CHAPTER TWO

— Our uncle or king —

It was Gandalf who opened the door for Thorin.

"Gandalf," Thorin said as he laid eyes on the wizard. "I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice."

Kíli couldn't help but smirk, and in the corner of his eye he could see Fíli's lips move too. Their uncle wasn't one to easily speak of his mistakes or wrong-doings. He must have had quite an entertaining journey here, they thought.

"I would not have found it all had it not been for that mark on the door," he continued, which Mr. Baggins denied and Gandalf had to explain.

Fíli and Kíli were both very glad to see Thorin. It was a long time since they'd seen each other, as their uncle had left the Blue Mountains for Ered Luin a whole month before they had. He looked in good health, and it made both brothers glad. The dwarves who knew Thorin personally, like Balin and Dwalin, nodded politely and smiled. Others bowed to their King, and Thorin bowed his head in respect. But it was when he saw his nephews that his royal demeanor fell and a bright smile crossed his lips. But Thorin's attention was soon drawn back to Mr. Baggins and Gandalf.

"Bilbo Baggins," Gandalf said and gestured between the hobbit and their uncle. "Allow me to introduce the leader of our company — Thorin Oakenshield."

Fíli and Kíli looked on in reverent silence as Thorin eyed Bilbo. "So. This is the hobbit."

The hobbit looked nervous to be in Thorin's presence. Thorin walked around him and inspected him. "Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting? Axe or sword? What's your weapon of choice?"

Kíli had a hard time imagining Mr. Baggins doing any kind of fighting. He'd seen the look on the hobbit's face when Fíli had handed him his weapons. He wasn't surprised at the answer.

"Well, I do have some skill at conkers, if you must know," Mr. Baggins said, standing straight with his head high as if trying to match Thorin's stance. Then his nervousness returned. "But I fail to see why that's… relevant."

"Thought as much," Thorin said and glanced back at Kíli and the company with a smile. "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar."

Kíli laughed a little. It was true — neither he nor Fíli could see how this little creature, who'd nearly fainted when they'd thrown a few plates around the house, would be able to stand what their quest promised would come.

Thorin headed toward the dinning room, and the rest of the dwarves followed. When Fíli and Kíli rounded the corner, Thorin stood there and took both of them by the shoulder. His blue eyes glowed.

"How was your journey?" he asked.

Fíli smiled, but Kíli felt slightly questioned. "We did not get into any trouble, if that's what you mean."

"No, it's not what I meant," Thorin said with a chuckle. "But I'm glad to hear it. I suppose your mother gave you a hard time before you left?"

Indeed she had. Dís had not agreed when Fíli had come to tell her that he would go with Thorin on his quest for Erebor. She was beside herself when Kíli decided to come, too. Without thinking, Kíli's hand went to his tunic pocket, where a round trinket rested heavy. He felt the little thing absently through the fabric, then smiled up at his uncle.

"She couldn't stop us if she tried," Kíli said.

For a split second, the brother could have sworn that there was something dark in their uncle's eyes, but it vanished quickly. Thorin pressed their shoulders lovingly. "I'm happy that you are here."

Then he went into the dinning room where the rest of the dwarves had already seated themselves. The brothers followed and took a couple of chairs next to Bombur on the far end from Thorin, who sat next to Gandalf. As soon as his requested bowl of soup was served by Mr. Baggins, the questions began hailing.

"What news from Ered Luin?" Balin asked. "Did they all come?"

"Aye. Envoys from all seven kingdoms."

A tinge of jealousy, only a tinge, hit Fíli. Thorin had asked him if he wanted to join him for the meeting of the Dwarf lords, as he was Thorin heir. It was the first time Thorin had done so. Fíli had wanted to go so badly, but his mother would not have it that Kíli went off on his own to the Shire. As so many times before this, Fíli would only get to hear about the royal business of his uncle.

"What do the dwarves from the Iron Hills say?" Dwalin interrupted the cheering. "Is Daín with us?"

Silence fell now, heavy and brooding. Fíli knew Thorin's answer before he said it. "They will not come. They say this quest is ours and ours alone."

Fíli looked around him. He could almost feel the company's spirits failing them and the quest shatter before his eyes. Beside him Kíli was looking at the table top, sighing quietly. Did this mean that they would have to go home to the forges again, they wondered.

"You're going on a quest?" the hobbit asked.

Gandalf asked him to go fetch some more light, and Mr. Baggins scurried off and came back with a small candle. Gandalf took something out of his robe and spread it out over the table, and Kíli rose a little from his chair to see what it was. It was a map, and Thorin looked most surprised.

"It's the mountain," Fíli whispered to his brother.

Gandalf went on to explaining to the hobbit about the Lonely Mountain, the dwarfish kingdom that had been once ruled by Fíli and Kíli's great grandfather and many generations of Durins before him. Fíli and Kíli listened intently, as they always did when Erebor was mentioned. It had been their favorite story as dwarflings, back when it had only been a story. Now that the words came from a great wizard's mouth, it felt more real than ever to the brothers.

"When the ravens of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end," Oín recited next to Fíli.

Once again, Fíli was hardly surprised when the hobbit did not know what they meant by the beast. It was Bofur that explained about Smaug, the red serpent of fire that many, many years ago had haunted the dreams of both Fíli and Kíli. Still, it was a story they had asked their uncle to tell many times. Now-a-days they knew how hard it was for Thorin to speak of it, and Fíli looked to Thorin as he moved uncomfortably at Bofur's graphic description.

Suddenly, Ori rose from his chair, nearly knocking it over. "I'm not afraid. I'm up for it! I'll give him a taste of the dwarfish iron right up his jaxie!"

Kíli thought Ori both looked and sounded silly. He liked the fellow, he really did, but wished he could be less of a runt. Dori, Ori's older brother, pulled him down again.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us," Balin said gravely. "But we number just thirteen! And not thirteen of the best… nor brightest."

The company erupted in a riotous babble. Kíli felt extremely offended and frowned at Balin. "I'll show you brightest," he said in a voice that only Fíli could hear. "Do you hear him, Fíli?"

Fíli wasn't listening to his brother right now. He would have none of this negativity. They'd get nowhere like that. With as much determination as he could muster, he slammed his fist in the table. Silence fell again.

"We may be few in number, but we're fighters. All of us. To the last dwarf!" He smalled his hand down again for good measure.

Kíli looked to his older brother with pride. In this moment, he really looked like a future king, and Fíli felt like it also. The approving nod from Thorin across the table only strengthened the feeling.

"And don't forget we have a wizard in our company," Kíli added. "Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time!"

The statement did not seem popular to Gandalf, who choked on his pipe smoke and denied it was true. When the other dwarves saw his hesitation, their own insecurities turned into anger. Dori confronted the wizard, demanding he answer how many dragons he'd killed. When he couldn't, the company once more turned into an angry mob. Although Kíli also felt like they'd been a little cheated if Gandalf did not know how to kill dragons, he followed his brother's example and sat still and quiet.

"Shazara!" Thorin suddenly growled and stood up from his chair. Within a second the dwarves had returned to their seats and silenced. Fíli was impressed, as always, at how easily Thorin controlled his people. He hoped he'd one day be just as respectable. "If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumors have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years."

Sixty years, Kíli repeated in his head. He was but seventeen years old then, barely able to speak properly.

"Eyes look east to the mountain," Thorin continued, eying each and every dwarf. "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!?"

The words inspired so much hope in Fíli and Kíli. They felt victorious and powerful, indestructible. When the company fell into a fit of cheering, they joined in without hesitation. "Du bekâr! Du bekâr!" Thorin chanted.

Once again, Balin's authoritative voice broke the mood. "You forget, the front gate is sealed! There's no way into the mountain."

"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true," Gandalf countered.

Kíli looked on in stunned amazement as the wizard turned his fingers and, suddenly, there was a key in his hand. Neither he nor Fíli had ever seen anything like it, but to Thorin the key was obviously familiar.

"How came you by this?" he whispered, almost at a loss of words.

"It was given to me by your father," Gandalf explained. "By Thrain. For safe-keeping."

Grandfather, the brothers thought in awe. They'd never known him, and had nothing of his. To see something that he'd owned felt unreal.

"It is yours now," Gandalf said and handed Thorin the key.

Fíli thought about it, and a new kind of hope stirred within him. "If there's a key, there must be a door."

Kíli felt it too. Maybe they really had a chance after all. Gandalf pointed to the map on the table. "These runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls."

"There's another way in," Kíli sighed in relief and put an arm on his brother's shoulder. Fíli turned to him and smiled, and they shared their calm excitement. It's not lost, brother, they thought.

"Yes, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed," Gandalf continued with a glint in his eye, and then he sighed. "The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map, and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle-Earth who can." He looked directly at Thorin now. "The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and not small amount of courage. But if we are careful, and clever, I believe that it can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar," Ori noted and pointed to Mr. Baggins.

Fíli and Kíli had quite forgotten that they were sitting in the hobbit's home, and that Mr. Baggins was still there listening to all of this. Now he was standing over Thorin's shoulder looking down on the map.

"Hm, a good one, too. An expert, I'd imagine."

"And are you?" Gloin asked.

Mr. Baggins looked behind himself, as if Gloin was speaking to somebody else. "Am I what?"

Beside Fíli, Óin started to laugh. "He said he's an expert!" Fíli thought it rather cute how the old, almost deaf dwarf had got it all wrong, as usual.

Mr. Baggins made his standing point very clear to the dwarves this time, and Fíli was really beginning to doubt they'd walk out of here with a burglar. "I've never stolen a thing in my life!" the hobbit proclaimed.

Kíli leaned in closer to Fíli and whispered. "Why do we need him again?"

Fíli shrugged and eyed the hobbit. "Why would a wizard want us to bring someone like him with us? Would he even survive?" Now was Kíli's time to shrug.

In that moment, a darkness crept up the wall and filled the room like a thick smoke. Gandalf had risen from his chair and towered over the dwarves. The chatter that had started died down under the wizard's bellowing voice. "Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is!"

He sat back down again, and the darkness faded from the room. Kíli had not realized that he had grabbed his brother's sleeve tight. He let go of it, ashamed. Little scared him, but this wizard was downright freaky. Fíli had balled his fists and now unclenched them, his knuckles white.

After staring out the wizard for a moment, Thorin sighed. "Fine. We'll do it your way." He turned to Balin. "Give him the contract."

Kíli cocked his eyebrows at Fíli. "This will be fun," he mouthed.

"It's just the usual," Balin said and gave the hobbit a piece of pergament. "Summary of out-of-pocket expenses, time required, funeral arrangements, so forth."

Kíli swallowed a laughter, Mr. Baggins looked so shocked at that last part. The hobbit went into the hallway and took his sweet time reading through the contract. The further he read, the paler he got.

"Bet you he'll faint," Kíli said under his breath, pretending to inspect the table.

Fíli tried to act mature. "I won't bet you on that!"

Kíli knew his brother was in on it — he knew him all too well. So when the hobbit got to the part about injuries on the contract and started to wobble on his feet, Kíli couldn't stop himself from grinning childishly. Bofur only helped when he continued to describe Smaug's fire power with such passion that Mr. Baggins had to lean on his knees for a moment.

"I need air," the hobbit said.

"Flashing light, searing pain, then puff! you're nothing more than a pile of ash!" Bofur insisted.

Mr. Baggins stood right up for a second, staring blankly at nothing. Then, just like that, he fell to the floor with a painful bang and there he remained.

"Told you," Kíli whispered slowly into his brother's ear.

Fíli brushed him off and rose from his chair. "You're a baby, Kíli."

Kíli only smirked, then followed Fíli into the hallway. Together they lifted the poor hobbit from the floor and carried him where Gandalf lead them. They carefully sat him down in an armchair in the sitting room, then left him alone with the wizard.

Fíli headed for the front door. From his pack he brought out his pipe and opened the door, but Kíli did not follow him. "You want some air?"

"I'll stay inside," Kíli said. He motioned to Fili's pipe. "I've had enough of that for one night."

Fíli smiled and closed the door behind him, muffling the sounds of the company inside. Outside was as dark as when they'd arrive, only less clouds in the sky. The moon shone even brighter now over the glowing town of Hobbiton below, and stars dotted the sky. Fíli breathed deeply from his pipe and enjoyed the cool air of night. So much to take in, he thought. Days ago he'd been in his bed at home by this time, or out in the woods outside Ewardor hunting. Now he was here, in a strange land with his uncle, brother and eleven companions he barely knew. The world lay before his feet, and he felt ready to grasp it.

He sighed and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Inside, Kíli was walking about the hobbit hole trying to find the bathroom. He was mighty impressed by how big this underground house was. Here lived after all only one hobbit, and a mighty small one at that. In some ways, Bag End reminded him of his own house back in the Blue Mountains. In other ways, if felt like he didn't belong.

Kíli had not seen much of the world, but he'd seen evil before, even though it was very long ago. Yet he sought adventure. He wanted danger, excitement and battles where he could prove himself. This peaceful place was not for him. He wanted someplace he could live.

He only hoped that Erebor was that place.

Around the corner, Thorin was standing in a living room, looking at two pictures of hobbits hanging over the mantelpiece. He heard Kíli come and smiled at his nephew, who came to stand next to him.

"We leave early tomorrow morning," he said. "Mr. Baggins has arranged beds for us all. Where's your brother?"

"Outside," Kíli said. "Will Mr. Baggins come with us?"

Thorin's face turned grim. "Only he can decide that."

They stood there quiet for a while, until a low hum reached them from another part of the house. The tones layered until it was a chord of low, rumbling voices. A melody that Kíli had only heard a few times before gave the song its name.

Thorin took him by the shoulder lovingly. "Come on. Let's join them."

They went into another sitting room where the lights had been dimmed and a warm fire crackled in the fireplace. The rest of the company had gathered in there, all humming quietly to the same tune. Fíli was there too, leaned to the mantelpiece. Kíli rested against the edge of a table, trying to remember the words to the song.

Then, Thorin started singing.

Far over the Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep, and caverns old
We must away
Ere break of day
To find our long forgotten gold

The pines were roaring on the height
The winds were moaning in the night
The fire was red
It flaming spread
The trees like torches blazed with light

By the end, even Fíli and Kíli had joined in on the song. It spoke of many things that they knew nothing about, and yet it filled their hearts with dread as well as determination. They had their visions of what Erebor looked like, what the vast treasures of the lost land could be worth. They had dreamt of the dragon's fire more than once, and yet they could never understand its destructive power.

When the song died down and the dwarves retired to their own quarters for the night, this is what Fíli and Kíli were thinking about in silence. They said nothing, but their dreams that night were the same. Dragon fire and their uncle screaming, and the words of power they had heard today that had filled them with confidence.

Du bekâr! Du bekâr!

Viola here! A heart-broken, crying, sleepless Viola, but here nonetheless... Yes, I've now seen BotFA, and I'm not gonna spoil anything, but bring tissues for Mahal's sake!

As far as the story goes — quite long chapter with little outside of the film happening, but I promise you, it will be made up for! I hope you enjoyed it! Pleeeeeze, leave reviews! I do not care for the review count, I only get such a huge kick out of hearing from you guys, it really makes my day!