Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my original character. Everything else is property of New Line Cinema, Peter Jackson, etc.
When Gwyn came to she looked around and did not recognize her surroundings. There were no signs of cars, or streetlights, or even anything that could be called a street by modern standards. Gwyn looked around, and that's when she saw the door, built into the side of a hill. It was a very nice round door, painted green; with a shiny brass doorknob right in the center…it looked remarkably familiar. She went and knocked on the door, and a small man with large hairy feet answered. There was a great deal of singing and shouting coming from inside the hobbit hole, and it was indeed a hobbit hole, with a very irritated homeowner.
"Excuse me, sir, I'm sorry to disturb you, but could you please tell me where I am?" she asked, feeling that in this instance erring on the side of formality would be best.
"Of course it would happen that just when I have a house full of DWARVES of all things, a lunatic knocks on my door and wants to know where she is!" the creature muttered to himself, "you're at my home, in Hobbiton, in the Shire!" he snapped. Just then, a very tall man with a long grey beard peered around the corner. His face fell, as though he had been expecting someone else at the door.
Gwyn thought she must be going out of her mind. Did he SERIOUSLY just say I was in HOBBITON, in THE SHIRE?! I think I'm losing my mind…Gwyn was muttering to herself, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
"Let the poor girl in Bilbo, who knows, she may serve some purpose," the old man said. There was something about the way he was looking at her that made Gwyn think that this man, Gandalf the Grey she was sure, would be a good place to start to figure out how she came to Middle Earth, and why she was there.
Bilbo Baggins begrudgingly stepped aside, allowing the increasingly flustered Gwyn entry into his home. Gwyn was very glad that she had a history of public speaking and performing on stage, so that she was able to disguise her discomfort at 12 pairs of dwarvish eyes turning to see the newcomer to the party. She was saved further embarrassment when the doorbell rang.
Once Thorin Oakenshield had settled himself in the hobbit's dining room, discussing his plan to reclaim Erebor, he suddenly looked up at Gwyn and demanded that she explain who she was and what she was doing mingling with his Company.
"My name is Gwyndolyn Murphy, but everyone calls me Gwyn. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing here. Last thing I remember, I was on my way home from class, next thing I know, and I'm in Bilbo's front garden."
Many of the different dwarves laughed at the girl's implausible story, but Gandalf sent them all a quelling glare. Gwyn smirked at the reactions of many of the dwarves, who seemed to become rather ashamed of their disbelief, even though she herself couldn't believe that she wasn't dreaming - she'd checked - it had hurt when she pinched herself after Bilbo told her that she was in Hobbiton. Suddenly, she had a rather devious idea, and her smirk grew.
"I'll bet you each five gold coins that I can name you all," she announced to the group. All of the dwarves scoffed, which only made Gwyn more willing to humiliate them. Pointing to each dwarf in turn, she called out "Fili, Kili, Dwalin, Balin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur…." she paused, letting the dwarves think they had won, when she turned and said "and I mustn't forget the leader of the Company, Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain." Gandalf began laughing quite loudly at the dwarves' outrage. As Gwyn began collecting the gold, she caught the eye of Kili, so she tipped him a rather cheeky, flirtatious wink.
While Bilbo was reading the contract outlining his duties as the Company's burglar, Gwyn kept watching him closely. When he reached the part of the contract about possible injuries, like incineration and then Bofur began describing the agony of the dragon Smaug's fire, Gwyn motioned to Fili to toss her a cushion, which he did. As Bilbo was trying to compose himself, she did some quick mental math. When Bilbo started to faint, Gwyn slid the cushion across the floor to where she had estimated his head would land, making it there just in time to prevent a hobbit headache. When she received some questioning looks from the others at how she knew the hobbit was going to faint, she just shrugged.
The next morning, she set out with the Company for the Lonely Mountain. She had asked Gandalf to send her home the night before, but he had replied that he could not, at least not until after the dwarves finished their quest. Gwyn had very nearly begged Thorin to let her accompany the group, even though she didn't have any skills that would help the journey along. She did not mention the fact that she already knew how the quest was going to end, thanks to a childhood love of reading.
As the Company was riding along, Nori started a wager that Bilbo Baggins would not be joining their company as a burglar. Gwyn smirked and countered his wager, saying that she thought they would have a hobbit serve as a burglar. Several other dwarves chimed in, most of them agreeing with Nori. When Bilbo came running after the dwarves Gwyn just started to laugh at the amazement on so many of their faces.
The rain was pouring down, making everyone grumpy, even Fili and Kili, whom Gwyn had come to associate with the brightening of spirits through goof-ball antics. Dori was whining to Gandalf about the "deluge," and Gwyn had had enough of the complaints, and she could tell that Thorin had also.
"Is this a deluge to you, Master Dwarf? Where I come from, this is a light spring shower! I mean, I've seen it rain so hard that you can't see your hand in front of your face, and the wind was so strong that it fell sideways!" Gwyn announced, earning much astonishment from her companions. She even went so far as to push back the hood on her cloak, which had been loaned to her by Fili.
"I think the girl's lying," Dwalin growled.
"Lying am I? Well, it just so happens that that was the kind of weather I was traveling in when I wound up here! Thunder, lightning, wind, rain, it was awful! So yes, compared to the kinds of weather I've traveled in, this is a light spring shower!" Gwyn retorted.
When the Company stopped to camp for the night the rain was still falling, so Gwyn walked away from the group, so that she could quietly enjoy the sensation of rain falling on her face. She had always enjoyed the rain, finding it very soothing, but that was usually when she was safe and warm in her house in front of a roaring fire in the wood stove. However, Gwyn was determined not let her spirits fall, at least, not publicly. She knew that Thorin and the others doubted her survival skills, and she would NOT prove them right. She was so lost in her thoughts Gwyn did not hear the whisper-quiet footsteps of a certain burglar.
"Do you miss your home as much as I miss Bag End?" the question startled Gwyn from her contemplation. However, his question was along the same vein as her thoughts, so she simply began voicing her thoughts out loud.
"It's odd," Gwyn murmured, "because I know I should miss my home, but at the same time, the longer I spend on this quest, the less I find myself thinking of home. Perhaps part of that is simply because Thorin has us travelling from first light until late, and I'm just too tired to think of home, but I think part of it might just be I'm getting used to Middle Earth. I just wish there was more I could do on this quest! I am so useless!" she had started out speaking quietly, almost to herself, but the more frustrated she became the louder her voice got.
"I can sympathize completely with your feelings of uselessness. But I think you might have a part to play on this mad journey yet, otherwise Gandalf wouldn't have argued so hard with Thorin to let you come along." Bilbo said.
It was true. Gandalf had vehemently defended his selection of Bilbo as the burglar, and of Gwyn, though he neglected to assign her a role in the Company. Thorin was unhappy at the hobbit, frequently calling him a burden, but he would scarcely even look at Gwyn.
"I'm sorry I shouted. I'm just so confused about everything, and no matter how many times I ask, Gandalf never tells me anything!" Giving herself a shake, Gwyn turned to face Bilbo more fully. "Was there something you needed?"
"Oh, yes. Camp has been built, and Thorin wants us to stay close. Shall we head back?"
"Sure. It's no good being out here alone with my thoughts, they just get more snarled and tangled the longer I think them." With that, the two misfits headed back to the dwarves' camp.
Immediately upon their return, Fili and Kili noticed that Gwyn was soaking wet. Each brother took one of her arms, and led her over to the fire that Gloin had miraculously been able to build, given the damp wood. After Bombur had announced that supper was ready to be dished up, Kili rushed to get a bowl of stew for Gwyn, claiming that she needed to stay as close to the fire as she could stand so that she could dry out a bit. Gwyn noted with some surprise that her hair had been short and straight, just barely reached past her jawbone when she arrived in Middle Earth, but now it fell in wild waves to her shoulders, and had already begun to dry. The Company had only been on their journey a couple of weeks at most, so Gwyn was confused about her hair's quick growth, and resolved to ask Gandalf about it later.