Chapter 2

I walked towards the stables to fetch my pony, Timber. I had shed my furs and kept them in a separate pack since it was now spring.I had instead opted for a tan leather hide tunic that was sleeveless and some thick and dark leather pants. I also had on a leather wrapping my right hand. The merchant had said many archers used it to protect their hands so I spent some extra silver pieces for it figuring it would be useful. I still had some fur on since it was stilling bit cool.

I had already made all the preparations necessary for this venture. There was a filled waterskin, bedroll, food bag, my winter furs, and the money I had from some bets I won. I decided to travel light as I always do o give me more speed, something I'm sure to need. Finally at the stables, I was able to set down my supplies and walk towards Timber's stall. He walked up to greet and I offered him an apple. He was tacked up and laden with supplies within five minutes. It was early, just a little past dawn, when I finally set out for the Shire.

It would take a few days to get from Bree to Hobbiton and the last thing I wanted was to be late. We quickly left Bree behind and headed on to the Shire. The journey was quite dull for the most part not many were traveling on the road except for the odd man here or there. There were also not a lot of big game. The biggest thing you could hunt was a rabbit and I would be lucky to even find that. For the most part I was eating squirrel.

As I anticipated it took three days to get to Hobbiton and it was already getting dark. It didn't take long to notice the stares i was getting from the halflings. Most of them were stares of suspicion while others were just plain shocked. I had heard that halflings could be suspicious of strangers and preferred the comfort of their home almost never leaving the safety of the Shire.

After a while of searching for the rune Gandalf had said to look, I dismounted and tethered Timber at a local inn then quickly payed the stable boy. I started walking around the underground houses looking for a rune somewhere. After about an hour of searching I finally found a round green door with a blue glowing rune. This was it. This is where I would start my journey. I walked through the small gate and up to the door knocking swiftly before stepping back. I could hear the sounds of furniture moving and some voices talking. They all sounded male, great. The door opened and I was greeted by a halfling with light curly hair, brown eyes, and completely barefoot much like the rest of his kin.

I could tell from his expression that he was flustered and annoyed. It soon change to shock and confusion once he saw me. "I'm..I'm sorry, but who are you?" He asked with confusion laced in his tone. Tilting his head slightly while keeping the door half opened.

I gave him a kind smile before bowing at the waist. "Inari at your service." I said cheerfully before straightening back up. His mouth was opened slightly in shock before he regained his composure. "Oh where are my manners, please come in." he said as he stepped aside opening the door more to allow me in. "I am Bilbo Baggins of Bag End." He said with pride. I nodded with a smile walking further into his home.

I looked around in amazement. "This place is beautiful. Did you make it yourself?" I asked as I looked at him over my shoulder. He blushed bright red from his cheeks to his slightly pointed ears.

"Oh no no, my father built it."He stuttered. I smiled and he gave me a small smile in return. "Well your father was master craftsmen." He smiled shyly at my compliment, but it immediately disappears when he heard another knock at the door. He huffed before opening the door again. I turned and walked towards the two dwarves in what looked to be in a makeshift dining room.

One was quite tall only a few inches shorter than me. He had dark hair but was bald on top of his head, which was covered in tattoos. He was wearing heavy furs and had what seemed to be a permanently angry expression. The other one was much shorter about the same height as Bilbo. He had white hair and beard which was split at the tips. He had a kinder and less hostile demeanor than the other dwarf.

"Do you need any help?" I asked both looked up at my question seeming surprised then suspicious. "And who are you, lass?" The older one said cautiously. I bowed again, "Inari, at your service." I repeated. That apparently wasn't the right thing to say as the bigger dwarf narrowed his eyes and stepped a little closer. "How do you know our greeting." He asked his tone full of bite. I was saved from answering at the arrival of two more dwarves.

They were much younger than the other two and were as different as night and day. One had blonde hair with a few decorative braids showing his station. His mustache was also braided which almost made me laugh at the sight. He had bright blue eyes and was wearing heavy leather and furs. The other was dark haired with no braids or beads save for the clasp holding his hair back. He had dark brown eyes, but what was strange was that he was quite tall at least an inch taller than me surprisingly and had only stubble rather than a full beard like his companion. He wore mostly cloth and leathers. All in all they were handsome in the rugged way.

The blonde looked at me with a grin. "Oh and who is this beautiful maiden, a noble lady perhaps." He said with a smirk while his companion gave me a mischievous smile. "That's what I'd like to know." Tattoo dwarf growled. The older one put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a slight glare. "Now brother that is no way to speak to a lady, what would our mother say?" The old one chided. The tattooed dwarf grumbled but dropped the interrogation.

The old one turned back towards me and offered my a kind smile which I returned. "My apologies, lass. My brother can be quite temperamental after a long journey. Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Balin and this is my brother Dwalin. The lads are Fili and Kili and we are all at your service." He and the two young dwarves bowed but Dwalin only nodded. I bowed back. "Inari, at yours and your family's."

The two dwarves went back to rearranging the furniture while Fili and Kili left to get the ale keg. "Lass how about you start bring in some of the food, the others will be arriving any minute." Balin asked as he walked by me to grab another chair. I nodded an headed to the open pantry to bring food to the table.

True to his word more dwarves arrived and started helping me bring food out each one introducing themselves, though I'm not sure I'll be able to remember all of their names. I could hear Bilbo yelling at the dwarves to put his food back as we continued setting the table. "Not the jam! Excuse me. Excuse me. It's a tad excessive isn't it? Have you got a cheese knife?" He asked the round dwarf, Bombur, I think his name was, as he carried manny blocks of cheese. Another dwarf came and stood beside Bilbo he had a flappy hat and was carry a bunch meat. "Cheese Knife? He eats it by the block." the dwarf continued on and Bilbo was left dumbfounded. I laughed lightly at his expression.

I walked back through the hallway and looked into the dining room where a dwarf, Dori, was offering Gandalf a kettle of tea. "Excuse me Mr. Gandalf?" Gandalf turned to him, hunched over due to his height. "Yes?" Dori poured a cup of tea while asking, "May I tempt you with a cup of chamomile?" "Oh, no thank you, Dori. A little red wine for me, I think." Dori nodded as Gandalf came back into the hallway almost being run over by Bombur and running into the chandelier. I couldn't help, but laugh at this. Who knew wizards could be clumsy?

Gandalf started naming off the dwarves while counting on his fingers, but found that he was one short thanks the axe headed dwarf. "He is late, is all. He traveled north to a meeting of our kin. He will come." Dwalin answered while drinking a cup of ale leaning against the wall. Dori reappeared with a very small glass of wine. "Mr. Gandalf? A little glass of red wine, as requested. It's got a fruity bouquet." Dori handed him the glass and then went into the dining room. "Oh, Cheers." Gandalf drank all the wine in one sip and looked at the empty glass longily.

I couldn't help, but laugh at this. My laughing caught his attention and he looked at me curiously. "And who might you be, my dear." I sobered up and looked up at him. "Inari from Forodwaith." I answered seriously. His eyebrows raised slightly as he hmed. "Forodwaith? You are very far from home, my lady. What is a half dwarf from the north doing in the Shire if you don't mind me asking." I was surprised at his observation. I composed myself quickly regaining some courage to look back at him.

"I'm here for the same thing everybody else is here for. To go on a quest." I answered confidently. "So, you are here to join the company, to reclaim Erebor and in return gain an endless supply of gold." He said this while giving me a an odd look. I furrowed my brow, indignant at his implication.

"It has nothing to do with the gold." I said with slight steel. "It may seem odd to you, but I'm here because I want Erebor to be reclaimed from that Paha-Peto!" Gandalf was expressionless for a minute, but he then smiled warmly. "I can see that you take after the dwarves' pride. I think you will be a great asset on this venture." He looked back at the dining room then gestured for me to come. "Come. You should eat, it will be a long journey and you will need your strength." I followed him into the dining room where all the dwarves were eating, throwing food, laughing, and of course drinking.

I sat down beside Ori as he seemed the most approachable out of the whole company. I fixed my plate putting mostly meat on it with a bit of bread, cheese, and green food. Fili was walking on the table handing out all the ales, which seemed to anger Mr. Baggins. "Who wants an ale? Here ya go." I stood up with me hand raised "Hey, Fili! Bring one down here." I yelled over the talking dwarves. He walked over towards me and handed me my ale, but he winked before sitting down. I rolled my eyes while taking a sip.

I watched the other dwarves celebrating wildly. Dwalin had poured ale into Oin's trumpet and all the others leaned on the table for toast.

"Ale on the count of three!" I heard one of the dwarves say. I smiled slyly. I may be a lady, but I was raised a dwarf through and through and that includes how to beat others in drinking games. I held my ale close waiting. "One. Two.. Up!" We all brought up our mugs and drank. There was silence until we all finished slamming our mugs down. They all started burping trying to outdo the other. I gave a loud burp of my one which surprised many of them before laughing once more. All can agree that Ori won that competition. Poor Bilbo was looking a little green from our presentation.

All of us finished our feast and started walking around the house. I stayed in the kitchen with a few of the dwarves Bofur being one of them. "So, what's a pretty lass like yerself doing here?" He asked with smile. I smiled back meekly. "Looking for a little adventure, life has been quite dull as of late." I answered back teasingly. We both turned our heads at the sound of Bilbo's voice.

"Excuse me. That is a doily not a dishcloth." We saw Bilbo yank the 'doily' out of Nori's hands. "But it's full of holes." Bofur said confusedly. "It's supposed to look like that it's crochet." Bilbo answered firmly. Bofur glanced at me "And a wonderful game that is, if you got the balls for it. All of us started laughing at his innuendo. "Be bother and confiscate these dwarves!" I heard Bilbo almost yell.

"My dear Bilbo, what on earth is the matter?" Gandalf came around the corner trying to calm the hobbit. Gandalf and bilbo walked through further into the kitchen. Bofur saw Nori trying to steal some sausages and reached at them both going into a tug of war. I smiled at their antics continuing to drink from my mug. I noticed Bilbo and Gandalf walk into the hallway once more. Kili comes in and gestures for me to come with a humorous glint in his eyes.

I stand on the other side of the doorway as Fili throws him a plate and he throws it to Bifur. I hear the others using kitchen utensils to make a beat. Fili continues throwing plates to Kili. "Excuse me. That's my mother's West Farthing crockery. It's over a hundred years old!" Bilbo cried. Kili bounced a plate on his foot then through it to Bifur. The beat was picking up and more plates and bowls were thrown. "And can you not do that, you'll blunt them." "O, did ya hear that lads? He says we'll blunt the knives." Bofur said teasingly.

Fili and Kili then started to sing with Kili starting.

Blunt the knives, bend the forks!

Fili then joined in on the song.

Smash the bottles and burn the corks!

The rest of us joined in now all chorusing together.

Chip the glasses and crack the plates!

That what Bilbo Baggins hates!

Cut the cloth and trail the fat!

Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!

Pour the milk on the pantry floor!

Splash the wine on every door!

Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;

Pound them up with a thumping pole;

And when your finished, if they are whole

Send them down the hall the roll!

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

We finished the song while also finishing Bilbo's dishes which were now stacked neatly on the kitchen table. We all laughed at Bilbo's surprised expression, but the joy was cut short at the sound of three loud knocks. All the dwarves and I looked toward the door in anticipation. Now was the hard part, convincing Thorin Oakenshield to let come along on this journey. Mahal help me.

Author's Note

The word Inari used to describe Smaug is Labba the most commonly spoken language in Forodwaith.

Paha-Peto: Bad Beast

Mahal: dwarf name for Aule

Man this took forever. Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I decided to use Ygritte from Game of Thrones to play as Inari if you want a reference then google search her. Until next time, bye.