Curse of the East (Fili/The Hobbit Fanfiction)

Chapter 3 - Surprise Guests

Bilbo walked past me, and we shared a confused glance as he continued to the door. My mind was racing, my book lay forgotten in my lap. Who on earth would come calling at this hour? Bilbo was already in his night clothes for goodness sake. I heard voices at the door, and then a dwarf walked past me into the kitchen without so much as a glance in my direction.

"Bilbo?" I asked as he moved toward me. "Why didn't you tell me you knew dwarves?" I asked, suddenly hurt. He had always listened to my rants about wishing to know more about where I came from, the kind of people I had left behind. How could he keep something like this from me?

"I- I don't Sar, I've never seen him before in my life." Bilbo whispered, his eyes wide. I frowned, something about this most definitely didn't add up. Strange dwarves didn't just accidentally end up in the Shire. Bilbo moved past me and into the kitchen after the dwarf, and I considered following him; though I decided against it however. I picked my book back up again, but only got through about ten pages before there was another knock. I laughed.

"Oh you must be joking," I said, getting to my feet; I was just setting my book down when Bilbo walked past me. He held up a hand, his eyes pleading.

"Stay here Saria, please." He begged, and I frowned again, "I don't know how many of them are going to show up and I know you're not going to go to your room, so will you please just stay here?" I hesitated for a moment, but then I nodded; moving into the opposite chair so that I had a clear view of the door. When Bilbo opened it, I saw a small man with snow white hair and a long beard. I didn't hear what they said to each other, but he moved past Bilbo and into the house.

I heard muffled voices as he and the other dwarf began conversing. I wanted to do as Bilbo had asked, but I simply could not stay in my chair any longer. I rounded the corner just in time to hear Bilbo apologizing to the dwarves raiding the pantry and I had to laugh. Bilbo was such a nice person; and now it seemed that was the only reason these dwarves were still here was because Bilbo was to kind to ask them to leave. I opened my mouth to ask him what was going on when there was another knock. My jaw dropped, and Bilbo whirled around; he looked very close to yelling, which is something he just never did.

"I'll get it," I said quickly as I made my way to the door.

"Saria I don't think-"

"I said I got it," I snapped, pulling the door open. I was extremely surprised to see two handsome dwarves smiling back at me. One was blonde with a braided mustache, and hair braided in several places that fell just past his shoulders. The other looked to be a bit younger, with very little facial hair, and dark brown hair with no braids that stopped at his shoulders. Their smiles were contagious, and I found myself grinning despite my growing confusion.

I did my best to mask the shock that had suddenly taken hold of me as I studied the men in front of me. I had seen them before; just today in fact, but this time I was awake. My gaze lingered on the blonde man for a few moments, and I found myself having to swallow a lump in my throat. I had watched him die. Now I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it had not been a normal dream. I also knew that I was going to have to try and find some way to warn them. I was pulled out of my thoughts when they spoke.

"Fili," said the first by way of introduction, "and Kili," said the other. "At your service," they said together, bowing at exactly the same instant. I placed my hand on my hip, pushing the negative thoughts to the back of my mind; I would deal with them later. Though after their small performance I found myself having to suppress yet another burst of laughter.

"What?" Fili asked quietly, his handsome face reflecting confusion, likely stemming from the look on my face.

"How many times did you two have to practice that?" I asked, my smile returning, "Because there is no way that happened by accident." They looked at each other, and both of their faces turned bright red. Kili gave me a sheepish grin.