Chapter 1: Ahùgun

"Well we have one more member we are waiting on." Explained Gandalf to Bilbo, much to the hobbit's confusion.

"But I thought that um, that Mr. Thorin was the last one."

"Here here!" shouted Dori, "Who could we possibly be waiting on?"

A chorus of "Everyone's here!" and "Who could it be?" floated through the tight spaces of the hobbit's home. Much to Bilbo's chagrin, it seemed as if another uproar was on his hands. That is, until Thorin spoke.

"Who is he, Gandalf? Why wasn't I informed of this?" His deep authoritative voice resonated through the now silent dwelling.

"Well, a um." Gandalf paused, gathering his thoughts while coughing, "a dwarf with a very handy set of skills who I fully believe will be an asset to the group, particularly in the latter stages of this quest and while I am away."

That all too familiar chorus rang out with curiosities about where he was from, "From the Blue Mountains?" "One of Dain's kin?" This was accompanied by "But we already have a burglar!" and "What sort of skills?"

"Now please do settle down, gentlemen, for our guest may be here soon and you all can be quite an intimidating bunch with all that ruckus." Gandalf admonished them, for he knew that their new companion was apprehensive about his invitation from the start, and walking in on this lot of rowdy dwarfs could be quite startling.

Bilbo nodded enthusiastically to this; he could never replenish his poor pantry, but he could at least welcome a chance for peace and quiet."Yes yes, I think that is quite wise Gandalf! I think we've all had enough of this for one evening!"

Precisely at that moment, as Gandalf had hoped, a soft knock was heard at the door. "Bilbo, my dear fellow, would you be so kind as to answer that?"

Bilbo's curiosity lead him rather swiftly to the door and as soon as he opened it, he squeaked out an "Oh my!"

"Are you Mister Baggins?" a soft and extremely feminine voice asked.

"Um, well yes, yes I am. Do come in." While Bilbo had enough guests for one evening, he decided this girl seemed like nothing compared to the lot in his dining room. Nor was he one to turn away a lady.

Now at this point all the dwarfs had turned to see who she was, but before they could all jump up to get a peek, Gandalf strode to door and shot the dwarfs a look that told them to stay put.

"My dear Eliana!" He enveloped her into a huge hug that swept her up off the floor. All the while the dwarfs whispered among themselves, with of course, Fili and Kili perhaps the most curious. They could hardly stay seated! All they wanted was just a peek and they couldn't even see her!

She giggled a breathless reply, "Oh Gandalf it really is good to see you!" As she said this she took off her cloak.

"Ah, um, you..." Bilbo trailed off with a stupid expression on his little hobbit face.

"Yes?" She asked, quite amused by him already.

"See I thought that dwarf women were bearded and well, ugly, but you are definitely not that! Not...well what I mean is...its just that..." Poor Bilbo was at a loss for words. 'Stupid hobbit! She probably feels uncomfortable! What kind of a host are you anyways, Bilbo?' he thought to himself. Naturally, this comment got all the dwarfs out of their seats, and really, who could blame them.

"Oh, thank you Mr. Baggins." Eliana was shy, and so blushed furiously at his comment and gazed at the ground. She really shouldn't have looked up, for when she did she was greeted by 13 dwarfs openly staring, mouths agape.

Gandalf tried to salvage the situation. "Why don't we all sit down."

"I will not have a she-dwarf on this quest. I will not have her in harms way, Gandalf." I think we all know who said that.

"Well now she's going, so lets all sit down. I have my reasons for this, you know." And so they sat and scrutinized her; while Gandalf and Thorin were bickering back and forth, the rest of the company was distracted by perhaps the most beautiful dwarf, nay female, they had ever seen. Of course, Fili and Kili escorted the shy girl to sit right in between them.

"I'm Kili, and this is my brother Fili." Both brothers stared at her and they gave each other a knowing look.

"Very nice to meet you. I'm Eliana." She blushed at the two handsome brothers. Being away from her own kind for so long, she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. But by Mahal they were something else. The whole company, and by this time Gandalf and Thorin, were looking at her.

And thus the questioning began from the whole company. "Where are you from?" "What do you do?" "Why aren't you at home?" etc... until the poor girl got overwhelmed by the mass of shouting at her she just dropped silent.

"Here now," said Fili, "we don't mean to frighten you. Its just, well, we're all so curious is all. Women don't travel about, usually." That comment and the large plate of food provided by Kili snapped her out of her mangled thoughts.

"No no that's quite alright! Really its fine. Perhaps you could all just start by telling me your names?"

"Of course, lassie." A kindly voice came from across the table and Eliana looked up to see an old dwarf with a white beard smiling kindly at her. "If this lot can stay quite for just a moment perhaps we won't scare her away." He gave the group a withering look. Eliana could tell that he was much respected, because the other dwarves settled down.

"I'm Balin, and this," he gestured towards a very scary looking dwarf across the table, "Is my brother Dwalin." The intimidating dwarf just grunted in response.

Dori took it upon himself to go next, and introduce his kin before they could embarrass themselves in front of him. "I am Dori, milady, and this is Ori," she made a note of how young he looked, "and Nori." The one with the starfish hair. She could remember that.

A man who was very obviously hard of hearing turned to face her and spoke a tad bit loudly, but she assumed that it was because he was hard of hearing. "I'm Oin, and this is Gloin." She received another grunt.

"And I'm Bofur," the dwarf with the kind smile and the funny hat spoke next, "and this is Bombur," the fat one, "and this is Bifur." The one with the..wait, was that an axe? Yes, the one with the axe. Neither of them spoke to her, but Bombur smiled, albeit with a mouth full of food.

Balin spoke again. "And you are already acquainted with Fili and Kili here. And the leader of our company is Thorin Oakenshield."

'Ah yes, exiled king of the lonely mountain.' Eliana thought to herself. She had heard the story of the doom of Erebor in her land. She briefly looked up and Thorin gave her a condescending look and she quickly looked down again.

"Well," she spoke quietly, "it is very nice to meet you all."

As she was being introduced Fili gave his brother a knowing look above her head. She was by far the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his whole life. Luscious brown hair in a soft braid and crystal-like eyes framed by long dark lashes, the kind of eyes which he had never seen before. Fili turned his attention back to the girl with the star eyes and watched her face as she was introduced to the company. He was completely struck by her already.