Life was not easy for Belladonna Took. Once Valkorion died, and she pregnant, she had to go back to the Tooks, and had to explain her new condition to her family. Surprisingly, she was accepted by her family without any problem, after all, everyone knows how different the Tooks are from other hobbits families, as well as the Brandybucks.
That's why many Hobbits were astonished when she was courted by none other than Bungo Baggins, the Baggins family being one of the most respectable families in the whole County. No one ever thought that a Baggins would join a Took, let alone Belladonna Took, the most adventurous of all, pregnant of an outsider.
As a show of good will and sincerity, Bungo built Bad End, a huge Hobbit hole overlooking a large hill. In fact, the whole hill, and even its surroundings belonged to Bungo, and was the courting gift to Belladonna, which she could not help but accept.
No sooner was she married than she had to give birth, for nine months had passed since her adventure with Valkorion, and the pregnancy had come to an end. She gave birth in Bag End, with Bungo near her, yet, that was not the most interesting case. Indeed, during childbirth, an incredible event occurred. After the child, whom she decided together with Bungo to name Bilbo, came out of her belly, an explosion of Force was unleashed, reverberating throughout Middle-earth, and any being capable of magic felt that aura. The Istaris decided to comb through all Middle-Earth to find the source of this power. Of course, they completely bypassed the Shire, as if Halflings could ever produce such power! And this was their mistake.
Bilbo was very different from other hobbits at birth. First of all, his feet were slightly smaller than those of a baby hobbits, but not less resistant. Then he was slightly taller than a baby hobbit (he was about the size of a baby dwarf). But what shocked everyone was his eyes, which were completely silver. When Bungo held Bilbo in his arms, having decided to raise him as his own son, he thought he was hallucinating when for a short moment as he saw Bilbo's eyes light up, turning yellow for few seconds. He attributed this hallucination to fatigue, but from that moment he decided to observe Bilbo more carefully.
The years passed, and Bilbo grew. He was very different from other fauntlings. First, he was taller, at least one head tall. Then he was wearing shoes, although he did not need them because they were resistant, but because he felt naked without them. This earned him a bad reputation among other fauntlings, subject to ridicule. The parents forbade their children to go near him, but Bilbo didn't care about it, because the only thing he was interested in was books, maps, and surprisingly, he was interested in the politic of the Shire. He was very close to Old Took, constantly trying to get his attention, and wanting to understand Thain's obligations. Often, Bilbo did not hesitate to say that if the Shire was a Kingdom, Thain would be the King. It was in Bilbo's genes to look for more power and hoard it.
Another reason why Hobbits (aside from the Tooks and Surprisingly, the other Baggins) avoided Bilbo, was the strange acts that were taking place around Bilbo. When Bilbo wanted an apple on a branch, he just had to focus on it, then the apple would come to him. When he got angry or stressed, his eyes turned yellow or orange and shone. Sometimes he could force someone to do what he wanted with his voice. But what intrigued most Hobbits, took place during the Fell Winter. That year, winter had come earlier, the Shire was submerged by snow, and the Brandywine River had frozen. Wolves, wargs and even orcs had crossed the river and started plundering the reserves and slaying Hobbits. Belladonna went to fetch wood with Bilbo, and was attacked by orcs. She managed somehow to kill a few, but she was killed by a huge White Warg, mounted by a pale orc who had a blade instead of the left arm.
All this took place in front of Bilbo's eyes, and it was at that moment that something snapped in him. A wave of sheer power overwhelmed him, and he unleashed it against his enemies. Arcs of lightning came out of his hands, his eyes shining in the darkness, and orcs died all around. Some grilled, others smothered, strangled. Several wargs threw themselves on Bilbo, and a wave of Force swept over the beasts, killing them instantly, uprooting and setting all the trees around him. The pale orc fled, swearing that he would one day kill that being who had killed all of his soldiers.
Lobelia Bracegirdle witnessed this act, and hastened to tell it to all the hobbits. She put forth his strength, and the fact that he had killed all the wargs and orcs, saving them all. Some were frightened, but many were relieved. They named Bilbo "Peacekeeper". Others said he was sent by Yavanna to protect the Shire. During that winter, old Took died, and a new Thain had to be named. Normally, the position was to be inherited by his older son, Isengrim Took. However, many Hobbits claimed Bilbo as Thain. It was with pleasure that Isengrim gave way the title to Bilbo, and so, being only 34, a year after his majority, Bilbo was named Thain of the Shire. (The 27th)
He did not hesitate to change many things as Thain of the Shire. First, he ordered that each Hobbit was to be trained as a master of a weapon, be it the sword, the spear or the bow. The majority of hobbits chose the bow, and the dagger as it was lighter than a sword. The farmers chose the mastery of the spear, accustomed to the fork, the spear would not change them much.
Then he ordered patrols throughout the Shire, with at least ten hobbits, armed to protect the inhabitants. He asked the rangers protecting the borders of the Shire to train hobbits, which the rangers agreed to. To thank them, houses were built in each village hobbit, able to accommodate at least ten rangers.
Finally, to maximize the protection of the Shire, Bilbo decided to remove as much power as possible from the family council, explaining that for greater safety and greater ease of movement, he had to centralize decisions, and that none other than the Thain was better placed. This allowed him to enter into negotiations with Bree and Rivendell. He negotiated contracts and deals, exchanging food and rare spices, for elven armours suitable for hobbits, bows and spears. At first, the elves were not convinced, but they finally agreed, when Bilbo explained that he only wanted to defend the Shire to avoid a new Fell Winter (He also used the Force to convince). He used as an argument the increase of orcs, and praised the merits of Elven armours, explaining that they were very light compared to dwarf's, and that Hobbits could not wear heavy armours. Finally, he negotiated with the dwarves of Ered Luin for the import of white stones and iron, in order to build towers for the protection of the bridges leading to the Shire, as well as to change the wooden bridges into stone bridges. His goal was simply to protect the Shire as much as possible, even if it means form a guard or a small army.
However, no one knew outside the Shire who was the Thain, not even the rangers. Each letter was stamped with a seal, representing a strange sword (lightsaber) surrounded by lightning. Hobbits had received orders not to reveal the identity of the Thain, unless otherwise ordered, and his powers became the biggest secret of all the Shire. Even Gandalf knew nothing of Bilbo's powers.
