An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Four: Meeting the Company

Thalia looked at the hobbit that opened the front door to them, she raised an eyebrow wondering what Gandalf was planning; the man before her, didn’t look like someone who would be going on some sort of dangerous quest.

“Gandalf what is going on?” Bilbo demanded as the wizard walked straight into his home while Thalia hovered in the doorway; she suddenly felt bad for the hobbit who was clearly suffering from a home invasion of some sort.

Thalia offered Bilbo a small smile before she stepped inside and looked at the dwarves that were having some small party in the hobbit’s home, she sighed knowing why the poor hobbit seemed worried and a little irritated.

“I’m Thalia… I’m guessing he does this often,” Thalia said introducing herself as she watched Gandalf cheerfully chatted and interacted with the dwarves.

She didn’t know what it was but she could tell that the wizard usually brought as much trouble as he did help to his friends.

Bilbo eyed the witch curious as to why she had arrived with Gandalf before he offered her his hand to shake and introduced himself.

“Bilbo Baggins of Bag End,” the hobbit said introducing himself, he nodded at Thalia as he quickly looked around; there were twelve dwarves in his home and he still didn’t know why, only knowing that they had come here at Gandalf’s say so.

The two stood awkwardly for a moment before Bilbo hurried away to stop them from breaking anything; Thalia watched him go as she leant against the wall, she eyed the dwarves warily wondering what she had let herself in for.

“You weren’t here before,” said a voice making Thalia jump slightly, she turned to find a dwarf watching her curiously; she swallowed as he eyed her for a moment.

“Bofur this is Thalia Grace Hunter… she’s a friend of mine,” Gandalf said reappearing seemingly from nowhere, he nodded at the dwarf who was staring at Thalia; he hoped that their leader was prepared to take on the witch because they were going to need her.

Bofur grinned before took Thalia’s hand and dragged her into the dining room where the twelve dwarves were having their dinner.

“Gentlemen this is Gandalf’s friend Thalia Graceful Hunter,” Bofur said introducing Thalia to the others, she paused at the name that he had said and opened her mouth in protest; however she got the chance as she stared at the twelves dwarves that were sat in the dining room.

Gandalf stepped forward spotting the lost look on the blonde’s face, this had to work and he hoped that she was prepared for what the quest would change.

“Bilbo, Thalia allow me to introduce Fíli, Kíli, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori,” Gandalf said looking between the hobbit and the witch; he just hoped that the leader of the group wouldn’t cause him to much bother about his choices.

***

“Careful! You'll blunt them,” Bilbo cried in distress attempting to stop the dwarves banging his cutlery against the table. Thalia watched from the back of the room, she couldn’t help feel sorry for the hobbit especially since it was clear he’d had no idea that this was going to happen.

“Oh, did you hear that, lads? He says we'll blunt the knives,” Bifur called as they all continued what they were doing, Bilbo raised his hands hurrying forward making Thalia sigh and look at Gandalf.

Thalia couldn’t believe that the wizard was allowing this, she knew that the dwarves meant no harm but this was Bilbo’s house and he was clearly upset.

“Blunt the knives! Bend the forks! Smash the bottles and burn the corks! Chip the glassed and crack the plates! That's what Bilbo Baggins hates,” the dwarves sang gleefully as they started to clear the table by throwing the plates and cups.

Thalia closed her eyes as she heard Bilbo squeak knowing that they were going to push him over the edge at some point and it wasn’t going to be pretty if he snapped.

“Okay that’s quite enough,” Thalia said making all of the dwarves stop and look at her, she ignored the small smile that twisted itself onto Gandalf’s lips as she moved out of her corner and walked forward; she had a feeling that if something wasn’t done then poor Bilbo would end up with more than broken plates.

“Aye lass but who are you to say that,” Dwalin asked reaching for his axe, he glared at the blonde who was taken away their fun while they waited for their leader to arrive; Gandalf looked at Thalia with interest as he watched her wondering what she was going to do.

Thalia smirked as she looked at him, she knew that they weren’t going to really listen to her; she was a woman and she needed to prove her worth.

“Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen to be unseen,” Thalia whispered causing the axe to disappear, she grinned as all of the dwarves stared at her shocked while Gandalf chuckled as he sipped on his drink; he knew that this was going to make things interesting if Thalia was going to use her magic like this.

“What did you do with my axe?” Dwalin snarled getting to his feet, he looked around confused as Thalia crossed her arms, and she had no intentions of being frightened by some over grown dwarf who thought that he could bring out a weapon to get his own way.

“I cast a little spell… I’ll bring it back when you apologise to Bilbo,” Thalia said raising an eyebrow at the dwarf while Gandalf chuckled and smoked on his pipe; he could tell that she was going to be one hell of a match for the dwarf leader when he arrived.

Dwalin grumbled for a moment as he eyed Thalia to see if she was serious, however after a moment of staring he huffed and apologised to Bilbo; he had a feeling that she wasn’t going to back down until she had done what he had wanted.

“Let the object of objection return, so that its existence may be reaffirmed,” Thalia said allowing the axe to reappear, she knew that she couldn’t have them all hating her before the quest; she needed to keep them on side otherwise she was going to be stuck in Middle Earth for a long time.

Dwalin huffed as he slunk off to sit next to his older brother, who chuckled as he looked at Thalia; he had a feeling that she was going to be the one to keep them all in line.

“How did you do that?” Fíli and Kíli asked hurrying over to Thalia curious about how she had made the axe disappear and reappear like that; she sighed as she looked at them knowing that she probably shouldn’t have done that.

Gandalf chuckled as he watched the two young dwarves question Thalia, he knew that they would be key in warming their uncle to the idea of allowing Thalia on the quest to reclaim their lost home; Thorin wasn’t going to be welcome to the idea of allowing a woman to join the company.

Suddenly three loud knocks boomed through the hobbit-hole making everyone stop what they were doing, Thalia glanced at Bilbo who looked just as confused as she did.

“He’s here,” Gandalf said before everyone moved towards the front door, knowing that everything was going to take an interesting twist now; Thalia took a deep breath as she felt an odd chill.

Thalia didn’t know what it was but whoever had just arrived was clearly very important and it made her nervous.