Katniss was sweating, trembling, and hugging her knees tightly, as if her life depended on it. She had been woken up by yet another nightmare about the games, which was quite a regular occurrence for her. Despite that, she could never get used to that panicking sensation that dominated her during these episodes. Once she realised what was happening, she started focusing on her breathing as she had been instructed by the doctors on Thirteen. When she was calm enough to talk, she started to whisper and repeat these lines as if they were a prayer.
"My name is Katniss Everdeen. I'm seventeen years old. I'm from District 12. District 12 was destroyed by the Capitol. I am the Mockingjay of the rebellion. I was shot during the Nut explosion at District Two. I am in a place called Shire. I need to find my sister. I need to kill Snow so the Hunger Games can finally be over…"
It took a long time for her to settle down. These episodes tended to be much worse when she was alone. She had decided to get the communicator she had found earlier that day and try to see if she could get any signal this time. She sighed, frustrated as nobody answered. No signal, just as it had happened earlier.
She stood up and left her room, determined to brew herself some tea at Bilbo's kitchen. She believed that the hobbit would not mind. Or if he did, his reaction could not be worse than when she shamelessly informed him that she was going to be keeping her dead game by his doorway.
Bilbo was certainly not pleased to have a dead deer and a bag of rabbits lying by his pristine hallway, but Katniss promptly had refused to leave it outside. She did not want to risk someone stealing it. After the sunrise, she was going to be taking that beauty to the same very market Bilbo had taken her yesterday, and she hoped to get a good price for it. She wanted to pay Bilbo back somehow. And she knew that she would most likely need some sort of currency if she wanted to find her sister's whereabouts.
Bilbo Baggins was not having the tranquil evening that he had hoped. When the first dwarf knocked on his door, the hobbit rushed to open it. He was certain it had to be Katniss finally having the decency to come back home in time for supper for a change.
Yesterday, he had waited for hours and hours for her to come back and their dinner went cold. Only for having the woman arriving with nothing less than a dead deer on her shoulders - a deer! - and informing him that it would have to stay inside his house - his house! - until she could sell it at the market the following morning.
Once she finally got some good gold from auctioning the animal at the farmers market, she tried to pay him - to pay him! - for his hospitality. The only reason that he did not feel outraged, is that he knew the girl was completely ignorant about the kind nature of the hobbits.
He only accepted a few coins because she threatened to leave his house and go to find lodge somewhere else. Bilbo could not let her leave, not when Gandalf himself had asked him to look after her. So he undercharged her, which she seemed to be unaware of. Besides, he was determined to sneak her money back later somehow.
Bilbo was unsure of what to make out of her. She was positively an odd one, refusing to let her bow and arrows away from her, even to use the toilet, as if she was expecting to be attacked at the Shire of all places! More than once, Bilbo caught her looking through his things as if she was trying to find something in particular, which did not seem at all right, in his opinion. She was excessively suspicious, and Bilbo felt like she was purposely avoiding giving away too much information about herself to him, despite the fact that he had opened his house for her. In contrast, she had some moments that made him believe that she might have a warm heart, like when she interacted with the young children on her way to the market.
Bilbo went to answer the door, expecting to greet Miss Everdeen carrying another bag of dead animals. However, the hobbit was surprised by the presence of a dwarf warrior on his doorstep instead.
"Dwalin, at your service," the bald dwarf gave him a head bow. Bilbo tried to recompose himself and hide his surprise.
"Bilbo Baggins, at yours."
And just like that, the warrior dwarf invited himself in.
"D-do we know each other?" Bilbo stuttered after he examined outside as if he was expecting Katniss to appear from somewhere and inform him that she had decided to invite a dwarf for dinner.
"No. Which way, laddie? Is it down here?"
"I-is what down where?"
"Supper. He said there'd be food, and lots of it."
"H-He said? Are you sure it wasn't a she who said it?"
Dwalin gave Bilbo a little inquisitive frown, but then the sight of the small feast made for two made the dwarf go silent and start to help himself to some food. At the centre of the table was the fattest of the rabbits that Katniss had caught during her previous hunting trip. Bilbo had decided to roast it and place it in a bed of carrots, parsnips and potatoes. There was also a tray of roasted wild mushrooms, onions and tomatoes and another one with pan-fried broccoli, spinach, brussel sprouts, peas and garlic.
Bilbo sighed in resignation and decided to join the mysterious dwarf who was devouring the rabbit as it would be no tomorrow. He sat down and started to eat some of the food that he had cooked earlier that day. Bilbo found comfort in the fact that it was probably too much food for both of them anyway.
As his mother had taught him, when guests were involved, it was always safer to make too much food and have leftovers than having the shame of having your guests feeling hungry at your dinner table.
The hobbit tried making small talk with the dwarf as they ate their supper, by asking him things such as 'So, where do you hail from?', 'What business do you have here at the Shire, Mr Dwalin?', but the dwarf seemed to be as monosyllabic on his answers as Katniss had been during the first time they ate together. By the time the doorbell rang once more, Bilbo was already feeling completely stuffed. He made his way to the hallway, ready to give Katniss a good piece of his mind about inviting stray dwarves for supper.
"Katniss! Finally, I was about to…" but it was not the olive skin brunette that greeted him when he opened the door.
"Balin, at your service," the white hairy dwarf bowed his head in a greet to Bilbo. "Who is Katniss?"
"Oh, she is my… she is my guest. She went out hunting and she should be here by now," Bilbo said, letting some of his worry to show.
"I am sure your friend will be fine, Laddie. These parts are pretty safe, though… if she doesn't return soon, we can always send a search party. Oh, evening, brother," Balin said as he noticed the other dwarf who had left the dinner table to greet him.
"By my beard, you are shorter and wider than last we met."
"Wider, not shorter. Sharp enough for both of us." And just like that, both dwarves banged their heads together, leaving a very confused Bilbo wondering what was going on inside his place.
"Uh, excuse me... sorry, I hate to interrupt, but the thing is... I'm not entirely sure you're in the right house," Bilbo said, but both dwarves promptly ignored him.
"Have you eaten, brother?" Dwalin asked as he led Balin to the table where there was still plenty of food available.
"What a lovely meal you've made, Mr Baggins. Do you have any ale?" the older dwarf asked, making Bilbo bite his tongue, and quickly say, "Of course!" instead of saying what was on his mind. "Fill this up too, will ya?" Dwalin quickly added. Bilbo nodded as he grabbed Dwalin's mug from his hands and promised that he would be right back with their drinks. As soon he returned from his pantry, the bell rang again making Bilbo jump.
"That'll be the door," Dwalin informed the hobbit and quickly returned his attention to the conversation he was having with his brother, leaving a fuming Mr Baggins to answer the door.
"Fíli."
"And Kíli."
"At your service," both young dwarven princes finished their introduction by bowing their heads in perfect synchrony.
"You must be Mr. Boggins," the beard-less dark-headed Kíli said as he started to make his way inside Bilbo's house.
"Nope, you can't come in, you've come to the wrong house," Bilbo started to close the door, but Kíli managed to hold it open.
"What? Has it been cancelled?" the young dark-haired looked shocked.
"No one told us," the blond dwarf which had the most incredible moustache frowned.
"Cancel-? No-nothing's been cancelled!" Bilbo was starting to get really worked out by that point.
"Well, that's a relief," both dwarves smiled in relief and invited themselves to Bilbo's house, shoving their belongings at Bilbo's hands.
"Unless… wait! Did Gandalf put you into this?" Bilbo said, getting angrier. This time, however, his anger was more directed to himself than to the dwarves. 'I shall be back next Wednesday with the rest of the company,' hadn't these been Gandalf exact words after all? Suddenly the invasion of dwarves in the house started to make sense. How could he have forgotten? Bilbo had completely forgotten to take notice of the wizard's return at his house on his agenda, and now there was a company of dwarves coming to his house and he felt extremely unprepared. Bilbo was sure he would not be able to feed them all with that meal for two - well, basically for four - which was quickly disappearing from his dinner table.
"Of course he did. The wizard promised us that we would find the fourteenth and fifteenth members of our company here, at your place. And be careful with these, Mr Boggins, I just had 'em sharpened," Fíli said as he carefully placed some swords and knives on Bilbo's hand.
"No, no, no! No more weapons in the house!" Bilbo whinged in frustration as he threw the knives and swords Fíli had given him on the floor. Bilbo could not help but think about Katniss refusing to go anywhere without carrying her bow and quiver.
"Fíli, Kíli, come on, give us a hand," Dwalin's voice reached the hallway.
"Mister Dwalin," the youngest dwarf greeted the bald tattooed dwarven warrior with a tap on his shoulders.
"Let's shove this in the hallway, otherwise we'll never get everyone in," Balin pointed to Bilbo's dinner table.
"How many more of you are coming?" Bilbo asked, finally resigning to the fact that Gandalf had decided to set up a dwarven reunion at his house of all places.
"Thirteen," Dwalin answered with pride.
"Thirteen!" Bilbo's jaw was wide open in shock. "I don't think I have enough food for all of you…"
"Are you joking Mr Boggins? Have you seen how full your pantry is?" Fíli raised an eyebrow as he came out of that very same pantry carrying a large piece of smoked ham with him.
And just like that, the bell rang again. Letting out a resignation sigh, Bilbo slowly march to open it. When he did, a bunch of Dwarves fell down on his doorstep, revealing Gandalf, who was standing behind them all.
"Gandalf," Bilbo's voice sounded tired and frustrated. Gandalf just gave Bilbo an apologetic smile as he helped the fallen dwarves back up.
Katniss was returning to Bilbo Baggins's house carrying a large and heavy sack full of the dead game on her shoulders. She had been extremely pleased by the amount of prey that was available for her to hunt at the Shire. This place had more animals available for hunting than she would ever be able to carry, so she could be picky and chose her animals carefully. There was no shortage of food at that place, and unlike what happens at the Capitol, that abundance did not seem to be the fruit of exploitation of the less fortunate people. It was wealthy in a way she had never experienced before.
However, as soon she spotted Bag End up in the distance, she saw the figure of a short man who clearly did not belong to these parts, if the sword and axe he was carrying was anything to judge him by. As he pulled down his hood, she could see that he had long dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard.
Katniss immediately laid down her game bag on the floor and loaded her arrow with the expertise of the huntress warrior that she was. She silently started to go up the hill that would lead to Bilbo's house letting the aim of her arrow staying locked on that foreign man. She could hear the noise of a happy gathering coming from inside Bilbo's house, and she was sure that the man was aware of the party as well, as he hesitated on knocking at Bilbo's door.
Katniss was unsure if he was a friend or foe so she decided to give him the benefit of doubt. She got cover on the shadows, which she believed would make it harder for him to see her, unless he had a pair of night vision glasses in his possession.
The man was far away enough from her that it would be hard for him to attack her with his axe before she could send an arrow straight into his skull. Her bow was a much better weapon of choice for these circumstances. She was certain that she would have the upper hand if a fight broke between them.
"Stop right where you are," she ordered him, just as he was raising his fist to knock on Bilbo's door.
The man immediately changed his own posture, and he slowly started to turn to face her. At the same time, he discretely raised his right arm to reach his axe. However, before he could get a proper hold of the weapon, a sharp black arrow zoomed-in, grazing his arm just above his elbow, only stopping when it found Bilbo's green door. The man not even flinched despite the injury which clearly was spilling some of his blood.
The merry noise that was coming from the hobbit's hole instantly cessed, and the man shouted something in a language she did not understand. He looked straight into her eyes, making Katniss raise an eyebrow as she wondered if he had some sort of genetically modified eyesight that allowed him to see through the darkness. She already had loaded her bow with another arrow, and she could see that he was about to change his stance.
"One wrong move and this goes straight into your skull,"
It was then that somebody that was most definitely not Bilbo Baggins opened the door of the house with a battle-axe ready for attack, followed by another man who had loaded bow. Katniss quickly rolled down the hill to find some shelter behind her own game sack as arrows zoomed dangerously near her body. Two of the arrows indeed caught her, but they bounced off her armour as if they were made from rubber. Despite that, she felt the impact, and she knew that they would likely leave bruises on her body later on. But before she had any chance to retaliate and fire one of her own arrows at her attacker, a deep loud voice echoed through the air stopping the battle at once.
"Lay down your arms, this girl is not your enemy!" Gandalf shouted to the small troop of dwarves who were quickly approaching the spot where she was hiding. "Katniss! Put down your arrow. Now!"
All the dwarves did as they were told, though they all looked at their injured leader as if they were waiting for further instructions. Katniss, on the other hand, refused to obey Gandalf's orders. Even though she did not shoot, she slowly started to stand up, maintaining her arrow loaded and pointed at Dwalin - the dwarf that was the nearest from the place she had taken cover.
It was then that Bilbo Baggins came running down the hill towards her for everyone's surprise.
"Katniss! I was so worried about you. Why did you take so long? I told you that dinner was served promptly at seven o'clock,"
"Do you know these men, Bilbo?" she asked without taking her eyes and arrow from Dwalin's face. Dwalin remained still but was returning her calculated look.
Bilbo looked from Gandalf to Katniss before giving an answer to her.
"Yes, of course I know them! They are my guests, just like you are…" he gently said as he touched her hands, making her almost jump, as she failed to realise how near he had gotten to her. "Please, put this bow down before someone else gets hurt Lady Katniss…"
And she finally pulled down her bow and placed her arrow back in her quiver, making the dwarves around let a noise of relief leave their lungs.
"I am not sure what kind of game is this, but I don't like it!" she shouted to everyone as she tried to spot a camera.
"This is not a game, Miss Everdeen. Please calm down. Join us inside and I promise that I will do my best to explain where you are and why you are here," Gandalf promised.
"Very well," she answered him, and just like that she grabbed her gaming bag, along with her weaponry and the arrows that Kíli had shot at her. She carried her hunting bag until the place where Dwalin was still standing and tossed it to him.
"Be a gentleman, will you?"
Dwalin threw daggers with his eyes at her, but he carried her huge game bag nonetheless. She walked away, turning her back to him, with Bilbo quickly following on her heels. She carried on until she reached the two younger dwarves that she did not know that they were dwarven princes and shoved the arrows on the hands of the one who was carrying a bow.
"Good shooting,"
"Nice armour," Fíli was the one who replied, as Kíli seemed unable to do anything apart from looking at her in total awe.
Kíli was not the only dwarf who seemed to be hypnotised by the cool easiness of that young female warrior. Ori's and Bifur's mouths were wide open in amazement as Katniss stomped towards Bilbo's home.
"Which material is it made of, Lass, if you don't mind me asking?" The white-haired dwarf Balin asked as she approached the doorway.
"I have no idea," she honestly replied as she removed her own arrow from Bilbo's door. As she examined her weapon she noticed some blood on it.
"Sorry about your arm. I wasn't sure if you were an enemy or an ally. I hope it is not too deep…"
"Thankfully, your aim is not as good as your armour seems to be," he scowled at her.
"Oh, but I did hit you exactly where I wanted," she said, taking offence at his words. "As I said, I wasn't sure if I wanted you dead or not."
"That sounds exactly what someone who wanted to cover up their bad skills with a bow would say. Tell me, girl, have you fought many battles…?" Thorin replied coolly.
"I don't have to listen to this…" Katniss snorted as she turned her back to him as she wondered if she should just grab her belongings and go back to the woods.
"Miss Everdeen!" Gandalf's stern voice called her attention "If you want to know where you are and why you have been sent here, I suggest that you stay. And being nice to our company leader might help you to make some friends..."
"I am not good at being nice. Or making friends…"
"Oh well, never late to work on that…" Gandalf mumbled as he turned to the injured dwarf, who she now knew that was also the leader of that company. "Thorin, you have my word when I say that Katniss' presence here is not a mere coincidence. It is fate. This woman is going to be a tremendous asset to your company. To disregard her abilities would be extremely foolish."
Thorin grunted instead of giving a proper answer to the wizard. Regardless, he followed the wizard, the girl and Mr Baggins inside to the hobbit hole.
As more dwarves came back to the house, Katniss tried to ignore the fact that she was in the spotlight, as every pair of eyes in the room seemed to be evaluating her. In order to alleviate her own tension, she grabbed a cloth that was laying on a shelf and started to clean her arrow so she could put it away.
"Excuse me, that is a doily, not a dishcloth!" The hobbit informed her as he tried to rescue his precious doily from her grasp, but she was quicker, taller and easily avoided him to take it away.
"Wait, I'm almost done"
"Katniss! This is so rude! Didn't your mother teach you better?" the hobbit told off her bad manners.
"Nope, I was mostly self-taught…"
"Well, that does explain quite a lot!"
"Here we go," she said as she threw the fabric on Bilbo's hand. "You can put it back with all the other horrible doilies that I am sure you have got hidden somewhere…"
Some of the dwarves chuckled with her comment.
"Aye, the lass has fire!" Bofur's choice of words was what made her raise her head and finally have a proper look at Bilbo's guests.
They were clearly not hobbits, but at the same time, they did not seem to be ordinary men. They were taller than Bilbo, but they were all short nonetheless. Herself being only 5.2 feet tall, Katniss used to be one of the shortest people in any given room. However, around these people, she was definitely among the tallest. The exception probably was the man she had shot and the archer. But they were not even taller than she was, only about the same size. Gandalf was the only one who towered over them.
The second thing she noticed about them was the incredible amount of facial hair these guys seemed to have. That was clearly not from the Capitol's latest fashion. They all seemed to be carrying weapons, and by the little display that she had witnessed, Katniss would be ready to bet her entire hunting bag that they all knew how to use them.
She was offered some camomile tea by a man who introduced himself as Dori, which she gladly accepted. While all the others seemed to leave their weapons in the entry hall of the house before joining the table, she had refused to do the same. While they were clearly old friends, she was alone. If any of them thought something about her refusal to depart from her bow, nobody said anything.
When she arrived at the dinner table, she found the man that she had shot shirtless being treated by one of his companions.
"You were right, Thorin, it was just a long scratch. But I will need to stitch you up. I will do my best, but it might leave a scar…" the old man with an elaborated braided beard informed Thorin as he prepared the needle in a similar way Katniss had seen her mother doing so many times before.
As her eyes met Thorin's, she felt a blush going up to her cheeks as the embarrassment of being caught ogling his bare skin took the best of her. She quickly turned her attention to the rest of the table, settling for a chair in between two empty seats. Her line of thought was that maybe they would leave her be and keep it to themselves. Most of the food seemed to have gone, but yet, someone managed to fill up a plate and pass it over to her, which she was grateful for.
"Fíli,"
"And Kíli,"
"At your service," Both young Princes gave her a gentle bow as they claimed both available chairs on each side of her.
"Katniss," she informed them as she helped herself to more bread. She did not feel like engaging in a conversation with them more than necessary. She was there only to learn her whereabouts and how to get her sister to safety.
"Lady Katniss, my brother is feeling a bit shy to ask, but would you mind letting us examine your bow?" Fíli asked her.
"I was not feeling shy, Fee! I just did not want to be a bother, that is all."
"You did not want to be a bother? Since when do you care about that, little brother?"
"Sure, why not?" Katniss handed her bow and quiver to Kíli, stopping the discussion between both brothers at once.
"Wow, such a smooth finish… look at its string, how strong it feels! Look how sturdy these arrows are," Kíli who was drooling over Katniss's weapon soon caught the attention of some other members of the company who were sitting nearby.
"I've never seen a bow like this. Did you make this weapon yourself, Lady Katniss?" Nori asked.
Katniss almost chucked on her drink.
"Me? No way. The few bows I tried to make were dreadful. This was made for me by my friend Beete,"
"Your friend is a very fine craftsman, Lady Katniss," one of the red-haired dwarves told her as he analysed the sculpted details at the edge of the bow that made it look like wings.
"He certainly is…" Katniss sighed as she stroked her bow while she wondered where her friends would be at that moment. Back at District Thirteen perhaps? Or were they still searching for survivors at District Two?
The dwarves seemed to notice that her mind was wandering somewhere else and in a silent agreement, they decided to leave her alone, which she was honestly glad for. She happily ignored them when they started talking about meetings in places she never heard before, lost kingdoms and lonely mountains. Not that she could fully understand what they were on about anyway.
So Katniss decided to remain quiet, focusing her attention on finishing eating her soup. But when she heard the word 'dragon' coming up, she could not help but tried to cover a giggle with her hands. However, nobody else in the room seemed to find that funny, and all their heads were turned back to her. Some were in shock, but most of them looked affronted.
"What are you laughing about? Do you think a dragon is a joke?" Thorin Okenshield raged as he tried to control himself really hard to not attack that human girl right there at Bilbo's dining room.
"No…! Well, I mean… a dragon? Really? A dragon? Are you serious?"
"Have you killed many dragons on your land, my Lady?" Fíli turned his head to face her. His eyes were full of hope and fire.
"Of course I didn't!" she spoke feeling annoyed as she looked at Thorin straight at his icy-blue eyes. "I believe that everybody saw the footage that shows when I've put that aircraft from the Capitol down; but I obviously never killed a dragon, because dragons do not exist. Dragons are not real, right?" she finished her sentence by looking around the table, seeking someone to agree with her, but despite a couple of confused frowns and glares, nobody came to her rescue.
"They were real once, Katniss. In a distant past. A distant and forgotten past that now is your present," as Gandalf spoke, Katniss felt a chill on her spine. The wizard then turned to the rest of the company, "Katniss Everdeen is from the future. The Valar seemed to believe it was fit to send her back. But from all places they could have placed her, they decided to send her here, at Mr Baggins' doorstep."
Some of the dwarfs started to look at her as if she had grown another head. Katniss did not seem aware of that, however, as her eyes were locked-in on the wizard's.
"I see it as a sign that my hunch had been more than right, and the son of Belladonna Tuk, Bilbo here, were indeed to be your burglar, and Katniss, the heroine of this quest."
Katniss remained speechless, half-believing half-doubting what had been said. Soon, voices started to argue, if Katniss could or could not be from the future, or if she was truly a heroine altogether. The only female present just rolled her eyes and decided to ignore the discussion and carry on with eating her dinner instead. After a while, Thorin stood up, saying that the origins of that girl were completely irrelevant. He said that what really mattered was that the signs were clear and that they should take this chance to take Erebor back.
Katniss was only half-listening when Gandalf gave Thorin a key and started to mention a plan that involved some sort of burglary and a certain light-feet hobbit. Meanwhile, her mind was wondering if she could have somehow been sent back to the past. Even though that mere idea sounded completely absurd, she had to agree that, so far, she had failed to spot any sign of electrical appliances at the Shire. Not even an old-style power socket.
"Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is," Gandalf's abnormally loud voice woke her from her thoughts. Like the others, her eyes were wide open as she noticed the size of the wizard seemed to increase, almost if by magic.
"Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they so choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of a hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company, and I have chosen Mr Baggins. The Valar saw fit to send Miss Everdeen to his doorstep, and it would be a fool's errand to ignore that. There's a lot more to them than appearances suggest, and they have a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including themselves. You must trust me on this."
"Very well. We will do it your way," Thorin said straight to the wizard.
"No, no, please!" Bilbo started to shake his head, whereas Katniss frowned as she was unsure of what exactly was going on.
"Give them the contract."
Immediately Balin got two similar parchments out of his pocket.
"It's just the usual summary of out-of-pocket expenses, the time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth," Balin said as he passed both contracts to Thorin and to Fíli, who respectively handed them to Bilbo and Katniss.
"Funeral arrangements?" Bilbo's face went white as he left the room.
"What is this?" Katniss frowned at the paper Fíli had just shoved on her hands.
"I think the Lass needs to borrow your ear trumpet brother!" Gloin said to Oin, making the entire company laugh.
"This is your contract for the Quest to reclaim the Kingdom of Erebor, my Lady..." Fíli informed her with a flirty smile.
"Which, just in case you've missed, is our homeland that has been taken by Smaug, the terrible,'' Kíli completed, giving her a wink.
She ignored their behaviour and decided to give the parchment a better look. Meanwhile, they could hear Bilbo's voice reading the contract from his drawing-room.
"Terms: Cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding one-fifteenth of total profit, if any. Seems fair. Eh, Present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof including but not limited to lacerations, evisceration, incineration?"
"Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye," Bofur casually told the hobbit.
"You all right, laddie?" Balin asked.
"Uh, yeah..." Bilbo answered though he looked about to faint.
"Think furnace with wings," Bofur added.
"Air, I... I… I need air." Bilbo started to walk in circles as he carried on super ventilating his breathing.
"Flash of light, searing pain, then poof! You're nothing more than a pile of ash," Bofur carried on, despite Bilbo's state.
"Hmmm. Nope," and just like that, the hobbit fell on the floor as he fainted.
"Ah, very helpful, Bofur," Gandalf glared at the toymaker. Gandalf was about to go after Bilbo when Katniss's voice finally broke out.
"What…?" Katniss looked back at the blond dwarf that had handed the contract, and shook it just in front of his nose "Is this an ill joke? A Quest? I don't have time for this. I need to find my sister. I need to kill President Snow!"
The members of the company were all taken back by this new piece of information about the girl. It finally struck them that they did not know a thing about her. The only certainty they had was Gandalf's word that she was a heroine from a distant future.
"Your sister is far away from your reach, Katniss, as she is still to be born quite a few ages from now. And so is President Snow…"
"But... there must be a way for me to get back to them. I am needed there. You don't understand. There is a war going on…"
There was an urgency in her eyes when Thorin's met them. He recognised that urge she was experiencing, and not only because he had felt similar things before, but also because he was feeling a similar urge now. The King in Exile just nodded at her to try to show her that he understood.
"My dear Katniss, what if the reason behind your presence here is to make such an enormous difference that it could change your own future?" the wizard urged as he walked towards the place where she was seated.
"I don't understand…"
"Want you or not, this is your present now. The choices you make here will surely impact the future. Perhaps your choices could lead to Panem never coming to be…"
While every dwarf seemed to be taken back by the wizard's new revelation, Katniss remained there as if she had been struck by lightning. Could that really be true, what that old man was saying? The mere concept of time-travel sounded bizarre to her ears. She had never heard of such a thing. But then, it was no secret that the Capitol liked to keep people in the dark about many things.
One thing she was certain though, was that she had never heard about hobbits, or about such places like the Shire or Erebor had ever existed. Could this man really be a wizard, like Bilbo had sworn he was? Or had she just been placed in another sick reality show run by the Capitol? However, this time, instead of forcing her to kill tributes in a bloody bath, they were trying to play mind games until they drove her to insanity.
"This… this is madness. You are all crazy. You are all trying to drive me insane. I will not sign up for this…"
"But lass, the Valar sent you here!" Kíli pleaded, but she was not having it. She stood up, in order to make her position on this matter clear to everybody.
"No! Absolutely no way! I volunteered at the Games to save my sister's life. Then, I had no choice, but this… volunteering by my own accord… to go on a quest to kill a dragon... and for what? For a treasure? No, thank you! I am done fighting. Especially in a war that is not mine. I am done for the night!" And just like that, Katniss left the room, her head high and her bow and quiver at her shoulders. There was a small commotion of sad heavy-hearted faces, as they silently stared as she walked away from Bilbo's dining room.
Looking defeated, Gandalf left his dwarven friends to look after Bilbo who was still laying down at his drawing-room.
"Our burglar is a scaredy-cat, and now we lost our heroine for good," Balin said, lowering his head.
"Maybe for the best. Taking women to battle is never a good omen," Dwalin nodded.
"Aye, she would be nothing but a liability," Thorin agreed with his kinsman. "More distraction than an asset, if her aim was anything to judge her by…"