Thank you so much for that review, I hope you keep enjoying the story. Also, thank you StoriesNMore and Sweet Petit for favourite and follow the story. For the others, I cheer you to leave a review and follow the story too.
Brine entered the inn again, but this time she was not wearing a dress nor nice things. She wore a pair of brown leather trousers and a big yellowish linen t-shirt. The only thing that left from her princess' outfit was her boots. Her hair was half braided and a brown beard decorated her face. None could guess she was a girl.
Brine looked around for Thorin and the man. She only found the dwarf. Slowly she walked to him and cleared her throat before speaking.
"Excuse me, sir." The dwarf looked up to her. "Are you Thorin Oakenshield?" She did not wait for his answer. "I could not help but hear your conversation. You are going to Erebor, right?" She asked.
"May I know who is asking?" Thorin asked in a low voice. Brine looked at him for a moment before answering his question.
"I'm Pip." It was the first name that came to her mind.
"And where are you from, boy?" Thorin had learned to not trust easily in people.
"I'm from the Blue Mountains." Brine answered exasperatedly. "I'm sorry sir, but could you answer my first question?" She had her blue eyes fixed on him. "I'm really interested in join your crew." She finally said. Thorin shocked his head.
"I'm sorry boy, but my crew is with enough dwarfs right now. I cannot afford more outlays." Thorin said as he stood up and walked out of the inn. Brine followed him.
"I don't want money nor part of the treasure. I just want to help you."
"Help me?" Thorin asked surprised. "Don't make me laugh." He said with a funny tone. "I'm sorry boy, but I don't think you could help me in any way." Brine breathed heavily, trying to control herself.
"I can be your squire. You don't need to worry about anything. I've got money and my own poney." It was Brine last chance. If Thorin rejected that, she did not know what to do. Thorin looked at her coldly.
Brine looked at the little green door in front of her and the blue mark shining on it. She could hear people singing and laughing on the other side.
"A party?" She asked. Thorin did not answer. He knocked on the door and waited for it to open. Brine could hear as the laughs died. After a while, the door opened and more dwarfs appeared on the other side. Thorin entered in and she followed closely. Brine recognized the grey man that accompanied Thorin a few days ago in the inn.
"Gandalf." Thorin greeted him and began talking with him. She did not pay much attention to the conversation. She was more interested in the little and humble house she was in.
The inner seemed so comfortable, so cozy. Brine could not help but smile. Her eyes repaired in a dwarf that was looking at her shyly. She waved at him and that frighted him. He ran away to the dining room. Brine called him and followed him.
"Whoa Whoa." A voice sounded next to her.
"Who are you?" Another voice asked as the person took her by her shoulder. Brine looked at the person. She met a pair of blue eyes and long blond hair and beard. Brine was about to answer when Thorin's voice interrupted her.
"He is a new member of the Company." More dwarfs followed Thorin and sat around the table. Behind them, a middleman appeared. Brine recognized him as a hobbit. Brine looked at the dwarfs again. The blond one was not at her side anymore. He was sitting in the table. She could not sit down with them so she chose to stand up next to Thorin. "The name I don't remember."
"I'm Pip." Brine said with a low voice. She heard as they murmured about her presence there. "I've already told Thorin that I don't want any part of the treasure. I only want to help you."
"Help us? And how are you supposed to do it." An old dwarf with red hair and beard asked. Brine looked at his mean face and the faces of the rest dwarfs. She could not help but notice on the face of the blond one. He had a smirk on and was chatting with another young dwarf with brown hair next to him. She surprised herself when she noticed that this last one had not beard. Maybe she was not so strange after all.
"I can heal any wound." It was true that Brine had learnt to do it. Zirb had told her other tips that were very useful too. But it did not seem to convince the dwarfs. She threw a quick glance to Thorin. He was looking at her with his head to aside. She knew she had to use the same argument that had convinced him the day before. "I also know some people in different towns." Thorin rosed an eyebrow. "And I also have some money."
"Well, that's a good reason." The red-haired dwarf laughed. The other dwarfs joined him but they did not last long as they stopped when the old man came in. Brine remembered his name: Gandalf. He tried to sit down but the chairs were too small for him so he decided to stand up.
"Tell us, Gandalf, why are we here?" Thorin asked. Brine looked around trying to find a place where she could sit. It seemed that it was going to be a long conversation. She could not find a place and she sat on the floor next to the door.
"My dear Thorin. I've got something for you." Gandalf said. Brine could see as he took out a key from his pocket. He gave it to Thorin. "A key to Erebor." The dwarfs gasped and murmured about that key.
"If there is a key, there must be a door." Brine chuckled at that comment. "Hey, what's your problem?" Brine looked up. The blond dwarf was looking at her with a mean face.
"Well, I think it is a very stupid appreciation." Brine laughed. "Obviously there is a door. Erebor was a great kingdom were people came in. If there isn't a door, how would they come?" Brine talked about it as if it was the easiest thing to understand.
"Ignore him, Fili." The beard-less dwarf said. Brine looked at him. She did not mean to offend him.
"You are right, Fili. There is a door. A hidden door."
"But how do we find it?" The beard-less dwarf asked.
"Well Kili, I think I am not the one to answer that." Gandalf's old eyes looked at Thorin. He rose up from his chair and put a paper on the table. Brine rose up too and walked to see it closer.
"A map." She said looking closer to it. "To Erebor."
"Who is the stupid dwarf now?" Fili looked coldly at her.
"It guides us to that hidden door," Thorin told. "But there are these runes that I cannot read."
Brine looked at the runes. She seemed somehow to remember them. They were burned in her mind but she could not understand them nor read them. The dwarfs began to argue about the map and how to get there. She tried to focus on them. Brine closed her eyes. She knew she could remember.
"Moon elves' runes!" Brine exclaimed but none heard her. Only Gandalf who looked at her with a strange look and nodded.
"But what about Smaug? What about the dragon?" Someone asked, catching Gandalf's attention.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot. That's why we are here. I want you to introduce Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit."
"Why do you think we want a hobbit in our company?" The red-haired dwarf asked.
"Because Smaug is used to the dwarf's smell, but not to a hobbit. He could get you the arkestone and you will reconquest Erebor." Brine looked at the hobbit that appeared behind Gandalf right then.
"Smaug? What kind of creature is that Smaug?" He asked curiously.
"Well Balin, bring him the contract." Thorin ignored him. Actually, everyone did. Brine felt pity for him. As he read the contract the answer seemed to come to him.
"Incineration?" He seemed out of breath.
"Just think about it as a big oven. One flash of light and puff, your nothing but ashes." A dwarf with a pipe and a funny hat said.
Bilbo looked at him before fainted in the hall. Brine run to him as she asked for mint oil to wake him up.
It took Brine almost an hour to wake Bilbo up. He opened slowly his eyes. Brine helped him to get up and told him to sit down in his bed.
"Here." She said bringing him a cup of chamomile. "It will help you." Bilbo thanked her but he seemed lost in his thoughts. "Are you okay?"
"I-I-I cannot do it. I mean, I'm a Baggins, from Bag Ends." Bilbo excused himself. "I cannot go running off into the blue..." Brine felt pity for him. She wanted to tell him about the importance of that quest, but she would tell him the importance for her, of course. Brine sighed. She saw Gandalf coming and she decided to let them some time alone.
She looked for the dwarfs at the end of the hall. She found them near the chimney, a silence among them. Brine saw a small tool next to Fili, who was smoking against a wall. She walked to it. He seemed a bit annoyed about that and walked to another place. Brine thought that she should talk to him about the incident of before. She did not want that bad atmosphere with the members of the company. Brine felt like an intruder and she tried to go unnoticed.
Suddenly, Thorin began humming an old song. Brine heard it and sadness got into her heart. He was singing the same song that her father used to sing her before sleep. Brine could not stop the tears in her eyes. The memory was so hard. She tried to look away but she met a pair of cold blue eyes. Fili was looking at her from the other side of the room. Brine straight herself, trying hard not to lose control. He could not suspect anything, could he?
