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Chapter Three - Meeting and Contract

The wizard got up from his seat and walked over to the door to open it. It revealed yet another dwarf. Bilbo and Maura noticed the others were gathering in the main hall. The two of them decided to follow behind, curious to see who this important person was that the others had been so patiently waiting for. "Gandalf." the gruff voice of the visitor spoke to the wizard. " I thought you said this place would be easy to find." He continued, stepping into the hobbit's home. "I lost my way twice. I wouldn't have found it at all had it not been for that mark on the door."

Bilbo and Maura had been hiding behind the others, peering through the spaces to see who this was. The hobbit squeezed through when he heard this. "Mark? There's no mark on that door. It was painted a week ago." The hobbit informed, feeling sure of this.

"There is a mark. I put it there myself." The wizard admitted and the hobbit looked at the door, wondering how he could have missed it. "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of the company: Thorin Oakenshield." 

The dwarf looked as this short fellow, with a hint of surprise. He didn't look like burglar material, but he wouldn't express his disappointment yet. "So...this is the hobbit. Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?" He asked, as he circled around the hobbit before facing him once again.

"Pardon me?" Bilbo stuttered, wondering what gave him that idea.

"Axe or sword? What's your weapon of choice?" He demanded in a serious tone. Maura couldn't believe this. This dwarf was actually being serious. 

"Well, I do have some skill at conkers, if you must know." Bilbo awkwardly confessed. Thorin gave the wizard a stern look, clearly annoyed with the wizard's final choice for their fourteenth member to steal back what was taken from them long ago. "But I fail to see why that's relevant."

"Thought as much." Thorin muttered. "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." He smirked as the others laughed at the remark and he started following the others into the other room. Only one person didn't find this funny and she pushed her way through the dwarves.

" You think your all high and mighty, picking on someone smaller than you?" Maura sneered at him as she stood beside Bilbo. The dwarf stopped in his tracks, a little taken that it was a woman's voice that spoke. He turned around and Maura starred into his cold, ice blue eyes. 

"And who are you?" He challenged, walking right up to her.

"Ah, this Maura. She is Bilbo's aunt." Gandalf quickly explained before the conversation escalated. Thorin looked up at the wizard and then back at the young woman. She resembled nothing like any of the hobbit's he had seen, or to the one that was right in front of him. If anything, he thought she looked more like a dwarf; she defiantly had the attitude of one. He started circling around her and she was not to impressed by this.

"What are you looking at?" She demanded when he came back in front of her with his arms crossed.

"Your not a hobbit...what are you?" He asked.

"I am half dwarf and half hobbit." Maura admitted, waiting to see the dwarf's reaction to this,but he only seemed to narrow his eyes slightly, unsure what to say. He had never met anyone that was only half dwarf. Thorin was quite taken by her appearance for only being a half-breed and he shifted awkwardly from the long silence that filled the room. 

"Well..I think we have a meeting to attend to." Gandalf reminded and the dwarf turned away from her and looked at the wizard and nodded and left to go join the others at the table. The wizard let out a sigh as Bilbo looked at Maura and then the wizard, still trying to figure out what was going on.

"What news from the meeting in Ered Luin?" Balin asked. Thorin was at the head of the table eating his fill, with a mug of ale. Bilbo and Maura were behind the dwarf, listening to the discussion. " Did they all come?"