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"Will you be coming with us, Mister Baggins?" The Tinker asked from her seat upon my wooden dresser. I hadn't seen the pale woman leave the kitchen, let alone enter my room. The thought of Kyrie and I in a room, a bedroom no less, alone, made me feel nervous and more than a little horrified.
"I..I will not b-be." I managed to choke out as I watched the mismatched eyed girl's brow furrow in confusion.
"So Gandalf was lying this whole time. I figured, but you never know if that man is speaking the truth or lies with all those riddles of his. I was told that you wanted to go on this quest and that you had invited us into your home tonight to celebrate." She spoke softly, biting her lower lip. Her eyes wandered to the corner of the room nervously, she was embarrassed. With barley a noise, she jumped down from the dresser and stood in front of me.
Kyrie was a few inches taller than I, which is still shorter than most beings. Even most of the Dwarves towered over me, even though I'm rather tall for a Hobbit. I watched nervously as the girl stood still for a few seconds, watching me with a curious glance. In the darker light of the bedroom, Kyrie's skin seemed to look like the color of cream, the shadows dancing across her face making it hard to read most of her expressions.
"I'm sorry for our intrusion, Mister Baggins. Good night." The Tinker said softly, bowing her head before she danced around me to get to the door. She wasn't the most graceful creature I've ever seen, she did almost knock over my rocking chair on her way out, but she didn't make one sound other than the jingle of the bells on her ankles.
Kyrie's POV
That night, Baggins let all of us camp out in his house.
Well, I'm not really sure that he invited us to stay, but the poor guy stormed off to his bedroom before he could shoo us out. When I went in the bedroom and spoke to him, he didn't tell me to try and push the rest of the company out. Gandalf seemed a little put off by Bilbo's dismissal, but he seemed to be in better spirits after the Dwarves started breaking out their pipe-weed.
When the candle light began to dwindle, the Dwarves seemed to congregate around the large, roaring fireplace. As Thorin walked past me to lean against the mantle, he sent me the chilliest glare I had ever felt. I refused to wilt under his gaze and stared back until he took a deep breath and started leading his men in a song.
It was one of the most beautiful songs I'd ever heard, and that's saying something! Many bands of merry minstrels happened to pass Fangorn forest, but none of them compared to the sounds of the heartbroken Dwarves.
After the musical, I was able to share one of the guest rooms with Gandalf, and three Dwarves named Kili, Fili, and Bofur. We let Gandalf sleep in the bed, even though it was a little too small for his size. I took rest upon the rather fancy looking couch and the three Dwarves slept on the floor next to the edge of the couch, curled up in their bed rolls.
"So, Kelly.." Bofur said, pulling his strange hat from his head.
"Kyrie.." I corrected, watching Bofur from my spot on the couch.
"Kyrie..are you a good tinkerer, or are you a good tinkerer like how Mr. Baggins' is a good burglar?" Bofur asked, Fili and Kili nodding their heads in agreement. Gandalf didn't say anything, I wouldn't be surprised if the old man slept for a month after his sleepless journey here.
"I'm decent at what I do. What do you three do?" I asked, readjusting the warm patchwork blankets that I had found in the closet.
"We're our Uncle's nephews." Fili said, nodding to his brother, Kili.
Apparently Dwarves like to point out the obvious.
"Oh, that's surprising." I taunted, getting the Dwarves to laugh. "So you two are princes! That's pretty astounding. What about you, Bofur?"
"Me cousin Bifur and me was toy makers." Bofur seemed a little embarrassed, shrugging his shoulders.
"Ah, a fellow creator." I smiled, getting the hatted-Dwarf to smile back.
"Gandalf said you were raised by those tree-people, what was that like?" Kili asked.
"The Ents, yeah." I said, staring up at the rounded, wooden ceiling. "My Papi is an Ent. They're a pretty good group of people. Very strong, stubborn, intelligent." I said, sighing. Kili seemed to recognize my melancholic sigh and picked up the conversation.
"Hm, sounds just like us Dwarves!" Kili chuckled, elbowing his brother, who elbowed Bofur, and then all three burst out in peals of laughter. I felt my chest warm as laughter filled the room. Nothing was as horrible as a full, but silent room.
"Some of us like to sleep!" Came the annoyed grumble of a certain Wizard. Kili, Fili, Bofur, and I looked at each other nervously. Smirking, we giggled quietly before curling in to our beds.
I'm just happy I'm not sleeping in the back of that damned cart again.
"Here, Kyrie, you can ride Cupcake." Nori said, helping me up into the saddle of a chocolate brown pony with a white mane. I had my small duffle pack attached to the back of the saddle, which gave me something to lean back into, making the ride a little more comfortable.
"Are you good with ponies, Miss Kyrie?" Ori asked, mounting his own pony, Buttercup.
"Please, call me Key! None of this Miss nonsense." I laughed, running my fingers through my pony's mane. "And not so much. I've seen horses and ponies before, but ever gotten to close. There are deer in the forest, that's close though, right?" I asked, nervously picking up the reins.
A grunt alerted me to someone standing beside me. Looking up, there was a large Dwarf standing next to me, grumbling and pulling the reigns out of my hands. Grunting once more, the Dwarf, who I recognized as Bofur's cousin Bifur, adjusted the reins before shoving them in my hands. Grabbing ahold of my hands, he pushed them down to rest against my legs.
"Thanks! Maybe I can get used to riding a pony." I joked, but Bifur didn't laugh. My smile dropped as I eyed the massive, black axe piece that was sticking out of his head. How the hell didn't I notice that before? Maybe because the axe was the same shade of black as his hair? Apparently I had stared for too long, causing Bifur to make another non-committal noise and mount his own stead. Bifur made a strange hand signal and maneuvered his steed beside mine.
"Don't mind him, Lassie. Bifur's had a hard time talking ever since an Orc sent that axe into his head." Balin said kindly, tugging on one of the curling ends of his white beard.
"That sounds frightful!" I gasped, turning to look at Bifur as he started grumbling and making more strange motions with his hands. Balin hummed, seemingly understanding whatever Bifur was saying.
"He says it is not too bad. Most of the company can understand his hand signals, it's called Iglishmêk ." Balin said, his eyes watching Bifur's quickly moving hands.
"If you want the Lassie to be able to understand you, slow your mitts!" Balin said, earning a glare and snort from the mute Dwarf. I took that as a sign to watch Bifur's hands, which made a slow circular motion and then five strange hand signals.
"He said 'My name is Bifur'. The hand signals have a whole alphabet, and its own vocabulary." Balin said, as I stared wide-eyed at Bifur.
"Is it common for Dwarves to go…mute?" I asked, watching as Bifur turned to Oin and started to sign-speak to him. Balin hummed, nodding his head as Thorin let out a loud "Ashf", which I guess is Dwarfish for us to move out, since all the ponies started slowly riding us out of The Shire.
"When one is battling as often as us Dwarves, blows to the head are common, so some..disabilities are not an uncommon misfortune among our people. We are also a mining people. It's very difficult to hear in mines, so Iglishmêk is a must." Bofur answered, the hatted Dwarf having heard me and Balin's conversation.
"Oh..is it hard to learn?" I questioned, eyeing some of the others who were muttering to the youngest Dwarf, Ori, who was writing something down in a brown, leather bound journal.
"Not very, I can show you if you'd like." Bofur offered, smiling.
"That would be nice!" I said, turning my head to Bifur. "Then you and I could have little chats and actually understand each other." I said, a little nervous as I finished my sentence. I expected the big, strong Dwarf to snort or growl at me. Why would he want to have 'little chats' with me anyway?
I was pleasantly surprised when the axe-headed Dwarf smiled, his beard lifting up very high along with his lips. I felt myself let out a relaxing chuckle, it was nice to know that even though Bifur looked like a hard-ass, he was a good Dwarf, based on first impressions of course.
"I bet a row of my best hair beads that the Hobbit will join us." Kili's happy shout from the very front of the company caught my attention. I saw Ori scribbling furiously in his journal as the other Dwarves shouted out their predictions on Bilbo joining in on the adventure.
"What do you think, Gandalf?" The fattest Dwarf, Bombur, asked. I felt a little bad for the pony he was on until I noticed that his pony was rather large herself.
"I believe that Master Bilbo will not only join us, but he will join us within the hour." Gandalf seemed rather positive in his chosen burglar.
Me, not so much.
Why would Baggins come along with us? He seemed like the typical prim and proper man that Papi told me about, the kind of man that he would have called a "sissy". Baggins has all the comforts and luxuries he'd ever need in that Hobbit-hole of his, and I doubt someone would want to leave that for a tough adventure.
Plus, Baggins probably wouldn't be able to last without his beloved plates and doilies.
"What about you, Key?" Dori asked, eager to get more of the company in on the betting.
"I would bet that Baggins won't come, but I don't have anything to bet." I shrugged, slowly becoming comfortable with the strange gait of the pony.
"Gandalf obviously made the wrong choice." Thorin said, shooting the Wizard a glare. Gandalf just smiled back at the kingly Dwarf, who growled back.
"Thorin obviously needs to have a little more faith." Gandalf teased back, earning another growl from Thorin. I felt myself shiver at the Dwarf's warning growl. I'd heard the same from some of the wolves and bears from the forest, and you never messed with a growling animal!
Note to self, Dwarves growl like bears when agitated.
We were about an hour out of The Shire now, and everyone seemed to be in high spirits. Kili and Fili had trotted me and Cupcake around, introducing us to all the other ponies. My favorites had to be my own pony, Cupcake, Bofur's pony, Peony, Kili's pony, Tea, and the pony that was meant for Baggins, Syrup.
"Why do the ponies have such..sweet names?" I giggled, clicking my tongue happily at Nori's pony, Noodle. I expected the Dwarves' ponies to have names that were a little more..rugged. Maybe named in that language that Thorin seemed so fond of leading his men with.
"Don't ask us! Gloin's small boy Gimli named them." Bombur said, smiling at his axe wielding kin. "Such a sweet boy, you have. So polite, but strong! Good appetite, too!"
Gloin puffed his chest out at the praise of his son. I suddenly was hit with a wave of pity. I hadn't thought of these Dwarves of being separated from their families. Just as I was about to ask Gloin about his son, when I caught the sound of someone screaming.
"Wait! Wait! I'm coming along! I signed it! Waaaaaait for me!"
The whole company stalled, the ponies shifting nervously as a rather familiar Hobbit came rushing up the hillside. Baggins was running up the hill, the long company contract waving behind him. He looked a little too dressy to be going on an adventure: brown cropped trousers, a white shirt, a deep green waistcoat, a maroon colored coat, and no shoes.
"Master Baggins!" Bofur said happily, probably because he was one of the rare few that had bet on Baggins coming along.
"I'M COMING WITH YOU!" Baggins shouted louder, even though all of us had stopped. He was breathing heavily as he stumbled up to Thorin and Balin, holding up his signed contract. Balin took the contract, practically sticking his nose against the paper as he read and re-read the contract quickly.
"All seems in order." Balin said, nodding to Thorin, who seemed a little irritated at Baggins' arrival. "Welcome to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."
"See, you must have faith Master Thorin." Gandalf said wisely as he tugged on the reins of his horse, Shalty. I think he had left his old donkey back at The Shire. That old donkey deserves a damn long break!
"Give him a pony." Thorin hissed, jerking his head in the lone pony's direction. The pony meant for Baggins, Syrup, nickered happily, even as her rider started to refuse her.
"Oh, no thank you!" Baggins said quickly, turning to march alongside the rest of the horse astride company. "I'm much happier on foot, thank you. Allergic to horse hair and all." He said, but anyone with eyes could tell that he was lying.
"Why not get on the pony, Baggins. It's less walking." I said, trotting beside the walking Hobbit, looking down on him from a higher height than usual. Baggins shot me a slightly dirty look, kind of like he was looking down on me, metaphorically of course.
"Not all of us are lazy." Baggins said, sticking his nose in the air. I huffed, my brows furrowing. Sure, the Hobbit had a bad night last night, but I don't recall doing one thing! I didn't toss any of my belongings around, didn't walk mud into his house, I barley even had any of his food! I had apologized for being an unwanted guest! I even straightened up the guest room that I had shared with Gandalf, Fili, Kili, and Bofur!
"You rude little creature." I huffed again, tugging at Cupcake's reigns and leading her away from Baggins. I heard him stuttering, slightly embarrassed by his snappy attitude towards me, and a little shocked by the attitude I threw right back at him.
Needless to say, a short while later, Baggins found himself astride Syrup, thanks to a rather handy Fili and Kili. The rude creature was pouting like a child, holding onto his reins strangely. He was holding his arms out stiffly, the reins held high. Bifur, who was riding next to me, rolled his eyes and quickly did a few hand signs.
"He says: 'Hobbit worse at riding than you'." Ori translated for the older Dwarf, who smiled when I snickered. Baggins' back stiffened, clearly having heard us, but I couldn't find any pity for him. Not after snapping at me for trying to be nice and start a conversation with him.
Suddenly, Baggins started to sneeze rather violently. He turned around to poke around through his back pack, his face slowly becoming pale and his expression becoming more worried as time passed and he couldn't find whatever he was looking for.
"Wait! We have to go back!" Baggins said, jerking at the reins of his pony, which refused to stop.
"Why might that be, burglar?" Dori asked, the company turning their heads to look at Baggins with curious looks.
"I forgot my handkerchief!" Baggins said, as if he had left his favorite child at home. All the Dwarves were quiet for a moment before they burst into laughter, clearly directed at the poor Hobbit. Baggins' cheeks turned a bright pink hue. One of the Dwarves ripped a piece of fabric off his pants and threw it back to the Hobbit, who jerked away from the dirty cloth.
"Nasty!" Baggins muttered to himself, glaring down at the brown strip of cloth that his pony trod over. Rolling my eyes, I slowly maneuvered Cupcake and clicked at her to speed up a little. Quicker than I would like, I was riding next to Baggins.
"Here, Baggins." I grumbled, digging my hand into the side pocket of my bag and pulled out a faded green colored cloth. One of the two hankies that my M'ammy packed for me all those years ago. Baggins seemed taken aback by my offer, but slowly reached his hand out, as if I was going to yank the cloth away.
"Thank you, Keera." Baggins said sincerely, dabbing at his slightly runny nose. I felt my eye twitch in annoyance. Could men simply not understand and remember 'Kyrie'? It's five damned letters!
"It's Kyrie, Baggins." I said as nicely as I could. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on the poor guy. This trip is going to be very hard for him. There's no reason to add drama to an already stressful and dangerous quest.
"It's Bilbo, Kyrie." Baggins, uh..Bilbo, said, nodding his head.
"It's Key, actually." I nodded my head back, sending Bilbo a small smile. "Do you know where we exactly are?" I asked, hoping he could tell me. Kili and Fili thought 'not in The Shire' was a decent location.
"We're just about to enter the Old Forest. After that, there's Bree. I believe we'll be stopping there." Bilbo said, folding the handkerchief into a neat triangle and tucking it into his breast pocket. Now that I look at it, the green hanky matched Bilbo's waistcoat very well.
"Oh…and where are we heading?" I felt a little stupid asking. I knew the quest was to help the Dwarves take back their home by killing the dragon, but I didn't exactly know where that was.
"Erebor, The Lonely Mountain." Bilbo said, cocking his head to the side.
"And..where is that exactly?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders. The Ents had no such things as maps, why would a tree ever need to leave it's forest? When Gandalf was telling me which roads we were taking to The Shire, I'd smiled and pretended I knew what he was talking about.
"One moment." Bilbo said, going to search through his pack. He pulled out a crisp looking parchment, somehow maneuvered his pony closer beside mine, and opened the parchment. I could understand the pictures, but I have no clue what the words said.
"This is one of my grandfather's old maps. See, we're here." Bilbo said, pointing at a cluster of trees on the map.
"And this is where we're going." He said, his finger sliding over the map. My eyes widened as his finger kept moving, finally stopping at an illustration of a mountain.
"Holy…" I found myself voiceless. This quest was going to take forever!
"Where..ah! Here, Entwood Forest, also known as Fangorn Forest." Bilbo said, his eyes focused on a large batch of trees on the map. Smiling, I let my finger touch the drawing of my home.
"Where were you born?" Bilbo asked, his eyes scanning the map.
"A small village South West of Fangorn." I said, still looking at Fangorn. "It was called Seahold."
" Huh, how do you spell that?" Bilbo asked after searching the map silently for a few minutes. I felt myself internally groan. Bilbo was obviously well educated, I didn't want him knowing that I can't read or write anything besides numbers. For the sake of everything holy, I had to whisper and ask Gandalf how to write my name correctly on the damned contract!
"….It should be right where the Angren River meets the sea." I evaded the question, and it seemed to satiate the Hobbit, who quickly found the river and the unmarked area of where my home once was. I hope that Bilbo doesn't start breaking out any books, or he might find out that I'm an utterly useless scholar.