Saving Durin {Hobbit/Thorin}

Chapter 3: What did the squirrel say? Absolutely nothing.

Chapter 3:

What did the squirrel say? Absolutely nothing.

It is early the next morning when we arrive in the Shire. My eyes are having a hard time opening as I once again awake on the back of my pony. When I do manage to crack them open, I am pleasantly surprised to find myself in a small, hilly town blooming with colors. It is the Shire. The hobbits are out, smiling, as they go about their tedious, yet not so tedious, business.

As Gandalf and I travel down the worn roads of there shire, we get some strange looks. The children run behind us, curious as to why strangers are in their home village. I smile at them as Gandalf uses his staff to create fireworks. The children scream in glee before running off to their respective homes. The Shire is lovely in every way.

When we finally arrive at the home of Bilbo Baggins, I am shocked to find him already outside, picking up his mail. He is exactly as I imagined him to be: clean, curly-haired, and friendly (though not overly). This first encounter certifies his apparent orderly and slightly germophobic tendencies, and yet I know we will be great friends.

"Good morning," Bilbo speaks to us in a chipper attitude matching that of his appearance, though snarkiness is apparent in his tone. This is probably due to Gandalf's antics as he turns Bilbo's smoke ring into a moth.

"What do you mean? Do you mean to wish me a good morning, or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or, perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning. Or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on?" Gandalf asks the slightly flustered and completely confused hobbit. I don't blame him. Gandalf can be a little overbearing on first impression.

"Well I see you're in quirky mood again, Gandalf. Did you happen to eat some of Radagast's mushrooms again?" I ask the wizard, knowing full well what the mushrooms can do to you. I laugh at the memories.

"All of them at once, I suppose," Bilbo answers with a wise demeanor. I nod my head at his quick thinking, but Gandalf only looks saddened by this response.

"Can I help you?" Bilbo asks.

"That remains to be seen. I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure," Gandalf speaks to Bilbo, almost repeating, word-for-word, the proposal he made to me about this journey.

"An adventure? Now, I don't imagine anyone west of Bree would have much interest in adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things. Make you late for dinner, hmmm," Bilbo says, staring at us before heading back inside his comfortable hobbit home. He sends us another, "good morning."

"To think that I should have lived to be good-­morninged by Belladonna Took's son, as if I were selling buttons at the door," Gandalf says to the quickly departing hobbit.

"That is creepy," I mutter.

"Beg your pardon?" Bilbo asks, seemingly shocked at Gandalf's knowledge of his mother. I would be too if I had not known Gandalf better.

"You've changed, and not entirely for the better, Bilbo Baggins." Gandalf shakes his head in disappointment over the changed Bilbo.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Bilbo questions.

"Well, you know my name, although you don't remember I belong to it. I'm Gandalf! And Gandalf means ... me," Gandalf replies in a very Gandalf-like manner.

"Gandalf...not Gandalf, the wandering Wizard, who made such excellent fireworks! Old Took used to have them on Midsummer's Eve. Ha, ha! Well. Hmm, I had no idea you were still in business," Bilbo replies.

"Yes! They are spectacular! Truly Gandalf's best work if you ask me." I receive a glare from Gandalf over these words. It is a "butt-out now" look to which I whimper.

"And where else should I be?" Gandalf replies in a now grumpy tone.

"Ha, ha! Hm, hmm..." Bilbo stutters, puffing loudly on his pipe.

"Well, I'm pleased to find your remember something about me, even if it's only my fireworks. Well that's decided. It will be very good for you, and most amusing for me. I shall inform the others," Gandalf tells the hobbit, hinting at the company he will meet, quite unexpectedly, in the near future.

"Inform the who? What? No. No. No! Wait. We do not want any adventures here, thank you. Not today. I suggest you try over the Hill or across the Water. Good morning," Bilbo shouts before running into his home, as if it would save him from the coming night.

"Good morning!" I reply as he holes himself up, quite literally.

Gandalf quickly makes his way to the door as I stand at the gate. He carves a rune that will glow in the moonlight so that the dwarves know which house to visit. I can tell that the door is newly painted and so I laugh, figuring Bilbo will end up yelling about that tonight.

My eyes catch Bilbo approach the side window, so I join Gandalf at the door, putting my in front of the glass, scaring Bilbo out of his wits. I laugh at his expression while retreating with Gandalf into the woods outside the Shire. After deciding that I will go hunt for dinner (since Bilbo does not have enough food for one dwarf, let alone 13), Gandalf goes off in another direction. I never find out what he does during those in-between hours, but I assume it is wizard stuff, like talking to trees or a squirrel, who, I hear, are quite witty. The tree, I mean; squirrels can't talk.

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