A/N: I've been wondering, do you all like the idea of Dwalin's secondary shift being a gorilla? I had to think of a second shift for him, and that was the only animal I could think of at the time, particularly because of my sister telling me while we were watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes of a gorilla's raw destructive power, but it's been nagging at me, I guess mostly because I'm not a fan of primates. Any ideas or do you think Dwalin would be a bear and a gorilla? Maybe some species of bovine like a wildebeest or Cape buffalo; before you say anything, in Africa, the Cape buffalo is also known as the Black Death, lions often think twice before going after one (mainly because it could kill them), and can kill you in three minutes if it thinks you're a threat to the herd. Sometimes, it will even continue to crush you after you're dead just to make sure you're dead; as the program said, just as an elephant never forgets, a Cape buffalo never forgives (remind you of anyone?). Maybe even a warthog; they've been known to have bad tempers.

Chapter 5

When Bilbo woke up the next day, he admitted to feeling a little smothered by everybody curled around him, but he couldn't deny that it did feel somewhat nice; he hadn't felt this kind of warmth in a long time. Shaking his head, he tried to dispel those thoughts; he would be 'asked' to leave the company soon enough, he shouldn't get attached to any of them. When his stomach growled, he got up and went into the forest to hunt and get a drink. He brought down a deer easily and, after saying his prayer, ate the whole carcass; he didn't know when he'd be allowed to hunt for his food again, and for him, it always felt better hunting for himself. He would hunt for the Dwarves after he had taken a drink so he went down to the river and proceeded to drink. It was about midway that he sensed Thorin approach him, so he became very cautious; he did not want to fight, but if Thorin attacked first, he would defend himself.

"Peace, I do not wish to fight you, I only wish to talk." Thorin said as he came into view, in Dwarf form, so as not to look too threatening, but Bilbo could see the sword Arwen had told him was called Orcrist hanging from his belt.

"Would it make you feel better if I changed back?"

"If you feel more comfortable like this, I don't mind talking to you this way; tigers never attack from the front."

"You forget however, I am a tiger only in body; I am also a jaguar, a leopard, a cougar, a bit of an ocelot, and I have the instincts of the wolf as well, those animals don't mind attacking from the front."

"So the wolf and tiger count as one shift then, not two?"

"Yes; like every other Hobbit, I am categorized as having three shifts, though on an exceedingly rare occasion, a fourth shift will appear, though it is mostly of the Took and Brandybuck lines that it appears."

"And what kind of shift is that?"

"A reptilian one; one that is hated on the same level as my own shifts." Thorin almost asked why it was hated, until he remembered the more common shifts around the Shire; they would indeed be a very good meal for most reptiles.

"Do you have a reptilian shift?"

"I don't think so; the reptilian shift, unlike the other shifts, does not appear at birth, but in times of great danger, whether to attack or to flee. If it didn't appear when my parents were killed, or when Arwen was in danger, I don't think it will appear now. Now, what did you want, as if I had to ask?"

"I was going to ask you to leave the company, but I may have been rash in my judgment of you, especially since it was I who bit Kili last night, if you can give me your word that you can control the Warg, you may stay."

"I will stay, because I can control my shifts, and because I think Kili can be like a dog with a bone; once he has made up his mind on something, he will not let it go. Something I gathered from Fili last night when we were talking, as I'm sure you're aware."

"How did you know I was there?"

"Same way I knew you knew about how Arwen had almost been killed by an Orc and how I gained my wolf/Warg shift; the musk from those rooms is one I don't think I could ever forget and I could smell the same musk as those rooms on you as you eavesdropped on our conversation. A few words of caution; if you don't want someone to know you're listening to them, keep upwind of them." Thorin growled at his own stupidity; of course he could smell him; everyone knew how sharp a wolf's senses were.

"Now, if you don't mind, I need to hunt for the company, in case the Elves decide to be cheeky again and serve only vegetables for breakfast; I don't think they would like that."

"How did you know about that?"

"Just consider Arwen my eyes and ears as long as we're here." Bilbo said before he took off and Thorin had to silently admit, Bilbo was fast and, like all tigers, he looked quite majestic.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Thorin then left the Hobbit to his hunt, wondering about certain things, especially, for some strange reason, his beloved sister.

After Breakfast

"Bilbo, I don't know how to thank you enough for that fine breakfast; if we had to eat those vegetables again, I think Ori would have died!" Bofur said and the others nodded in agreement and laughed. Bilbo was still in tiger shift, though he was trying to get Kili to stop leaning on him like he was ready to take a nap. Bilbo shifted back however as Arwen showed up holding a very strange looking set of weapons; it looked like a pair of hooks that had handles near the straight ends.

"Bilbo, I trust you are feeling better today?"

"Much better, Lady Arwen, one could barely tell I was injured yesterday, near the brink of death, if one is to believe the dramatics of Dwarflings." A few grumbled at that comment; it wasn't dramatics if it was true, and, if Bilbo hadn't been a wizard, it was unlikely he would have survived all that he went through.

"Good, then you are willing and able to see this new weapon I found for you?"

"Oh, you mean that wasn't just a story you told your father to try and help me stay out of trouble?" Bilbo asked with a smirk and she laughed.

"No, I really found something for you and I thought you might be able to use it; you wrote me in your last letter that, though you are a skilled long distanced weaponry warrior, you didn't like how you were basically slowly disarming yourself, so I looked for more short distanced weapons for you, though this one can also be a mid-range weapon."

"Radagast gave me one as well, a war hammer that was quite effective against one of the Orcs yesterday."

"I can imagine, well, what I have is a little more your style; they're called twin hooks and are practically three weapons in one." Arwen showed the weapons that she had had made for herself and another for Bilbo's stature as soon as she had seen a wandering Elf with them and how they had worked. Bilbo seemed intensely interested in them, as he gently dislodged Kili from his resting place to come see them. He gently took them from her, trying not to cut himself on the blades.

"How do they work?" Bilbo asked and Arwen led him to an open field where they could practice the weapons without hurting anyone but themselves. Of course, Kili, and the others that had been with Bilbo were hardly about to leave their burglar with an Elf, though Arwen wasn't too bad, considering her heritage. Seeing as how he was quite polite to her (considering how they had heard him yell at a particularly rude male Elf that he was not an infant and if he did not leave him alone, he would find Bilbo's claymore up his ass), they resolved to at least be courteous to her as well; after all, she had tried to keep their burglar out of too much trouble with her father, and had seemed to somehow convince Thorin that Bilbo was only dangerous to the Orcs and Wargs they came across.

"Now, as you can see, the twin hooks are shaped like a shepherd's hook, and there are four main components to the weapon; the back, which is used like traditional swords, the hook, which is used for slashing, as well as catching weapons and tripping opponents, the end of the hilt, which are shaped into daggers, and finally, the crescent guard, which is used for blocking and slashing. Now, they're mainly a slashing weapon, though of course the dagger ends can be used for stabbing, also, you can hook the two swords together, while swinging one, causing the dagger of the second sword to slash the opponent, thus becoming a mid-range weapon." Arwen demonstrated all that she talked about, and even the Dwarves had to admit, it was indeed a handy weapon.

"Ingenious." Bilbo said as he looked at his new weapons.

"Indeed, who knows? They may just replace the claymore as your favourite weapon. Now, we are both going to practice with this weapon until we get good enough that we don't cut our fingers off while spinning." Bilbo doubted any weapon could replace the claymore as his favourite weapon, but promised to at least learn how to use the hooks; he had complained to her that the problem with being as archer was, no matter how good you were, eventually you ran out of arrows, and then he would need every advantage he could get. Not to mention, there were times when you just needed to have short and mid-range weapons as well as long range, such as yesterday, when the Orc with the intention of slitting his throat had managed to sneak up behind him. Bilbo did his best to copy Arwen's movements, but unlike the claymore, which required one smooth motion, for the twin hooks to be effective to maximum capacity, they required the user to be completely fluid, while being able to change your style in the single beat of a heart, not to mention they were far more effective if both were used. By the time lunch rolled around, Bilbo felt if nothing else, he could use them to block. Arwen promised the Dwarves that they would not be subjugated to green food again, so they all got ready to follow her, though Bombur noticed Bilbo seemed more intent on mastering his weapon than eating.

"Master Baggins, while I commend you for your tenacity, you will not do any of us any good if you allow yourself to become weak with hunger."

"Master Bombur, I ate a full stag for breakfast before bringing you all a stag for your breakfast."

"Well, that should have helped you clear up the hunger from the week, when you barely ate, but I doubt that it did much else." Bilbo stilled as Bombur said this; he thought he had been careful and inconspicuous.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Master Baggins – Bilbo - I've seen the way you eat; you eat maybe once a day, and I guess been putting some kind of spell on your second meal so that you can eat it later, or you pretend to eat it then pass it off to one of the others, mostly either me or the young ones." Bilbo wandered how he could get out of this conversation, but figured his best chance of nobody else finding out would be to confess to Bombur and pray he didn't tell anyone else.

"Bombur, I… may I confide something in you?"

"You can, and I swear on my brother's life, as well as my cousin, I shall tell none what you tell me."

"Not even Gandalf knows this; at least, I don't think he does seeing as how he's never brought it up. But, I find myself unable to eat at regular intervals at home because it always reminds me of my parents, but I still manage at least three meals a day, sometimes four on a particularly good day. But, while we're out here, I find my stomach unable to truly keep food down because-" Bilbo paused and Bombur had a bad feeling about what the Hobbit was going to say, but Bombur felt that if he could get it off of his chest, he may be able to help the poor lad. So, Bombur walked over to Bilbo, gently put his hand on the Hobbits shoulder, and asked

"Because it was out here, on the road, and especially near Rivendell that your ma and da were killed so brutally, on your birthday, while you were having a picnic?" Bilbo gave out a minute sob that he disguised as a sniff, one that Bombur could only hear because he was so close to the poor little Hobbit.

"Bilbo, I understand that such a thing could be hard, but starving yourself won't do anyone any good. If we're attacked by Orcs, or Wargs, or Goblins, and there is a very high possibility that we will be attacked again before this quest is done, then we all need to be as strong as possible." Bilbo sighed and nodded; suddenly ashamed he had let weakness shine through.

"I'm sorry for burdening you with this; my weakness is no one's problem but my own."

"I don't think it's a weakness to miss your parents, and cry when the pain gets too bad, nor is it truly a weakness for you to have trouble digesting food when you think about it. If anything, I would think there was something wrong with you if you didn't cry for them. Sometimes, Bofur and I still cry over the loss of our parents, and they died of natural causes almost eighty years ago; they weren't cut down by Orcs like yours were."

"Did your parents go quickly?"

"It seemed like it, but it took them a week to die, it was relatively painless, if you exclude the fever, and they died together, which I know made them happy."

"My parents somewhat died together, it was quick, but my father was skewered and my mother's skull crushed. I imagine that was rather painful. A secret I would like to tell you is that the Orcs actually took three people from me that day; my father, my mother, and my unborn sister, they had been trying for months to give me a little sibling, and they had finally managed it, only for the Orcs to take it all away."

"In that case, I'm surprised you didn't go gallivanting off, looking for Orcs to kill. Come on now, come and at least try and get a few mouthfuls in, though mind you don't put anything in your mouth while Bofur's talking, or you'll spit the food out again." Bombur would keep his word and not say anything, it wasn't his place anyway, but he would try and make sure the Hobbit at least had a few mouthfuls of his second, and when they were lucky a third, meal, even if he couldn't get it all down. He didn't know why and he didn't try to understand it, but it didn't sit right with him to let the Hobbit suffer in silence for something he couldn't have prevented anyhow. He wondered though if anyone besides him had noticed how the similarities between their leader and their burglar kept piling up. The Hobbit may think he was weak for letting the past cloud his mind and occasionally hurt his body, but Thorin let Moria, Smaug, Thranduil, and worst of all, the gold sickness of King Thror to cloud his own mind. Without saying anything directly, maybe he could talk Bofur and Bifur into helping the Hobbit realize his real potential before this quest was done, and he may be able to get Nori and Ori to help as well, so long as Bofur and Nori refrained from making goo-goo eyes at each other until Bilbo got over his issues and let them help him. Then they could go off and shag each other's brains out in the forest for all he cared, just so long as he didn't have to listen to it. After lunch, in which Bilbo managed to at least eat a slice of bread with honey on it and some berries, Bilbo and Arwen went back to practicing with their hooks, and Bombur discreetly got the attention of his brother, cousin, the two Ri brothers, and the young princes.

"Without betraying a confidence, I would like it if everyone kept an eye on the burglar especially at meal times and for a little bit afterwards."

"Why is that Master Bombur?" Fili asked and Bombur tried to shrug nonchalantly.

"He just seems a little thin, I want to make sure he's eating enough; it is one of my duties after all."

"That might be hard to keep a watch on though; he told me in the Shire he eats less than other Hobbits do."

"Aye, that may be true, but one does not become a good burglar without learning to hide a few things."

"Such as what?" Bofur asked and Bombur had to stop himself from banging his brother over the head with his ladle.

"Oh, this and that; while Bilbo could not hide his hatred of Orcs and Wargs, had it not been for Gandalf telling us his story, we would never have known why; Bilbo is a wizard, yet, had it not been for fear that the company would perish against the Trolls, we would have never found out. We must also not forget that Bilbo losing his parents is the reason he became a warrior; it's not so hard to believe that our burglar could very well suffer some sort of mental scars that could be presenting some troubles that we wouldn't notice unless we were looking for them, such as his generous offer to give someone else his share of a meal." Finally, it appeared the Ri brothers were catching on.

"You're thinking that maybe being out here it causing problems for the Hobbit?" Nori asked, but Fili and Kili were still in the dark.

"What problems? He was fine yesterday against the Orcs and Wargs, and he doesn't seem to have any trouble sleeping on the ground, though I don't think he enjoyed the ponies much." Fili said, but for once, Kili was starting to see things before his brother didn't; it was true, Bilbo didn't really have problems with any of those things, he adapted quickly, but Bombur would have no need to be concerned with those things, as they weren't part of his duties.

"You think Bilbo has an eating-"

"As I said, we should just keep an eye on him; he's our smallest warrior, and he did save us from the Orcs after all, it wouldn't be fair not to keep an eye on him. Also, whenever we stop, he doesn't seem to have much to do beyond gathering firewood and help me prepare the meals; it would do him a world of good if some of us could find some other things to occupy his time, which could potentially give him too much time to dwell on darker thoughts." As Bombur finished, even Fili and Bofur got a feeling they knew what he was trying to say, and each of them tried to think of something they could teach their burglar to keep his mind off of less pleasant things.

"Bilbo, are you alright?!" Arwen suddenly asked as Bilbo held his hand close to his body. The Dwarves suddenly jumped up and went running over to the two.

"It's alright, I'm alright; I just caught my hand on one of the hooks." Bilbo said as Ori came over with his medicine pack. He dug into it and pulled out two green leaves that had pale oranges lines and placed them on the wound.

"The sap from these will make sure no infection sets in; thanks to my magic, I heal faster than others but it's best to reduce chances of any kind of infection or nerve damage, after all, the hook went into my flesh then pulled so, if I'm not careful, some nerve damage could happen." Bilbo explained as he took some gauze to wrap around the leaves and hold them to the wound.

"Just one of you be sure to remind me to take these off by tonight or I'll develop a bad rash; the leaf's sap is good for keeping infection out of an open wound, but if left on closed skin, it can cause a bad rash that I don't have the remedy to right now." Bilbo went on to say and the Dwarves all made a mental note to remind Bilbo about his hand.

"Bilbo, why don't you take a bit of a break, let your hand mend before continuing?" Arwen suggested and Bilbo nodded before going to another field, kindly asking his Dwarf entourage to give him some alone time as he wandered around. Bilbo debated going to the library, which he knew to be grand, over practicing with his targe and katar or spear. He decided to practice for a while as, having been told to rest; no one would think to look for him practicing (except those who knew him of course). Besides which, it would be good practice; his opponent would not allow him rest if his hand was damaged in battle. So he found another, more secluded area to practice, and decided to try a combo of targe, dagger, and war hammer. He used a bit of magic to form some rocks roughly into the build and shape of an Orc opponent and was able to give it a semblance of life so that it could be an opponent that could fight back, and proceeded to attack it, though he quickly became frustrated at how easy the stupid thing was to beat; Orcs may be stupid, but they fought to the death for a love of carnage.

"Fighting against that thing seems to be something worthy of an amateur, not you." Bilbo suddenly backed away as Dwalin made his presence known.

"Easy Hobbit, I'm not going to hurt ya, I just came to make sure ya were alright. I heard Ori telling Dori and Oin about your training exercise with the Elf."

"Sorry Master Dwalin it's just my instincts tell me to weary of you because, if there's anyone who could hurt me, it's you. Especially because I'm holding two weapons that I haven't had the time to practice with yet, so the only experienced weapon I'm holding is my targe." Bilbo said and Dwalin nodded.

"Well, I came to make sure ya were alright, though if ya want a sparring partner, I may be able to help ya learn how to use that hammer of yours."

"You're kidding right? Your hammers could smash mine in an instant with no problems."

"Aye, that would happen in a fight, though yours has an advantage that mine don't."

"What's that?"

"Yours can be easily concealed, mine cannot."

"I suppose there is that."

"Now, you and I are going to go through the motions of a hammer fight so you can get used to it, though ya did very well yesterday, when ya slammed the sharp end into the Orc's skull, but that's obviously not the only way to go about it." Bilbo watched as Dwalin showed him the ways the hammer could be used, and then he got an idea.

"Master Dwalin, your hammers probably could do this with ease, but do you think mine could cause skull fractures even if my opponent was wearing a helmet?" Dwalin thought it over as he examined Bilbo's hammer.

"Well, if you hit them smack in the face, you'd probably cause some fractures, and if you could get enough momentum, you may be able to disorient them from behind. Too bad we can't really practice. How you getting along with that dagger of yours?"

"Not too bad, my mother certainly knew what she was doing when she had the blade made; it can rip through flesh easily, is easily concealed, and seems quite strong, if I do say so."

"And how are ya doin' with the Elf blade?" Dwalin asked only for Bilbo to scoff.

"The only kind of blade that thing is, is a letter opener; I tried practicing with it, and I can't get the hang of it." Dwalin thought for a moment about Bilbo's weapons, and believed he figured out the problem, but had to be sure.

"Lay out all your weapons, including the hooks, the pocket knife, the dagger and, most importantly, your 'letter opener'." Bilbo looked at him strangely, but complied and spread out all three chakram, his spear, his claymore, laid his targe down, as well his dagger, his pocket knife, his bow with one of his arrows, his set of katars, his new hooks, and finally, his 'letter opener'.

"It's good to see that you're as well armed as any Dwarf, but I think the reason you're having so much trouble is because, for the first time, part obviously from your bow, you have a weapon that's perfectly suited for your size."

"What do you mean? All my weapons were made to compensate for my stature."

"That's the problem; they may be smaller than the original version of the weapons, but the Elf blade is perfectly suited to your size. You've always had to use extra strength to wield your claymore because it was larger than what your size needed; with the Elf blade, you don't have to use that strength, so you don't know how to handle it." Bilbo thought about it, and he had to admit it made sense.

"I suppose you're right, I just like using the claymore a bit more." Bilbo couldn't help but make a somewhat apologetic face as he stated the truth.

"No need to apologize; every warrior has a preferred weapon, take my brother for example; he has a battle axe like me, but lately he prefers to use his sword. All the company asks of ya is that ya keep the letter opener with ya in case ya need an extra sword or weapon. Now, if ya want lessons to help with the blade, I suggest ya see Balin or maybe Fili or Kili, they're better with swords than me." Bilbo nodded but could feel a slight headache coming on.

"Perhaps I will later, but I think I'll spend sometime in the library right now."

"As ya will Hobbit, though don't be surprised if Ori or Balin join ya, they like the musty old tomes for some reason." Bilbo smirked at the slight disdain before heading to the library. One thing that had never changed about Bilbo, apart from a love of gardening, was his love for books, and one of the first things he had done after his mind had been fully restored, was find the library and a good book to read. Doing the same now, Bilbo read until he felt Lord Elrond come into the room.

"Bilbo, I was wondering if you could tell me what a map of Erebor is doing with Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves?" Elrond asked and Bilbo silently wished that someone had told him what Thorin, Balin and Gandalf had told Elrond, but decided to play it all by ear and take a stab at what he thought Gandalf would say to keep Elrond off the trail until it was deciphered.

"I wouldn't really know; I just came along because Gandalf wanted someone he could trust to come with him and thirteen stubborn Dwarves. I had written to Arwen recently, asking her about close range weapons that would work with my stature. Gandalf knew this and so brought me along. Though I thought I heard something about it being an academic venture, which is another reason he brought me along; neither of us had no way of knowing we would be attacked by Orcs and Wargs."

"And yet, on an academic venture, you come armed as if you are preparing for war." Elrond pressed and Bilbo was floundering before he said

"It may be peaceful times, but as long as Orcs are in existence, there is no harm in being prepared, and you know that I would bring all my weapons if I go as much as a mile outside of Bree; I trust no one with my safety but myself."

"I find myself also wondering why someone who all but despises the other races would willingly travel with Dwarves."

"I have no reason to hate Dwarves; they were nowhere near Rivendell the day my parents were killed, so why should I hate them?"

"Whether you hate them or not, they seem rather fond of you; I saw them curled around you in sleep last night, you hunted for them this morning, and they seemed rather worried when you hurt your hand an hour or so ago."

"Perfectly reasonable; I got hurt protecting some of them yesterday, so they stayed near me while I slept, and you know I prefer to sleep on balconies while I'm here instead of rooms, you know what that reminds me of. Of course I hunted for them this morning; Dwarves prefer to eat meat rather than a surplus of vegetables, which wasn't nice to tease them over last night when they were all quite hungry. Finally, they knew of my past and my dislike of Elves so, once again keeping in mind how I protected them, they stayed with me while I practiced my new weapon and became concerned when I hurt myself, which they would have done even if Arwen had been the one who was hurt."

"Bilbo, I know what I did yesterday seemed harsh, but I worry about you losing control; my daughter and I don't want to lose you, not only are you her friend, she sees you as one of her staunchest allies, and so do I. I hope that, no matter what the reason the Dwarves have for possessing that map, when all is said and done, I hope you will at least stay here if you do not wish to return to the Shire. If you feel a need to kill Orcs that can easily be fulfilled by protecting these borders and your back can be watched-"

"By those who once called me an uncontrollable monster that should be put down like a mad dog?" Bilbo asked and before Elrond could reply, Balin and Ori came in.

"Ah, you were right indeed Ori; this is indeed the right route to the library, and look! We have even found our travelling companion!"

"Bilbo, I would like to finish this conversation later, Master Dwarves." Elrond said with a nod of his head before taking his leave. Ori immediately ran over and seemed to be seeing if Bilbo was physically alright, as if Elrond would hurt Bilbo.

"Are you alright? I was coming to see the library, when I saw the two of you talking and you looked very nervous indeed, so I ran and found Mr. Balin; in hopes he could think of something to help you!" Ori said very quickly and it took Bilbo a moment to translate it.

"I'm fine Ori, really; I was nervous because Lord Elrond was asking me about the company's interest in the map and I didn't know what the rest of you had told him."

"Some people should learn to mind their own business." Balin mumbled as Ori went to try and find an interesting book to read, now that they were in the library.

"Well, one could hardly blame him; the whole thing does seem highly suspicious from an outsider's point of view, and besides which, anything involving the mere whisper of a dragon, should not be taken lightly. He and the others fought hard against the Dark Lord Sauron for a peace that cost Gondor her king, many their brothers and fathers, and Lord Elrond lost many of his kin that day, and it may all be for naught, if it's true that that cursed ring may still be in existence."

"Yes, but the dragon has nothing to do with that." Ori said as he came back over with a book that he gave to Bilbo before shifting into his pika shift, and Bilbo realized he meant to sit on Bilbo's shoulder as he read the book. Normally, Bilbo would allow no such thing, he had already been reading a book after all, and did not need another so soon. But he was tired from all the discussions today, so he let out a small sigh before picking Ori up.

"I've often found that one seemingly unimportant incident can lead to such great ramifications as to change the fate of many." Balin gave him a strange look before going to find a book for himself. As the week wore on, Bilbo kept practicing with his hooks, and by the time the right moon was in position, Bilbo was decent enough that, if faced with Orcs and Wargs, he would be willing to use the blades any way he could. To his surprise, Bifur and Bofur had decided to teach him certain skills, and Bilbo had finally taught Kili about proper shooting; his arrow would have killed the Troll on its own, had the Troll not already been so close to death. Bilbo knew that Kili had used his instincts to guide that arrow, but had been trying to aim, and that was his downfall, and Bilbo was slowly weaning him away from the way he had been taught. Back to Bifur and Bofur however, they seemed to have developed a hobby of thinking up new things for him to do; currently, Bofur was teaching Bilbo how to use his father's knife to make little wood carvings, and strangest of strange, Bifur had taken to teaching him Iglishmêk, which Bilbo knew to be a big deal, but Bofur and Bombur simply said it would be good for him to know, so that they could talk to him without Men and Elves eavesdropping on them. Bilbo was actually getting quite good at it, and thanks to it, he was picking up bits of Khuzdul as well.

"Bilbo, Lord Elrond will be reading the map in about a half hour, Gandalf wants you with us when he does." Balin announced as Bilbo was training with his hooks against Fili and Kili, so he slung them on his back and said he would be back soon.

"You appear to be rather fond of them." Balin said once they out of ear shot of the princes.

"Despite what image I may have presented on the road during their questions, I am rather fond of children, though I know those two technically aren't children."

"Thorin often wishes that they were a bit more responsible, and acted a bit more like heirs to the line of Durin."

"Well, the matter of the ponies aside, I think they're quite responsible and besides which, they should be allowed to retain some of the youthfulness before the weight of crowns begins to bother them." Balin would have replied, had they not come across Thorin, Gandalf and Elrond at that moment. Elrond led them to a large formation of quartz that had been made smooth at the top. As he laid the map on the quartz and the moon shone through the waterfall, the quartz lit up and words appeared on the map where there weren't before.

"'Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks and the setting sun on the last light of Durin's day will shine upon the key hole.'"

"Durin's day? I'm not familiar with the Dwarf calendar, which day is that?" Bilbo asked and Balin was about to reply when Gandalf said

"It's the start of the Dwarves new year, when the last moon of autumn and the first sun of winter appear in the sky together." Bilbo nodded, then looked at Thorin who suddenly looked quite worried; not that he blamed him; his coat was already starting to go from strawberry blond to orange in his tiger shift, and after that, it would be as white as the snow on the mountains.

"This is ill news; summer is passing, Durin's day will soon be upon us."

"We still have time; we have to be standing in exactly the right spot, at exactly the right moment." Bilbo had been trying to signal to Balin to stop talking but it was too late as Elrond figured out exactly why they had the map.

"So this is your purpose; to enter the mountain?" Bilbo could see Thorin and Balin both nervously glancing at the map, as if Elrond would keep it from them now that he knew its significance. Bilbo decided to put their minds at ease and shifted to his least weasel shift before climbing up to Balin's shoulder, jumping onto the quartz, neatly folding the map before carefully picking it up with his teeth, then jumping onto Thorin's shoulder who gratefully took the map.

"Bilbo, you need not have done that." Elrond said, though he was impressed with how fast Bilbo had been able to move.

"Aren't you the one who told me it never hurts to be careful?" Bilbo asked, still on Thorin's shouder.

"Nevertheless, Gandalf, I would have words with you." Elrond looked very crossed and Bilbo felt a bit sorry that the wizard was probably going to get chewed out over bringing him on a quest like this. Nevertheless, Gandalf left with Elrond, though not before giving a fond look to Bilbo, which Bilbo knew meant 'get the Dwarves ready to leave at a moment's notice'.

"Thorin, I'm going to attempt to follow them, I suggest you gather the Dwarves and have them ready to leave should I find out there's trouble, if you could just walk over to that ledge, I can use the dangling vine to climb and follow them." Bilbo said and Thorin nodded as he went to the vine, going so far as to bring it down a bit further so Bilbo didn't have to jump for it since, if he missed, he would have to shift to flight very quickly. Thorin and Balin then went to inform the others to be ready to leave. They walked in silence for a few moments before Balin said

"That was quick thinking on the Hobbit's part, grabbing the map in a way no one saw coming."

"Indeed."

"I also think his flight shift will make an excellent scout that won't draw anyone's attention to him; Barn Owls are very common in this area, unlike cheetahs and hippos."

"They are indeed."

"Not to mention tigers are fierce fighters and-"

"Balin, I have already told him he is allowed to stay what more do you want?"

"I'm just saying, Gandalf suggested a Hobbit that's very shifts seem to be for sneaking about unnoticed until it would be too late and excellent fighters in a pinch. All I'm asking is that you give Bilbo a real chance to show you what he can do, and not hold the large wolf against him. Don't forget; wolves are intelligent and loyal animals, when they are with a pack." Thorin had to admit; Balin did indeed seem to have a point and resolved to let Bilbo show him what he could do, apart from his weaponry and cunning.

"Not to mention, Fili, Kili, and Ori all seem to adore him, even if he can be a bit of a grouch."

"Look who's talking." Thorin mumbled, though he was still cuffed at the back of the head for his comment. They soon found the others.

"We have to reach Erebor before Durin's day; we may be cutting it close, but Balin and I believe we can make it. In the meantime, the Hobbit is keeping an eye on our host, as he believes they will try to stop us, so everyone pack up and be ready to leave at a moment's notice." Kili looked uncertain for a minute before Thorin followed with

"We are not leaving without the Hobbit Kili; now kindly get your gear ready." Kili nodded with a smile on his face before quickly gathering his gear, though he noticed Nori and Bofur were the one's packing up Bilbo's gear.

"Claymore?"

"Check."

"Spear?"

"Check."

"Katars?"

"Double check."

"Chakram?"

"Triple check."

"And he had his twin hooks, his dagger, his hammer and his targe with him as you sparred with him?" Bofur asked Fili and he nodded, including holding up Bilbo's pocket knife, his bow, his quiver full of arrows and the letter opener, which Bilbo had laid down before sparring with him and Kili.

"We're all set Thorin." Thorin nodded as Ori grabbed Bilbo's med pack.

"Now we just have to wait-" Suddenly a crash was heard, and everyone drew a weapon, only for a weasel to suddenly come into view, running as if the hounds of Mordor were after him.

"Bilbo, what's wrong?" Balin asked as Dori gently picked him up, checking him over that his little crash hadn't hurt his little body.

"We gotta get out of here now! On the double!" Bilbo said before gently jumping down and shifting back.

"What is it?" Thorin asked as Bombur and Ori gave Bilbo his packs.

"Saruman has convened a meeting of the White Council; they're going to stop our quest before we've even begun!" That explained the urgency, but not why Bilbo was as white as a sheet or how he was moving like the Dark Lord Sauron was chasing him.

"What has got you so frightened?" Nori asked, figuring he'd be the best one to understand.

"Because Saruman is here!" Nope, Nori still didn't understand, though was grateful when Dwalin help Bilbo put his bow on his back, attach his quiver to his shoulder and sling his targe over both without crushing them.

"So?" Dwalin asked, once Bilbo had everything.

"So Saruman is trying to kill me!"