Start of recap...
[Gandalf:] "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's a lot more to him than appearances suggest, and he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself. You must trust me on this."
[Thorin:] "Very well. We will do it your way.
[Bilbo:] "No, no, no."
[Thorin:] "Give him the contract."
[Bilbo:] "Please."
[Bofur:] "Alright, we're off!"
Balin hands Bilbo a long contract, Bilbo stares at it and Calen gets out of Kilis arms to look at it herself
End of recap...
Third person pov...
[Balin:] "It's just the usual summary of out-of-pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth."
[Bilbo:] "Funeral arrangements?"
As Bilbo steps back a few feet to read the contract, Calen sighs and gives up on trying to read the paper.
Thorin leans toward Gandalf and whispers to him.
[Thorin:] "I cannot guarantee his safety."
[Gandalf:] "Understood."
[Thorin:] "Nor will I be responsible for his fate."
[Gandalf:] "Agreed."
Bilbo reads parts of the contract out loud.
[Bilbo-reading:] "Terms: Cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding one fourteenth of total profit, if any.
Seems fair. Eh, Present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof including but not limited to lacerations ... evisceration … incineration?"
Calen visibly gluped, her face pale, "holy shit, ow" she exclaimed as gandalf obviously heard her swear and put his hand over her mouth.
"hmpp" she grunted under Gandalfs hand.
[Bofur:] "Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye."
Bilbo looks a little breathless.
[Bilbo:] "Huh."
[Balin:] "You all right, laddie?"
Bilbo bends over, nauseous and pained.
[Bilbo:] "Uh, yeah...Feel a bit faint."
[Bofur:] "Think furnace with wings."
[Bilbo:] "Air, I-I-I need air."
[Bofur:] "Flash of light, searing pain, then Poof! you're nothing more than a pile of ash."
"none of you are helping!" cried Calen worried for Bilbo as he looked faint.
Bilbo breathes heavily, trying to compose himself as the others stare at him.
[Bilbo:] "Hmmm. Nope."
Bilbo falls on the floor in a faint.
[Gandalf:] "Ah, very helpful, Bofur."
Calen jumps out of her seat and runs to Bilboz body as he falls with a thump on the floor.
Time skip...
After a few hours bilbo finally woke up and I stopped my game with kili and Fili.
Bilbo is sitting on his chair, holding a mug and talking to Gandalf.
[Bilbo:] "I'll be all right, let me just sit quietly for a moment."
[Gandalf:] "You've been sitting quietly for far too long. Tell me; when did doilies and your mother's dishes become so important to you?
I remember a young Hobbit who always was running off in search of elves and the woods, who'd stay out late, come home after dark, trailing mud and twigs and fireflies.
A young Hobbit who would have liked nothing better than to find out what was beyond the borders of the Shire. The world is not in your books and maps; it's out there."
"that can't of been bilbo can it Gandalf" asked Calen not seeing bilbo as the type for an adventure.
[Bilbo:] "I can't just go running off into the blue. I am a Baggins, of Bag End."
[Gandalf:] "You are also a Took. Did you know that your great-great-great-great-uncle, Bullroarer Took, was so large he could ride a real horse?"
[Bilbo:] "Yes."
[Gandalf:] "Well he could. In the Battle of Green Fields, he charged the goblin ranks.
He swung his club so hard it knocked the Goblin King's head clean off, and it sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit hole.
And thus the battle was won, and the game of golf invented at the same time."
Calen laughed as she thought of seeing it happen.
[Bilbo:] "I do believe you made that up."
[Gandalf:] "Well, all good stories deserve embellishment. You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back."
[Bilbo:] "Can you promise that I will come back?"
[Gandalf:] "No. And if you do, you will not be the same."
[Bilbo:] "That's what I thought. Sorry, Gandalf, I can't sign this. You've got the wrong Hobbit."
Bilbo walks away down the hall. Gandalf sighs. Balin and Thorin see Bilbo walking away.
[Balin:] "It appears we have lost our burglar. Probably for the best. The odds were always against us. After all, what are we? Merchants, miners, tinkers, toy-makers; hardly the stuff of legend."
[Thorin:] "There are a few warriors amongst us."
[Balin:] "Old warriors."
Calen looks around at all the Dwarves are they really that old, that they have been fighting for hundreds of years already.
[Thorin:] "I will take each and every one of these dwarves over an army from the Iron Hills. For when I called upon them, they came. Loyalty. Honor. A willing heart. I can ask no more than that."
[Balin:] "You don't have to do this. You have a choice. You've done honorably by our people.
You have built a new life for us in the Blue Mountains, a life of peace and plenty. A life that is worth more than all the gold in Erebor."
Thorin holds out the key Gandalf gave him, Calen holds her hand back so she doesn't try to take it and hold it.
[Thorin:] "From my grandfather to my father, this has come to me. They dreamt of the day when the dwarves of Erebor would reclaim their homeland. There is no choice, Balin. Not for me."
[Balin:] "Then we are with you, laddie. We will see it done."
Calen then walks into Bilbis living room and sits with the Dwarves listening to them sing, she eventually falls asleep her head on Balin shoulder.
The dwarves gather in Bilbo's living room, smoking their pipes by the fire. They all begin humming, and soon Thorin begins to sing, and the others join him (on the second stanza below). Gandalf listens from nearby; Bilbo listens from his bedroom.
Calen hums along to the Dwarves song, it was very say but beautiful.
[The dwarves, singing:]
"Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To find our long-forgotten gold
The pines were roaring on the height
The winds were moaning in the night
The fire was red, it flaming spread
The trees like torches blazed with light"
The end
I hope you have liked this chapter two chapters in one afternoon!
Bye!
Word count : 1160