A Ring

Gandalf was expecting all manner of requests from the young Hobbit when he finally arrived in The Shire, not least among them, a demand for fireworks.

He eyes Billa over the tiny tea table between them, his long old knees jammed up beneath the hard wood. A cold sun shines in her living room, casting a bright glow over the little Hobbit as she pours them each a cup of honeyed tea, before sliding a plate of fruit cake towards him. Gandalf watches each move carefully, waiting for her to finally speak.

The Tooks have always had a way about them, a sort of unobtrusive manner that has you eating from the palm of their hands before you even realise what has occurred. Gandalf has met many a Took over the years, and he truly believed that he was immune to it.

Oh Belladonna Took tried many times, plying him with mountains of fruit cake and sweet tea before prodding him with questions, requests and the occasional demand. Most of the time it was harmless and easily fulfilled, but Gandalf prided himself in knowing that he could have easily said no if he wanted to.

Until he met Billa Baggins.

Now here is a worthy adversary in the battle of wits between wizard and Hobbit. As a fauntling, Billa was precocious and he enjoyed answering her never-ending stream of questions - then Belladonna died and that bright spark of curiosity dimmed considerably. It saddened him deeply to think that the gleam of the Tooks had been snuffed out by such tragedy.

Then a few years ago, as he's minding his own business in Rivendell, Billa suddenly appeared with bright eyes and a new never-ending stream of questions.

He couldn't fathom the change, but it certainly eased his old soul a little to see those bright eyes so happy again.

They've met a few times since, often on the road between Rivendell and Bree (and how she managed to become such a friend to the elves is a mystery in itself, no one would ever tell him how).

But now, this mystery request out of nowhere, the first demand from her since she was knee high to Master Gamgee's prized squashes.

He is curious, no one would be able to fault him for that. But that curiosity quickly fades into worry upon seeing the solemn expression on his dear friend's face.

"What is the matter, dear Billa?"

He wonders if it's to do with the dwarves from the Blue Mountains. He heard about their settling in Hobbiton - had spoken to a caravan or two of dwarves migrating to the small town in The Shire with hope ringing in their weary voices. It was a great loss when Smaug took Erebor, and he felt the change in the dwarves keenly at the deprivation of their home. There is a small part of him that is thankful for Hobbiton's shielding of the dwarves, should the rumours of the darkness in the mountain and the sickness in Greenwood prove to be true. It would not do.

Something must be done about that mountain, he thinks.

For now, Hobbiton was as good a place as any for the dwarves to recuperate and regroup. Already the few dwarves he saw upon his arrival into The Shire were lighter than he has seen in decades and it warms the cockles of his old heart to see the children, fauntlings and dwarflings alike, running wild in the sun-dappled fields, their joy rising like a cloud above them.

He's often found, over the long decades he's walked on Middle Earth, that there are those that underestimate the power of small acts of kindness. See! See here! He wants to shake Saruman, See how much has changed here from just one Hobbit befriending some dwarves!

Oh yes, the tales of one Billa Baggins' encounter with a group of dwarves from the Blue Mountains had even reached his old ears - although he reckons that one or two of them must be embellished as there is no way the Billa he knew would have gone around sparring strange dwarves in the middle of Bree - or gone toe to toe with the King to Be Under the Mountain.

"I must ask you," Billa's quiet words draw him back to the moment, and he turns his attention back to the little Hobbit, "not to repeat anything anything we are about to discuss to another soul. Not even to Saruman."

Gandalf blinks, "My dear friend-"

"I am serious, Gandalf."

The wizard contemplates his friend, the stiff tilt of her mouth and the furrow in her brow, the way her hands grip her tea cup tightly.

He nods, against his better judgement, "Of course."

With his words, she deflates, as if everything holding her upright was released in an almighty woosh. All at once, his Hobbit friend transforms into a tired, weary soul.

"The dwarves have left to reclaim Erebor."

His eyebrows jump to his hairline, "Already?"

She nods, "Thorin Oakenshield means to lead them to the mountain and slay the great wyrm in a bid to unite his people against the White Orc."

"Hm," Gandalf hums, "I had heard rumour of his resurgence."

"He attacked a caravan of dwarves making their way to The Shire a few weeks ago," Billa says monotonously, "Thorin could no longer stand aside."

Gandalf watches a plethora of emotion cross his friend's face, not least worry and shame. Interesting.

"Do you mean to stop them?"

"No," she turns that faraway gaze on him and cocks an eyebrow. "I am assuming you already passed the key and the map onto Thorin."

"How did you…?"

"I know many things, my dear friend, not least that you acquired the items in Dol Guldur."

The wizard steeples his hands under his chin, "Then you must know about Thráin's fate."

Billa nods, and then says primly, "I also know about the rings."

Gandalf chokes on his tea, spluttering and coughing at the Hobbit's words. He stares at his friend, who goes on calmly sipping her tea as if she hadn't just dropped a rather large shock upon him.

"Billa-"

"I cannot tell you how I know these things," she says. "I do know that Thráin warned you about Thorin entering that mountain, that you have suspicions about the darkness rising from Erebor and about the state of Greenwood."

"Why are we speaking of this, Billa?"

"Because of this," she pats the box that sits innocuously on the table between them. He has not paid it much attention, thinking it part of her tea set with its ornate carvings, "Had a blacksmith make this for me a few years ago. Cost a pretty penny to have the runes carved into it, but it was worth it."

Runes? Ah, now that he is looking closer at the box he can see what she is speaking of. What he thought were just elegant patterns are in actual fact, runes in khuzdul. But - there. Elvish too, and some old Hobbit words, all meaning -

Protection. Containment. Safety.

Actually, now that he has noticed the box, he can tell its reeks of magic.

"Billa," his voice trembles, "what is in the box?"

"Ah, that's the question isn't it?" She says quietly. "Is it our ruin or our salvation?"

She pries open the lid, and turns the box slowly around to face him so he can see the contents within.

A ring. It is a ring.

But there is only one ring that could strike fear into the heart of a Hobbit, one ring that Billa Baggins should know nothing of, let alone have within her possession.

"Where did you find this?"

"A creature named Gollum, under the Misty Mountains."

"And how did you acquire it?"

The room goes silent as Gandalf waits with bated breath for his friend's answer.

"I won it from him, during a game of riddles," she says, a wry smile playing on her lips. It terrifies him. "During one of my walking holidays."

"Do you know what that is?" He points at the Ring, unable to contain the quiver in his hand as he does so.

She nods, "It is the One Ring."

Fear strikes him. The face of the White Wizard toys at the edge of his mind, how he believed the Ring to be lost and Sauron powerless, the disregard for his warnings, the signs he has been ignoring for years now. Surely he knew that the One Ring was not lost, surely Saruman knew.

"You know who seeks to find it then."

"I do," she nods. "And I do not fear him."

"Then you are a fool."

"No," Billa sighs, "Just someone who has already seen what true darkness can do to the light."

She closes the lid soundly.

"You see, Gandalf, I am not following Thorin to the mountain because I have already been there."

...

A/N: *cue evil laughter*

A technical double upload this week cause there's a new 28th chapter, A Thorin Interlude. So go back read that if you haven't. I've also significantly updated (and added new content to) some earlier chapters, including a bit of new Thorin goodness in the first Daydream chapter, new Noid interactions in A Fair Trade, and some Bimor scheming in A Tie That Binds. So if there ever was a time to go back re-read Part One, it's now aha.

I mean it's technically a quadruple upload because I just published my new story Love Like Ghosts (Lord why do I do this to myself), so if you like Bucky Barnes then check it out! You can also catch my original fic Strange Trails on Wattpad under MaiMacp too. So if you're desperate for some more Thorin goodness, there's plenty to distract yourself with for the week (or if you read as fast as me for the night aha).

As always, read, comment, enjoy and have a wonderful weekend! Mac x