A Ruby's Shine (Thorin Oakenshield X OC)

1. Hobbiton

I do not own The Hobbit or LOTR, only my OC's, but I do so enjoy them! Hope you enjoy!!!!

Note: Added the new Philomena design I made in Paint.Net! It's on the cover, yes, but here's a close up view that the work I put into the picture... Only thing I don't like is how young Philomena appears. But, past that, near exact how I pictured her.

I shouldered my bag again, staring out towards Hobbiton with narrowed eyes. My crazy curly bright red hair flew out behind me in the slight wind. As always I checked at my hiding places for my many knives and checked my sword that were with me before walking towards Hobbiton again.

My clothes were cleaner and newer than usual for me, purchased in Bree. A deep grey fur coat, light grey shirt, black pants, thick grey boots. I happen to like grey, makes it easier to blend in and I find the color soothing on the eyes. Around my head was a strip of old red fabric, holding my crazy red hair back, threads breaking free from the red cloth from being repeatedly used to hold my hair back for years.

I looked away from the road and smiled as Fairfin landed on my shoulder, making my shoulder drop a touch at his weight. He is a very rare white raven and has been my friend for years, always knowing when to hide from others that would kill him and when to encourage me to move away from an unsafe place. I held out some berries I had collected last night, watching as he picked them from my hand carefully with his beak.

I walked down the road, glaring at the hobbits I passed who stared at me and my bird in confusion, which made them look away pretty quick. Made sense, I wasn't a Dwarf yet I was as tall as one, I wasn't a human yet I looked kind of like one, but I could outlive humans and some of my features are too... different to be human like my skin and the color of my hair, as well as my strength. To be truthful, I didn't know, the frustration of my life right there. I was found, adopted, and raised by an elf of Rivendell, Maerwen. But, once I had discovered that they did not know who I was or where I came from, I left and began my search, desperate to know. I worked odd jobs in villages all over, playing the violin, crafting, or cleaning up the filth of the world, such as drunk violent humans or Orcs, even Goblins sometimes. I had probably done a little of everything I possibly could in my one hundred year search since I left Rivendell. I've been all over this side of the mountains and as far east as Rohan, through small towns and living off the road nearly each day. It became my life, and I lived for the thrill of a new challenge in my long adventure.

But I also had another talent, one that I guarded closely, as the elves told me to never show it to others. A talent that those who are darker in the world would see destroyed, or find a way to control it for themselves. So, I never let my gift see the light of day, having gotten good at subtly using it in way that are unnoticeable. And so it was an average day when I was asked to come to Hobbiton.

Like any other day in a Pub for a break from the road, I was playing my violin for a rowdy crowd to both make a few coins and prevent the Barmaid from having to deal with the drunkards doing too much stupid stuff. That was when a familiar wizard in gray arrived in the pub, a wizard I knew well as I had met him many times in Rivendell as I grew up, he even brought me things from the world sometimes that awed me as a child. He had asked for my help, telling me that they were going on an adventure, one that would take them through places I could not go on my own without risk of death, places across the mountains. I accepted because, maybe, out in the lands I could not explore on my own for fear of death, there were answers for which I searched.

I walked through Hobbiton as the sun slowly set, filling the sky with an array of colors, searching for the mark Gandalf told me to find. Finally, long after the sun had set, I found the right door, a green door with a blue glowing mark on the bottom that slowly faded shortly after I spotted it. I rolled my eyes because the mark was not clear at all, Gandalf, how do you expect people to find it? I wondered who else would be going on this adventure...