an elf and another dwarf! Traitors!" A dwarf that vaguely resembled Gimli shouted.

Mary had read enough in the Tolkien books to know about the dwarves' temperament. They were only friendly as long as no one started confusing their thoughts.

Cristina was in awe and her mouth fell open. Gandalf dismounted his horse and approached them slowly as if studying and thinking what to say. He stopped right in front of Josephine whose elven ears were now visible due to her soaked hair. "Tell me, lady. What is your name?"

"Josephine…"

Her eyes were slightly red and she was now trembling uncontrollably. A low murmur started amongst the dwarves and it resembled the sound of some mad bees.

"That's not even a proper name!" The one called Bofur stated, gathering the agreement from his fellow dwarves.

"YES! What kind of name is that?"

"She is mocking us, obviously, laddies."

"Thorin, search them! Might have a weapon hidden somewhere."

"A weapon? Gentlemen, where would they hide one?" Bilbo asked rather shocked with those accusations. "Have you seen the way they are dressed?"

"Shut it, burglar. You're trying to confuse us!"

"I am most certainly not!"

"ENOUGH!"

Thorin's voice echoed through the trees. A silence fell over them as they heard the rain fall quietly. Mary had no idea how something like this could have happened. Yes, she was obsessed with Middle Earth and all that concerned it, but ending up in the middle of thirteen dwarves, one wizard and one hobbit was quite absurd. The fact that she was a dwarf as well was just too much for her head to process.

"We shall not waste more time over this," he began with a steady voice, water running through his beard as he spoke. "Gandalf, I assume you can look after them until we reach safe land and that will be the end of it."

"Safe land?" Cristina started with her voice rising. "And where is that, exactly? What have you done to us? You bunch of midgets and weirdos!"

"Cris-"

But before Mary could emend her friend's statement, a thunder of voices came upon them. "She called us midgets again!"

"If you were not a lady, I'd show ya!" That was definitely Glóin, Gimli's father. "A lady insulting us like that! It is an outrage!"

Mary took a glimpse at Bilbo who was definitely lost and didn't dare speaking. Like her, he had found that was the best thing to do.

"I will take care of them, yes," Gandalf accepted, trying to calm Cristina down as well. "You will explain your story as we go and I will see what can be done in order to help you, ladies."

Josephine said nothing, but nodded and Cristina finally stopped fidgeting and cursing in low voice.

"I do not trust them!" Bombur exploded after so much time restraining himself. "An elf with a dwarf? There is something very wrong here, Thorin! Leave'em here."

"Dear friend, I do not trust them either. However, it is expected of us to help a lady when the moment calls for it," Thorin's word was final and he moved quickly back at his pony.

"I will not walk!" Cristina shouted.

"Cristina, stop it," Josephine mumbled.

"Well, of course you're not, lady…?" Gandalf assured with a thin smile.

"Cristina!"

"Lady Cristina," he said her name as if showing a wild animal he was a friend. "You can ride on Myrtle with Bilbo here."

Bilbo's face turned pale. "No, no, Gandalf. Enough with this. I am quite sure you can help her as well. Or Kíli! He was trying to help her before!"

"Nonsense, dear Bilbo. She's a Halfling. Nothing better than to help a fellow hobbit," Gandalf stated with a wider smile on his face.

"I'm not a halfing or hafing! I'm human!" The loud girl made her voice be heard again in protest.

"She's insulting her own kind now. Disrespectful," Dwalin commented, nodding his head slightly.

"You," Thorin called Mary from his pony. "There is only one more pony and it is transporting food and such. Since you are shorter than your friend elf, I suggest you mount it."

Mary did not contest his order. It would be better to be on a pony alone than to share it with any of the others who obviously refused to acknowledge her as a dwarf but as a traitor.

"And what about me?" Josephine asked feeling excluded.

"You smell funny!" Ori said, grinning at her.

"She'll walk," Thorin said, with a disgusted expression.

"Thorin…" Gandalf tried to reason with him.

"I will not have an elf riding on my pony or on any of my companion's," the leader immediately responded not allowing Gandalf to interfere with his decision. "If you wish to have her on your horse, do as you please but make sure you ride far away from us."

All said, Josephine got on Gandalf's horse, feeling put aside without even understanding such rage towards her.

Mary followed her example and mounted the pony – seemed more like a horse due to her current height – and looked at Thorin whose eyes met hers briefly before he diverted his gaze somewhere else.

Everyone was quiet except for Cristina who was implicating with poor Bilbo. "Don't you dare touch me, gnome."

He furrowed his brows and turned his head so he could look at the girl sitting behind him. "I really do not understand that need to insult. And why should I touch you? We're on a pony."

"Are you implying you would touch me if not on a pony?!"

"I didn't say that!"

Mary sighed inwardly and followed Thorin and the other dwarves through the forest.