The King And The Dragon

Wait!!!

"Saphira, wake up." Balin says, kindly, his hand moving my shoulder to wake me.

I wake up and put my things away. Balin put Bilbo's unsigned contract in his coat.

"Balin, may I see that, sir?" I ask him, my hand out.

He nods and gives it to me. I unfold it and lay it on his table.

Hopefully, Bilbo would reconsider coming with us. I saw a gleam for adventure in his eyes when we talked about me being a Ranger yesterday at dinner after I arrived.

I walk outside and bring my right thumb and pointer finger to my lips and whistle for Shado to come to me. And in a few moments, I see her trotting up the road to us.

I walk to her as I smile. She walks up to me as well. Then, I lift my right hand and lay it on the front of her face.

"Good morning, my beauty." I tell her in Sindarian.

She only responds to Sindarian and our native language, Dracolish. But, I mostly speak to her in Sindarian.

Anyway, I mount her and wait for everyone to get on their ponies. They take a little while. Finally, Ori mounts his pony and we all start to leave.

We ride out to a small little wood, almost at the edge of Hobbiton when I hear someone.

"WAIT! WAIT!"

It's Bilbo!

"Stop!" I shout, pulling the reigns on Shado, making her stop.

The company stops, some of the Dwarves groan. "What is it?" Thorin shouts/asks me from the front of the Company.

I point my thumb over my right shoulder, just as a certain Hobbit runs to us.

Bilbo holds up the contract I left at his house. "I signed it!" he says, panting.

He carries a bag on his back and all of his jacket buttons are messed up. He was in a hurry.

He hands his contract to Balin, who pulls out special glasses and reads the contract. When he finishes, he folds the contract and puts it in his coat.

"Everything seems to be in order. Welcome Bilbo Baggins to the Thorin Oakenshield company." Balin says, smiling.

I smile at Bilbo, as well, who smiles back at me. Apparently, only a few of us are pleased to see Bilbo.

"Give him a pony." Thorin says, curtly.

"No, no, that won't be necessary, thank you. I'm sure I can keep up on foot, I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. Even got as far as Frogmorton, once-" Bilbo tries to protest until Kili and Fili pick him up by his shoulders and put him on a pony.

I laugh, along with a few others, as I ride to Thorin. He sees me, and his mouth suddenly has a ghost of a smile before he makes it dissappear as he looks straight ahead and starts the Company forward.

A little later, the Dwarves throw little bags of money to each other. Most of us took bets if Bilbo was going to come or not. Most of the Dwarves said that he wasn't coming.

"Did you bet, Saphira?" Thorin asks me, the first time he's spoken to me today.

I slightly and silently gasp as I nod, my heart sent into a riotous frenzy. "Yes, I did." I say, my voice surprisingly calm.

"What did you bet?" he asks futher.

I don't have to say anything as I sense some things being thrown at me. And to answer his question, I reach back and grab the two bags of money.

He mouth slightly drops open as he looks at me in surprise. I wonder why.

"What? I always have faith in even the most unlikely things." I say as I put the bags of money in my saddle bag.

"But, how did you guess that he would come?" Thorin asks me, still surprised.

"Because there's a part of Bilbo that thirsts for adventure. Even if he doesn't know it himself." I say.

"I still do not understand."

"You do not have to. All we have to do is help him and befriend him."

"That is a matter of opinion."

"Well, in the name of quest, there isn't any other opinion."

Thorin simply shrugs as he looks forward. I won this argument, I think.

What does he have against Bilbo?

"Stop! We have to go back!" Bilbo cries, suddenly.

We all stop and look back at him and Gandalf, since they're riding side by side, confused and bewildered.

"Whatever is the matter?" Gandalf asks him, apparently as confused as we are.

"I forgot my pocket handkerchief." Bilbo replies, frantically as if he forgot the food.

"Here." Bofur tears a piece of the bottom of his cloak. Use this." he says, smiling, as he throws it to Bilbo.

He catches it, and looks at it as if thinking: "This looks questionable to me." We all chuckle as we make the ponies, or on my case, horse, go forward.

This is going to be the strangest journey I've ever had. And I'm more than alright with that.