In another universe, mayhaps Bilbo Baggins, Dragontongue, Ringbearer would have housed the reincarnated soul of Loki Laufeyson, son of Odin and prince of two planets. It would make perfect sense, yet no sense at all. A Loki who grew up a certain way, under certain conditions, then let loose on Arda? Chaos is one word to describe what might have been, what has been. Bilbo Baggins was a perfect hobbit and yet he wasn't – he was an adventurer, a respectable madman and a wayward storyteller who by a small act of both mercy and cowardice, saved Middle Earth from complete destruction.

So yes, in another universe, Loki being reincarnated into the Planted body of Bilbo Baggins would make perfect sense.

In this one, that is not so.

In this universe, Loki becomes not only female, but Belladonna Took – and my dearest reader, if you do not know who Belladonna Took is, you are missing out on someone truly extraordinary. Another author would start Bilbo Baggins' tale in Bag-End, or perhaps on his front porch, with the repercussions of said reincarnation. I start with his mother.

Belladonna Took is born on a windy night. There is nothing particularly special or dark about this particular wind, except perhaps that it's a little colder than what anyone in the Shire prefers. Her parents have been waiting patiently at her Yavanna Patch for several hours, steadfastly keeping watch even with their nine other children making a fuss, used to and annoyed by new siblings after living with so many others. A secret, perhaps a little early to tell, is that Belladonna Took will be number ten of twelve.

When Belladonna first breathes air, tiny fauntling lungs filling with sweet carbon dioxide – fauntling here meaning child, or rather, toddler – Yavanna's voice echoes in her mind as it always does when a Planted child erupts from the ground, though none might remember it except Belladonna. Her name is whispered and she gets out a little, happy chirp of a "Belladonna!" before another name crushes her good spirits, a sudden feeling of utter despair and hurt drowning her, washing away all traces of joy.

"Loki" she hears. "Silvertongue, Snakemother, Svadilfari's mare." Belladonna is awash with tears for days, nothing her parents or the healers who come visit her doing anything to help her – not like they could, for Belladonna remembers here, something Yavanna did not account for when she reincarnated the dead Jotun into a hobbit's body. Only one remembers a past life and Glorfindel, Laurefindel, would be the only one to understand, yet have no way to help her either. For, my dear reader, could you not think of why she might cry? Why Belladonna might scream?

Let me explain.

Belladonna Took is a Planted hobbit, her body, brain and all that comes with being newly-born only just opening up to the world. She is sensitive to everything – touch, light, sound – and she is her own self. She is not Loki. She is Belladonna – and Loki's memories are pouring into her head and she is a being with a sense of self and she is not capable of processing, she shouldn't be able to. Any other being would have had a heart attack and died then and there at the first explosion of foreign feeling.

Of course, no-one other than Loki's reincarnation could this happen to either.

As it happens, I am aware as to how she survived – how she still survives, to this very day. Loki and Belladonna are entwined more tightly than a knot and it is Loki's magic which keeps Belladonna's body from going into complete shutdown.

It is weeks before Belladonna stops crying though. The entire Shire worries for her until the happy news is spread, ordinary tea parties bringing out the good mead in celebration. Belladonna's family worries over her constantly for months afterwards, still years later fearing when she goes through ordinary childhood hurts, weeping a little – they fear she won't stop if she starts and it only happens once, for a single day, when her play-nemesis stands on a grass snake by pure accident, snapping its neck.

From the mouth of Belladonna herself, under vow I can only state that 'she was reminded of Jormungandr'.

As she grows, she becomes far more mischievous. Even her relatives say that it's more than Took blood – one even dares to say she's not right in the head, before they're hunted down and quietly glared at by eleven identical sets of eyes. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be faced with all of Belladonna's siblings, who each on their own are frightening. However the hobbit in question would dare not say a word to me about the Took's, thinking it blasphemous to say even a single word against them – so I really can only imagine.

It is also worth noting how quickly Belladonna left the Shire, once hitting her tweens – 'tweens' being much like the Midgardian word 'teen', here, but in hobbit slang rather than English and referring to the ages thirteen to twenty-eight, any over that being considered young adult hobbits, despite age of majority being thirty-three. Belladonna did not break the record for how early she left on an adventure, as such the Took way is, to 'appease adventuring spirits' – but, Belladonna did break the record on how long and how far, making her way from the Shire all the way to Rohan, back again and then north and west, going close to the borders of orc-country and then rushing to the Blue Mountains, two dozen orcs on her tail for her trick with her shimmering, lethal doubles.

It may be prudent to mention that Belladonna does have some control over her magic – 'some' being colloquial with 'all', in this instance, though far less practice and control than she might like.

Visiting the Blue Mountains, Belladonna is quick to discover mined-empty dwarven tunnels. Exploring them takes time and effort that she is willing to give, if it means putting off going home so soon after returning from Rohan. With glowing palms and her magic stretched out, searching for life and any potential dangers from the crumbling supports, Belladonna is ready for anything the world has to throw at her.

Except, apparently, four youngsters who speed down the tunnel in a mining cart, slamming into her and causing them all to be flung about like rag-dolls.

"What in Yavanna's good green earth-"

"Kili?"

"Oh Maker, amadaz u'menu is going to kill us-"

"Fili, my head hurts-"

"-ow, ow, ow, ow-"

Belladonna gets her bearings, sitting up and rubbing her head, palms dim. With her particularly good eyesight – from natural hobbit genes and a little bit of magic – she can see the four bearded men all rubbing parts of their bodies as they get to their feet, the shortest and seemingly strongest of which giving one with a bowl-cut mop a hand up.

"There ya go, Ori."

"Thanks, Gimli," Ori says in a soft, shaken voice, looking into the darkness and pinpointing Belladonna in a second, freezing. "Oh!" His hands fret, the other dwarves noticing her as she gets to her feet slowly.

"What are you doing in the mines?" The tallest of them asks, voice a mix between warning and curious. "You're no dwarf."

"I'm sure that no-one is supposed to be here."

"Aye, but you aren't a dwarf, we won't get as punished as much as you will for breaking the rules," cuts in the short dwarf. "Cut your bear-"

"Gimli, she doesn't have a beard! Don't be rude to a lady!" The dark-haired dwarf hits him over the head, easily able to reach what with the foot difference, something Belladonna notes isn't particularly unusual for a hobbit, but strange for a dwarf.

"A lady?"

Belladonna nods a little, not speaking as she watches their conversation play out.

"I think so, at least," the dark-haired one looks at her, all naivety and honesty. "Are you a lady?"

"Yes, I am," Belladonna says cordially, nodding again a little deeper, wordlessly greeting them. "Who might you all be? Not miners – these mines have run dry."

"…we were exploring," says the short one a little gruffly, tugging at his beard before straightening and bowing stoutly. "Gimli, son of Gloin, at your service, milady."

The others are quick to follow him, as if they'd forgotten protocol – something Belladonna is not intimately familiar with as a Took or a Prince of Asgard, what with Odin's high-functioning ability to both deal with matters of state and keep an eye on her, scolding her for any improper gesture she made or even didn't make.

"Kili and Fili, at your service."

"Ori, at your service."

There's a moment of silence before Belladonna speaks, voice slow and reluctant as she does not quite want to reveal her identity to those that might make trouble for her, just because she was feeling the need to walk in the unknown.

"Belladonna Took, daughter of Gerontius Took, of the Shire."

"Is Took your Clan?" The dark-haired one, who she thinks is called Kili asks excitedly, surprising Belladonna as much as impressing her.

For you see, Belladonna has met dwarves before on her travels, usually on trade routes. She would, for lack of better phrase, hitch a ride and when introducing herself they oft misinterpreted her words as her name, calling her 'Belladonnatook', as if her last name were very much part of her first.

"Yes, yes, quite. You aren't like other dwarves I've met."

Gimli snorts, "That's princes for you – raised to think sideways as well as up and down, as my amad says." He rolls his eyes, "You should see them in front of men. All 'why', 'how', 'what' and 'when' with men."

"Amusing," Belladonna replies, even as her heart thumps faster than it should. They are princes, she thinks, glancing at Fili and Kili, knowing there was much she could do with that information. If I am to be in trouble, I can use them as leverage, she decides, ignoring the patch of guilt that springs at the thought. They seem young to Belladonna and Belladonna knows that it's hardly true, until you count years with dwarves in mind rather than hobbits. Dwarves grow slowly, in body as well as mind and are as equally long-lived.

"Are you hurt?" Ori asks her softly, obviously still quite shaken – or perhaps just a nervous disposition. Belladonna wonders which.

"No more than you are. Just a few bumps and bruises…" it is then that Belladonna realises something a trifle important. "Oh dear. My mental map has disappeared." If she really tries, Belladonna knows she can get out, but there's danger to her in this form – she's not invincible and despite how hobbits breathe the same air that plants and trees do along with the one that men breathe, making most air suitable even deep, deep down underground, she just as much needs sunlight. And I have been without that several days now. The crash made me drop my composure.

Belladonna looks down and her hand is shaking.

"Could you perhaps lead me out?" She implores, watching them glance at each other in sudden apprehension.

"Uh, well…we could, but it wouldn't be the way you came in," Kili explains, scratching behind his ear. "Fili?"

Gimli, Kili and Ori look to their fourth companion, who to Belladonna seems to be the established leader of their little group, waiting. Fili's face takes on a long look of focus and concentration, one that reminds her of Thor as a teen, strangely enough.

"…we don't know another way out," he finally says after some long moments, looking up at her. "Lady Belladonna, we are going to be leading you into one of the most populated dwarven cities in Arda and would appreciate it highly if you would accompany us into it and then to a half-mile past the exit."

"As long as I see the sun within the next six hours, you have an agreement from me."

Fili frowns at her words but nods, before holding out his hand. Belladonna takes it, struck suddenly by his posture and demeanour as he follows Kili back through the mine shaft. Oh. No, I was right. He is young – they're all young.

Fili holds her hand in a way a child might, his shoulders lax as if he'd let her lead him if she so chose. Those that have interacted with young children before will know what I mean. It is how, despite his size and general physique, he is small. He has no true ego yet, with only a child's confidence and a child's fear and respect of adults. Fili before exhibited signs of maturity – thinking over what it would mean to bring a stranger into a dwarven stronghold without permission and making a decision with no adult to support his reasoning – but it means nothing when Fili is at the apparent mental age that he is.

Belladonna lets Fili lead her through the tunnels, holding his hand firmly, for to her he seems trustworthy and as honest as his brother. He has a valour in him that reminds her of Sleipnir, who had faced punishment for the future crimes of his siblings without complaint. It's a painful, aching memory but Belladonna knows that in most cases, she is right when it comes to judging ones character, with many examples to back up her statement – Thor and Odin only two on a long, long list.

"Are you an adult, Lady Belladonna?" Kili chirps.

Belladonna nods. "Yes, I am, almost at least. I have two years before my final majority."

"What's hobbit majority?" Ori questions quietly.

"Thirty-three."

Gimli points at her feet, "Why've you got hair on your toes?"

"Should I ask dwarves why they have beards?" Belladonna replies, smiling a little at his mollified look. "I don't know, but I suppose it must be to keep us warm – the undersides of our feet are very hard and we don't wear boots."

"Dwarves have soft feet," Kili frowns, "Mahal made us to have strong arms and delicate hands – he must not have thought about our feet like your Maker did."

"We call her our Gardener," Belladonna reveals with a small smile, staying quiet ever as Kili pesters to why. It was most likely not something Belladonna should have said, but so far in my research it does not seem to have caused any grief, unlike other reveals of hobbit culture. "Say, how long do you think until we reach the surface?"

"Do you need the sun like flowers do?" Fili questions in a more thoughtful voice than Kili's, glancing over at Belladonna with a frown. "Your hand is shaking. Do you need the sun like flowers do?"

Belladonna checks her free hand at that, swallowing at the harsh spasms her arm is making. She tucks it into her chest, clenching her jaw.

"Are you ill?" Kili's eyes widen in fear, "Oh no, you are!"

"I can last a few more hours," Belladonna says, despite knowing perfectly well that she has severely misjudged how much 'stored sunlight' she has left.

"No you can't, liar," Gimli immediately calls her out, somehow, before he picks her up and starts to jog down the tunnel. Belladonna yelps at the treatment, hoping to all the gods and Valar that the next dwarf she meets doesn't see her arse-first even as a full-body shudder racks through her.

"Hey, wait up!" Kili calls, he and Ori rushing to catch up, Fili having never let go of her hand. By my calculations, this is a good thing, as due to Gimli's stature at the time, not quite reaching his full height and girth yet, he would have over-balanced at some point, rather than letting Fili focus on keeping Belladonna at a certain verticality.

It also saves their lives, when the floor of the mine-shaft caves in beneath Gimli's feet.

"Fili!" Belladonna shouts as Gimli abruptly drops, holding onto her legs tightly, scared yells exciting his mouth at overly-loud volumes. "Fili, don't let go-" they halt, Fili on his front, Kili having grabbed his leg.

"Ori, get Gimli and Bella!" Kili shouts, the gangly dwarf showing his true colours in an instance as he leans over and grabs Belladonna's arm, pulling both her and Gimli out of the hole as if they were nothing more than a stray piece of rope. "Fili," Kili tugs his brother out of range of the hole, dropping onto him as he turns onto his back, curling into him. Belladonna gets her grip on the floor, breathing deeply as Gimli wails loudly, sounding more like a babe than the tween he looks like.

"Hey, hey," Belladonna leans over, tugging the burly short-stack over into her chest, where he immediately starts to cry louder, sound only barely muffled by her coat. Ori kneels tiredly, eyes bright with adrenaline and fear. He looks like he's about to cry too and she motions him over, knowing more noise would make it worse on Gimli and Kili. "We're all okay, we're alive and safe. You were all very brave, shh, shh…"

Ori calms faster than the others do, as he would as the only one not truly in danger and Gimli falls asleep, snores causing Kili to look over, face full of forlorn fondness. The change is apparent, the lack of smile frankly disturbing to Belladonna.

"Both of you, get over here," she orders in a soft voice, Kili crawling over, tugging Fili to join their little dogpile. Belladonna can still feel shakes and shivers but perhaps there's something to being in close contact with the Smith's children, husband as he is to the Green Lady. As I am not a hobbit nor a dwarf and have never had such a rush of fear, I can only wonder at the mysteries held between Aulë and Yavanna's children.