Chapter 1 : The Uninvited Guest.

Anneslyne frowned, her scared lips tugging to one side slightly as the tiny glowing mark came into view emblazoned on the lower half of the round green door which was nestled in a similarly green hill. Her steel blue eyes flickering to the smoke puffing out of the little white stone chimney, then to the gardens and quaint lights of the shire that glowed below and she thought it such a pretty, peaceful place untouched by hardships or cruelty and that she would love to live in a place with such tranquil gardens.

She sighed deeply shaking the thought from her mind as she adjusted her dappled brown hood and fur pelt to continue her short walk up the garden path in a decent amount of comfort. She tapped her dirty boots against the top step clearing them of the muck as best she could before taking the last little step onto the porch where she knocked slightly loudly against the freshly painted wood, wiggled the brass knocker that jutted out of the middle and thumped against the door with her hand again.

After a few minutes the door opened to reveal a flushed and flustered curly haired hobbit a little taller than herself, he looked at her with wide, apprehensive eyes, eyes that skittered from each of her weapons, the sword, the little axe strapped to her boot and the bow upon her back then finally to her face which was no doubt a little stern. Anneslyne tried to smile softly, feeling sorry for the poor fellow she could already hear some of her companions clomping around his home, laughing and talking loudly.

" Anneslyne , it's…"the door slammed rather quickly with a gust that ruffled her loose fringe with force. The little woman blinked a few times as she registered what had happened.

–How rude-

Her brow furrowed,crinkling her freckled nose as she knocked again only louder and more forcefully to which the little man on the other side of the door squeaked.

"There's nobody home."

Anneslyne lent up against the door with a short sigh and hoarsely croaked, for her voice was very sore.

"well Nobody, I am willing to tell you I have had quite a rough few weeks and am in need of rest now either open this door or I will take my axe and make a mess of it's pretty green paint," that seemed to do the trick for not a second later the door flung open so hard and fast that she thought it might rip off its shiny brass hinges.

"as I was saying," she breathed dryly.

–Before I was so rudely interrupted-

" Anneslyne it is a pleasure to meet you," she smiled bowing down but not too lowly before pulling off her cloak and pelt, unbuckling her sword belt and buckskin bow pouch and hanging them off an unoccupied hook next to the four that were already filled.

"B..Bilbo..B Baggins" cried the man shrilly.

She moved past the stuttering hobbit through his hall and down the left as she followed the sound of merriment until she reached the pantry. Kili and Fili were the first to greet her She had lived with them for some time as a child and they greeted each other as family would, Their hands raised in welcome as they approached, of the two brothers Kili was youngest a year older than her and twelve younger than Fili. His black beard was beginning to grow out and it tickled her shoulder as he pulled her into a tight hug, the last time she saw him it had been no more than a whisper of shaded fuzz an idea of a goatee more than anything. Kili beamed at her with childish eyes as they broke apart. Fili smiled kindly at the young woman pulling her into a hug of his own resting his chin atop her head and letting his blonde beard plats dangle in front of her face, unlike his brother his facial hair was long enough to plat although it had been that way for many years.

"How have you been?" she croaked with a smile as she helped move the table the two had been wrangling before she interrupted.

"Good, very good," Fili smiled. "Had some trouble finding the place though." He admitted shooting a meaningful glance at his brother.

"What happened to your voice?" Kili asked, casually avoiding the insinuation and poking at her throat.

"Ran into some trouble with the lord… of Moria," she whispered slowly pulling away her grey scarf to reveal the bruising and defined dwarfish hand print which was poked and prodded further.

"You called them women didn't you?" Balin joked as he entered the room eyeing Anneslyne and the brothers waggling his eyebrows.

The doorbell rang again before Anneslyne could retort and she suddenly felt very sorry for poor Mr Baggins as he moved past her to answer it shouting frantically about nobody being home and the abundance of dwarves in his living room. Moments later a flood of familiar and friendly faces moved past her and into the pantry where they removed and snagged every morsel in sight, Ori,Nori Dori. Balin and Dwalin who had arrived before her, Oin and Gloin followed by Bifur,Bofur and Bombur and at the very end of the parade of armed dwarves was a tall man, a man clad in grey robes a grey scarf with his grey beard and a mischievous smile if ever she had seen one. She couldn't help but notice he looked as though he was rather pleased with himself.

Gandalf was of course the man before her, Anneslyne had only met the old wizard once before now on the day of Fili's twenty-ninth name day, he had brought fireworks and she had chased the little butterfly like lights until she could no longer stand.

"I did not know you were joining us Anneslyne ," He smiled down at her. "Or that you had grown so fast and so beautiful" he said gently as he looked her up and down forty-one and she looked almost full-grown.

"Spur of the moment decision," she coughed watching the old man with a mixture of awe and fear.

"I highly doubt you can decide to grow," Kili smiled leaning on her shoulder making her feel shorter than usual.

"If one could decide to grow or not you would have grown a beard long ago," She pulled at the wisps of stubble on his chin as Fili walked over to greet Gandalf with a bow, a small hug and a stern look that ended the little fight before it had begun.

Anneslyne smiled brightly at Fili before disappearing down one of the hallways in search of her good friend Bofur, Kili as always tagged along and was soon followed Fili who disliked being left out of the fun. When she found the dark haired dwarf he was setting cutlery on the table his pipe stuck out of his smiling mouth which he dramatically dropped when she greeted him with a small smile of her own.

"Well now look what tha cat dragged in, look a' you Anneslyne , almost taller than Kili and prettier by far," he smiled taking her hands in his to get a better look at the small woman, it had been six years since they had last met and although she was small now back then she had been exponentially smaller.

"She most certainly is not!," Kili cried out puffing out his chest and pouting.

"I don't know Brother she is catching up," Fili chuckled looking at Kili's head then at Anneslyne 's playing up on his brothers insecurity.

Anneslyne laughed at the horrified expression that crossed Kili's face before she left her brothers to their own devices and turned to Bofur handing him a small pouch of old toak before helping him set up the table. They spoke of many things, her previous quests, Moria, the trek to the shire, old stories she had heard a thousand times that still brought laughter and cheer to her heart. Ori had appeared during the conversation, He was a few months younger than her and had taught her to knit at a young age. Gave her a small hug and joined the mirth, He was a little silly and sometimes forgot to think before he spoke but his heart had always been in the right place and she loved him like she did the rest of the company.

Soon enough dinner was in full swing, with food placed about the table like that of a giant feast or at least she thought this is what it would look like. Anneslyne could not remember the last time she had seen so much in one sitting and was thankful she had arrived on time. The conversation was loud and broken as they ate. Mr Baggins watching horrified from a little ways away as the company demolished his reserves and dirtied his dishes.

"So they're mad", because you're with us," Ori asked his gentle, whispy voice carried a little and caught the attention of some of the company.

"Who's mad?" Dwalin asked through his mouthful of meat.

"Our kin in Moria," Bofur put in, he had already been alerted of the situation that had transpired a few months past and was very angry that Anneslyne had been treated so roughly.

"Why? What's up their pipe," Kili Asked bringing tankards of mead with him as he sat to her right.

"Parantly they dunot take kindly to our quest involving a certain person of elfish decent," Balin Sighed as he took a swing of ale.

" What? Who? There are no elves with us," Kili shouted a little drunkly, he was obviously outraged because he was spilling his drink.

"Honestly boy, sometimes I worry about how you manage to function, and wonder weather you have rocks instead of a brean." Gloin joked inclining his head toward Anneslyne, to which Kili responded with a face that was either great confusion or constipation.

"E Remenin gurt Em," Bifur said stoically pointing at Anneslyne , who blushed and looked at her plate taking a mouthful of potato to occupy herself, however it no longer tasted any good and she found it hard to swallow so she let it sit on the back of her tongue.

Dori gave the dwarf a look of disappointment and re-approach before leaning across the table to pat the girl's hand. To which she smiled and gulped the potato along with the lump forming in her throat.

"It's fine, really, I'm not ashamed." She said a little to quickly.

"Nor should you my deer," Bombur reassured her around what she hoped was a mouthful of cured meat.

"But she's not an elf!" Kili Mumbled.

"In their eyes half is enough to warrant hate." Fili said obviously ashamed of the actions of his kinsmen.

"To hell with what they think. You're a dwarf, you might not be of our blood line, but you grew in our halls, shared our bread and learned of our history. You're our den mate, our kin. No matter what others say you belong with us." Kili growled his drunken words spoken softly to make the point more heartfelt. Glancing sideways he held his mug up a little. Anneslyne nodded at his gesture and smiled.

"It's kind of you to say," she whispered still looking down at her plate, her hands balled into fists around the end of her tunic.

"He's right you know," Fili smiled brushing her platinum fringe behind her ear. "We're family,"

The hobbit listened in from afar and was intrigued by her heritage half elf. She was far too short for the other half to be human and although one would lean toward her being half dwarf she was still so short, her face soft and hairless.

Once finished the company took it upon themselves to clean up after. Anneslyne got stuck into carting the mugs into Mr Baggins's quaint little kitchen. Smiling as the others helped wash and scrape the dregs of food off plates. Her nose twitched as she listened to the faint and distressed sounds of Bilbo's complaining. She felt rather sorry for him, they had been invited but from what she had gathered not by the hobbit but by Gandalf the cheeky old man. She dodged gracefully as plates and forks whizzed by on her rout from the kitchen to the dining room and back again. This display seamed to disgruntle Mr Baggins even more and before long Kili began to make fun of the poor hobbit further in the form of a song, to which the rest of her kin joined with hearty healthy voices, she stayed mute for the duration of the song due to her injured voice but clapped and danced with them when she didn't have her hands full.

The joy filled ballad ended as the last of the dishes had been cleaned Anneslyne looked at the hobbits surprised face to see not a single plate, bottle, mug, or fork had been damaged in any way she couldn't help her own smile as she said.

"That's six gold pieces please,"

The hobbit stared at her in disbelief and before she could assure him she was kidding a knock from the front entrance caused her mirth and delight to be suddenly replaced with suspense and anticipation.

"He has come," Gandalf's voice resounded through the silent air the room had drowned in.

All in a rush the company raced toward the door, effectively knocking each other out of the way trying to reach its handle and be the one to greet Thorin, Anneslyne had not seen him in a long while, and although keen to greet him she was worried he would be disappointed in her failure of the incident in Moria.

Despite the racing and grappling of her kin it was Gandalf to open the little round door the cool crisp air floated down the hall, to breathe in her face gently along with the scent of wildflowers and tall wheat.

She watched as the older dwarf walked over the threshold into the little house, he seemed too rough for the quaint settings of the hobbit hole. She was jostled about as the company moved around her to greet their leader but she was frozen with anxiety. Fili's giant hand enveloped her own and she could feel the roughness on his fingers on her own as he pulled the girl with him as Kili walked behind her as a guard so she didn't skitter off. Thorin's misty blue eyes locked onto the three as they approached his stern smile slipping off his face as Fili and Kili brought her closer and he saw the marks of her mistreatment. His face hard like stone as he reached out and pulled her scarf further down to fully reveal the ugly bruising, his brow rose as he pulled it back into place.

"They should not have treated you so." He stated watching her with a fond curiosity as she bowed.

"I'm sorry," A blush hung in her cheeks she had failed him.

"It is not your fault. I should have gone myself, I should have never put that burden on you" He twiddled a strand of her starlight hair between his grubby fingers, silently studying the girl. Fili and Kili drew him out of his musings and he released the pale golden strands and began conversing with his nephews as they lead him into the dining room.

Anneslyne sighed walking towards the door, she needed fresh air.

Thorin watched from the corner of his eye as Anneslyne pulled her brown cloak off the peg next to the others and slipped out the door and into the cold night. He heaved a heavy sigh as he took a spoonful of the stew their host had been heating, wondering what on earth his ward would get herself into and hoping it wouldn't be trouble.