Fitting in ~

Lost hobbit and Home ~

Panting in the twilight air, you ran down the sloping mountainside, singing your joy to the world. "Praise the sunlight ! Praise the big flaming yellow ball in the sky! PRAISE IT ALL!" Hands were flung out as you ran, nose flared as you drank in that cool mountain air.

"Y/n you sound like a looney!" Kili called

"Quit that screeching!" Fili added with a laugh

"Oh let the lass have her songs !" Gloin now added. "She's only happy to be free of that horrid place !"

"You bet I am !" You called. "I never want to go near another cave again."

The pine needles crushed under your feet, the wind of the dying day lashed your face and it felt great. You passed Gandalf as the company came to a halt a very long and safe distance from the goblin tunnels.

"... Seven, eight .." He was counting you all. Like a little Shepard. "Y/n.... Bifur.... Bofur... That's ten... Fili -Kili! That's thirteen.... And Bombur - that makes fourteen."

Wait - fourteen? What ?! Who was missing?! You whipped your head about, scanning the faces of the dwarves as they all formed a semi circle around the small clearing. Your heart raced as you looked at faces. It raced, tripped and plummeted down int the darkened pit of despair as you saw the lack of a merry and always cheerful face.

"Where is bilbo..? Where is our hobbit ..?" No reply came from the dwarves. They looked about them, back and forth, eyes turning through the sparse woods. You looked too, searching for a sight of a once implacable coat. Or a shift of tossled mousy hair. But their was none. "WHERE IS OUR HOBBIT ?!" Gandalf thundered now. You saw the distress in his face and knew that, like you, Bilbo was more then a burglar to him. He was a friend. A bright face among frowning stony dwarves. The only one to offer you a place as well If you could find no way home. He was your friend. More then your friend. He was the heart of your odd little middle earth family.

"Curse the halfling !" Dwalin grumbled gruffly. You turned to the warrior. "now he's lost ?!" You could hear the anger rising, the rage coming forth. The group- upon missing the center of their odd little company- were about to break against each other.

"I thought he was with Dori !" Glion shouted now. You whipped your head to Dori, eager for any news.

"Don't blame me !" Dori scoffed angrily, tilting his head up and meeting your eyes. He saw in them the anguish and quickly turned away.

"Well where did you last see him?!" Gandalf asked the group as a whole. Where had bilbo gone ? Was he somewhere, being snatched and snapped at by the great goblins beneath the mountains ? Were they now hurting the poor little hobbit ? Were they now breaking his cute little face ? No - no they couldn't - they just couldn't. Not bilbo. Not him. You sank to your knees, hands clutching your head. No - not Bilbo. Sweet little bilbo.

"Do not sorrow now Y/n! Stand up!" Gandalf called at you, swinging his hat down on to your head. You turned your eyes upward, and saw his disgruntled face. "We must first find out if the hobbit is here or behind ! Keep your head on till then!" You nodded and rose with difficulty for the heart in your chest was weeping red for your friend.

"I think I saw him slip away, when they first collared us." Nori comments, eyes looking to your face in compassion. He had escaped ? He was free of the mountain ? But - no- he had escaped the goblins. Was he trapped even now, inside that dreadful dungeon ? You spun to make a run for the hill again but Gandalf caught you by the back of your tattered jacket.

"Don't be a fool now, Y/n!" He shouted at you." He turned back to the company "What happened exactly? Tell me!"

"I'll tell you what happened." Thorin spoke up. He wore the darkest scowl on his face- a mixture of anger and betrayal bleeding onto his stony face. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone."

A long silence came over the group at this as Thorin turned away.

"And who wouldn't !?" Your voice leapt from your lips before you could stop yourself. The words were already running like water now as the King Under the Mountain slowly turned back to you. His expression was stony, eyes dark. "Isn't that the reason you are all on this quest ?! Becasue you miss your home!?! Don't you miss your home ?! And I know Bilbo loved his very much- home is where the heart is they say at times in my world. Well- have some respect for the little hobbit. He loves his home. Just like you all do- just like you all are doing now. To reclaim a stolen home! "
Throin snarled now, his teeth bared at you as he stepped forward. He looked mean and dark, a wolf to tear the sheep limb from limb.

"Does that mean you abandon others at the first chance or sign of hardship?!" He spat. "Does it mean you leave those behind who you have sworn yourself to?! No - and he has left us - and taken his soft road home to the Shire once more." You glared down defiantly at the dwarf, rage coursing through you.

"No, he hasn't ."
You spun around, all heads whipping toward the sound of the voice. Your heart gave a little squeeze as you saw the little hobbit, disheveled, dirty but alive. You heard the chuckles of joy from the rest of the company as you ran forward and tackled the small hobbit into your arms. He squeaked and grumbled about something stupid like clothes getting mused but you couldn't care. He was alive - he was alive !

"Oh bilbo! I was so worried for you my friend !" You cried hugging him and spinning him about. The dwarves laughed heartily, even Gandalf gave a cry of delight. But Throin seemed more then stunned.

"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!" Gandalf cried.

"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili exclaimed his face bright with joy
"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?!" Fili asked stunned.
"How, indeed." Dwalin scoffed wondering how the tiny little grocer could have gotten free of the terrible underground.

"Who cares !" You cried in joy. "He's alive and well! That is all that I care for !" You set bilbo back on the ground, kissing his little forehead in your joy. The small hobbit blushed crimson from his ears to his hairy toes.

"Well, like y/n said, what does it matter? He's back!" Gandalf exclaimed.
"It matters! " Thorin said softly. His voice became louder on the next play of his words. "I want to know: why did you come back?" It seemed that the young dwarf was astonished, astonished at the fact that he had judged someone's character and had been false about it.
"Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have." Bilbo sighed looking at Throin "You doubt both me and y/n. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. Just like Y/n thinks of her own home, wherever that may be or lie. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. And one of you was taken from it. " he turned to you, that soft smile of his melting your heart. "But I will help you find it again. I will help you take it back if I can." You looked to Thorin, who's face was an utter mask of shock and surprise. You had a feeling in your heart that no one had ever said these words or felt this sort of loyalty to Thorin besides the dwarves. You stepped forward now, nodding your head. All was said truthfully. All was said with truth. And now - now it was made all the clearer to you why Thorin distrusted you. The king had trusted in others before possibly. Others who had turned on him in his moment of need. That was the reason he doubted you. That was the reason he doubted your loyalty- even if it was to reach your own end of the tale and find a way home waiting on the other side.

The moment was shattered in a thousand pieces with a cry from on top of the rise. The voice you heard spoke in a language like hot tar an pitch rolling down your throat. Gazing up at the rise, you saw the forms of all too familiar wargs, racing down down the slope with terrifying swiftness. Their howls screamed and cut through the air as the wind carried the scent to you.

"Out of the frying pan...."

".... And into the fire."