Chapter 4:
I woke up the next morning and put on one of the dresses the hobbit girls had made me. They had captured my style perfectly, making my dresses out of soft, pastel-colored fabrics. The dress I choose today was light pink with white lace at the neckline and sleeves. I clasped the necklace Bilbo gave me around my neck and looked at my reflection in the mirror on my dressing table.
There was no make-up here and my skin was not perfect. I had a few old and faded acne scars. There was also no other way to wear my hair than natural. It waved down my back; not in the sleek way it once had, but in a wild fashion.
Yet even without the things I thought I needed in my old world, I felt so much better here than I had ever felt there. The hobbits weren't airbrushed and stick thin like the models I used to look at in magazines. They weren't really focused on looks at all. They were happy as they were. Their attitude was helping me not to worry so much about my own looks and just enjoy things in life, like eating a good meal and enjoying company.
Once I was dressed, the day began as it normally did. Bilbo and I walked around the Shire, I sang a bit, we ate together, and Bilbo let me look at his books. It didn't seem as if this day was going to be any different than any of the other days.
That evening, I sat with Bilbo on the bench outside of Bag End. Bilbo was smoking a pipe-something I wasn't fond of-and I was reading. We had been sitting there for awhile when suddenly I heard coughing.
I looked up to see Bilbo waving away the smoke that was in his (and my) face. Once the smoke cleared, I saw an old man peering down at us. He was wearing a long grey cloak and a matching grey, pointed hat. He had a long grey beard and was leaning on a tall staff. Of course I knew who it was at once. It was Gandalf the Grey Wizard.
"Good morning," said Bilbo, uncomfortably.
"What do you mean?" asked Gandalf. "Do you mean to wish me a good morning; or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning; or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on?"
I held back a laugh at the bewildered expression on Bilbo's face.
"All of them at once, I suppose," Bilbo decided after a moment's thought.
Gandalf stared at us with very deep and knowing eyes. Eyes that had observed me once before...
"Can I help you?" asked Bilbo, still confused.
"That remains to be seen," said Gandalf, quietly. "I am looking for someone to share in an adventure."
Bilbo looked stunned and quite taken aback.
"An adventure? No, I don't imagine anyone west of Bree would have much interest in adventures."
Bilbo stood up and went over to the mail box.
"Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things. Make you late for dinner," Bilbo gave a nervous laugh and began shuffling through his mail, looking rather uncomfortable himself. He kept looking up at Gandalf as if to see if he was going to leave. He then walked back over to the bench, grabbed my wrist, and began pulling me up the steps with him. "Well...Good morning."
"To think I should have lived to be 'Good morninged' by Belladonna Took's son! As if I was selling buttons at the door," said Gandalf, irritated.
Bilbo froze, still holding my wrist tightly.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You have changed, Bilbo Baggins," said Gandalf, shaking his head. "And not entirely for the better."
"I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"You know my name," said Gandalf. "Though you do not remember that I belong to it!"
"That's Gandalf!" I squeaked excitedly, not being able to stay silent any longer. Gandalf nodded at me with a smile.
Bilbo looked at me then to Gandalf, shocked.
"Not Gandalf the wandering wizard who made such excellent fireworks? Old Took used to have them on midsummer's eve! I had no idea you were still in business."
"And where should I be?"
"Well..." Bilbo cleared his throat, awkwardly.
Gandalf looked disappointed.
"Well I am pleased to find you remember something about me. Even if it is only my fireworks. Well, that's decided then. It will be very good for you and most amusing for me. I shall inform the others."
"Inform the others?" asked Bilbo. "What? No, wait!"
He pulled me quickly up the stairs.
"We do not want any adventures here! Thank you, not today! I suggest you try over the hill or across the wood...Good morning," Bilbo finished politely as he dragged me into Bag End and shut the door.
"But Bilbo-" I protested, but he cut me off.
"No, Libby," he locked the door and pushed me into the other room. "Absolutely no adventures!"
There was no arguing with him.
That night, after Bilbo had taken a long bath and had calmed down a bit, things seemed like they were back to normal. Bilbo made us dinner and we were just about to start eating when the doorbell rang. I looked up at Bilbo and saw my own confusion reflected back at me. Bilbo went to the door.
I tried to listen to see if I recognized the voice of our visitor. It was deep and rumbling; not like any hobbit voice I had heard before.
Then a huge man sauntered into the dining room. Huge compared to a hobbit-sized girl anyway. This man was actually dwarf...a huge, burly dwarf with a bald head. He was covered in tattoos.
"Hello," I said, stunned.
He nodded at me before sitting down in Bilbo's spot and devouring the food on Bilbo's plate. Bilbo watched with a look of disgust on his face. I will admit, I had a hard time keeping a look of disgust off my own face. The dwarf stuffed his face like he had never eaten food before.
"That was very good. Any more?" asked the dwarf, licking his fingers.
"You can have mine," I said, pushing my plate forwards. I had lost my appetite.
The doorbell rang.
Bilbo looked at it with panic written all over his face. It rang again and this time the dwarf looked up.
"That'll be the door."
I went to the door with Bilbo. He pulled it open to reveal a short, old dwarf with long white hair and beard and a rather large nose.
"Balin, at your service," the new dwarf smiled at us.
"Good evening," Bilbo said, confused.
"Yes, yes it is, though I believe it might rain later. Am I late?"
"Late for what?" asked Bilbo, a bit desperately.
Balin's eyes looked past Bilbo and on to the burly dwarf, who was now in the pantry searching for more food.
"Evening, Dwalin," said Balin walking over to him.
"By my beard, brother, you are shorter and wider than when we last met," said Dwalin , laughing.
"Wider, not shorter," Balin replied, grinning.
Both dwarves moved into the pantry to examine the food. Bilbo hovered behind them trying to tell them that they were in the wrong house. Both dwarves ignored him. It was a funny sight, but I tried not to laugh for Bilbo's sake.
The doorbell rang once again.
"Who is it this time?" Bilbo grumbled.
I followed him to the door.
The sight of two young dwarves made me freeze.
"Fili," said the first dwarf. He had long, golden hair, a short beard with a braided moustache, and bluish-grey eyes. His smile was warm and he had a friendly twinkle in his eyes.
"And Kili," announced the second dwarf. He had long, dark brown hair, yet no beard; only stubble. His deep, brown eyes were set under thick eyebrows. His eyes were intense, yet they still held something light about them. Was it innocence? Humor? Whatever it was, it made my stomach drop.
"At your service," the brothers said together, bowing.
"You must be Mr. Boggins," said Kili in a deep voice. His smile made my heart flutter.
Stop that! I told my heart, angrily.
"Nope, you can't come in. You have come to the wrong house!" said Bilbo, closing the door.
Kili quickly stuck his foot in the way and pushed the door back open.
"What?" he asked with a look of concern. "Has it been canceled?"
"No one told us anything," said Fili.
"No-nothing's been canceled," said Bilbo, not sure what they were talking about.
"Well that's a relief!" said Kili, grinning.
The two brothers pushed open the door completely and stepped inside, dumping their weapons in Bilbo's arms.
"Careful with those," ordered Fili, "I just had them sharpened."
They looked around the hall. Their eyes simultaneously landed on me and matching mischievous smiles appeared on their faces.
"Well, hello there. What's your name?" asked Fili.
"Libby," I replied, shyly. These were definitely not the dwarves I remembered Tolkien describing.
Fili and Kili shared a sly look before each taking one of my hands and kissing it.
"And how are you this evening, Miss Libby?" asked Kili.
"Fine, thank you," I said nervously, pulling my hands back. Guys had never paid any attention to me in my old world and I was honestly unsure how to handle this situation. I was just trying my best not to swoon like a twelve year old girl.
It wasn't hard to notice that Kili's intense gaze lingered on my face much longer than Fili's did. It wasn't until Dwalin called them from the other room, that he turned away.
The brothers went to join Dwalin and Balin and they began moving Bilbo's furniture around.
I stood, stunned.
What the heck was that? I had to have just imagined that. No way would someone as good-looking as him even give me the time of day. I just have to calm down and breathe.
"Oh my," mumbled Bilbo, coming to stand next to me.
I put my hand gently on his arm. I was just as confused as he was. But I did feel bad for him. Bag End was his home after all. And there were currently four dwarves messing everything up.
The doorbell rang once more and this time, Bilbo lost it.
"Oh no! No, no, no! There's nobody home. Go away and bother somebody else! There are far too many dwarves in my dining room as it is. If this is some kind of joke, I can only say, it is in very poor taste!"
He yanked open the door only to have eight more dwarves topple forwards onto the floor. They grumbled and muttered angrily as they tried to get up off of each other. Gandalf stuck his head inside and smiled. He gave me a wink.
As the new dwarves made themselves at home, Bilbo scurried around after them, trying to stop them from eating all of the food and ruining the furniture.
Gandalf walked out of the dining room and into the hall, hitting his head on the chandelier by accident. Wizards were much too tall for hobbit holes. I followed him, wanting to talk to him about the growing suspicion I'd had since he came earlier that day.
"Fili, Kili..Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin...Bifur, Bofur, Bombur... Dori, Nori... Ori..." Gandalf counted on his fingers.
A slightly wild looking dwarf with a huge head of black hair and beard walked over. He muttered something I could not understand. I smiled at him, warily, then did a double take. He had an axe blade lodged into his temple. I did my best to hide my horror.
"Yes, you're quite right, Bifur," said Gandalf, who seemed to have understood the dwarf. "We appear to be short one dwarf."
"He is late, is all," said Dwalin, who was walking by. "He traveled north to a meeting of our kin. He will come."
Once Gandalf and I were alone once again, I tugged on the sleeve of his robe to get his attention.
"Miss Libby," he smiled down at me. "How are you?"
"Amazed actually," I replied. "It was you I talked to that day I spilled my manager's drink, wasn't it?"
Gandalf smiled slyly.
"You sent me here!"
"My dear girl," began Gandalf. "You are too clever for me. Yes, I did bring you here."
I shook my head in disbelief.
"I just want to know why. Why me?"
"I believe you will be of great importance on this journey. Not only to Mr. Baggins, but the others as well. You could make the end of the journey a better one."
I tried to remember the end of The Hobbit, but I had read it so long ago, I couldn't.
"Why did you make me shrink, then?" I blurted out.
"Ah, that I did not do."
Gandalf must have noticed the look of confusion on my face because he said,
"The magic I used to bring you here is very complicated. When I sent you here, I did not know for sure where you would end up-although I had an idea. And I believe that you became a size that would help you fulfill your destiny here. You are hobbit sized so you can fit in here at the Shire. You are also small enough to fit in with the dwarves."
I sighed. This was a lot to take in.
Gandalf squeezed my tiny hand in his large one.
"This journey may help you as well, Miss Libby."
At that moment, Bilbo walked in grabbing a doily away from one of the dwarves and muttering angrily.
"My dear Bilbo, what on earth is the matter?" asked Gandalf.
"What's the matter? I am surrounded by dwarves. What are they doing here?"
"Oh, they're quite a merry gathering, once you get used to them," said Gandalf.
"I don't want to get used to them. The state of my Kitchen! There is mud trod into the carpet, they've pillaged the pantry. I don't understand what they are doing in my house!"
A young looking dwarf walked up to Bilbo, cutting off his rant.
"Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt, but what should I do with my plate?" he asked, sweetly.
Fili, who was strolling by, grabbed the plate.
"Here you go, Ori. Give it to me."
Fili threw the plate down the hall. Kili caught it with perfect reflexes and threw it to Bifur in the kitchen. Soon, dishes were flying through the air.
"Excuse me!" squeaked Bilbo indignantly. "That is my mother's West Farthing crockery; it's over two hundred years old!"
The dwarves sitting at the table began pounding a rhythm out on the table by banging their utensils and crossing them together.
"Can you not do that?" asked Bilbo. "You'll blunt them!"
Bofur-whose name I could remember because of his silly hat- laughed.
"Ooo, do you hear that lads? He says we'll blunt the knives..."
"Blunt the knives, bend the forks," Kili began to sing with his deep voice.
He is good-looking and he can sing? Well that's it; I'm in trouble.
"Smash the bottles and burn the corks," continued Fili.
All of the dwarves joined in.
Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates -
Cut the cloth tread on the fat!
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!
Pour the milk on the pantry floor!
Splash the wine on every door!
Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;
Pound them up with a thumping pole;
And when you've finished, if they are whole,
Send them down the hall to roll!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!
By the end of the song, all of the dishes were stacked neatly in the sink. Gandalf and I joined in laughing with the dwarves. Bilbo shook his head, but I could see a hint of a smile on his face.
A knock on the door silenced everyone.
"He's here," said Gandalf, forebodingly.
Bilbo took my hand and we went to go see this newcomer.
When Gandalf opened the door, a proud dwarf-taller than the rest- stepped inside. He had long dark hair, slightly streaked with grey and ice blue eyes. His beard was trimmed short.
Everyone stayed silent. There was something about this dwarf that made everyone stand up a bit straighter. This had to be who Gandalf and Dwalin were talking about earlier.
"Gandalf," spoke the new dwarf in a voice even deeper than Kili's. "I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way twice. I wouldn't have found it at all had it not been for that mark on the door."
"Mark?" Bilbo spoke up. "There's no mark. That door was painted a week ago!"
Gandalf cleared his throat.
"There is a mark; I put it there. Bilbo Baggins-and Miss Libby- let me introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."
Arthur's note: Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a review (good or bad...but hopefully good!) And I will see you soon with more!
Oh and I also wanted to say that this is going to be following the movies. Well, at least the first movie anyway. I have read the book, but I just loved the first movie so much. The second one, I'm not so sure about yet. It was sooo different from the book. But we'll see what I decide to do when we get there! For now, this first part is going to be based on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
-Fantasydreamer44