Chapter One
Middle Earth,
The Shire,
East Road.
Merida woke up, and she discovered she is still in the forest. And it was mid afternoon, early evening. Well, no time to idle now, need to find mother! Merida thought as she began walking to find her mother. "Mother! I know you cannot be far!" Merida called out. But there was no answer. Suddenly, ahead of her, she saw a tall older gentleman, dressed in grey robes and a tall wide brimmed grey hat, and carrying a staff. Maybe I'll ask this man see if knows where my mother is, thought Merida.
"Excuse me, sir!" called out Merida, approached the man. The man dressed in grey looked down at the red haired girl, and smiled. "Yes?" asked the man. "Have you seen my mother? She's a little taller than I am, with brown hair and blue eyes, and she wears a gold crown. She's a queen. Her name is Queen Elinor. I'm her daughter, Merida." said Merida. "I'm sorry, lass, but I haven't seen her." said the man.
Merida frowned. How can my mother disappear in thin air? What has happened? Merida thought. "But a young girl like yourself shouldn't be traveling out here in the wild alone. There are creatures out here that can kill you." said the older man. "Well I'm up for the challenge sir. I have faced dangers before. I got my bow with me." said Merida. The man laughed. "Come, lets take you to safety my dear." said the man. "Who are you?" asked Merida. "I'm Gandalf the Grey, I'm a wizard!" said the man.
A wizard?! Wizards really do exist? I guess my father wasn't lying after all! He would never believe me if I told him I met a wizard, thought Merida. "Its nice meeting you, Ghan-dalf!" said Merida slowly, as she followed the wizard, as they walked in silence. "Where are we going by the way?" asked Merida, breaking the silence. "We're going to a home of a friend of mine. His name is Bilbo Baggins. I'm meeting up with a group of dwarves as well." said Gandalf. Dwarves? My goodness, I'm meeting all sorts of people that I've hear about in stories! But dwarves! They are our ancestors! thought Merida.
Merida remembered her father telling her tales about stone dwellers, (as her father called them) or dwarves, whom are as he said, they could be related to them. Merida always laughed when her father claimed that they could be related to the dwarf race.
That's why Merida always thought dwarves only existed in stories. It didn't take them long as they arrived at a little home with a round door. Merida chuckled. What an adorable little home, do gnomes live here? Merida thought. Gandalf knocked on the round door with his staff. "It better not be anymore dwarves, or I'm going to scream!" mumbled a voice from behind the door. Suddenly, the door opened and Merida saw a very small man standing in front of them, dressed in brown dressing robes, his hair dark and curly, and he wore no shoes, just fur on his feet.
Merida didn't know what to make of this. "Where have you been, Gandalf? I have thirteen very impatient dwarves in my dining room right now, wondering where you're at!" said the little man. "I must apologize Bilbo for running late, I made a new friend whom I brought with me. She has lost her way, and is looking for her mother as well. This is Merida." said Gandalf. "Hello, Bilbo, is it?" said Merida. Bilbo smiled. "Its nice meeting you too, Merida! Do come in!" said Bilbo.
For a human woman, she's got the most beautiful set of locks I ever seen, Bilbo thought as he looked at her. "You don't mind if I keep my bow right here for safe keeping?" asked Merida.
"Of course. But just pray none of the dwarves will come and take it!" said Bilbo. Maybe I better keep my bow with me, thought Merida. "Lets join the others in the dining room." said Gandalf. And so the three of them entered the dining room. And to Merida's surprise and amazement, she saw thirteen dwarves gathered around the dining room table. She gasped. She took noticed that a few of the dwarves among them are rather attractive and good looking. But the one that caught her eye, was the leader sitting at the head of the table.
He had long black hair, and a beard. His icy blue eyes scanned around the room, as he took a drink from his mug. Not only Merida found this dwarf intimidating, but very handsome as well. And Merida, she told herself was never the type to gawk over males like a little school girl. She was never that way. I always thought dwarves were supposed to be old and ugly! None of these dwarves are ugly at all-well except for a few, Merida thought. Gandalf introduces Merida to the group of dwarves.
"Lost yer say? I'm sorry to hear that, lass!" said Gloin. "I'm looking for my mother. She all of a sudden disappeared in thin air. Its really a long tale, I would have to tell it later." said Merida. "In which we shall." said the dwarf leader, named Thorin, who approached her. "You carry a bow. Are you a race of men, or are you an elf?" asked Thorin. What in heaven's name is he talking about? And did he just call me an elf? I'm not an elf? Elves are small and mischievous! Merida thought. "For your information, Thorn-.." began Merida. "Its Thorin!" said a older dwarf named Balin. "Thorin, whatever your name is. I am a human! I'm no mischief making, prank doing elf! I don't have the pointed ears! So don't you ever call me an Elf again!" barked Merida. "Mischief making? Prank making?" said Bofur.
"Yes. Elves are known to be small, smaller than all of you in fact, and the tend to pull pranks on people and take away babies from human mothers!" said Merida. "Where are you hearing this from? There is no such thing as a small elf!" said Dwalin. "Something tells me this human isn't from Middle Earth." said Gloin. "Middle Earth? I don't know where that is!" said Merida, now feeling very confused. "That's where you are at now, Merida. But you're in the Shire, home of the hobbits." said Gandalf.
"But I was SUPPOSED TO BE FINDING MY MOTHER!" screamed Merida, anger clouding over her, and she slumped down to the floor in frustration. The group looked at Merida, as they felt sorry for her. "Oh dear, she is lost. What are we going to do?" asked Balin.
"The only thing we can do is take her with us. Maybe along the way, she can find her answers then." Gandalf replied. "You cannot be serious, Gandalf! We cannot take this woman with us! She don't know anything about fighting!" barked Thorin. When Merida heard that, she stood up, glaring angrily at Thorin, and she quickly aimed her bow in his face. "Tell me that I can't fight, Thorin! Say it! I dare you!" yelled Merida.
And this, Thorin backed away raising his hands. "Prove it to me that you can!" challenged Thorin. "Lets take this outside!" shouted Merida.
"This is going to be good!" laughed a blonde dwarf named Fili. "I can't wait to see this!" chirped a brown haired dwarf named Kili. And so everyone followed Merida and Thorin outside of Bilbo's home. "Archery is my weapon of choice, Thorin." said Merida. "Fine. Kili, I need you out here!" called out Thorin. Kili quickly ran to his Uncle. "Yes, Uncle?" said Kili. "There is going to be a small archery competition tonight. You will be competing, against her." said Thorin, pointing at Merida. Kili grinned. "Bring it on! You know you're facing one of the best archers around!" said Kili.
"Yeah right. Lets just see about that!" said Merida. "Let the Archery competition, began!" announced Thorin. Kili took his turn first. After Kili took his turn, Merida stood up and took hers.
Everyone watched her, quite impressed her skill. Even Kili and Thorin are impressed. On the final round of the little competition, Merida shocked all of them, when split an arrow through Kili's. "WHAT?! How can that be possible? Its very, very rare for any archer to do that! I can't even do that!" exclaimed Kili. Merida grinned. A slight smile appear on Thorin's lips. "Well, I see who has won this competition. Congratulations, Miss Merida. You have quite an amazing skill at the bow. I do believe my nephew has be bested by a woman!" said Thorin, looking at Kili.
All the dwarves laughed, especially Fili. Kili took it graciously. "You know I never going to hear the end of it, so I challenge you a rematch!" said Kili. "Maybe some other time, Kili. You remind me of my father's fried son, Gus. He had dark hair just like you, but his nose was much bigger." said Merida. Kili laughed. "Now lets go back inside and continue our meeting. Balin, it appears you have two contracts to write up." said Thorin. And so they went inside, and they continued on with their meeting.
When the meeting concluded, Merida was shocked when she heard a dragon mentioned in on this. "A dragon? A real bloody dragon?!" cried out Merida. "Yes, a real dragon." said Bofur.
"We do have dragons in my world, but however, we hadn't seen one in some time. But I do remember the last dragon was seen killed thousands, and thousands of people. It was my great grandfather who killed the dragon with his sword. Yes, my great grandfather is a dragon slayer. Some day, even my father say that I have a little bit of that in me." said Merida. Gandalf grinned. "What would you say if you faced this dragon, Merida?" asked Gandalf.
"I will fight him tooth and nail, no problem." said Merida, taking a big swig of her drink. The dwarves looked at her in surprise. But Thorin felt uncomfortable. "Merida, you are a woman. Women are not meant to become dragon slayers." said Thorin. This angered Merida tremendously. "Is that how you really feel, dwarf? Its bad enough I put up with this in my world, now I have to put up with this sexist bologna here too?! I maybe a woman, and a princess, mind you, but I am strong, and nobody cannot tell me how to fight, when to fight! I should be allowed to make my own choices!" barked Merida.
"Wait a minute! Did you just say 'princess'?!" said Fili. "You failed to mention that you're a princess, Merida. What's going on here?!" snapped Thorin. "Fine, you want the truth, here's the truth!" said Merida, and she began telling her life story to the dwarves.
From the time she was a child up to the time when she dealt with her mother as bear, and the witch. By the time she concluded her story, the dwarves looked at her. "Oh I do apologize, my lady. I have misjudged you." said Thorin quietly. "So does that mean I can still come?" asked Merida. "Yes, but only until you find your mother." said Thorin. "Agreed!" said Merida. "Here, lassie, is the contract for you to sign." said Balin.
Merida took the contract and read it over, and then she signed it. Bilbo was still reading his. Merida listened as Bofur kept saying lines to Bilbo about dragons, and furnaces. Nice going, you big buffoon! What are you trying to do, scare him? thought Merida. Suddenly, Bilbo fainted on the floor, and Gandalf quickly came to the hobbit and he carried the hobbit to his private study. Meanwhile, Merida was about to go to her room that Bilbo assigned for her, but she felt a large hand touching her shoulder.
By the time Merida turned around, she saw Thorin standing in front of her. "You're not planning to go to bed so soon, are you?" asked Thorin. "Yes, I'm very tired, Thorin. I had a very long, and very confusing day." said Merida. "We're just about to play some music, if you're interested on listening." said Thorin.
Merida smiled. "Of course, I wouldn't mind listening to your music." said Merida, as she followed Thorin into the living room. Wow, dwarves playing music! I cannot miss this, thought Merida as she followed Thorin into the living room. As she entered, she could already see most of the dwarves had their musical instruments out already, and began tuning them. Thorin took his seat by the fireplace, and Merida sat between Thorin and Balin. Dwalin brought forth his viol, and an item wrapped up in green silk cloth and placed it in front of Thorin.
Thorin removed the cloth, and to Merida's surprise, there stood a beautiful golden harp in front of him. A dwarf playing the harp! I don't see something like this every day, thought Merida.