Thanks for reading this far! And thanks for your reviews, follows and favorites!

Special thanks to: likarian, who has given me awesome reviews! :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 9

I looked at the door in front of me, not believing it. I'm standing in front of THE Prancing Pony... Never in a million years would I have thought this could happen to me or to anyone... Huh...

I hugged the coat Morton had given me a while ago, tightly around me so I wouldn't be so cold. I understand why I was given this, my Hello Kitty pajamas were quite extraordinary in here.

Morton passed me and opened the door for us all. Todd put his hand on my back and pushed me inside. Like I couldn't walk by myself... I gave him an annoyed look.

The Prancing Pony was crowded. It was full of men, a few woman too, but definitely men. They were drinking and having fun with their friends. One word: Noisy.

"Oi! Morton! Long time no see! Will you and your men take the usual?" I looked at the speaker and noticed that it was the bartender who had spoken. Morton smiled at him and moved closer. The rest of us followed.

"Rob! Good to see you! I think we will go with the usual, yes." He said when he reached the counter. They smiled at each other and then Morton turned to look at me, "Except we have one person more."

Curiously, Rob looked down at me, his eyes widening. "A girl?!" I awkwardly gave a quick smile and a hand wave.

"Yeah, we found her in the woods, all alone wandering in there. We decided to take her with us so she wouldn't get lost or better, get eaten." I gulped at that possibility.

"Oh, Morton. Ever the gentleman you are. Well, what would my lady..." he drifted off and I knew he wanted to know my name.

"Lily." I said.

"My lady Lily, want to eat and drink?"

How the hell could I know what there even is to eat? He didn't even give me a menu or something...

"Oh, well I... I will just drink water and well... just bring me something to eat, I don't care what it is." he nodded.

We then moved to a long table, Rob had guided us, so we could all fit into a same table. I sat between Todd, (why does it feel like he's always there), and... Rufus, maybe?

We got our food quickly and started to eat. The soup I got wasn't so bad actually, and I ate happily. The door to the Prancing Pony opened and closed all the time, so I didn't give it any attention. Our table was one of the loudest after they got their drinks, but it didn't bother me at all. Better than doing homeworks at home...

I have to admit that Morton and the others weren't so bad. They gave me a coat, food and protection. They were NOT bad people.

I started to enjoy myself, I smiled when I listened to their tales and other things they were telling and laughing about. I almost, and let me say, almost forgot the company, sorta like kidnapping thing and my home.

One hour later...

I laughed along the others when Rufus told us a funny story about his past. I heard the door opening again, but didn't think any of it.

"Oi! Our cups are empty again!" Morton shouted and the rest of us (except me) agreed by shouting too. I chuckled at them when one of the staff rolled her eyes and came to fill them again.

"Hey! Can I have more water, please?" I shouted over the commotion so she could hear. Luckily she did and nodded. Soon we were all drinking and laughing again.

Now it was Todd speaking and I let my eyes wander around the inn. Next to our table had come new people and I leaned forward, so I could see them past Todd and two others.

Oh my fucking god!

The company was sitting next to our table, they had connected two tables so they could all fit, chatting among themselves, eating and drinking too. Though, they did not look even nearly as cheery as my table did.

I leaned backwards so I was sitting normally again. I can't believe this! They're actually here!

"Lily? What is it?" Morton asked me. He was sitting in front of me so I wasn't surprised that he saw me looking at them. The others didn't seem to notice much, just continued to laugh, drink and talk.

"Lily." he continued before I had time to open my mouth, "You saw those people next to us? They are dwarves." he said the word dwarves like there was poison in it.

"Yeah, I know that they are dwarves. Actually I-"

"Never trust them." he said, interrupting me. I furrowed my brows at him.

"Why not?" I couldn't help but ask.

"The race of men and the race of dwarves don't get along with each other nowdays. Dwarves are greedy and suspicious. They even steal our jobs away from us. Once I decided to do business with them and in the end, they tricked me so I lost my money and got nothing in compensation." he growls.

"But it doesn't mean that they are all like that. There have to be some dwarves-"

"No. There aren't. Trust me, whatever you do, stay away from them. They bring us nothing but misery." he said and narrowed his eyes at the company.

Great. I guess now is not a good time to tell him that they are the friends I talked about...

Morton joined the others in talking again. I have to say, I'm quite surprised about this. I didn't think there would be something bad like this between the race of men and the race of dwarves. Oh well...

I leaned backwards this time so Morton wouldn't notice. I only saw Bilbo who was sitting at the end of their table. He didn't seem too happy, just munched his food sourly. He also kept looking around him nervously.

I tried to mind link him or something so he would look at my table. Nothing. But when Todd finally seemed to finish his tale, our table burst into a loud laughter. Bilbo boggled and looked at us. I quickly raised my hand so he would notice me. Just when he was turning away, our eyes met.

Bilbo's eyes widened so much that I was afraid they would pop out of his skull. We just stared at each other for a while. Then he seemed to recover and gave me a 'what the fuck?!' look. To him it was probably 'what in Eru's name?!' or something like that.

I just shrugged and pointed at Morton and the others with my thumb. Bilbo looked at them and then back at me. His eyes held curiosity and panick. He looked at the company and then back at me. His eyes held a clear question, 'what do I do?'.

I didn't get to answer in any way, because Todd noticed me. He looked at what I was staring at and then pushed my back a little forward, so I couldn't see Bilbo anymore., "Lily. Don't look at them. They are trouble we don't want."

"Oh." was all I could answer. At least Bilbo noticed me so the company should soon know about my whereabouts... I'm back with them in no time!

I tried to listen if Bilbo had told the others about me already, but I couldn't hear a thing over the noise.

Until...

Faster than I could have anticipated, the dwarves stood up and came to our table. I could see Thorin, Balin, Gloin and Bofur from my spot. The talking and laughing immediately stopped in my table and the men turned to look at the company warily.

"What do you want, dwarves?" Morton scowled at them. I could feel how the atmosphere turned immediately from cheery to tense.

"We have lost one of our companion and the hobbit said, he saw her with you." Thorin says. His eyes wandered around our table, looking for me. When our eyes finally met, his expression turned to surprised. Maybe he didn't believe that Bilbo was speaking the truth...

I gave him an awkward wave. Morton turned to look at me and so did the rest of the men. He didn't have to ask me if I was her, when he saw my wave at Thorin. He started to scowl even more.

"I told you I wasn't alone." I said helpfully. When I saw his scowling face directed at me, I shut up.

I was sure that he would now let me go back to the company, but boy was I wrong,

"I will not let a girl, a girl from the race of men, leave with a bunch of dwarves." Morton growled. I raised my brows in surprise. Was he serious?

Thorin seemed to have the same thinking as me, because he narrowed his eyes, "Lily belongs to our company and you have no right to say something like that to us."

"Why would a girl like her be in your company? Just what is her meaning in it?!" Morton argued.

"I believe that that is none of your business. Stand up Lily." Thorin pretty much commanded, so I did. Until Todd grabbed my arm (again!) and pulled me back to sit. At this, the company went into an uproar.

Before I knew what was happening, the company and Morton and his men were standing against each other, weapons raised. The inn quickly turned to deadly silent except for us. Everyone was staring at us. Wow... They are fighting about... ME! Never did I think this day would come...

I was pushed behind the men so I couldn't see the dwarves anymore. Then the actual fighting started. At that moment, all I could think was:

Where the hell was Gandalf when we needed him?!

Yay! This was a quick update! If you want more of them...

Review! :D

TheSarcasticAngel