In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. This particular hobbit was extremely peculiar seeing as she, yes, she was living alone in her smial and she liked to go on adventures, which were highly discouraged in the Shire.
Belladonna Baggins II was young, only thirty, not even having reached her majority yet. He beloved parents, Belladonna Baggins nee Took and Bungo Baggins, had been taken from her two years ago by the Fell Winter, when they risked a trip to the Brandywine River for fish,as there stores were dwindling alarmingly.
They never came back to their daughter, their bodies were found three days later ravaged by wolves.
Bella was a strange girl, especially to her neighbors, seeing as she only ever ate three of the seven meals Hobbits were known to eat, she was also very secretive, she was extremely kind though, no matter the mystery surrounding the girl.
Yet her mother, bless her soul, did pass down a well kept secret to her. Bella was a shifter, a person who could change into any animal they wished. The animals they chose to turn into almost always carried some of the traits of the shifter themselves. All her animals had her rose gold curls she inherited from her mother as well as her deep Bondi Blue eyes that darkened to Prussian blue and lightened to Palatinate blue with her moods. Bella herself was very small by hobbit standards, only about 4'3" and less than sixty pounds soaking wet. But, she was not weak,no siree. Her petite frame was covered in wiry muscles that made her strong enough to hold her own, her mother also insisted she learn how to protect herself. Bella was quite adept with swords of all shapes and sizes, throwing knives, bows, and arrows along with other mixed weapons her mother taught her to use.
Bella did not only learn things from her mother though. From Her father she learned proper etiquette and how to be a proper Baggins lady, she was known for being an excellent hostess to any and all visitors, but she still had her witty barbs and scathing remarks to use when warranted.
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Our story begins on a pleasant day the sun shining the clouds white and puffy and the birds chirping. Outside her smial, Bella Baggins is smoking her pipe, an old one of her fathers, most hobbits thought that a woman smoking is inappropriate , but it reminded her of her father.
As she looking down the path she sees the tip of an old grey hat, and soon a head and a body follow, the entire figure is cloaked in grey travelling robes and clutching an odd staff with a intricate swirling of wood at the top, securing an opaque white stone of some sort to the figure gets closer his face sparks a memory in the back of her mind.
"Gandalf the grey! I'll be damned!" she declared as soon as he was close enough to hear her without yelling.
"Good Morning!" said Bella, and she meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at her from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
"All of them at once," Bella responded in kind, remembering Gandalf's disposition to be vague and cryptic.
"Well then, Good Morning!" he responded jovially "I'm surprised you remember who I am, last time I saw you was when you but a wee fauntling, Belladonna Baggins II."
"Of course I remember you, with your fantastic stories and beautiful firework you set off and The Old Took's party. And how my mother talked of the adventures you went on!"
Bella said.
"Well it's nice to know that someone appreciates more than just my fireworks around here," Gandalf commented.
"So what can help you with, Mr. Gandalf?" she inquired with an eyebrow arched.
"I'm looking for someone to join in an adventure with me, my dear"