"When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us."

- Alexander Graham Bell

**

Bilbo jumped awake the morning after the unexpected party, fully prepared to cook his guests some breakfast. But when he reached the kitchen, all he found was a mess and no guests. He was quite relieved they decided to go without him and didn't even bother to wake him, yet there was a surprising feeling of disappointment. He shook it off and began making himself breakfast (the second one actually) when in walked Gandalf.

"My dear fellow," said he, "Whenever are you going to come? What about an early start?-and here you are having breakfast, or whatever you call it, at half past ten! They left you the message, because they could not wait."

"What message?" Asked Bilbo confused.

"Great Elephants!" said Gandalf, "you are not at all yourself this morning- you have never dusted the mantelpiece!"

"What's that got to do with it? I have had enough to do with washing up for fourteen!"

"If you had dusted the mantelpiece, you would have found this just under the clock, said Gandalf, handing Bilbo a note.

"That leaves you just ten minutes. You will have to run," said Gandalf when Bilbo finished reading it.

"But-" Started Bilbo.

"No time for it," said the wizard.

"But-" said Bilbo again.

"No time for that either! Off you go!"

And so Bilbo Baggins found himself outside, without his hat, walking stick or any money, and running as fast as his furry little feet could carry him…

*

"Where did you go, if I may ask?" Thorin asked Gandalf as they rode on after the troll incident.

"To look ahead," said he.

"And what brought you back in the nick of time?"

"Looking behind," said he.

"Exactly!" said Thorin; "but could you be more plain?"

"I went on to spy out our road. It will soon become dangerous and difficult. Also I was anxious about replenishing our small stock of provisions. I had not gone very far, however, when I met a couple of friends of mine from Rivendell."

"Where's that?" Asked Bilbo.

"Don't interrupt!" said Gandalf. "You will get there in a few days now, if we're lucky, and find out all about it. As I was saying I met two of Elrond's people. They were hurrying along for fear of the trolls. It was they who told me that three of them had come down from the mountains and settled in the woods not far from the road; they had frightened everyone away from the district, and they waylaid strangers.

I immediately had a feeling that I was wanted back. Looking behind I saw a fire in the distance and made for it. So now you know. Please be more careful, next time, or we shall never get anywhere!"

"Thank you!" Said Thorin.

****

Estel sat on the windowsill in his room, gazing out at the bright stars. He sighed a deep heart-wrenching sigh, but no one was in the room to hear it and pity him. It had been over two weeks since his father punished him, and he was still persistent. Estel thought that he could change his father's mind, or perhaps lighten the punishment a little, if he gave it some time and nagged him. Instead of lightening the punishment, Elrond added to it, and his meals were to be eaten in his room alone for the next fortnight. What was more it was midsummer's eve and he would miss the annual celebration.

"I should have just kept quiet," he reprimanded himself. "Why can't I do anything right?"

"Estel?" A soft voice informed him that his mother entered his room. "Are you alright?" Gilraen glanced at his untouched plate of food. "You have not eaten a thing!"

"I am not hungry," he said with determination of a child.

"Do you think starving will help change your father's mind?" She asked gently, combing her fingers through his hair. He moved away from her touch and sat on his bed.

"Don't treat me like a baby! I'm already ten years old, why is everyone protecting me, and what from?"

"There are some things you cannot understand now. And you ARE a child, Estel, even when you are a fully grown man, you will always be OUR child." Gilraen said choking. "Why are you so eager to abandon us?"

"I do not wish to cause you pain," he said slowly. "But I feel caged. Do not think that I don't love you, for I do. It's just…" He couldn't finish, not knowing what words could describe the feeling inside.

"I know," she said plainly, though he couldn't imagine she did, and left it at that. From downstairs he heard some talking and gazed at his mother questioningly.

"We have guests," she said simply and kissed his forehead. "Sleep well, my child."

"How long have they been here?" He asked curious.

"Fourteen days," she said quietly. "But they are leaving soon."

"Do I know any of them?" He asked, angry he was not allowed to go downstairs and see these visitors and that nobody mentioned it to him.

"Yes, I believe you have met Gandalf the Grey," she said, moving towards the door.

"Uncle Gandalf is here?" Estel asked crushed. Every time the wizard would arrive, fireworks and magic was a guarantee.

"Do not fret, I am sure he will be back soon enough," his mother tried to soothe, but his spirit was in torment. How could his father do this to him? Gilraen left wordlessly, knowing she gave out dangerous information. The reason Lord Elrond did not tell Estel about the visitors was because he feared the child would try and join the perilous quest for gold, just for the sake of adventure. Keeping the truth from him was for his own well being, but Gilraen feared she just made a terrible mistake, one she would live to regret. And she didn't need any glimpses of the future to know that.

Estel sat on his bed, deep in thought for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. He knew his father would punish him double, perhaps triple if he caught him. But he had a feeling this was important, that something about these mystery guests beckoned him like a torchlight at night on shore to a sailing boat. Finally he got up, after weighing the dilemma as seriously as a ten year old elf could. As he stood by his window, about to climb down with sheets or whatnot, he paused suddenly in fear. For some reason he felt that by going down the window he would change everything as he knew it, which was absurd, wasn't it? How could it possibly be this life altering? No, he was probably over reacting as usual, he scorned himself.

Estel used his sheets to form a rope and climb down the window, but it was a few feet short of the ground. He swung his feet and jumped down, hitting the floor hard and bruised his arms and legs. He crept silently into the house from one of the servant entrances and followed the echo of the voices into the main room, adjoined to the dining room. He stood with his back to the wall, alert of any servant or other elf to tell his father he was out of his room. The voices grew louder and he could make out their sentences, something about swords, so he listened in intently, for though he was a fair archer, he felt the sword a more masterful weapon.

"These are not troll-make." He heard his father's stern voice. "They are old swords, very old swords of the High Elves of the West, my kin. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. They must have come from a dragon's hoard or goblin plunder, for dragons and goblins destroyed that city many years ago. This, Thorin, the runes name Orcrist, the Goblin- cleaver in the ancient tongue of Gondolin; it was a famous blade. This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe-hammer that the king of Gondolin once wore. Keep them well!"

"Whence did the trolls get them, I wonder," said a voice. Estel risked a peek and saw a small bearded man glancing at his sword. Since this was most definitely not Gandalf, he assumed it was Thorin.

"I could not say," Elrond continued, "but one may guess that your trolls had plundered other plunderers, or come on the remnants of old robberies in some hold in the mountain of the North. I have heard that there are still forgotten treasures of old to be found in the deserted caverns of the mines of Moria, since the dwarf and goblin war."

"I will keep this sword in honour," the same bearded man said. "May it soon cleave goblins once again!"

Estel's eyes widened in delight, hearing the words 'dwarf', 'battle' and 'goblins'. It sounded exciting! And he realized this was not simply a 'little man', but a dwarf, and probably respectable at that.

"A wish that is likely to be granted soon enough in the mountains!" Elrond stated. "But show me now your map!" There was silence as Lord Elrond of Rivendell studied their map carefully, giving our young friend some time to think. They were obviously on a quest of some sort, being fifteen (unless his eyes failed him), and an important and dangerous one if they are to encounter goblins! What was in the mountains that set them on this journey? He continued to think the matter over, guessing wild guesses of setting prisoners free, finding some powerful weapon and such, while his father started talking about ancient runes on the map, which failed to interest the young boy. But he kept his eye on them just the same, not forgetting his guard. He assumed the other twelve were dwarves as well, but there was a creature he could not identify. If he had to describe it, he would say a chubby-little man-with pointy ears- and bright eyes- and rabbit feet. Of course he was certain this was in fact not the man's name, but for lack of a name he called him 'Rabbit Feet.'

"That remains to be seen," Gandalf commented on something Estel didn't catch. "Is there any more writing?"

"None to be seen by this moon," Elrond said and gave the map to Thorin (he assumed once more, who appeared to be the chieftain of the dwarves). They started to return through the dining room, so Estel hurried on to hide, as they passed right by him, heading outside for midsummer's eve festivity. But he didn't care about it anymore, he heard elves singing and watched them dancing ever since childhood, he could miss one festival, this was more important. He quickly returned to his room, but not to stay. He packed a few important belongings, making sure he traveled light. He did not forget to include his bow and several arrows, just incase they DID run in to goblins. He snuck out outside and went to the stables, to look for the horses that surely belonged to the travelers. He finally found the new animals and Estel went over to a splendid white horse. He saw that the horse carried several parcels and equipment, one of which was a blanket. The smile the spread across his face was so bright, that if someone had witnessed it they would have surely gone blind from its radiance. He climbed onto the horse's back, and snuggled under the blanket, as small and unnoticeable as he could be. He felt lucky, for he saw under the blanket several fruits, and if he wanted to distance himself from Rivendell before being discovered, he might want to stay hidden for a while, days even.

That entire night Estel couldn't sleep, the adrenaline keeping him awake. At some point he felt the horse moving, and had to stifle a moan as he was bucked up and down, banging his bruised ribs and flesh in the horse's back. He had to bite his tongue in order to keep himself from making a noise, which was a good thing indeed, at least from his perspective, for it was Gandalf himself who mounted the steed, and his ears were quite sharp. Before long the group left the gates of Rivendell, almost like they came, only now instead of fifteen, their number was sixteen.





-END PART 2-

Author's note: A lot of parts are taken from "The Hobbit" itself, as this story does take place during the story. I hope no one is offended that I altered a few parts here and there from the original book, the full version can be found in it, this is a story. I hope people are very well aware that because this is an AU it means I'll have to change and add parts to the original lines, so that they fit. I think I just, with no intent, gave an explanation as to why the party didn't meet Estel during their fourteen day stay at Rivendell, I mean he is the foster son of Elrond! Well, I didn't mean to, so whatever! I have so much schoolwork to do; I don't know when I'll manage to post the next part or even write it, so you're warned. But like I said, if I get a sufficient amount of reviews, they tend to urge me to write more, and make the extra effort. Hint hint, I'm done now.

Ivy