Unexpected Assistance (A Hobbit Fanfic)

Chapter 1 - Cloaked Figures

Four cloaked figures walked swiftly down the road towards Hobbiton, their sights set on the house of one Bilbo Baggins. Their faces were covered as they walked in a straight, single file line. The figure in the front was cloaked in grey, followed by another in a blue cloak, then a red and finally a green. The sky was steadily darkening as evening fell and laughter sounded throughout the small hobbit village, but as the solemn party passed groups of jolly hobbits, silence soon followed as the inhabitants began to stare accusingly at the newcomers. Paying no notice, they continued on their journey.

"There. Erion, it is the mark that Gandalf spoke of," said the decidedly feminine voice from under the red cloak as she lifted her hand and pointed to a round green door slightly further down the road.

The person in the grey cloak, Erion, nodded and the strange precession continued, soon reaching the house (or hole) in question. They passed the array flowers that filled the small garden of Mr. Baggins before coming to a stop at the door. The grey cloaked figure reached out a hand and gave three sharp knocks.

It only took a second before the green door opened a crack to reveal a rather indignant hobbit standing with an unlit candle in his hands as he began to speak in a rushed tone, "Now I swear if there are any more dwar-"

He hesitated when he saw the four cloaked figures, "You're not dwarves..."

"Very observant, master hobbit," said the red cloak.

The figure in the grey cloak took charge. "Mr. Bilbo Baggins I presume. Gandalf called for us."

Bilbo huffed and stepped back from the door, "Well, I suppose you should come in then."

The four figures entered, two being forced to duck slightly to get through the doorway, and Bilbo slammed the door behind them before hurrying off in the direction where the strangers supposed the rest of Gandalf's company were situated.

They followed the small hobbit and eventually reached a large (well large in hobbit standards) room, which had a long dining table that was currently occupied by a large gaggle of dwarves and a wizard, all of which turned at the same time to stare at the late arrivals.

From what the strangers could see, the occupants of the room seemed to be gathered around some sort of map, but they only caught a glimpse of it before it was hurriedly swept out of sight by a dwarf wearing a thick coat lined with fur over what appeared to be chain mail. The dwarf turned quickly towards the strangers in anger, revealing long black hair and a dark and delicately braided beard. His face was contorted with anger, and his mouth was twisted into a frown.

"We send you off to bring us light and you come back with unwanted strangers, Mister Baggins," he said in a gruff voice.

The wizard, Gandalf, turned around but did not bother to stand, knowing that he would probably hit his head again. "Calm yourself, Thorin, they are not strangers and are certainly not unwanted, I asked them to come here. Though, I am pleasantly surprised that they accepted my request."

"It does not matter, I asked you to find the fourteenth member of our company, Gandalf, not to invite any old people that you see fit."

Gandalf huffed in frustration and rose from his seat in anger. "Don't be a fool, Thorin Oakenshield, without the help of these people your quest will fail, you cannot do this alone."

"Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do, wizard!"

Gandalf opened his mouth to retort but was stopped by someone clearing their throat.

The women in the red cloak threw back her hood in one swift movement, releasing a head of fiery red hair and brown eyes that flitted around the room calculatingly. She was quite beautiful and could only be around Kili and Fili's ages, but her height (which put her slightly taller than Thorin) showed that she most definitely was no dwarf. However, her rounded ears meant that she was no elf either.

"If you wished for light, all you had to do was ask," she said. Her voice sounded amused but, just underneath that, her tone gave the sense of a brewing storm for those who had the misfortune of getting on her bad side.

The lady grinned and turned to Bilbo, gently taking the unlit candle from his hand and turning back to the company. Slowly lifting her index finger, she blinked. Immediately, a single flame appeared on the top of her finger and flickered gently. She lowered her finger to wick of the candle, lighting it, before revelling in the slack jawed looks of horror and amazement from the dwarves around the table.

Silence fell upon Bag End. 

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Hi guys, its been a few years since I've been active on this as I've been focusing on writing my own novel. However, due to recent lockdown conditions, I decided to look at all the old fanfictions I wrote and decide if I want to continue them. I enjoy this one in particular and would love to give it another whirl so expect more chapters soon. I have already written 6 chapters of this, which I will release periodically depending on demand, and hopefully by the time they are all posted, I will have some new chapters for you to read. I hope you enjoy. (Also excuse the cover lol I made it years ago, but it does show you what the new characters look like in my mind.)

Love, Pixie.