(Wow you guys are awesome! Honestly I wasn't expecting anyone to even look at this but you all made my day :) And I'm so sorry that I'm posting this today, I meant to put it up last Wednesday but I got caught up with studying for finals and going to practice :/ But here ya go your second chapter! and I also made it a little bit longer than the last one to make up for it :D)
Greetings were exchanged, followed by light conversation. All the while Ella stood there dumbstruck, in complete and utter awe at the fact that she was carrying on a conversation with Gandalf the Grey.
They didn't talk about much, mostly about what a beautiful day it was and how green the grass was this season. But soon the conversation died down and they were saying farewell to each other.
Ella was just about to go on her way and find out just exactly what was going on, when a question popped in her mind.
"Wait!", she called, "Er, Mr. Gandalf?"
"Yes child?", the wizard said turning towards her.
"Umm, where exactly am I?", she politely asked.
"Why, you're in Bag End."
"Ok, thank you!"
And with that Ella turned away from the man and stepped off the pathway, back onto the grass. Moving around the back of the nearest hill she sat down and put her head in her hands, finally dropping her fake act of composure. It was all too much to handle at once. She was torn between the sadness that she was a world away from home, and the joyful fact that she was in the fantasy world of her dreams.
Groaning she tossed her, now only slightly damp, bag onto the grass. Effectively spilling its contents everywhere. Grudgingly Ella bent forward to put her stuff back when she saw it. The book. The book the held the fairytale land where she was.
"If this gets into anyone else's hands but my own, they could alter the book in they're favor. I can't let that happen."
Deciding that if she were to find a way out of here, she would need that book to help her. Looking at the contents of her bag she figured that it would be best to only bring the essentials. she decided on: Her hairbrush, who knows when she would need to look presentable; A small tube of chapstick, useful for dry lips as well as protecting cuts and burns; A small bottle of her favorite perfume that smelled like daisy's and honey; a notebook and pen, it seemed handy enough; The measly bag of potato chips she had; and, of course, the book.
Hearing the sound of running water close by she got up. when she was a few feet from the source of the sound human instinct kicked in and she bolted to the stream. Falling to her hands and knees Ella plunged her head face first into the water. Gulping as much of the sweet nectar as she possibly could. She hadn't realized just how parched she was.
After drinking her fill, Ella walked back to her bag looking at the now useless notebooks and pencils strewn across the ground. She figured it was best if nobody found them. Then thought came to mind, and she gathered her books up. going back to the stream she dug a hole in the soft soil near the bank and buried it all, including her phone, which wouldn't be much use to her here.
Kneeling a bit closer to the stream she washed her hand free of the mud and stood up. With her bag slung over her shoulder and her hands in the pockets of her mostly dry hoodie, Ella made her way back to the path.
"If I'm in Bag End, there's no doubt that there will be hobbits nearby. And am I gonna look out of place."
She was right, nobody in Bag end wore blue jeans and converse. Not to mention that she had on a blue and white hoodie with a long sleeved green shirt underneath. "Oh well."She thought aloud as she trudged along the path again, her shoes making a squelching sound as she moved.
The walkway came to the crest of a hill, where her eyes were met with an enchanting sight. Hobbit homes were everywhere, built right into the hillsides. The cozy, inviting holes were bustling with the merry folk themselves.
As Ella walked further into the community she was met with staring eyes. Most of them were curious stares, wondering what a human was doing in their midst, some even smiled at her. However one angry little hobbit glared at her.
Taking a few more steps, a thought came to her mind. A devious little thought that brought a smirk to her lips. A few feet to her left she saw a small man toiling away in a garden, she politely got his attention and queried, "Excuse me, but which way does Mr. Baggins live?"
Approaching the place she saw how beautiful it was, surrounded by vines and flowers it looked like, well it looked like the sort of house you would find in a fairytale. Ella opened the little gate and stepped up to the front porch, hesitating before she knocked.
"This could end so badly if I do this wrong."
Mustering up all her courage, she knocked on the door. Moments later the door swung open and she was met face to face- well, more like face middle to face with the hobbit himself.
"Um, hello…can I help you?"Asked Bilbo, looking at Ella with a confused expression. Now normally she hated to lie, not that it didn't help sometimes but it always came back to bite her somehow, but this was a special case. The when the sun went down she didn't want to be caught outside at night, plus she had a theory about getting home that she wanted to try. And something told her Mr. Bilbo Baggins' home was just the place to start.
"Hi, I'm terribly sorry to bother you but my name is Ella and I was told you could help me.", she said in her sweetest voice possible.
"Bilbo Bagging, Uh, sorry not to sound rude but who sent you here?"
"Oh that would be Gandalf."
"Gandalf!? But Why would he send you her, I only just met the man this morning."
"Well I guess he thought you were kind enough to help a poor lost girl, at least for a night or two?"
Taking in her bedraggled appearance, he noticed that Ella's clothes were slightly damp, and she had mud stains on her pants. Ella looked at him with soulful eyes.
"Ok I suppose that's alright.", Bilbo said while opening the door a bit larger for her to duck inside.
"Thank you so very much Mr. Baggins, I promise I won't be much trouble at all.", She said with the sweetest smile possible, though when he turned his back to her a smirk found its way back onto her face.
He Showed her to a small spare room where she would stay the night, then where the washroom was. She thanked him once again and went off to clean up. A while after Ella looked like a presentable human being once again, Bilbo invited her down for supper.
She sat herself across from him at the small Kitchen table, looking at the meal he had set up for them. A combination of fresh cooked fish, potatoes, and carrots set before her; It looked delicious and it smelled heavenly.
Ella began to eat hungrily, savoring the mixture of spices on the fish. Just as Mr. Baggins had lifted a lemon from one of the small plates between them, they heard the shrill sound of the doorbell. A scowl graced his face and Ella did her best to hold back a laugh, knowing the chaos that was about to ensue.
Bilbo opened the door and was greeted with a peculiar sight. A tough looking dwarf with tattoos on the top of his head stood at the door.
"Dwalin, at your service."
"Uh, Bilbo Baggins, at yours. Sorry have we met?"
"No.", the Dwarf said gruffly as he pushed past Bilbo and straight into the home.
Moments later Dwalin was sitting in Bilbo's chair and eating his supper. Seeing how quickly he downed what was on the plate, Ella offered him the rest of what was on her plate as well which he happily accepted. Not long after he had polished off his plate there was another ring of the doorbell.
Turning his head towards Bilbo and staring at him darkly, Dwalin said, "That'll be the door". Bilbo once again opened the door to a dwarf, this one had a white hair and looked much more kindly than Dwalin. He introduced himself as Balin, and walked over to the other dwarf who quite literally was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Hello Brother.", he said to him
"Brother.", Dwalin replied
They looked for a moment like they were about to hug, but then roughly bashed their foreheads together in greeting. They proceeded into the pantry and began to go through it, smelling food and picking up what they liked.
Bilbo tried to argue with them, and Ella sat there staring at the little scene going on with a broad smile on her face. Then there was another ring of the door and Bilbo went to answer it again, mumbling under his breath the whole time.
This time it was Fili and Kili who entered the hobbit hole. Fili said something about being careful with his newly sharpened weapons and soon Kili was scraping the mud off his boots on a nearby chest.
The hobbit was very flustered. He didn't understand why there were dwarves invading his home and ransacking his pantry. They kept asking the strangest things when he opened the door like, if they were late, or has it been canceled? Bilbo had no idea what on earth they were talking about.
While they had been rather gruff towards Bilbo, they were all being very sweet to Ella. They would engage her in conversation, asking her name, and telling about what they did; all as they brought out the food from the pantry.
Mr. Baggins was at his wits end when the doorbell sounded once more. He was talking aloud angrily as he approached it. And when he swung the door open one last time a whole swarm of dwarves fell inside. Standing behind them was none other than Gandalf himself.
Everyone went inside, Bilbo was about to speak his mind to Gandalf, who got distracted seeing Ella and went to talk to her.
"I knew our paths would cross again my dear girl.", he said with a twinkle in his eye.
"It's nice to see you again too Gandalf.", she replied cheerfully.
They started grabbing chairs, food and plates. The Dwarves crowded around the longer dining table and Ella joined them. She sat herself next to Kili and everyone almost instantly took a liking to her. They offered her food and drink, to which she accepted the food. Ella laughed as Bombur caught food in his mouth, she even joined on a miniature food fight they had. The dwarves started banging the silverware on the table and then flinging around the dishes, one dwarf would throw to another; they made an assembly line of sorts to clean up the dishes. The entire time the dishes were flying they were all singing merrily, some song about doing everything that Mr. Baggins hates. It made Ella laugh uncontrollably. Bilbo on the other hand looked as though he might pass out for a moment, seeing as they were throwing around his mothers precious china. But not a plate had a single scratch on it as the dwarves piled high the clean dishes and cutlery. Everyone was laughing at the terrified look on Bilbo's face.
Suddenly, everyone went silent as they heard a resonating knock on the door…
(Well I wonder who that could be ;D seriously though thank you guys so much for reading my story it makes my day when I see how many of you have read and reviewed it! Oh and please, please, please review :) I'm always looking for ways to make things better so if you find a mistake or have any ideas please tell me :D)