The unexpected party is over! Now what?
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A foggy haze of sleep and waking lay over Emi like a warm, fluffy blanket. She new that sun was shining through an open window, and birds were chirping amongst the trees. But it was the stillness that finally roused her. The quiet that caused her to spring up from under her covers and crawl out of her bed. Emi's bare feet moved silently over the wooden floors as she crept through the halls of her own home. She tensed as she turned every corner, before letting out a sigh of relief every time the lack of dwarves met her dark green eyes. Slowly, she made her way through the rooms until she came to the front door. There were no dwarves to be seen. Her house was returned to normal, clean of the mess made the night before. For a moment, Emi began to think it had all been a bad dream. But the voices of the dwarves still echoed in her ears. They had been real. She was sure of it. But there was no trace of them. Except… the long, unrolled parchment lying on the otherwise empty table. Her eyes fell on it for a moment, before she turned away quickly. She had made up her mind. This was one hobbit that would never go on any adventures! Then she realized that she had been idling and walked forward. Time to start her day and pretend the whole thing had never happened. She smiled to herself, a new blank slate to begin on, just like every morning, waiting to be filled with the happenings of the day. What should she fill it with this time?
Life is a very long thing. The words of the wizard surfaced again in her mind. Emi frowned and walked into her kitchen. Better start with a good breakfast. That would get her thinking right again. Maybe she would go to the market today and refill her pantry… The hobbit gazed around at her simple table, her oven, her hearth.
Do you really want to spend the rest of it here? Green eyes drifted once more to the paper sitting on her table. She gulped slightly and walked over to it. Her gaze wandered over the scrawling letters.
Conditions of Engagement
Agreed hereto freely and under neither duress nor force nor concern nor extortion nor threat to life and/or limb, and superseding any prior contract agreement, or undertaking…
…In role as Burglar for Thorin and Company, or in any other role as they see fit, at their sole discretion from time to time…
Her eyes rose from the parchment. She licked her lips for a moment in thought, a conflict being waged terribly with in her. Then, all at once, she dashed off. In search of her pen.
The long row of sixteen ponies trotted along the path through sparse, tall trees and lush green grass. Only two of the ponies were rider less, however. Thorin rode at the head, most of the dwarves conversing peacefully behind him. The sounds of his nephew's voices and some of the others rose over the rest.
"It'll never happen!" Kili argued loudly.
"I don't know Kee." His older brother shrugged. "I think there's still a chance." A chorus of protests came from the others.
"I wouldn't bet on it." Bombur sighed.
"I would." Oin laughed.
"Twenty shillings?" Nori's eager voice came in reply.
"Twenty-five." The older one boasted.
"Let's hope you have that much." The dwarven thief smirked.
"She'll never come!" Kili repeated.
"I think she will." Fili snorted.
"Not a chance." Dori shook his head. At the front, Thorin listened as his men placed their bets. Only Oin, Fili, and Gandalf placed any wages in favor of the little Halfling. Thorin frowned. There was no chance. The hobbit had said herself that she would not go. Maybe Nori would be a fine enough burglar for whatever schemes Gandalf had in mind. Perhaps the wizard would come up with a new plan. One more honorable. But that would only matter once they reached the mountain. There was still a mountain range, a forest and huge tracks of land between them and Erebor. But they would reach it. They had to.
"-ait! Wait! Please stop!" a tiny voice sounded from behind them. Thorin pulled the reigns on his horse sharply and looked behind him. Running up the path they had just travelled was a small little creature dressed in trousers and coat, a pack strapped to her back and long brown ringlets bouncing behind her. The company stopped in confusion as all heads looked back.
Panting, Emilie approached the Balin, parchment flapping in her hand. "I signed it." she grinned through exhausted gasps. She handed the paper over to Balin who took out a bespectacled and peered through it at the contract in his hand.
"Everything appears to be in order." The old dwarf announced. "Welcome, Miss Brandybuck, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." Most of the dwarves cheered, despite the fact that he arrival would mean a few less coins in the purses of most of them. Balin gave the breathless lass a wink, which caused her to laugh slightly. It was a beautiful sound, Thorin thought. One that matched very well with the face now lit up by a merry, though slightly nervous, smile. A dismissive smirk slipped ever so slightly on the dwarf lord's face.
"Give her a pony." He instructed before turning back around in his seat and starting his pony forward again.
"A pony?" Emi's squeak came from behind him. "No, no, no ponies needed thank you! I'll be quite fine on foot. I'm rather fond of walking you see, and- WAGH!" as Fili and Kili scooped her up by an arm on each side and deposited her directly onto one of the empty horses. Both of them laughing merrily the entire time as the hobbit sputtered and squirmed in protest.
Emi's nose wrinkled in distaste as she gingerly picked up the reigns and held them tightly in front of her. Her body was stiff as a board as her eyes fixed themselves disagreeably on the pony in front of her, which tossed its head up, braying slightly. The hobbit jumped in surprise, letting out a small yelp. Kili and Fili laughed behind her. She turned her head around and gave them a sharp glare. Or at least, she would have if she had not been too intent on trying not to fall off of her mount. A leather pouch came flying past her head, startling her again.
"Come on, Nori, pay up." Oin shouted ahead. "Go on." Grumbling, the ginger dwarf tossed back another leather pouch, which Oin caught easily, chuckling to himself as he pocketed it.
"What was that about?" Emi said, looking over at Gandalf, her fear temporarily forgotten.
"Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you would turn up." He informed her. "Most of them bet you wouldn't." Emi frowned.
"What did you think?" she asked curiously.
"Well…" the wizard hesitated. The hobbit frowned further. Then Gandalf raised the hand not holding his staff. A leather pouch, similar to others being tossed around, landed in his hand. "My dear Emilie," he chuckled. "I never doubted you for a second." Emi grinned back before sneezing suddenly.
"Oh no," she groaned. "This is why I don't like ponies." The hobbit grumbled, searching through her pockets. "No…" she murmured. "I was sure I grabbed one… No, Stop! Stop!" she called to the front. Several dwarves halted their ponies in alarm, looking around for any sign of danger. "We have to go back!" the hobbit declared.
"What on earth in the matter?" Gandalf frowned at her.
"I forgot my handkerchief." She told him, fretting terribly. The mix of laughter and groans erupted from the dwarves.
"Here." Bofur said, ripping of part of his tunic. "Use this!" Emi caught the piece of cloth that had been tossed to her and made a face.
"I don't even want to know the last time this has been washed." She grimaced, inspecting the blotched, moist cloth. Bofur just grinned at her as the rest of the dwarves laughed at the hobbit.
"Move on." Thorin called from the front, turning his pony around again. The procession started forward again.
"You'll have to manage without pocket-handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Emilie Brandybuck, before we reach our journey's end." Gandalf chuckled from next to her. "You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the shire. But home is now behind you, the world is ahead."
And ahead it was indeed, as Emi soon discovered. She spent the first day marveling at the wondrous scenery, though the shire was still evident in the softness of the land. The sun was setting fast when Thorin finally called to make camp. The dwarves all dismounted groaning or joking about their aches and pains. Emi just sat atop her pony, clearly troubled.
"What's the matter lass?" Bofur asked, coming up to her. Emi frowned at the dwarf.
"How am I supposed to get off this thing?" she asked, motioning to the shaggy pony.
"Myrtle." The dwarf said, tying his own pony's reigns to a nearby tree.
"Pardon?" Emi looked over at him.
"Her name's Myrtle." He smiled back. "Just thought you might like to know."
"Oh…" Emi said, looking down at the gentle beast. "Well," she cleared her throat. "Myrtle, would you mind bending down so that I could get off?" the pony ignored her. "It was worth a shot." The hobbit sighed as Bofur let out a hearty laugh before walking over to her.
"You won't be getting her to sit down." He told the hobbit. "You'll have to make a jump for it."
"What?" Emi's eyes widened. "But… but..."
"Don't worry lass, here, I'll catch you." The dwarf offered. Emi frowned.
"No… no I'll manage." The hobbit said, gritting her teeth in determination. "Just tell me what I need to do." Bofur regarded the woman for a second before nodding.
"Alright then, first, you need to grab the saddle horn, yep just like that." The dwarf instructed as the hobbit carefully followed his instructions. "Now, take your feet out of the stirrups… good. Just hold on to the horn and swing your left leg over."
"Wah!" Emi let out as she slipped off the side of Myrtle, her hands releasing the saddle horn in surprise. Pain shot up through her stiff legs as her feet landed firmly on the ground. "Ow…" she murmured looking down at her numbing legs.
"Don't worry lass." Bofur laughed, patting her on the shoulder. "It'll pass in a bit. Next time, try bending your legs when you land. You won't feel a thing."
"A-alright." Emi nodded with determination.
"Now, let's go get something to eat, shall we?" Emi tied up her pony with the others and left to join the dwarves around the now crackling fire.
Emi found the dwarves, while still lively, to be a lot calmer and quieter outdoors, or perhaps it just felt that way since their deep, loud voices disappeared into the night, rather than bouncing off the walls of her tiny home. Home… It suddenly occurred to the little hobbit that she would not be seeing her little hobbit hole for quite some time. Nor any of her neighbors for that matter. She probably should have left a note for Hamfast. But there wasn't time. Had he noticed she was gone that day? Maybe he had, and the hobbits had gotten so worried that they had devised a search party to look for her. There spirit's falling along with the sun as it dipped below the hills. What would they think happened to her?
The woman frowned as she stared into the fire. They probably wouldn't think much at all. She had never gotten very close with any of the other hobbits except Hamfast, and even he would not pay her a visit for days at a time. There was always someone visiting every now and then. But it was often out of boredom or convenience, not because they actually cared for her too much.
"-ldn't believe it!... are you listening?" Kili's enthusiastic voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Hm, what?" she looked over at disappointed brown eyes.
"Sorry, am I boring you?" the dwarven archer frowned. He had been in the middle of a most a musing tale about the time he and his brother had added woodlouse to Thorin's stew, when he noticed that his audience, the only person in the company who hadn't heard the story a thousand times over, seemed to be drifting.
"Oh, no I'm sorry." Emi smiled quickly. "I got a bit distracted. Anyway, you were saying?"
^-^ And the adventure begins!
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