Chapter Two – Meeting the Companies

Late at night, a Mr Bilbo Baggins prepares his dinner quite happily. The hobbit quite content will his quiet hobbit hole and his single plate of food, sat down settling at his table and grabbing his napkin and cutlery. Sprinkling salt all over his fish, he settled in his seat happily. Almost just as his cutlery touched his fish, a ring from his bell interrupted his dinner. Bilbo, silently frustrated at his interrupted dinner, got up and headed to the door. Opening the door, he was puzzled to find a rather tall and muscled dwarf standing on his doorstep, clad with armour and an axe by his side. The intimidating dwarf greeted him with a slight tilt of his head and a slight bow.

"Ah?" Bilbo puzzled spoke quietly.

"Dwalin, at your service." The tall dwarf spoke, staring down at the hobbit. In his shell-shocked state, Bilbo quickly tied his robe back around his waist ever tighter and attempts to stand a little higher.

"Bilbo Baggins, at yours." The still confused hobbit spoke. His stuttering increasing as Dwalin pushes past him into his home without another word. "D-d-do we know each other?" Bilbo asks, still as confused as ever.

"No. Which way, laddie? Is it down here?" The dwarf asks as the hobbit follows him through his own home, confused still but unaware of the eyes watching from outside his windows.

"I-is what down where?" Bilbo asks. His voice ended as the dwarf dumped a pack and several weapons on the floor, handing some of them to the bewildered hobbit.

"Supper. He said there'd be food, and lots of it."

"H-he said? Who said?" Bilbo asks, more frustrated than confused at this point in time. Dwalin, ignoring the bewildered hobbit, sat in Bilbo's spot and began to eat the hobbit's dinner. Bilbo could only sit in the chair behind the dwarf, watching as his dinner that he spent time carefully preparing was eaten by someone he had never met before. As Dwalin pulled the flesh off the fish and without hesitating chomping on the fish's head, making Bilbo scrunch in disgust.

"Mmmm … Very good, this. Any more?" Dwalin asked as the food on his plate began to run out, his hunger still not satisfied. Bilbo jumped to attention, the skilled and polite host in him hurrying to his guest… even if he wasn't an invited one.

"What? Uh, oh, yes yes." Bilbo gasped.

"Ah." Dwalin exclaimed in happiness at the sight of the plate of food next to him which he still hadn't touched. Behind the eating dwarf, Bilbo grabbed a basket of bread rolls, quickly stuffing one behind my back.

"Help yourself." Bilbo offers the dwarf and without hesitation, Dwalin begins stuffing them in his mouth without taking a breath in between. Bilbo looks on in slight amazement but mostly disgust and confusion. He hesitates voicing his opinion to the intimidating dwarf but does so anyway. "Mmmm. It's just that, um, I wasn't expecting company." The hobbit voices, just as the bell at his door rings again. In alarm and more confusion, Bilbo looks at the door frozen. Dwalin still chewing on the bread, looks up to the hobbit.

"That'll be the door, " Dwalin voices slightly sarcastically. Bilbo hesitates but heads to the door. He opens the door to discover not another tall dwarf clad with weapons, but an older, white-haired dwarf with a large white thick beard waiting quietly. He greets the hobbit with a slight bow and a happy smile.

"Balin, at your service." The friendly-looking dwarf smiles again at the hobbit, who stood baffled at his door.

"Good evening." Bilbo said confused, staring at the dwarf who still stood smiling. The dwarf looked up at the sky, almost judging the weather.

"Yes, yes it is. Though I think it might rain later." Balin spoke confidently as he entered Bilbo's home. "Am I late?" He asked as they walked through the living room.

"Late for what?" Bilbo questioned. Bilbo's question went unanswered as Balin noticed the other dwarf in Bilbo's home scourging around in a jar for more biscuits.

"Oh, ha ha! Evening, brother. Heh, heh." Balin and Dwalin wandered closer together, continuing their greetings as Bilbo watched confused.

"Oh, by my beard, you are shorter and wider than last we met." Dwalin chuckled as the two gathered together. Balin, the older dwarf chuckled with his brother.

"Wider, not shorter. Sharp enough for both of us." Balin mutters. As they placed their arms on each other shoulder's laughing as they did so, they smash their foreheads together creating a reasonable sound. Bilbo watched on in slight wonder and concern at the foreign greeting.

"Uh, excuse me. Sorry, I hate to interrupt, ah, but the thing is that I'm not entirely sure that you're in the right house." Bilbo said, voicing his concerns. However, the two dwarves ignoring him completely, begin to raid Bilbo's pantry. Bilbo watches on in amazement and frustration as the two pour ale and picking through the food. As the two examine the food, Bilbo continues his polite rant despite the muttering of the dwarves.

"Have you eaten?"

"It's not that I don't like visitors; I-I like visitors as much as the next hobbit, but I do like to know them before they come visiting." Bilbo speaks, as the two brothers continue to ignore him while still rifling through the full pantry. Bilbo watches as Balin picks up a piece of blue, judging that it was riddled with mold and wasn't edible at all. "The thing is, umm-" Bilbo pauses as the piece of cheese was thrown by his face. "I-I don't know either of you, not in the slightest. I don't mean to be blunt, but I uh, but I had to speak my mind. I am sorry." Bilbo speaks raising his hands in apologies. At the sound of his apology, the two brothers paused and looked at Bilbo.

"Hmm. Apology accepted. Now fill it up, brother, don't stint. I could eat again, if you insist," Balin speaks as he hands his brother a large tankard, almost demanding it to be filled with ale. Bilbo watches as the dwarves make themselves even more comfortable in his home and is shocked as the doorbell rings again. Bilbo walks to answer the door, thoughts running through his head of who it could be. Afterall, wasn't it more than enough to have two unannounced guests running through your pantry? The Hobbit opened the door to find two young looking dwarf men standing quite proudly, one blonde and the other brunette but it was still quite clear that the two were brothers.

"Fili," the blonde one spoke proudly,

"And Kili," The brunette spoke loudly,

"At your service," the two spoke in unison, bowing together to their hopeful host.

"You must be Mr Boggins," Kili spoke, smiling widely at the silently frustrated Hobbit. The Hobbit stood angered and attempted to push the door closed at the mispronunciation of his name.

"Nope, you can't come in, you've come to the wrong house." The Hobbit pushes the door shut but is stop by the presence of Kili's foot in the small gap between the door and the entrance.

"What? Has it been cancelled?" Kili asked worriedly, his brother not far behind.

"No one told us," Fili spoke quickly.

"Can-? No – nothings been cancelled?" Bilbo stammered, confused at the dwarves' words.

"Well, that's a relief." Kili spoke before he and his brother pushed their way into the Hobbit hole, passing their stuff onto Bilbo who looked quite confronted at the sight of the weapons the two carried.

"Careful with these, I just had em sharpened," Fili spoke, passing several short knives and a sword to the very quiet Hobbit, who while distracted didn't notice the other dwarf admiring his home.

"It's nice, this place. Did you do it yourself?" Kill stood watching before scrapping the mud off his boots on the edge of the chest in the hallway midway through Bilbo's response.

"Ah, no. It's been in the family for years," Bilbo stops at the sight of Kili scraping his boots, continuing to stop the dwarf. "That's my mother's glory box, can you please not do that?!" Bilbo yells, the dwarf stopping but not from Bilbo's yelling but rather from the arm pulling him into the kitchen.

"Fili, Kili, come on, give us a hand." The owner of the hand pulls the brunette brother into the room to help move the furniture. Kili smiling as a friendly face was revealed rather than a stranger.

"Mister Dwalin," The dwarves smile as the four draw themselves into the dining room to move everything around. Bilbo watching the four in disbelief as they move his home without his wish or permission.

"Let's shove this in the hallway, otherwise we'll never get everyone in." Balin spoke wisely as Bilbo was speechless as the four continued around him.

"Ev-everyone? How many more are there?" Bilbo asks shocked at the possibility the number of unwelcome guests may increase dramatically. However, the Hobbit's plight was ignored as the dwarves continued their movements around him.

"Where do you want this?" Fili asked as the Hobbit walked around his home, multiple weapons in his arms that did not belong to him. The Hobbit continued to walk around, until the doorbell once again drew his attention. Bilbo, fuming in his anger, walks quickly towards the doo, dumping the weapons on the floor along the way.

"Oh no. No, no! There's nobody home! Go away and bother somebody else. There's far too many dwarves in my dining room as it is. If-if-if this is some clotterd's idea of a joke," Bilbo laughed in frustration, "I can only say, it is in very poor taste." Bilbo yells in frustration as he pulls the handle of his door open, forcing a pile of dwarves into his home. The pile began to grumble and yell at each other immediately as they couldn't get up. As Bilbo peers through the door he notices a certain figure watching him with a smile on his face and a certain raven on his staff.

"Gandalf," Bilbo spoke in a sigh. Of course the old wizard was linked to this and why was that bird staring at him?