~One~
Mr. Baggins of Bag End
"Mr. Baggins?"
"Yes?" A small, flustered-looking man wearing suspenders said when he answered the door of the Hobbit house.
"Dahlia Ironfoot, at your service." She bowed to him before stepping inside, sweeping off her cloak. She went to hang it up on the hangers, not realizing that a bunch of the Hobbit's coats fell to the floor - she was already on her way into the kitchen.
"Lady Dahlia!" cried the dining room full of dwarves when they saw her.
"Hello my friends! I hope you saved some food for me - I'm starved!"
"My Lady!"
"Excuse me! Will you please be careful!" hollered Mr. Baggins.
"Shove on over, gents!"
"Take a plate, Lass." Balin handed her a plate that she could fill.
"Ah, thank you Balin." She plopped herself beside him, dropping her kit to the floor with a thud! "Good to see you!"
"And you, My Lady."
"At your service!" she was just tucking into her plate when she heard a couple of familiar voices speak together in unison.
"Is that who I think it is?" she cried.
Two young dwarves rushed into the kitchen. "Auntie Dahlia!"
"Fili, Kili!" she jumped up to hug them. They were like her little brothers, and they had long ago started calling her 'Auntie' knowing that one day she would be their aunt.
Ori let out a long, loud belch, making everyone, except Mr. Baggins, howl with laughter.
"Ah, he's sweet, Gloin," Dahlia commented as Gloin proudly showed her a sketch of his young son, Gimli. "And how's your lovely wife?"
Soon, everyone was there: Balin, Dwalin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Ori, Dori, Fili, Kili, Dahlia. Only one dwarf was missing now. She waved to Gandalf from across the table.
A sudden pounding at the door silenced them all.
"He is here," Gandalf announced.
"Gandalf. I thought you said this place would be easy to find." Thorin stepped into the house. "I lost my way - twice. Wouldn't have found it at all if not for that mark on the door."
"Mark, there's no mark," insisted Mr. Baggins. "That door was painted a week ago."
"There is a mark, I put it there myself," Gandalf told him. "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."
"So, this is the Hobbit." Thorin regarded Bilbo. "Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?"
"Fighting?"
"Axe or sword, what's your weapon of choice?"
"Well, I do have some skill at Conkers, if you must know. But I fail to see why that's relevant..."
Thorin regarded the small man through a narrowed gaze and with his arms crossed. "Thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." This made the others laugh.
Dahlia chuckled but also patted Mr. Baggins's shoulder. "You'll have to mind him - he takes first impressions very seriously." Then she turned to Thorin and mumbled, "You could be a little kinder, he is our host."
"I've traveled long and far, I am weary. And he sure doesn't look like much."
"Neither did you." She patted his chest.
Fili and Kili were chuckling watching the two talk, leaning in close and talking in low voices.
"Come on you two, I want you to tell me everything about your own adventures." She followed the others back into the dining room.
Thorin seated himself at the head of the table, the others passing him a bowl and plate.
"What news from the meeting in Ered Luin?" Balin asked him. "Did they all come?"
"Aye. We heard from all Seven Kingdoms."
"What of the Dwarves in the Iron Hills?" asked Dwalin.
"Aye, is my father with us?" Dahlia asked.
Thorin shook his head. "They will not come. They say this quest is ours, and ours alone." Thorin turned to her. "And your father urges you to return home, where it is safe."
"He's only been doing so for sixty years." She shook her head firmly. "I will not. This quest is as much mine as it is yours."
"Dahlia-"
"It is my choice, Thorin."
"Aye, Uncle, she chooses you," said Kili, making the others laugh.
"That's enough out of you," she chuckled, tossing a chunk of bread across the table at him.
"You're going on a quest?" their host piped up.
"Bilbo, my dear fellow," said Gandalf, clearing his throat. "Let us have a little more light..." He spread a map out on the table. "Far to the east, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single, solitary peak." He pointed to said peak on the map.
"'The Lonely Mountain'," Mr. Baggins read off the map.
"Aye, Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it is time," announced Gloin.
"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain, as it was foretold," Oin added. "'When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end.'"
"Uh, what beast?" asked Mr. Baggins.
"That would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible," said Bofur. "Chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne fire-breather. Teeth like razors, claws like meat hooks, with a fondness for precious metals."
"Yes, I know what a dragon is-"
"I'm not afraid!" cried Ori, suddenly jumping to his feet. "I'll go and give him a taste of Dwarvish iron right up his jacksie!"
This was met by half urges and half, 'sit downs!'.
"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us," Balin, the voice of reason, stepped in. "But we number just fourteen. And not fourteen of the best, nor brightest."
"We may be few in number, but we're fighters, all of us. To the last dwarf!" Fili smacked the table with purpose.
"And you forget we have a wizard in our company!" Kili was adorably excited. "Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time!"
Now all eyes were on said wizard or dragon-killer. "Oh, well now, not hundreds..." Gandalf mumbled.
This set off a shouting match.
Thorin shouted in Dwarvish, silencing them. "If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years. Eyes look to the mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor?"
This was met by cheers, until Balin spoke up again.
"You forget the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain."
"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true." Gandalf withdrew something from the pocket of his robes - a key. There were gasps.
"How came you by this?" cried Thorin.
"It was given to me by your father. Train gave it to me for safekeeping. It is yours now." Gandalf handed the key to Thorin. Dahlia placed a hand on his shoulder.
"If there is a key, there must be a door," cried Fili.
"These runes speak of a hidden passage to the Lower Halls." Gandalf tapped the map.
"There's another way in!" cried Kili.
Gandalf sighed. "The answer lies somewhere hidden in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle-earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth and no small amount of courage. But if we are careful and clever, I do believe it can be done. Which is why you're going to need a burglar."
"And a good one too," piped up Mr. Baggins. "An expert, I'd imagine."
"And are you?" asked Gloin.
"Am I what?" There was silence. "Me? oh, no, no, no. I'm not a burglar, I've never stolen anything in my life."
"I have to agree with Mr. Baggins," put-in Balin. "He is not burglar material." Mr. Baggins nodded in agreement.
"Aye, the wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves," agreed Dwalin.
This set off another argument.
"Enough!" Galdalf rose to his feet, now towering over the company of startled dwarves. "If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar then a burglar he is! Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet, and they can pass unseen by most if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the smell of Hobbit is all but unknown to him which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the fifteenth 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."
"I say we give him a chance," Dahlia said. "After all, first impressions can be deceiving." She smiled at their Hobbit host.
"And if he fails we'll have no back-up," stated Thorin.
"You have to trust me on this," Gandalf insisted.
Thorin was very hesitant. "Where's the contract?"
They handed the Hobbit a piece of paper.
"Incineration?!" Everyone's attention was brought back to Mr. Baggins who was going through the list of potential dangers.
"Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye," said Bofur. "Think furnace with wings. Flash of light, searing pain, then poof! You're nothing more than a pile of ash!"
With that, Mr. Baggins promptly collapsed to the floor.
"Yes, very helpful. Thank you, Bofur," said Gandalf.
"We're doomed," sighed Thorin.
I love Richard Armitage as Thorin! And he's got such a deep, enchanting voice!
And so we begin! ;) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)
