"So, what are we going to do?" Balin just asked. Thorin was about to answer, when they heard screams followed by a loud crash. In no time the dwarves were outside looking confused at the sight before them.
In a bundle of hair and arms two girls were sitting on the ground.
"Seriously Caelin, what the fucking hell do you think you are doing?" One of them spoke "
The hell I know. I just touched it!" The other one said angrily.
It was then that the two noticed the dwarves staring at them. "Holy shit!" The one who spoke first got up on her feet in no time and was backing away from them. The other followed her in a second, looking at her.
"Alex, where are we?" She looked quite confused around and finally both of them faced the dwarves.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Thorin demanded to know. Bilbo opened the door widely to have a better look of the two women and the dwarves averted their gazes instantly "And what are you wearing?" He roared at them. The two girls looked at each other. They were still wearing their bikinis from the beach, which were dripping from water as well as their hair and somehow they felt like it was more than inappropriate here. Where ever here was.
Bilbo ran inside his house and came back with two blankets and handed them to the girls. In a rush they put the blankets around them.
Then one of them spoke "Ehm my name is Alexandra and this is Caelin!" She introduced both of them. "And I would gladly tell you what we are doing here, but we have frankly no idea where we are!" She explained.
Gandalf was the first to react. "Why don't you come inside and tell us what happened." He made the invitation, but the smaller man who spoke before, stopped him "Gandalf. We have no idea who they are. What if they are spies?" He said, but Gandalf shook his head. "Look at them, Thorin. They are clearly out of this place!" He decided and smiled at the two of them "Come inside!" They first hesitated but finally the one, who introduced herself as Alexandra, made the first move. The other girl grabbed her hand and followed her inside.
Gandalf asked them to sit at the table while Bilbo went to make some tea for them. 15 set of eyes looked at them. The blonde one looked over to the dark haired one "Alex?"
The dark haired one nodded. "Alright. So…ehm…we were at the beach surfing. This is when we discovered this cave and thought, why not have a look at it. Bad idea now, I guess." She added dryly and rolled her eyes "So we went into this cave and found this strange looking stone. It was definitely not formed by the ocean and Caelin here had the brilliant idea of touching it. And bam, here we are!"
"Surfing?" "The beach?" The dwarves looked at them in disbelieve. Caelin nodded "Yes, you know. Surfing, the sport you do on a board, riding waves." Alexandra tapped her arm "Lin, I don't think that they have surfing here. Where is here by the way?" She looked at the tall man, who seemed to be the only one not too suspicious of them. "This is the Shire in Middle-Earth. And by the look on your faces that is not your world?" Alexandra shook her head hard "Bloody hell, no. We are from an island called O'ahu in Hawaii!" "Wait! Did you just say not your world?" Caelin added with big eyes. Then there stared at each other "Holy shit!" They stated simultaneously. "But how did we get here?" Caelin looked at her best friend "Dunno. But maybe it had something to do with that strange stone. But please that sounds awfully like interdimensional travel!" They totally forgot the people in front of them "Alex. Do you even listen to yourself? Interdimensional travel is impossible." "And how do you explain that we are in the middle of nowhere!?" She argued back.
"Ladies, please. This is not a matter of possible or not possible. You two are here!" The man sighted. "Let me introduce us. I am Gandalf, Gandalf the Grey and this is our host. Bilbo Baggins!" He pointed to the little with the curled golden hair next to him. "And these are Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Ori, Nori, Dori, Bombur, Bifor, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin and finally our leader, Thorin Oakenshield!" He introduced.
"Aha…" Caelin said and Alexandra chuckled "We are not supposed to remember that right away, right?" She asked in a joking manner and Gandalf raised his eyebrows. "I was joking. Jeez," she looked over to the others "Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, Bofur, Bifur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Ori, Gloin, Oin, Kili, Fili, Bilbo and Gandalf." She repeated and shrugged. "But what we actually would like to know is how we can go back to our world?" Caelin asked in a more serious manner.
Gandalf returned her serious gaze "That, my dears, I cannot tell you!" "Great." Alexandra muffed "Like this day could not get worse." "But…" He started "…there has to be a reason why you are here. And even more important why you appeared right in front of this house!" He took out his pipe and lit it. "Maybe you were meant to join us on this journey." He muttered quietly. "What?" Alexandra and Thorin said the same thing at the same time and looked at each other. Gandalf looked first at Thorin and then over to Alexandra. "This is the only reason I can think of. Why else would they appear in the shire? And more important right in front of the very house where this secret meeting is holding place." He explained. "Eventually we will meet someone during this journey who can tell us why they are here and how they can return to their world!" He added.
Caelin and Alexandra looked at each other for a moment. The dwarves had a feeling like they were communicating nonverbal. "Alright!" Alexandra said and putting her hands together. "Alexandra, quit deciding everything out of your gut. We do not even know where this journey leads." Caelin stopped her friend "And what else are we supposed to do? Sitting around here and waiting until we miraculously return to our world? Seriously Caelin, where is your sense for an adventure." Her eyes were beaming with excitement.
"Wait a moment! Gandalf, as you recall, I am the leader of this quest. So I will decide whether they come or they come not. What could they tribute to our company? Can you fight, girls?" He looked at the two of them.
"Well… Yeah… We both know some archery. And Alexandra here is really fond of breaking noses." Alexandra stared at here "Caelin that is so not true!" But the other girl laughed "Let's see. There was Andy, you broke his nose when he thought he could grab your ass. Then there was Chris, you broke his nose and kicked his balls after he dumped me in front of everyone. And let's not forget Ty, you head banged him and broke his nose!" She counted "Fine, yes I guess I am good a breaking noses. Happy?" She hissed.
Thorin stared at the two women "I need to discuss this with my company. He left the room and the others followed him. Just Gandalf and Bilbo stayed behind. "Bilbo, I will ride to Bree to find some proper clothing for the Ladies. I will be back shortly!" He said and left the house.
Bilbo looked at them uncomfortable. "Oh my." Alexandra jumped up "Mr. Baggins, we are so sorry for intruding into your home like this." She apologized and bowed. The hobbit, who was taken aback by the sudden apology, could not help but smile. "It is alright. What kind of hobbit would I be, if I would not help two maidens in need." He smiled at them "Sorry, but what's a Hobbit?" Caelin asked him curiously. Bilbo sat down next to them. "That's what I am. A Hobbit of Baggins End." He explained. "So you are not human, which means…" She looked at the direction the others left "They are dwarves." "Okay…ehm…are there any other races we should know of?" Bilbo shrugged "Well, there are elves and…" He started.
Meanwhile Thorin was talking to his kin "I think we should take them with us." Balin said. Thorin looked at his old friend confused "And why would you say that?" "Well, I think Gandalf is right. There might be a reason why they are here and we cannot just leave them here alone!" Dwalin bugged in "I do not know, Balin. What if they are really spies." But Balin shook his head "I believe them. I saw their eyes when they told us what happened." Thorin exhaled "Fine. But as soon as they are slowing as down they will leave!" He decided and rushed back into the other room.
"You will come with us, as long as you are not slowing us down!" He told them. "Where is Gandalf?" He demanded to know from the Hobbit. "He went to get some clothing for the Ladies." The Hobbit explained. Thorin nodded and looked over to his old friend. "Tell them about the journey and give them a contract." He asked and left the room. The oldest one amongst the dwarves joined them at the table. Alexandra remembered him as Balin.
He looked at the two women „To make it short. Our quest is dangerous and not very blessed. We are travelling to reclaim our homeland. The Mountain Erebor. He took out a map and showed them a vague plan of their way. Our path will be full of enemies just as orcs and if we reach the mountain, there is a dragon inside it." Caelin looked at Alex "A dragon?" Alex stared at the dwarf "You mean like a fire-breathing snake like monster?" She asked carefully and he nodded. "Okaaaay. And what are orcs?" She added curiously. "Black creatures, bred to bring terror and death." "Sounds great." Alex said in her most sarcastic voice. "That's all? Anything else we should know?" Caelin looked at the old dwarf, who shook his head and Alex snickered "Alright! Can't be so bad."
She took the contracts he handed them and signed one of them and Caelin followed her example "I hope, you are right, Alex." Just that moment Gandalf returned with clothing and horses for the women. He handed them the clothes. "Here, they are more appropriate than what you are wearing right now." They both took the clothes from Gandalf and Bilbo showed them to a room where there could change.
"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Caelin asked while putting on the clothes. Alex shrugged "Do you have another idea. We have no idea where we are or how we got here. I think we have to trust them. At least to a point." She added. Some moments later they finished changing and looked at each other "Well, it's not bad." Caelin laughed. They were both wearing black-greenish clothes with long cloak.
A little bit later they both stepped outside and joined the dwarves. Alex stepped behind her friend and with few moves of her hand she had braided her hair out of her face, like she had done so many times. She put her own hair into a light ponytail and sat down next to her best friend. "So what are you doing in your world?" One of the younger dwarves asked them. Caelin looked at him "Well, I am home designer and Alex is a physician." She answered the question. "I was, Caelin. I am a teacher now." Alex added. "Why are you not a physician anymore?" Alex face twitched slightly "Things happened…" She just said and the dwarves sensed that she would not say any more about the topic.