Amidst the commotion of the already present dwarves, Bilbo Baggins heard a rapping at his door once more and hurried over, completely flustered and rather irate. To his great shock, opening the door revealed a pile of several more dwarves. Behind them all stood Gandalf, smiling curiously, and next to him a very short, cloaked figure Bilbo could not quite see. That cloaked figure was, of course, me.
"Gandalf," Bilbo murmured, setting eyes upon the man he presumed guilty for the unaccountable mess in his kitchen. Then, the newcomers scurried into the hobbit hole and chaos broke lose.
I remained hooded and set a wood-carved bow and quiver delicately upon the bench beside a formidable set of Dwarfish weapons. Spotting a Dwarfish bow on the carpet, I picked it up and placed it next to mine atop a bench. Amidst the crowd of hungry dwarves, I was rushed into a spot around the dining room table between an enormous red-haired dwarf exhibiting a magnificently braided beard, and a dark, younger looking one with a cheeky grin.
All around me, dwarves piled food onto the table. The dark dwarf beside me caught a mug from across the table and downed it in a single swig, to the uproarious laughter of the others. Food was thrown every which way and reaching out my hand to the alarm of the dwarves that had not quite taken notice of me yet, I caught a wheel of cheese intended for the red-headed dwarf beside me.
"And who might you be, stranger?" questioned a white-haired dwarf, obviously the eldest of the group.
I did not reply at first, simply shaking back the hood of my cloak. The dwarves gasped collectively in surprise and broke out into murmured conversations.
"A lass?" gaped a dwarf with ridiculously braided beard and a toothy grin.
"So it would seem," I conceded, smiling. Silence descended as the dwarves looked from one to another, wondering what this strange woman was doing among them.
Gandalf spoke up as the awkward moment stretched out. "Master dwarves, this is the Lady Aleyndin, an old friend of mine. I have asked her to accompany our journey." A few disapproving harrumphs met that proclamation, and I could not help but agree with the skeptics. "You will come to thank me for sending her along before the end," the wizard stated cryptically. What was Gandalf thinking sending me on this journey? Regardless, I would oblige his request after all he had done for me. The dwarves too seemed to accept Gandalf's words though and the conversation soon turned to other topics.
Quickly, the cataclysmically destructive feasting of the dwarves overtook all polite conversation once more. The little hobbit Bilbo chased them to-and-fro in attempt to contain their revelry, but to no avail. As all hell broke loose amidst their feasting, I could no longer contain the laughter. "My, the manners of dwarves surpassed my expectations," I murmured sarcastically. The dark one next to me turned to me, his mouth full of wine. He smiled before downing another ungodly large stein. "Oh, lovely," I grinned broadly.
In a marvelous show of improvisation, the dwarves broke into song after finishing off the food. The dark dwarf began an acrobatic duet with a blonde dwarf sporting an impressively braided mustache and soon enough all of the merry company was partaking in the music. Marveling at their improvisational skills, I could only sit in appreciation of their ditty, and upon its end I laughed and clapped.
"Why did you not join in the song if you enjoyed it so?" the dark dwarf asked me curiously as he was once more smooshed into a spot beside me.
"I did not know the words, and you all produced them so quickly I thought my addition might hinder you. Also, my talent is not so great as yours when it comes to singing, Mr. Dwarf," I replied airily.
"Bah, Kili is no great musician," the blonde dwarf merrily criticized his companion as he appeared on my other side.
"A valid observation, brother," Kili grinned, teeth flashing in the dim light. "It runs in the family. If we wretched, amateur singers may croon, then Lady Aleyndin ought to have joined in."
"Please, it's Aleyndin. Just Aleyndin. I'm not a lady. And I enjoy crooning as well, believe me. But I know regrettably few dwarfish songs of merriment."
"Ah, that is a shame indeed. Though the talents of this particular company may make you wish otherwise, we dwarves are a boisterous and vibrantly musical people," the blonde jested.
"Particularly when we are filled with wine," Kili added, passing me a stein.
"Gentlemen. We have only just met. Do not tell me that you are trying to get me drunk with you already?"
"Certainly not! Fili and I just believe that all should partake in the merriment," Kili said, nudging the wine towards me. Coolly, I took a sip and he regarded me with appraising brown eyes. Without his mouth filled to the brim he was not bad looking. Certainly not, indeed, I thought with a barely repressed snort. I seemed to be developing a rather large capacity for the bizarre this strange evening, in a hobbit hole with a myriad of dwarves and a wizard, drinking wine and engaging in merriment.
Just then, a knock resounded on the door of the hobbit hole bringing each and every one of the ever-moving dwarves to a standstill. Gandalf murmured a solemn, "He is here," and the gaggle of dwarves swarmed to the door, myself in their midst.
A/N: Hello all! Thank you for reading! This is my first Hobbit fanfiction and I'm so excited to finally be putting this up online. I have been finalizing the outline of this story for months and can't wait to upload the chapters for feedback. Because I lack subtleties about this kind of think, I shall simply say: please review! :) Thanks again and have a lovely day!