"This was your plan all along, To seek refuge with our enemy," Thorin muttered resentfully as the Elves lead the company to Rivendell.
"You have no enemies here Thorin Oakenshield, the only ill will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself," Gandalf shot back, obviously getting tired of the Dwarves poor attitude.
"You think the Elves will give our Quest their blessing?" the king asked indignantly. "They will try to stop us."
"Of course they will, but we have questions that need to be answered." that seemed to have won the argument as Thorin sighed in defeat, clearly still not happy about having to stay with Elves. "If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tack and respect and no small degree of charm."
"So we're doomed then?" Bilbo asked rhetorically as he rode up next to them, Gandalf chuckled, Thorin still looked sour.
Any further conversation was put to a stop as the company finally came upon the hidden valley of Imladris
"Mithrandir," a dark haired Elf called to gandalf as he walked gracefully down the steps of the main hall to the courtyard where they stood.
"Ah, linder," the wizard greated back as he approached the Elf, they exchanged a few words in Elvish before returning to common. "i must speak with lord Elrond."
"I am here, Mithrandir," said one of the Elves that had helped them escape the Orcs, he lifted his helmet to reveal nun other than the lord in question. "Welcome, company of Thorin Oakenshield, to Rivendell." Lord Elrond called, standing regally beside his white horse. "It's good to see you again Gandalf, and you as well Bilbo Baggins."
"Likewise lord Elrond," the Hobbit replied with a smile despite the odd looks he was receiving from his Dwarves.
"Our business is of no concern to Elves."
"For goodness sake Thorin, show him the map."
"It's the legacy of my people and its mine to protect, as are its secrets." Anyone could tell that Gandalf was getting quite tired of his and Throins little game of back and forth and frankly so was Bilbo, as well as everyone else present.
"Save me from the stubbornness of Dwarves," the wizard muttered with a slightly defeated look on his aged face. "Your pride will be your downfall, you stand here in the presents of one of the few in middle earth who can read that map. Show it to him!" Gandalf finished, raising his voice slightly at the end.
The stubborn Dwarf king finally relented and handed over the map to lord Elrond, Balin made a brief attempt to stop him but was quickly brushed aside.
"Erebor." it wasn't a question, "what is your interest in this map?" the air in which Elrond asked this was an ominous one.
"It's mainly academic.," Gandalf lied quickly just as Thorin opened his mouth, most probably to tell the truth, "but you know this sort of artifact some time contains hidden text." it was clear by the look on the Elf lords face that he plainly saw through the lie but took the map to inspect it all the same.
"You still read ancient Dwarvish do you not?" Elrond read some of the runes on the map in demonstration "ah, moon runes, of course, an easy thing to miss," the wizard muttered to Bilbo with an overly confident smile, obviously trying to say he was no less intelligent just he couldn't read them, the Hobbit rolled his eyes exagetorily.
"In this case that is true, moon runes can only be read by the light of the moon of the same shape and season as the day on which they where written," lord Elrond stated smartly.
"Can you read them?" Thorin inquired a hint of desperation in his voice.
Bilbo stared sullenly down at the jewelry box in his hands, it was evening now and the Hobbit was just relaxing in one of the many lushes gardens of Imladris after the reading of the map
The burglar gently opened the simple oaken jewelry box, setting it down on the bench beside him after pulling out a bronze ear cuff made up of an intricate vine and leaf pattern, turning it slowly in his small hands.
"It's very beautiful." Bilbo nearly dropped the piece of jewelry in his hands so startled was he at the soft voice that spoke from behind him.
He turned his head sharply to look upon the person, or Elf to be precise, that had snuck up on him, the woman had long black hair, cascading like a river down her back, the most mesmerizing ice blue eyes upon her glowing face, somehow appearing warm and welcoming despite their color.
"I apologize if i startled you, my name is Arwen." The Elf, Arwen, smiled down at him, coming to stand closer to the stone bench Bilbo was sat upon.
"Ah, no, no, i'm quite alright, and yes, it's very beautiful, i always thought so anyway." the Hobbit belatedly remembered the ear cuff still clutched in his hands. "Would you like to sit?" The lady Arwen accepted his offer, sitting gracefully upon the bench.
"I'm Bilbo Baggins," the burglar introduced though he suspected that Arwen already knew that, Bilbo remembered the Elf fondly from his time living with the Elves of Rivendell in his later years.
"Forgive me for asking but i was curious as to what you were doing in the company of Thorin Oakenshield? i never thought of Hobbits as particular adventures folk, although there was once a Hobbit lass that would come visit our halls," Arwen asked with a bit of hesitation.
"Yes, that was my mother, Belladonna. I suppose i must of inherited her Tookish nature," the Hobbit chuckled, remembering the many ecsenticsies of his late mother.
"She truly was a wondrous soul," Arwen remarked with a nod of her head. "Was that hers?" she asked, referring to the jewelry the Hobbit had all but forgotten he was holding.
"Yes, yes it was." Bilbo handed the pieces over to his companion so she could inspect it herself. "I never really took myself for a jewelry person but it's quite the charming pieces isn't it?" the Elf hummed her agreement.
"May i?" She gestured at his ear with the cuff.
Bilbo hesitated, after all ears where a very sensitive area for a Hobbit, in the end he nodded, pulling his golden curls back. Arwen gingerly attached the cuff to the shell of the burglars ear.
"It looks charming on you as well," she complimented with a smile before standing, brushing imaginary dust off her midnight blue gown. "Good night master Baggins." with that she was gone as quickly as she had come.
"I really don't think this is at all necessary," Bilbo sighed with exasperation.
"Our apologize master Boggins but it's uncles orders," Kili said with an unbothered grin on his young face.
The Hobbit rolled his eyes, crossing his short arms petulantly. It was a fine summers morning in Rivendell and the pair were lounging around in a bit of soft grass by a pleasant little stream they had found not far from the guest building they where staying in.
Bilbo had thought it rather sweet when Kili had offered to keep him company on his after breakfast stroll, that is until the prince told him that it was because Thorin had thought it necessary to have their burglar guarded at all times while they were in 'enemy territory' and Kili was taking the first shift.
"So Thorin doesn't think me capable of handling myself while amongst harmless Elves?" Somewhere in the back of his mind Bilbo wondered what had changed from last time to make Thorin so worried about his safety, if the Hobbit wasn't so frustrated he might have thought it sweet.
"I agree with my Uncle, Elves are not to be trusted and frankly you are much too comfortable with them," Kili reprimanded as if he was speaking to a small child. Bilbo's eyebrow twitched in irritation, though he supposed he ought to get use to it, the Dwarf king was highly stubborn after all.
The two sat in silence for a bit, the Hobbit watching the stream for interesting fish, while Kili sharpened one of the heads of his arrows.
"Can i ask you something?" The young prince broke the silence, glancing at the burglar with a sheepish look on his face.
"Yes, of course," Bibo answered
"Why did you decide to join the company? Not that i'm not grateful for your accompaniment, it's just that quests such as these don't really seem to be common amongst Hobbits." Kili still looked a bit shy but there was a curiosity in his eyes that you only ever saw in adolescents.
Bilbo had to think on that for a moment, telling the prince the whole truth was out of the question but he didn't really want to lie to the brunette ethier.
"You're right, Hobbits don't join many quests, it's not considered proper for Hobbits to even leave the Shire, muchless go on adventures with thirteen Dwarves and a wizard," Bilbo began.
"So why did you?" Kili inquired further ,all traces of hesitation gone. The Hobbit chuckled at the Dwarves childlike curiosity.
"I suppose the answer lies in my mother, she was known throughout the Shire as much to adventuress to be deemed respectable, as a child i had much the same wild spirit, always coming home in the evenings covered in dirt with twigs caught in my hair," Bilbo chuckled at the memory, "but after my parents passed, i became much more attached to Bag-end and the Shire, it was all i had left of them, i wanted nothing to do with anything odd or partake in any adventures at all." the Hobbit glanced at the Dwarf prince to find him entirely inraptured by his story so he continued. "So when Gandalf came upon my door i had been quite wary of him and the mysteries he carried but i wasn't entirely unwilling to hear him out and when you lot showed up upon my doorstep, then i was told the history of how you lost your home, how determined you all seemed to reclaim Erebor, even when all the odds seemed stacked against you, something inside me awakened then, that sense of wonder i had as a child." Bilbo looked Kili head on, a sort of morbid determination ablaze in his amber eyes. "I couldn't keep living on in the perfect comfort of my home when you don't have you, a home that is."
The young Dwarf prince nodded slowly, a deeply contemplative adorning his young face, it looked a bit out of place.
"Thank you for telling me that story Mister Boggins." The Hobbit in question chuckled at the nickname, he knew full well that Kili knew his real name.
"You're very welcome Kili."
And as the two of them sat peacefully upon the grassy bank, Bilbo thought it might not be such a bad thing to have a guard around to bother him.
good smaug: 3
if you have any ideas for what you want to see in future chapters, please tell me and as always i'm sorry.