Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
**Speaking through the mind: Bold Italics.
A/N: My story is mostly told in third person.
Warning: This story includes rape, suicide, abuse and triggers of rape – I already wrote in the summary that it is an Angst genre as well as Romance – so it won't be all depressing, actually it is also quite a comedic story. I am informing all my readers of this detail from now, because I don't want you to later on tell me that I should have warned you from the start otherwise you wouldn't have read it in the first place. I hope that you continue reading this story even though, because I promise you it is a wonderful read with many interesting twists, funny scenes, and a different plotline than most stories. I'm sorry if you are all mad at me for this =( but I don't want my stories to be all butterflies and rainbows, I like adding twists, and such … sorry for blabbing LOL, and I do hope you continue to read this story.
ENJOY!
Chapter 2:
Lux-Vita's grip on Gandalf's arm became firmer the more steps they took in approaching the eight dwarves who sat gaping at them, and Gandalf actually had to hide a wince, breathing in a sigh of relief as they finally neared their destination, and he courteously sat her down on the chair to the far end of the table, keeping quite a large distance between her and the dwarves – and going by the small flicker of gratitude in her eyes, Gandalf knew that Lux-Vita appreciated his action.
"Tharkûn, who is the young lass?" a fierce looking dwarf with many braids in his long hair and a very impressive beard demanded, glancing between Gandalf and the small fragile girl who looked a mess.
The other dwarves perked up at the question, and they swiveled their heads to and fro from the girl who shrunk away from all the different looks she was getting and Gandalf who drew himself up to his full height at the question being posed to him in a rude way – but ah, such is the way of the dwarves.
Gandalf could see how all the attention from the male dwarves were upsetting his new charge, and so, he brought the attention back to him and away from her, "This, is Lux-Vita and she will be accompanying me for the time being."
Slowly, Gandalf took a seat next to Lux-Vita and looked at her with kind eyes before speaking in a calm and gentle voice, "Lux-Vita, these are some of the companions I informed you of. The one who just spoke is Glóin, and next to him, the one with the hearing aid, is his brother Óin." He then pointed at a dwarf with white hair braided into a silver case, a dwarf with starfish-shaped hair and a beard tied off into three different braids, and a young-looking dwarf with mildly short orange hair, "These are the Ri brothers, Dori, Nori and Ori," and lastly he pointed at a kind looking dwarf with a strange hat atop his black hair, an extremely rotund dwarf that sat on three of the tiny hobbit stools with orange-red hair braided as a necklace around to the back of his head, and the last dwarf with shaggy black hair and beard, both streaked with many grey hair and who looked a bit wild with a rusting remain of an axe embedded in his forehead, "and lastly, the Ur cousins, brothers Bofur and Bombur and their cousin Bifur."
Lux-Vita stared at each and every dwarf that Gandalf introduced her to with wide, fearful eyes, nodding hastily and once Gandalf was done with the introductions, the eight dwarves each bellowed their own kind of loud salute, making her flinch and hastily turn her head away from them, hiding her face into a messy curtain of ruby hair.
"What's wrong with the little lass, Gandalf?" asked Dori gently. He had a worried glint in his gray eyes – he was known to be the pessimist worrywart of the Company, with a tendency to baby and suffocate his younger brother Ori and anyone else in his view.
"I found her like so, I would ask of you to be a bit cautious around her, it doesn't take much to frighten her and it took me quite a while to convince her in accompanying me here," said Gandalf in half-warningly and half-explanatory tone.
"Discrimination against dwarves, aye lassie," spat Glóin, enraged at what Gandalf had revealed to them as he began starring daggers into the back of the girl's head, who still had her face covered by a curtain of hair. Upon noticing that Glóin was addressing her, her small form began to tremble and shake in fear and her breathing quickened at an alarming rate.
The dwarves noticed her reaction to Glóin's words and stared wide-eyed at the small form of the girl; it didn't escape their notice that she relaxed palpably at Gandalf's touch as he placed a soothing hand on her forearm and glared back at Glóin.
"Master Dwarf, do control yourself! It is not the fact that you were dwarves that had bothered her so, but the fact that you are males!"
Glóin had the audacity to look guilty, and he mumbled a quick apology to the girl.
"Now that we are quite done with the picking and pointing of blame at innocent bystanders, I suggest we get a move on and travel onwards to our burglar's smial," said Gandalf as though he were addressing naughty children.
The eight dwarves walked ahead of Gandalf and Lux-Vita, giving them a chance to talk privately without curious ears and eyes following them.
"Are you alright, my child?" asked Gandalf kindly, placing an arm over the girl's shoulders to help her walk steadily on her feet.
Lux-Vita nodded her head quickly but Gandalf could tell that she was merely placating him, and Gandalf sighed.
"I'm sorry about Master Glóin my dear, but one thing you must understand before we reach to Mr. Baggin's smial, is that dwarves are a rowdy and paranoid bunch of race. They have a hard time trusting outsiders since all other races are prejudiced towards dwarves and they can come off as quite rude at times, but that is the way of most dwarves," Gandalf explained.
Lux-Vita's eyes widened in shock and pity.
Prejudice was one thing she could definitely understand, and she felt horribly bad for the dwarves – to be living in a world were all races look down at them with such negativity and distrust was atrocious; Lux-Vita hated all forms of prejudice and bias, and she never showed any interest in favoring one kind over another, and so she nodded, but this time Gandalf recognized it as a nod of understanding.
Gandalf found himself to be once again curious of the girl and her origins. For the first time since finding her at Bindbole Wood, the girl had actually nodded in comprehension and was not merely being obedient.
"One thing you do not need to worry about however, is the dwarves' treatment of you. They hold woman and children in the deepest of respect and care, and they would never dare to harm a female as they are extremely precious and rare to them, so you will be in excellent hands."
"I-I un-understand G-Gan-Gandalf," she stuttered breathlessly, but her eyes were still studying the form of each dwarves in front of her in fear.
Gandalf inwardly sighed, it was going to be quite difficult to get the girl to open up, and for the numerous times since finding Lux-Vita, Gandalf wondered whatever happened to the girl to make her so frightened and distrusting of everyone, but him.
***Lux-Vita Laelynn Jamie Potter***
Bilbo Baggins wasn't having a good day; actually scratch that, today was a completely atrocious day.
Never mind the fact that the blasted wizard interrupted him while he was out enjoying a bit of fresh air while smoking his Old Toby and asking for him to accompany him on an adventure. An adventure of all things.
Does Gandalf know nothing about hobbits? He asked himself in indignation.
No one in their right mind would ask a hobbit of all races, to partake in an adventure.
But now, as he was getting ready to have a dinner of deliciously cooked fish that he slaved over as a treat for himself, a dwarf knocked on his comfortable home.
A dwarf!
The dwarf was huge and buff with a balding head, bulging muscles and many tattoos. He also brought weapons!
Weapons were being brought into his home, how utterly scandalous! Unlike his many Took cousins, Bilbo disliked all forms of weapons and never bothered learning how to defend himself.
The dwarf barged his way into his kitchen, uninvited he may add, and proceeded to swallow up his dinner – bones and all! Then he had the sheer audacity to ask for more, when another dwarf entered the comforts of his home.
An older and much shorter dwarf, who turned out to be his brother, and they began slamming their heads against each other in his kitchen, emitting a loud thunk and then proceeding to raid his pantry for more food.
He had furiously rambled on and on that he didn't know them and that he didn't in fact mind visitors as long as they were invited by him and he knew they were coming beforehand, he apologized for speaking his mind; and the old dwarf was actually impudent enough to tell him that his apology was accepted before going back to rummaging through his pantry alongside his brother.
Bebother and confusticate these dwarves.
And as if that weren't enough, the door rang for the third time that day, opening the door to find two more dwarves!
They looked to be young with identical mischievous smiles plastered onto their faces, as well as a glint of mischief in their eyes, and he immediately regretted opening the door for them.
One of them had golden blonde hair and beard, his moustache had braids dangling down on both sides with beads, and he had sapphire blue eyes, the younger dwarf beside him however, was the complete opposite with dark brown hair and matching eyes, with a bead or two in his hair and a small wisp of beard, which was odd for a dwarf as they all took pride in growing long beards.
"Fíli," the blonde one exclaimed with a wide smile.
"And Kíli," the brunette exclaimed, before they both bowed down as though they rehearsed their introduction before Bilbo had opened the door, both of them exclaiming in unison, "At your service."
Ah, another pair of brothers, how wonderful!
"You must be Mr. Boggins?" the brunette – Kíli spoke with an air of mischief.
Bilbo didn't trust those two brothers at all, they had a mischievous air radiating around them and he hastened to close the door in their faces.
"Nope, you can't come in, you've got the wrong house," was all Bilbo had to say.
As Bilbo was closing the door on their face, a big boot appeared instantly, stopping the door from closing fully. The boot belonged to Kíli, and he had a look of bewildered confusion on his face as he spoke in an urgent tone, "What? Has it been cancelled?"
"No one told us," added Fíli, his smile frowned in confusion, his eyes darting through the small opening to the inside of the smial.
Now Bilbo was confused. Has what been cancelled?! "Nothing has been cancelled," he blurted out in angered confusion. Just what in Yavanna's name is going on?!
Kíli looked greatly relieved, breathing in a chuckle and trading looks with his brother, he said, "Well, that's a relief."
Bilbo was so shocked, that he froze in place unable to argue anymore, when the two young brothers pushed their way into his smial and proceeded to unload their weapons into his tiny hands.
Fíli alone had over ten or fifteen throwing knives, daggers and swords, while his brother Kíli merely had a bow, a quiver full of arrows and a sword.
Looking at the younger brother while he tried steadying his weight from the older brother's many weapons being plunked into his hands, he was enraged to see Kíli was wiping the mud off his boots onto the edge of his mother's glory box.
How dare he? So rude with no manners whatsoever!
After dumping all his many weapons onto the poor, confused hobbit's hands, he followed his brother and Dwalin who appeared from the kitchen, leaving him with a casual remark, "Careful with them, we just had them sharpened!" and disappearing from his view entirely.
After hearing the old one, Balin converse with the other three dwarves that they were going to have to move the furniture so that the others would be able to fit in, Bilbo puffed up in apoplectic rage.
Others! What others?
Did they mean to say that more dwarves adding on to the four that were already in his house were coming over? His poor smial would not survive their thrashing the place, they were already ridding his stocked up pantry from all the food.
Just as he was about to throw another fit after being ignored by them when he inquired as to how many more dwarves were coming, the doorbell rang, and Bilbo had had enough.
Storming over to the door, he began yelling at the top of his lungs, dumping Fíli and Kíli's many different range of weapons on the floor, "Oh no. No, no! There's nobody home. Go away, and bother somebody else. There are far too many dwarves in my dining room as it is. If-if-if this is some clotted's idea of a joke," he uttered a few fake laughs that came out a bit nervous, "I can only say, it is in very poor taste!"
Uttering the last word, he threw open his door with as much strength as his little body could muster, only to find an entire heap of dwarves clutter down onto the floor by his big, hairy feet. They were all moaning and yelling at each other to get off, and as Bilbo looked up from the pile on his feet, his face morphed into a mixture of rage and exasperation as he spat in an accusing tone, "Gandalf!"
Gandalf had the nerve to look a bit sheepish but not at all apologetic, and just as he was about to begin berating him for being the sole reason for all the dwarves in his home – for who else, but that meddling, wandering wizard would have the audaciousness to congregate a large group of dwarves in his little smial, he noticed a small figure of a girl from the race of men, and his jaw slackened in surprise.
The girl was a mess, to put it politely. She had messy, stringy ruby hair tangled all over her gaunt and pale face hiding most of it from the sight of others, she looked haggard in some weird type of apparel that barely covered enough of her skinny and bony arms and legs.
But what drew the girl to his attention the most were her eyes; large emerald eyes stared gravely back at him in fear – fear of a hobbit, can you believe that? They looked to be sunken and lacked its luster that he was almost positive it had before, and she had large swollen bags the color of purple under her eyes, indicating a lack of sleep.
Gandalf had a smug sort of look on his face; he noticed the hobbit's attention was on the girl, and though Lux-Vita would not be happy for the attention being rounded up on her, Gandalf was relieved that he had escaped the tongue-thrashing he was sure to be in the receiving end of; he knew that Bilbo Baggins must have inherited his dear mother Belladonna's gift for dressing-down a person and making them feel like a badly behaved child.
But alas, he went ahead of himself as Bilbo swished his head over to him as the dwarves finally managed to stand up on their own two feet and yelled, his tiny finger wagging in an accusing manner, "Gandalf! Why are there dwarves in my home! Why?!"
"My dear Bilbo, may I and my companion come in? Lux-Vita needs to sit down for a bit," said Gandalf in a chiding way, and even though Bilbo was mad at Gandalf for the assembly in his home, he felt abashed and a bit guilty for ignoring the poor girl who looked to be in a haggard state.
"Y-yes of course my Lady, I do apologize for my ill-manners," Bilbo stuttered out in apology. How rude of him. He was a horrible host – he didn't care much for the dwarves, but the poor girl looked down on her feet.
The girl, Lux-Vita nodded quickly, but stayed close to Gandalf, her tiny hand clutching onto Gandalf's sleeve as though it were her lifeline.
Gandalf carefully sat her down in one of the sofas of Bilbo's living room and after promising her that he would be back, Bilbo saw the girl curl upon herself in a protective yet frightened stance, her eyes looking downwards, making sure not to share any eye contact with the others.
"Gandalf," Bilbo whispered as they made their way to the kitchen where all the dwarves were congregated, "Is the – is the girl, scared, of me?" he asked in horror, the matter of there being dwarves in his home completely forgotten with the topic of the girl.
Gandalf sighed wearily and looked at Bilbo with saddened grey eyes, "Yes my dear Mr. Bilbo, Lux-vita is indeed frightened by anyone from the male gender."
"But not you!" he pointed out, it came out a tad bit accusingly but Gandalf didn't seem to mind.
Nodding his head, "Yes, except for me. Apparently I remind her of one that is like a grandfather to her back home and so she feels most comfortable around me, and only me. I am hoping the dwarves would not pay her much attention –"
Whatever more Gandalf was about to say, he was interrupted by a shrill scream that made the hair on Bilbo's feet stand up on ends. Recognizing it as the mystery girl's scream, Gandalf and Bilbo, along with all the dwarves in the kitchen hastened their way to the living room, where they found a bemused and shocked looing Kíli standing alone, his eyes drifting to each of the inhabitants in the house in total confusion.
Gandalf looked around, unable to find the girl he bellowed, "Where is the girl? She was just here," snapping his attention to Kíli, who was the only one near the sofa where he had last left her, he spoke to him in a scary and demanding voice, "Where is the girl Kíli, I just left her here naught but a few minutes ago!"
Fíli rushed over to stand by his brother's side. He didn't know what girl Tharkûn spoke of, but he didn't like the tone used on his brother, and although he knew that Tharkûn would not harm any of the dwarves, it was an instinct for him to always protect his brother.
"Gandalf – What? I-I, I don't – I saw her sitting alone and thought to be nice, she looked lonely, all by herself. I introduced myself and she screamed and crawled away from me," said Kíli in bewilderment, his eyes beseeching that he was telling the truth.
Gandalf sighed, it was an easy mistake, as he had yet to inform Dwalin, Balin, Fíli and Kíli to not scare the girl as she was uncomfortably around any male. It was in Kíli's nature to be friendly and forthcoming and he could not blame they young dwarf for not knowing.
"What girl Gandalf," demanded Dwalin, a frown on his huge forehead as he approached the two brothers, fixing a deep stare into Gandalf's grey eyes.
"I will explain once I find her, everyone stand back," snapped Gandalf urgently. The twelve dwarves and the lone hobbit stood by the side, waiting and watching as Gandalf walked with the most utmost caution, each step being deliberately loud so as to warn the girl that he was approaching.
"Lux-Vita. Lux-Vita? My child, please come out, Kíli was merely being polite and I had yet to warn him not to approach you," he spoke gently, and to the thirteen bystander's immense surprise, a small girl crawled over slowly over to Gandalf's feet.
Fíli, Dwalin and Balin sucked in a sharp breath as they looked upon the mystery girl's face for the first time. Fíli's eyes were widened in horror, Dwalin's mouth hung agape in shock and Balin looked empathetic.
"G-G-Gan-Gandalf?" the girl spoke in a raspy voice making all twelve dwarves and one hobbit flinch notably as they heard the sound of her voice for the first time, and they watched in shared horror as the girl burst out into tears, her small body heaving with the intensity of the sobs.
Everyone stared at Kíli, whose mouth was gaping open, his eyes were the size of a gold coin as he stared at the small form of the mysterious girl in guilt and a slight bit of confusion.
"G-Gandalf, I-I'm s-s-s-so-orryy," she continued crying, and the sound of her cries and the look on her face tugged the heartstrings of every dwarf and one hobbit.
Gandalf knelt down to the girl's crawled form and engulfed her in a hug. The girl flinched at first, before relaxing into the hug, fisting her hands into the back of his robes and crying her little heart out, her face pressed into Gandalf's chest.
"You have nothing to be sorry for my child. It is I that is in fault, for I had forgotten to warn the others that hadn't met you yet not to startle you or approach you, forgive me my child," said Gandalf, his voice filled with sorrow, shocking the dwarves even further.
The girl merely nodded into his robes and Gandalf carefully carried her bridal style into his lap and sat down on the sofa she had recently vacated. Snapping his eyes over to the thirteen onlookers, Gandalf spoke in a tone of voice that left no argument, "This, this is Lux-Vita. She is very wary of any male, except for me since I remind her of one that is like a grandfather to her back home … it is not your fault Kíli so wipe that guilty look from your face. She is my charge and therefore my responsibility and I would appreciate it if none of you question the girl further and stay afar until she is comfortable around you."
They all nodded, and one by one they all made their way back to the kitchen to prepare their dinner. Bilbo fidgeted uncomfortably before racing off towards the dwarves leaving Gandalf alone with the girl. He would rather be around the rowdy dwarves and take care to the state of his kitchen then be around the depressing girl that tore on his heartstrings.
"What happened?" Fíli demanded of his brother in a neutral tone, and he could tell that some dwarves were leaving an ear open to Kíli's reply.
"I-I, Nadad, I-I, I went up to her and said 'Kíli at your service,' the second she heard my voice, her whole body stilled, but I thought nothing of it, but when she looked up at me, her eyes widened in fear and she screamed so loud! I moved forward to her, to help her! I thought- I thought she was hurt, but she then scrambled away from me till I lost sight of her and that was when you all walked in … I didn't know," he ended pitifully, his voice laced with guilt and sorrow.
"It's not your fault nadadith, you heard Tharkûn, he forgot to warn us," Fíli reminded his little brother, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. But his thoughts were revolved around the mysterious girl who Gandalf called Lux-Vita, such an odd name and not one that you would find in Middle Earth.
His brother was thinking along the same lines as he said, "I've never heard of such a name before … who do you think she is? Gandalf seemed to care a lot about her," he added.
Fíli shook his head, "I don't know nadadith, but what I do know is that Thorin will not be pleased with the addition of the girl."
"What do you mean?" his little brother was sometimes too innocent and slow on the uptake. But before Fíli could answer, Balin interrupted for him.
"Aye lad, your brother is right, Thorin wouldn't be happy. It is obvious that Gandalf will not be leaving the girl to fend for herself in the wild."
"Aye, Tharkûn will be bringing the lass along to Erebor with us," Glóin grumbled in disapproval. He knew that they couldn't leave the lass to survive by herself in the wild, especially in the condition she was currently in, and Glóin would not have it on his conscience to leave a hurt and scarred girl to fend for herself, but it didn't mean that he had to like it.
"Masters Fíli, Balin and Glóin are correct," a voice boomed into the kitchen, causing them all to jump in their place and swivel their heads in the direction of the kitchen entrance. "I will not be leaving Lux-Vita alone, she is my charge and none of you are responsible for her fate, but I. If Thorin is to have a problem with it, then he will address his thoughts to me," Gandalf spoke threateningly and they were all shocked at the change in his usual cheerful and carefree demeanor, that they all stopped talking of the mysterious girl and busied themselves with dinner.
And so, Bilbo's full attention was placed on the twelve dwarves who continued to raid his panty, taking out all the food while he yelled at them to put them back, only to be ignored.
"Those are my – Excuse me! Put that back! Put that back! Not the jam, please! … Excuse me." Bilbo was cut off by the sight of one of the largest dwarves he had ever seen; actually he was one of the largest person he had ever seen – who was carrying three entire wheels of cheese from the pantry.
Walking over to him, he patiently spoke in a tone that presumed the other was dim, "Excuse me – A tad excessive, isn't it?" he laughed nervously, "Have you ever heard of a cheese knife?"
The hatted dwarf with a large moustache spoke up cheerfully, appearing to his side out of nowhere, "A cheese knife? He eats it by the block!" before thumping the hobbit hard on the shoulder, succeeding in knocking him forward as he walked away chuckling to himself, "A cheese knife? Bombur?"
Bilbo recovered himself from the strong thump and rushed over to the one Gandalf had called Glóin before and another with an ear trumpet in his ear, both of whom were carrying chairs from his drawing room.
"No, that's Grandpa Mungo's chair! No, I'm sorry, take it back please. Take it back … it's antique, not for sitting on! Thank you!" he then saw more dwarves fiddling with his things, "That's a book, not a coaster. Put that map down, thank you."
But his words fell on deaf ears as all twelve dwarves continued on with what they were doing, continuously ignoring his pleas.
Except of course for the dwarf with a hearing aid who bellowed, "I cannot hear what you are saying!" and he continued on with what he had originally been doing – taking more of Grandpa Mungo's antique chairs into the kitchen.
Of course, the dwarf with a hearing problem would be the only one to answer and notice him, grumbled Bilbo to himself.
Bebother and confusticate those dwarves!
Dori was making a pot of chamomile tea for himself and the others, fretting around about the poor girl, and thinking that perhaps a nice warm tea would calm down her nerves. Walking over to Gandalf, he politely asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Gandalf, can I tempt you with a nice cup of chamomile tea? Or, the lass perhaps?"
Gandalf smiled at the old, gentle and paternal dwarf of the Company and said, "Yes, I think a chamomile tea for Lux-Vita would help wonders, and a little red wine for me, I think, Dori."
Gandalf then began counting the number of dwarves before remembering that they were one short. Thorin? Where is he?
Bifur walked by, scaring the poor hobbit as he stared horror-struck at the axe embedded in his forehead; signing to Gandalf in Iglishmêk that Thorin has yet to come.
"Yes, you're quite right Bifur, we seem to be one dwarf short," Gandalf agreed.
"He is late, is all. He travelled North to a meeting of our kin. He will come," growled out Dwalin who was leaning on a wall to the side, his eyes focused solely on the young girl that sat curled up on the sofa in fear, her hands covering her ears from the sound of all the ruckus and dwarves.
Gandalf narrowed his eyes at Dwalin, wondering why he couldn't take his eyes off Lux-Vita, but before he could ask, Dori interrupted him with a cup of chamomile tea in one hand and a tiny glass filled with red wine in the other.
"Mr. Gandalf? A little glass of red wine, as requested. It's got a fruity bouquet," said Dori politely as he handed over both drinks.
Gandalf smiled before drinking the glass of red wine which was nothing more than a small gulp. He looked at the tiny glass sadly, wanting more, but then shrugged and carefully made his way over to Lux-Vita, who immediately perked at the entrance of Gandalf.
Dwalin stayed in his place, leaning against the wall and watching as Gandalf handed over the tea that Dori, ever the mother-hen had made for her. He watched as her chapped and slightly bloody lips formed a miniscule smile that was barely noticeable unless you looked closely, and shakily took the offered cup, her hands trembling, sloshing a bit of tea around into the plate as she brought it forward to her mouth, taking a small sip.
"Th-th-thank-thank y-y-you G-Gandalf," she rasped out in a small and scratchy voice.
Dwalin observed Gandalf give her a bright smile, his eyes looking at her a bit fondly, further confusing the warrior dwarf with the gruff exterior.
In all honesty, Dwalin was flabbergasted by the arrival of the girl and her appearance. She looked like she came out of a battle, but he couldn't believe that, for the girl looked to be a child, not even reaching the maturity of the race of men.
"Perhaps orcs raided her town, killing her family?" a voice spoke to his right. Dwalin barely flinched as he recognized his brother's arrival.
Studying the girl further, and not taking his eyes off her, Dwalin answered his brother gruffly, "I don't think that is the reason naddad. She looks to be frightened at the tiniest of sounds, and she looks like she's been through the mill, although there are no fresh injuries or cuts on her, neither is there any grime. So she hasn't been travelling much from wherever Gandalf found her."
"Hmm, I suppose you're right. But you heard Tharkûn, it is not for us to know until she decides to tell us," Balin reminded him softly, his eyes finally drifting over to the girl who was slowly drinking tea with Gandalf's help.
"Thorin will not be pleased at all, he will demand to know more of her, especially since she will be traveling with us. He will insist that she would be slowing us down and might form a risk to the Company," Dwalin grunted.
"Aye," Balin sighed, staring at the girl in pity before heading back to the kitchen and leaving his brother behind.
Gandalf made his way over to poor Bilbo, who was standing by the corner in his kitchen, his face contorted in horror and disgust as he watched all twelve dwarves sit down by the table and eat their dinner.
Gandalf watched in amusement as Bofur threw food into his brother, Bombur's mouth, catching it swiftly and causing the dwarves to all cheer for him, making more of a ruckus. That was the only sign needed for everyone else to start throwing food around into each other's mouths, hands and plates.
Dwalin then poured ale into Óin's hearing aid, causing him to splutter in anger and everyone to laugh. Óin proceeded to blow the ale out of his hearing aid, managing to produce the sound of a squeal.
"On the count of three," Nori yelled; everyone began chugging their ale at a fast pace and pound their tankard down hardly onto the delicate table in unison. Once they had finished drinking, they all begin burping; but it was little Ori that shocked everyone into a stupor as he let out the biggest burp yet. Dori looked aghast at his youngest brother and watched in disapproval as Nori and everyone else cheered him on and congratulated him.
Bilbo looked away in disgust, causing Gandalf to chuckle.
"Bilbo, would you be a big help to me and gather some of the food into a plate for Lux-Vita?" asked Gandalf politely.
"Of-of course, Gandalf, give me a minute," and Bilbo hastened over to the table that he promised himself he wouldn't dare to near due to the messy dwarves. The poor girl must have been starving; she looked way too skinny and probably hasn't had a proper meal in ages.
Giving Gandalf a mountainous plate that was filled over the top with food, Gandalf left the dwarves to their merriment, and made his way over to the human girl, gently placing the plate onto the table and asking her to eat while he checked over the dwarves.
Nodding obediently, Lux-Vita began nibbling on some food, hardly able to eat it all, but trying for Gandalf's sake.
Gandalf looked pleased as he made his way back to the kitchen, happy that at least the girl would try to listen to him as he did know best, and Bilbo was right – she did look way too thin, but she didn't seem to be starving in hunger, merely not having the appetite to eat; that made him remember the Lady Galadriel's words, 'her soul was fading'.
As the dwarves finally finished eating, they began walking about the small smial, making sure to keep a large distance between them and the human girl.
Gandalf watched in amusement as Bilbo snatched something from Bofur's hand, berating him, "Excuse me, that is a doily, not a dishcloth."
"But it's full of holes!" was the only bewildered answer he received. Bilbo snatched it from his hands and stomped over to Gandalf in anger while mumbling to himself, "Confusticate those dwarves!"
Acting nonchalant, Gandalf addressed Bilbo, making sure to hide his amusement, "My dear Bilbo, what on earth is the matter?"
Bilbo stared at Gandalf his mouth agape, repeating dumbly, "What's the matter? I'm surrounded by dwarves. What are they doing here?" he snapped.
"Oh, they're quite a merry gathering. Once you get used to them," he answered cheerfully, his eyes drifting over occasionally to check if Lux-Vita was still eating, or nibbling in her case.
Stamping his feet in a childish manner, his voice filled with anger, "I don't want to get used to them. The state of my kitchen – there's mud trod on my carpet," he waved his hand pointedly at said carpet, "they've pillaged the pantry. I'm not even going to tell you what they've done in the bathroom. They've all but destroyed the plumbing," he spoke in a high-pitched voice, "I don't understand what they are doing in my house!"
But before Gandalf could reply, young Ori interrupted their conversation, and in a timid voice, he asked, "Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt, but what should I do with my plate." Waving said plate in front of Bilbo's red face.
A hand shot out, grabbing the plate swiftly into his hand, Fíli spoke up, "Here you go, Ori, give it to me." He threw it behind his back to Bifur who stood by the sink in the kitchen.
Bifur caught it without even looking behind his back, making Bilbo squeak in shock, scared for his plate.
Kíli, Fíli and the other dwarves then began to throw many plates, bowls, and utensils to each other, eventually throwing them to the sink to be washed, occasionally making Gandalf duck in his place so that he wouldn't be hit by the flying cutlery.
"Excuse me!" Bilbo's voice sounded out from amidst all commotion. "That's my mother's West Farthing crockery; it's over a hundred years old."
Ignoring the little hobbit, the dwarves at the table began drumming rhythmically with the utensils and their fists.
"Can-can you not do that? You'll blunt them!"
Cheerfully, Bofur yelled out, placing a cupped hand over his ears as a sign of listening better, "Ooh, you hear that, lads? He says we'll blunt the knives."
Kíli began to sing after Bofur's words, and the other dwarves joined him as they continued throwing dishes around.
Blunt the knives, bend the forks
Smash the bottles and burn the corks
Chip the glasses and crack the plates
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!
Cut the cloth and tread on the fat
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat
Pour the milk on the pantry floor
Splash the wine on every door
Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl
Pound then up with a thumping pole
And when you've finished, if they are whole
Send them down the hall to roll
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!
As the dwarves finished, Bilbo who was huffing in anger and trying to make his way through to the singing dwarves all gathered in the kitchen, made one last push, finally succeeding in entering the fray with a look of trepidation in his tiny face, expecting to see all broken crockery.
But to his surprise, he found all the dishes were neatly stacked up and they were clean.
The dwarves and Gandalf all burst out in uproarious laughter at the look on poor Bilbo's surprised face, before they all stopped as the sound of three large knocks vibrated around the house, coming from the door, and everyone fell silent.
Only one word came out from Gandalf's mouth, his face all solemn as he looked nervously in the direction of where the human girl sat.
"He's here."
A/N: Khuzdul:
Nadad: Brother.
Nadadith: Little brother.
That's chapter two all done. I will be working on chapter three immediately and hope to get it out in a few hours.
Question; what do you think of the engagement ring on Lux-Vita's hand from Chapter 1? Who do you think it is from?