Author's note (Please read to avoid misunderstandings): I am writing this story because it's stuck in my head since I saw "The desolation of Smaug" and I just need to get it off my chest. It has, however, been quite some time since I have read "The Hobbit" and I am not particularly fond of some of the fates of some characters (no spoilers here) at its end. Moreover, I am purely writing this because I simply enjoy writing and playing with the characters the way I want to. This means that my story might have a few mistakes or alterations to the original Hobbit-story and might of course have some language errors. I hope you can forgive me for this as well as the fact that I should rewatch the movies to be more precise in my extrapolations which, however, would take too much time unfortunately. The story centers on (my) two main characters and everything else that happens in the films (and yes, I am basing this on the first two Hobbit-films) is of secondary importance for this particular story. You just need to realize that I know how silly my little love story is compared to the epic happenings and goings-on in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings but, like I said, I just needed to get this off my chest. And apparently I also needed to get off my chest the plea that you don't condemn my fluffy little Mary Sue-ish story. So, if you still feel brave enough to read this silly little thing, I congratulate you : - ) Oh yeah, and reviews would be nice, of course. : - )
An unexpected partaking
Chapter 1: Pink Plaid Pajamas and a Doorknob
Oh dear, her head hurt. It was pounding right above her left eye where she had hit her head or rather her face at the door. And what a strange door it was indeed. The girl kept holding a hand over her throbbing temple and staring at this round door right in front of her. It was made of light wood with a knob right in the middle and a strange symbol edged on it. She knew that it was a rune letter but that was about all she recognized. These surroundings were completely unknown to her. She seemed to be standing on a hill with grass spreading out to all sides of her and this door seemed to be the only landmark except for the little glittering lake that could be seen in the distance. Only, she couldn't be exactly sure about her observations since it was dark and only a crescent moon and a few stars were the scarce source of light.
She must have walked right into this door which had been a rather unpleasant experience for her forehead. But since her way had been from her living room to her kitchen she hadn't quite expected to find a door in between, least of all finding herself outdoors. What was happening here? One minute she wanted to grab something to eat, the other she found herself here at this strange place in her pajamas.
The girl could here noises coming from the inside of this strange dwelling. Basically, she had no other option but to knock. Just before her knuckles would have touched the wooden surface the door opened from the inside and a peculiar looking man with very colorful clothing eyed the girl suspiciously.
"Who are you, now?" the man asked wearily.
The girl took a step back and the view of the stranger in front of her in. He had blond, curly hair and was wearing very unusual clothing, including short trousers, which showed of his enormous and hairy feet. Surprised, the girl gulped, quickly glanced at the man's ears, which seemed to be pointy for all she knew, and started with, "I… I am Gwen. I am sorry to disturb you but I just found myself in front of your door and…"
The man cut her off, "Found yourself, hmm? You don't say! Well, oh come on in, lassie. I couldn't care less. The more the merrier, I guess."
He gestured for her to come in all the while sounding anything else than hospitable.
"Gandalf, there's another one!" he yelled into no particular direction, merely down the hallway they were standing in right now. Yet, at the end of this particular hallway appeared to be the source of where all the noise was coming from.
Gandalf, who was Gandalf? the girl wondered. She had heard that name before. The other man was about to leave when Gwen asked, "What's your name, if you please? I must admit I'm rather lost."
The unhappy looking man seemed to really notice her for the first time and eyed her appearance and attire. Self-consciously Gwen smoothed out nonexistent wrinkles on her pink plaid pajama trousers and scratched one of her feet with the other. She was as barefoot as the man in front of her, only his feet were like nothing she had ever seen.
"Well," the colorfully dressed man stated, "my name is Bilbo Baggins and I live here. This is Bag-End, the most beautiful hobbit hole in the Shire; or at least it was until this cohort appeared!"
He wrinkled his nose and his eyes turned into small slits, "Pray tell, what creature are you exactly? You're my size but your feet and ears aren't right. Yet, you cannot be a dwarf either; I haven't actually seen any dwarf women before, though."
Gwen's thoughts were racing at one hundred miles an hour at all these strange and still familiar words the hobbit in front of her had just used. Yes, he was a hobbit for heaven's sake! She had read about them and about dwarves as well. This couldn't be true.
When she wanted to answer Bilbo's musings a very tall figure appeared from the hall. It loomed over the two of them and Gwen sank even more against the now closed door.
"Ah, Gandalf, there you are. Here's another one of your invitees. But she's not a dwarf, is she?"
Gwen was keenly being looked over by this new stranger.
"No. Bilbo, she is not. What is your name girl?"
"I'm G… Gwen," she stuttered.
"Mmh, it seems my invitation spell was a bit too well cast after all," the large man with the long beard and grey robe mumbled, "Are you alright? You're not from Middle-Earth, are you, child?"
"No, no I'm not!" Gwen managed to get out, "But I know you! I've heard your names before; Gandalf and Bilbo. Or rather I've read about you in a book somewhere! Yes, I remember now. You go on a journey or something like that…"
She trailed off and Gandalf and Bilbo shared a skeptical look.
Gwen continued, "Never mind, I don't remember the rest of the story anyway. But let me just say this before I flip out over the fact that I am in a fictional story of all places: I am not a hobbit and least of all a dwarf. I am human!"
She was breathing heavily and leant one hand on the door knob for support.
"She's a bit tiny for a human, don't you think, Gandalf?" Bilbo said while the wizard was simply stroking his overlong beard.
"Well, my size is the least of our problems right now, fellas. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here at all. I was going to get a midnight snack and not end up in a hobbit hole, let alone a fictional hobbit hole!"
Bilbo stared at her angrily.
Gwen continued her ramblings, "It's not possible! It's simply not possible for me to be here. I have to go to work tomorrow. I can't be in a story! I have to… I need to… I need a chair."
Gwen felt a bit dizzy after her rant and spotted a chair next to a coat rack into which she gladly collapsed. Slightly shaking she let her head fall into her hands and just closed her eyes. This must all have been a dream. When she opened her eyes again, she would be back in her apartment on her sofa, probably waking from one of the strangest dreams she had ever had.
The noise, however, that made Gwen look up again unfortunately was not the rumbling of her washing machine in her apartment but two dwarves tumbling onto the scene. They were laughing heartily and one of them had his arm around the other.
"What's going on around here?" the blonde one of the two asked while the other kept a big smile on his face and firstly looked at Gandalf and Bilbo and then at the girl sitting in the corner.
Gandalf cleared his throat, "Well, Fili, Kili, may I present to you the lady Gwen. She will accompany us on our journey."
The next two things happened simultaneously. The two dwarves smiled even wider, if that was possible, and bowed to Gwen in synch, "Fili, and Kili, at your service!"
At the same time, Gwen jumped up and yelled, "I am doing what? I am going where?"
Speechless she simply gaped at Gandalf and the dwarves in front of him.
Bilbo murmured lamely, "I don't have time for this. I'll go back to rescuing what's left of my pantry."
He turned a corner and was gone.
The dwarves, though, had seemingly stopped mid-bow and looked at Gwen quizzically. They straightened back up and Fili, who apparently was the blonde one, glanced at Gandalf.
"I'm guessing she needs a little more persuading. Let us handle that."
He winked at the wizard.
"Let me just say one more thing, lads," he looked straight at Gwen, "My spell has summoned you here for a reason. I have to admit I didn't expect it. But now that you're here your knowledge might be of great use to us. It might be knowledge you gathered from a book but if there really is a story out there about what's to come for our merry mission and you remember even small parts of it, this could be of utter importance for our undertaking."
With these words the wizard left Gwen hanging there, frozen on her spot, and went in the same direction Bilbo had went right before.
With knitted brows the two dwarves in front of Gwen kept staring at her and Fili tilted his head slightly looking her over. Suddenly feeling more self-conscious than ever Gwen crossed her arms over her pink plaid chest and pushed her chin out. Kili was approaching her cautiously.
He put both his rather large hands up in front of him and said, "Why don't we just get you something to eat first and then talk about our journey. We're really nice fellas, Fili and I. And our uncle Thorin isn't that bad either; at least when you get to know him a little better. But the other lads are perfectly all right, too."
He smiled at her which seemed to light up his whole face. Gwen felt herself relax a little.
When Kili was only a few steps away from her he added with his head now too tilted slightly to the side, "Maybe we should get you something else to wear, too. Maybe Bilbo has something in one of his countless coffers. He does have embroidered doilies after all."
The last sentence was aimed at his brother and Fili shot him a wide grin back. Kili kept smiling at Gwen and offered her his hand. She hesitated briefly but then threw caution to the wind and took the dwarf's proffered hand.
Altogether, he did look nice; not like Gwen had always imagined what dwarves looked like. His warm smile seemed to be heartfelt and honest. Gwen had read that dwarves were greedy and brutal but those characteristics did not appear to be true, at least not with these two. Although his exterior seemed to be a bit rough, with his black beard and long, wild and black hair, the touch of his hand felt soft and warm. Kili's broad shoulders almost loomed over her when he led her into the dining room. But his sparkling brown eyes made Gwen almost forget all of her worries. Shyly she smiled back at Kili and then at his brother who had followed them.
When Gwen finally looked at the table in the dining room, she sucked in a sharp breath as eleven pairs of dwarf eyes were directed at her. She gulped. What had she gotten herself into?
