Serious speaking

Clara found the hobbit in the middle of the kitchen, looking on as the dwarves where walking around his lovely house.

"Excuse me, that is a doily, not a dishcloth!" Bilbo pulled an odd looking piece of cloth out of the hands of the dwarf he had spoken to and sighed deeply.

"But it is full of holes." Bofur, who was leaning against the wall, looked a bit surprised.

"It is supposed to look like that! It is crochet." Bilbo but the cloth down and threw a quick glance into the room next door, where most of the dwarves were still seated around the table.

"Oh, and a wonderful game it is too, if you got the balls for it." Bofur watched the hobbit move around the kitchen and then nodded slowly towards Clara. "Miss Clara."

"Bebother and confusticate these dwarves!" Bilbo sighed again and looked like he wished himself miles away.

"Mr Bilbo?" Clara put a hand on his shoulder, concerned for how he was really feeling.

"My dear Bilbo, what on earth is the matter?" Before Bilbo had the time to say anything, Gandalf entered the room and looked down on the hobbit and the girl.

"What is the matter? I am surrounded by dwarves. What are they doing here?" The three watched as Bofur stepped over to the dwarf that had used the doily as a dishcloth, and gripped the chain of sausages that was hanging over his shoulder. As none of the dwarves wanted to give the food up, they directly started fighting and started moving back into the dining room as they did so.

"Oh, they are quite a merry gathering, once you get used to them." Gandalf smiled, looking quite pleased with the situation he had put the hobbit in.

"I don't want to get used to them!" Bilbo sighed and gestured around him. "Look at the state of my kitchen!" When he continued talking, he moved out into the hall, still gesturing. "There is mud trod into the carpet, they have pillaged the pantry. I am not even going to tell you what they have done in the bathroom. They have all but destroyed the plumbing!" He took a deep sigh and looked up at Gandalf. "I don't understand what they are doing in my house!" He probably would have gone on the same way during the rest of the evening, if it had not been for Ori, walking up to them holding a plate in his hands.

"Excuse me, I am sorry to interrupt, but what should I do with my plate?" He looked at the hobbit, who opened his mouth to speak, but never got the chance to.

"Here you go, Ori, give it to me." Out of the blue, Fili turned up, taking the plate from the other dwarf and throwing it through the air.

Kili, who had been standing further down the hall, smoking his pipe and watched the conversation, caught it in his hand and then threw it into the next room.

This was what started the next madness.

Suddenly, the air was filled with plates, bowls, cups and cutlery being thrown through the air.

"Excuse me, that is my mother's West Farthing crockery, it is over a hundred years old!" Bilbo, switching back into panic-mode, tried to stop the dwarves, but not succeeding.

In the dining room, the dwarves had started drumming the table with their fists and the cutlery in their hands. They let the knives and forks scrape towards one another, something that the hobbit did not like at all. "And can you not do that? You will blunt them!"

"Oh, do you hear that, lads? He says we will blunt the knives." Bofur smiled mischievously, not really making an effort to stopping.

Clara, who was trying to keep out of the way and not get hit by flying plates, was having a great time. She loved the dwarves and their happy spirit. It cheered up the evening even more.

It was not that she was enjoying making fun of Bilbo and not caring for his worry about his house. She was just having such a great time, that was all.

When suddenly Kili started singing and the others joined in, she found herself spellbound by the sudden happiness of the company.

"Blunt the knives, bend the forks

Smash the bottles and burn the corks

Chip the glasses and crack the plates

That is what Bilbo Baggins hates!

Cut the cloth and tread the fat

Leave the bones on the bedroom matt

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

When you have finished, if any are whole

Send them down the hall to roll!"

Here a slight pause came, when the dwarves played happily on instruments, before another round of "That is what Bilbo Baggins hates!", could be heard, echoing through the house.

The dwarves, now surrounding the clean dishes, laughed at Bilbo's confused face and patted each others backs. The noise was so loud, no one had the chance to speak properly, and Clara wondered if they were ever going to fall silent.

The three sudden knocks on the door, was what made the dwarves shut up.

"He is here." Gandalf looked seriously at Bilbo, who looked rather afraid by now.

The hobbit quickly found his way to the door and pulled it open. The dwarves stood silently around him, watching as the night outside was revealed.

Against the starry skies, a dark-haired dwarf was seen. He gave Bilbo a judgemental, but yet proud, look and then stepped inside without an invitation. No "At your service" this time. For Thorin Oakenshield served no one.

"Gandalf. I thought you said this place was easy to find. I lost my way. Twice. Would not have found it if it had not been for the mark on the door." Thorin walked inside while speaking to the wizard, placing himself in front of his dwarves and dumping his beautiful cloak in the hands of his nearest nephew, Kili.

"Mark? There is no mark on that door. It was painted a week ago!" Bilbo looked rather offended and was about to show he was right by pulling the door open again, but Gandalf stopped him by standing in his way.

"There is a mark. I put it there myself." Gandalf almost sounded a bit embarrassed, something that Clara found rather odd. He had been so confident when drawing that mark all those hours ago. "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

The hobbit did not look completely at ease with this. He apparently did not want the leader in there at all.

"So this is the Hobbit." Thorin started walking around Bilbo, his eyes examining the hobbit closely. "Tell me, Mr Baggins. Have you done much fighting?"

"Pardon me?" Bilbo looked at the dwarf with big eyes, as if he had never heard that before in his life.

"Axe or sword? What is your weapon of choice?" Thorin threw Clara a quick glance as he passed her and the girl knew that she was probably going to get the same treatment soon enough.

"Well, I have some skill at Conkers, if you must know, but I fail to see why that is relevant." Bilbo stood up a bit straighter when saying this, apparently very proud about this.

"Thought as much." Thorin did not look pleased, as he returned to stand with his dwarves. "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." The dwarves laughed, apparently thinking the same.

Clara, who saw the confused and sad face of the hobbit, took a step forward and placed a hand on Bilbo's shoulder.

"I am not so sure you should be so fast out-judging Mr Baggins. He may surprise you a great deal, O Great Lord Of The Mountain." She did not know from where the courage to speak or the formal language came from, but it felt right speaking that way.

At least it felt so until Thorin gave her a murderous glare.

"I do not believe anyone asked for your opinion on the matter, Miss Walsh. I am the leader of this company and I am the one making the decisions. You should be happy I do not just throw you out of the company at once for that comment." He frowned and then turned his back to her, beginning to speak to Kili and Fili. It did not take long, before he was escorted from the hall and into the dining room to get something to eat.

Thorin's harsh words had surprised Clara quite a bit and she knew that she probably had messed up big time. She had just wanted to help Bilbo. She did not mean to offend anyone or tread on their toes. But apparently she had.

One by one, the dwarves left the hall and returned back to the dining room. Clara did not feel like following. She just wanted to be left alone. But Bilbo convinced her otherwise.

"I am thankful for what you did, dear one", he said and smiled up at her. "Mr Oakenshield had no right whatsoever to speak to you like that. He need to learn how to speak to a lady." He seemed quite happy and was clearly trying to cheer Clara up.

"Thank you, dear Bilbo. Though I cannot say I am a lady. I have no idea who I am or where I am from, so I cannot pretend to be something I might not be." She bit her lip and blinked a few sudden tears, both of anger and hurt, away.

"I am certain you are a lady. If not an elven, but at least a lady of Gondor." He smiled again and she nodded slowly.

"I guess I am someone." She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a faint smile. "I guess we should join the others. It seems like Thorin got news for us." Bilbo murmured something about this, but did not really complain. Instead he just followed her into the dining room to join the dwarves in their meeting.

They had all gathered around the table, this time all of them quiet and serious. Most of the dwarves had pulled out their pipes and was smoking as they watched Thorin eat.

Clara was placed again in the corner of the room, this time sitting between Kili and Fili, with Bombur at the end near them.

She was quiet and only listened as the brothers spoke, not having anything to add to their conversation. She mostly felt like she was in the wrong place. An addition no one wanted there. Someone that was only in the way, being to no use.

"Clara, are you feeling all right?" Kili threw her a concerned look, noticing the distant look on the girl's face.

"Oh, yes, I am perfectly fine." She gave him a quick smile, before looking away and locking her gaze onto an empty tankard that was placed on the table before her.

"I hope you did not get too offended by my uncle speaking earlier. He can be quite harsh when in a bad mood." The dark-haired dwarf exchanged a quick look with his brother, before turning his gaze back to the blonde girl. He was worried that she was going to pull out of the company because of what Thorin had said. She seemed so crestfallen since the earlier incident.

"No, no it is fine. I guess I should not have spoken that way to him in the first place. I just..." She stopped herself and shrugged her shoulders, as if to show him she did not really care.

"He can handle it. I promise, he will have forgotten all about it in the morning." Kili placed his arm around her shoulders, trying everything to comfort her.

"I do not care about what he will do", she murmured and looked up, the blue-green eyes dark. "I will still remember it and know that he does not want me there." She shook her head. "I should not have come in the first place." She bit her lip and met his gaze.

"Don't say that. You could not have made it out there all by yourself. Besides, we need you. You are a part of our company now and that is all." He smiled and saw a slight twitch in the corner of her mouth. "Come on, I know you really like being a part of all this." He winked, trying his best to make the twitch turn into a full smile.

"My brother is right. You belong here and you cannot deny that." Fili felt like he needed to stop the two of them to get too cosy and therefore decided to butt in. Also he placed an arm around the girl's shoulders, earning a glare from his brother as he did so. Kili was not amused.

"Oh shut up you two." Clara laughed quietly, feeling a smile spread on her lips. The brothers really had cheered her up.

The three spent a few more minutes chatting, but when Balin spoke and everyone around the table turned silent, they turned their attention to Thorin.

"What news from the meeting in Ered Luin? Did they all come?"

Thorin looked up from his bowl and nodded slowly.

"Aye. Envoys from all the seven kingdoms." He looked rather pleased about this, but the next question made him serious once more.

"What do the dwarves from the Iron Hills say? Is Dain with us?" This time it was Dwalin who spoke. Thorin sighed deeply.

"They will not come." He looked down a bit sadly and Clara understood that this was something that disappointed him.

The other dwarves murmured, showing their sadness over the news. "They say this quest is ours and ours alone." Thorin sighed again and the others murmured again in disappointment.

"You are going on a quest?" The sudden sound of Bilbo's voice, made everyone turn to the doorway. The hobbit had been keeping himself in the background, putting the dishes back on their shelves and only listened half-heartedly to the conversation.

"Bilbo, my dear fellow, let us have a little more light." Gandalf thought it was better to explain everything correctly and make everyone understand completely.

Bilbo quickly fetched a candle to add to those already placed on the table, and return to find Gandalf spreading a small map on the table. "Far to the East, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lays a single, solitary peak." Gandalf pointed to the map, where Clara could see a drawing of a mountain.

"The Lonely Mountain." Bilbo leaned over the map, reading the name out loud and putting the candle down.

"Aye. Oin has read the portents and the portents say it is time." The dwarf with the red beard and hair that Clara had found grumpy earlier, now spoke with a thick accent and nodded towards another dwarf.

The dwarf he had nodded towards, Oin, nodded in reply.

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold. When the birds of yore return to the mountain, the reign of the beast will end." It was a powerful saying and no one dared to break the heavy silence that followed. No one except for the hobbit.

"Hm, what beast?" He looked quite scared where he stood in the doorway, looking from one dwarf to another.

"Well, that would be a reference to Smaug The Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne fire-breather, teeth like razors, claws like meathooks, extremely fond of precious metals." Bofur, who was trying to be friendly, smiled softly with his pipe placed in the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, I know what a dragon is", Bilbo said, a bit irritated.

"I am not afraid! I am up for it! I will give him a taste of dwarfish iron right up his jacksie." Ori, who was showing his courageous side, stood up and said this. The other dwarves shouted, cheering him on.

"Sit down!" The elder dwarf next to him, Dori, quickly pulled him down on his spot again, a bit annoyed by his actions.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest." Balin spoke slowly, his words causing the other dwarves to shout in protest.

"We may be few in numbers, but we are fighters, all of us, to the last dwarf!" Fili spoke loudly, causing the others to hum in agreement.

"And you forget, we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time!" Kili smiled broadly, adding to his brother's words.

His sudden movements awoke Clara, who had been dozing of against his shoulder and she now sat up straight, watching as the dwarves started making bets of how many dragons the old wizard could have killed.

"Oh, I um, well, I would not say that I..." Gandalf stuttered, a bit embarrassed, coughing smoke from his pipe.

"How many then?"

"Uh, what?" Gandalf looked a bit surprised over the direct question.

"Well, how many dragons have you killed? Go on, give us a number!"One dwarf shouted this out, causing the others to start shouting again.

Gandalf coughed some more smoke, now clearly embarrassed.

The shouting increased and the dwarves started to rise up, waving their fists in the air and imagining glorious battles that the wizard could have gone through.

It all ended with Thorin standing up and shouting something in a language Clara had never heard before.
"Shazara!" The dwarves immediately fell silent and sat back down, looking up at their leader. "If we have read the signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years. Eyes look East to the Mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor? Du Bekár! Du Bekár!"

The dwarves started cheering once more and Thorin sat back down in his chair, a pleased look on his face.

"You forget: The front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain." Balin looked sadly around him, sighing tiredly.

"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true." Gandalf, seeing the sad faces of the dwarves, played with the fingers of his hand. A key suddenly appeared, out of thin air, held firm by the long fingers.

"How came you by this?" Thorin looked at it with big eyes, apparently remembering it from somewhere.

"It was given to me by your father, by Thráin, for safe-keeping. It is yours now." Gandalf handed the key to Thorin, who looked at it, examining every part of it.

"If there is a key, there must be a door." Fili spoke the mind of everyone in the room, getting faint hums of agreement.

"These runes speaks of a hidden passage to the lower halls." Gandalf pointed at the map with his pipe, causing everyone to shift, so that they could see it more closely.

"There is another way in!" Kili broke the silence, again startling Clara, who had been dozing of once more. She choked a yawn with her hand and tried to focus. It would not be very good if she fell asleep there and destroyed everything by snoring in the corner.

"Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed." Gandalf sighed. "The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle-Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth and no small amount of courage. But if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done." Gandalf let his eyes travel the room, looking at the serious faces surrounding him.

"That is why we need a burglar." The always helpful Ori, threw Bilbo an expectant and hopeful glance.

"Hm, a good one too. An expert, I would imagine." Bilbo looked at the map, frowning while looking at the runes that spoke of the door.

"And are you", the red-headed, grumpy-looking dwarf asked.

"Am I what", Bilbo asked, a bit surprised.

"He says he is an expert!" Oin, the old dwarf with the hearing trumpet, cheered and the others joined in.

"Me? No, no, no, no, I am not a burglar. I have never stolen a thing in my life." Bilbo quickly started protesting, throwing Gandalf a quick look.

"I am afraid I will have to agree with Mr Baggins. He is hardly burglar material." Balin spoke, earning a nod in agreement from the hobbit.

"Aye, the wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves." Dwalin looked at the dwarf, a bit concerned, but still agreeing with his brother.

"Though I think Bilbo would be able to fight if he had to", Clara spoke up, again feeling that she had to defend the dwarf. She earned a few confused looks, but no one replying.

The dwarves instead started to discuss the matter with one another, earning a few nods from Bilbo from time to time.

But Gandalf would not have this.

"Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is!" Gandalf seemed to grow a few inches, casting a dark shadow over the group, that quickly fell silent again.

Pleased with what he had done, Gandalf shrunk back to his normal size and kept on speaking. "Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company and I have chosen Mr Baggins. There is a lot more to him than appearance suggest, and he has got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself. You must trust me on this." Gandalf got quite pleased with himself, but the hobbit looked more afraid than anything else. "The same also applies to Miss Clara. She has already shown you some of her power and you will sure find more strength in her before long."
Suddenly, Clara found herself looked on by thirteen dwarves, a wizard and a hobbit and she felt her cheeks turn red, as she bent her head down.

"Very well, we will do it your way." Thorin sighed and looked at first Gandalf, then Bilbo and then Clara.

"No, no, no." Bilbo tried to protest, but got cut off by the leader of the company.

"Give them the contracts." He waved his hand, showing Balin to take over.

"Please." Bilbo tried to protest, but got cut off once more.

"All right, we are off." Bofur smiled in his corner, watching as Bilbo and Clara got handed a long contract each by Balin.

"It is just the usual summary of out-of-pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth." The white-haired dwarf shrugged his shoulders, earning a wondering glance from the hobbit.

"Funeral arrangements?", he murmured to himself, as he stepped back out into the hall and started reading the long document.

In the room, Clara did the same. It was a lot of text and it made her tired head spin, but she did not complain and just read on, while Thorin and Gandalf held a whispering conversation and Kili and Fili helped her understand all the phrases and expressions.

Out in the hall, Bilbo started reading the contract out loud to himself.

"Terms: Cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding one fourteenth of total profit, if any. Present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence, there of including but not limited to lacerations..." He paused for a moment to think. "Evisceration..." He paused again. "Incineration?" He looked up, repeating the word again, louder this time so that the dwarves could hear it. "Incineration?"

"Aye, he will melt the flesh of your bones in the blink of an eye." Bofur looked up from his pipe, causing Bilbo to look a bit breathless by this information.

"Hm." He breathed slowly, earning concerned glances. Also Clara looked up from her own contract, worried for the health of the hobbit.

"Are you all right, laddie?" Balin frowned and followed the hobbit with his old eyes. Bilbo bended forward, hands on his knees, trying to breath.

"Ah, yeah, feel a bit faint." He murmured, trying mostly to calm himself.

"Think furnace with wings." Bofur tried to help, something that only made Bilbo even more stressed out.

"Air, I need air", he breathed, looking up.

"Flash of light, searing pain, then POOF! You are nothing more than a pile of ash."

Bilbo breathed even heavier, all eyes on him. He straightened up, shook his head, before saying:

"Hm, nope." With that, he fell to the floor, knocked out.

"Ah, very helpful, Bofur"; Gandalf said, sighing as he rose from his chair. Things were going great.

Author's note: So, here's another part. I actually didn't think I would upload anything today, but I actually got the time to write this. And it got really long, too!
I really hope you will like it and if you got the time to leave a review, I hope you do! I love to hear from you all! Thanks for reading :)