Book 1: Come Home [Thorin Oakenshield]

Chapter 4

"Bilbo!" Poppy exclaimed. She dropped to her knees grabbing the contract and using it as a fan to help cool him down and breathe.

"Oh, very helpful, Bofur," Gandalf grumbled. Standing, he moved to help Poppy try to revive him.

Thorin sighed, shaking his head and remained silent as the company resumed their discussions. It didn't take long for the Hobbit's eyes to flutter open, the young woman sighing in relief.

"What am I going to do with you?" she questioned.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Moving him into the living room and sitting in a chair, Poppy left to get him a glass of water. Gandalf kept him company.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Bilbo reassured. Nodding, the Wizard lit his pipe standing across from the Hobbit.

His cousin returned, handing over the cup and he sighed in relief.

"If you felt faint you should've just sat on the ground," Poppy said.

"I'll be alright. Just let me sit quietly for a moment."

"You've been sitting quietly for far too long," Gandalf interjected. "Tell me, when did doilies and your mother's dishes become so important to you? I remember two young Hobbits," his eyes flickered towards the young woman as well, "who were always running off in search of Elves in the woods. Who would stay out late, come home after dark, trailing mud and twigs and fireflies."

Poppy smiled at the memories. It was true the two of them would go on plenty of adventures. She missed those times when things appeared to be so much simpler.

"Young Hobbits who would have liked nothing better than to find out what was beyond the borders of the Shire. The world is not in your books and maps. It's out there."

"I can't just go running off into the blue. I am a Baggins of Bag-End."

"You are also a Took."

Bilbo sighed, frustrated.

"Did you know that you great-great-great-great-uncle Bullroarer Took was so large he could ride a real horse?"

"Yes."

"Yes, well, he could. In the battle of Green Fields, he charged the Goblin ranks. He swung his club so hard, it knocked the Goblin King's head clean off and it sailed one hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit hole. And thus the battle was won. And the game of golf invented at the same time."

"I do believe you made that last bit up."

Gandalf chuckled lowly, taking a seat. "Well, all good stories deserve embellishment. You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back."

"Can you promise that I will come back?"

There was a moment of silence. "No. And if you do, you will not be the same."

Sighing heavily, he set down the cup and stood. "That's what I thought. I'm sorry, Gandalf, I can't sign it. You've got the wrong Hobbit.

Poppy went after him to try and reason with her cousin that this was everything that he had hoped for in the past. But Bilbo was too quick and before she could reach him, he took off down the longer hall towards another area in the house to be left alone. Sighing heavily herself, she leaned back against the wall.

"It appears we have lost our burglar," Balin said. Her head perked up, not realizing that there were Dwarves occupying the adjoining hall. "Probably for the best. The odds were always against us. After all, what are we? Merchants, miners... tinkers, toy-makers. Hardly the stuff of legend."