Home ↠ The Hobbit

I. Baggins

"I wonder if Thorin has already arrived," Kili spoke up as he made his way through the Shire.

"I'll bet he's gotten lost. Who would have thought that a place meant for such small people would be so confusing?" Athena responded, a huff of air escaping her lips as they made their way up the small steps that lead to a circular door.

This time Fili was the one who spoke up, "it matters not, we've arrived," gesturing to the carving in the green-painted wood that signalled this was where they needed to be.

Athena took it upon herself to reach over and chime the bell. They waited mere moments before the door opened to reveal a rather confused and fed-up Hobbit. The three that stood before him smiled in his direction before introducing themselves one by one.

"Fili."

"And Kili."

"And Athena."

"At your service," the three of them simultaneously bowed as they echoed the same words.

"You must be Mr Boggins," the younger of the three addressed, a confident smile etched on his features.

"Baggins," Athena attempted to correct in a hushed tone towards his direction.

"No! You can't come in, you've come to the wrong house," the Hobbit hurriedly stated as he tried to shut the door, confusion forming on the faces of the brothers and their friend.

Kili's hand shot out to stop the door from closing in its entirety, Athena wincing ever so slightly at the force he used which sent Bilbo stumbling backwards. "What? Has it been cancelled?"

"No-one told us," Fili stated as he stepped forwards as well, Athena struggling to wedge herself between the two Dwarves so instead opting to stay back.

"Can-? No, nothing's been cancelled."

"That's a relief," Kili commented before marching into the house followed by Fili.

The woman walked in last, leaning down and placing a supportive hand on the doorway as she tried not to hit her head against the frame. One glance was all it took to realise that she was not a Dwarf like the others, her hairless face and towering form gave it away. Though she was not as tall as others in the race of Men, she was at least a head taller than the average Dwarf and Hobbit.

"Careful with these, I just had them sharpened," the blonde Dwarf stated as he practically threw his swords wrapped in cloth at Bilbo, Athena offering him an apologetic shrug as she stepped further inside the hobbit-hole with the others.

"It's nice, this place."

"Though perhaps a little small," she observed in response to Kili when she felt the top of her head brush against the ceiling. Even if it was fairly uncomfortable for her to stand in the hole she had to admit that it had a comfortable and compelling atmosphere, the warm hues given by the candles and the wooden furnishings only making her feel more at home.

"Did you do it yourself?" Kili added a question onto his previous statement.

"Uh... no, it's been in the family for years," the Hobbit responded as Fili continued to hand over his vast array of weapons, his eyes glancing over at Kili with a minimal amount of panic flitting across his gaze, "that's my mother's glory box, can you please not do that?"

Athena's attention was directed away from Fili's extensive weapon collection and onto another Dwarf that called out the trio's names, a small smile crossing her lips as she saw Dwalin leading Kili into the next room.

"Let's shove this in the hole, or otherwise we'll never get everyone in," Balin instructed them.

"How does he manage to live in such cramped conditions?" Athena muttered as she glanced across the room. For a Hobbit this was the perfect residence but for her and her companions it would be too small for them to freely move around.