The wizard had been gone for more than a few hours, and Bilbo Baggins began to get concerned. Sitting on a crop of stone, he glanced down at the edge of the wood where Gandalf had gone; in the daylight, he could make out frost and bits of ice clinging onto the sides of the trees. He felt conflicted; the Tookish side of him was deathly curious as to what strange creature was able to chill the air in the dead of summer, but the Baggins side of him would rather that they leave whatever it was alone and keep on moving (and if all else failed, get back to Bag End).

Yet another part of him felt concerned for Gandalf; it wasn't so much concern as to whether the wizard could get out alive so much as it was concern over whether he would get back before Thorin went ahead and moved on without him. He could easily see the restlessness pervading the rest of the company; their last meal had been naught but a few hours ago, and grumbles of impatience rippled through the group. The elders sat around the small fire they had stoked, while the younger ones hung close to the ponies, ready to jump on the saddle and head out.

"Of all the things to go off and investigate, it had to be a puff of cold air," the tall, brawny tattooed Dwalin muttered, shoving a piece of sausage past his dark beard and munching it.

"Aye, in this heat," Dori remarked, "I would've taken it as a blessing and moved on. Who knows how much this will have set us back!"

"Curious that you should note the weather," Bofur noted with a wry smile, "after begging Gandalf for an end to yesterday's rainstorm; was that too cold for you?"

The others laughed at the irony, while Dori lowered his gaze in contemptuous shame at the jab.

Bilbo turned the other way and saw Thorin further out toward the edge of the group, looking towards the east. It reminded the hobbit of the night where he first heard of the Battle of Azanulbizar in a very uncanny way. He wondered how often he stood like that…

Thorin then turned back, his expression showing just what was on his mind. "We're moving out," he declared, "pack up your things and let's get going".

That was precisely what Bilbo was afraid of.

"But what about Gandalf?" he protested, "We can't just leave him."

"I will not risk this quest for any unnecessary side trip," the Dwarf King replied, "He will have to catch up."

The rest of the dwarves started to shuffle into place, the pace differing among them; already Fili and Kili had mounted their ponies, while it took a great deal of persuasion to distract Bombur from the remains of his meal. Bilbo, meanwhile, stood still in the commotion, gently appalled.

Balin, taking notice stood up and sighed. "I would be too worried about it, laddie," he quietly said under his breath to Bilbo, "I've got a feeling this might happen more often than we'd like it to; you can't really trust wizards to stay in one place for too long."

Just then, a voice halted them all more thoroughly than Thorin's command had compelled them forward; "And just where do you think you are going?"

Bilbo turned back around, relieved to see Gandalf striding out of the forest shadows and into the light—which, now that he thought about it, was the exact opposite of what he might have felt a few days prior to this quest.

"I only leave your side for a few hours, and you decide to depart without me?" the wizard retorted as he approached the group, "Very inconsiderate of you, Thorin Oakenshield."

"I was under the assumption," Thorin replied from astride his pony, "that you wouldn't have delayed us for so long. Did you find what you were looking for, might I ask?"

"Indeed I did," Gandalf replied, "I think you'll be very pleased to meet…" He turned around, but seemed surprised to find no one behind him, leaving him somewhat miffed—a rare expression for a wizard, Bilbo felt sure. "Excuse me for a moment," he said, returning towards the forest edge. He peered around a tree, and then went back into the woods, the pantomime of his movements suggesting a one-sided discussion. Or was it?

Bilbo noticed then that the ice nearby had grown thicker…and had the air gotten colder, too? He could faintly see his own breath. What strange creature of Middle-Earth had Gandalf lured that could do such a thing? Wary of the possibility of treachery, Bilbo backed away into the crowd of dwarves, assuming that the center was the safest place to be should things turn ugly.

After a few moments, the wizard returned once again—this time, a woman, wearing her white hair in a long braid, followed after him. This took Bilbo by surprise, and he let himself relax. In spite of the fact that she was dressed in simple, unassuming cloth of common browns over an icy blue, she walked in a regal sort of way, almost enough to make Bilbo feel the need to bow, though he wasn't sure why. She looked over every member of the company, surprised at what she saw. Her gaze briefly swept over Bilbo, almost ignorant of him, but he certainly didn't ignore her. He found himself entranced by her sapphire eyes, and wondered if she were some sort of elf—only to be corrected by the shape of her ears. Peering to his right, he observed that the dwarves had similar reactions to his, especially Kili, who seemed to have wondered the same thing, noticed the same thing, and for some reason appeared dismayed at the results.

After a moment, the women spoke at last. "You're…dwarves?" she said, as if she had never seen dwarves before.

"Indeed, and we're proud of it, fair lady of the woods!" Fili shouted out from behind the group. A quick jab humbled him.

Gandalf stepped up as Thorin moved his pony forward to meet her.

"Everyone," Gandalf said, "Allow me to introduce Elsa of…" At a loss, he turned to Elsa for a bit of help.

"I'd rather not say," she said, "It doesn't matter anyway."

After Gandalf introduced her to Thorin, the Dwarf King asked, "And to what purpose has this meeting?"

"Well, Elsa here is considering becoming a member of our company," Gandalf replied. At this statement, some of the other dwarves looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Whispers started to abound, with, "A woman on a quest?" to "What is Gandalf thinking?" being the most prominent and basic.

Thorin, on the other hand, seemed to have different concerns. "Can she fight?" he inquired.

"Fight? Well, um…I can defend myself, if that's what you're asking," she answered. After a pause, she returned, "Against what? For what purpose is this quest of yours?"

It was then that their reasons, albeit briefly, were explained to the woman; they told her of the Lonely Mountain and the Kingdom of Erebor, the wealth and power of the Dwarven Kings of old and the prosperity of all those who fell under the influence of their reign, and more importantly of Smaug the Tyrannical and of his conquering of the mountain. Even though he had heard this story before, it still filled Bilbo with a fair amount of dread hearing of the dragon. He could see a similar reaction in Elsa's eyes, but multiplied by a great deal. It also seemed coupled with disbelief; had she, like him, only heard of dragons in folktales?

After the essentials were laid out, Balin stepped forward with the very same contract that Bilbo had signed just days before, and handed it to Elsa. "Just be aware," he told her, "that there will be some necessary corrections made to the contract, especially concerning the share of the treasure."

Elsa took it, and stepped away to look over it for a moment. Thorin, meanwhile moved closer to Gandalf and whispered to him, "Why the girl, Gandalf? How many more do you need to attach to this company before you're satisfied?" Bilbo overheard this, and couldn't help but feel somewhat undignified; did Thorin consider him a spare wheel as well?

"She may be of use on this quest," Gandalf replied, "And considering our enemy, we need all the help we can get."

"I don't even know what KIND of help she can provide."

"For her sake, I am not obliged to divulge such information. You'll have to take her word, and mine."

Just then, Elsa returned. She handed the contract back to Balin and said, "I'm sorry, but I cannot join you."

Bilbo felt something wither inside him at her words.

"Don't misunderstand, I empathize with the plight of your people," she explained, "But I feel that I would be a burden to you. You have my blessing, though."

Gandalf seemed more than dismayed at this, while Thorin was clearly unsurprised. "Alright, move on," he shouted, and soon the entire company was on the move. Bilbo suddenly found himself hoisted into the air and onto the back of Myrtle, his pony.

As soon as they had gone off some distance, the dwarves started talking again:

"Well, that was an unnecessary detour," Óin remarked.

"Not to mention an unexpected disappointment," Nori observed.

"She was very pretty," Ori spoke, "For a human."

"Oi, who wants to place wagers now?" Bofur shouted out, but was met with a decidedly negative reaction.

Bilbo, meanwhile, twisted around in his saddle and watched as Elsa went swiftly back into the trees, followed by Gandalf. Clearly the wizard wanted her very much on this mission, but for what purpose? To his own surprise, he also felt somewhat depressed that she wouldn't come…and yet he had the oddest feeling that it wouldn't be the last time he saw her.

In the forest, the wizard followed closely in Elsa's footsteps as he made his case. "Please, I beg you to reconsider your position on this, Elsa!" he pleaded, "Surely you must understand what it is we're fighting for!"

"I do," she replied, but without turning to face him, "but I am also aware of what danger you're heading into. All I'll do is make things worse; you can take my word for it."

"How long have you been hiding away in that cavern?" he demanded. "How long have you been shying away from the contact of others? I tell you, that dragon is of more danger than you could imagine. Think of how many lives we could save!"

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him.

"And what of the lives that could be taken because of us?" she shot back, "Because of me! There's a reason I left the place of my birth…I don't need any more blood on my hands."

Before Gandalf could say anything else, she waved her hand, and a wall of thick, jagged ice erupted between her and Gandalf, but not before she said farewell. She resumed her journey back towards the dwelling.

Gandalf stood there for a long time before he left to rejoin the company. "Well," he said to himself, "it appears she was right...not so easily persuaded after all."