I am so so so so sorry! I know it has been way too long since I have updated and I have a bunch of excuses for that :D The first one is (surprise surprise) the lack of motivation, again. I will try to be a better person for that category for the rest of the chapters. The second excuse (I would prefer a real reason) is my summer job which is taking all of my energy. And then I have forgotten this for few days, apologies for that.

But as you can see I'm back! I already have some fresh ideas to the next chapters (and new stories) so I have reasons to believe that I will write the rest of this story much more faster. And for this chapter I tried something little bit different appearance so if you feel that the change is bad.. let me know. Enjoy!

The morning came soon, maybe too soon for the exhausted dwarfs. Although they had slept nearly around the clock it seemed not to be enough. Even the king himself felt like he could just lay there all day long. But the duty called him and he forced himself up when the shining light was too much to his efforts of trying to get some rest. Thorin watched his company sleep on the floor. He wondered if he should just leave them to get some more sleep and go to see the city by himself but he hesitated. He decided that it was better if they sticked together so he first woke Balin up, gently by putting a hand to his friend's arm.

"What is it?" Balin asked half asleep.
"It's nearly a midday, the sun is high," Thorin said. He walked to awake the others who mumbled complains about it but rose to sit, yawning and eyes still slightly closed. They all had aching body parts and with the daylight Thorin noticed few of them still had spider webs on their hair and beard. He gave them a moment to fully awake and then they all went outside.

There were lots of people in the area, meeting each other and exchanging different stuff. The place looked different than in the night time but Thorin lead his group to the way he thought the center was. They weren't noticed until they walked right beside someone; the men and women glimpsed the short company but tried to be polite and turn their gazes away as soon as possible. Apparently, there haven't been many dwarfs in Esgaroth. Soon enough they came to a little round 'lake' that was among the houses and Thorin drew a conclusion that they were near. He decided to ask little help.

"Excuse me," he cleared his throat to a lady near him.
"It's the big one, with tall windows," she said without turning her gaze from her work before Thorin could even ask the question.
He was speechless for few seconds. "Thank you," he finally managed to say and continued to the way she had pointed.
"How did she know?" Dori whispered in confusion.
"Maybe we aren't the first ones asking that same question," Bofur suggested from behind.

The company reached the biggest wooden building in that area and saw people going in and coming out.
"I think this is the place," Thorin said to them. "Remember to behave."
He pushed the doors open and marched in. The place was crowded with people, eather drinking and talking with loud voice or eating a good portions of food that smelled so good to the dwarfs' noses.
Thorin walked through the place towards the end of the room; he felt little uncomfortable under the gazes they were given but he held his head high and moved with self-confidence.

"Aaah, the dwarfs," the man on the other side of the bar desk said when Thorin reached it. "I've already heard of you guys."
"News appears to spread quickly here, I assume," Thorin said back.
"Sometimes," the man said smiling and drying a glass. "What can I get you today?"
"We actually don't have anything with us."
"Oh, I see."
"Is it possible to meet the Master of the Laketown?" Thorin wanted to know.
"Of course. I think he's on the back right now, having his second breakfast today," the man smiled and pointed the way.
"Thank you," Thorin nodded and turned to his company. "You wait here. It's better we all don't go there."
And so the others sat down to wait until their leader would come back.

Thorin walked to the back area of the dining hall which was separated from the main space with a wall. He passed right next to the kitchen and soon heard a deep laughter and sounds of tableware somewhere ahead of him. He had met the Master few times before and Thorin really hoped the man was as kind as back then, otherwise they would be in trouble.

He finally came to the private lodge where the Master and someone else were having a meal. He walked closer and cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your lunch," Thorin said after he had got the attention, "but I am asking for your time for a short discussion."
The Master looked at the dwarf with intensive eyes. "You look slightly familiar to me. Have we met before?"
"Yes, we have," Thorin answered. "A long time ago. I haven't actually been around for a while."
"Ahhh, yes," the Master said and took a bite of one of the chicken legs he had on the plate. "You are a dwarf if i'm not extremely wrong. What is your name?"
"Thorin."
The man's movement stopped at tracks as he recalled the memory of that dwarven name.
"Son of Thrain, of course!" the Master shouted and made a laugh. "I should have remember you from the first second you spoke but you know, i'm getting little old already," he winked at the dwarf and stood up.

Thorin gave him a smile. "You look exactly the same as the last time we met."
"Now you are joking the hard time!" the Master laughed again as they shook hands. "You seem to have more colour in your hair."
"Hard times."
"I see. So, what brings you here, my friend?" the man said and sat back down. His companion had been silent the whole time and that person looked like he would have no intentions to speak.

Thorin was still standing at the same spot. "I have other dwarfs with me, we are just passing through but we could need some help with our travelling. We have come from very far and there have been lots of misfortune on the way, so to say. What I am asking for is some food and rest."
The Master looked at dwarf from head to toes. "You don't look much healthy, I have to admit that. I assume you don't have anything with you to pay for what you are asking for?"

Thorin shook his head. "We are heading to get back our home. As soon as we have claimed it we will pay back everything."
"Well, it sounds good to me," the Master said without thinking any further. "Please, you can use the other lodge there. I think it's better you have your meal here than in the hall, people there might not take lightly all of your.. table manners." As he had said it he burst into a laughing and continued his eating.
"Thank you," Thorin nodded gracefully and headed back to the hall. He was relieved that everything had went so well. To his surprise the dining hall that was nearly full of people when they had arrived was now on the contrary nearly empty. And the reason was easy to spot. Or reasons.

Bombur was staring at the nearest persons (who were quite far because the closest tables had already emptyed) or actually at their meals, drooling with the hunger. Couple other dwarfs were looking at someones' elses plates, just staring like they would have been in trance or something. No wonder half of the customers had already left the place. Thorin thanked the Master of Laketown in his mind for the lodge area.

"Okay everybody, follow me!" Thorin raised his voice and the dwarfs noticed him. They quickly stood up and walked after their leader. As passing the worker behind the long desk Bofur made a small gesture of lifting his hat to the man. That man just closed his eyes and prayed the lord hoping that the dwarfs didn't come back soon. Thorin led his company to the big table that had been shown to him. There was already some food on it so the first ones started immediately gobbling everything they managed to touch as they sat down.

"Manners, remember the –" Thorin tried to discipline the dwarfs but no one seemed to listen to him. He sighed and sat down, too tired to whine about their eating habbits. He had to act like a king so he was much calmer with the eating than his comrades even though he too was starving at the moment. The staff brought them food during the next hour and they all ate with great eagerness, finally being so full they could only sit still or lean on their chairs and benches.

"Did you enjoy?" the Master of the Laketown asked while passing the dwarfs' lodge.
"Yes, we did," Thorin answered with respect and thankfulness. "Thank you."
"You should go to see the city, it's beautiful at this time of the year." And then the Master was gone. The dwarfs waited for a good while before they left the building. The weather was beautiful, the sky was light blue and the sun was shining brightly. Simply a very beautiful day as the man had said to them.

"I'm going to check how the hobbit is doing," Thorin said to the group. "Balin, would you come with me? The rest of you can eather wait here or walk around. Just don't get lost or cause any trouble."
"Can't we come too?" Kili asked disappointed.
"Yeah, we want to see our burglar too," Bofur nodded in agreement and the others nodded too.
"Fine," Thorin said immediately and they all started walking towards the medical building. The city was kind of a maze, too many similar wooden houses and no signposts anywhere. Luckily they didn't have to rush.

"I'm going in first," the king said plainly as they finally reached the right building.
"And I will join you laddie," Balin stated refering to the earlier. Those two stepped in as the rest of the group stayed outside.
"Ahh, you again," the healer lady said when she saw Thorin. "I'm surprised you haven't come back earlier."
"We took a proper rest," he answered. "How is the bur-.. eeh, the hobbit doing? Any better?"
"Actually yes, he's very fine now," the woman stated as she walked in the room organizing her stuff. "He has already been awake. You can go to see him but be gentle. And don't disturb the others, I'm too busy to watch over you now."

The healer went to see some of her patients elsewhere in the building, Thorin and Balin headed to Bilbo's room. They didn't knock or anything, just walked in. The hobbit looked so tired and pale, weak. But that was understandable. As Bilbo heard the converging steps he slowly opened his eyes.

"Good morning little friend," Balin greeted smiling. Bilbo sighed deep but smiled back.
"Good morning. Or is it a day already?" the hobbit asked feeling comfortable in the bed.
"A day, actually." It was Thorin who answered that question. "How are you feeling?"
Bilbo moved into sitting position. "Like some giant ugly creature would have scratched me with a sharp sting. You know, the usual."

Both dwarves chuckled to the comment. "It's nice to see you are alright," Balin nodded.
"The lady said that it still can get worse," Bilbo said quietly.
"We hope it won't, you have survived better than the rest," Thorin stated.
"What?" Bilbo asked and became little terrified. "Who else –"
"None of us," Balin interrupted seeing where this was going. "The residents of this town, some scouters among few past months."
"Phew. I actually wasn't sure how many of you had managed to get out of there, the healer lady didn't have any information to tell me."
"Don't worry, we are all alright," Balin smiled and put his hand on the hobbit's shoulder.

"The others are outside right now, waiting for a word from us that you are fine," Thorin said with his low tone. "If you want any other visitors.."
"Sure sure, it's ok if they want to come," Bilbo answered the unasked question and continued with mumbling. "But I doubt why would they."
Balin gave him a look.
"We'll tell them that you are awake."
Bilbo just nodded and the two dwarfs went back outside.

The group looked very impatient and it seemed like some of them would have nearly rushed towards Thorin and Balin.
"Is he ok?" Dori asked curiously and Thorin could see all of their eyes glimmering desperately to hear the answer.
"The burglar is fine," Thorin said with a nod and the dwarfs cheered in unison. "You can go to see him now. But only – "
The whole group stormed in without listening what the king had to say.
" – two at the time," Thorin shook his head as his company had vanished from his sight.
"The healer lady will probably give a good lecture about that meeting," Balin stated as he moved next to his old friend.
"That's very possible," Thorin admitted and sighed. "I just hope they won't do anything stupid in there." They sat down on bench near them and Balin offered a pipe to the king.

Bilbo was getting more relaxed in his bed but a sudden rumble startled him. The shock was however over soon when he understood that the noise was coming from the dwarf group that was now in his room.
"Bilbo!" someone shouted happily and the company cheered again. "We are so glad to see you!"
"No doubts for that," the hobbit mumbled. Kili was the first one who made his way to the bed and gave a tight hug for the burglar.
"We were so worried about you," the youngest dwarf said and the others nodded. "It looked so bad."
"I'm fine now," Bilbo said with comforting voice. "At least for a while. Nothing is sure yet." And after he saw the faces of the dwarfs react to what he had said he realised he shouldn't have said the last part out loud.
"Anyway, what have I missed?"
"Nothing, really," Dori stated with annoyance. "We didn't get even beds! You are lucky to have that soft looking one."
"Be aware, he might just appear here when the night comes," Kili whispered to Bilbo.
"I heard that!"

The dwarfs started talking at the same time, to each others or to Bilbo, the hobbit wasn't sure. But he couldn't hear any clear statements to answer to so he fell in his thoughts. He was still wearing his own clothing, and as he tried to feel the content of his certain pocket he understood that the something he was looking for was missing so he started to panic a little bit. The ring wasn't on any of his fingers (obviously) or in his pockets.
"Where did I – " he mumbled to himself so quietly that no one else heard. And the images started flowing; images that he had already pushed aside from his mind. He could recall the moment when Kili saw him and the ring had vanished from his finger, only to realise that it was hanging in a web nearby. A place where the ring still was, waiting for someone to pick it up.

"Oh no," Bilbo said and just stared at his hands. He had lost his precious magic ring that he had finally learned to use.
"What on earth is going on here?!" a high pitched voice of a woman echoed in a room and the hallway. All the discussion and talking died on that moment and they turned to see the healer lady looking at them with wide eyes.
"Didn't I say that only two at the time?! Not half of the town! Get out!" she commanded and pointed the outdoor with her finger. "Now!"

Bilbo had never seen the dwarfs move so quickly from one place to another. But as funny as the scene looked like, among seeing their faces, he was little bit too tired to enjoy the moment. In the middle of that chaos one dwarf stayed in the room, the healer lady not noticing that, as she shooed the little men out. The hobbit gave him a questioning look.

"You aren't the only one who can disappear without anyone noticing," Nori winked at the hobbit.
"Apparently not," Bilbo said slowly.
"I noticed you were searching for something a minute ago."
"Uhh, yeah. Just a.. little piece of my.. it's kind of a piece of luck that I need on this journey." The explanation wasn't as smooth as it could have been but Bilbo was off guard with the question and of course he couldn't truly reveal what he had lost.

"Does it look like – this?" Nori opened his fist and there it was, the ring!
"W-where did you get that?" Bilbo stuttered as he managed only to stare at the little piece of jewel.
"Found it from the forest," the dwarf answered. "I saw it glimmer in a web. And because those webs were fresh and you looked so lost with your empty pockets I made a conclusion."
"And a good one too."
"I could have kept it. You know, never tell you about it."

Bilbo moved his gaze to the dwarf next to him. "But you didn't keep it. And you told me. Why?"
Nori made a small smile. "I think it's more use in your hands than mine, if you know what I mean. But it tempted me quite much, more than usually, so I think it's better to give it away even though I would regret it later."
The hobbit gave a realived and graceful look to Nori. "Thank you." It was all he could say at the moment. He took the ring, stared at it for a moment feeling the warm and familiar presence, his heart so much lighter now and finally put it to his pocket.

As he was about to thank Nori again he noticed that the room was empty. And the healer lady's steps were coming closer. Even in the next morning Bilbo thought it had been a very weird dream but having the ring safely in his pocket told a different story.

/ / /

The dwarfs spent the day walking around the city and trying to get to know a little bit of the citizens life there; what they worked on, what they ate and so on. At some point their company had separated in few smaller groups but they continued their sight seeings.

"I have something to tell you, if I may," Dwalin said to Thorin as they walked side by side, Balin right next to him, and just a little further behind them were Oin and Gloin.
"Mmm, and what is that?" Thorin asked in his thoughts, watching interested the forgeries and other weapon workshops that they passed.
"I think a man followed us for a good while," Dwalin answered turning his gaze around negligently so that no one would turn any unnecessary attention to them or notice that he was searching for someone. "I lost the sight after we split up."
"I saw him too," Balin admitted. "He looked suspicious."

Thorin stopped at his tracks and turned to look at his friends. "Are you sure about it?"
"Definitely."
"What did he look like?"
"Big," Dwalin snorted. "For a human. Pitch dark hair."
"What is it?" Balin asked seing Thorin's expression.
"I might have seen him too," the king said thoughtfully. "Earlier, in the dining hall. And when we went to the medical building."
"He looked like kind of a man that is hard to miss," Dwalin pointed out.

"I think it's better be safe than sorry," Thorin decided. "Which way did he go?"
"Maybe to the south. I'm not sure, he disappeared a while ago."
"Let's find him. I wanna see what is going on. If anything is."

Nothing kind of happened in this one but every story has those ones. I think the next one will be more exciting ;) Just a little bit, the full focus will be in the becoming chapters. And all of it won't be good :(
So, what you liked?