A/N: Disclaimer – See Chapter 1
A slightly longer chapter this time. Big thanks to NixNox, as always.
Chapter 3: A Party Of Unexpected
It had been a couple of days since Linshara had arrived to this strange world. Gandalf had been extremely helpful in bringing her up to speed on who was who and what was what. Only it was such a myriad of information to process that it left the Jedi rather exhausted. On top of that, she'd learned that the focus crystal in her lightsaber aswell as the upper part of its hilt had been shattered. She was effectively weaponless. Well, unless she could find a replacement crystal and skilled enough hands to craft the rest of the hilt.
All in all she felt as if a part of her was missing, having no lightsaber. That combined with the fact she was in an unknown world with only one ally left her feeling rather lost. Which in itself was quite unnerving, being that she was a Jedi. Adapting to a situation was mandatory. Gandalf had taken her to Bree, provided her with some coin so that she could buy some clothes that would allow her to blend into the surroundings better while he performed an odd spell here and there to make most people she encountered forget her outlandish appearance until she was changed.
Once she'd acquired a bundle of clothing, she'd gotten a room at a local Inn, called the Prancing Pony. Finally alone she went about properly inspecting her injuries, taking stock of whatever equipment she had on her that was in salvageable condition. Gandalf had healed her rather decently, though she would need to expend some energy through force healing aswell to finish the job, mostly to fix the burned flesh of her torso and left side of her neck.
Knowing Gandalf would be gone most of the day and probably into the next, she had managed to have a bath drawn for herself got cleaned up and returned to her room for a night of meditation and self healing before she met with Gandalf. Then he said he would take her to the Shire to meet Thorin and his Dwarven company.
It was indeed the next morning when she heard knocking at her door. Having already been up doing meditation and dressing in her new outfit, Linshara calmly called. "Enter."
As the door opened Gandalf ambled through. "Good morning, my dear. I trust you are well."
She nodded, "well enough. I've managed to heal myself fully and get a proper nights rest finally. Only a few burns and scars left here and there. But I think I will leave them...as a reminder."
The wizard nodded. "To remember the past." His face darkened a little, "remember to not let it keep you trapped within itself. But remember it still."
She'd caught his blue eyes reminiscing on an event or few of his own past. Even if she wasn't a user of the force she'd know words of experience when she heard them.
So, she sobered. "Tell me, is this fitting an adventurer of this land?"
She turned around to show him her new outfit. Dark brown leather, lace up boots, slightly lighter brown, heavy fabric pants, a jute coloured shirt which had a hood attached to it topped over with a surprisingly well tailored black waistcoat and a long brown duster style coat. She'd kept her fairly simple leather belt with the assortment of pouches in which were her fingerless gloves, for one. Her golden blond hair was pulled back at the sides into a braid at the back, the rest falling free to under her shoulder blades, with a few shorter strands framing her temples down to her chin.
He smiled kindly at her and nodded, "it will do well, my dear. Are you ready to travel? I have brought breakfast to take with us."
Linshara nodded, "I'm ready." Then a thought occured to her, "how will we travel?"
"Worry not, I have arranged horses for us. Though, you might do better with a pony, considering your height." He said as he motioned for them to leave.
"I've ridden creatures pony sized and greater, I believe I can handle a horse." Linshara chuckled as they exited, and headed to settle the bill with Barliman.
Indeed, she seemed to have a way with animals, the horse at first being wary of her, but with a little force persuasion she managed to calm the animal down and mounted it. They ate fruits and buns as they rode towards the Shire, Linshara finding herself enjoying the green fields and hills and the fresh air immensely. It had been too long since she'd been on an agrarian world without worry of enemy attack.
"Gandalf I am going to need a weapon. My saber is damaged. Until I can find a crystal and a metalsmith I cannot use it." She said as they crossed the Brandywine bridge sometime later.
He nodded, "I believe our dwarven friends will be able to assist you with a fine blade. Though, can you wield a sword that possesses actual weight?"
Linshara laughed a little, "yes, I can. I would be a poor combatant if I relied only on the lightsaber. I am versed in actual blade combat, called Kartarnin, so that I do not need to reveal...my additional skills unless absolutely necessary."
"Good, good. I would advise being especially careful around the Dwarves." He said.
"I know, you mentioned it. I will be careful. When do you think we will arrive at Bag's End?" She asked as she chewed on an apple.
"Bag End, actually. We should arrive by nightfall. Hopefully the dwarves will have arrived by then."
The Shire and Hobbiton were a complete novelty to her, people and the architecture unlike anything she'd seen. She found it quite lovely. Simplistic, relaxed and happy. The Hobbits truly lead good lives, from what she could see. It warmed her heart some to see that it was still possible, even if the world was remote and unknown.
~Perhaps that's why…~ she thought to herself as they crossed the Hobbiton bridge and began climbing towards a big smial called Bag End where a Hobbit by the name of Bilbo Baggins lived.
When they arrived they found sixteen ponies already there. Eight men all of them around her height or a little shorter were talking to themselves in hushed voices.
"Should we knock?"
"No, no, just ring the bell."
"Do you think the others have arrived yet?"
"Is HE here yet?"
"I don't know!"
"Bombur, don't eat that!"
Linshara smirked to herself under her hood as she watched them. Their emotions were so close to the surface she could feel them very vividly without even trying. Two brothers, their cousin, three brothers, and two brothers.
"Good evening." Gandalf called as they stopped to dismount.
The one with the funny hat turned to the sound of Gandalf's voice first. "Gandalf! By my beard, you've finally arrived!"
"Dear Bofur, it is good to see you, all of you." Gandalf beamed at the much shorter men.
"Ye've brought companeh…" a burly ginger one commented, looking at Linshara who stood by her sandy coated mare holding her reins.
"Indeed I have, Gloin." Gandalf motioned towards Linshara.
She removed her hood and bowed a little. "Well met, gentlemen."
~Are these the dwarves he mentioned?~
"This is Linshara, a good friend and former apprentice of mine." Gandalf introduced.
Linshara smiled despite herself. "We had differences of opinion," she said at their questioning looks.
"These some of the members of Thorin Oakenshield's company, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Nori, Dori and Ori." Gandalf motioned to each.
They all bowed in turn, all of them saying 'at your service' as they did so which puzzled her a little.
"We're right pleased t' meet yeh, lass. 'Ave ye come to see us off?" The one called Bofur asked with a cheerful smile as he stepped over to her.
She glanced over at Gandalf before replying, "I believe that remains to be decided when everyone's here."
Gandalf interjected quickly, "quite right, my dear. Shall we go in?"
They turned to ring the bell and for some reason the dwarves piled at the door like sacks of potatoes, waiting, listening.
"...pooor taste!" was what they heard as the door opened and the dwarven sacks toppled in.
Linshara and Gandalf leaned down a little. The Hobbit at the door was clearly exasperated and surprised at the same time. Though she would wager that exasperation took precedence.
"Gandalf," the Hobbit sighed, then straightened up sharply as he noticed Linshara wearing an amused smile. "G...good evening, miss."
There was some rustling behind him as four more dwarves filed into the space behind him.
"Well met, Master Hobbit." She bowed gracefully.
"Bilbo Baggins, it is a pleasure." He flashed her an honest smile.
"Linshara."
"Lady Linshara is an old friend and apprentice of mine." Gandalf supplanted as they walked in.
The attention of the other four dwarves was quite different, she felt. The tall bald one was suspicious and quite ready to confront her. The smaller white haired one was curious.
~Also brothers.~
"Kili and Fili, at your service." Suddenly a blonde and a brunette dwarf were bowing deeply in front of her.
~Brothers too…what IS this?~
They were curious and not afraid to show it, or show off it seemed. The Jedi couldn't hide a smile as she nodded her head.
"Balin and Dwalin, sons of Fundin." The oldest, white haired one introduced next.
"A pleasure to meet all of you."
"A'right lads, le''s eat!" Bofur announced as he lead the dwarven charge to raid the ever more so exasperated Bilbo's pantry.
Linshara stood to the side, watching the chaos, for the lack of a better word as the dwarves brought food and drink a plenty into a long side room while Gandalf spoke briefly with Bilbo. Most of them seemed to ignore her save for the bald one, who glanced at her every so often, his suspicion growing by the minute. The two brothers, Fili and Kili seemed most interested, they would glance at her while pretending to listen to the other dwarves. She caught their eyes a few times. While Kili broke off quite quickly, grinning, the blond one, Fili would linger a little before pretending to listen again.
"Miss Linshara, would you like to eat something aswell?" She heard Bilbo's voice next to her as she watched the chaotic dwarves.
She turned her attention to the Hobbit. "Oh I'll steal something from the table, don't worry. I'd hate to intrude upon you any further than I already have."
He sighed and smiled a little. "Do you know why they are here?"
She shook her head, chuckling a little. "Not quite, no. Gandalf is his usual mysterious self but I believe he is waiting for the leader to arrive before he starts the meeting."
It was true, he WAS waiting for Thorin.
He swiftly turned on his heel running after the one called Nori. "Excuse me, that is a doily not a dish cloth."
Bofur sounded off somewhere, "but it's full of holes!"
She stepped over to Gandalf. "You haven't told him, have you?"
He shook his head a little, watching the dwarves set the table with no hidden merriment. He clearly had a fondness of these creatures.
"You're afraid he'll refuse."
Another nod.
"Alright, I'll see if I can help if things don't follow your plan." She offered.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently in thanks as Bilbo squealed again.
"You'll blunt them!"
"D' you hear tha' lads? He says we'll blunt the knives!" Bofur responded in a sing song tone.
The tone flowed into a tune as the dwarves broke into song spontaneously. It was a merry, catchy tune to which they performed some very flashy acrobatics. The two youngest brothers especially who tossed the plates and crockery from one to another to Bifur in the kitchen who was washing them. Every few moves, Kili and Fili would either grin or wink at her as they showed off.
Loud laughter followed soon after as Bilbo raced into his kitchen only to find that everything was cleaned spotlessly and neatly sorted away, the dwarves highly enjoying the look of surprise on Bilbo's face. A sudden knock on the door took the merriment away, however.
Gandalf turned to the door. "He is here."
The dwarves fell silent instantly as they shuffled into the hallway, Bilbo going to open the door. Linshara found herself standing to the far left, next to Fili and Ori.
"Gandalf." Thorin spoke as Bilbo opened the door. "I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I nearly lost my way, twice. I would not have found it were it not for the mark on the door."
Bilbo immediately protested. While Thorin took distrustful jabs at the poor Hobbit, Linshara glanced around at the others. Each family held a different kind of reverence towards Thorin. Dwalin's reverence almost outweighed that of Kili and Fili eventhough the latter two were his kin. Fili more than Kili felt the weight of responsibility on him as the direct heir of Thorin's, as a big brother to Kili, as a future leader himself.
"And what of you?" Thorin finally turned to her, "axe or sword, Lady?"
She bowed as gracefully as she could, "Linshara, Master Thorin. My preference is the sword, though I am not above spellwork if the situation demands."
Were she back home, she would have said she was a practitioner of form VI, known as Niman aswell as form III, known as Soresu. But these were different people who would have no understanding of those words.
"That would be why she is a 'former' apprentice, Gandalf?" Thorin shook his head in mind amusement.
"It would be because I am a Master myself now." She corrected without missing a beat.
He turned his head to her, intense eyes studying her. "Why are you here? I asked for a fourteenth member, not a fifteenth aswell."
She could feel his growing mistrust, bitterness and frustration, but before she could reply, Gandalf stepped in.
"Let us sit, you can deliver us your side of the tale before I tell the rest." The wizard urged them back in the room.
Linshara breathed a small sigh of relief. Tumultuous emotions were always difficult to deal with, especially when you could not do anything to deflect them. As everyone filed back in, Kili and Ori asked if she wanted to sit with them. She nodded her agreement, finding Ori's shyness and scholarly mind interesting and truth be told, Thorin's nephews were entertaining. So she joined them.
As Thorin sat down and began eating, telling them of the meeting in Ered Luin, Linshara couldn't help but reminisce of strategy meetings with local governors where she and her old Master Zhushan Wu used to visit in her apprenticeship days. She also thought on her times as mediator in the Mid Rim worlds, how she'd preside over such meetings herself. A keen feeling of abandonment and realization they were indeed very alone in this endeavour brought her back to the current table.
She smirked a little and whispered to Kili, "if you and your brother don't pay attention your uncle will blame me for it and do away with me most likely."
Kili grinned and whispered, "how do you know he's our uncle?"
Fili elbowed him from the other side giving her a moment to cover up her faux pas. "Gandalf mentioned it when we were coming here."
Kili seemed to be satisfied with her answer before refocusing on Gandalf's roaring that Bilbo was a burglar because he said so. She knew what was coming next.
"And you? Are you a wizard because he says so?" Dwalin's question came through a sneer.
It was still a ridiculous notion to her but she had to play the part. "I am a wizard because that is who I am. If you are looking for a demonstration than ask for one, Master Dwalin. There is no need for foul words." She replied calmly.
It seemed to throw him for a moment. "The wild is no place for gentle folk or those who cannot fend for themselves."
"I agree." Linshara nodded before Balin could interject. "Throw the knife at me." She nodded to the knife in front of the bald dwarf.
He seemed unsure for a moment but a nod from Thorin seemed to release his restraint. The knife flew quickly across the table at her only to stop an inch from her quickly raised hand, hovering in mid air. The table went quiet as she motioned with her hand to over Thorin's head where the knife swiftly flew and embedded itself in.
"I can do more, but I don't wish to damage Bilbo's home further. We can go outside." She offered.
"That won't be necessary, my dear." Gandalf placated.
Thorin stared long and hard at Gandalf. "Fine, we'll do it your way. Give them the contracts."
One was passed to Linshara, while Balin gave the other to Bilbo who began reading it aloud. She began reading hers, only half hearing Bofur saying something to Bilbo in the background before she lifted her head, sensing Bilbo's increasing distress. Before she could get up and run over to him however, he collapsed.
"Oh very helpful, Bofur." Gandalf scolded as he stood up too.
The Jedi and the Wizard took the Hobbit to a small room in the back. She'd instructed Dori to make Bilbo a cup of tea as she'd seen him make it earlier and brought it over to Bilbo.
"Thank you, Miss Linshara. I'll be alright, just let me sit here quietly for a moment." Bilbo took a grateful sip.
"Just Linshara." She felt Gandalf had a pressing need to speak with Bilbo alone so she excused herself and returned to the main room and sat in one of the chairs next to the fire.
She took out her contract again and began reading through it. At first she was amazed that she could read it, considering that the dwarves may have very well written it in their own language, but they must have had foreknowledge that the last members of the company would speak a different one. Pen, she needed a pen. Looking around she realized there weren't exactly pens lying around.
Back home, one would just thumbprint documents. ~Back home..~the thought hit her pretty hard all of a sudden. She would never see her home again, if what she'd found out so far was anything to go by. She'd never see Coruscant or Tython again, or her beloved Chandrila. Her failure to notice the Sith hidden among her troops had lead to them taking over the Rakata facility and her being stuck here.
Noticing a presence standing next to her, she sobered up quickly. Fili stood next to her chair with a vial and a quill. ~They really write with that,~ she wasn't sure why but she found it funny.
"I noticed you did not have means to sign the contract with. If it is indeed your desire to join us still." He said softly, with a smile.
She took the vial and the quill and smiled. "Thank you, Master Fili. I apologize, I got lost in thought for a moment."
He waved it away, "think nothing of it." Turning, he located the second chair and dragged it over, sitting next to her. "I would ask that you call me Fili. I am hardly a Master. That would be my uncle."
She nodded as she balanced the contract on her lap and dipped the quill into the vial. "Very well, Fili." Linshara smiled and bent her head down, the quill next to where she would sign.
How would she sign though? Thannis? Or would she use the manner that Thorin and Balin signed as.
Eventually she decided on; Linshara, daughter of Rasan.
"Welcome to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, Linshara, daughter of Rasan." Fili grinned at her.
"Thank you. Fili, son of?"
She knew, of course, but for the sake of her cover, she would ask. "Dis. My mother. My father died a long time ago in the battle to retake Khazad-dum."
"The battle of Azanulbizar, the reclamation of Moria, if I'm not mistaken?" She WAS playing Gandalf's apprentice however.
He nodded, "quite right. My Lady, I have to pose a question to you, what part of Middle-Earth has a race of Men of your size? You are not a dwarrow-dam by any length, yet the Men I've met so far, which admittedly aren't many, are all much taller than yourself."
His boldness and curiosity were refreshing. Now that she sat alone with him, she could feel he was more guarded and composed. Perhaps it was only in the company of others in time of merriment that he relaxed.
But what would she say so that he didn't make out her lie? Gandalf had mentioned something about that.
"My home lies far to the east. I was brought up in the south however, after my family died. It was there I met Gandalf." Linshara hoped it was convincing enough. She hated lying and was never overly good at it.
She could always use her force persuasion on him, but the minds of the dwarves seemed very strong. That and she was loathe to use it on people she could call allies.
Providence came to her rescue in form of Kili. "Now now, brother, don't smother the Lady with questions that can wait until later, we do have a long way to travel, plenty of time to talk." The brunette dwarf grinned at them as he brought them each what was left of the ale and sat down on the floor next to Fili.
"Please, just Linshara." She said as she folded the contract and handed it to Fili. "Will you give this to Balin?"
Fili nodded, "of course."
"So, that trick you did with the knife, that was quite something." Kili said after taking a sip looking from the fire to the two of them.
A smile etched into the corner of her lips. Kili radiated such cheek and mischief. "Thank you, I suppose. I had to demonstrate at least something."
"Dwalin will ask you for a proper duel once we get under way, you can be sure of that." Fili added taking a sip of his own.
Kili nodded enthusiastically. "I would love to see that. It is rare, you know, to see a Lady adventurer, even rarer an adventurer Lady who is a wizard."
She leaned back in her chair and shifted a little so she could see them both. "Why is that?"
The two young dwarves launched into a cultural explanation of why women, especially dwarven women weren't seen out on the road or in the wild a lot, especially unescorted and unprotected. Thorin stood with Gandalf in the nearby hallway with Balin and Gandalf listening. Gandalf wore a smile on his face, seeing the brothers take to Linshara so quickly and her accepting their presence well in return.
"I am still uncertain about this, Gandalf." Thorin admitted. "Having a woman in the company will be a distraction. They will want to protect her, you know how we feel about women."
Gandalf nodded, "yes, you are fiercely protective of them. She is no dwarrow-dam, however and more than capable. When the time is right, she will show her quality, have no doubts there."
Balin nodded, seeing both sides of the argument. "Perhaps if you assign Fili and Kili to look after her, it will assuage your concern?"
"I need them focused."
"All three will be focused, if noone else, she will make sure of that." Gandalf added.
"Can you guarantee that?" Thorin looked up at the wizard.
The wizard nodded, "she was my apprentice. Yes, I can guarantee it."
A/N: Let me know what you guys think!