The Arrangement

by sarenelsoria

Bilbo never joins quest and Middle Earth has a hard winter, both the Shire and Erebor nearly Bilbo goes to seek aide from Erebor, in order to prevent the hobbits from being defenseless.He thinks to prepose a trade of skills, learning fighting and teaching the dwarves how to farm. He does not expect Thorin to believe that he has found his ONE, hobbits don't believe in ONES

1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The winter had been one of the hardest to ever hit the Shire, now that it was spring it was decided by the Tooks that something must be done. Although the hobbits had not had a ruling family in generations, officially all their rulers were taken from the Took line. All Tooks and those related to them had training in how to rule the land the hobbits inhabited. No one considered the Shire a kingdom anymore, particularly not the hobbits, as they were a peaceful people and would never ordinarily consider harming anyone. However last winter they had been beset by marauders, orks and wolves, trying to get to their rich food supply and not caring how many people were killed in the process. People discovered that most of the Shire had a lot of food and no way to defend it. Those that were not killed almost starved and so it was decided that this state of affairs was intolerable.

They had used travelers and messengers and found a city that had faired as badly as they had. They had hoped that the elves would be the ones in trouble, as they had a better relationship with them. However it was the dwarves city of Erebor that had nearly starved. The city had it even worse than the Shire, they had been exiled by a dragon for eighty years, and then finally they were able to defeat the dragon. Only to face an army of Orks and Goblins, the dragon had burnt most of the crops in Laketown and neither Laketown nor the Mirkwood elves had offered aide. The royal family had been badly injured by the battle and had spent much of the winter recovering from their wounds, as their kinsmen Dain attempted to assist them, by ruling as they recovered. Dain had many gifts, but diplomacy wasn't one of them, he had so alienated the neighboring kingdoms that the dwarves had been forced to rely upon themselves and hunt the countryside for food, avoiding groups of elves who did not like them in their woods. It had not been a good winter for the dwarves of Erebor, but their misfortune was a boon to the hobbits. They needed strength of arms and dwarves at least were more likely to keep their word than men. They could not afford to ask the elves for aid again, though elves were fond of hobbits and it was mutual on both ends, the hobbits could not continue to rely upon the good graces of Lord Elrond. They needed someone with strength that needed the hobbits as much as the hobbits needed them. When the Thrain discovered that Erebor was having problems, he decided that one of his relations would go to the Shire. He unfortunately could not go, because he was old and had been sick that winter and was still recovering. So he put it up for a vote, calling together all his family and having them decide who was to go. Ultimately they picked Bilbo Baggins, as he was interested in other people and had a refinement that the rest of the family lacked.

Bilbo was not overjoyed at the news that he would be setting off to places unknown, to attempt to get a foreign dwarves king to agree to offer an exchange of aide. However he had been raised a Baggins and a Took, he could not refuse his family, not when his refusal could lead to more hobbits dying. So Bilbo had set off, away from the place he'd ever known and although the trip with the dwarves caravan he'd paid to go with was uneventful, it was also lonely. The dwarves were from the Blue Mountains, bringing supplies to Erebor, Bilbo rode in a wagon that he had been given by his people. Inside were canned goods from the Shire, though the other dwarves didn't know his business or what he carried. They were curious, Bilbo could see that, however they still kept to themselves and no one asked him what his wares were.

He listened to their conversations and was able to pick out a few words from them. He noted the words that were repeated often and sometimes practiced them, curious as to what they were. He knew dwarves were funny about their language and although it was much more guttural than what Bilbo was used to, he found the words just as beautiful as the other two languages he'd been taught as a boy. They had a bit of trouble in Mirkwood, when they were stopped by a group of elves. Bilbo had gotten out of the caravan and had spoken with the guard captain, in Sindrian explaining that the dwarves were there to take him to the dwarves city of Erebor. His Grandfather was the leader of the Shire and he had business with King Thorin Oakenshield.

The elven guard stared at Bilbo in shock, before talking with the rest of his patrol party. "You are escorting this hobbit to Erebor, is that the truth of it?"

"We are escorting the hobbit to Erebor and carrying supplies for Erebor, yes." A dwarf growled out. "Will you let us pass?"

"We will give you an escort through our lands, you dwarves always seem to wander and I would hate for such an important member of a royal house to be eaten by spiders or something equally nasty." The elf said and the dwarves stared at Bilbo in shock.

"You are royalty?" One demanded and Bilbo blushed.

"I am the Grandson of the leader of the Shire; I am traveling to Erebor to suggest a mutually beneficial agreement with King Thorin Oakenshield."

"Your highness, we are most sorry for how we have treated you, I am sure that your accommodations were not what you were accustomed to. If we had but known that you were royalty, we would have treated you much better. We assumed that you were a simple merchant much like ourselves."

"I am sorry that I deceived you, I hate that I was not honest with you. Last winter was hard on everyone and my people are not as trusting as they once were. I thought that it was better that you did not know of my circumstances, nor of who I was. I thought that it was best that you considered me to be a fellow traveler and I am sorry for my deception. You said earlier that you would escort us through the woods, will you still agree to it, now you know the full truth of the matter?"

"We will honor the original agreement; we understand the need for secrecy, particularly when one has such unsavory traveling companions." The elven guard said glaring at the dwarves, who glared back at him.

"These dwarves have been far from unsavory; they have in fact been enjoyable company. True I kept to the wagon for most of the journey, but that was not because of my traveling companions, but rather a desire not to be underfoot. My business is urgent and I needed to get to Erebor as safely and quickly as possible. I have been amazed at the time we have made on this journey, I had expected to get to Erebor by midsummer, but I will be there long before that, because of these dwarves. I do not appreciate you insulting my traveling companions. I know that elves and dwarves do not get on and never have; I don't know the reasons behind your hatred of one another. Still I would appreciate getting through the forest alive and in one piece; as much as I think that you would appreciate us being out of your forest. Can you keep it civil between yourselves, for the short journey to Laketown? Hobbits are more delicate than most races; we are a peaceful people and do not like fighting, nor watching people fight among us."

"The peaceful nature of hobbits is well known." The elven guard said. "Though admittedly I have never had the honor of meeting one of your races."

"We keep to ourselves for the most part, we rarely leave the Shire and when we do, it's usually to go on what we call adventures. Though for the most part its only the Tooks that travel out of the Shire. If you like I could get out my fiddle and we could sing some of the old elven ballads while you escort us. I do not know any dwarves songs, but I know a few good drinking songs that you might enjoy as well. I like to sing, dance and play music, do you think it would be safe enough for me to play."

"We will be fine, as long as we stick to the paths and do not wander, I have heard many elven ballads, and I would like to hear one of your hobbit songs." The royal guard said and Bilbo smiled, taking out his fiddle from the back of his wagon, before tying the reins round a hook on one end that had been designed for just that purpose. He struck up a lively tune that was popular in taverns around the Shire, and smiled as he played, enjoying the music and getting slightly lost in it. He changed songs several times and before he knew it, they were out of the elven lands and traveling through Laketown.

Bilbo started to put away the fiddle, when someone took out their own fiddle and Bilbo played with them, following the song they were playing, as someone took out a drum and played inside the wagon. It was fun and he was grinning as he played, his feet tapping lightly against the wagon boards, as they made their way to the dwarves city. Bilbo went directly to the royal throne room and waited in line until he was called to the front of the line and stood in front of Thorin Oakenshield.

Thorin's day had been much the same as it had been, since he had recovered from his wounds. In the mornings he would go to both the forges and the mines, he would eat a quick lunch, before continuing onto the council chamber, finally his day would end by holding of the court and hearing petitions. He had expected this day to be much like the others, he did not expect to come face to face with his one. He stared at the hobbit in confusion, of all the beings and races in the world, Mahuel had seen fit to give the other half of his soul to a hobbit. He stared at the unkempt little creature, who despite being disheveled and like he'd just come from a long journey, was quite adorable. Before Thorin knew what was happening, he had stood and walked towards the hobbit, the hobbit's eyes widened, before they rolled back in his head and the male passed out.