See first chapter for disclaimers.

Thinking!

Thoughtspeak!

Speaking!

Luna- Nusha (Hopeful Ocean)

Harry- Koehvin (Earth Storm)

A New Life in a New World

Chapter 3

It had been 18 years since Bilbo had taken in the two children and he hadn't regretted it at all since. Every day had been a surprise and learning they were Istari was not as big a surprise as finding out what their true past had been. Several times in those first five years he had seen them do something that was unexplainable so he already had an idea that they were different from the other children of Men.

When he finally learned where their scars, both physical and mental, came from he was ready to march across worlds just so he could smack everyone that had hurt the siblings whether they were living or dead. He was just glad that he could truly begin to help them. The only previous experience he had was helping his mother though his father's death but at least he had an idea of what he needed to do.

The happiest day that he had was when they asked him to adopt them five years after they came to live with him and then helping them choose new names for their new lives. After all the adoption ceremony would make him their father in blood. The ceremony didn't take away the blood of their first parents merely added his own to the mix so that they had two fathers and a mother. Also since he was adopting both of them it meant they became blood siblings though him which made them even happier. The ceremony was a secret to the race of hobbits and even the Istari only knew that it involved calling on Yavanna and Eru who were the Valar that created their race.

Watching them grow was the greatest feeling in the world. The Gamgee's and himself allowed the sibling to teach them how to fight and defend themselves but only the bare minimum they could get away with. Bilbo allowed them to teach him more than just parkour and capoeira because he remembered vividly the Fell Winter and the wolves, wargs and orcs that had invaded the shire and knew he needed to be able to defend his new family and the shire if it ever happened again.

The children left to explore the world when Koehvin was 19. Knowing that they could defend themselves with or without their magic was the only thing that stopped Bilbo from protesting their leaving though it didn't stop him from worrying. Happily they kept their promise to write and visit often so despite seeing new scars when they came home he was just happy that they could come home. He tried not to show his worry openly as that may cause them to hide when they have been injured no matter how much they dislike lying. One of the biggest things that made their family so close was that they never lied to each other, said they didn't want to talk about it and why yes, but never lied.

Bilbo was currently sitting on the bench outside his smial smoking his pipe when a shadow fell across his face. Opening his eyes he found a tall man dressed in grey with both his long hair and beard grey as well. He was leaning on a wooden staff that twisted around a gem at the top. "Grey seems to be the theme here." Bilbo thought with amusement "Though he does seem familiar somehow."

"Good morning." He greeted wondering who the man was and what he wanted.

"What do you mean? Do you mean to wish me a good morning or that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning?" The man was obviously trying to throw Bilbo off his guard and it might have worked if he wasn't so used to Nusha doing much the same thing.

"I do believe I meant that it is a morning to be good on as the sun is shining, the fields are doing well and almost ready for the harvest and everyone has family around them. Now then, may I know name?" Apparently managing to stump the man quite soundly as most hobbits aren't likely to sass back and then ask for a name as his eyebrows rose sharply.

"Well you should know my name! I'm Gandalf and Gandalf means … me." He shook his head slightly obviously expecting to be recognized.

"Not Gandalf the wandering wizard who made such excellent fireworks. Old Took used to have them on Midsummer's Eve!" he thought for a moment, "I had no idea you were still in business."

"And where else should I be?" Gandalf said indignantly.

"Well, being as I haven't seen you since you came with the Rangers during the Fell Winter nearly 26 years ago, I figured you were gone. After all you never came to my mother's funeral 19 years ago despite being good friends with her." Bilbo leveled a rather stern look at Gandalf who looking quite abashed at the rebuke.

"I do apologize. I was called away by the White Council before the funeral and with Belladonna gone it was hard to return." The sad far away look on his face showed that he was telling most if not all of the truth.

Bilbo said nothing for a moment. "What can I do for you?" he decided to ignore the apology for now as he wasn't willing to forgive Gandalf yet but also wasn't angry either.

"That remains to be seen. I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure." He said looking pleased with himself.

Knowing full well Gandalf meant him, he said "I might know several people willing to go on an adventure. I'll have a talk with them tonight when I see them. Why don't you come back tonight for supper to get their answer." Bilbo was quite pleased with himself when Gandalf merely blinked at him for a moment.

"How many are you asking?" Gandalf asked a bit perturbed. He obviously wasn't used to someone derailing any plans that he had and it was apparent that he had been expecting some sort of outraged reaction and objections.

"Only two don't worry." Bilbo was feeling a little mischievous as he knew that Gandalf didn't know about there being more Istari or at least that two Istari were here in the Shire. "It will be quite the surprise for him to the children." He barely managed to stop himself from grinning.

"Very well. I shall warn the others." Gandalf turned to leave still looking quite bemused.

"Don't forget to tell these others how to get here."

Gandalf froze for a second before turning back around. "May I leave a rune on your door so they know it's the right smial?" he asked looking quite sheepish.

"Of course you may. How many others are coming?" he didn't bother to ask if they were men or not as there were few other options it could be.

"13 others besides myself." Gandalf said as he finished putting the rune on the door and turned to leave again.

Mere moments after he disappeared around the corner Koehvin and Nusha came up the path carrying several fish and rabbits while dragging a deer behind them.

"Planning a big supper are we? Probably a good thing since Gandalf the Grey will be stopping by for supper and is bringing 13 others with him." Bilbo opened the gate to let them in. "He wants someone to go on an adventure with him and I said that there were two others that I would ask and he could get the answer tonight." He wanted them to know what was happening so if they didn't want to meet Gandalf yet then they could be gone before he came at supper.

Nusha spoke up "The 13 that are coming with him are dwarves so we need lots of meat." With that she turned around and walked into the smial. Bilbo and Koehvin were used to this behavior from her. She had visions when something important was to happen but it would only be a few hours or days before the event happened. Sometimes she didn't get any visions at all and they would end up being surprised.

They two males exchanged glances before following her into the smial. She had already started cooking by the time they entered the kitchen and directed them to start cleaning everything up. "Papa do you remember the dwarf king we told you about, the one that was trying to find other dwarves willing to help take back the mountain from a dragon?" She waited for him to nod before continuing "he has gotten 12 other dwarves to join him on the quest and they are coming here with Gandalf because they were told that there was a burglar they could recruit here. They need someone that the dragon will have never smelt the species of before which hobbits certainly fit that mold."

She let them digest that before telling them more of what she had seen. "The dwarves are a very rowdy bunch and are almost all related in some way or another. We will need to lock away anything that you don't want to chance getting damaged or broken as they seem to enjoy throwing things about. Don't worry about the china though as they don't break it no matter how much it seems they will." This caused Bilbo to rush around locking away the more delicate of his valuables with Koehvin helping him.

"I won't be able to tell you much beyond names, descriptions and relations between them as I only got glimpses. Now the first to come will be Dwalin and his older brother, Balin. Dwalin is a large intimidating dwarf with a lot of tattoos and weapons. Balin on the other hand is more of a scholar. Both his hair and beard are long and white and have no braids. They are the king's cousins.

Next are the king's nephews and heirs, Fili and Kili. Fili has long blonde hair with a few braids. He also braids his mustache and has a very short beard. His younger brother Kili on the other hand has long dark hair with a couple braids in them and not a lot of facial hair.

The last of the king's cousins that are coming are Oin and Gloin. Oin has mostly white hair and has to use an ear trumpet to hear. He is the healer of the group. His younger brother Gloin on the other hand has a full head of red hair and an elaborately braided beard.

The next three are Bifur, Bofur and Bombur. Bifur is the eldest with graying hair and he has an axe stuck in his head. Because of the axe he can understand Westron but not speak it, only Khuzdul, the dwarfish tongue. He can also use a form of Ranger signs so we can still communicate with him. He is the cousin of Bofur and Bombur. Bofur has dark hair that is split in three braids, one braid down the back and one on either side of his head. The ones on either side of his he somehow managed to get sticking out to the sides. The youngest is Bombur who is a very round redhead. Bombur is the cook of the group.

Then we have the Ri brothers Dori, Nori and Ori. Dori has silver hair that is very elaborately braided. Nori has auburn hair that is braided into three peaks with his eyebrows braided in. Ori is the youngest and also has red hair though it is cut into a bowl cut.

Lastly is the king, Thorin Oakenshield. He has dark hair with a touch of silver at the temple. He seems a very somber person that doesn't smile much. He won't be impressed at first so you will have to prove that you are useful and won't endanger the company. He will give you a contract that you need to read and have changes made to." She let them digest the information dump as they finished cleaning and cooking. By this point it was getting dark so they knew that the dwarves would be arriving soon. They decided to eat now so they wouldn't need to worry about when dwarves were running about.

"Koehvin and I won't be here to greet them. We need to get to Bree soon so that we can start picking up the supplies that the dwarves will need when they arrive tomorrow night. Otherwise you know that the men will just try to cheat them as much as possible. We will also make sure that there are rooms made up and paid for at the Prancing Pony so they will have a place to sleep tomorrow." A protest had formed on Bilbo's at the first sentence before dying as she continued for he knew she was right.

"Don't worry Papa everything will be fine." Koehvin reassured Bilbo as they moved to get their packs together and help Bilbo get his own ready.

As they left Nusha grabbed a pouch filled with enough money to pay the Gamgee's for a year and a half of upkeep on the smial and grounds while Koehvin grabbed the 3 wills they had written earlier that would come into effect if they didn't come back to the Shire after 2 years.

They had just left the Gamgee's when they saw the first dwarf ring the bell at Bag End. Glancing at one another the siblings were very glad that Nusha was able to warn their father what to expect at least appearance wise and that he already knew how dangerous travelling could be just from the stories they told of what happened to them. They slipped away into the night as Bilbo opened the door to greet Dwalin.

Next chapter we meet the dwarves and then the chapter after that Nusha and Koehvin meet their mates.