A Hobbits Tale

Chapter 3 (New)

As we were riding along Bilbo sneezes. Allergic to his pony maybe. "Ugh. Horse hair. Im having a reaction." He sighs looking down at his clothes then groaning and looking up. "No wait! Wait stop. We have to turn around."

"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asks.

"I forgot my hankerchief." He says and this time i groan.

"Bilbo. You're embarrassing me." I whisper to him and then Bofur's voice sounds, stopping any reply Bilbo might have had.

"Here." Bofur tells him ripping a piece of his jacket. "Use this." He says tossing it to my cousin who look slightly appaled at the idea of using it. The others and I just laugh.

"Move on." Thorin says and we continue.

"You'll have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs," Gandalf says as we follow a winding river through the trees. "And a good many other things Bilbo Baggins before we reach our journey's end. "You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire. But home is now behind you. The world is ahead."

The first night was..... awkward. Bilbo and I sticking together, each of us clearly uncomfortable around strangers. But the Princes, Fili and Kili, were not. Both of them clearly eager to have new people to talk to and every once in a while Bofur would tell funny stories and it wasnt so bad. By supper I've got a slightly clearer idea of what everyone was like.

Bofur is the easiest for me to understand. He's nice, and always seems to be happy, laughing and joking around, or telling stories.

His brother, Bombur, was the large dwarf who ate 3 blocks of cheese last night. Three! "He eats it by the block." Bofur had said. Frankly it was rather impressive.

Bombur is the one cooking supper tonight and it smells so good. I wonder what sort of meals dwarves liked? Meat, obviously, but tonight bombur is making a stew. I wonder how different it'll taste from hobbit cooking.

Balin, one of the older dwarves with snow white hair, is easy to identify as the diplomat of the group. Soft spoken and kind. His brother Dwalin however, is easily the most dangerous looking and intimidating dwarf in the company.

Dori liked tea. That was all i really knew about him. That and he's the best groomed of the bunch. Nori is a bit difficult to read but he has a sharp, almost dangerous, edge to him. Their younger brother Ori seems shy. He hasnt really spoken to me much but i can tell he's the scribe of the company. To properly document and record as this journey goes. Maybe i could do some sketches for him.

Fili and Kili seemed to be the mostly lively of the group. Kili a little more so than Fili, who seemed to be a bit more reserved.

"Why are your feet so big?" Kili asks and Fili shoots him a look before following with "and why dont you wear shoes?"

I look down at my feet and wiggle my toes. "Shoe shops are useless in the Shire." I tell them with a laugh. "Our feet are naturally durable. Im not really sure why. It's just how we were made. No need for shoes."

The older warriors like Bifur, who had an axe in his head, Oin who was mostly deaf, and Gloin were mysterious and too difficult to read in just one day.

"Here." Bilbo says as he hands me a bowl of the stew.

My stomach growled at the sight. "Thanks."

We set our bed rolls close to each other just a little away from the company and slept. Even though it wasnt a comfortable bed it wasnt bad. It wasnt bad at all and I slept well.