I'm Staying With You (A Hobbit Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

Gandalf opens the door, and we're met by the one and only Thorin Oakenshield.

"Gandalf," he says in his low voice. "I thought you said this place would be easy to find! I lost my way, twice. Never would have found it if it weren't for that mark on the door."

"Mark? There is no mark on that door. It was painted just a week ago," Bilbo says.

"There is a mark. I put it there myself," Gandalf says as he closes the door. "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce you to the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

"So, this is the hobbit," Thorin says with a slight smirk on his face. "Tell me, have you done much fighting?"

"Pardon me?" Bilbo asks.

"Axe or sword, which is your weapon of choice?" Thorin demands, circling him.

"Well, I do have some skill with riddles, but I fail to see why that is evident here," Bilbo says. He looks a bit nervous, and I can understand why. Thorin can be intimidating if he wants to be.

"Thought as much," Thorin says, looking back at the group of dwarves that had accumulated behind him. "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar."

A chuckle arises from the crowd, and I smirk a bit. He does look like a grocer...

Thorin walks towards the dining room, and we follow him. I hand Thorin a bowl of soup as he sits down, and he begins to eat.

"What news from the meeting in Erid Luin? Did they all come?" Balin asks, leaning forward in his chair.

"Aye. Envoys from all seven kingdoms," Thorin replies, eating another spoonful of soup.

"All of them!" Balin exclaims. Everyone grins and quietly mutter amongst themselves, but something tells me it isn't going to be this easy.

"What do the dwarves from the Iron Hills say?" Dwalin asks. "Is Dain with us?"

Thorin sighs deeply and looks around at us.

"They will not come."

A universal disappointed murmur is heard, and I lean my head back against the wall of the hobbit hole in disappointment.

"They say this quest is ours and ours alone," Thorin says. Everyone goes silent, the discouragement heavy in our hearts. A few dwarves sigh, including me.

"You're going on a quest?" Bilbo asks from behind Gandalf.

"Someone caught on late," Kili mutters, and I snort, holding back a laugh.

"Bilbo, my dear fellow, let us have a little more light," Gandalf says. Bilbo nods and walks behind Thorin, where a map is then laid out by Gandalf.

"Far to the east, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single, solitary peak," the wise wizard says, pointing to the map.

"Aye, Oin has read the portents and the portents say, it is time!" Gloin says, and everyone mumbles in agreement.

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain, as it was foretold," Oin says. "When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end."

"Uh, what beast?" Bilbo asks. I smirk and sit back in my chair, waiting for the explanation of the giant, fire breathing dragon to be told to the small hobbit.

"That would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age," Bofur says. "Air born fire breather. Teeth like razors, claws like meathooks. Extremely fond of precious metals."

"Yes, I know what a dragon is," Bilbo says, slightly irritated.

Well, that's good. At least we don't have to try and explain that.

"I'm not afraid! I'm up for it!" Ori says, standing up. "I'll give him a taste of Dwarfish iron right up his jacksie!"

I roll my eyes and sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose with my fingertips. A single, small, blonde braid falls in my face, and I tuck it behind my ear, rejoining it with my large braid that the rest of my hair is in.

"Good lad, Ori! Sit down," Nori says.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us, but we number just 14," Balin says, and everyone gets quiet again. "And not 14 of the best... nor brightest."

Everyone mutters angrily at this, but I remain quiet, observing the conversation.

"Hey, who are you calling dim!?" Nori demands.

"Sorry, what did he say?" Oin asks.

"We may be few in number, but we're fighters," Fili says.

"All of us, to the last dwarf," I add in, smacking my hand on the table.

"And you forget, we have a wizard in our company," Kili chimes in. "Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time!"

I look over to Gandalf in curiousity, as do the rest of the company. Gandalf shakes his head and holds up his hand.

"Oh, well, no. I wouldn't say--"

"How many, then?" Nori asks.

"What?" Gandalf asks.

"Well, how many dragons have you killed?" I ask.

Gandalf takes a smoke of his pipe, but begins to cough, the grey smoke coming from his mouth in little bursts.

"Go on. Give us a number!" Nori demands.

The dwarves rise into chaos, and I lift my feet up onto my chair so I wrapped in a little ball. Everyone is yelling indistinctly, and I want to yell for them all to shut up.

"Excuse me, please," Bilbo begs.

As I'm about to stand up, Thorin beats me to it. He yells a Dwarvish command that I can't quite distinquish, and everyone sits back down and doesn't say another word.

"If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too?" Thorin asks, standing and looking around at his company. "Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon, Smaug, has not been seen for 60 years. Eyes look east to the mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor?"

His voice fills with passion, and I can feel a smile growing on my face. We all erupt into cheers, and Fili squeezes my shoulder lightly, his eyes twinkling.

"Do you forget? The front gate is sealed," Balin says. Everyone sits back down, and I sigh heavily. "There is no way into the mountain."

A/N: Splitting this bit in two because it's way too long for one chapter.