There was a sudden knocking on the door and Gandalf looked up.

"He's here." He said solemnly looking up. Bilbo went to go answer the door and all of the dwarves gathered around. This must be the oh-so-magnificent Thorin that they were talking about, one of the ones I could potentially love. Bilbo opened the door, and there he stood. He was tall (for a dwarf) and proud, and the way he stood just screamed authority.

"Gandalf, I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice." He said, handing his coat rather rudely to a very disgruntled Bilbo. He looked at Fili and Kili and smiled. Then he turned his attention towards me.

"Who is this?" He asked. Stepping in front of me he was an inch or two taller than me. And I was supposed to be the tall one, being you know, human. I am doubting that though, I seem to have gotten shorter and a little more sturdy. Maybe I was a dwarf now.

"Ingrid." I sounded confident, but I was just a mess in my head.

"So, Ingrid, why are you here?" Thorin asked coolly. In all of the fan fictions that I had read, they made him out to be a snobby old prick. He wasn't as bad as I thought he was going to be.

"She is here to assist us on our journey." Gandalf stated. At this you could see the anger rising in Thorin.

"I didn't know that there was going to be a woman on the quest. Why didn't I know?" He asked. I could now see that there actually was a little bit of an ass inside of him.

"As I said, she is going to be helping us. I was the one who brought her here." I turned to Gandalf with a cocked eyebrow that said "really?". Obviously he had understood, he nodded slowly. Thorin seemed less interested now, and turned towards Bilbo.

He started circling around the poor little hobbit, sizing him up. "So this is the hobbit."

"Tell me, what is your weapon of choice? Axe or sword?"

"Well, I do have a knack for conkers, but I hardly see how that's relevant." He mumbled.

"He seems more like a grocer than a burglar." Thorin said. The rest of the company laughed. I felt bad for Bilbo.

Thorin turned away from Bilbo and went into the kitchen where there was a bowl of soup sitting out from before. The company gathered around him at the table and started to talk about the journey that they would be going on. Bofur was always said to be the kind and silly one, so I sat near him hoping that he would be welcoming and friendly. I had also ended up beside Fili with Kili on his other side.

Gandalf and the dwarves had started to talk about the journey when Fili leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"So, what brings you on this quest to reclaim our home?" He asked giving me a cheeky look.

"Gandalf asked me to." I turned my head to look at him, keeping a straight face.

Fili just continued, grinning widely at me and raising his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Mhm." I nodded, this time giving him a small smile.

"Is that all you're going to tell me? Please tell me there's more." He asked hopefully.

"That's it. That's the whole story. Exciting, isn't it?" I said sarcastically.

"I'm surprised. I would have thought there would have been more." I couldn't help but look at the twinkle his eyes he had when he smiled. Fili turned back to the conversation and started to listen in again, and I looked around to the other dwarves. Thorin and Gandalf were getting into an argument about something, when Gandalf stood up and there was a shadow cast across the room.

I started to listen, and it was about how Bilbo would do as the Company's burglar. Oh, they have no idea.

When I was fully was on top of what they were talking about I heard Bofur speak up across the room to Bilbo, who was holding a long piece of paper.

"Aye, will melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye." It sounded like he was trying to encourage him. Bilbo was white as a sheet, I don't think it was working very well. He tried to stay up, but eventually he gave up and toppled over.

"Very helpful, Bofur." Gandalf said, scorning him. Bofur just shrugged and sat back down. Gandalf lifted up Bilbo and took him into the next room, and the dwarves moved into the room next to that one.

…..

I didn't feel like I should join all of the dwarves, I didn't know any of them. I stuck around with Gandalf for a bit when we heard the sound of the Company singing a song about their old home, Erebor. Thorin had started the song, then all of the dwarves joined in. Bilbo, Gandalf and I had just sat and listened, not wanting to disturb them.

Just as they finished I went through the front door and out into Bilbo's yard. I went to the gate, and I started to think about the beautiful scenery in front of me. There was a large pond down the way by the path, with the bridge that Gandalf and I went across. All of the other hobbit holes were dark, sometimes with a lamp out front of the door. It was beautiful to see, all of these homes were magnificent.

It was dark outside, and so there was not a lot to get the full effect of seeing. I walked back and to the bench behind me, and I sat down and looked at the stars. My mind wandered to my home on Earth. What would my mother think when she didn't find me in bed the next morning? My body might even still be there, seeing as this is a "dream". I don't believe a word of that, this seems too real. I closed my eyes, and tried to get these thoughts out of my mind. I shouldn't worry about it.

What seemed to me like half an hour (but was really only a couple of minutes) I felt a presence beside me on that small bench.

"Go away Gandalf, I'm trying to rest here." I said, my eyes still closed.

I didn't get an answer, just a small chuckle from next to me. My eyes snapped open. Fili and Kili were both sitting beside me, smiling. Fili was on my right, Kili on my left.

"So, resting out here on a bench in the night? Doesn't seem to comfortable to me." Kili said smiling.

I blushed madly. I'm so glad it's dark out. "Sorry, I thought you were Gandalf." I said quietly to them, sitting up on the bench.

"So, Fili was telling me you have no story whatsoever, but I'm finding that a little hard to believe. Everyone has a story. I will not pry, but you are new and we are curious." He said. Fili nodded. I had felt so confident with Fili earlier, but I could tell that that confidence was not here anymore.

"It's not very exciting." It may not have been exciting, but it was complicated.

"Well, neither are we but you still want to know us." Fili said, flashing me a cheeky wink. I was so happy it was dark. My face was probably the same colour as a tomato.

I shrugged. "I just kind of ended up here. Gandalf wanted me to come, so I came. There really isn't much to tell."

"We know you aren't from here, your whole attitude and way of speaking is different." Huh. I didn't think of that. I didn't realize that they would be able to tell by my speech, I didn't think it was that different. That was a lot of didn'ts. Since apparently they are going to figure it out anyway, why not tell them of my home?

"Ok, but I'm not sure how everyone else will take it, so I won't tell them unless they ask. But since you lot asked so nicely" I smirked while I said this, "I will tell you now."

They smiled at me, and gave each other excited looks.

"I grew up in a place called England. It's kind of like Middle-Earth, we have different areas with different names. In England I was from a place called London. My mother and I lived kind of on the outside of the city. I went to bed one night and stayed awake for a while more than usual. I thought I woke up a while later, but I was on grass. I got up and I met Gandalf. That's when he told me about what I'm here for-"

"What are you here for?" Fili interrupted.

I don't think I should have said that, and I don't think they would take kindly to me saying that I was here to save them- and potentially love one of them. So I won't tell.

"I'm here to help you guys get to the mountain safely." Kind of the truth, kind of a lie. "After I met Gandalf he got me new clothes and we came here. Then I met all of you." When I finished they were staring intently at me, elbows on their knees and head in their hands.

"That is an odd story, never heard something like that." Kili said sitting up. There was a bit of a silence, they were taking in my story. I don't think I did very well explaining it, though. Fili and Kili stood up from their seats on the bench and faced me.

"Come on lass, don't want you sleeping while we're on the road tomorrow." Fili offered his hand to me to help me up. I took it and got up from the bench, and we all went inside.

We walked into the front hall and looked into the room to the left. All of the dwarves were asleep on couches or chairs, some were even on the floor. Fili and Kili turned to me and said goodnight. When Kili went into the room, Fili stayed in the hall with me. He put his hands into the large pockets in the front of his coat.

"We didn't know that there was going to be another person coming on the journey, so we don't have enough ponies." He stepped just the smallest bit closer. I hadn't even realized he was taller than me until now. "So, you will have to ride with me." He said, looking down at me.

"Oh, ok. Sorry about that." I said softly. I truly feel bad about him having to give up space on his own pony so I wouldn't have walk or anything. But it was a nice gesture.

"It really doesn't matter. If you walk you will not keep up." He looked at me. "Goodnight, Ingrid."

"'Night." I nodded at him. He turned and went into the room after his brother.

I walked back into a room to the right of the hall. None of the dwarves are in this room, so I'm going to sleep here. Don't know them, don't want to sleep around them yet. I took of the clothes from earlier and I was just in my undershirt and underwear. I slipped into the bed to the side of the room and I immediately fell asleep. I fell asleep thinking about how tomorrow was going to go.