Hello! I got some good reviews on my first chapter, so here is the second one! Chapter 2 is dedicated to BrightFeatherNYSI and The souless ones. Thanks you two for the reviews!
So without further ado... ^-^
Although the incident with the wizard earlier that week was beyond odd, Emilie Brandybuck was a hobbit. And hobbits are simple folk. And the meeting was soon forgotten. Though the poor woman might have been a little jumpy after the days that followed.
It had been a clear night when Emi's life was once again interrupted from it's usual routine. She had tried to go to sleep early that night, but for some reason, found this an impossible task. So, she did whatever she would do when she could not sleep. She slipped on her bathrobe, padded into her kitchen, and began baking bread. Emi had just finished a batch of her favorite butter rolls and had set them on a rack to cool. The hobbit lass poured herself a tall glass of milk, grabbed a roll, and sat down at her simple little table that she ate at when she was alone. Of course, like any good hobbit, she had a larger table for company. But it felt so empty when there was only her to occupy it. So she sat at the smaller one and tucked in. Of course, no sooner had she raised the roll to her mouth to take a warm bite, than a ringing came at her door.
She frowned. Who could possibly be out at this hour? Obviously no one respectable. And so, Emi, tying her bathrobe around her securely, left her quickly cooling roll and went to the door.
Upon opening the maroon wood, the hobbit found herself face to face with a fierce looking man. He had a thick beard and tattoos up and down his muscular arms. Strapped to his back were to impressively large axes that made Emi quiver slightly at the sight. After looking up and down the brutish man, Emi found his face again and raised an eyebrow.
"Dwalin." The man… or more accurately, dwarf grunted. "At your service." With that he bowed before straightening up again to glare slightly at the small creature in front of him.
"Um!" was all Emi was able to squeak out. But after several moments of silence, Emi regained her composure.
"Emilie Brandybuck… at yours?" she bowed slightly in an awkward manner. The dwarf let out a small snort of annoyance and strode passed her into the interior of Purse Close. "Have we…" Emi squeaked again, falling silent for a moment as the dwarf turned back to look at her. The hobbit gave a little cough and started again. "Have we met before?" she asked.
"No." the dwarf snorted. Emi frowned as the dwarf turned away again and began looking around the rooms. She had never had a dwarf visit her before… "Which way Lass? Is it down here?"
"Is what?" Emi asked looking around in surprise to see the dwarf gone. "Where?"
"Supper." The dwarf said, walking back into the room to dump his pack and axes in the place meant for shoes. "He said there'd be food, and lots of it." Dwalin replied looking around hungrily.
"He… said?" Emi frowned before remembering the hungry guest standing before her. "Oh, yes! There's lots of food!" Emi smiled, leading the dwarf to her freshly baked butter rolls. She glanced longingly between the golden wheat and then distastefully at the dwarf behind her. "Please, help yourself!"
Dwalin did not need to be told twice as he grabbed two more rolls and plopped himself down heavily in the chair Emi had sat only moments ago. Before Emi could do so much as offer a plate, the dwarf had consumed half the rolls and the entire glass of milk. The cowed hobbit sunk down meekly into the little stool in the corner. She stayed there in silence as the dwarf continued to finish off the rest of the rolls. Dwalin gulped down the last drops of milk before slamming the glass down on the table, making Emi jump alarmingly.
"Good this." Dwalin nodded in approval, glancing down at the still vaguely whitish glass. "Anything stronger though?"
"Pardon?" Emi asked in surprise.
"Have you got anything stronger? Ale? Mead?" the dwarf explained impatiently.
"Oh! Um, yes, yes." Emi nodded, slipping off her stool. "Let me get it…" but the hobbit froze halfway out of the room as the ringing of her doorbell sounded again. Emi glanced at the door, then back at Dwalin who was licking crumbs off his fingers. He noticed the hobbit's confused stare and glared at her.
"That'll be the door." He growled. Emi's eyes grew slightly larger if possible and hurried over to the foyer.
"Just one moment and I'll get you that mead!" She promised over her shoulder before opening the door. Again, freezing on the spot. Standing before her was a short elderly man with a snow-white beard that curled up slightly at the ends, which were split into two. He had a kind twinkle in his eyes as he regarded the small woman.
"Balin." He smiled. "At your service." And he too bowed, a little more gracefully than the dwarf before him. Emi's mouth felt dry. She needed a drink of water.
"Good Evening." She managed, smiling ever so slightly.
"Yes." The dwarf nodded, glancing at the star filled sky above him. "Yes it is. Though I think it might rain later." And with that, he stepped past her into the house. "Am I late?" He asked, preparing to hear the worst.
"Late?" Emi could not help but ask. "Why no, seeing as there's nothing to be late for." But her words were lost on the old dwarf as he spied the other dwarf, who hand was reaching into the bottom of Emi's cookie jar.
"Evening brother!" Balin laughed walking over to the taller dwarf.
"By my beard…" Dwalin smirked "You're shorter and wider than last we met."
"Wider, not shorter." Balin corrected. "Sharp enough for the both of us." He winked. Emi watched the two with much concern as the two continued chuckling as they grabbed each other's shoulders. Then, without warning, the two slammed heads with each other resulting in a loud smacking sound. And they continued chuckling again. This quick motion seemed to snap Emi out of her shook and she took a couple of steps forward.
"Pardon me good sirs?" she squeaked to the chuckling dwarves. "But I'm not entirely sure you've come to the right... house…" the two ignored her and instead proceeded to the hobbit's pantry, murmuring something about getting ready for them before something. "You see… I don't really know you…" she continued as the two dwarves began talking about her store of cheese and something about it going blue. "And of course, I wouldn't really mind. I love visitors, I really do." She nodded before watching a perfectly good hunk of cheese fly past her shoulder and roll down the hallway. "But there are certain hours of the night where showing up unannounced is completely unacceptable. I don't mean to be rude. But I had to speak my mind, I'm sorry!" she continued, her voice increasing in pitch until she stopped. She looked at the two dwarves expectantly as they paused to look at her as well. The three stared at one another for a moment before the older dwarf spoke up.
"Apology accepted." He smiled. She frowned. The dwarves turned away from her again. "Ah, fill it up brother! Don't stint." Getting seriously agitated with the dwarves' rudeness, Emi opened her mouth to speak again, not caring about manners and being a proper host anymore. Before another word left her mouth, however, the familiar sound of the doorbell again rang through the hall.
The door was opened this time to find two rather young dwarves staring at her. One had a mane of blonde hair, the other, dark brown. Both had an assortment of weapons with them. Emi gulped.
"Fili." The blonde one smiled.
"And Kili." The darker one glared.
"At your service." They chorused, bowing simultaneously. When they came up, both dwarves were now smiling.
"You must by Mrs. Brondybuck!" Kili grinned.
"Ms." Emi corrected, her face avoid of any emotion other than annoyance.
"Sorry?" the dark haired dwarf asked.
"Ms. Brandybuck." The hobbit repeated.
"Ah…" Kili nodded. "Ms. Brondybuck." He nodded, moving forward to enter the house.
"No!" Emi said, startled. "Sorry, you can't come in. Not today, thank you. On your way!" And she began shutting the door quickly. But one booted foot blocked the maroon door from swinging closed again. Emi huffed in increasing annoyance as Kili's head squeezed through the crack, hand bracing the door open.
"What? Has it been canceled?" the dwarf's eyes went wide.
"No one told us." Fili said, looking at her suspiciously.
"Canceled?" Emi frowned. "Why would anything be canceled?"
"Well, that's a relief!" Kili smiled again before shoving open the door and walking in. Fili looked around for a moment before proceeding to strut through the round door. Emi could do nothing but stare in wonder at their rudeness.
"Careful with these." Fili warned, nodding to the assortment of knives and swords in his hands as he shoved them into Emi's arms. "I just had em sharpened."
"Then don't give them to me!" Emi cried indignantly as the blonde dwarf slipped the strap of a scabbard over her head, causing the sword encased in it to bounce against her side.
"It's nice. This place." Kili said from the other room looking around approvingly. "Did you do it yourself?"
"Uh, no not really! It was like this when I got it!" Emi replied as Fili piled more weapons into her arms. She glanced over briefly at the dark haired dwarf. "THAT is a chair! It is for sitting on, not wiping your boots!" she scolded the stranger, gritting her teeth at the sight of the large clots of mud being left behind as the dwarf scrapped the soles of his boots on it. Then the hulking mass that was Dwalin threw an arm over Kili's shoulder, leading him over to the dining room.
"Fili, Kili, come on, give us a hand." The large dwarf grunted.
"Mister Dwalin." Kili said in awe as he was led away. Emi, still carrying weapons, followed Fili in to the room to see the other three dwarves shoving her cabinet out.
"Let's shove this in the hallway." Balin told the others. "Otherwise we'll never get everyone in."
"Everyone?" Emi's eyes widened. "There better not be any more of you lot coming around here or I'll-" her threat went unfinished however as the doorbell rang once more, for a very long time. "No." Emi shook her head in distress. "Just go away!" She shouted, dropping her armful of weapons in an unceremonious heap in the hallway. "Leave me be! There's far too many dwarves destroying my home already!" she huffed, struggling out of the scabbard as she stomped towards the door. "If this is that clothead Hamfast's idea of a joke…" she growled, grabbing the door knob. "I can only say, that it is in very poor taste!" With that she yanked open the door and nearly got smothered as eight more dwarves tumbled into her home, all writhing on top of each other in an attempt to get up. Emi stumbled back in surprise, tripping over her own feet and landing on her backside. She looked up in surprise to see the smiling face of a grey bearded man bend down and look through the door. Emi's eyes narrowed. "Gandalf."
"Ah! Emilie." Gandalf smiled back. "I trust you've met some of them already?"
"Indeed." She replied dryly.
"Excellent." The wizard nodded, stepping over the writhing mass of dwarves still trying to untangle themselves from each other. "Now my dear, why don't you go change into something a little more suitable. There won't be much need for sleepwear tonight." Emi frowned at the old wizard.
"What do you mean?" she asked. "Gandalf, I don't understand. What are all these dwarves doing in my house?"
"Starving!" a larger ginger haired dwarf replied, springing from the floor and rushing over to the pantry he had just spotted. The rest followed him. Emi's face paled considerably. Gandalf gave a hearty laugh and patted the poor lass on the shoulder.
"All in good time my dear." He smiled. "Now, I think it would be wise if you go change into something more suitable for a lady hobbit with 13 strange men as guests." Emi looked over at Gandalf before looking down her own apparel, which had gotten slightly ruffled from tripping. Emi blushed vaguely before nodding to the wizard and hurrying off to her room, wincing as the sound of dishes and foods and dwarves rolled about her house.
This was going to be a long night.
Again... Emi is a bit too much like Bilbo in this situation, and I apologize for that. I'll be fixing that in later chapters! I promise!
... If I even get that far. Please review if you'd like me to write another chapter! I'd like to, but it's still a decent bit of work, so if no one's going to read it, then I won't bother.
Hope you enjoyed it!