Chapter 2

Balin and Dwalin

Balin was the oldest and wisest Dwarf in the Company, and Bilbo could see why he was Thorin's advisor. He enjoyed it when Balin would tell stories from Erebor and how things used to be, despite the sadness in his eyes whenever it came up. But he was a good storyteller and everybody seemed to like listening to his tales of the past.

He often wondered how Balin felt about the quest, and whether he was questioning its worth compared to what they already had. He knew it had been a long time since Smaug attacked Erebor, but at least they had the mountain back now like the Dwarves had wanted.

But Smaug would be attacking Laketown now and Bilbo could hear Balin whispering urgently to Thorin on the other side of the room. He couldn't hear them but he figured that Balin was telling Thorin that they needed to do something; Fili, Kili, Bofur and Oin were all in danger, provided that Kili hadn't already died from his wounds. How might Thorin react if that happened?

He thought back to when Balin had told them about the Battle of Azanulbizar and how Thorin had earned the name Oakenshield. It had been an engrossing story for him to listen to and he wondered how Thorin had felt to see Azog kill his grandfather in such a horrific way. No wonder Thorin had been so determined to kill Azog when they had come face to face again; anybody would feel that way if they were in the same situation and had enough hatred for that other being.

Dwalin couldn't be more different from his brother. Tall, covered in tattoos and bald on top; not really the image of Balin in any way. Bilbo remembered when they had reunited in his house, including that bizarre headbutt greeting. But he'd soon learned that they were very close and it did show; all of the family groups were close, rather like Hobbits.

The warrior had turned out to be a close friend of Thorin's, and his confidant. Bilbo figured that the pair of them had grown up together and sparred for training and fun. He didn't quite understand how Dwarves could derive pleasure from such things but they were very different species, after all. They probably didn't understand half of the things he did, like gardening.

He had soon learned that Dwalin was extremely loyal to Thorin as his King and leader, and had never questioned any of his friend's decisions. That showed Bilbo the kind of respect that Thorin had within the group and he too showed that whenever he could.

Bilbo thought about when he had slipped just after their encounter with the Stone Giants, and how Thorin had been the one to save him. Dwalin had pulled the King back up and that had showed Bilbo that the Dwarves did indeed work as one with no thought for themselves. They focused on looking after each other.

He'd seen this many times during their journey, and he did like how united they were no matter what they faced. When they had tried to defeat Smaug within the mountain, for example; they had all stood together even if they had been terrified of what might happen. Dwarves were a very brave race, it seemed to him.

Bilbo had been very apprehensive of Dwalin when they had first met and for a while after. This strange Dwarf had turned up at his door unexpectedly and helped himself to Bilbo's supper. Bilbo hadn't a clue what to do except let him, since he figured Dwalin wouldn't take too kindly to being refused. But as time had gone on, he hadn't been so scared of the warrior; Dwalin was just very protective of those he loved. Since Bilbo had been accepted by Thorin, the rest of them were a lot more friendly towards him and that included Dwalin. It felt good to know that there were some strong and loyal characters who had his back.

When he looked at Balin and Dwalin together, he would never have guessed that they were brothers. They looked so different, and where Dwalin had a temper, Balin was mostly calm and rational. He had heard that they looked more like some years ago before Balin's hair and beard turned white, and he wondered what it had been like when they were growing up. No doubt it had been quite raucous with Dwalin around. But most of the Dwarves could get like that when they were excitable, especially after consuming ale and food. They seemed to turn every meal into a food fight, which he had despaired of in Bag End but liked watching elsewhere, such as Rivendell. They were admittedly a lot of fun to be around when they could relax, and he hoped that he would see more of that once everything had settled down again. He hoped that Smaug would be killed soon and that the Company would be whole again so that they could focus on rebuilding Erebor.

Bilbo thought about the relationships between the Dwarves a lot, and marvelled at how close they were even if some of them hadn't seen each other for a while by the time the quest had started. Balin clearly hadn't seen Dwalin for a while, judging by what they had said when they'd met up in Bag End.

Maybe the Dwarves could be raucous and uncouth sometimes, but at the end of the day they were loyal to each other and those they considered friends. Bilbo felt privileged to be part of this group now because this was so much better than how his life would have been. He was happy that he had chosen to run after them and take part in this quest; the future before him had seemed so bleak before but now at least he'd had an adventure like he'd always wanted. He just hoped that he would make it back home in one piece.