Chapter 4
Bilbo sighed and cursed himself for not packing more handkerchiefs. He had only packed one. Gandalf was riding easily alongside him. Bilbo sighed and sniffled. "I hate horse hair."
Gandalf chuckled. "I have a spell for that if you want."
Bilbo glared at him. "No thank you! Last time I accepted a spell from you, it backfired. I still have to shave three times a week!"
Gandalf snorted with laughter. "My dear Bilbo, when will you believe me when I say that it was an honest mistake! The pronunciation for hair is remarkably similar to that of rose."
Bilbo rolled his eyes and snorted. "Sure, Gandalf." Bilbo froze in a sudden realization. "WAIT! WE HAVE TO GO BACK!"
All the Dwarves froze and whirled around to stare at the pair. Thorin glared at them. "For what Master Baggins?"
Bilbo turned to Gandalf. "My razors!"
Gandalf blinked and then stared. Then…he started laughing. "I'm sorry Bilbo, but we cannot go back for your razors. I'm afraid you'll have to let your beard grow this time."
Bofur blinked and then frowned. "Why would you shave your beard off, lad?"
Balin coughed and shook his head. "I'm sure that Master Baggins has his own reasons, and it isn't polite to ask. Now, let's move along."
Bilbo became aware that everyone was staring at him funny, even Thorin was glancing at him with a thread of concern in his eyes.
Bilbo frowned. "Gandalf? What's gotten into everyone?"
"Shaving a beard is a sign of disgrace for a Dwarf. The fact that you shave your beard off means that you are in some deep agony and shame."
Bilbo blinked and gaped. "It's expected!" Bilbo ignored Gandalf's laughter and moved quickly to Bofur and explained how Hobbits don't grow beards and so expected him to be clean shaven too. When they camped, he told everyone that.
"No! I'm not in shame or disgrace."
Fíli frowned. "But why would they force you to conform to their standards when you obviously aren't a Hobbit?"
Bilbo stared at Fíli. "I am a Hobbit. My mother was a Hobbit, and my father was a Dwarf."
Kíli nodded. "Yes, but aren't you more Dwarf than Hobbit?"
Everyone was staring at him. Bilbo sighed. "Kíli, are you more like your mother or your father?"
"My mum."
"Is Fíli more like his mother or his father?"
"Fíli's more like Da."
"Are you two any less brothers? Is Fíli any less of a Durin just because he looks less like a Durin than you?"
Kíli paused and then smiled. "I get your meaning!"
Bilbo smiled and chuckled. He turned over and got ready to sleep. The next morning he groaned slightly as he felt along his jaw. It took him around five days to get a five o'clock shadow. Bilbo growled slightly and stalked over to get some food. When he got back to his pack, he saw Fíli and Kíli rummaging around.
"Ahem."
They looked up and smiled cheekily at him. "Hullo Master Boggins!"
Bilbo rolled his eyes and snatched his pack from their grubby paws. "Get your paws out of my stuff!" He shook his head and snorted. "Gremlins."
Fíli made an affronted sound, but Kíli was too busy asking a plethora of questions. "We never found out, who was your father? What clan was he in? Was he originally from the Blue Mountains? Or was he from one of the Dwarves of Erebor?"
Bilbo sighed. "Erebor."
Fíli blinked and then grinned. "Then your truly one of us! Uncle!"
Thorin stopped talking and turned to look where Fíli was shouting. Fíli dragged Bilbo up to Thorin and Balin. "Bilbo's father was from Erebor!"
Thorin blinked and then nodded. "Who was he?"
Bilbo coughed. "Don't know. My mum never spoke his name. Only said that he was a refugee from Erebor. They…weren't on very good terms."
Thorin remembered how angrily Bilbo spoke about his father and then nodded slightly. "I see."
Kíli looked at Bilbo's hair. "Hey! You've got a bead in your hair!"
Bilbo nodded. "I braided it in last night. The Hobbits don't take beads or braids in boy Hobbit's hair very kindly."
Dwalin snorted. "I don't suppose you even know how to carve your own beads."
Bilbo glared at him. "I carved this one myself!" He also made his own daggers and throwing axes himself.
Bofur looked at the bead without touching it. "Wow…intricate carvings. What does it mean, laddie?"
"It's from the house of the Tooks. My mother's clan. I'm the grandson of the Thain. This bead shows who my grandfather is. It also says, in Hobbitish, that I'm the favored grandson and heir."
Fíli blinked and then grinned. "We're more similar than I thought! I'm the heir to Uncle." Bilbo smiled thinly. Not actually.
They packed up their things and started traveling again. Bilbo grumbled against the weather and silently agreed with Dori about Gandalf doing something about it.
It didn't let up even when they were looking for a place to camp. Bilbo spotted a traveler's cave and shouted over the rain and pointed at it. They finally got to it, starting a nice warm fire to dry their clothes.
Balin smiled slightly and sat down next to Bilbo. Bilbo was eating his soup when he thought of something. "Balin?"
"Yes?"
"Are there many Dwobbits like me?"
"Not many."
"Are they treated equally?"
Balin sighed. "They weren't used to be. Now, however, they are treated like any other Dwarf. All are allowed leadership positions, if they so wish it."
"Thorin's wife was a Hobbit. Would she have been allowed to rule in his stead?"
"Then? No. Now? Yes." Balin smiled. "Thorin has made many changes with how we view our kin."
Bilbo blinked. "So, the child of Belladonna. If he had survived…"
Balin nodded sadly. "He would have been Thorin's heir."
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