The clear blue skies above, and the soft green, rolling hills below, Jessamine Braeshyl had never seen anything like Hobbiton before. Her blue-slate eyes soaking in scenery around her as her horse trotted along the cobbled, mossy paths of the village. She knew she was early, extremely so, but her mother had always told her that being early was being on time, and that being on time... well that was being late. Jessamine figured that she could find something to occupy herself with to whittle down the three unnecessary hours before she dare knock on a particular hobbit's door. Guiding her horse into the heart of Hobbiton, she dismounted and hitched her horse, ClipClop, at a nearby post. Rubbing his nose softly, she slipped him a sugar cube from her pocket. "Stay here 'Clips, and don't go making passes at any unsuspecting mares". Patting his shoulder, Jessamine walked away towards the market.
Strolling along the street, she let her eyes wash over the wares at each merchant's stall, stopping every now and then to pick up an item and ask the merchant about their craft. Kindly thanking them for their information, she would then put the item back down and continue on. The market goers of Hobbiton were beginning to stare, any person, let alone a woman above the height of four feet tended to grab attention. Jessamine was noticing their wary glances and was becoming uncomfortable. At five foot one, she was used to be the short one. This attention was entirely foreign and uncomfortable, so she decided to leave the market and prying eyes.
Walking through the town, she stopped in front of a pub with a swinging sign "The Green Dragon", she smiled to herself. "What a quaint little place, hopefully it'll still be here after the journey so I can bring a friend." Swinging her arms behind her back, and clasping her hands together, she continued the stroll through town, finding other curiosities to momentarily look at, and eventually finding her way down to the bank of the lake. She spent a good long while skipping rocks before realizing the sun was setting and that the time had come. She made her way back to the town square, untied her horse and led him up the hilly path towards a particular hobbit hole with a glowing blue Dwarf letter on the door.
Leaving the horse in the pasture across the way, Jessamine took a breath and knocked firmly three times. Harsh mumbles could be heard from the other side of the door, and when it opened a very flustered hobbit filled the door. He stood in silence for a second before saying, "you are not a dwarf." Jessamine replied, "no I am not, but I presume you are Mr. Baggins and you already have half the others here by now?" He nodded in defeat, and stood aside as she ducked her head to step in. "Mr. Baggins-" she started. "Call me Bilbo", he hastily replied. "Bilbo, where would you like me to put my belongings?" Bilbo Baggins pointed to the end of the hall. Jessamine walked down and neatly hung her cloak and sword upon the coat rack. He looked astonished, "you're the first one all night that's done that..." She gave him a warm smile and shrug in response. A large roar of laughter sounded from the opposite hallway, Jessamine gave Bilbo a questioning look. He shook his head and bade her to follow him in that direction.
Coming into view, Bilbo led Jessamine to the dining room. It was full of dwarfish men, noise, and flying foods. At the table's edge nearest her a tall, graying, man, taller than she, addressed her presence. "Oh Lady Braeshyl, you made it." "I hand't expected this gathering to be nearly as crowded. Gandalf." Jessamine leaned over and gave the aging wizard a hardy hug. Gandalf smiled, taking a drag from his pipe, "well pull up a chair and have some supper before the moment has passed." She smiled and scooted in, putting a few odds and ends of food onto her plate. Before she took a bite, Gandalf formally introduced her, "everyone this is Jessamine Braeshyl, I have personally requested that she join us on this quest." Nods of acknowledgement and rumbles of "hello" sounded around the table before the dwarves went back to their food and fun. From the far corner of the table two dwarves were eyeing her. The baby-faced, brunette was in a frenzy of sudden excitement, and was nudging the blonde dwarf next to him. In a harsh whisper he spoke, "Fili... Fiiliii! Doesn't she look just like-?" The blonde with his braided mustache had removed the pipe from his mouth, his eyes fixated on Jessamine. "Yes Kili, I know!" He whispered back sharply, "she looks exactly like Caltria, but it cannot be true..."
Fili placed the pipe back into his mouth, his thoughts reeling. This girl couldn't possibly be Caltria, she had died during an Orc raid on the Ironhills almost 40 years ago. He got so caught up in his thinking that he had sucked in the smoke and had forgotten to exhale. His brother, Kili began clapping him hard on the back, as he began to cough. The other dwarves around the table giving blank, but concerned stares.
As the dinner finished the dwarves helped Bilbo clean up, in their own way. As dishes and silverware flew across rooms into the kitchen, Jessamine walked into the parlor. Finding an overstuffed chair, she sat down in it, her knees pushing back slightly into her chest. She laughed to herself, "I have never in my life been too tall for a chair..." she thought. One of the dwarves walked into the parlor, clearing his throat. Jessamine looked over. The blonde dwarf she had seen at dinner was standing in the room. He looked her straight in the eyes, a searching look on his face. Jessamine found him very handsome, his mess of blonde hair and sultry voice would have been enough, but the mustache and his blue eyes glittering in the firelight were enough to make her look away quickly. He cleared his throat once again and said, "my name is Fili, I'm from the Blue Mountains. What about yourself?" Jessamine looked into the hearth and dryly stated, "I'm Jessamine Braeshyl, from Lake Town." Fili raised an eyebrow and asked, "You look a lot like a woman I used to know... who were your parents?" She snapped around to look at him, "my mother was Arabeth Braeshyl of Dale, I don't know who my father was, but I know he was from Dale as well." Fili was about to ask another question when a sharp round of knocks came on the front door. Jessamine sighed in relief.